Here's just one illustration of how we in New Zealand are shameful laggards in de-fossilising our transport: Norway new vehicle sales are around 60% pure battery, and another 20% plug-in hybrid. In the overall fleet, pure battery and plug-in hybrids are up to about 20%. Dino-juice is well on its way out, in Norway.
We really need to sort out issues such as the scheduled application of road user charges to electric vehicles at the end of this year. Applying RUC of nearly 8 cents/km to electric vehicles would remove any fuel cost savings from going electric. I recently took on a project that's turned into fairly regular part-time employment, which is a 100km round-trip for me.
So instead of using my dear old Landie, I went looking for something a bit … more environmentally and fiscally and socially aware. (No, public transport is nowhere even remotely close to viable for this commute). I could just barely make the range of a second generation Leaf work, if I plugged in to charge at work. But I ended up getting a Honda Fit hybrid, and the petrol cost is less than just the RUC costs alone would be on a Leaf if they end up imposed on schedule, without even considering the charging cost.
In terms of new electric vehicles, there's a lot more choice coming at us really fast. At the moment, the lowest price new EV in NZ is the MG ZS ev, at just under $50k. But BYD are saying they are planning to sell their EA1 in Oz for under 35k dingodollars, so probably around the $40 mark here.
Camrys are much bigger than I like for daily use. I've still got the Landie for the big jobs, few as they may be.
I was a bit wary of potential reliability with the Fit, but everything I found online indicated the only real issues were with control software in the earliest models, which were quickly sorted with a software update.
I came close to going for a Prius plug-in, but the extra size and budget stretch needed, and that the pure-electric range would only cover about 1/4 of my km and the open road economy wasn't as good as the Fit, combined to tip it to the Fit. Besides, Prius. But if the pure-electric range covered my daily needs, then I would probably have gone for the Prius PHV, Prius image issues and size notwithstanding.
But jeez, I didn't think driving on pure electric would be as nice as it is. Wafting along at 50kmh or 90kmh with zero engine noise or vibration – it's bliss. It's super disappointing it only lasts a km or two on the flat before the engine has to fire up again. If that BYD EA1 actually does land here under $40k, I might end up breaking a lifetime habit of buying cheap cars and driving them til they're dead ten-ish years later, and spring for one.
Toyota Yaris 1.6 hybrid car or suv. Under $30k does 2.3litres to 100k ( that's about a third of the normal petrol usage – doesn't need to be plugged in. But I think they might be difficult to get hold of.
"There’s an EV mode but don’t get too excited. The owner’s manual suggests there’s a maximum electric-only range of only 1km (yep, a single, miserable kilometre…) and that it could be as little as a few hundred metres."
I have a larger toyota hybrid that uses about 60% of petrol a non hybrid uses and that's better than their literature suggests. I struggled to make sense of the article?? Toyota suggest the yaris uses about 1/3 of the petrol equivalent so that shouldn't be too far out? I'm not clear about why the article talks about only going 1km – seems kinda irrelevant. Otherwise it's up to the next in the range the Corolla.
Hybrids seem to be quite a good intermediate stage especially for people at the far end of the current battery distance ranges.
It's a middle class dilemma. I don't know what the average spend is on a car in NZ – from a quick look I can't find it. But I'd wager it's well under $20k and may be under $15K, The used hybrids and EVs at this price range are fairly old and and have issues (real or imagined) with range and/or battery life. Buyers who can't afford to make a bad economic decision are leery of them. You might, as Ad suggested, find a reliable used Camry hybrid or similar in this price range that you are prepared to take a punt on in terms of battery life. It will be years though before used Kia and Hyundai hybrids and the like turn up at this price, and the same issues will apply.
But even the middle class is being rorted – the price of new hybrids and EVs has been cynically jacked up sky-high. So that they make no economic sense for the buyer because the fuel savings don't cover the higher purchase price. And sitting in the background is inflated housing prices and the huge mortgages that have to be serviced – how long before this sucks middle class discretionary spending out of other sectors, or are people just expected to pile up more personal debt to save the planet with a flash EV?
I significantly stretched my usual budget and spent $10.5k on a 2014 model with 92500 km. I found precisely zero online chatter about battery degradation on Honda hybrids, unlike the plethora of online chatter about degradation in Prius Ni-MH batteries and Leaf batteries.
Even if the battery does degrade significantly, it's only going to have a tiny effect on fuel economy. It will still eliminate all the fuel waste sitting at lights, most of the fuel waste in stop-start traffic. It still has the Atkinson cycle engine, and the electric motor will still cover for the lowish torque at low to medium engine speeds characteristic of Atkinson cycle engines. It just won't be able to store quite as much from regenerative braking and going down hills, but that's only a small part of how it enables better economy.
Interesting facts Andre – every bit of info about EVs is new to me and I hope I will gradually get informed. Though can't afford one and am attached to old 1989 Toyota which I have insured for about $1000, third party.
It's a new language, eh.
I'm hoping when the time comes to replace my current suzuki 50cc, there will be some suzuki electric equivalents in a similar price range – currently the electrics I have searched online have been about twice the price. But I long for the day I can tootle around town without the engine noise, lol
Lack of engine noise will mean pedestrians having to be specially careful. Get forgetful and the car wil be onyou before you think to look, having not heard.
Mine is quiet but you do get used to looking for people who haven't heard. Much like the overseas tourists that used to be around Wellington looking the wrong way around before they step out.
I drive a black Leaf. My friends call it the Black Ninja, the way it sneaks up on people at the curb. One is therefore careful lest the paintwork be blemished. Later Leafs I believe make noises to alert pedestrians of their presence. I have toyed with the idea of recording my son-in-law's Harley and piping that through external speakers mounted in a pipe where the exhaust would be……
I have heard that some common hybrids can have the battery unit checked and as its made up of a number of cells they can find the cells that are worst of and only replace them
This is what the Prius looks like and others will be similar
I was wondering why they didn't do that. For some, a new battery costs as much as a new car. A cell servicing every 20,000km would be an affordable alternative.
I've looked into replacing cells they have to be the same age you can't just put new cells in.you can buy reconditioned complete packs for about a third of the new price.
They are fairly easy to change out the complete pack but the dealer's charge $1200 plus for an hrs work and will only put in new batteries.
Sorry Weka but in the box where my name appears it keeps reverting to tricledrownk no matter how many times I correct it.any suggestions on how I can correct this.i clear the box restore even the auto name feature comes up as Tricledrown then it reverts back to Tricledrownk.
Let's see if we can sort this out. What device are you using and what browser?
Can you please clarify if you can manually edit your name each time (and the problem is that it won't 'stick')? I'm seeing comments from you in the past week as Tricledrownk and Tricledrown. Why is that?
There is a lot of online chatter about hybrid battery degradation – most of it is simply ignorant. If they were so bad would you see so many taxis in Auckland that are hybrid? There are heaps of Prius, Aqua, and Corolla etc. around now. I have had a hybrid (2005 Prius) for 8 years now (1st NZ owner with 37k on the clock – now 150k). It has been the most reliable car I have ever owned and the only battery replacement has been the auxiliary which was 15 years old. Still returns 4.5 l /100km as it did when first bought. Basically halved my emission profile. Now looking to upgrade to something even more efficient.
Again there is virtually no public transport around here and we have to travel regularly at least 150k (300k return) way beyond the range of a Leaf. Friend had one for a while but was lucky enough to upgrade to a Tesla. I have to admit I had some difficulty with the 10th commandment* on first sight.
Yep, it is rare for a Prius battery to crap out. Most of the articles that went into actual detail showed the car was doing Star Trek mileages, and/or extreme temperatures.
