How To Get There 16/6/19

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, June 16th, 2019 - 68 comments
Categories: Deep stuff - Tags:

 

This post is a place for positive discussion of the future.

An Open Mike for ideas, solutions and the discussion of the possible.

The Big Picture, rather than a snapshot of the day’s goings on. Topics rather than topical.

We’d like to think it’s success will be measured in the quality of comments rather than the quantity.

So have at it!

Let us know what you think …

68 comments on “How To Get There 16/6/19 ”

  1. Robert Guyton 1

    53% of New Zealanders support the declaration of a climate emergency:

    Pacifica people living in New Zealand support the declaration of a climate emergency.

    I wonder why?

    European New Zealanders, 55 years and over who vote for The National Party, oppose the declaration of a climate emergency.

    I wonder why?

  2. Robert Guyton 2

    “It's time for NZ to declare a climate emergency, majority of Kiwis say in new poll”

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/its-time-nz-declare-climate-emergency-majority-kiwis-say-in-new-poll

    Those who were more likely to be against were National Party supporters, men aged 55 and over and New Zealand Europeans. “

  3. Robert Guyton 3

    Too soon to declare a climate emergency, do you think?

    Sure, our glaciers are melting, but our forests aren't burning as they did in so many countries last summer and our people aren't dying from heatwaves, as they did in Japan.

    Why the rush??

  4. Robert Guyton 5

    I stumbled upon this thing called, "Facebook"; mostly dross, but David Attenborough was there, sounding hopeful.

    https://www.facebook.com/EarthHourUK/videos/345981779600731/

  5. Dennis Frank 7

    The Leunig cartoon sends the wrong message in our current geopolitical context. To survive climate change, tribalism, nationalism, religious wars etc, we must realise that the solitary path is mere escapism. I'm as typical as any other individualist: being a loner is my default position, since family & society alienated me in my 1950s childhood.

    But I learnt how to work constructively with others, so now I alternate. Since the culture of individualism was deliberately constructed by the advertising industry in the USA to sell more products via niche marketing after WWII, everyone has morphed into consumers, and the collectivist ethos that prevailed prior has to transform into a modus operandi of collaboration to enable collective survival. Everyone must learn to alternate between doing their own thing and spending time in community resilience development. This walk & chew gum simultaneously praxis goes against our basic nature (selfishness) so it will take time to incorporate. Start now!

    • Robert Guyton 7.1

      Your assessment of the "culture of individualism" is a fair one, Dennis and your suggestion we spend time in community resilience a good one, only I challenge your claim that our basic nature is selfishness. Even back in our primate days, we operated collectively. Selfishness is a modern, civilised disease, in my opinion. Leunig's cartoon perhaps captures the truth that despite the value of shared community, when it comes to the crunch, each individual human makes individual choices and ultimately faces life's biggest challenges alone. This is not a bad thing; taking responsibility, making your own choice and accepting responsibility when you do, is a necessary part of being a conscious human, imo.

      • Dennis Frank 7.1.1

        Yes, evolution did wire us with collaborative skills. The challenge of our times is to get these to re-emerge. We must get them into play again. Cultural overlays are unfortunately determinate of the future due to their collective power and authority – the regime in China is exemplary of the effect, yet our own indoctrination is no less determinate – just more subtle!

        As someone whose bad karma produced a career making television commercials, I must own some responsibility for being a (secret) agent. Jumping into that from the counter-culture seemed clever at the time (change the establishment from within) but even someone adept at manipulation has minimal effect on a powerful adversary. A team of such people is required. No man is an island. A team can grow into a network, and then a mass movement…

        • Robert Guyton 7.1.1.1

          Consciously constructed networks, Dennis, or spontaneously forming networks, morphically resonating?

          • Dennis Frank 7.1.1.1.1

            Thirty years ago I envisaged the latter, Robert. Failure of that option to kick in has had me pondering why, in the interim. I've done plenty of reading to partially inform me as to the nature of the conundrum. I've got oodles of photocopies of key points, marginal notations to specify them, and still no time to get them online – but we can only do what's possible, eh?

            So I advocate the former option now. People learn by doing. They will learn collective survival if they start doing it. They just need to make the start!

            • Robert Guyton 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Did you factor-in delay, Dennis? Yearning for results often leads to frustration; perhaps the effect is beginning now; tipping points, natural junctures, etc.

              That said, it's action stations alright, for those who see the path forward clearly. There are some basic, failsafe ways forward, such as (in my opinion) "re-acquaint yourself with non-human beings; trees, birds etc", spend time in reflective contemplation (again, imo). I'm happy to have those two "suggestions" challenged, if there are those who disagree or priorities differently. Other actions; buying an electric car, touring the country in a camper van rather than flying overseas, are subject to more uncertainty and less useful as a focus at this point, I think. The field of human endeavour is huge and it's important at this time to address the basics, do you think? Perhaps you'd or anyone'd like to list those here, as a springboard for today's discussion.

              • Dennis Frank

                I've done (and/or am doing) all those, but such ways of being Green are options for individuals. Great to see them becoming part of the mainstream nowadays but such individualism doesn't amount collectively to more than a `muddle through the middle'.

                As the UN-led response to climate change turned out to be! So, to keep ahead, we need to focus on tighter collaboration. The Greens have gotten so mainstream it's hard to see them as the vanguard of progress any more. That's why I've been signalling the necessity for an alternative political movement to enter public life unconstrained by representative democracy.

