Key’s green mask slips

Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, May 19th, 2008 - 33 comments
Categories: climate change, flip-flop, john key, national, slippery - Tags:

Last year John Key announced National’s ‘Blue-Green’ Strategy. It contained the first shadow of acknowledgment from National that climate change is a serious issue: a target to reduce greenhouse gas emission to 50% of 1990 levels by 2050. Of course, setting a target for a time when most of your MPs will be dead is easy; the hard part is coming up with an actual policy to get there, and the Blue-Green strategy provided no hint of how National would go about making reductions happen.

Now, there is a reductions policy going through the legislative process. The Emissions Trading Scheme is late in coming and weak but will start a reduction in New Zealand’s emissions, sufficient to save New Zealand half a billion dollars off the cost of buying carbon credits for failing to meet the reductions target we pledged in the Kyoto Protocol. And National, after yet another flip-flop, now opposes the ETS.

In fact, National has opposed every concrete measure to reduce greenhouse emissions. First, the livestock levy (hilariously nicknamed the Fart tax), then the carbon tax, and now the ETS. Sure it has an excuse: ‘the ETS is being developed too hurriedly’ (we’re six years into its development) but what this really comes down to is that National will always put the short-term interests of big business (= big emitters) first, ahead of doing anything to reduce emissions. It’s all very well to speak of halving emissions by 2050 but, when push comes to shove, National has shown it will always do nothing.

Key talks a big game on climate change (and on incomes, emigration, infrastructure, health, education, and productivity) but his words are hollow. When it comes time to actually do something, to get behind real work that will make a difference, Key is always missing in action.

[The Greens should support the ETS, to ensure it passes. It is flawed but now it is clear that there will be no serious emissions reductions policy under a National government. The ETS is the only game in town, and the Greens owe it to the environment to play. In return for their support, the Greens should demand more Government funding for helping households transition to low-carbon technologies.]

33 comments on “Key’s green mask slips ”

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  1. gobsmacked 1
    19 May 2008 at 9:58 am

    There’s an excellent summary by No Right Turn:

    http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2008/05/climate-change-national-on-emissions.html

    Breathtaking stuff from Key, really.

  2. higherstandard 2
    19 May 2008 at 10:07 am

    Good on Key for rejecting this crappy piece of legislation in it’s current form.

    SP your comment that “The Greens should support the ETS, to ensure it passes. It is flawed but now it is clear that there will be no serious emissions reductions policy under a National government. ”

    I find bizarre – perhaps those that are keen for the ETS should perhaps vote for the Greens rather than anyone else as if anyone’s green mask is slipping surely it’s the current government receiving hollow international awards while their actual record is less than spectacular.

  3. rjs131 3
    19 May 2008 at 10:09 am

    Hold on, are you suggesting that Key is wrong for not supporting a piece of legislation that you admit is flawed?? If something is flawed, isnt their a duty for MPs to fix those flaws? If there are to be changes isnt then a duty for those MPs to consult those who will be drastically affected by it? What is wrong with not wanting to rush this through or are you confident that the law of common sense, which has worked so well inthe EFA will prevail in this instance.

  4. infused 4
    19 May 2008 at 10:16 am

    They oppose it in its current form. Get your shit straight Steve. It’s a piece of shit legislation that deserves to be rejected.

  5. Steve Pierson 5
    19 May 2008 at 10:24 am

    The ETS is too timid and it is late (the EU has had carbon trading for several years) but at least it is a start.

    It is not being rushed through, it is the result of 6 years of policy work.

    National will find a reason to oppose any climate change legislation.

    No need for the language, infused.

  6. infused 6
    19 May 2008 at 10:26 am

    There is when everything you post is misleading. They are trying to rush it now, just the the EFB.

  7. higherstandard 7
    19 May 2008 at 10:30 am

    And would you say the EU ETS has been a blinding success SP ?

  8. Brett Dale 8
    19 May 2008 at 10:41 am

    Finally there is a politician who just doesn’t jump on the climate change bandwagon because its popular.

    Hopefully we will finally get a proper debate about Climate change in this country and not one that just preys on peoples emotions.

  9. erikter 9
    19 May 2008 at 10:50 am

    “The Greens should support the ETS, to ensure it passes.”