But still, I took the complete absence of complaints about Fit batteries to be a good sign, when compared to the cornucopia of complaints about such rare problems that occurred in the Prius batteries.
Andre – I don't want to down the argument for EV but there are 2 glaring issues:
1/ what is NZ going to do with some 2.5 million cars that actually cannot be converted but became instant trash
2/ Batteries, the amount of raw material -Lithium, nickel and cobalt are the key metals used to make those batteries – is being mined in poor countries the activity is devastating on the environment. The issue of disposal is not solved. Funny how this is being advertised as a environmentally better solution. This is ruining the environment in larger proportions and faster. But of cause its not at our doorstep.
My take is nothing really has changed, the emperor has new clothes and we now poison the soil until we cant grow food anymore. The drive to self destruction has not been broken at all. The run for profits is selling the average punter that buying an extraordinary expensive car is so much better. But really it isn't.
The 2.5 million existing ICE vehicles will end the same way as all almost all the other vehicles disposed of up til now. They will be crushed and/or shredded, and sent off to be recycling.
Battery recycling is entirely feasible, and is starting to become an actual thing now that significant quantities of end-of-life batteries are becoming available. Here's just one effort: https://insideevs.com/features/441524/tesla-jb-straubel-future-battery-recycling/ There's plenty more going on, you just need to make a very minimal effort to educate yourself.
If you had actually fully read my original post, you might have come to the last paragraph where I specifically addressed the cobalt and nickel issues. A lot of the new EVs use battery chemistries that don't use cobalt or nickel. The most popular alternative is lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP), as used in BYD vcars and trucks and buses and dome of Tesla's made in China models.. These weren't preferred a few years ago because of lower energy density, but with improvements in battery technology they are now better than the best cobalt and nickel batteries were just a few years ago. As well as being much longer lasting.
Middle class dilemma now, everyone's dilemma eventually if we want to let catastrophic climate change happen. Someone has to step up and effect change. Or not I guess, and we let everything burn to the ground. Are we going to take this seriously or not?
(It will be a long time before I can afford an EV, I'm relying on the middle classes to bring the price down).
(It will be a long time before I can afford an EV, I'm relying on the middle classes to bring the price down).
i guess that will be the problem if the middle class has got no money to spend on an overpriced EV. In my circle of people i know absolutly no one who owns a car that has cost more then 5 grand, if people do own a new car its Lease plan via work.
That is what i hope is that the people who drive gasguzzlers now for work in work vehicle will get the EVs first, and that that hopefully brings the price down for all. If it does not, which also would not surprise me those that are not in a rich enough class to afford one of these vehicles will have to content with a. walk (for those that can), b. cycle (for those that can), c. public transport (where it exists) and the rest is shit outta luck.
I suspect the issue isn’t going to be ev affordability but lack of other solutions. PT, cycle infrastructure, relocalising services and work, train network, and so on.
I guess it will be both. A large number of cars in NZ are business cars, i expect these to be EV when that becomes mandatory. Then there are those that already have them or will upgrade and can either afford it outright, or slap the car on the mortgage.
how the lower income to poor people are to afford these vehicles i have no idea.
I know a few people that are scared of this day for exactly this reason. But i expect the government to give tax incentives to those that can afford these cars to reaise 'interest' and 'uptake' and then for those that can't afford it, sucks to be them.
We will end up affording them same as we do with ice cars now, second hand resale and imports.
But I don’t think we can see how it will work because it hasn’t happened before and we will have to transition off the kind of car use and reliance we have now into a different kind of society. Not many people with good vision on that, relatively. Yet.
I am staggered that over 20,000 extra cars were put on our roads in May alone. Weka's link is all gung-ho about sales, but gives no figure for the number of old cars taken off the road.
I doubt if that number would get to 10,000. Can anyone reassure me?
If we are constantly putting far more cars onto the roads than we are taking off, the matter of how many are hybrid is irrelevant. We will always be worsening our carbon footprint.
And gridlock will spread everywhere. Not even national's big road-building programmes will prevent gridlock everywhere.
Nobody seems to be doing any planning or intervention on how many vehicles are being put onto our roads each year compared to how many are taken off .
Sheer stupidity, unless I am wrong in assuming that fewer vehicles are being taken off.
As far as I can tell, all those graphs show increasing numbers of vehicles, with no indication of whether we are taking any vehicles off the road at all.
Changing to more fuel-efficient vehicles does not help our carbon footprint if we are constantly putting more vehicles onto our roads than we are taking off.
There is information about new registrations in LTSA data, as well as some downloadable datasets.
If you're just guesstimating, then basically you can look at the charts with new and renewed registrations, particularly light passenger vehicles. The line (total vehicles) is going up, but if the "existing" point for 2015 is lower than the "new plus existing" in 2014, then some cars have gone off the road.
EVs are spiking, but as a proportion of the fleet larger engined "light passenger vehicles" have also increased regularly over 40 years. I'm thinking SUVs.
But EV tech seems to be maturing quickly, and buses are increasing in number quickest of all, so, it's not all bleak. But it is complex, and easy to focus on the wood instead of all the trees.
It's difficult to find because it's a particularly niche piece of data, and there are many twigs to examine, and sometimes one needs to be familiar with data collections and the mindset of data collators to know how to search for a particular twig.
Most things are available, it's just a case of figuring out who has it and where to find it and how to get it. Organisations literally have people highly trained at doing exactly that. And nosy fellows like me watching them do it.
If you go to Weka's link, select "2019 annual fleet statstics", and "view sections", you can download a pdf report and an xlsx workbook. I believe you're after sheet 5.1 in the workbook.
BUT
the report is more helpful. There are more cars with bigger engines, but per capita travel in those vehicles is lower and the CO2 emissions of those vehicles is also lower than older vehicles.
I bought a 4-door 1.2 litre Suzuki Swift new for $20k 3 years ago. It runs on the smell of an oily rag and compares well in terms of emissions with somewhat larger EV's. Suzuki now make a hybrid Swift which I think is $26k new and has even lower emissions.
Hi Andre, it is laudable that car manufactures offer EV's.
I have some questions though.
Lets say we have some
As at 31 May 2021
As at 31 May 2021Vehicle TypeTotal5,493,773AGRICULTURAL MACHINE2,849ATV8,109BUS32,796GOODS VAN/TRUCK/UTILITY806,577HIGH SPEED AGRICULTURAL VEHICLE144MOBILE MACHINE23,500MOPED31,618MOTOR CARAVAN48,229MOTORCYCLE167,758PASSENGER CAR/VAN3,505,856SPECIAL PURPOSE VEHICLE3,315TRACTOR45,923TRAILER NOT DESIGNED FOR H/WAY USE980TRAILER/CARAVAN816,119
If the point you're trying to make is that there are lots of other kinds of vehicles that are also fossil-fueled, all I can suggest is pick whatever class of vehicle you're interested, and search for electric [whatever kind of vehicle you're interested in].
Come on ACT and/or the Green Party! Time to do some virtue signalling and expose this to loads of sunlight and oxygen. Or do you have something to hide as well …?
My understanding of l(L)iberal was those that saw Corbyn as an anti-semite, Assange as treacherous, keepers of the status quo. Kinda like conservatives on the left side of politics.
Small el liberal in NZ historically has meant socially liberal people who vote on the left.
Large el L liberal is a political position and theory that most people here aren’t even aware of. Adrian and others use it as a pejorative and label designed to corral. I don’t find it particularly helpful because it’s often inaccurately applied.
the people you refer to are what I would call centre lefties.
liberal also has a more modern meaning, basically socially liberal but comfortable with neoliberal economics so long as progress can be made. Eg the term liberal feminism is used to mean feminists who want equal pay but don’t act to end the patriarchy.
