Local Bodies: Neoliberal Economics Limits Food Choice in Southland

Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, January 10th, 2015 - 62 comments
Categories: business, Economy, farming, food, health, sustainability - Tags: , , ,

bsprout on the Local Bodies blog, provides a case study, specific to Southland.  At the same time, it outlines a more general pattern that can be seen in many places, each with their own local circumstances. The post below was originally posted on Local Bodies on 8 January 2015.


 

My first post for the year probably reflects the fact that I have spent a good amount of time in my garden. Watching my garden thrive in our current patch of good weather and harvesting a variety of vegetables and fruit has made me appreciate what a wonderful environment we have for growing food.

Southland doesn’t produce good bananas, pineapples or kumera, our climate isn’t warm enough for them, but we do grow great potatoes, gooseberries, rhubarb, currents, apples and swedes. My wife makes a delicious gooseberry sorbet that we love in summer and a gooseberry crumble in Winter that is par excellence. It seems strange to me that, gooseberries and currents are not grown in commercial quantities here and they are not commonly sold fresh in our local supermarket.

At one time our local dairy used to stock a small amount of locally sourced fresh fruit and vegetables (and even bought some of our gooseberries when we had more than we could use or store), but no longer. Supermarkets now have a monopoly in selling fruit and vegetables and have been quite aggressive in how they do this. When the Dunedin Farmers Market was being established supermarkets lobbied the City Council to police the private car parks around the market that were being used by customers. The car parks weren’t being used by businesses over the weekend but the supermarkets wanted to limit the access to their competition.

Supermarkets buy in bulk, want consistency of supply and because most Southland Island supermarkets have a centralised distribution system, produce must be able to be stored and transported for a number of days. This means that to ensure consistency of supply, fewer varieties can be sold and fruit is picked green and does not have the flavour of those that are tree ripened.

My sister, through her open orchards project, has identified around 50 different varieties of apple that have been grown in Southland with an amazing diversity of flavours and unique names (Merton Russet, Cornish Aromatic, Dipton redburst, Peasgood Non Such, Keyswick Codlin…). You will find none of these in a supermarket and now few people will have experienced the delights of a really large cooking apple as a baked treat in the middle of Winter.

We no longer manage our food production and supply to provide the best quality and variety to local consumers, we now have the situation where the corporate culture dictates what is eaten in most homes. Gareth Morgan has identified the dangerous trend for New Zealanders to eat the heavily processed and marketed ‘fake food’ rather than the real thing and obesity and Type 2 Diabetes has developed into a health crisis. Fast food has shifted from being an occasional treat to the main diet for many. Since the Government removed the necessity to provide healthy food in schools, educating young people to make informed, healthy choices is more difficult. It is hard to promote healthy food when the canteen sells packets of chips and coke that are cheaper than a salad roll.

Sadly most people don’t realize what we have lost through the corporate domination of our food supplies. Most New Zealanders will go through their lives without ever experiencing what it means to eat a diet that is full of locally produced fresh food and being aware of seasonal changes. This ignorance has meant that when McDonalds wanted to open a new outlet in Invercargill’s South City health organisations submitted objections, but most of the local residents appear to be supporting it. There are few complaints about the cost of fresh food but the availability of a fast food outlet is supported with some energy.

Our Southern Farmers Market is struggling to attract new stall holders and we have few local suppliers of fresh food. Our local strawberry farm has just closed down, we lost our independent supplier of A2 milk and we have no fish stall because of the corporate control of fishing quotas. Few people want to risk growing the fruit and vegetables that Southland grows well because when the median income in Invercargill is only $27,400 there is little discretionary income to pay for good quality local food and supermarkets have cheaper options. Many customers walk away from our market because they feel can’t afford the prices.

Even our local hospital will be spurning local suppliers of food when the contract goes to HBL. A similar thing has happened in Auckland and it will mean that the cheapest suppliers will be used even if the fish comes from Vietnam and the potatoes from Holland (as has happened in the past). The free market trade system has meant that our local producers have to compete in international markets where carbon footprints and worker exploitation are not factored. There is even a strong objection to providing clear country of origin labeling so that consumers have little way of telling where their food comes from. This is nothing about serving the best interests of consumers but supporting the best interests of corporate profits.