                • Robert Guyton

                  "an alternative political movement to enter public life unconstrained by representative democracy."

                  Because "the people" aren't up to the job?

                  • Dennis Frank

                    History has proven the point. Democracy has brought climate change upon us, by failing to provide deterrence.

                    • Robert Guyton

                      Well, democracy hasn't yet solved the challenge of climate change, but we could argue about the cause a bit, I imagine: agriculture brought climate change upon us…patriarchy bought climate change upon us…love of Mammon brought climate change upon us…

                • greywarshark

                  Really interesting discussion and important.

                  Individuals might get their message noticed, but a group thinking about it and beating it into a workable shape while maintaining the ethos is essential I think.

                  I remember the name of Leibniz and his wide reach of thought in a number of disciplines. Reading his thinking it seems that in the 1700's our present perturbations were being considered and explained. Except that Brexit-type of leaders rushing off to do something clever that would be to their advantage has been a constant and we have been unable to all learn how to think intelligently combining practicality, imagination and foresight into our natures, addiction to excess, and emotionalism and rationalisation.

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz#Advocate_of_scientific_societies

                  With the possible exception of Marcus Aurelius, no philosopher has ever had as much experience with practical affairs of state as Leibniz. Leibniz's writings on law, ethics, and politics[152] were long overlooked by English-speaking scholars, but this has changed of late.[153]

                  While Leibniz was no apologist for absolute monarchy like Hobbes, or for tyranny in any form, neither did he echo the political and constitutional views of his contemporary John Locke, views invoked in support of liberalism, in 18th-century America and later elsewhere. The following excerpt from a 1695 letter to Baron J. C. Boyneburg's son Philipp is very revealing of Leibniz's political sentiments:

                  As for … the great question of the power of sovereigns and the obedience their peoples owe them, I usually say that it would be good for princes to be persuaded that their people have the right to resist them, and for the people, on the other hand, to be persuaded to obey them passively. I am, however, quite of the opinion of Grotius, that one ought to obey as a rule, the evil of revolution being greater beyond comparison than the evils causing it. Yet I recognize that a prince can go to such excess, and place the well-being of the state in such danger, that the obligation to endure ceases. This is most rare, however, and the theologian who authorizes violence under this pretext should take care against excess; excess being infinitely more dangerous than deficiency.[154]

                  In 1677, Leibniz called for a European confederation, governed by a council or senate, whose members would represent entire nations and would be free to vote their consciences;[155] this is sometimes considered an anticipation of the European Union. He believed that Europe would adopt a uniform religion. He reiterated these proposals in 1715.

                  But at the same time, he arrived to propose an interreligious and multicultural project to create a universal system of justice, which required from him a broad interdisciplinary perspective. In order to propose it, he combined linguistics, especially sinology, moral and law philosophy, management, economics, and politics

                  And note that a smart-arse called Voltaire (which was a pseudonym!) managed to capture the public's fickle interest and Voltaire shredded Leibniz's reputation. He could be said to have crucified him, which is I know an excessive description, but the public chose to sideline him and his immense body of work and thought, and chose the thief of his reputation.)

                  Leibnizstrasse street sign Berlin

                  When Leibniz died, his reputation was in decline. He was remembered for only one book, the Théodicée,[163] whose supposed central argument Voltaire lampooned in his popular book Candide, which concludes with the character Candide saying, “Non liquet” (it is not clear), a term that was applied during the Roman Republic to a legal verdict of "not proven". Voltaire's depiction of Leibniz's ideas was so influential that many believed it to be an accurate description. Thus Voltaire and his Candide bear some of the blame for the lingering failure to appreciate and understand Leibniz's ideas. Leibniz had an ardent disciple, Christian Wolff, whose dogmatic and facile outlook did Leibniz's reputation much harm. He also influenced David Hume who read his Théodicée and used some of his ideas.[164] In any event, philosophical fashion was moving away from the rationalism and system building of the 17th century, of which Leibniz had been such an ardent proponent. His work on law, diplomacy, and history was seen as of ephemeral interest. The vastness and richness of his correspondence went unrecognized.

                  Much of Europe came to doubt that Leibniz had discovered calculus independently of Newton, and hence his whole work in mathematics and physics was neglected. Voltaire, an admirer of Newton, also wrote Candide at least in part to discredit Leibniz's claim to having discovered calculus and Leibniz's charge that Newton's theory of universal gravitation was incorrect. (Note wikipedia comment – Citation needed.)

                  (…'an ardent disciple, Christian Wolff, whose dogmatic and facile outlook did Leibniz's reputation much harm.') We know well those with a dogmatic and facile outlook from their regular forays on this blog and i don't take them lightly for the reasons above.

                  • Dennis Frank

                    I've read that he did invent calculus independently, in scientific texts, so revisionism seems to have rectified the bias. But I like this bit:

                    an interreligious and multicultural project to create a universal system of justice, which required from him a broad interdisciplinary perspective. In order to propose it, he combined linguistics, especially sinology, moral and law philosophy, management, economics, and politics

                    Quite the renaissance man (if a little late) and significant precursor to nlightenment culture, eh? We still lack a universal justice system, of course. His eurocentric view of it would require transcendence. Our wrestling with implementation of maori justice illuminates that!