"the people you refer to are what I would call centre lefties" …aahhh No, the people referred to as 'Liberals' are Centrists, which is it's own quite defined and distinct ideology.
And we know this because as we have seen with our own eyes, the way the Third Way Centrists in the UK and the establishment Centrist Dems defended their ideology against the actual Progressive Left as aggressively as any political ideologue we have seen in action recently in western politics.
These Free market Liberal Imperialists and their media arm are a more immediate threat and major obstacle at present to any Progressive Left project taking root anywhere in the West than the Right IMO, thereby making them a serious threat to the survival of our planet.
Not sure how many leftish people thought assange was "treacherous". Or even Corbyn as personally being anti-Semitic (although the party as a whole seemed to have a problem that was never addressed).
meh.
Why does the left have so many labels?
So people on the left know who to hate.
……work was still being done to figure out next steps and chief executive Naomi James said they were in talks with central government about ways to create jobs, or repurpose the site.
"That could be anything from imports of other products, green energy and fuel opportunities through to the solar farm….."
I'm not a pitiless shit happy to see such social damage, I am hopeful that these highly skilled workers may find a place at the proposed solar farm.
This is my hope.
That the transition from a fossil fuel economy is done in a just way.
This transition must happen.
Or don't you accept the need for us to move away from fossil fuels?
We should be making the most of this opportunity to make the solar farm a reality.
I share my pity with the Mayor of Dunedin for those affected by the Southland floods, and, the even much greater social damage caused if we don't embrace a just transition.
While we have our own refinery we could potentially refine our own crude which i think atm is exported take that ability away and we are totally dependent on a foreign country for our fuel , not good in my view for a people who still have some way to go before we can transition to other fuels and noone knows whats arround the corner etc .Neither would there be much in the way of jobs in a solar farm once its up an running you could prob run the whole shebang with a couple of technicians an a couple of robots to keep the panels clean .
zouch. Walks on the field at a high point, walks off to find all that's come back.
Almost as bad as that woman who tweeted about AIDS in Africa before getting onto a 12 hour flight there, and getting off the flight to find out she'd been fired (she was back with the company within a few years, so not exactly a career-ender then, either).
Still, as long as he hasn't been turning up to EDL rallies or David Irving book signings recently, he should be ok. Most people know that depressed teens say stupid shit sometimes.
But there seems at the same time to be a youth worship – the young green Councillor will come up with some amazing magic and practical answer to all convoluted problems that will enable the Great Forward Leap into a Better Future.
Who has found the Covid vaccine booking 0800 number, I have searched for ages and followed every direction to my DHB and still no number. Somebody really does need a kick up the arse for anything complicated in doing this.
You can always contact your GP to get the latest information. If you haven't one then I think you should look for a group practice where appropriate for you. They do try to help you with your health problems if they run good management.
There's a link on the MOH covid website to the various DHb's and what they are doing. What I don't get is why they are making such a meal out of it.
I'm Capital & Coast and they are wasting money sending out invitations etc. The Flu shot doesn't have a lot of admin for the person being stabbed so why don't they use a similar system.
Just print up a bar coded form with a few rip off bits similar to an electoral voting form – you go in on your allocated day with address/age proof -fill out background information – give them bit one get stabbed and scanned then give them bit two to scan when you go in for the second shot. Immuno/other groups get the form from their Doctor.
Just allocate days to go by initial letter of surname or something similar.
Then at the end just check up on the numbers where there is only one scan. It's an exercise in getting shots into arms not in trying to collect and store ready to be hacked the personal details of everyone – which seems to be a health department obsession.
100 years since WW1 and big spending on updating our Memorial to that War. In Key's time. Easier to direct people's attention to those memories of the past which have a hold on people's consciousness. But there was WW2 so much closer that took my birth father who served bravely, and the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan war – and …? Enough to think about and should be top and front in our minds. But no, sort of slid under the carpet. And that is a discomforting place to be.
Turoa Karatea frequently scratches himself until he bleeds, but time is running out for him to get compensation for a condition he says was caused by Agent Orange. Will a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry finally deliver for Karatea and other Vietnam veterans before the last of the veterans die?
Ahh, my sister has phoned it through to me but she only got it because her husbands mate passed it on to them. It all seems very clandestine, very secret squirrel stuff.
Anyway it is 080026 88 22, pass it own but carefully like Richie Mounga organising his backline. And just another moan, if this is one of the most important numbers in NZ history why isn’t it a simple one like any company with a competent info department manages to get. I think I can see why the Government is giving health a bloody good kicking.
Lives lost, scarred people, lost revenue to the area because of lack of objective informed direction from government agencies and lost mana for the people there and all NZ.
Eight adventurers died on the submarine volcano. Another 16 would later succumb to horrific burns, inhalation and blast injuries. And 25 survivors were left with lifelong physical and mental recoveries from the explosion.
Despite tourist companies leading visitors onto New Zealand's most active volcano for decades, some stakeholders' health and safety obligations were unclear.
RNZ can now reveal the confusion went right to the top.
Small government good, effective government bad – say the neoliberalists! Just like the pig farm idea introduced by Roger Douglas. (Can he be deknighted now we feel benighted)? Animal Farm was run by pigs who promised and made rules that they gradually altered till what the animals got was the opposite of what they had been told.
Israel's Health Ministry says a small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in Israel were likely linked to their vaccination.
This was perhaps exacerbated by the stresses that so many young Israeli men are experiencing as they battle the horrific, blood-thirsty Palestinians that threaten Israel. /sarc
But an analysis by Deloitte also showed such an investment would reap economic rewards, with a growth in GDP of up to $23b, and thousands of jobs created.
One of the most important pieces of data, however, was a projection on how the investment would impact ratepayers – and likely what councils will be concerned about the most…
By foregoing the reforms, it showed the cost burden on ratepayers would be extremely lopsided. Some could end up paying nearly $14,000 a year in their water bill, while others would pay just $1,900. But if reforms did go ahead, and if two to four entities were created to oversee the water network, the bill would instead be a lot more evenly split amongst ratepayers. The highest average bill would end up being just $1,600 while the lowest average would be around $800.
My present bill is I think no more than $200 pa. And what does the master grinder Deloitte consider our water would be profitable for? And are we still virtually giving it away to overseas exploiters?
In a lot of urban areas the "water" bill is mostly for sewage disposal. Watercare in Auckland does a pro rata from the water meter volume (78.5% homes and 95% for apartments) to have a volume for the waste disposal network. The waste disposal cost is 1.75 X that of water per 1000L plus a fixed yearly charge
The pure water supply is around 25% of account ( inc GST)
"The United States is all for more development and investments in the Islands, but that investment should adhere to international standards for environmentally and socially sustainable development, and should be pursued transparently, with public consultation.
How would nuclear bombing part of the Marshall Islands repeatedly by the USA fit in with that worthy-sounding set of guidelines and principles?
The purpose of Operation Crossroads was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval warships. Testing in the islands began at Bikini Atoll with the Shot Able test, on July 1, 1946. … These were also the first U.S. nuclear detonations since the “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” bombs dropped over Japan. https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/marshall-islands
Tom Lehrer was writing about the nuclear bomb tensions back in the 1960s – oh we have come a long and reasoned way since then! Remember this is satire about the serious backdrop to all the flimflam that we hear from our 'betters' amongst our good leaders looking to advance Humanity and Peace.
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Ele Ludemann writes – Have you noticed the media’s propensity to label people and groups in a way that shows negative bias? People speaking up for women’s right to their own spaces and fairness in sport aren’t feminists or women’s rights activists, they’re anti-trans or transphobic. The Taxpayers’ Union is often prefaced with the label right ...