    Of course they will support the ETS. The Greens are suckers for punishment at will do whatever Labour tell them to do.

    Wait for Russell and Jeanette to utter the words agreeing to support this bill. Ah, the watermelon Greens!

  10. Steve Pierson 10
    19 May 2008 at 10:51 am

    Brett.

    The scientific debate on climate change has been settled for 40 years.

    180 nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. Now is the time to actually start doing something, rather than always looking for excuses for inaction.

    HS. Emissions are falling in Europe and GDP growth is been unaffected. I’d call that success.

  11. TomS 11
    19 May 2008 at 10:51 am

    The business elites in New Zealand are amongst the most unimaginative and mediocre in the world and they cling to outdated new right economic mantras. Given that, its not surprising they are obstinate andeluvian climate change deniers. Their strategy has been clear for some time now: In public accept that climate change is happening and reluctantly agree something should be done whilst in private and via their various lobby groups oppose tooth and nail any initiatives at all in the hope that if they stall long enough they’ll get a National government who will park the whole thing for at least three and hopefully six years. Then they’ll can forget about the whole thing and when the chickens come home to roost blame the government for inaction.

  12. Lew 12
    19 May 2008 at 10:54 am

    The question here is whether an imperfect scheme soon is better than a perfect scheme at some unspecified point in the future. There’s a sliding-scale here: material considerations are how imperfect, and at what point in the future. Both the Greens and the maori party have major misgivings about the bill, but if they fail to support it as drafted it won’t pass before the election, and they’d risk leaving it to an incoming National government.

    If they don’t support it the quality of the scheme rests on the outcome of the election. If Labour wins, the scheme would probably be better (from a Green perspective) than it is now because if they win, they’ll almost certainly need both parties (current polling 14 seats) for support, and that means compromise. However its implementation would be delayed about a year. The stronger scheme would likely result in better Kyoto compliance overall despite the delay in implementation, so this represents a small net win for the Greens amd maori party in terms of policy and a large net win for them in terms of their influence in government.

    If National wins, the year’s delay is a minimum figure; given the weakening economy, I believe National would be inclined to delay further. In addition, the resulting bill would probably be worse (from a Green perspective). Significant net loss in terms of both the quality of the policy from their perspective and their influence in government.

    Applying the precautionary principle, there is no question that the Greens and the maori party should support the ETS bill as drafted for passage before the election. To do otherwise shows a recklessly high degree of confidence in Labour to win the election.

    L

  13. higherstandard 13
    19 May 2008 at 11:06 am

    SP

    From Swedish Green MP Max Andersson regarding the EU ETS

    ?There has so-far been limited questioning of the hazy assertion that the EU is good for the environment. This new study from Open Europe attempts to challenge this claim, arguing that real environmentalists should be very sceptical indeed of the EU?s record on this area.?

    ?The EU doesn?t need an Constitution to fight climate change – it simply needs the political will to develop policies that work.?

    Almost everyone acknowledges that the first phase of the system – running from 2005 to 2007 – has been a failure: more permits to pollute have been printed than there is pollution. The price of carbon has collapsed to almost zero, creating no incentive to reduce pollution.

  14. gobsmacked 14
    19 May 2008 at 11:16 am

    “Finally there is a politician who just doesn’t jump on the climate change bandwagon because its popular.”

    You aren’t referring to John Key are you? He’s been on the bandwagon since he saw Al Gore’s movie! And only because THAT was popular.

    Quiz time: what was John Key’s first question in Parliament to Helen Clark, after he became National leader? Guess …

  15. T-rex 15
    19 May 2008 at 11:39 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10510954&pnum=2

    At the bottom of the page shown above is a series of questions posed by Key and addressed by Parker.

    I’m appalled by the recent swing in public opinion. Global warming is only a fraction of the issue, the ETS will change investment and development strategies for the better regardless of the accuracy of the climate change predictions. Regardless of whether we’re warming the globe, increased energy efficiency is still beneficial, oil based transport is a dead end tech, coal is a lousy power source, dairy is a horrendous polluter…
    To think that all it takes is a spike in petrol price and interest rates to make people abandon rational thought and lunge for the false security of short term cost reductions. The ETS certainly won’t kill our economy, but it might save it.
    At the end of the day, the ETS is an R&D incentive. Which is the only thing that’s going to get us out of the hole we’re digging at present.
    By moving to abandon it, we’re only proving ourselves to be the short sighted suckers corporate strategists have always been able to count on.