  6. Dennis Frank 8

    Using online tech, we can crowdsource design expertise to facilitate collaboration. In The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, the authors develop understanding of how we ought to become aware of the social context of thought.

    "Crowdsourcing has been much ballyhoed in the business world. It is typically invoked to explain the success of sites like Wikipedia." "Crowdsourcing is actually a primitive method of employing the community of knowledge compared to what's on the horizon. Web developers are just beginning to develop applications that allow communities to form dynamically to solve specific problems. The idea of these applications is to make collaboration simple be allowing teams of expert from around the world to come together temporarily to work on specific projects."

    We need not wait for experts to solve the problem of collective survival. Anyone with the capacity for self-transformation & transcendence is a potential contributor. Those with practical know-how, with a track record of being successful problem-solvers, will function as catalysts if they can communicate & liaise effectively as well.

    All it takes is for commentators here to abandon their posture of armchair-bound irrelevance. Not intended as a personal criticism, that – just pointing to the nature of blogging, and the psychology of impotence that it induces in potential activists…

    • Robert Guyton 8.1

      Is there any reason a blog, or rather a thread on a blog, can't serve as an application that allows a communitie to form dynamically to solve specific problems?

      • Dennis Frank 8.1.1

        Yes/no. In principle, no. In practice, yes. Non-local communities form on the basis of perceived common interest. Leave it tacit, the outcome generated on the mere perception of the merit of discussing options is a tenuous vision of possibilities.

        To get results in the real world, agreement on goals usually becomes specific, as in word-formulation, and ends up in a plan. Plans then form the basis for action. Strategy emerges from the plan via agreement on how/where to focus energy. Tactics then emerge when teams cohere to implement strategy.

        If you get a sense of organic process in this, you're on the right track! Now you, Robert, as a participant in local government processes, will already be familiar with the psychodynamics of community working together. Most commentators here have not declared such experiential expertise, have they? Apart from you & I, I doubt any other contributor has mentioned any prior political experience. Doers have a different attitude to commentators – more proactive. So there's a selection process crucial to sort out the productive contributor from the irrelevant commentator, right?

        • Incognito 8.1.1.1

          I’m not sure I’m following all this. I’d have thought that many people “will already be familiar with the psychodynamics of community working together” and have “such experiential expertise” although they might not see it as “any prior political experience” and thus not mention or “declare” it as such. It sounds like school community, work environment, sports club, etc., do not fall in your prescribed (?) category!? It follows from this that if there’s a selection process at work it is one of self-selection based on perception rather than ‘credentials’. In any case, to get collective traction requires a kernel, a catalyst, and an organiser to coalesce the individual efforts (actions) into a collective one. This is where a blog can be useful but not sufficient.

          • Robert Guyton 8.1.1.1.1

            I reckon. Are those kernels born or built, do you think? Does it only happen, this collective traction, around a "natural" at times that are propitious?

            So far as the value of this blog is concerned, we should remember that a number of people who post here are also leading projects in the wider-world and living their everyday lives in ways they describe here, so a blog, this thread in particular, isn't a dislocated organ for ivory-tower dwellers to pontificate on, I like to think smiley

            • Incognito 8.1.1.1.1.1

              Good questions to which I can only provide tentative answers or musings rather.

              In times of (desperate) need, people do step up seemingly coming from nowhere (is Ardern an example?). It comes from necessity that may not even be articulated yet. The right time, the right place, the right person (team) – cometh the hour, cometh the man.

              How exactly this happens is unclear and may seem magical and mythical. Indeed, some kind of “psychic osmosis” may create conditions for serendipity and synchronicity. If one assumes some kind of collective unconscious (Jung) then these phenomena may start to make (more) sense and even become expected.

              This also goes some way towards answering your first question as to whether those kernels are born or built. It is both and neither. There has to be a readiness, willingness, and open-mind so that when the seed hits the fertile soil, it can germinate if the conditions are not just permissible but right or better, optimal.

              Where does the seed come from? Who or what created the optimal conditions? Et cetera.

              I fully agree with your notion that commenters here lead interesting and meaningful lives in the real world. However, what might seem like pontification to one might be heartfelt thoughts to another. We cannot know or assume what or who is behind the comment and often comments are misconstrued …

          • Dennis Frank 8.1.1.1.2

            Such experiences of working together in communal contexts are indeed relevant. But yes, insofar as I have a prescription in mind, it derives from the necessity to collaborate for collective survival. People who have a track record of administering the status quo in collective contexts are more likely to be part of the problem than part of the solution. Belief systems normalise believers.

            When the survival of humanity depends on collective transcendence of the status quo, these comfortable mainstreamers take refuge in denial of the challenge. Been watching that shit since forever, it often seems. devil

            • Robert Guyton 8.1.1.1.2.1

              "the necessity to collaborate for collective survival"

              Agreed.

              "…the survival of humanity depends on collective transcendence of the status quo…"

              Agreed, if by status quo you mean the civilization/agricultural etc. culture we are immersed in. Collectively transcending; you mean all and every human? Our just a percentage?
              Edit: But yes, ” these comfortable mainstreamers take refuge in denial of the challenge. ”
              Sounds like my council and the issue of declaring climate emergency.

              • Dennis Frank

                Collectively transcending; you mean all and every human? Our just a percentage?