Photo by Magdalena Kula Manchee on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour (I’ll be online for an hour from 12.30 so pile them up), including:The Government’s latest climate back-tracks on diesel cars and ...
All of the Government’s five options for improving Auckland’s links include or prioritise tunnels and bridges for cars, double-cab utes and trucks ahead of walking, cycling and rail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government has brought forward plans to start building and/or drilling a second Waitematā harbour ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes: Green’s co-leader Marama Davidson just keeps digging the hole she is in deeper. First she showed her bitter antipathy towards white CIS (same gender as birth) men. Then she walked it back to all men. On Tuesday night on TV1 News she said, “…overwhelmingly it ...
as Auckland’s cantankerous mayor stumbles from one crisis to the next, the hope is not that Wayne Brown will learn on the job – that’s almost certainly a lost cause – but that Aucklanders will manage to come together and limit the damage that he threatens to inflict on the ...
Wow, it’s the end of March already. Here are a few of the smaller items that caught our attention over the last week. We need better trucks Newsroom reported on a Ministry of Transport report showing just how dirty our current truck fleet is. A heavy diesel truck costs ...
Listening to RNZ yesterday, I heard that the government was making a major announcement about a second crossing of the Waitematā. I was fairly surprised.I’d have thought with it being election year the last thing the government would want to be talking about was a massive Auckland transport project. Especially ...
I cracked open a fortune cookie with a family group after dinner. My loved ones got warm, inspiring messages such as my son’s: ‘You will be successful in business and society’. Nice. I got this one: “Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.” By coincidence, I had already drafted a ...
THOMAS CRANWELL: When ideology turns violent – the political and media backing behind the Posie Parker mob Thomas Cranwell writes – ——————————– Similar to other countries, the transgender movement in New Zealand is not a grassroots organisation but instead is an increasingly ...
It is a lovely autumn morning.The sun is shining. The birds in Kōwhai park are twittering.There is music playing on Today FM.You can hardly tell that the children at Kia Kaha primary school are being greenhouse gassed.It is not just happening at Kia Kaha Primary School.It is happening to all ...
Poor old Mike Hosking! In today’s Herald, such is his visceral antipathy to our current government, that he is reduced to wrestling with himself in trying to understand how it is that despite its many failings – in his eyes at least – the Labour government is somehow ahead in ...
Air pollution kills, and dirty diesel vehicles are a major source of it. Cleaning them up has enormous social benefits in avoided deaths and hospitalisations. How much? Billions of dollars: A report quietly released by the Ministry of Transport in July shows tighter regulation of vehicle imports for air ...
Via one of my lovely Twitter sources, the sardonic and interesting @johubris … the following ‘poll question’ has been recently distributed: “Thinking about your life and your country now, what is the most important issue that you want to see the New Zealand Government addressing?” This qualifies as push-polling, which ...
On Tuesday night, former Forestry Minister Stuart Nash was sacked for corruption, after the Prime Minister discovered he had disclosed confidential cabinet discussions to his donors. Its since emerged that Jacinda Ardern's office knew of this disclosure, but didn't act on the obvious breach of the Cabinet manual, and didn't ...
Buzz from the Beehive Whoa, there – we can’t keep up! Suddenly, the PM’s ministerial team has unleashed a slew of press statements. Sixteen announcements have been posted on the Beehive website since our last check. This burst of activity (we wondered) might be the result of them responding positively ...
Big transport news today with the government beginning public engagement on options for the Waitemata Harbour Connections project. This project has had an incredibly long history, with previous versions somehow managing to be incredibly expensive, detrimental to most of the transport outcomes we are trying to achieve in Auckland, and ...
If ever there was an example of complacency about corruption and integrity in New Zealand politics it’s the fact that the Prime Minister’s Office knew back in 2021 that Cabinet Minister Stuart Nash was feeding privileged Cabinet information to business donors but did nothing about it. This is one of ...
Open access notables "Despite the potential for positive methane–climate feedbacks from global wetlands, most Earth System Models (ESMs) and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) that informed the last Assessment Report of the IPCC do not directly incorporate this process."Publishing in Nature Climate Change, Zheng et al. unpack the implications of this ...
Among its ‘go slow’ on climate measures, the Government chose to delay tighter regulation of vehicle imports for air pollution for six years because it would have increased vehicle purchase costs. Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government continues to backtrack on moves to reduce emissions, with three news items ...
Stuart Nash’s downfall appears to have had its beginnings with one of the players from the “Dirty Politics” scandals of 2014. Simon Lusk, a close associate of Cameron “Whaleoil” Slater, one of the key figures in Nicky Hagar’s “Dirty Politics” expose, has been associated with Stuart Nash. Lusk has ...
Worried if this election will be shellacked by “the culture war”? That arrived ages ago. And, one side is definitely in panic mode, even if that’s not being admitted right now. Because of that, they’re reverting yet again to straight up… culture wars. Yes, fellow traveler, the Party who ...
All About Climate is a Youtube channel dedicated to communicating climate science and combating misinformation about global warming. It is run by Roshan Salgado D'Arcy - or 'Rosh' for short. He is a geology graduate with an MSc in climate change and is currently reading for a PhD in the communication of ...
ChatGPT is an interesting little beastie. I have only really started experimenting with it recently – not because I have any interest in using it for my own writing projects, but because I enjoy pushing and prodding the AI in strange directions. I have spent an inordinate amount of ...
The science of climate change is clear: we need to stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and we cannot burn even a fraction of those already discovered. So naturally, Labour is offering oil companies more exploration permits: The Government is offering companies another opportunity to search for ...
There are two keyboards in my office. I hammer at one a lot more than the other.But some days — today, for instance, after a few days of steeping myself in toxicity —that other keyboard can really come into its own.I learned to play the piano as a kid, went ...
Is the government imploding? Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has had to sack one of his more effective (and likeable) ministers, while another (from the Green Party) has insulted many of the adult population. For his part, Hipkins had appeared to be shaping up well since he took over the ...
Mobbed! As Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s (Posie Parker’s) opponents surged forward, her only protecters were a handful of burly security guards who surrounded their client and began forcing a path through what was now a howling mob. At least one video recording shows the diminutive Keen-Minshull, a terrified rag-doll, eyes dulled by ...
Buzz from the Beehive It looks like Marama Davidson must revile white sis males – or some other group of our population – three more times before she gets the heave-ho as one of Chris Hipkins’ ministers. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from the PM’s treatment of Stuart Nash, ...
For a serial offender like Stuart Nash, it was inevitable that another skeleton would emerge from his closet, and end his ministerial career. This one though, was a whopper. Previously, Nash had tried to tell the Police how to do their job. He had also tried to tell the courts ...
Cabinet Minister Stuart Nash was sacked last night for violating Cabinet Collective Responsibility rules, when it was revealed he disclosed sensitive Government information to business supporters who had donated money to him. The breach of the Cabinet Manual was enough to land him in trouble, but the fact that it ...
Some good news last week with the Council confirming that Te Hā Noa – Victoria St Linear Park will go ahead and with construction starting on 11 April – though with a few fishhooks. Te Hā Noa, a renewed Victoria Street, is the next big project in Auckland Council’s Midtown ...
Stuart Nash’s assurances to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins that there were no further examples of him breaching the Cabinet Manual became meaningless with the release of emails from Nash sharing Cabinet discussions with business people. The Prime Minister had no choice but to sack Nash as a Minister with immediate ...
Hi,Just a quick online-only update after yesterday’s newsletter, How Michael Organ Weaponised the Family Court... and Sean Plunket. First up — wow. Thanks for all the support, and to all those who shared their own personal stories in the comments. And welcome to any new Webworm readers.I just wanted ...
