How to kill the car

Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, April 29th, 2020 - 45 comments
Categories: Economy, energy, Environment, local government, public transport, supercity, sustainability, tech industry, transport, uncategorized - Tags:

Here is your new car.

Once you have placed your order through your intelligent fridge, it is delivered straight to your door.

New Zealand supermarkets are increasing their online ordering+delivery capacity in response to Covid19.

So rather than wander endlessly through the tilt-slab monstrosity soaked in 80s music and fluorescent lighting and surrounded by oppressed minimum-wage slaves who hate being there, and you hating being there, anxious about getting a space and worried about your wheeled asset damaged in their carpark, instead you get instead freedom. You just wait for the bags to be delivered to your door.

For the younger generations, this is not a particularly strong push. They hardly ever cook, and increasingly tend not to do supermarkets anyway.

From Tuesday we will see a little more traffic on our roads – but the full level may never come back.

We can do this in no small part because a decade ago Minister Stephen Joyce rolled out the ultrafast broadband programme.

There is no way we could hold our work meetings without this capacity.

Broadband is our newest and most powerful superhighway, and our car is now a mouse travelling millimetres in milliseconds to do the same job as the car could over kilometres and take whole weeks out of our year.

We will look back on 2020 as the year the car started to die.

On the left we are used to conspiracies about how public transport was deliberately killed off in the 1950s by National. In a 2005 article Dr Chris Harris described the Ministry of Works’ plans for an integrated Auckland in a document called The Shape of Things to Come:

… in which the government promised to electrify Auckland’s railways and extend the eastern semi-circle in to a complete circle accessing western suburbs … The existing Southern and Western lines would cross the circle, and a harbour bridge would extend the railway service to the North Shore.” (quoted in Chris Trotter’s No Left Turn, 2007, “The Auckland That Never Was”, p. 206)

But alternative histories are such a bittersweet exercise. This is reality happening how, far from the planners’ desks and straight from the travel behaviour of the consumer, the worker, and the citizen.

On any given pre-Covid worday evening, you could climb atop One Tree Hill or Mt Eden or Mt Albert and see the city pulse with red-lit ribbons of energy and wasted time as the motorways pushed us one way or the other.

We are about 86% urbanised, heading towards 90%. Over half a century of driving has told us that we are codependent with our car. Cars no longer give us liberty and joy. We have designed Auckland – 40% of us – as a gridlocked state from its auto-bred lifestyle , an environmental choking on its exhausts and its land dominance, a landscape sacked by its highways.

Now, in the moments before our society starts to shift to Level 2, there are choices that are real for our lives, and they are choices within our power.

Not only are they in our power, we are positively required to take them. The social gatherings we took for granted may not be back for months – and if there’s another outbreak – perhaps years. The reasons to go to the mall in the car are almost wiped away.

Apart from shoes, there is perhaps nothing we need to shop for by car.

Many of us have been able to walk and run and cycle the streets of our neighbourhoods over the last month and understand not only freedom, but also silence. A beautiful observance of all the sounds that were clouded from our perception.

If we were lucky enough to walk or run at night, we would have seen a sky free from pollution and the most remarkably detailed Milky Way.

This is not only a consumer choice away from your car via your fridge or other ordering device, it is also commercially mandated. Businesses can offload costs to the worker by requiring you to do your work and your meetings from home. They can then offload their commercial leases and save on other overheads. When a town as car-addicted as Tauranga starts to consider working from home as a dominant mode, you know you’re in for change.

The case for road user charges for all – which is supported by both the AA and GreaterAuckland – will become stronger and stronger, because it will be clear that each journey has a cost to business and to society and to the environment.

Even National sees the policy need for this very clearly. Pricing will come, and it will further push people away from roads.

Even with spectacular rises in public transport in our cities that have it in any measure (Auckland in particular), a post-Covid world will see a massive public transport use reversal for some time. Covid-19’s effects question the need to travel at all, not on which mode.

