"In my previous article I set out how the eco-socialist movement is fixated on the claim that we can’t have exponential growth on a finite planet. I argued they are wrong.
Ultimately though it was a technical answer to a stupid question. In this article I will set out why I think the question is stupid, and what I think the important conversations are to have"
"I don’t want to speak for a whole profession here, so I will speak for myself. That said, I think many economists would agree with what I have to say.
I completely accept we live on a planet with finite resources. Thankfully I doubt we will ever use them all because they eventually become too expensive to extract. And usually, thanks to the wonders of human ingenuity, alternatives become available.
Nonetheless, there are two ways that exponential growth is possible even with limited resources: productivity growth and inflation."
Er, yes – we do. It looks like you don't agree that productivity growth and inflation allow exponential growth within a finite system, but he's provided a lengthy explanation for his claim that it does, whereas you've just provided an assertion: "underwhelming….indeed a non event." That doesn't give us much to go on for why you think he's wrong.
he has provided nothing except an unsubstantiated opinion….and contradicts himself into the bargain.
Kindly point to where he has demonstrated that critical resources are not finite or that their extraction can continue ad infinitum or even demonstrated viable substitutes for said critical resources?
"The eco-socialist movement argues that we can’t have exponential growth on a finite planet"….does not refer to finacialisation (as he must know, though given the quality of the articles perhaps he does not) but real resources that underpin the lives and systems of the human economy.
i swear i had read that same creed already, especially this line here '
Capitalism definitely needs a rest, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
and that phrase along to me indicates taht while he spins a nice yarn (and hopefully gets paid by the word for it) he is still advocating that nothing much should be done, lest we throw out captialism with the bathwater.
What stands out is that the the Eurozone is growing at a very modest 1.6%, while it's the developing nations (lead almost certainly by China, India and parts of Africa) that are leading the charge with growth rates over 4%.
This makes sense, as I said before it's not the top 'golden' 1b people who are expanding rapidly, it's the other 6b who are rapidly catching up. Are you going to go and tell them they have to remain poor?
The other factor that is often overlooked is that the demographics of most developed nations are heavily weighted towards older people, who typically consume less than younger people building families, homes and careers. And overall it's now thought that total human population will peak within a century and decline thereafter. Human growth … once we achieve a certain threshold of development … is absolutely not 'exponential' or 'unlimited'.
Uncritically parroting 'unlimited growth on a finite planet' is a simplistic and inadequate slogan; growth is neither unlimited, nor are resources finite. The far more interesting questions is … what kind of progress do we want?
Because progress and growth are not the same thing. Up until this point in human history because most people were so deeply impoverished, they were usually tightly linked … more of something almost always meant a progressive improvement. Catch one animal good, catch two … feast time! It's bit of instinctive calculus that's deeply embedded in us.
In the past 400 years however a potent mix of science, tech and capitalism have largely solved the impoverishment problem. This means that growth and progress are no longer necessarily so closely coupled. Now it's possible to have too much of what was once considered a good thing. But our instincts and social systems have yet to catch up.
This is the political conversation Geoff is touching on, what do we really mean by progress, and how should we measure it? Especially when 'growth' is no longer the best measure of it.
The conversation I got from Simmons was that the New Zealand economy can look forward to stagnation, so chin up, look at Japan – they haven't grown for decades and the sky hasn't fallen in. If you wanted us to address the economic and therefore chronic social problems in your town, you're out of luck.
In that I suspect Simmons is being a tad pessimistic, of all the developed nations NZ is unusual in three respects; one is that we still have a rectangular demographic pyramid, in other words we still have enough young people to sustain current levels of activity for at least another generation or two.
The other is Kiwisaver; it's impact is cumulative and with time it's impact is going to be felt more deeply on the local economy over the next few decades.
The third factor is our high comparative political and social stability; we will be increasingly seen as a desirable , reliable and trustworthy nation. This is probably our biggest asset.
Still either way you cut it, growth for it's own sake is no longer the ideal. In this I think everyone, Simmons and everyone here would agree. But what do we replace it with? Certainly the Japanese have shown it's possible to have an advanced and functioning society with little to no overt growth; and in that light it would be interesting to see in what ways they have managed to progress in these decades? Did they simply mark time, or have they improved life in other ways?
If growth is no longer the priority, then shifting attention to our chronic social problems could well become a higher priority.
Could it be said that entire species have been lost because of refusal to fund firefighters in rural areas + acknowledge climate change/climate manipulation? I think so.
Heck, ever thought how NZ will fare in a fire like that? Cause our rural fire fighters for the most part are unpaid under appreciated voluntary fire fighters.
And the animals that died, died because of Greed for the most part. The rural vollies just can't keep up. Even if they showered money on them today it would not change a thing.
But then i guess its cheaper for government to expect the population to pick up the slack privatly, hold bake sales for new trucks and such rather then employ, train, and pay them. You can have tax cuts or you can have funded, well trained and well equipped emergency services.
Had a little taster with the recent Nelson Tasman Pigeon Valley fire in February, thousands evacuated and volunteer firefighters brought in from all over.
My partner is a volly 🙂 and we are literally just hanging on barely. One reason so far we got lucky is that we in NZ now tend to throw all resources at a fire to prevent it from spreading. And so far luck has been on our side. So far.
One hopes that the Australian Navy is coming along to the party to help evacuate these people. Cause the only way out for them – it seems – is via the water.
Can't bear to look at your first link A @ 4. Too distressing.