Let that sink in for a moment - Christopher Luxon, who has spent the last year demonising Māori, wants Marama Davidson to apologise to white men.You will likely have seen the video, or read about it. Marama Davidson rushing along Princes St on Saturday evening, the road that runs between ...
Stuart Nash, the great-grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Walter Nash, has lost his political career. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Stuart Nash was sacked for telling donors what happened in Cabinet. Wellington’s City and Regional Councils are going cold on light rail plans. Wayne Brown is under ...
NZ First Leader Winston Peters is sympathising with Stuart Nash and defending him but dodging questions on whether he would be welcome in New Zealand First. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins last night sacked Nash from the Cabinet after an email he had sent to two of his campaign donors ...
So, after interfering with the police, and then interfering with immigration decisions, Stuart Nash has finally been sacked: Stuart Nash has been sacked as a minister, after Stuff revealed he had emailed business figures, including donors, detailing private Cabinet discussions. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the people Nash emailed ...
Nearly 25% of mortgages in Auckland are deemed at risk in a 1-in-100 year flood event. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Once a year, every year, from now on, in our not-so-slow-cooking climate crisis, there will be a moment when the most important number in Aotearoa’s own personal, national ...
Item One: About a confected crisis Please bear with me for a moment, readers outside Auckland, I wish to sound the klaxon. Auckland, we have until 11pm today to have our say. About what? About this, as copied and pasted from Pippa Coom’s Facebook page:The "austerity" budget is built on ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet again, the statement we were looking for could not be found on the Beehive website. Nor was it on the Scoop or Green Party websites. But – come to think of it – we are probably wasting our time by searching. Our quest is for the ...
The following is from a speech given by Arundhati Roy at the Swedish Academy on March 22, 2023, at a conference called Thought and Truth Under Pressure and reprinted from Literary Hub. I thank the Swedish Academy for inviting me to speak at this conference and for affording me the privilege ...
After almost two decades of racism, Australia is finally getting off its "stop the boats" bullshit. But don't worry, racists - Michael Wood has your back!The Government wants to increase the time it can detain without a warrant people seeking asylum en masse from four days to 28 ...
Last year, the Education and Workforce Committee recommended that the government legislate for pay transparency to prevent employers from secretly discriminating. This ought to be a bread and butter issue for Labour - discrimination sees women (and particularly Māori and Pasifika women) paid significantly less than men. But since then ...
Thomas Cranmer writes – ———— An unruly mob in Albert Park has catapulted New Zealand into the global headlines with ugly images that may become iconic in the debate about the dangers of transgenderism. ———— Bravo Kellie-Jay Keen. She did the job that needed to be done. For all the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global warming is melting the Arctic ice cap, and that’s having unforeseen effects on the world’s weather — even thousands of miles away from the North Pole. Some climate scientists have begun to link increasingly common heat waves in Europe to what is ...
Hot on the heels of the demotion of former police Minister Stuart Nash for breaching the Cabinet Manual, Radio New Zealand has revealed the close links between lobbyists and politicians- an area of New Zealand politics that is completely unregulated. The evidence in Guyon Espiner’s series Mate, Comrade, Brother, the ...
At the Auckland Transport board meeting today a series of papers really highlight the cost of sprawl. For the last few years, the Supporting Growth work has been looking at designing the strategic transport networks for future greenfield areas in the South, Northwest, North (around Dairy flat) and in Warkworth. ...
Over a million New Zealanders will receive a little extra to help with the cost of living as a result of our 1 April changes. Around the world, inflation is causing costs to rise and we’re feeling it here at home. In tough times, we need to support those who ...
With benefit changes coming into effect tomorrow, the Green Party is calling on the Government to lift benefits to liveable levels to make sure everyone has what they need to thrive. ...
Following decades of work by the Green Party alongside the organics sector, people will finally be able to be confident that products labelled organic have met standards. ...
The Green Party supports immediate Government action to close the pay gap as called for in an open letter released today by the Human Rights Commission and 50 other organisations. ...
The Green Party is today welcoming the release of the Government’s waste strategy, but says it has a big gap without action on the container return scheme for beverage containers. ...
The Government’s decision to introduce ‘mass arrivals’ legislation goes against the values we all share of Aotearoa as a place where all people are treated fairly, the Green Party says. ...
MINISTER DAVIDSON MUST RESIGN AFTER 'VIOLENCE' COMMENTS Marama Davidson should stand down as ‘Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence’ for the clear and outrageous statement she made at the Posie Parker protest that ‘white straight men’ are the cause of violence. Her offensive, racist, and sexist remarks ...
In response to Newshub and Amelia Wade’s obvious and ham-fisted attempt at a typical and predicted political hit job. As any politically aware reporter would know, any Cabinet subcommittee has a duty and obligation as a part of any government to respond to any UN declaration, in this case ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and in your busy lives turning up to this meeting. Forty five years ago, in Howick, often described as racist, and where few Maori lived because it had been a ‘Fencible’ settlement at the time of the Anglo-Maori ...
The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying drivers of school performance. ...
“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, departs for Europe today, where she will attend a session of the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels and make a short bilateral visit to Sweden. “NATO is a long-standing and likeminded partner for Aotearoa New Zealand. It is valuable to join a session of ...
A secure facility that will house protected information for a broad range of government agencies is being constructed at RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai), Public Service, Defence and GCSB Minister Andrew Little says. The facility will consolidate and expand the government’s current secure storage capacity and capability for at least another ...
From today, 1.8 million flu vaccines are available to help protect New Zealanders from winter illness, Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall has announced. “Vaccination against flu is safe and will be a first line of defence against severe illness this winter,” Dr Verrall said. “We can all play a part ...
Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Willow-Jean Prime has congratulated Professor Rangi Mātāmua (Ngāi Tūhoe) who was last night named the prestigious Te Pou Whakarae o Aotearoa New Zealander of the Year. Professor Mātāmua, who is the government's Chief Adviser Mātauranga Matariki, was the winner of the New Zealander ...
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta has announced further sanctions on political and military figures from Russia and Belarus as part of the ongoing response to the war in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova ...
A new public housing development planned for Whangārei will provide 95 warm and dry, modern homes for people in need, Housing Minister Megan Woods says. The Kauika Road development will replace a motel complex in the Avenues with 89 three-level walk up apartments, alongside six homes. “Whangārei has a rapidly ...
New Zealand welcomes the substantial conclusion of negotiations on the United Kingdom’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Continuing to grow our export returns is a priority for the Government and part of our plan to ...
Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown initial Taranaki Maunga collective redress deed Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown have today initialled the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Deed, named Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little says. “I am pleased to be here for this ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Barbara Edmonds has announced the 2023 Pacific Language week series, highlighting the need to revitalise and sustain languages for future generations. “Pacific languages are a cornerstone of our health, wellbeing and identity as Pacific peoples. When our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated, our communities thrive,” ...
880,000 pensioners to get a boost to Super, including 5000 veterans 52,000 students to see a bump in allowance or loan living costs Approximately 223,000 workers to receive a wage rise as a result of the minimum wage increasing to $22.70 8,000 community nurses to receive pay increase of up ...
Over 8000 community nurses will start receiving well-deserved pay rises of up to 15 percent over the next month as a Government initiative worth $200 million a year kicks in, says Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. “The Government is committed to ensuring nurses are paid fairly and will receive ...
Tākiri mai ana te ata Ki runga o ngākau mārohirohi Kōrihi ana te manu kaupapa Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea Tihei mauri ora Let the dawn break On the hearts and minds of those who stand resolute As the bird of action sings, it welcomes the dawn of a ...
The Government is introducing a scheme which will lift incomes for artists, support them beyond the current spike in cost of living and ensure they are properly recognised for their contribution to New Zealand’s economy and culture. “In line with New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreement with the UK, last ...