The neoliberal corporate culture has seen the likes of Monsanto and supermarkets control the production of food to suit their needs and this supports industrial, monoculture farming. Dairying now dominates agriculture in New Zealand and the quantity of milk produced is now more important than the quality or variety of products. Our local, lignite powered, Edendale Dairy factory has a drier capable of processing 100 litres of milk per second, producing 28 tonnes of milk powder per hour or 35 shipping containers full of milk powder every day. However when we have European wwoofers stay with us they tell us that our cheeses are not nearly as good as what is supplied by the many family businesses in their home country. Southland used to make the best porridge oats in the country but we are now a dairying province.

A recent UN report has claimed that if we really wanted to make the best use of our land to feed the world, we need to shift to small scale organic farms. The report advocates for a transformation towards “ecological intensification” and concludes, “This implies a rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high-external dependent industrial production toward mosaics of sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small scale farmers.”

Cuba has proven the success of small organic farms when trade embargoes stopped the importation of pesticides and herbicides and forced them to produce their own natural fertilizer and compost. Food production has increased and their mortality rate is now about the same as New Zealand and their life expectancy is better than the US.

Havana food market

A Government’s role should be to regulate and control markets to make sure that that bullying monopolies and duopolies don’t occur and that the health and welfare of the citizens aren’t compromised by corporate greed. New Zealanders should have access to healthy fresh food that is grown locally and we should be supporting our own growers and encouraging quality and diversity.

(The image at the top is an early Summer harvest from our own small organic garden a couple of years ago)

62 comments on “Local Bodies: Neoliberal Economics Limits Food Choice in Southland ”

  1. RedLogix 1

    One of the things I really miss living in Australia is that in moving we lost our connections to all sorts of local food sources we had back home.

    For quite a few years we had gotten our food budget to the point where probably only 25% of it was being spent in supermarkets. Now it’s back up to 100% and it sucks.

    The only upside here is no GST on fresh food.

    • Murray Rawshark 1.1

      Brisbane has plenty of markets. I have no idea where you are, but there may be something nearby. We probably spend less than 20% at the supermarket, with the rest being at the butcher and the greengrocer. We seldom bother buying fish.

      I went to the Dunedin farmers’ market last January. I wasn’t too impressed with the look of some of the fruit, but there was some good cheap meat. I remember we had a good feed there, but I can’t remember what it was. Aotearoa has great stuff to eat and it’s a real shame that supermarkets and dairy are taking it away from us.

      • RedLogix 1.1.1

        Aotearoa has great stuff to eat and it’s a real shame that supermarkets and dairy are taking it away from us.

        Ballarat has a couple – but we didn’t take to them. Maybe we should try again. It’s hard to put a finger on it but it’s the quality and selection of real foods that I miss the most here in Aus.

        But yes – the supermarket juggernauts might deliver on price, reliability and consistency. But they do lack soul.

        • Murray Rawshark 1.1.1.1

          In Brisbane you can buy a lovely looking peach and half an hour later it’s starting to rot. I haven’t got a clue what they do to them. Most of the Kiwis I know here have nostalgia for the sweet, sweet kai of home.

  2. weka 2

    Here’s the UN report referred to,

    ​Farming in rich and poor nations alike should shift from monoculture towards greater varieties of crops, reduced use of fertilizers and other inputs, greater support for small-scale farmers, and more locally focused production and consumption of food, a new UNCTAD report recommends.

    http://unctad.org/en/pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID=154

  3. Bill 3

    Excellent piece.

    One small thing that could significantly boost local access to locally produced foods is a complete overhaul of food and safety regulations. Small cottage industries, that could supply local markets/outlets with prepared produce, are being routinely sunk before they launch by onerous compliance costs related to certification.

    • weka 3.1

      In the US one thing that happened in response to this is the introduction of Cottage Food Bills. These allow people to make certain foods at home, for sale. Meat and dairy are excluded.

      Here’s the Californian one,

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Homemade_Food_Act

      However, the meat and dairy one also needs sorting. At the moment very small scale farmers can produce enough to supply local markets but generally can’t afford the compliance costs. This is little to do with safety, and largely to do with the rules being designed for large producers who have completely different economic scales.

      There is some movement on the raw milk one, with MAF doing a couple of rounds of consultation. These aren’t difficult things to design (safe systems for small growers), the blocks seem largely ideological.

    • Wayne 3.2

      What nonsense this item is. When Cuba gets cited as an example of the market in action you know the whole discussion has gone off the rails. And the evils of Southland becoming a major diary producer. Yet another disaster to overwhelm the region.