Yesterday Scott Morrison made the most appalling speech ever… apart from his gaffe about the bushfires being a back-drop to the cricket, he also said this – and I quote from memory:
"whether these fires were caused by lightening strikes or some other cause…”
Still denying Climate Change! What is wrong with the Aussie voters. Take your collective heads out of the sand and stop voting neanderthals into power.
Three years back we were driving down the relatively remote Henty Highway in VIC on an extreme fire day. At one point we stopped near a farm gate, I remember leaning on it; it was too hot to touch. The Grampians were barely a km away, yet in the heat driven wind and dust we could barely see them. The eucalypt forest behind us stank of volatile oils; we had this very strong sense we should not be there, one slight spark and it was going to explode. It's not an experience you could have in NZ.
Here is a particularly good article on the conditions that lead up to extreme bushfire days.
It's the best parts of Australia that are burning down … we visited the SE Coast a year or so back; we have very fond memories of it. Places like Mallacoota are much loved gems and seeing this happen is tough. And I suspect the sheer intensity of these fires is causing irreparable damage; the landscape is not going to recover quickly or easily.
Still Australians have grown up with bushfires. It's remarkable working with them how unconcerned they can be about them, even ones that are quite local. I remember standing outside our factory looking at one burning about 10km away … no-one was wildly interested. Australia does burn … it's a fact of life here.
What is hard to convey is that the nature of the fire is changing, in scale, intensity and length of season. Some years are just going to be worse than others and there isn't a fixed pattern. Is this year going to be a tipping point? A lot will depend on how well the media handle the aftermath; if they can convince that these fires are not 'normal' and follow up intelligently I think it will be.
Is this year going to be a tipping point? A lot will depend on how well the media handle the aftermath; if they can convince that these fires are not 'normal' and follow up intelligently I think it will be.
I don't think so. There have been worse bushfires. 2009 springs to mind. Bear in mind that Australia accounts for only 1.3% of global emissions so climate change won't be seriously affected by whatever Australia does. If the biggest emitters like China, India, Russia, Japan and the US get their act together, then progress might be possible. But that probably won't happen anytime soon.
Like everything to do with climate change … that 1.3% number is complicated.
I agree no-one can claim unequivocally that this year’s fires will change the political landscape; but there is no doubt that the ground has shifted in the decade since 2009.
Depending on how one arbitrarily groups hundreds or thousands of fires over the season, deadliest is one thing – and like in most types of disasters, the death toll has been reduced due to those hard-earned lessons.
The scale of the fires this season seems to be about the largest on record, though. And that's the bit related to climate change, in all reasonable probability.
Coal is mined in every state of Australia. Mining occurs mainly in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.[citation needed] About 75% of coal mined in Australia is exported, mostly to eastern Asia,[1] and of the balance most is used in electricity generation. Coal production in Australia increased 13.6% between 2005 and 2010 and 5.3% between 2009 and 2010.[2] In 2016, Australia was the biggest net exporter of coal, with 32% of global exports (389 Mt out of 1,213 Mt total), and was the fourth-highest producer with 6.9% of global production (503 Mt out of 7,269 Mt total). 77% of production was exported (389 Mt out of 503 Mt total)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_in_Australia
Pretty much all of the mines are open cut with some underground. so unlike peat bog fires I fail to see how these current bush fires would be bigger.
A lot will depend on how well the media handle the aftermath; if they can convince that these fires are not 'normal' and follow up intelligently I think it will be.
Yes, the Aussie media have a big role to play now. Lets hope they are up to it without fear nor favour.
I recall you telling us that story of the drive through a tinder dry Victoria. If I remember correctly you jumped in the car and got out of there poste haste, hearts in your mouths wondering if you were going to make it.
Yes, there has been complacency in the Aussie psyche over bushfires – the "she'll be right mate. We've been having them since God made little apples. We know how to handle em."
What they have got face up to is there is a new and terrifying element to them now. To begin with, they are going to happen on this scale more frequently than has been the case in the past and – as you rightly point out – over an increasingly lengthy bushfire season. It will eventually reach the point when they are occurring almost all year round.
The first thing they've got to do is toss out this Liberal led govt. Their mindset is such they are not equipped to even understand the situation, let alone take the actions necessary to minimise the effects.
When everyone realised that the phrase "hopes and prayers" was blatantly code for SFA … let's put it this way, it's not just cooked koalas, ScoMo's burned up a lot of political capital these last few weeks.
You can get conditions like that here Red. In 2001 in Marlborough our the fire index hit the mid 1100s, similar to as bad as Australia gets, it is a measure of humidity, fuel, heat, wind and a few other things. On Boxing Day there was two quite large fires, both started by muppets the first one was a out of townie arriving at his block and deciding to mow it with a tractor, something a local would not do in a million years and the biggest one was a casual cigarette butt which took 4 days to control and weeks to extinquish completely.
Our saving grace is that we do not have gum tree forests, which are essentially petroleum fires as it is the oil/air mixture burning ahead of the fire's ground front and that generally we rarely have "dry " thunder storms to start them, as well as a fair few brilliant helicopter pilots to get to them quickly.
BTW, in the biggie US satellite pictures identified the sq metre it started in and the car the cigarette came from but as we don't have number plates on car rooves there wasn't enough evidence for a stupidity charge.
I was looking at https://ourworldindata.org/ just yesterday. Much of what they are saying underpins the case I've been making here for a while now:
Poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality: The world faces many great and terrifying problems at the same time. It is these large problems that our work at Our World in Data focuses on.
…
To contribute to positive change, we need to know our world as well as possible. We cannot know our world from the daily news alone. Because the news focuses on current events it largely fails to report the long-lasting, forceful changes that reshape our world, as well as the large, long-standing problems that continue to confront us.