New Zealand is welcoming a decision by the United Nations General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice to consider countries’ international legal obligations on climate change. The United Nations has voted unanimously to adopt a resolution led by Vanuatu to ask the ICJ for an advisory opinion on ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 59 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. “The graduation for recruit wing 364 was my first since becoming Police Minister last week,” Ginny Andersen said. “It was a real honour. I want to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta met with Vanuatu Foreign Minister Jotham Napat in Port Vila, today, signing a new Statement of Partnership — Aotearoa New Zealand’s first with Vanuatu. “The Mauri Statement of Partnership is a joint expression of the values, priorities and principles that will guide the Aotearoa New Zealand–Vanuatu relationship into ...
The Government has passed new legislation amending the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) levy regime, ensuring the best balance between a fair and cost effective funding model. The Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill makes changes to the existing law to: charge the levy on contracts of ...
The Government has passed the Organic Products and Production Bill through its third reading today in Parliament helping New Zealand’s organic sector to grow and lift export revenue. “The Organic Products and Production Bill will introduce robust and practical regulation to give businesses the certainty they need to continue to ...
The Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Bill, which will make it easier for New Zealanders to safely prove who they are digitally has passed its third and final reading today. “We know New Zealanders want control over their identity information and how it’s used by the companies and services they ...
The full Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Taskforce has met formally for the first time as work continues to help the regions recover and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle. The Taskforce, which includes representatives from business, local government, iwi and unions, covers all regions affected by the January and February floods and cyclone. ...
Changes have been made to legislation to give subcontractors the confidence they will be paid the retention money they are owed should the head contractor’s business fail, Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods announced today. “These changes passed in the Construction Contracts (Retention Money) Amendment Act safeguard subcontractors who ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has unveiled five scenarios for one of the most significant city-shaping projects for Tāmaki Makaurau in coming decades, the additional Waitematā Harbour crossing. “Aucklanders and businesses have made it clear that the biggest barriers to the success of Auckland is persistent congestion and after years of ...
The Government has passed new legislation that ensures New Zealand’s civil aviation rules are fit for purpose in the 21st century, Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan says. The Civil Aviation Bill repeals and replaces the Civil Aviation Act 1990 and the Airport Authorities Act 1966 with a single modern law ...
A Bill aimed at helping to reduce delays in the coronial jurisdiction passed its third reading today. The Coroners Amendment Bill, amongst other things, will establish new coronial positions, known as Associate Coroners, who will be able to perform most of the functions, powers, and duties of Coroners. The new ...
The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to conduct a review into communications between Stuart Nash and his donors. The review will take place over the next two months. The review will look at whether there have been any other breaches of cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality, or whether ...
The new Recovery Visa to help bring in additional migrant workers to support cyclone and flooding recovery has attracted over 600 successful applicants within its first month. “The Government is moving quickly to support businesses bring in the workers needed to recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods,” Michael ...
Bills to ensure non-teaching employees and contractors at schools, and unlicensed childcare services like mall crèches are vetted by police, and provide safeguards for school board appointments have passed their first reading today. The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No. 3) and the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill have now ...
Wānanga will gain increased flexibility and autonomy that recognises the unique role they fill in the tertiary education sector, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced. The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No.3), that had its first reading today, proposes a new Wānanga enabling framework for the three current ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Vanuatu today, announcing that Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further relief and recovery assistance there, following the recent destruction caused by Cyclones Judy and Kevin. While in Vanuatu, Minister Mahuta will meet with Vanuatu Acting Prime Minister Sato Kilman, Foreign Minister Jotham ...
The Government is backing Police and making communities safer with the roll-out of state-of-the-art tools and training to frontline staff, Police Minister Ginny Andersen said today. “Frontline staff face high-risk situations daily as they increasingly respond to sophisticated organised crime, gang-violence and the availability of illegal firearms,” Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government has provided Police with more tools to crack down on gang offending with the passing of new legislation today which will further improve public safety, Justice Minister Kiri Allan says. The Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill amends existing law to: create new targeted warrant and additional search powers ...
The Government today announced far-reaching changes to the way we make, use, recycle and dispose of waste, ushering in a new era for New Zealand’s waste system. The changes will ensure that where waste is recycled, for instance by households at the kerbside, it is less likely to be contaminated ...
New legislation passed by the Government today will make it harder for gangs and their leaders to benefit financially from crime that causes considerable harm in our communities, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan says. Since the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 came into effect police have been highly successful in ...
This evening I have advised the Governor-General to dismiss Stuart Nash from all his ministerial portfolios. Late this afternoon I was made aware by a news outlet of an email Stuart Nash sent in March 2020 to two contacts regarding a commercial rent relief package that Cabinet had considered. In ...
Legislation to enable more build-to-rent developments has passed its third reading in Parliament, so this type of rental will be able to claim interest deductibility in perpetuity where it meets the requirements. Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods, says the changes will help unlock the potential of the build-to-rent sector and ...
A law passed by Parliament today exempts employers from paying fringe benefit tax on certain low emission commuting options they provide or subsidise for their staff. “Many employers already subsidise the commuting costs of their staff, for instance by providing car parks,” Environment Minister David Parker said. “This move supports ...
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations (CER), our gold standard free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia. “CER was a world-leading agreement in 1983, is still world-renowned today and is emblematic of both our countries’ commitment to free trade. The WTO has called it the world’s ...
The Government is making procedural changes to the Immigration Act to ensure that 2013 amendments operate as Parliament intended. The Government is also introducing a new community management approach for asylum seekers. “While it’s unlikely we’ll experience a mass arrival due to our remote positioning, there is no doubt New ...
The Government welcomes progress on public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) agreements, and the release of the updated public service pay guidance by the Public Service Commission today, Minister for the Public Service Andrew Little says. “More than a dozen collective agreements are now settled in the public service, Crown Agents, ...
The Government has introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill to further support the recovery and rebuild from the recent severe weather events in the North Island. “We know from our experiences following the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes that it will take some time before we completely understand the ...
Tea drinkers of Aotearoa, your new favourite dunking bikkie is here. There are several things I love about this recipe. The first is that they make a delicious dunking biscuit, the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea shared with friends. The second is that the recipe is ...
Part two of writer Marty Smith’s reporting from her flood-damaged home.Read part one here. Sunday 12 March, 21 days after the floods.Google Maps shows a pale blue line for the flat-lined bridge between Taradale and Waiohiki and sends you instead over the Expressway to Merge Like A Zip, ...
Bard Billot on the booted out broadcasterSpartans, prepare for glory! The hardy army of Today FM Spartans Camps out on the harsh lands of talk radio. The long months of the campaign Have worn down their resolve, For though they have loyally broadcast Their snappy banter and hot ...
The danger of National's policy is that it undoes much of an informal pact with Labour to depoliticise education at a time of real struggleOpinion: The National Party’s recently released education policy narrowly channels nearly every tired and cliched right-wing approach to schooling. If you have been in education for ...
A refurbished, expanded and more earthquake-proof building is a still few years away. Can it live up to the impeccable postmodernist vibes of its predecessor?A long time ago, my non-Wellington then-boyfriend was visiting the windy city and asked the barber what he recommended in town. “Dunno mate,” the barber ...
Doing the cryptic crossword isn’t simply a hobby. It’s a way of life, a love affair – even a full-blown obsession. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Illustrations by Asia Martusia King. Clue: Mafia boss consumed first dish free of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The rout of the Liberals in Aston is a disaster for Peter Dutton. The party has defied history – in the worst possible way. This is the first time in more than a century ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Morgan Hancock/AAP With 44% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Aston federal byelection, the ABC has Labor expected to win ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Morgan Hancock/AAP With 44% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Aston federal byelection, the ABC has Labor expected to win ...