      I have no doubt that the supermarkets in Southland and North Shore stock pretty much the same items from the same source. They use their purchasing power pretty effectively.

      But I can also go to at least 6 greengrocers in a 3 k radius and get a wide variety of different items that I won’t find in the supermarket. I could also go to the Takapuna market on Sunday morning and get all sorts of alternatives.

      But hey if the Left want to get stuck into the evil neoliberal nature of the food supply in New Zealand go for it. Shane Jones seemed to think it was a good idea to push up the cost to consumers.

      But on reflection I guess the writer is probably a Green who would shoot the cows so the land can be redistributed to needy organic farmer tilling small plots.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 3.2.1

        No, no, no.

        If you’re going to repeat ridiculous lies about a managed reduction of the dairy herd, you need to do them up front, to catch the tl;dr crowd.

        Are you sure you’re cut out for this tr*lling lark, Dr. Mapp?

      • RedLogix 3.2.2

        But on reflection I guess the writer is probably a Green who would shoot the cows so the land can be redistributed to needy organic farmer tilling small plots.

        What a good idea Wayne. If we take this to the next Green Party conference as a remit – can we put your name on it for the credits?

        Or you could have actually read the link in the post:

        So far Cuba has been successful with its “transformation from conventional, high input, mono-crop intensive agriculture” to a more diverse and localized farming system that continues to grow. The country is rapidly moving away from a monoculture of tobacco and sugar. It now needs much more diversity of food crops as well as regular crop rotation and soil conservation efforts to continue to properly nourish millions of Cuban citizens.

        In June 2000, a group of Iowa farmers, professors, and students traveled to Cuba to view that country’s approach to sustainable agriculture. Rather than relying on chemical fertilizers, Cuba relies on organic farming, using compost and worms to fertilize soil. There are many differences between farming in the United States and Cuba, but “in many ways they’re ahead of us,” say Richard Wrage, of Boone County Iowa Extension Office. Lorna Michael Butler, Chair of Iowa State University’s sustainable agriculture department said, “more students should study Cuba’s growing system.” (AP 6/5/00)

        http://www.projectcensored.org/12-cuba-leads-the-world-in-organic-farming/

        Seems to me a great example of the market in action. Why would you not be proud? Or is it an example of the ‘wrong’ kind of market. One that might work for ordinary people instead of the already very wealthy?

        • weka 3.2.2.1

          yeah, but where’s the profit? Farming isn’t about producing food. Show me the money!

      • weka 3.2.3

        wow, so many ad hominems and reactionary cliches in one comment.

        Cuba wasn’t cited as an example of the market in action, it was cited as an example of how small, localised, organic food production brings benefits that the neoliberal model doesn’t.

        Southland is running in cow shit and nitrates. That the authorities and ratepayers have let this happen for the individual profit of some farmers is a disgrace. Google waituna lagoon +pollution if you want to read a classic example. Locals now talk about how many rivers are unsafe to swim in now.

        “I have no doubt that the supermarkets in Southland and North Shore stock pretty much the same items from the same source. They use their purchasing power pretty effectively.”

        Actually supermarkets vary quite a bit in what they stock.

        “But I can also go to at least 6 greengrocers in a 3 k radius and get a wide variety of different items that I won’t find in the supermarket. I could also go to the Takapuna market on Sunday morning and get all sorts of alternatives.”

        Good for you. So are you saying that because you can do that, everything must be alright? Or do you mean that Kennedy is right, that there are some places where that’s not possible.

        “Shane Jones seemed to think it was a good idea to push up the cost to consumers.”

        here’s the dilemma. Food costs to produce. At the moment it is subsidised by economies of scale underpinned by fossil fuels, and because pollution costs are still largely being born by those not doing the producing or retailing. Once peak oil and AGW effects kick in more we will be forced to look at how to produce food locally, and how much that actually costs. Having said that, some producers are keeping their costs down, and they’re the ones largely working outside of the neoliberal structures.

        “But on reflection I guess the writer is probably a Green who would shoot the cows so the land can be redistributed to needy organic farmer tilling small plots.”

        You do realise that conventional farmers shoot cows, right? And what precisely would be wrong with converting heavily polluting and unsustainable dairy farms to sustainable and organic small farms that provide multiple benefits to the community and landbase?