All of these dead ends make this a time for larger considerations. Motor traffic will at some point increase again. But this is already looking like the accidental shift away from dependence not only on the car, but on urban travel full stop.

Directed by the post-Covid state, required by many of our jobs, enabled by broadband infrastructure and other technology, and encouraged by online purchasing, 2020 is the year that will start the death of the car.

45 comments on “How to kill the car ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. RedLogix 1
    29 April 2020 at 7:45 am

    Many of us have been able to walk and run and cycle the streets of our neighbourhoods over the last month and understand not only freedom, but also silence. A beautiful observance of all the sounds that were clouded from our perception.

    If we were lucky enough to walk or run at night, we would have seen a sky free from pollution and the most remarkably detailed Milky Way.

    You are describing the Auckland I grew up in. By comparison to many world cities, Auckland, especially when you arrive by air on a beautiful evening, still looks like an overgrown village. But a combination of constrained geography and unimaginative transport planning means that when I visit the place now I feel a small frisson of nostalgia and a large dollop of 'thank God I don't have to live here now'.

    It didn't have to be like this. Brisbane with twice the population is a far more pleasant city to live in.

    But your overall theme hits all the right points. Looking back on major epidemics they do have a history of triggering significant changes in social behaviour. The first SARS event in Asia for instance is directly credited with the growth of online shopping in this region. I did my first Bunnings 'click and collect' in the weekend, just to avoid having to go into the shop.

    It's also an expression of how much technology is changing the nature of work itself. 200 years ago most of us toiled in fields, undertaking hands on labour; now an increasing fraction of us can work from a spare bedroom, a change that's happened within our lifetimes. Every journey we don't take is one less hit on the natural world and is a good example of how advancing technologies have the effect of de-coupling human development from the ecology of the planet.

    This de-coupling process has of course a long way to run, and I freely accept the thesis is both counter-intuitive and unproven, but your post points to at least one way in which it can be true.

  2. gsays 2
    29 April 2020 at 8:39 am

    One of the ways that humanity has made other things extinct is to encroach on their environment.

    Pedestrianise the CBDs.

    Nationalise all parking businesses, treble the rates and return that diminishing income to free public transport, walkways etc.

  3. Siobhan 3
    29 April 2020 at 8:54 am

    "surrounded by oppressed minimum-wage slaves who hate being there"..much better they go work in a call centre or warehouse where we can pretend they don't exist.

    Funnily enough, my local supermarkets..Pak n Save and Countdown, all employ young and old staff, who actually are very engaging with the customers who enjoy a small dose of human interaction.

    The only fly in the ointment is their employers and employment laws that allow exploitation and abuse..

  4. dv 4
    29 April 2020 at 8:59 am

    Re shopping for shoes by car cause you need to fit them

    Why not 3D printing?

    • Carolyn_Nth 4.1
      29 April 2020 at 9:20 am

      Clothes also need fitting in person.

      I'm getting supermarket home deliveries – it's not as good as doing the shopping in person. And Countdown charges quite a lot for this. $14.00 +$1 for paper bags for an order under $200.00; $9.00 per bags for over $200. I do an order every 2 weeks to cut down on costs. But I really don't have the storage capacity for 2 weeks of fresh fruit and veges.

      Also, if I forget to include something in the order, I need to wait 2 more weeks to order it, rather than nipping down to the supermarket. And, if they have something when you put in an order, and it's no longer available on the day of delivery, I may not get it. I can tick the box for a near equivalent. But, the last delivery, instead of the dairy (gluten) free 6 seed bread, I got dairy/gluten free white bread – stuck with that for 2 weeks.

      There are many things I prefer to see close up before I buy them – as well as clothes.

      3D printers? Seriously, this post and such comments come from a comfortable middle class perspective.

      First solve the housing crisis, so lots of people are not living in overcrowded homes, where working from home would be a calamity, even if they had such a job.