                Good question! The way I saw the avante garde operating in the sixties was as a subculture that transformed mainstream culture via infusion. In the seventies the counter-culture did likewise.

                Then we got neoliberalism. An elitist project, driven top-down by the global elites, using local politicians as operational agents.

                To answer your question, consider the commonality underlying all three examples: a relatively small group, spreading influence via a kind of psychic osmosis. People buying into the new way as soon as benefits looked desirable enough. Contagion escalates the trend.

                • Robert Guyton

                  "a relatively small group, spreading influence via a kind of psychic osmosis. People buying into the new way as soon as benefits looked desirable enough. Contagion escalates the trend."

                  Right! Let's do it!

                  smiley

      • Sacha 8.1.2

        We need more than general chat to create collective action. Which is not to say the old ways are all there is.

        • Janet 8.1.2.1

          Yes pragmatism has been generally lacking on this comment spot. Most of the population don,t know where or how to practically start making their difference towards helping the climate change. Many still do not even believe there is a need to start. Nuts and bolts – simple lists – what happens if we don,t and what happens if we do … Identifying and broadcasting the simple every day changes we can easily make in the way we live these days is the place to start. Then you start to build awareness and some thirst for more knowledge – hopefully.

          • Robert Guyton 8.1.2.1.1

            "Many still do not even believe there is a need to start."

            I think that's the reason for "philosophical" focus here, Janet. As far as practical advice is concerned, there has been a great deal of that in the field of food production and land management, along with occasional forays into energy, transport etc, but in my experience interest gets lost in an avalanche if detail and challenges to those ideas. To me, it's important to establish first-principles, at the same time garnishing the discussion with practical tips; do you have some of those yourself? We're all ears!

            • Janet 8.1.2.1.1.1

              I have previously presented some practical beginning steps on this site. Maybe you should start and permanently hold a list on "How to get There" that people can read and add to.

              I spent 7 months last year sailing through Indonesia and the rubbish filled currents of the Malacca Straits off Malaysia. I must say that I felt the somewhat intense focus in NZ to mitigate Climate change was a bit pointless unless countries like those were also doing their bit. In fact I do despair because what ever we do in NZ will be a drop in the ocean in view of what needs doing out there right now.

              • Robert Guyton

                Overwhelming, isn't it. Avoiding that is the primary aim for each of us.

  7. Robert Guyton 9

    The process you describe; "agreement on goals usually becomes specific, as in word-formulation, and ends up in a plan. Plans then form the basis for action. Strategy emerges from the plan via agreement on how/where to focus energy. Tactics then emerge when teams cohere to implement strategy." sounds very civilised. My view is different; storytelling is everything; ring your bell, your tempered bell, and send it out into the ether where it will set other people's bells ringing at your frequency; theirs in turn, carry the sound further and further, each bell slightly altering the sound, enriching and tuning it to produce a harmonic. You'll need ears to receive the resulting music, unless you have an especially sensitive heart, and the ability to convert what you hear into words and action.

    Perhaps we're saying the same thing, Dennis. Mine sounds airy-faerie, perhaps, while yours sounds corporate to me.

    • Dennis Frank 9.1

      Yeah, a complementary frame does apply. Your musical approach seems to correlate precisely with how the Green movement originated in '68 (primarily manifesting in songs, catalysed by psychedelics) and the random flow it developed through the seventies.

      I agree it's the best way for a culture to spread through the masses. However, political organisation is necessary to provide the spearhead of progress. Corporate only insofar as a body corporate is a social organism – design for organic flow as operational process rather than structure (which induces stasis).

    • Dennis Frank 9.2

      Incidentally the book I've been quoting has this story indexed under collaboration, and it makes music the key: "What made the Beatles great is that John was introduced to Paul on July 6, 1957, in St Peter's Church in Liverpool, England, just before John was about to go onstage with his band the Quarrymen. It was because of this meeting that they started to work together, and it was their working together alongside George and Ringo that made the Beatles legendary. That great creative spirit that changed popular culture emerged from their interaction, not from their individual contributions."

      So the thing to learn is that group alchemy is the key. Music catalysed it. Lennon must have already known that his current band lacked magic, because he dropped them. Gotta have the right people!!

      In regard to an alternative political movement, same logic applies. The synergy and catalytic effect (magic) happen only if the right people combine, in the right design, with the right attitude, and do what the situation requires: the right actions.

      • Robert Guyton 9.2.1

        Finding the "right" people then, is important; how will someone know you are the right fit? Paul and John didn't meet at a football game; they had identified their field of interest and had followed their independent paths, meeting at the right place at the right time; serendipity? co-incidence? chance?,

        • Dennis Frank 9.2.1.1

          More good questions. We know if someone fits once we have sufficient experience of their participation. This is emotional intelligence at work, eh? Feels right, or not.

          Serendipidity, yes. Synchronicity too, I suspect. A collective challenge ought, in principle, produce respondents who rise to meet that challenge. That said, time is testing for all. Other demands on our time will often intervene.

          One viable approach to sort out the contributors to the dilettante commentators is to request a commitment in principle to the process, and another is to request description of skill-set, and/or citation of track record of past experience achieving communal goals, task-force results, or team victories.

          As a part-time dilettante commentator, I must acknowledge that both/and logic applies! Just pointing out that the current situation merely provides consciousness-raising. To get results, a stronger communal ethos must develop.