      • Draco T Bastard 3.2.4

        Shane Jones seemed to think it was a good idea to push up the cost to consumers.

        Food brought in from the other side of the world costs more than food grown here. The only reason why it has a lower monetary cost is because of our delusional monetary system that’s backed by government. A monetary system that ignores and denies the full costs preventing proper accounting. One good example is climate change and another is our ever more polluted rivers from farming. One way or another those costs will be paid. It’s just a question of if we account for them now or if Nature* accounts for them later.

        Nature bats last, doesn’t negotiate and doesn’t take hostages.

      • Murray Rawshark 3.2.5

        Shane Jones was always one of yours. He recently made it obvious.

        Have you been to a fruit and vege market in Cuba? They’re great, cheap and have heaps of variety. What Cuba does have problems with is car parts, for example, where Washington interferes with the market. Please publish your lies elsewhere.

  4. Colonial Rawshark 4

    An ideology which sees market and corporate forces as the ultimate shapers of our whole civilisation will lead first to the degradation, than to the fragilisation, then ultimately the destruction, of our society.

    Localised, diversified food production is survival-critical in an energy depleting world.

    Which means that both central government and local governments have to constrain the large supermarket groups in order to give both physical and economic spaces to a value chain which promotes local producers, local distributers, local retailers and local buyers to interact.

    I am fascinated that we would use Dutch potatoes. The minimum wage in Holland is roughly $16/hr. Then you have to store, ship, refrigerate the potatoes. Are EU agricultural subsidies making all the difference here?

    • Colonial Rawshark 4.1

      Ahhh I see, youth rates in Holland go as low as $6/hr.

    • weka 4.2

      This would be an area where I see the people needing to lead the way (not waiting for central govt to do anything useful).

      For the people that can afford it and have access, use the Farmers Markets, and support other sources of local food. The people selling at Farmers Markets are often highly motivated and are pioneering the growing and economic models that will be needed to replace the globalised system. They need more support, and the more support they get now the more likely we will be able to make the transition.

      In the bigger centres there are bucky box schemes too, where a group sources local produce and delivers it to your door.

      Buckybox is a software development that allows such schemes to run, so it’s also about other aspects of kiwi ingenuity and working smarter, and ties in with NZ’s other economic potential to sell ITC globally (as opposed to AGW creating and land destroying milk powder)

      http://www.buckybox.com/

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10844166

      One of the local food box schemes,

      https://foodbox.co.nz/

    • Ad 4.3

      Gardening your own vegetables takes too much damn time. And hell there are people a whole bunch better at it than I could ever be. Cash is fine thanks.

      We are pretty blessed in Auckland with as many farmers markets as you can shake a stick at. And it’s not just for the haute-bourgeoise set for our take-home packs of Waiheke Virgin Olive oil. Plenty of them operating at scale in Mangere and Otahuhu.

      I sometimes wonder if Robert Guyton is on an heroic bender that ain’t going to work where he is. There are simply not enough people in Riverton who get what he is trying to do.

      Robert, crazy as it sounds, move to the periphery of Auckland, Wellington, or Whangarei. Stop busting your ass. Buy a patch of land and convert some run-down orchard.

      We have squadloads of green orchard and garden groups, doing their little communitarian thing. Much more fun up here growing your new life in the winterless north!

      • karol 4.3.1

        But then we lose the diversity added by the kinds of crops specific to the lower South Island climate – and not to mention, the people living in Southland lose out in terms of the kinds of local foods available.

        • Ad 4.3.1.1

          Ah! But we would gain Robert!

          • weka 4.3.1.1.1

            Auckland is already well served by localists. Why do you need Guyton?

            • Ad 4.3.1.1.1.1

              Because he’s my hero!

              Seriously I know they need him down there as well.

              There’s just far too many like him.

              I get forced to hang around with Annabelle Langbein – which is an entirely different cultural altogether. I prefer his vibe.

              • weka

                lolz, you’re moving in the wrong circles mate. Try dropping down a few notch or two if you want to find the Guytons in your area.

                • Ad

                  In Wanaka we try and hang out with the Wanaka Wastebusters people – they are pretty cool. And then we rattle our jewellery with the nobs on the weekends.

                  In Auckland particularly in the west we are rather spoilt for choice.