      • dv 4.1.1
        29 April 2020 at 9:30 am

        Clothes -Virtual fitting ie show you in clothes on PC,

        Supermarket – problem of not having items maybe because of current supply chain,

        • Carolyn_Nth 4.1.1.1
          29 April 2020 at 9:40 am

          Really? Wouldn't trust it.

          Also requires a good internet connection. The situation with schools shows many households without an internet or computer to support home schooling. First end the digital divide.

          Maybe guys don't have the same difficulties with clothes sizing being all over the place as with women's clothing? And with different cuts, same size, not quite suiting some bodies. Things can look good on a hanger (and on a model), and not so great in reality.

          • Andre 4.1.1.1.1
            29 April 2020 at 10:19 am

            For me, as long as the waistband is tight enough the pants don't fall off my ass and my shirt or fleece or jacket is baggy enough to hide my muffin top, I'm good. Easy. Comfortable, too.

            • Carolyn_Nth 4.1.1.1.1.1
              29 April 2020 at 10:46 am

              I buy as many men's clothes as women's. I do find men's clothes easier to buy, and more comfortable than most women's. I can pretty much tell by the advertised size if an item of men's clothing will fit me – much harder with women's clothes.

              And generally, a lot of men's clothes fit my body shape better than women's clothes.

              • millsy …
                29 April 2020 at 11:00 am

                Interesting. I myself have been wearing women's jeans for 3 years now, and found them to be a much better fit than men's jeans.

                • Carolyn_Nth …
                  29 April 2020 at 11:11 am

                  I think something changes in female body shape as we age. A friend who is small, and thin and always worn the same size as when young pointed this out to me – her waist has thickened, so she no longer has the same curves, even though she still wears the same size clothes.

                  I have found that a lot of women's trousers are hip level rather than going up to the waist. And they just keep falling down, so every few minutes I'm hitching them up.

                  Getting really tight fitting trousers doesn't help because, when they cling to thighs and calves, every bend of the leg pulls the trousers downwards.

                  Usually don't have such problems with men's trousers.

                • rod …
                  29 April 2020 at 4:59 pm

                  Did you put your own zipper in millsy ? smiley

              • Andre …
                29 April 2020 at 11:10 am

                For me, M or 86 below the waist and L above the waist almost always works just fine.

          • millsy 4.1.1.1.2
            29 April 2020 at 11:04 am

            Don't worry, men have the same struggle. 3XL shirts can vary from store to store.

  5. Gosman 5
    29 April 2020 at 9:16 am

    In a World where social distancing has become much more important there is a corresponding INCREASE in demand for cars rather than less. Public transport has become far LESS attractive.

    • RedLogix 5.1
      29 April 2020 at 10:06 am

      That's a good point that needs addressing by authorities here.

      I'd guess it's partly why Asians are so accustomed to wearing masks in public; for many they have to use PT and masks are a visible part of their adaptation.

    • Maurice 5.2
      29 April 2020 at 10:10 am

      Public Transport kills and/or makes ill

      Have you noticed how few ordinary colds about now?

      Social distancing and isolation has had this effect.

      Private cars allow isolation and control of virus breathing environment.

      The rural areas demand individual mobility – if the cities want to continue to be fed

      • Carolyn_Nth 5.2.1
        29 April 2020 at 10:26 am

        Public transport will not die, but it may, hopefully change. Hopefully the days of squashing people like cattle into buses and trains at peak times will change.

        Auckland public transport is still operating, but they have enforced social distancing, and contactless travel. And it's free at alert levels 3 & 4. I'm told by someone who uses buses, they don't stop if they are up to physically distanced passengers.

        • Maurice 5.2.1.1
          29 April 2020 at 10:33 am

          One cough inside the bus door and everyone walks in and out through a virus droplet cloud. Enforced social distancing and contactless travel has no effect upon this reality.

          There ain't no such thing as "free" – someone pays and in this case our children and grandchildren will be saddled with the debt for a very long time.