          • Robert Guyton 9.2.1.1.1

            So, what do you suggest; a contract, a commitment, a scrap of crinkled parchment, signed in blood (my preference)?

            • Dennis Frank 9.2.1.1.1.1

              First requirement is for a team to form. To do so, there must be a task set, to motivate the joining. Time is valuable – only those willing to invest their time in the enterprise are the right members. They make the choice depending on if they accept the task as essential to their purpose in life.

              For me, it happened in 1968, and I was extremely unwilling! It was my first year at university and I was still a traumatised Holden Caulfield type of introvert (Catcher in the Rye). I've described the feeling onsite here before: just like the bell of doom tolled in my head. I'd just finished reading a two-page spread of investigative journalism in one of our student newspapers, about how agribusiness was poisoning the soil in the USA. I just knew I had to accept the message, despite being totally powerless to do anything.

              They call this kind of internal experience a calling. Like the world calls you to attempt a task, even if you hate the idea. Thus half a century in the Green movement!!

              So the joining has to be a serious personal commitment. That said, I'm reluctant to impose it as a requirement. Some folks just want to help a bit around the fringes, eh? Must not deter them.

              A core group could form spontaneously, as you suggested earlier. That would be optimal. They'd need to self-select into dedication to the task, and afterwards, as per identity politics, self-identify as a member of the team dedicated to the task. Which raises the question of how to frame the task – topic for next week maybe, or whenever the time is right…

              • Robert Guyton

                I see a sifting process; imagine a shaking container filled with marbles of every size. The base is mesh, interchangeable and regularly changing. After some time, only 3 marbles are left, having survived the great sorting. They have much in common. The mesh represents issues of all sorts. Getting the container filled with marbles is the first challenge, followed by arranging for the many mesh-changes, plus the shaking. Once your team has formed, stop the shaking otherwise they'll be too rattled to do anything worthwhile.

                Actually, my analogy is poor; the three must have been the biggest and could have recognised each other at the beginning of the process and avoided all the agitation. The thing about models like mine is they're usually useless smiley

  8. Robert Guyton 10

    "political organisation is necessary to provide the spearhead of progress."

    Is it?

    Or is it a barrier to progress. I'm intrigued that you used a war-image, "spearhead" to describe the action of a political organisation. It counts against the proposal, imo, but doesn't discount it altogether; it's just a point of interest. Did archaic cultures, such as shamanistic tribal communities have political organisations? They seem to have thrived for millennia; perhaps their systems are a better mode for us to follow. I suspect a reverence for the numinous was key to them, as it must be for ours, but presently isn't; something I believe we should be focussed on now at this late juncture.

    • Dennis Frank 10.1

      Yes, spearhead refers to the effect of vanguard (opposite of rearguard). Avante garde is the cultural equivalent. Progress requires a leading edge!

      To make the imagery natural, think of the wave in relation to the sea. Momentum of the whole produces the thrust forward, so the molecules at the crest of the wave have been holistically selected to lead the way forward. Metaphors are a stretch, but self-selected leaders of progressive movements can be seen to fail regularly due to selfishness (narcissism), being out of synch with followers or the zeitgeist, so only those in the right place at the right time stand a chance of success. Even then they must be adept in surfing the wave!

      Re your question, the general picture I get is that a dual leadership structure tended to evolve. The ruler operated in tandem with the shaman. The latter mediated between social reality and the cosmos (and/or underworld), which evolved into religious authority structures. Sometimes the combination priest-king happened (for instance, Tibet). Governance therefore can be likened to biology – left brain & right brain combined, left & right operating in unison for the benefit of the whole.

      • Robert Guyton 10.1.1

        "which evolved into religious authority structures. "

        That's where we went wrong.

  9. Dennis Frank 11

    In The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, there's this example of how teams operating in non-local communal contexts generate world-changing outcomes:

    "One indication of this trend toward larger and more diverse communities is that the average number of authors on published journal articles has not only grown but has increased at an astounding rate. MEDLINE is a database of millions of published papers in the biomedical sciences. The average number of authors per article has nearly quadrupled from about 1.5 in 1950 to almost 5.5 in 2014. This means that the average publication today requires the effort and expertise of almost 6 scientists. Like so many other disciplines, the community of science operates via teamwork."

    Note that consensus is implicit: each scientist involved in each paper must agree to the wording. The email trail must document such agreement. Only examination of that trail can confirm the consensus, to make it explicit. Scientific culture takes the praxis for granted – failure to conform produces scandal & notoriety, so the culture is effective as a constraint against bending the rule.

    So the model works as a prototype for transcending representative democracy: as long as participants conform to the ethos & praxis of achieving consensus, a group agreement is produced as output. The resulting political position can then be presented to the public via the media.

    • Incognito 11.1

      The pressure to publish is much higher now, I reckon. Anybody can claim a minor contribution to a scientific paper and they do, in fact. To assume that this implies a thorough process of reaching consensus is naive. For example, one nasty habit is to add the academic head as co-author because that adds mana to the paper and the head may feel a right to it. One glossary read is enough to then claim that they had input in the writing and/or editing of the paper. Scientific publication is as cynical as any other human collective endeavour where careers and prestige are at stake.