This is a vital point; too much of our political debate is shaped by a media with a warped agenda, driven not by principles or truth, but clicks and eyeballs. Outrage, sex and crime sell advertising dollars, but fail miserably to inform us.
This kind of data is now available in quite a few places, and it will take a bit of time to discover how trustworthy they are. All sources have their biases, even if what they say is true, often its what they leave unspoken which is harder to spot.
Still in principle this is how I see the great debates of the next decade being shaped, driven by global scale data, intelligently analysed and well presented.
Just quietly wondering how many people will see your link and reckon to themselves that you're some kind of Russian stooge spinning Putin fake news. Won't be believed unless and until it's reported by such august bodies as the BBC, CNN, WaPo or NYT…at which point, anything being reported will be believed 🙂
And sorry if that wee speculative observation and rant detracts from you sign posting yet another example of how we've fucked up this wonderful rock in space that's been our world.
I don't actually believe in any of the 'fake news ' bullshit as all news has some aspect of truth to it, and then it has an ideological spin to it. And rather then discuss the actual news we are supposed to discuss the political spin. And i can take your comment and turn it around and say it has to be reported on RT or what nots as some wont believe CNN et al. 🙂
And for what its worth, someone considering me a "Russian stooge spinning Putin fake news' would be a nice counterpoint to the 'globalists' 'killary supporter' indentity politics supporter (aka woman) and all the other shit that some here have thrown at me, simply because what i say might not support their own narrative or simply because outspoken people that don't subscribe to people worship and party worship are 'verboten'.
So i post my links, and people can click on it, read it, believe their own eyes or wait for someone to confirm their biases.
The precarious nature of water flow in the Panama Canal has been known for a long time, item below from 2014, and can remember reading about it being a limiting factor when the expansion was happening.
The reasoning behind my comment (if "reasoning" is the right word) was, that like Sabine, I'm completely over the crap of people evaluating the veracity of stuff solely on whether or not it comes from a source that they can connect (in their own minds) back to a Russia/Kremlin/Putin source…before using whatever supposed "Russian connection" they can jig up as a smear against the person presenting "Russian tainted" information/news.
You'll see it all through reactions posted to the standard if a link is from Russia Today, or if an argument/point of view has also, and even coincidentally, been aired by Russia Today or Sputnik or MintPress etc.
Meanwhile, many of those same people will uncritically and forcibly push even the most ridiculous lines that come from any "anonymous sources" used, shared, boosted and merry-go-rounded by the BBC, CNN, Washington Post, NYT Guardian et al
When people cite/quote (here), they’re required to attribute to their source for a number of (good) reasons. One downside, however, is others choosing to disregard and dismiss the content/message for no other reason than the source/messenger.
It far too often goes way beyond simply "ignoring" (which would be fine btw) and is used to launch off on personal attacks and smears that pull in 'support' from a second person and a third person because (and this is an important part of the dynamic) the target is not sufficiently and/or ideologically aligned with the gathering mob, who see an opportunity to gas light and goad that (they hope) will get a reaction that will result in the target copping a ban and never coming back.
I've seen it happen over and over and over again. And protecting a person who is being set upon like that is well nigh impossible. I know that, because I've tried, both as a commentator and as a moderator.
Mob behaviour and pile-on are impossible to predict (except in hindsight!) and control. Yet, they are hugely problematic, as you say, and I find them intensely frustrating.
Because I’m usually not au fait (i.e. completely out of my depth and thus out of my comfort zone) with the topics that are mostly associated with these behaviours, I stay out of these threads, as a commenter and as Moderator.
Banning the usual suspects, who tend to be the mob/mob-leaders and regulars here, would stifle the flow of comments and could kill the TS community. I’m not keen on a totalitarian approach to moderation.
It’s a reoccurring problem that feeds on past exchanges, i.e. there’s usually (a) history and some commenters ‘have form’.
I confess that sometimes it is easiest for me as a Moderator to remove the single commenter (even when they are/play the ‘victim’) from the equation to restore some peace here. I know it is not (always) the right thing to do but ‘pragmatic’ reasons take over sometimes.
Weka also mentioned recently her (unsuccessful) attempts to induce a culture shift and I guess appealing to/for self-moderation is fruitless 🙁
Maybe we should try to discuss it in the back-end. Moderation is very hands-off (light & lenient) and I’d like to think we are in the ‘sweet spot’ but there’s always room for improvement.
Banning the usual suspects, who tend to be the mob/mob-leaders and regulars here, would stifle the flow of comments and could kill the TS community.
The flip side of that coin being that allowing their continued presence has diminished the scope and breadth of political opinion presented on these pages over the years. (Go back and look at the comments beneath old posts. You'll see a marked difference in the quality of individual comments and the vitality of the comments sections in general)
Many commenters of/on this site have been here for a long time and the pool of Authors is smaller too, I reckon. Do we need fresh blood?
I don’t know where we have gone ‘wrong’, if at all, or what we could do better, if anything.
Judging by the comments on other (NZ) blog sites I’d like to think that TS is still (!) one of the better ones – maybe it’s a sign of the times; civic-political engagement, in both numbers and level, is also dwindling and not just here in NZ.
And protecting a person who is being set upon like that is well nigh impossible. I know that, because I've tried, both as a commentator and as a moderator.
Same experience here, it's intensely frustrating and disappointing. The other aspect I always struggled with, that while as a left-wing site, right wingers were always going to face a head wind … in the end it became a scything machine. All but one or two are gone.