          • Carolyn_Nth 5.2.1.1.1
            29 April 2020 at 10:53 am

            Ah well, so that's an end to restaurants, public gatherings, weddings, funerals, private parties…etc, etc.

            Public transport should be free. It's cheaper in the long run than the constant road upkeep necessary for large amounts of, inefficient, private cars.

            • Gosman 5.2.1.1.1.1
              29 April 2020 at 11:14 am

              Running services not based on whether they are financially viable is inefficient as well.

            • Maurice 5.2.1.1.1.2
              29 April 2020 at 11:21 am

              "Free" simply means paid for by someone else or by debt

              There ain't no such thing as a free lunch – Heinlein's TANSTAFL principle writ large.

              The next two generations of wealth has already been spent and harvested.

              • roblogic …
                30 April 2020 at 1:50 am

                Tell that to the bankers who create money out of thin air, clip the ticket by legal fiat, thereby stealing the actual wealth (physical assets and labour) of the productive sector.

                The fiat money system and private banks are a total scam. Burn the banks down. Money creation should be a government function

                https://www.positivemoney.org.nz/

              • Psycho Milt …
                30 April 2020 at 7:57 am

                "Free" simply means paid for by someone else or by debt

                "There's no such thing as society!" cries the sociopath, while busy enjoying all the benefits of living in a society.

      • Psycho Milt 5.2.2
        30 April 2020 at 7:55 am

        Public Transport kills and/or makes ill

        There's nothing inherent in public transport that causes illness. What you're referring to is close proximity to other people, which applies to everyone in an urban environment regardless of whether they use public transport or not. You driving a car from one close proximity instance to another may allow you to fantasise it as a healthier option, but a fantasy is all it is.

  6. MartinC 6
    29 April 2020 at 10:07 am

    At least a good culling [of cars].

  7. James 7
    29 April 2020 at 10:17 am

    People use their car for a lot more than just groceries.

    Seems that it might be more of a killer for public transport – as a lot of people in the world are not going to want to be in tight conditions in a tube / bus / trains.

    In fact car sales post covid in Wuhan are going very well: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/quick-rebound-in-wuhan-car-sales-give-hope-to-battered-industry

  8. Kay 8
    29 April 2020 at 10:34 am

    Disclaimer: my life-long medical driving ban probably makes me a tad biased on this topic.

    For the past 5 weeks I have for the first time been able to cross the road outside my house without fear of getting bowled. Said road leads to a huge retail park, obviously closed. On the flip side, there are times where maintaining one's bubble out walking around here is quite difficult due to the large amount of pedestrians that have suddenly popped up on usually quiet footpaths.

    While I have 2 supermarkets only 10 minutes walk from me unfortunately I'm stuck with home delivery for the duration which I do not like at all and will be abandoning as soon as possible. Countdown is much dearer than Pak n Save for starters, and online supermarket shopping will never be able to replace the ability to find the best deals one can find shopping in store (NZers are the most price sensitive shoppers in the world apparently, can't imagine why), so until our grocery cartel is broken then no, in store shopping has to stay. Those of us who don't drive rely on walking, taxi or buses, or hitch a lift with someone else for our groceries. Personally, I'd be up for fewer supermarket trips if I could do a large shop in person and the store delivered it for me.

    I love the fact that many people have had a break (albeit enforced) from daily driving for a few weeks and have discovered that it's not that difficult to get from A to B by foot/bike locally. Unfortunately I can't see NZ giving up their cars in a hurry, or having restrictions put on them, and many would fight tooth and nail against pedestrianised CBDs, which we've already seen every time it's been mooted. It's our version of the 2nd Amendment. But until their licences are physically take away from them (medical or legal ban) the driving culture is just too ingrained here.

    Non-drivers do tend to have a different view on other cities or countries when visiting them, the first one of course, 'how easy is it to get around by public transport'- this frequently determines if a place can be visited or lived in. In NZ, the majority of places are still near impossible to live in without at least access to a car of sorts. And don't get me started on travelling around the country.