      • Dennis Frank 11.1.1

        Ha! Yeah, I'm aware of the dark side of that context, so must acknowledge your point. It's a perception/reality thing, eh? I was talking up the perception side since that creates communal expectations and ideal praxis. Insofar as majority behaviour creates cultural norms, and pressure creates deviance as you mention, and politics is a numbers game, the majority will tend to produce political outcomes regardless of those who game the system.

      • Poission 11.1.2

        the pressure to publish is reflected on scientific stagnation due to lack of ideas.

        Being busy needs to be visible, and deep thinking is not. Academia has largely become a small-idea factory. Rewarded for publishing more frequently, we search for “minimum publishable units.”

        https://www.pnas.org/content/113/34/9384

        • Incognito 11.1.2.1

          Yes, being largely risk-averse has become the new norm in academia – quantity has become the new quality. In addition, journals want to squeeze as many articles into an issue or volume as possible and stipulate narrow page and/or word limits. This makes less sense now they’re moving away from hardcopies. All is not well in academia and scientific publishing in particular.

          Thanks for the link. I’ll read it later; it looks interesting.

  10. Stuart Munro. 12

    There are really multiple issues that need to be addressed at different levels. The success in plastic bag reduction in supermarkets ought reasonably to lead to paper bags in produce sections where currently single use plastics remain, and discouragement of tray + plastic cover presentation. Though individuals may use their own bags, the size of the corporates involved makes a regulatory nudge a productive way to proceed.

    Self-sufficiency as a first step to constructive community participation really requires a bit of ground on which various things may be grown, held in the long term to enable enduring relations to develop. The decline in home ownership attending the failure to regulate speculators, together with the gig economy are non-trivial obstructions to robust sustainable communities.

    • Robert Guyton 12.1

      Agreed, Stuart. Every action helps, it could be claimed, so long as those actions move the actor towards greater understanding of the whole issue and more action that contributes to the greater goal. I'm very interested in articulating what that goal "looks" like and hearing what others see in their imagination.

      • Stuart Munro. 12.1.1

        In fact everywhere in NZ there are the traces of community efforts to build resilience and more sophisticated forms of self-reliance. The biggest one is probably the botanic gardens, which evidently served to cultivate and proliferate new and interesting flora.

        The DSIR once pursued an open-ended mandate to find and resolve practical problems, which it did with some success – inventing ultra efficient woodburners, and also the longline mussel culture which remains the mainstay of our aquaculture decades after the demise of the DSIR itself. A sustainability focused variant of the DSIR could accelerate the rate at which sectors and communities become carbon neutral and reduce dependence on imported oil. Care would need to be taken to exclude the kind of civil service jackals who ran empty trucks against laden trains and cargo vessels to falsify the official road freight carbon efficiency figures.

        The deadweight cost of capitalizing real estate is better reduced, so that effort and resources are directed to more productive ends than the welfare of foreign bankers. Tiny houses are one way to go about this, and an obvious place to run a large scale experimental community are the riverside areas confiscated subsequent to the Christchurch earthquakes. Pre-earthquake these were very desirable locations, with fertile soils and a pleasant proximity to a river.

        The demise of certain practical skills – gardening, cooking sewing, building – are no cause for celebration. Of course the criminal mismanagement of our coastal fisheries resources that see them returning less than 1% of the proceeds and employment of the biologically equivalent Japanese fisheries is ripe for reform. Artisanal fisheries are sustainable – slave-caught fish processed in Thailand is wrong on so many levels it should never have started. Current politicians regrettably lack the strength of character and devotion to the public interest, which of course is why everything is in such a dreadful mess.

  11. Andre 13

    Via the Skeptical Science roundup on the sidebar; a "there" that isn't hypothetical, Costa Rica has done it.

    They have achieved 100% renewable power generation and doubling their forest cover to 50% of their land area. They are targeting eliminating single-use plastic by 2021, carbon neutral by 2021, zero fossil-fuel by 2050.

    Costa Rica is about the same population as NZ with about a fifth the land area.

    https://www.intelligentliving.co/costa-rica-forest-cover/

    • Robert Guyton 13.1

      That's what I'm looking for, Andre, vision made visible. Do you really think Costa Ricans are there yet?

      • Andre 13.1.1

        No. In this context, "there" doesn't actually exist. For them, no doubt they have something else as a "there" they are trying to move towards. For us, some aspects of what the Costa Ricans have achieved is a "there" we should be trying to move towards.

      • Robert Guyton 13.1.2

        The reason I ask about the Costa Ricans is I have a friend staying presently who has Costa Rican rellies whom she visited very recently. She was somewhat unsettled by their profligate use of styrofoam; eating and drinking from single-use plates and cups exclusively, as was the habit of all of their friends. I don't like to drag the conversation down, but …

        • Andre 13.1.2.1

          Sometimes things have to get really bad before the system as a whole gets kicked hard enough from it to then go and make a positive change.

          Sometimes that theory actually works out, sometimes it just accelerates turning everything to shit.

          • Robert Guyton 13.1.2.1.1

            I hope the former scenario is the one that will describe the global situation we face.

    • Dennis Frank 13.2

      Remarkable. Now that's exemplary, and a model for other countries to adopt. Extremely good news, helping us to feel optimistic about the future!

      "According to United Nations University, in the 1940s, more than three-quarters of the country was covered in mostly tropical rainforests and other indigenous woodlands. Then, between the 1940s and 1980s extensive, uncontrolled logging led to severe deforestation. By 1983, only 26% of the country had forest cover. Realizing the devastation that was occurring, policymakers took a stand. Through a continued environmental focus they were able to turn things around to the point that today forest cover has increased to 52%, which is double 1983 levels."