I always believed moderation had to be even-handed, in that it must treat people the same regardless of their political orientation or opinions. Or at least to the extent reasonable, perfection being impossible. Certainly I would defend anyone commenting here in good faith, even if I disagreed with them intensely. Can anyone remember the indefatigable 'burt' who could play comment ping pong for days if needed. Aggravating as hell, but he played his end of the game well and it's a shame we've lost people like him.
Or Wayne Mapp, we're fortunate indeed to have someone with his background even bother to comment here, yet far too often the response to him is surly and dismissive, with no attempt to engage the point. Or the ghastly pile-on's that Pete George gets almost every time; again no-one has to agree with him, but he's a long standing blogger in good faith. Yet some people see his name in the thread and behave like dogs fighting over a bloody chunk of meat.
Another way this shows up, extremist comments, sometime advocating violence or mass punishment, from so-called lefties slide under the radar with little to no response. An equivalent comment from a right winger would get jumped on.
Even-handedness is an important aspect of fairness and too often we’ve fallen short.
I’m guilty of the things you mention and I’m not proud of it 🙁
Moderators can’t be everywhere all the time and some things are easier to spot than others (yeah, I know this is a weak ‘excuse’).
Sometimes, others point out bad behaviour/comments and make moderators pay attention. I’ve found this helpful but I know that it has also been used to try shut up others.
I’d like to think that we are quite alert to comments inciting violence but mass punishment is ambiguous to me; can you please provide an example(s)?
I might give this some more thought and possibly do some experimenting with moderation – I have no illusions though as this cannot be solved by one person.
@RL…and I'm not even going to mention he who eventually (in comments, not in real life) filled the monster's shoes many around here fashioned for him to wear. lol – see how self censorship works? 🙂
And that's exactly the type of bullshit and imprecise comment that's not needed. Generally speaking, it's neither smart nor funny to suggest someone is insane or may have succumbed to lunacy. You might contend that what someone says is nuts (and back it up in some way 😉 ), but that's entirely different from seeming to wholesale throw them into a jar marked "lunatic", yes?
If it’s the case you were trying to allude to the lunacy of on-line communities, then really, you need to be more clear on that front given the nature of what you’re saying.
Before I rebuked Burt, I did look into his recent history here, including moderation, as I did not recognise him as a commenter. In other words, I took my lead from other Moderators …
I suspect burt was channeling the infamous Michael Cullen remark from at least a decade ago using the same words. Burt was probably being too clever by half and his reference lost in the mists of time, which is why it looked so out of place … just suggesting.
Which leads me to question, how is it something considered safe and saleable in one place be dangerous and requiring possible jail in another perhaps the law is an ass.
And further in a country such as our with the usage being quite common that none of those responsible for maintaining law were not at some function this festive season and not see a number of the group step out , form a circle and pass around a smoke, did they just turn away and deny that its happening, yet later this year take pleasure in destroying the life of some young person doing the same thing .
I find this quite confusing in a country that prides it's self on the low level of corruption.
Ah, but which law is the ass – the one legalising, or the one prohibiting?
The "low level of corruption" thing is a joke – we have loads of it, we just are "perceived" as having low levels. Not just mj, but everything from under-the-table contractors to big companies being let off charges because they're also big political donors. Small companies get pummelled for shit large companies have done for decades, and at worst view the (bargained-down) fines as still being cheaper than running an honest and safe operation.
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NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
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Well that was underwhelming….indeed a non event.
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/103141/top-leader-geoff-simmons-wants-us-focus-meaningful-issues-when-we-talk-about
Would you like to share why it's no good.
Hes making good sense to me .
Capitalism is just a tool for getting things done we just need government to set good boundaries and find ways to redistribute the goodies.
Why?….
"In my previous article I set out how the eco-socialist movement is fixated on the claim that we can’t have exponential growth on a finite planet. I argued they are wrong.
Ultimately though it was a technical answer to a stupid question. In this article I will set out why I think the question is stupid, and what I think the important conversations are to have"
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/103140/top-leader-geoff-simmons-argues-eco-socialist-claim-we-cant-we-cant-keep-growing
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/103141/top-leader-geoff-simmons-wants-us-focus-meaningful-issues-when-we-talk-about
"I don’t want to speak for a whole profession here, so I will speak for myself. That said, I think many economists would agree with what I have to say.
I completely accept we live on a planet with finite resources. Thankfully I doubt we will ever use them all because they eventually become too expensive to extract. And usually, thanks to the wonders of human ingenuity, alternatives become available.
Nonetheless, there are two ways that exponential growth is possible even with limited resources: productivity growth and inflation."
…..you need to ask?
Er, yes – we do. It looks like you don't agree that productivity growth and inflation allow exponential growth within a finite system, but he's provided a lengthy explanation for his claim that it does, whereas you've just provided an assertion: "underwhelming….indeed a non event." That doesn't give us much to go on for why you think he's wrong.
he has provided nothing except an unsubstantiated opinion….and contradicts himself into the bargain.
Kindly point to where he has demonstrated that critical resources are not finite or that their extraction can continue ad infinitum or even demonstrated viable substitutes for said critical resources?
"The eco-socialist movement argues that we can’t have exponential growth on a finite planet"….does not refer to finacialisation (as he must know, though given the quality of the articles perhaps he does not) but real resources that underpin the lives and systems of the human economy.