      • Colonial Rawshark 4.3.2

        You are pointing to the vast gulf emerging between the regions and the large cities of NZ. But you’ve ignored Guyton’s comments on how it USED “to work where it is” and how neoliberalism/corporatism over the last 10 years has made it otherwise, and basically said – just adapt to it mate.

        Telling people to leave their family homes and roots is also no answer. In fact, it’s exactly the same as telling people to continue to abandon the regions if they want a job and go to Auckland. Where unless you are in a top 5% pay group, you’re screwed as selling your nice house in Invers or Dunedin will get you 2/5ths of fuck all in Auckland.

        • weka 4.3.2.1

          Ae, and too many people leaving wrecks communities.

          btw, the post is written by Dave Kennedy, not Robert Guyton.

        • Ad 4.3.2.2

          Nostalgia and windmill-tilting.

          Regrettably in New Zealand, the majority of the customers are Hamilton north.

          I love what he does. I’ve seen the before and after shots of what he did on his little place. He’s heroic. We get advice off his site all the time.

          And there are plenty of co-ops to buy into up here. Especially around Whangarei if you want it cheap. The co-ops and communes in its periphery are terrific.

          It simply doesn’t sound much fun being isolated, seeing what hope there could be disappear, seeing the little battles lost year after year.

          At least you have the Dunedin market – which is as close to a Breugel painting for village interaction as I have seen anywhere.

          • weka 4.3.2.2.1

            Southland isn’t isolated. What are you talking about?

            “Regrettably in New Zealand, the majority of the customers are Hamilton north.”

            This misses the point entirely. The point is that each area can produce food locally, and are currently being prevented from doing so by corportate and bureacratic interests.

            Kennedy’s post focusses on what’s not working in the context of neoliberalism, but don’t assume that this means there’s nothing good going on south of Hamilton. The South Island is full of people that are leading the way in sustainable land management and food production (bet the lower NI is too). These are the people that will save us when the shit hits the fan. Large population isn’t the asset you think it is.

          • vto 4.3.2.2.2

            Isolated ….ha ha, if anywhere is isolated it is Auckland, stuck as it is right near the top of the lands. And the only way out is via horrid multi-cars, plane or boat …….

            The empty lands of NZ are not the isolated lands matey, it is the packed lands that are isolated. You just need to take off your personalised glasses and look objectively to realise this ……. of course being stuck in the retail – Waiheke – motorways – retail – Matakana – motorways – consumerism – Parnell – motorways – cars – cars – cars – sad existence of a mad consumerist society it will be nigh impossible to imagine this to be so

            • Robertguyton 4.3.2.2.2.1

              It’d be a pleasure. I’ve some red currants to pick and nectarine seedlings to plant out – once I’ve done that, I’ll get tapping.

              Robert

      • weka 4.3.3

        Riverton is the perfect place for the Guytons to be. You can’t shift the oldest food forest in NZ to Auckland. You can’t save and restore Southland’s heritage apples trees from Auckland. You can’t support the shift back to local production from Auckland either (the Guytons and others are having an impact down South).

        Besides, RG is on the local regional council, which is massive. Complete waste if he went up north.

        Ad, you comment strikes me as the epitome of individualist culture. You take a crucial social and environmental issue that is about the good of all and reframe it to be about one person’s self interest.

        • Ad 4.3.3.1

          Oh I’m not being too serious.

          He just sounds like he’s going to spend his life losing, and there are few good people like him to see that kind of effort go to ease.

          • weka 4.3.3.1.1

            What makes you think he is losing? That’s a pretty weird comment tbh, given how successful the Guytons are.

            • Ad 4.3.3.1.1.1

              I was reading the post above and pretty much it all looked like losing.
              Admittedly I got the author wrong, but it would apply whomever the author was.

              • weka

                I’ve already pointed this out. Kenedy is talking about a specific aspect of food production and how neoliberalism is blocking it. He puts that in a Southland context but the core issues apply across the country.

  5. Dammit, it was going so well until the “ZOMG OBESITY!!!!” panic-mongering. Would the supermarket duopoly not be a problem if everyone were thin?

    • weka 5.1

      I think the question is more ‘would eating junk food/highly processed food not be a problem if everyone were thin?”

      (the answer to which is yes, it would still be a problem, IMO).

    • The Murphey 5.2

      Q. Stephanie Rodgers are you ok ?

  6. vto 6

    Neoliberal policies and the market-driven approach has failed, clearly, and the food supply is another example as so amply evidenced here by mr bsprout.