      I suspect there may be cultural/political factors that make Costa Rica unique in achieving such a relatively rapid reversal of historical trends. I hope some investigative journalism will bring these into the global media so we can assess how replicable their political/economic transformation may be.

  12. Dennis Frank 14

    Trotter: "Climate Change Survivalism Is Not The Answer". Demonstrating he's a typical leftist, he naturally refrains from specifying the answer. Denial suffices, apparently. http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/06/climate-change-survivalism-is-not-answer.html

    Referring to the bomber, he writes "Martyn drew up what amounts to a survivalist agenda for New Zealand. Quite rightly, I believe, he regards these islands as being better positioned than just about anywhere else on the planet to weather the worst aspects of Climate Change. Our government, says Martyn, should act now to prepare us for the dark times to come."

    He proceeds to focus on the fortress Aotearoa scenario. We know we can only afford a second-rate defence capability, so why bother with such a fantasy? Even if the latest govt spending is a sound step in that direction (apparently on a bipartisan basis). No, we ought to focus on a resilience design that is both exportable as a plan and global in the context of formulation. Survivalist scenarios can be sophisticated and clever. They need not be banal or based on doom & gloom.

    Why expect the govt to do our preparation anyway? Paternalism? Doesn't he know govts are supposed to follow the people nowadays?

  13. Dennis Frank 15

    The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone was written by a cognitive scientist and a marketing expert (both academics). I assume the reason they have managed to identify several fundamental dimensions of psychology in their text is that they didn't get degrees in psychology (thus weren't brainwashed into defeatism). But we do have a psychologist to thank for some insights:

    "Sharing attention is a crucial step on the road to being a full collaborator in a group sharing cognitive labor, in a community of knowledge. Once we can share attention, we can do something even more impressive – we can share common ground. We know some things that we know others know… Once knowledge is shared in this way, we can share intentionality; we can jointly pursue a common goal. A basic human talent is to share intentions with others so that we accomplish things collaboratively."

    "These ideas are due, in large part, to the great Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who in the early twentieth century developed the idea that the mind is a social entity. Vygotsky argued that it is not individual brainpower that distinguishes human beings. It is that humans can learn through other people and culture and that people collaborate: they engage with others in collective activities. Vyugotsky's insights are one of the roots of the idea of a community of knowledge."

    We don't all know that planning and organising for collective survival is now imperative: for many this notion is fake news. Complaining about slow learners is a waste of time – focus must be on doing what is required instead. Those who really are part of the solution must collaborate to solve the problem. Only by doing so will they attract members & supporters, and grow the task force into a political movement sufficient to provide the evident pathway to a better future. Once this operational phase snowballs folks into participation, it will start to operate as the lever to shift the masses.

    • Robert Guyton 15.1

      I agree with all that, Dennis.

      "Complaining about slow learners is a waste of time – focus must be on doing what is required instead."

      Tell myself this often, occasionally forget and get embroiled in the mud-fighting.

      "Those who really are part of the solution must collaborate to solve the problem. "

      Actively watching this with intense interest.

  14. greywarshark 16

    Transferred from Daily Review 17/6/2019 FYI

    WeTheBleeple 13

    17 June 2019 at 7:52 pm

    A wee word for our dolphins and new sanctuaries. The minister is right that these sanctuaries will also improve the fisheries overall. Just go diving around some of the sanctuaries already in place, you'll see a startling difference in many fish stocks. Ask the locals, the divers, the local fishermen, they know.

    Dolphins – they do not hit set-nets, and, if there is catch in it, they do not hit set-nets being pulled out. The worse problem is drift nets. But…

    A set net dropped from a boat is akin to a drift net: as it settles to the bottom it will catch dolphins (if they are happening by). It could be that a sonar device that sounds as the net drops (and lifts, in case it is empty) might help avoid this window where the dolphins do not detect the set nets while moving. The point is, you need the dolphins to be able to detect a net in motion, however that is achieved.

    And drift nets should be outright banned.

    If you get enough fishermen who run set nets to tell the truth, the very infrequent dolphins pulled up are typically well dead – caught on the way down, on the day before when the net was set.

    Reply

    • Stuart Munro. 13.1

      17 June 2019 at 8:08 pm

      Think your wires may be a bit crossed there WTB – dolphins can't see monofilament with their sonar. A drift net is something else: "Drift nets hang vertically in the water column without being anchored to the bottom." Set nets as we use the term in NZ lie along the bottom as we do not generally target pelagic species. Contemporary driftnetting targets pelagic species in international waters, with significant bycatch of seabirds. Dolphins prefer pelagic feedfish (they're oilier) especially pilchards. Common dolphins are caught as bycatch when trawling for jack mackerals in shallow water or purse seining. Hectors fish very close to shore and are liable to be taken in set nets in places like Akaroa or Moeraki.

      Reply

      • WeTheBleeple 13.1.1

        17 June 2019 at 8:59 pm

        No my wires aren't crossed I'm relaying the above after fishing set-nets from the port of Taranaki. Working as, drinking with, and talking with fishermen.

        Nobody wants to catch dolphins, but it does happen. We were six miles out when we caught one. It led the discussion to learn of others.