Good grief
Why ? it had some salient points and was not meant to be an economic thesis
i swear i had read that same creed already, especially this line here '
and that phrase along to me indicates taht while he spins a nice yarn (and hopefully gets paid by the word for it) he is still advocating that nothing much should be done, lest we throw out captialism with the bathwater.
and not one of those points addressed exponential growth on a finite planet
Take a look at the tables on this page, particularly where it breaks down the numbers between the advanced/eurozone/developing economies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_world_product
What stands out is that the the Eurozone is growing at a very modest 1.6%, while it's the developing nations (lead almost certainly by China, India and parts of Africa) that are leading the charge with growth rates over 4%.
This makes sense, as I said before it's not the top 'golden' 1b people who are expanding rapidly, it's the other 6b who are rapidly catching up. Are you going to go and tell them they have to remain poor?
The other factor that is often overlooked is that the demographics of most developed nations are heavily weighted towards older people, who typically consume less than younger people building families, homes and careers. And overall it's now thought that total human population will peak within a century and decline thereafter. Human growth … once we achieve a certain threshold of development … is absolutely not 'exponential' or 'unlimited'.
Uncritically parroting 'unlimited growth on a finite planet' is a simplistic and inadequate slogan; growth is neither unlimited, nor are resources finite. The far more interesting questions is … what kind of progress do we want?
Because progress and growth are not the same thing. Up until this point in human history because most people were so deeply impoverished, they were usually tightly linked … more of something almost always meant a progressive improvement. Catch one animal good, catch two … feast time! It's bit of instinctive calculus that's deeply embedded in us.
In the past 400 years however a potent mix of science, tech and capitalism have largely solved the impoverishment problem. This means that growth and progress are no longer necessarily so closely coupled. Now it's possible to have too much of what was once considered a good thing. But our instincts and social systems have yet to catch up.
This is the political conversation Geoff is touching on, what do we really mean by progress, and how should we measure it? Especially when 'growth' is no longer the best measure of it.
The conversation I got from Simmons was that the New Zealand economy can look forward to stagnation, so chin up, look at Japan – they haven't grown for decades and the sky hasn't fallen in. If you wanted us to address the economic and therefore chronic social problems in your town, you're out of luck.
In that I suspect Simmons is being a tad pessimistic, of all the developed nations NZ is unusual in three respects; one is that we still have a rectangular demographic pyramid, in other words we still have enough young people to sustain current levels of activity for at least another generation or two.
The other is Kiwisaver; it's impact is cumulative and with time it's impact is going to be felt more deeply on the local economy over the next few decades.
The third factor is our high comparative political and social stability; we will be increasingly seen as a desirable , reliable and trustworthy nation. This is probably our biggest asset.
Still either way you cut it, growth for it's own sake is no longer the ideal. In this I think everyone, Simmons and everyone here would agree. But what do we replace it with? Certainly the Japanese have shown it's possible to have an advanced and functioning society with little to no overt growth; and in that light it would be interesting to see in what ways they have managed to progress in these decades? Did they simply mark time, or have they improved life in other ways?
If growth is no longer the priority, then shifting attention to our chronic social problems could well become a higher priority.
Orange glow and hazy yellow skys.
It seems that the smog from OZ is creeping up the North Island.
And up into the Pacific
https://twitter.com/nzdodo/status/1212460307034988544
Half a billion animals perish in Australian fires and now one hell of a picture of a humanitarian crisis as thousands have been given 24hr notice to leave – no food, water, or power
Could it be said that entire species have been lost because of refusal to fund firefighters in rural areas + acknowledge climate change/climate manipulation? I think so.
Heck, ever thought how NZ will fare in a fire like that? Cause our rural fire fighters for the most part are unpaid under appreciated voluntary fire fighters.
And the animals that died, died because of Greed for the most part. The rural vollies just can't keep up. Even if they showered money on them today it would not change a thing.
But then i guess its cheaper for government to expect the population to pick up the slack privatly, hold bake sales for new trucks and such rather then employ, train, and pay them. You can have tax cuts or you can have funded, well trained and well equipped emergency services.
Had a little taster with the recent Nelson Tasman Pigeon Valley fire in February, thousands evacuated and volunteer firefighters brought in from all over.
yep.
My partner is a volly 🙂 and we are literally just hanging on barely. One reason so far we got lucky is that we in NZ now tend to throw all resources at a fire to prevent it from spreading. And so far luck has been on our side. So far.
WE should all be scared.
One hopes that the Australian Navy is coming along to the party to help evacuate these people. Cause the only way out for them – it seems – is via the water.
Can't bear to look at your first link A @ 4. Too distressing.
Yesterday Scott Morrison made the most appalling speech ever… apart from his gaffe about the bushfires being a back-drop to the cricket, he also said this – and I quote from memory:
Still denying Climate Change! What is wrong with the Aussie voters. Take your collective heads out of the sand and stop voting neanderthals into power.
Three years back we were driving down the relatively remote Henty Highway in VIC on an extreme fire day. At one point we stopped near a farm gate, I remember leaning on it; it was too hot to touch. The Grampians were barely a km away, yet in the heat driven wind and dust we could barely see them. The eucalypt forest behind us stank of volatile oils; we had this very strong sense we should not be there, one slight spark and it was going to explode. It's not an experience you could have in NZ.
Here is a particularly good article on the conditions that lead up to extreme bushfire days.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-24/what-makes-a-horror-fire-danger-day/10685918
It's the best parts of Australia that are burning down … we visited the SE Coast a year or so back; we have very fond memories of it. Places like Mallacoota are much loved gems and seeing this happen is tough. And I suspect the sheer intensity of these fires is causing irreparable damage; the landscape is not going to recover quickly or easily.
Still Australians have grown up with bushfires. It's remarkable working with them how unconcerned they can be about them, even ones that are quite local. I remember standing outside our factory looking at one burning about 10km away … no-one was wildly interested. Australia does burn … it's a fact of life here.