    Failures include;

    Leaky buildings.
    Global financial crisis
    Pike River
    Food supply

    there are many others, please add ……

    To think that some people such as gosman, Rodney Hide, Prebble etc think that people make their decisions solely on price ….. sheesh, the most short-sighted, shallow, brainless idea ever in the life of manwomankind

  7. Draco T Bastard 7

    The free market trade system has meant that our local producers have to compete in international markets where carbon footprints and worker exploitation are not factored.

    Basically, the ‘free-market’ system has managed to persuade us that the more expensive items are cheaper.

  8. coaster 8

    Plums on the west coast 10.99 per kilo.

    lucky I have a number of trees, admitaly they have spots, arnt huge and not the nice colour the supermarkets have, but the taste a hell of a lot better.

    The regions are screwed for choice, there are no markets, no other options other than supermarkets or grow your own. But we do have big sections at cheaper prices and the gumption and ability to grow some of our own.

    Another upside are the kids in the regions that know where the fruit and veges come from, and have eaten food right out of the garden.

    the sad thing is how hard it is to get meat, rather than the crap meat we have in the supermarkets, there are no local butchers on the west coast anymore, so supermarkets are the main source, unless you have frinds with lambs or beefys.

  9. DoublePlusGood 9

    Market fruit and veg is way cheaper than supermarket fruit and veg in Wellington, and of higher quality in general. It’s strange to me that a supermarket can manage to undercut the farmers market food in Invercargill.

    • Our main fruit and vege growers come from Central Otago and are small enterprises and they can generally undercut supermarkets, but not always. Supermarkets often discount some lines to levels where they can’t compete on price, although our quality is better. Sadly the majority of Invercargill (remember $27,400 is our median income) are price focussed. It is also about economies of scale, I don’t think our population can support many smaller providers of fruit and vegetables.

  10. Corokia 10

    Regarding type 2 diabetes, for diabetics (and the huge number of people who are ‘prediabetics’) to manage blood sugar levels we need to know the ‘glycemic index= GI’ of foods. I know this is a bit of a tangent, but most of the processed food sold in supermarkets is ‘high GI’, and makes obesity and diabetes worse. It is rare for the GI of any food to be on the label. Supermarkets have lots of ‘gluten free’ products (especially in wealthy suburbs), but its just tough shit if you are diabetic. We are told that diabetes is a major cost to the health system but unless low GI food is clearly labelled and available at reasonable prices, the problem is only going to get a lot worse.

  11. saveNZ 11

    Great article. Considering we are a food producing nation there needs to be more debate on this issue. One way that stupid decisions are made are to look at everything in a very narrow field that does not take into account other costs and outcomes. i.e. as you say hospitals, now the food is being outsourced to presumably save money, however other issues like ability to supply locally grown healthy food, ability of food to achieve greater health outcomes, loss of local jobs, loss of quality jobs i.e. replacement of jobs for zero hour contracts, poorer conditions etc, loss of control of the health care provider to actually make decisions regarding the food that it serves, the pollution and carbon miles produced by dehydrated and off shore food, GM food that is not labeled, pesticides etc in the food (new practise put everything in chloride to kill all germs but not sure how much long term testing has been applied to this especially in the context of sick people), more plastic and rubbish produced by the “food”.

    Quality is not given the same level of hierarchy as cost. And many cost of ‘cheap’ unhealthy food is borne by the government and consumer in a case of corporate welfare. i.e. rubbish

    One really interesting article I read recently about ‘coca – cola capitalism’ describes how the state became responsible for disposing and recycling waste products of companies rather than the company themselves. i.e.

    The organization launched in 1953, as Coca-Cola, along with PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and others, were making the switch from returnable glass bottles, which they cleaned and refilled themselves, to the “one-way” metal and plastic bottles we’re used to today, a cost-cutting move that shifted the burden of responsibility for dealing with the bottles onto consumers. Keep America Beautiful’s public service campaigns, as Bartow J. Elmore, a professor of environmental history at the University of Alabama, describes it, basically served to reinforce this new message: That America’s trash problem was the fault of individuals littering — not of the manufacturers that produced that litter in the first place. Taxpayers are the ones who end up funding expensive recycling programs, Elmore argues, for precisely the same reason.

    http://www.salon.com/2015/01/02/coca_colas_anti_american_outsourcing_scheme_how_big_soda_gets_the_public_to_shoulder_its_costs/

    • Good comment, saveNZ, the external costs of any product should be factored in to the price. The higher taxation on tobacco, helps to cover the external costs of healthcare that normally has to be borne by the taxpayer. There should be similar taxes placed on processed food that leads to poor health and diabetes. Price recognition for the lower carbon footprint involved with eating local food would be useful. Southlanders should be buying locally grown potatoes at their supermarket.