Analysis - When is a cabinet minister not a cabinet minister? The faulty logic of Stuart Nash has landed him and Labour in a heap of trouble but opened the door to serious reform of the Official Information Act, Tim Watkin writes. ...
Jubi News in Jayapura Indonesia’s Papua police chief Inspector-General Mathius D Fakhiri has called for action to ensure that “security disturbances” in the Puncak Jaya highlands do not widen in the face of escalating attacks by pro-independence militants. “For Puncak, we will take immediate action,” he said. According to General ...
What are you going to be watching this month? We round up everything coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ+. The biggies Party Down (all seasons on TVNZ+ from April 1) Thirteen years is a long time between drinks and ...
Ginny Andersen has landed a hot-potato portfolio and has been in Cabinet less than two months - the opposition will be eager to test her mettle this election year. ...
The executive producer of Modern Family has issued an incendiary claim about New Zealanders cheering and clapping in public. Hayden Donnell gets to the bottom of things.The sitcom Modern Family is remembered as a “warm-hearted story about the unbreakable bonds of family”; a tale of radically different people overcoming ...
As rain kept falling across January, February and into March, all band members cold do was sit at home cancelling festivals and posting sad Facebook messages to fans. The first post landed on January 3. As wild weather began hitting the country, campers around Northland packed up their tents ...
Because pro-social behaviour emerges so often after disaster, community empowerment should be central to disaster mitigation and recoveryOpinion: Cyclone Gabrielle caused major damage across the North Island. This unprecedented climate event created great uncertainty. People are wondering if, or when, they can return to their homes, the extent to ...
"We, women, loving you; you, men, finding new women to love": a Francophile love story in NZ Louis woke up and found out Marine was not lying next to him in bed. He checked his phone – 5:30am. The aurora shone a bright gold on the windows of the detached ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we looked at how co-governance really works, Labour's record on climate action, what the new AUKUS nuclear submarine deal means for New Zealand, Posie Parker's visit to Auckland and the free speech debate, and the damage processed foods are ...
The radio workers were caught by the unexpected speed of the decline of NZ's consumer economy, since Christmas – and they won't be the last. Jonathan Milne reports. When broadcaster Tova O’Brien uttered the resounding words, "they’ve f***ed us", they resonated beyond the 1 percent audience share of a small talk radio operation ...
A New Zealand Battery Project centred on Lake Onslow in Central Otago is up against a cheaper North Island alternative Studies into whether a massive pumped-hydro scheme at Lake Onslow is New Zealand’s best bet for a secure energy future may have only four more months to run. While the ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend. This week, it's Jungle Warfare, written by Ellen Rykers and published in New Zealand Geographic's March/April 2023 edition. You can find the full article, with photos by Adrian Malloch, here. Hundreds of pest plant species—many of them garden escapees—run rampant in ...
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Cricket tragics and I am one, will be delighted about NZs current performance at Lords.
Yes especially Devon Conway
Black Caps v England: Devon Conway produces magical debut century at Lord's | Stuff.co.nz
Early days I know, win this test and maybe the UK press will stop asking questions about the ODI final.
Stolen as it was.
The UK press are referring to him as 'from South Africa'
I'm sure that when they ever mention Ben Stokes they always refer to him as "New Zealand player Ben Stokes".
I mean surely they would? Wouldn't they?
No surprises there.
While not untrue, I wonder if they did the same about Kelvin Peterson. Before he fell out with his team mates of course.
Nice to see we found some batsmen that actually do what they are supposed to do, and actually score more than 30.
Here's just one illustration of how we in New Zealand are shameful laggards in de-fossilising our transport: Norway new vehicle sales are around 60% pure battery, and another 20% plug-in hybrid. In the overall fleet, pure battery and plug-in hybrids are up to about 20%. Dino-juice is well on its way out, in Norway.
https://cleantechnica.com/2021/06/02/norways-plugin-ev-transition-continues-83-3-share-in-may-with-ford-mustang-mach-e-overall-bestseller/
We really need to sort out issues such as the scheduled application of road user charges to electric vehicles at the end of this year. Applying RUC of nearly 8 cents/km to electric vehicles would remove any fuel cost savings from going electric. I recently took on a project that's turned into fairly regular part-time employment, which is a 100km round-trip for me.
So instead of using my dear old Landie, I went looking for something a bit … more environmentally and fiscally and socially aware. (No, public transport is nowhere even remotely close to viable for this commute). I could just barely make the range of a second generation Leaf work, if I plugged in to charge at work. But I ended up getting a Honda Fit hybrid, and the petrol cost is less than just the RUC costs alone would be on a Leaf if they end up imposed on schedule, without even considering the charging cost.
In terms of new electric vehicles, there's a lot more choice coming at us really fast. At the moment, the lowest price new EV in NZ is the MG ZS ev, at just under $50k. But BYD are saying they are planning to sell their EA1 in Oz for under 35k dingodollars, so probably around the $40 mark here.
(To forestall the inevitable complaints about scarce resources, the EA1 uses LFP batteries, ie nickel and cobalt free. Now if only they could change to rare-earth free motors such as the induction motors Tesla and Audi use on some of their products, or other designs such as the Mahle magnet-free wound-rotor wound-stator design)
Is 8c the intended or current RUC? Who came up with that?
Is Norway paying for its transition by selling oil?
Did you consider a reliable sedan hybrid like a Toyota Camry?
We're all going to have to make the same choices you made, so it's useful to see your choice criteria.
Plenty of couples get into spreadsheets for it. Eyeroll.
Camrys are much bigger than I like for daily use. I've still got the Landie for the big jobs, few as they may be.
I was a bit wary of potential reliability with the Fit, but everything I found online indicated the only real issues were with control software in the earliest models, which were quickly sorted with a software update.
I came close to going for a Prius plug-in, but the extra size and budget stretch needed, and that the pure-electric range would only cover about 1/4 of my km and the open road economy wasn't as good as the Fit, combined to tip it to the Fit. Besides, Prius. But if the pure-electric range covered my daily needs, then I would probably have gone for the Prius PHV, Prius image issues and size notwithstanding.
But jeez, I didn't think driving on pure electric would be as nice as it is. Wafting along at 50kmh or 90kmh with zero engine noise or vibration – it's bliss. It's super disappointing it only lasts a km or two on the flat before the engine has to fire up again. If that BYD EA1 actually does land here under $40k, I might end up breaking a lifetime habit of buying cheap cars and driving them til they're dead ten-ish years later, and spring for one.
Toyota Yaris 1.6 hybrid car or suv. Under $30k does 2.3litres to 100k ( that's about a third of the normal petrol usage – doesn't need to be plugged in. But I think they might be difficult to get hold of.
"There’s an EV mode but don’t get too excited. The owner’s manual suggests there’s a maximum electric-only range of only 1km (yep, a single, miserable kilometre…) and that it could be as little as a few hundred metres."
https://evcentral.com.au/2020-toyota-yaris-hybrid-review/
I have a larger toyota hybrid that uses about 60% of petrol a non hybrid uses and that's better than their literature suggests. I struggled to make sense of the article?? Toyota suggest the yaris uses about 1/3 of the petrol equivalent so that shouldn't be too far out? I'm not clear about why the article talks about only going 1km – seems kinda irrelevant. Otherwise it's up to the next in the range the Corolla.
Hybrids seem to be quite a good intermediate stage especially for people at the far end of the current battery distance ranges.