What is hard to convey is that the nature of the fire is changing, in scale, intensity and length of season. Some years are just going to be worse than others and there isn't a fixed pattern. Is this year going to be a tipping point? A lot will depend on how well the media handle the aftermath; if they can convince that these fires are not 'normal' and follow up intelligently I think it will be.
Is this year going to be a tipping point? A lot will depend on how well the media handle the aftermath; if they can convince that these fires are not 'normal' and follow up intelligently I think it will be.
I don't think so. There have been worse bushfires. 2009 springs to mind. Bear in mind that Australia accounts for only 1.3% of global emissions so climate change won't be seriously affected by whatever Australia does. If the biggest emitters like China, India, Russia, Japan and the US get their act together, then progress might be possible. But that probably won't happen anytime soon.
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions
Like everything to do with climate change … that 1.3% number is complicated.
I agree no-one can claim unequivocally that this year’s fires will change the political landscape; but there is no doubt that the ground has shifted in the decade since 2009.
Do you mean the 2009/10 fire season that was something like 15% the size of fires this year?
I'm surprised you're unsure of what bushfires I'm referring to, the deadliest in Australian history. But, yes, there have been others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2011/11/the-worst-bushfires-in-australias-history/
Depending on how one arbitrarily groups hundreds or thousands of fires over the season, deadliest is one thing – and like in most types of disasters, the death toll has been reduced due to those hard-earned lessons.
The scale of the fires this season seems to be about the largest on record, though. And that's the bit related to climate change, in all reasonable probability.
And yet Australia is the largest exporter of coal
If they left it lying around the fires could be even bigger! 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_in_Australia
Pretty much all of the mines are open cut with some underground. so unlike peat bog fires I fail to see how these current bush fires would be bigger.
Smiley means smile.
Yes, the Aussie media have a big role to play now. Lets hope they are up to it without fear nor favour.
I recall you telling us that story of the drive through a tinder dry Victoria. If I remember correctly you jumped in the car and got out of there poste haste, hearts in your mouths wondering if you were going to make it.
Yes, there has been complacency in the Aussie psyche over bushfires – the "she'll be right mate. We've been having them since God made little apples. We know how to handle em."
What they have got face up to is there is a new and terrifying element to them now. To begin with, they are going to happen on this scale more frequently than has been the case in the past and – as you rightly point out – over an increasingly lengthy bushfire season. It will eventually reach the point when they are occurring almost all year round.
The first thing they've got to do is toss out this Liberal led govt. Their mindset is such they are not equipped to even understand the situation, let alone take the actions necessary to minimise the effects.
Aussie media have been playing their part all along.
https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1212155056763486211
When everyone realised that the phrase "hopes and prayers" was blatantly code for SFA … let's put it this way, it's not just cooked koalas, ScoMo's burned up a lot of political capital these last few weeks.
You can get conditions like that here Red. In 2001 in Marlborough our the fire index hit the mid 1100s, similar to as bad as Australia gets, it is a measure of humidity, fuel, heat, wind and a few other things. On Boxing Day there was two quite large fires, both started by muppets the first one was a out of townie arriving at his block and deciding to mow it with a tractor, something a local would not do in a million years and the biggest one was a casual cigarette butt which took 4 days to control and weeks to extinquish completely.
Our saving grace is that we do not have gum tree forests, which are essentially petroleum fires as it is the oil/air mixture burning ahead of the fire's ground front and that generally we rarely have "dry " thunder storms to start them, as well as a fair few brilliant helicopter pilots to get to them quickly.
BTW, in the biggie US satellite pictures identified the sq metre it started in and the car the cigarette came from but as we don't have number plates on car rooves there wasn't enough evidence for a stupidity charge.
https://twitter.com/mitchest/status/1211628654632960001
Measuring the meme moments,signal to noise.
https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser/status/1210869412544290816
I was looking at https://ourworldindata.org/ just yesterday. Much of what they are saying underpins the case I've been making here for a while now:
This is a vital point; too much of our political debate is shaped by a media with a warped agenda, driven not by principles or truth, but clicks and eyeballs. Outrage, sex and crime sell advertising dollars, but fail miserably to inform us.
This kind of data is now available in quite a few places, and it will take a bit of time to discover how trustworthy they are. All sources have their biases, even if what they say is true, often its what they leave unspoken which is harder to spot.
Still in principle this is how I see the great debates of the next decade being shaped, driven by global scale data, intelligently analysed and well presented.
oh look, it seems like the panama canal is broken. Its running out of water
https://sputniknews.com/amp/latam/202001011077917429-panama-canal-reportedly-suffering-from-major-water-shortage-lacks-over-40-of-needed-volume/?__twitter_impression=true
Just quietly wondering how many people will see your link and reckon to themselves that you're some kind of Russian stooge spinning Putin fake news. Won't be believed unless and until it's reported by such august bodies as the BBC, CNN, WaPo or NYT…at which point, anything being reported will be believed 🙂
And sorry if that wee speculative observation and rant detracts from you sign posting yet another example of how we've fucked up this wonderful rock in space that's been our world.
I don't actually believe in any of the 'fake news ' bullshit as all news has some aspect of truth to it, and then it has an ideological spin to it. And rather then discuss the actual news we are supposed to discuss the political spin. And i can take your comment and turn it around and say it has to be reported on RT or what nots as some wont believe CNN et al. 🙂
And for what its worth, someone considering me a "Russian stooge spinning Putin fake news' would be a nice counterpoint to the 'globalists' 'killary supporter' indentity politics supporter (aka woman) and all the other shit that some here have thrown at me, simply because what i say might not support their own narrative or simply because outspoken people that don't subscribe to people worship and party worship are 'verboten'.