    Yes we have a small population. That line is always pulled out. Of course we can't be like Europe, but we did it pretty well in the past here. In the provincial town I grew up in in the 70s/80s (pop.35,000 then) there was a good bus network. Last time I visited there about 3 years ago, population close to 80,000 and extremely minimal buses and routes working days only, stopping at 6pm. And the roads way to hazerdous to cycle on. I also remember being able to quite safely cycle Ponsonby Rd in the 90s. So did the buses get worse because cars became cheaper so patronage dropped? If so, do cars need to become dearer again?

    Obviously people are going to be wary of travelling in large groups in enclosed spaces for some time. But please remember, for a many of us, we have no choice and you could also find yourself in the same position tomorrow. So it's a no brainer that for a start, local transport has to be set up so people aren't jammed together. Unfortunately this will result in fewer services, but if they can work on making those buses/trains run on time then the public have a reliable alternative to get places.

  9. Carolyn_Nth 9
    29 April 2020 at 10:39 am

    Public (mass) transport will always be an important part of our transport system. I prefer to use it rather than my car when I can, especially as I get older. And many young colleagues I worked with are just not into cars. They use public transport a lot in normal times.

    The amount people were enjoying getting out and about yesterday shows that many people prefer to be going out and about in cities: to cafes; to work, etc.

    Things that may hopefully change with future public transport:

    • people with streaming colds/flu now know not to travel when sick, and not to go to work. It always pissed me off when I found myself next to someone sniffling, coughing, blowing their noses etc in winter.
    • An end to the centralising moves since Auckland supercity amalgamation. Workplaces and businesses to be located nearer to where people live, so traveling is less.
    • More focus on transport systems that favour pedestrians, and those using small machines (bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc) – separation of machine transport from pedestrians.
    • Cheap, comfortable, safe and healthy mass transit systems – including ferries in Auckland – including more physical distancing than in the past.

    While I much prefer public transport and walking to using my car, it was easy getting into Auckland Hospital yesterday for my appointment with fewer cars on the road than normal. I was able to park in an unrestricted street park, next to the railway line and opposite Mt Eden prison.

    From there it was a pleasant walk to the Grafton hospital. There were a fair amount of cars and buses about – quite a few people waiting at the bus stop outside the hospital. And a fair amount of people enjoying walking and cycling.

    Public/mass transit is essential in NZ's highly urbanised living – and most people I know, who are currently working from home, find it hard, and would prefer to be going into a workplace where they are with other people.

  10. woodart 10
    29 April 2020 at 10:45 am

    personal transport is not going to die. but the need for so many people to jam the roads at the same time will decrease with working from home . maybe the biggest change in personal transport will be the increased demand for electric vehicles. big cities have seen there skies for the first time in years, and that has awakened many people to the amount of shit that burning fossils throws into the atmosphere.

  11. AB 11
    29 April 2020 at 11:08 am

    Cars give us freedom to get out of cities. While we still have an outdoors worth visiting (one of the handful of good reasons to live in NZ) we will want personalised ways to get there.

    We will still need good, free public transport – especially in urban areas – and post-COVID we will be back to using it. But the most ardent PT advocates are trying to solve a problem that (as Chris Trotter describes) should have been solved in the 1950s. But time has moved on, not all of us need to physically crisscross cities – or even live in cities at all. And 3-4 degrees of warming will reduce us to essentials – and shake out a number of the bullshit urban jobs that have no human or social value. So populations may become less dense in a warmed world – and the need for personalised ways of getting around will still exist.

  12. bwaghorn 12
    29 April 2020 at 12:12 pm

    Nice fantasy post .

    We are probably about 2 weeks away from the rds being exactly how they were pre covid.

    Rich people can afford internet supermarket shopping, but us lesser mortals need to be there to grab those on sale items .

    • Chris T 12.1
      29 April 2020 at 4:55 pm

      This pretty much

      Cars aren't going any where soon.