  16. Peter Nelson 16
    19 May 2008 at 11:43 am

    SP – climate change science has not been settled for 40 years. 40 years ago we were heading for an ice age was the ‘consensus’.
    Science is not settled at all. Just the UN IPCC and the idiots who are paid by this scare that say it is ssttled.

  17. Idiot/Savant 17
    19 May 2008 at 11:51 am

    In fact, National has opposed every concrete measure to reduce greenhouse emissions

    You missed a few – notably, you missed National’s opposition even to measures they have proposed themselves.

    In 1992 National decided they would use the RMA to control emissions. The plan was effective, and in 1994 saw the Taranaki Combined Cycle gas turbine forced to offset its emissions in order to gain resource consent. National suddenly decided that wasn’t a good idea, and introduced a new proposal: get business to sign Negotiated Greenhouse Agreements to reduce emissions, and threaten a carbon tax if they didn’t. Busines signed the agreements and continued to pollute; National obediently backed down on the carbon tax at the last minute. In 1999 (based on policy work done in 1995) they floated a plan for a comprehensive emissions trading scheme to be introduced in ~2002. It would cover all gases and all sectors (sound familiar?) with auctioned permits and international tradeability. They pulled the plug at the last minute.

    This is a party pathologically unable to deal with climate change. In that context, their backflip over the weekend isn’t exactly surprising.

    Higherstandard: And would you say the EU ETS has been a blinding success SP ?

    The EU ETS had two major flaws. Firstly, countries overallocated – they gave out too many oermits in the name of “protecting competitiveness”, which reduced the effectiveness of the scheme. That has been fixed by central allocation. The second problem was that they grandfathered, which saw the scheme deliver large windfall profits to polluters. That has been fixed now by requiring all permits to be auctioned.

    Labour’s ETS would have avoided most of these mistakes. Permits were only grandfathered where prices could not be passed on – so our petrol and electricity companies would be laughing all the way to the bank. And there’s no internal bidding war for permits. Unfortunately, national’s consistent line of criticism has been to demand greater allocation and more grandparenting. It is they who want to repeat the EU’s errors, not Labour.

    Lew: The question here is whether an imperfect scheme soon is better than a perfect scheme at some unspecified point in the future.

    Having looked at this question in some detail, the answer is that it is better to have an imperfect policy which reduces emissions than a nonexistent perfect policy which doesn’t. Unfortunately, NZ policymakers have disagreed, and so we have repeatedly delayed policy and not had anything as backup while waiting for “the bugs to be ironed out”. The perfect has been the enemy of the good.

  18. Lew 18
    19 May 2008 at 12:02 pm

    Peter Nelson: I agree – science is not settled. In science nothing is final – there are just things which haven’t been proven yet. That said, I hear this statement that only the IPCC believes in climate change quite often, in apparent denial of the fact that the IPCC represents the professional opinions of the vast majority of the world’s climate scientists. If you’re aware of another survey so broad-ranging which contradicts or even significantly challenges the IPCC’s findings, I’d love to see it.

    Saying `only the IPCC believes in climate change’ is like saying `only doctors believe smoking causes cancer’. Even if it were true, it’d be meaningless.

    L

  19. Steve Pierson 19
    19 May 2008 at 12:14 pm

    I/S. Thanks for the background on the 1990s, really interesting to see they looked at much of the same stuff but lost their nerve each time.

    It’s also interesting that during the 1990s there was a seriousness, an acceptance of climate change as a real problem to be dealt with, even if they didn’t actually do anything. It’s only once they went into opposition that their head in the sand denier traits came forward.

    Peter nelson. Talk to a scientist – people working on climatology since the 1950s have known that pumping all these gases into the atmosphere would enhance the greenhouse effect, they were actually confused because they didn’t see it happening – in fact what was happening was a general warming but over industrialised countries (where most temperature recording devices are) there was a lot sulphur dioxide, which creates acid rain and smog but also blots out the sun lowering temperatures. Once sulphur dioxide was brought under control the underlying increase in temperatures due to greenhouse gases became more apparent. No serious scientist, in fact no serious person, denies the fact of climate change.