So i post my links, and people can click on it, read it, believe their own eyes or wait for someone to confirm their biases.
“All news has an aspect of truth to it” except for the moon landings never happening because they were filmed in a studio !
Here's a more "worthy" rendering of the same report, presume AFP will suffice.
https://www.france24.com/en/20191231-panama-marks-20-years-in-charge-of-canal-faces-climate-threat
The precarious nature of water flow in the Panama Canal has been known for a long time, item below from 2014, and can remember reading about it being a limiting factor when the expansion was happening.
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/aug/14/climate-change-panama-canal-water-shipping-closures
Oh. I know it's been reported by various outlets.
The reasoning behind my comment (if "reasoning" is the right word) was, that like Sabine, I'm completely over the crap of people evaluating the veracity of stuff solely on whether or not it comes from a source that they can connect (in their own minds) back to a Russia/Kremlin/Putin source…before using whatever supposed "Russian connection" they can jig up as a smear against the person presenting "Russian tainted" information/news.
You'll see it all through reactions posted to the standard if a link is from Russia Today, or if an argument/point of view has also, and even coincidentally, been aired by Russia Today or Sputnik or MintPress etc.
Meanwhile, many of those same people will uncritically and forcibly push even the most ridiculous lines that come from any "anonymous sources" used, shared, boosted and merry-go-rounded by the BBC, CNN, Washington Post, NYT Guardian et al
When people cite/quote (here), they’re required to attribute to their source for a number of (good) reasons. One downside, however, is others choosing to disregard and dismiss the content/message for no other reason than the source/messenger.
Yeah, nah.
It far too often goes way beyond simply "ignoring" (which would be fine btw) and is used to launch off on personal attacks and smears that pull in 'support' from a second person and a third person because (and this is an important part of the dynamic) the target is not sufficiently and/or ideologically aligned with the gathering mob, who see an opportunity to gas light and goad that (they hope) will get a reaction that will result in the target copping a ban and never coming back.
I've seen it happen over and over and over again. And protecting a person who is being set upon like that is well nigh impossible. I know that, because I've tried, both as a commentator and as a moderator.
Very good points, thank you.
Mob behaviour and pile-on are impossible to predict (except in hindsight!) and control. Yet, they are hugely problematic, as you say, and I find them intensely frustrating.
Because I’m usually not au fait (i.e. completely out of my depth and thus out of my comfort zone) with the topics that are mostly associated with these behaviours, I stay out of these threads, as a commenter and as Moderator.
Banning the usual suspects, who tend to be the mob/mob-leaders and regulars here, would stifle the flow of comments and could kill the TS community. I’m not keen on a totalitarian approach to moderation.
It’s a reoccurring problem that feeds on past exchanges, i.e. there’s usually (a) history and some commenters ‘have form’.
I confess that sometimes it is easiest for me as a Moderator to remove the single commenter (even when they are/play the ‘victim’) from the equation to restore some peace here. I know it is not (always) the right thing to do but ‘pragmatic’ reasons take over sometimes.
Weka also mentioned recently her (unsuccessful) attempts to induce a culture shift and I guess appealing to/for self-moderation is fruitless 🙁
Maybe we should try to discuss it in the back-end. Moderation is very hands-off (light & lenient) and I’d like to think we are in the ‘sweet spot’ but there’s always room for improvement.
Banning the usual suspects, who tend to be the mob/mob-leaders and regulars here, would stifle the flow of comments and could kill the TS community.
The flip side of that coin being that allowing their continued presence has diminished the scope and breadth of political opinion presented on these pages over the years. (Go back and look at the comments beneath old posts. You'll see a marked difference in the quality of individual comments and the vitality of the comments sections in general)
Yes, I know what you mean, I think.
Many commenters of/on this site have been here for a long time and the pool of Authors is smaller too, I reckon. Do we need fresh blood?
I don’t know where we have gone ‘wrong’, if at all, or what we could do better, if anything.
Judging by the comments on other (NZ) blog sites I’d like to think that TS is still (!) one of the better ones – maybe it’s a sign of the times; civic-political engagement, in both numbers and level, is also dwindling and not just here in NZ.
And protecting a person who is being set upon like that is well nigh impossible. I know that, because I've tried, both as a commentator and as a moderator.
Same experience here, it's intensely frustrating and disappointing. The other aspect I always struggled with, that while as a left-wing site, right wingers were always going to face a head wind … in the end it became a scything machine. All but one or two are gone.
I always believed moderation had to be even-handed, in that it must treat people the same regardless of their political orientation or opinions. Or at least to the extent reasonable, perfection being impossible. Certainly I would defend anyone commenting here in good faith, even if I disagreed with them intensely. Can anyone remember the indefatigable 'burt' who could play comment ping pong for days if needed. Aggravating as hell, but he played his end of the game well and it's a shame we've lost people like him.
Or Wayne Mapp, we're fortunate indeed to have someone with his background even bother to comment here, yet far too often the response to him is surly and dismissive, with no attempt to engage the point. Or the ghastly pile-on's that Pete George gets almost every time; again no-one has to agree with him, but he's a long standing blogger in good faith. Yet some people see his name in the thread and behave like dogs fighting over a bloody chunk of meat.
Another way this shows up, extremist comments, sometime advocating violence or mass punishment, from so-called lefties slide under the radar with little to no response. An equivalent comment from a right winger would get jumped on.