      For a start Auckland public transport is shit. Wellington is better, but the rest of a the country is crap as well.

      A lot of people can't sit there conveniently tapping their credit card number into a supermarket delivery site.

      There are kids that still haven't got access to studying online ffs

  13. bill 13
    29 April 2020 at 12:19 pm

    Disclaimer. Never driven….

    Treat broadband as a public utility so it is accessible by everyone. A lot of stuff can be ordered online and delivered/posted. It seems that many jobs do not require a physical presence in some dedicated workplace. Hopefully, there will be a resurgence of local businesses catering to local people who can then walk to get their messages.

    If individuals discover they have less need to spend time sitting in a four wheeled tub, then maybe 'car share' could be taken a step further.

    And matchsticks wedged down tyre valves tended to 'kill' cars when I was a kid. 🙂

  14. Lettuce 14
    29 April 2020 at 12:43 pm

    "We can do this in no small part because a decade ago Minister Stephen Joyce rolled out the ultrafast broadband programme."

    And here I was thinking Joyce was just an arrogant blowhard who wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on his clusterfuck MBIE vanity project. I always thought his greatest achievement was the delusional "$11 billion budget hole" that he pulled out of his arse right before the last election. Maybe I should up upgrade my opinion of him to a self-important tosser instead.

  15. McFlock 15
    29 April 2020 at 1:13 pm

    Couple of points.

    I live alone. Grocery shopping has been the closest I get to real people in the past month. Thank fuck for supermarkets.

    "Working from home" is a privilege on many levels, both in type of work but also in what resources you have at home: at work I have two screens close to me, few distractions, and colleagues right there to ask random questions.

    At home I have a laptop with a smallish screen (or a TV as monitor across the room) on which to read my remote terminal extended desktop. Many distractions, because I don't have a separate office/spare room. Terminal lag. A daily zoom meeting that is sterile and without real connection. It's driving me nuts and I'm getting FA done, even though I live alone.

    Sure, the quiet is pretty awesome. This morning there was a beautiful bird call through the closed window and it sounded like an hd remastered recording.

    But as personal interaction goes, Zoom is the equivalent of phone sex instead of making love with someone. Sure, it has its charms, but it's not easily mistaken for the real thing.

    • Incognito 15.1
      29 April 2020 at 9:27 pm

      yes

    • Psycho Milt 15.2
      30 April 2020 at 8:05 am

      Working from home sucks ass, as they'd say on South Park. My job can theoretically be done online, but it's a shit experience and really bad for my productivity. Of the people I know who are keen to see working from home at least some days per week become a permanent fixture, two of them want some days away from the boss they hate and the rest are just interested in doing less work for the same salary. Those are not good reasons.

      As soon as we get to level 2 I'm going back to my office – and will try and up the number of times I bike there rather than drive, because yes it's been fucking wonderful having fewer cars on the road the last month.

      • Andre 15.2.1
        30 April 2020 at 8:16 am

        Oh yes, the bike ride out to Massey and back. No hills, but the normal daily thermal wind pattern made it an upwind ride on the way there and into the fucking wind again on the way home.

        • Psycho Milt 15.2.1.1
          30 April 2020 at 9:26 am

          They built a cycling/pedestrian bridge across the Manawatū not far from my place so the trip is down to 4 k, in fact it's now quicker to bike than drive during rush hour (such as it is here). So I now have no excuse, other than that I won't bike to work in the rain.

          • Andre 15.2.1.1.1
            30 April 2020 at 9:55 am

            Wow, that looks sweet!

            I was there in the days of the old Fitzherbert bridge. One of my high school mates at Awatapu lived up Atawhai Rd. For a while he had an exchange student living with him. One day they turned up late and the exchange student was soaking wet. Turns out going across the bridge someone clipped the end of his handlebars, his front wheel went into a railing support and stopped dead, and he went over the railing into the river. Lucky it was where there actually was water flowing, rather than gravel bank.