  20. roger nome 20
    19 May 2008 at 12:27 pm

    Peter:

    40 years ago we were heading for an ice age was the ‘consensus’.

    That isn’t true. The ice age theory was never mainstream science.

    Science is not settled at all. Just the UN IPCC

    You’re forgetting all of the National science academies of the industrialised world. 99% of the sceptics aren’t climate scientists, but property developers and the like.

  21. r0b 21
    19 May 2008 at 12:27 pm

    The science certainly is settled. The basic anti-climate change arguments are well known and well refuted:

    http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/mg19426041.100
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/7074601.stm

    The effects are tangible and they are happening now. Arctic ice has retreated so much that new shipping lanes have opened up, and there are looming international debates over newly accessible mineral, oil and fishing rights:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/10/science/10arctic.html
    http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/arctic.html

    As well as Arctic (and Antarctic) ice melt, glaciers (one of the most sensitive indicators of global warming) are receding world wide – see dramatic images here:

    http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/glaciers.html

    The overwhelming body of scientific evidence is now agreed by the overwhelming majority of scientists:

    http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

    On Feb. 2, 2007, the United Nations scientific panel studying climate change declared that the evidence of a warming trend is “unequivocal,’ and that human activity has “very likely’ been the driving force in that change over the last 50 years. The last report by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 2001, had found that humanity had “likely’ played a role.

    The scientific argument is as close to over as science gets. That’s why governments all over the world (and many individual states in America) are taking action to combat climate change.

  22. Luke C 22
    19 May 2008 at 12:31 pm

    The true face of National and Key is really starting to show up in the last few days. The anti MMP statements and the turnaround on Climate Change shows they are really are being controlled by the business elite. Hopefully the public will starty to realise this. This is why the election is far from over.

  23. Phil 23
    19 May 2008 at 12:41 pm

    “No serious scientist, in fact no serious person, denies the fact of climate change”

    I recall that in the 1600’s no serious person believed that the earth orbited the sun. They all thought it was the other way around. Oh, they also thought the earth was flat. Then along came Copernicus and shook things up.

    No serious scientists in the late 1800’s thought there was anything left to discover – we had atoms, and there couldnt be anything smaller than that! Then along came our own Rutherford, split one open, and all this otehr crap came flying out…

    As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing in science, or economics, or climateology, as “certain”. Only varying degree’s of “maybe”. To do otherwise makes you a cheap salesmen.

  24. Lew 24
    19 May 2008 at 12:45 pm

    Phil: Of course, but lacking 20/20 hindsight, would you have sided with Copernicus before he’d proven it? Or Rutherford before he’d split one?

    L

  25. Steve Pierson 25
    19 May 2008 at 12:54 pm

    Phil.

    “I recall that in the 1600’s no serious person believed that the earth orbited the sun. They all thought it was the other way around. Oh, they also thought the earth was flat. Then along came Copernicus and shook things up.”

    a – that’s stupid, it had been known since ancient times that the earth was a sphere orbiting the sun, it just didn’t fit with Christian mythology.

    b – that’s stupid, just because once a upon a time people believed something and it was wrong doesn’t mean that everything people believe now is wrong. You have to present evidence in the present case. You can’t do that, that’s why you’re resorting to pathetic comments about a flat earth.

  26. Phil 26
    19 May 2008 at 1:19 pm

    I probably wouldn’t have, and neither would you.
    =)

    Of course, if we choose to learn from the lessons of the past, we won’t threaten to burn anyone at the stake just becasue their ‘non-believers’ or ‘deniers’.

    Actually, I’ve just had a disturbing thought; is it possible the persecution of opposers to climate change could become our generations McCarthy trials?

  27. AncientGeek 27
    19 May 2008 at 2:33 pm

    Peter Nelson:

    40 years ago we were heading for an ice age was the ‘consensus’.

    Bullshit. What you are talking about was a couple of people in the northern hemisphere looking at their local temperature records from the late 60’s and early 70’s. The media picked it up as headlines.