Even-handedness is an important aspect of fairness and too often we’ve fallen short.
I’m guilty of the things you mention and I’m not proud of it 🙁
Moderators can’t be everywhere all the time and some things are easier to spot than others (yeah, I know this is a weak ‘excuse’).
Sometimes, others point out bad behaviour/comments and make moderators pay attention. I’ve found this helpful but I know that it has also been used to try shut up others.
I’d like to think that we are quite alert to comments inciting violence but mass punishment is ambiguous to me; can you please provide an example(s)?
I might give this some more thought and possibly do some experimenting with moderation – I have no illusions though as this cannot be solved by one person.
@RL…and I'm not even going to mention he who eventually (in comments, not in real life) filled the monster's shoes many around here fashioned for him to wear. lol – see how self censorship works? 🙂
I don't know about a burt on here but used to see a burt online somewhere else. I don't if he/she is still there or the lunacy got her/him.
Burt has been here recently (if it is the same Burt) and received a rebuke (from me – was fed up): https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-12-2019/#comment-1673197.
@ Peter.
And that's exactly the type of bullshit and imprecise comment that's not needed. Generally speaking, it's neither smart nor funny to suggest someone is insane or may have succumbed to lunacy. You might contend that what someone says is nuts (and back it up in some way 😉 ), but that's entirely different from seeming to wholesale throw them into a jar marked "lunatic", yes?
If it’s the case you were trying to allude to the lunacy of on-line communities, then really, you need to be more clear on that front given the nature of what you’re saying.
Yes, good comment, Bill!
Before I rebuked Burt, I did look into his recent history here, including moderation, as I did not recognise him as a commenter. In other words, I took my lead from other Moderators …
This song from 1973 by the Scottish group Stealers Wheels immediately springs to mind .
Posting for the enjoyment of all moderators this hot sunny afternoon:
Ta 🙂
@Incognito. Good grief man … your doing a fine job, better than I managed.
[deep bow]
Oh and I looked at that Burt comment you hammered https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-12-2019/#comment-1673197.
I suspect burt was channeling the infamous Michael Cullen remark from at least a decade ago using the same words. Burt was probably being too clever by half and his reference lost in the mists of time, which is why it looked so out of place … just suggesting.
No-one expects moderators to be omniscient 🙂
Roll another one,
Just like the other one.
You been holding onto it,
And I sure would like a hit!
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1212520413814808576
Which leads me to question, how is it something considered safe and saleable in one place be dangerous and requiring possible jail in another perhaps the law is an ass.
And further in a country such as our with the usage being quite common that none of those responsible for maintaining law were not at some function this festive season and not see a number of the group step out , form a circle and pass around a smoke, did they just turn away and deny that its happening, yet later this year take pleasure in destroying the life of some young person doing the same thing .
I find this quite confusing in a country that prides it's self on the low level of corruption.
Ah, but which law is the ass – the one legalising, or the one prohibiting?
The "low level of corruption" thing is a joke – we have loads of it, we just are "perceived" as having low levels. Not just mj, but everything from under-the-table contractors to big companies being let off charges because they're also big political donors. Small companies get pummelled for shit large companies have done for decades, and at worst view the (bargained-down) fines as still being cheaper than running an honest and safe operation.
Sometimes, buying time is the best option.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/117059423/kauri-dieback-11-waitkere-ranges-tracks-to-open-this-summer
Single issue nutters.
https://twitter.com/SethCotlar/status/1212526435929214976
Nothing on [the] BBC, CNN, WaPo or NYT …
/
https://twitter.com/SputnikInt/status/1212609464529911808
https://sputniknews.com/viral/202001011077917612-cigar-shaped-ufo-video-arizona/
…oh..
/
https://twitter.com/GoodyearBlimp/status/1210963613227184128
While PM Scott Morrison plays with his balls at the Cricket, Australia burns.
Yothu Yindi – Timeless Land
(Music Video)
Scott Morrison criticised for hosting cricket match while fires rage.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/01/australia-bushfires-scott-morrison-criticised-for-hosting-cricket-match-while-fires-rage.html
https://twitter.com/samim/status/872837672439611392?lang=en
Kia Ora Newshub.
Condolences to all the Tangata who lost Whanau in the Bush fires.
Flooding in Indonesia climate change global warming.
It looked like the Great White Shark was caught in a net I could see the lines on its head from the net there are callous people everywhere.
Some tourists are quite careless while on holiday in Aotearoa.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I could smell fire a few days ago.????
The Cook Islands experiencing flooding global warming is part of the cause.
That's the way Origin Earth selling milk the old way in Glass bottles.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
That's awesome people saving Torohara.
I remember that hailstorm. Maybe in times of plenty they should donate some 2 grade fruit to the poor people.
That's great the endangered blackbilled Gull making a colony in a Ahurri estuary.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Wainakua great idea big whare were all whanau can live together.
The Chinese were treated badly by the Crown in the early days. Yes Maori Culture and Chinese Culture has a lot in common.
Korone marae having a whanau day they had a Pa Wars sports event at Pokai I wanted to go but no.
Ka kite Ano
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
Kia Ora Newshub.
I got a tx and photo from Taramaki Makaru of the black out from the smoke.
We only have one environment.
Looks like PEE fueled hate going down in Tauranga.
The way that they fixed the Railways in Wellington is awesome. That's how all road work should be run.????.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Yes we must look after our mother Earth's environment.
Its good to see the Australian natives waiata.
Kawarau sounds like they need to up grade there town water supply infrastructure.
That’s a good idea a charity for the tamariki in need up North.
Ka kite Ano