  12. millsy 12

    Its good to see that we have a former National Party cabinet minister somehow coming to the conclusion that questioning why we are eating Chinese processed fish means we support USSR-style collectivisation of agriculture ay gunpoint.

  13. Glenn 13

    10 years ago I picked and packaged a few dozen bags of coloured heirloom tomatoes and took them to the New Plymouth SPCA bootsale. Upon arrival the person in charge of the market took my $5 entry fee then informed me that I could sell the tomatoes that day but for future markets I would need a New Plymouth District Council food handling certificate. Cost $50 from the District Council.
    I thought fuck em and after giving friends and neighbours any excesses dumped what I didn’t need.
    Bureaucratic bastards.

    • weka 13.1

      I think they were wrong. You don’t need a certificate to sell unprocessed garden produce. Maybe this varies from council to council but think roadside stalls selling fruit and veg.

    • Our Council tried to hit some of our stallholders with a considerable sum for a food license (cooked food) but it was for a full year and we negotiated it down to a daily rate which was minimal.

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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 hour ago
  • Coalition Circus of Chaos – Verbal gymnasts; an inept Ringmaster, and a helluva lot of clowns
    ..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Curtain Closes…You have to hand it to Aotearoa - voters don’t do things by halves. People wanted change, and by golly, change they got. Baby, bathwater; rubber ducky - all out.There is something ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    4 hours ago
  • “Brown-town”: the Wayne & Simeon show
    Last week Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown kicked off what is always the most important thing a Council does every three years – update its ‘Long term plan’. This is the budgeting process for the Council and – unlike central government – the budget has to balance in terms of income ...
    5 hours ago
  • Not To Cast Stones…
    Yeah I changed my wine into waterHad a miracle or four since I saw youSome came on time, some took a whileLocal Water Done Well.One of our new government’s first actions, number 20 on their list of 49 priorities, is the repeal of the previous government’s Water Services Entities Act 2022. Three Waters, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 hours ago
  • So much noise and so little signal
    Parliament opened with pomp and ceremony, then it was back to politicians shouting at and past each other into the void. Photo: Office of the Clerk, NZ ParliamentTL;DR: It started with pomp, pageantry and a speech from the throne laying out the new National-ACT-NZ First Government’s plan to turn back ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Lost in the Desert: Accepted
    As noted, November was an exceptionally good writing month for me. Well, in an additional bit of good news for December, one of those November stories, Lost in the Desert, has been accepted by Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/) for their Winter Solstice 2023 issue. At 3,500 words, ...
    14 hours ago
  • This Government and their Rightwing culture-war flanks picked a fight with the country… not the ot...
    ACT and the culture-war warriors of the Right have picked this fight with Te Ao Māori. Ideologically-speaking, as a Party they’ve actually done this since inception, let’s be clear about that. So there is no real need to delve at length into their duplicitous, malignant, hypocritical manipulations. Yes, yes, ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    15 hours ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #49
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 3, 2023 thru Sat, Dec 9, 2023. Story of the Week Interactive: The pathways to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of keeping warming “well below” ...
    22 hours ago
  • LOGAN SAVORY: The planned blessing that has irked councillors
    “I’m struggling to understand why we are having a blessing to bless this site considering it is a scrap metal yard… It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Logan Savory writes- When’s a blessing appropriate and when isn’t it? Some Invercargill City Councillors have questioned whether blessings might ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    23 hours ago
  • Surely it won't happen
    I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Let Them Eat Sausage Rolls: Hipkins Tries to Kill Labour Again
    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    2 days ago
  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    2 days ago
  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago
  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    3 days ago
  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago
  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    3 days ago
  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    4 days ago
  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    4 days ago
  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    5 days ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    5 days ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    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 ...
    6 days ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    6 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    7 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    7 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    7 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  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. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    1 week ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks 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
    3 weeks ago

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