            • Psycho Milt 15.2.1.1.1.1
              30 April 2020 at 10:42 am

              Farkinell! The replacement road bridge also has vertical slats in the railing so that could still happen. I live near Awatapu so my kids went there, it's a good school – decile 5 because it draws on my well-off neighbourhood and on Highbury, which is an interesting mix. Presume it was the same when you were there.

              • Andre …
                30 April 2020 at 11:15 am

                The old bridge railing was only about waist high, and the vertical supports were big concrete things that stuck way out into where people were trying to ride in both directions and fit pedestrians into quite a narrow area. Looks like the new bridge railing is almost shoulder high, the verticals don't stick out much, and there's that continuous rail down the bottom that might deflect a wheel back online anyway. Plus the cycle/pedestrian lane looks quite wide.

                I was part of the first class year at Awatapu when it first started up in the 70s. Thinking back, yeah it was a mix then, too. A lot of kids of academics from Massey, Teachers College, DSIR and Dairy Research Institute, plus kids from Highbury, Takaro, Awapuni etc. But I don't recall that as being much of an issue back then.

                The school management really involved the community in trying to set the school culture, so it ended up tending towards a little bit hippie. No prefects etc. School colours were kinda eye-watering tho – harvest gold and dog-turd brown.

                • Psycho Milt …
                  30 April 2020 at 1:14 pm

                  Ha! That's the 70s for you, beige and brown. The colours are still the same, and still no prefects, much more relaxed hair etc rules than other schools and no uniform for years 12-13. The girls' uniform includes a tartan miniskirt that any punk rocker would have proud to own back in the late 70s/early 80s – definitely my kind of school.

                  EDIT: ahem… my apologies to the author of the OP…

  16. Foreign waka 16
    29 April 2020 at 6:48 pm

    The public transport is a joke. Full stop, end of story. If it would actually rival what you can see in major cities in Europe, yes I would give up my car. Honest.

    I love driving and I am absolute sure that I am not the only one. And I might add, as long as public transport equals that I need to set aside 3 hours per day to get to and from work….hell freezes over before I stop using my car that does the same in 40 minutes. Shopping would be an utter nightmare….

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    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 hours ago

  • How Much Paint Do You Need to Paint a Car?
    The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 hours ago

  • Can You Jump a Car in the Rain? Safety Precautions and Essential Steps
    Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 hours ago

  • Can taxpayers be confident PIJF cash was spent wisely?
    Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    8 hours ago

  • EGU2024 – An intense week of joining sessions virtually
    Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
    Skeptical Science
    10 hours ago

  • Submission on “Fast Track Approvals Bill”
    The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    11 hours ago

  • The Case for a Universal Family Benefit
    One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    12 hours ago

  • A who’s who of New Zealand’s dodgiest companies
    Submissions on National's corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law are due today (have you submitted?), and just hours before they close, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has been forced to release the list of companies he invited to apply. I've spent the last hour going through it in an epic thread of bleats, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    14 hours ago

  • On Lee’s watch, Economic Development seems to be stuck on scoring points from promoting sporting e...
    Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    15 hours ago

  • New Zealand has never been closed for business
    1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    16 hours ago

  • Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    18 hours ago

  • Melissa Lee and the media: ending the quest
    Chris Trotter writes –  MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    20 hours ago

  • The Hoon around the week to April 19
    TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago

  • The ‘Humpty Dumpty’ end result of dismantling our environmental protections
    Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago

  • Nicola's Salad Days.
    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    21 hours ago

  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago

  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    23 hours ago

  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago

  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
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  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
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  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
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  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
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  • Taupō takes pole position
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  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
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  • Government backing mussel spat project
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  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
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  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
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  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
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  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
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  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
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  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
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  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
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  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
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  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
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  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
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  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
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  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
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  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
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  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
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  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
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  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
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  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
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  • Navigating an unstable global environment
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  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
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  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
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  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
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  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
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  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
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