        I was describing a set-net ‘adrift’ as it falls to the bottom. We drop an anchor for it then it spools out and down, essentially drifting.

        Reply

    • weston 13.2

      17 June 2019 at 8:21 pm

      Personally id like to see all inshore nets banned on the grounds that they are just far too indiscriminate killers of sea life .I think if we,re to have a hope of retaining healthy fishstocks nets are one of the things we,re gonna have to give up .We can still be hunter gatherers without nets and undoubtedly wild fish would be better off .

      Reply

      • WILD KATIPO 13.2.1

        17 June 2019 at 11:34 pm

        Pertaining to commercial fishing within a certain number of nautical miles inshore yeah. But we will still need net fishing of some form for commerce and food production.

        As for the family who sets a net in a bay to catch a feed for example , …that should be far more generous and less policed , however.

        I was always taken by the Japanese way of encouraging breeding grounds off their coasts by the submersion of old tires linked by chain or the even better method of hollow cubed concrete – both forming artificial reefs. These areas could also be designed so they pose no risk to shipping or small private sporting / fishing craft.

        What are we surrounded by like Japan?- thousands of kilometers of coastline.

        And we can say commercial fishing does not go on around ALL of that and we can also say that most commercial fishing is not conducted immediately off the coast…

        Therefore surely we can enhance our fish stocks by creating large areas of artificial reefs and enclaves , and make those areas designated areas and a no go zone for fishing. We have coastline to spare, and we could target those areas where the Maui and Hectors dolphins are generally.

        Off course this would be old news to the powers that be and environmentalists, but has any real efforts been made along these lines, – as in mass production of artificial submerged reefs and designated areas etc ?

  15. WeTheBleeple 17

    Tiny homes on wheels are not homes – they're trailers.

    An accumulation of wheeled tiny homes on one property is essentially a trailer park.

    Trailer parks are slums. The data for highest percentages living in mobile homes in the US closely aligns with the data for lowest median income in the US. There are other forms of slums, as we are learning, so there is some leeway for people to lie about this correlation but it's as plain as day. We've seen some local trailer parks in the news cycle, they're anything but a path to the future.

    A tiny home on a piece of your own land is a home. A place one might put down roots, plumbing, power… and grow fruit trees and more so that your investment matures over time lending you options and some financial recompense should you wish to move on.

    A run down trailer is not going to make anybody anything, except those who sold the trailers, and those who own the trailer parks. Trailers depreciate, home values increase.

    Do not be hoodwinked!

    If you wish to go the route of a tiny home, you might want to find others and work together to purchase land and put down roots.

    If you want to tour about, get a van.

    • greywarshark 17.1

      A friend has just done that. Wanted a home, found a piece of land and got a tiny home built. Having a bit of difficulty with the wood heater. If anyone is interested in the heating side, I can find out more info. But generally happy and though had to go out of town, has her own transport to go out and about.

      I don't see why trailer parks are necessarily slums. If Councils accept that there is an unpleasant connect between low-income jobs coupled with no or low 'flexible' hours insufficient to support living, and even basic places to live affordable to the poor, they can bloody well support parks and help maintain them to a good standard, actively not just with inspections and punitive fines etc.) Also they would encourage the people to participate in doing the cleaning and have a responsible maintenance man on a honorarium, with occasional treats of afternoon tea for the residents who work to look after the conditions.

      Let them have paints for upkeep of buildings, even their trailers, tiny homes, in a light colour (not grey, mud, or dark) and for painting an annual mural/s of an agreed design (not contentious), so that it reflects their interest. (Thinking on the Hawthorne Experiment approach, which I think came about because of 1. Increased presence of other employees, and 2. Apparent interest in their welfare, and finally just interest.)

      https://courses.lumenlearning.com/baycollege-introbusiness/chapter/video-hawthorne-studies-at-att/

  16. WeTheBleeple 18

    People might live cheek to jowl by choice when younger, getting shoved in these dumps of last resort is nobodies choice. Changing the name of something e.g. co-habitat instead of boarding house, does not change the actual situation one jot.

    A tiny home on wheels is a trailer. It will depreciate fast and you do not have a home but a trailer. This is smoke and mirrors BS to detract that most won't own a home. But some own many. Several dozen homes gets you bragging rights in a Ponsonby bar while drinking shitty overpriced green craft beer and stroking your beard.

    I think you're talking crap on this. Nobody wants to live in a trailer park. A holiday is as far as it goes.

    Apparently house prices are going to jump 20% over the next five years. The ladder has been well and truly pulled up, and this government put vaseline at the top of the wall where the ladder used to rest.

    • greywarshark 18.1

      If people live in a trailer park presumably they want to live there – in preference to the next alternative. Until we get a government that is vaguely interested in providing simple housing of a safe and strong and secure type, whether up to five/six floors or not, doing something constructive is better than being destructive. And giving people some options to help them turn the place into a livable space. Better than cold motels – now that is crap, and nobody wants to live in those for long.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    5 hours ago
  • 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
    6 hours 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
    7 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
    7 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 ...
    8 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
    8 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 ...
    9 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
    9 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
    10 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
    13 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
    13 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
    14 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
    14 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
    15 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
    16 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
    18 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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
    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
  • 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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

  • 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
    7 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
    12 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
    14 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
    14 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
    1 day 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T10:55:00+00:00