    It had nothing to do with any science. It was an observation of a local aberration in northern europe and north eastern US. The numbers from this area of the world did not show similar effects.

    In the end they tracked it down to mainly being due to the particulate matter being tossed out from smokestacks. After the clean air legislation caused particle scrubbers to be installed in chimney stacks, the temperatures started tracking with the rest of the world again.

    So what you just described was an early local instance of human instigated climate change. Just like the pea-souper fogs in london earlier in that century.

    If you’re going to argue about stuff in one of my areas of knowledge – how about bringing yourself up to the point of knowing the urban myths.

  28. AncientGeek 28
    19 May 2008 at 2:40 pm

    Phil:

    Actually, I’ve just had a disturbing thought; is it possible the persecution of opposers to climate change could become our generations McCarthy trials

    Personally I wish that they’d just learn enough science to be worth the effort of arguing with them.

    As far as I can tell, I’ve never seen a person trained in earth sciences or climatology disagree with the proposition of human induced climate change. They just argue about how far the effects will go.

    What I see are engineers, chemists. physicists, and various other disciplines talking about things they don’t appear to understand. Then a pile of untrained idiots grabbing it as justifications for their gut-feelings.

  29. darryl p 29
    19 May 2008 at 2:43 pm

    What I find ironic is that the government are annoyed at the main government opposition for not supporting one of the governments key policies. I’ve read in this blog time and again how Helen is such a master of MMP, and yet she can’t get her own supply partners to push the ETS through. If anything Labours frustration should be aimed at them not National.

    If the Greens have misgivings about the changes that Labour have made to the ETS I think that’s fair enough, afterall they are the Green party and enviromental matters are what they have built their party on. If Labour want the Greens to play ball then they have to have a policy that the Greens are happy to sign off on – not change it without consulting them.

    If Labour try and push through a policy that their own partners are not happy with – in the hope that their main opposition will support them – then they are mad!

  30. Steve Pierson 30
    19 May 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Well, Labour wanted to build a consensus on the ETS, recognising it is a long-term policy with major economic imapcts. National had agreed to be part of it. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove National will always back way from doing anything about climate change.

    the weakening of the ETS that Labour made two weeks ago was really to try to shore up support from the centre parties (NZF and UF). It pissed the Greens off and rightly so but Labour has to try to make the numbers.

    I suspect that Labour can get both the Greens and NZF on board with some further policy deals and I think UF would have ended up opposing the scheme anyway because they’re hollow, just like National.

    it would also be very disappointing if the Maori party opposes the ETS.

  31. darryl p 31
    19 May 2008 at 3:39 pm

    Fundamentally I still think all parties would want to support some sort of scheme that reduced the impact that we have on the environment.

    However, what Labour propose is different to what the Greens propose which is different to what National propose which is probably different again to what ACT, the Maori Party and UF propose.

    I can’t see this being anything but a lenghty process, one which is also unavoidable, but most likely worth it in the end.

    My personal verdict is out on whether there is such a thing as global warming or not – but that doesn’t change the fact that we are still morally bound to not trash the planet.

  32. Ari 32
    20 May 2008 at 10:47 pm

    Steve- The Greens would support it if it were merely flawed. (and that was their opinion of the stronger ETS before Labour starting trying to engage National on it) However, the state that Labour was trying to pass it in was actively harmful to the environmental economy.

    The issue is essentially that it needs someone to cross the left-right divide of our parliament to get this legislation through, as it can’t be done by just the centre parties, (labour/NZF/UF) it can’t be done by the left parties, (labour/greens/maori) and it can’t be done by the right parties. (national/act/UF)

    The problem is that the left coalition would likely want an ETS that pushes change through at a respectable, if not particularly fast speed. But the centre and the right actively want to subsidise polluters by leaving them out of the ETS and stalling other anti-emissions measures as long as possible. (with them merely varying on exactly how much stalling and subsidising they want)

    The issue is essentially that this has already been 6 years in the making, and the unwillingness for even weak action on climate change is astounding, especially given that only Act and National have any public climate deniers in their parties.

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    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    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
    6 days ago

  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    7 days ago

  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    7 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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