It's a middle class dilemma. I don't know what the average spend is on a car in NZ – from a quick look I can't find it. But I'd wager it's well under $20k and may be under $15K, The used hybrids and EVs at this price range are fairly old and and have issues (real or imagined) with range and/or battery life. Buyers who can't afford to make a bad economic decision are leery of them. You might, as Ad suggested, find a reliable used Camry hybrid or similar in this price range that you are prepared to take a punt on in terms of battery life. It will be years though before used Kia and Hyundai hybrids and the like turn up at this price, and the same issues will apply.
But even the middle class is being rorted – the price of new hybrids and EVs has been cynically jacked up sky-high. So that they make no economic sense for the buyer because the fuel savings don't cover the higher purchase price. And sitting in the background is inflated housing prices and the huge mortgages that have to be serviced – how long before this sucks middle class discretionary spending out of other sectors, or are people just expected to pile up more personal debt to save the planet with a flash EV?
I significantly stretched my usual budget and spent $10.5k on a 2014 model with 92500 km. I found precisely zero online chatter about battery degradation on Honda hybrids, unlike the plethora of online chatter about degradation in Prius Ni-MH batteries and Leaf batteries.
Even if the battery does degrade significantly, it's only going to have a tiny effect on fuel economy. It will still eliminate all the fuel waste sitting at lights, most of the fuel waste in stop-start traffic. It still has the Atkinson cycle engine, and the electric motor will still cover for the lowish torque at low to medium engine speeds characteristic of Atkinson cycle engines. It just won't be able to store quite as much from regenerative braking and going down hills, but that's only a small part of how it enables better economy.
Interesting facts Andre – every bit of info about EVs is new to me and I hope I will gradually get informed. Though can't afford one and am attached to old 1989 Toyota which I have insured for about $1000, third party.
It's a new language, eh.
I'm hoping when the time comes to replace my current suzuki 50cc, there will be some suzuki electric equivalents in a similar price range – currently the electrics I have searched online have been about twice the price. But I long for the day I can tootle around town without the engine noise, lol
Lack of engine noise will mean pedestrians having to be specially careful. Get forgetful and the car wil be onyou before you think to look, having not heard.
There are moped riders who think they are invulnerable. They'd be a hazard, like cyclists.
But then they have a spill, and realise we're about the squishiest people around. Besides, at least we have reggo plates.
Mine is quiet but you do get used to looking for people who haven't heard. Much like the overseas tourists that used to be around Wellington looking the wrong way around before they step out.
I drive a black Leaf. My friends call it the Black Ninja, the way it sneaks up on people at the curb. One is therefore careful lest the paintwork be blemished. Later Leafs I believe make noises to alert pedestrians of their presence. I have toyed with the idea of recording my son-in-law's Harley and piping that through external speakers mounted in a pipe where the exhaust would be……
I have heard that some common hybrids can have the battery unit checked and as its made up of a number of cells they can find the cells that are worst of and only replace them
This is what the Prius looks like and others will be similar
I was wondering why they didn't do that. For some, a new battery costs as much as a new car. A cell servicing every 20,000km would be an affordable alternative.
Think I'll wait for Toyotas solid state battery versions.
Plenty of companies do that. Easily found just by searching a phrase such as nz hybrid battery replacement.
Here's just the first one that popped up: https://hybridcore.co.nz/hybridcore-shop/
I've looked into replacing cells they have to be the same age you can't just put new cells in.you can buy reconditioned complete packs for about a third of the new price.
They are fairly easy to change out the complete pack but the dealer's charge $1200 plus for an hrs work and will only put in new batteries.
Tricledown, you've been repeatedly making a typo in your username, which means that a moderator has to do some work for your comment to appear.
You're now in premod, which means your comments won't appear at all until I've seen you acknowledge this mod note and agree to take more care.
Let's see if we can sort this out. What device are you using and what browser?
Can you please clarify if you can manually edit your name each time (and the problem is that it won't 'stick')? I'm seeing comments from you in the past week as Tricledrownk and Tricledrown. Why is that?
There is a lot of online chatter about hybrid battery degradation – most of it is simply ignorant. If they were so bad would you see so many taxis in Auckland that are hybrid? There are heaps of Prius, Aqua, and Corolla etc. around now. I have had a hybrid (2005 Prius) for 8 years now (1st NZ owner with 37k on the clock – now 150k). It has been the most reliable car I have ever owned and the only battery replacement has been the auxiliary which was 15 years old. Still returns 4.5 l /100km as it did when first bought. Basically halved my emission profile. Now looking to upgrade to something even more efficient.
Again there is virtually no public transport around here and we have to travel regularly at least 150k (300k return) way beyond the range of a Leaf. Friend had one for a while but was lucky enough to upgrade to a Tesla. I have to admit I had some difficulty with the 10th commandment* on first sight.
* Thou shalt not covert thy neighbours donkey.
Yep, it is rare for a Prius battery to crap out. Most of the articles that went into actual detail showed the car was doing Star Trek mileages, and/or extreme temperatures.
But still, I took the complete absence of complaints about Fit batteries to be a good sign, when compared to the cornucopia of complaints about such rare problems that occurred in the Prius batteries.
Andre – I don't want to down the argument for EV but there are 2 glaring issues:
1/ what is NZ going to do with some 2.5 million cars that actually cannot be converted but became instant trash
2/ Batteries, the amount of raw material -Lithium, nickel and cobalt are the key metals used to make those batteries – is being mined in poor countries the activity is devastating on the environment. The issue of disposal is not solved. Funny how this is being advertised as a environmentally better solution. This is ruining the environment in larger proportions and faster. But of cause its not at our doorstep.
https://www.automotiveworld.com/articles/risky-business-the-hidden-costs-of-ev-battery-raw-materials/
My take is nothing really has changed, the emperor has new clothes and we now poison the soil until we cant grow food anymore. The drive to self destruction has not been broken at all. The run for profits is selling the average punter that buying an extraordinary expensive car is so much better. But really it isn't.
The 2.5 million existing ICE vehicles will end the same way as all almost all the other vehicles disposed of up til now. They will be crushed and/or shredded, and sent off to be recycling.
Battery recycling is entirely feasible, and is starting to become an actual thing now that significant quantities of end-of-life batteries are becoming available. Here's just one effort: https://insideevs.com/features/441524/tesla-jb-straubel-future-battery-recycling/ There's plenty more going on, you just need to make a very minimal effort to educate yourself.
If you had actually fully read my original post, you might have come to the last paragraph where I specifically addressed the cobalt and nickel issues. A lot of the new EVs use battery chemistries that don't use cobalt or nickel. The most popular alternative is lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP), as used in BYD vcars and trucks and buses and dome of Tesla's made in China models.. These weren't preferred a few years ago because of lower energy density, but with improvements in battery technology they are now better than the best cobalt and nickel batteries were just a few years ago. As well as being much longer lasting.
Middle class dilemma now, everyone's dilemma eventually if we want to let catastrophic climate change happen. Someone has to step up and effect change. Or not I guess, and we let everything burn to the ground. Are we going to take this seriously or not?
(It will be a long time before I can afford an EV, I'm relying on the middle classes to bring the price down).
i guess that will be the problem if the middle class has got no money to spend on an overpriced EV. In my circle of people i know absolutly no one who owns a car that has cost more then 5 grand, if people do own a new car its Lease plan via work.
That is what i hope is that the people who drive gasguzzlers now for work in work vehicle will get the EVs first, and that that hopefully brings the price down for all. If it does not, which also would not surprise me those that are not in a rich enough class to afford one of these vehicles will have to content with a. walk (for those that can), b. cycle (for those that can), c. public transport (where it exists) and the rest is shit outta luck.
10,000 new car sales in May.
Compared to 11,200 used import sales. (Edit).
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/110693/passenger-car-sales-posted-their-own-set-new-records-may-buyers-choosing-larger-and
I suspect the issue isn’t going to be ev affordability but lack of other solutions. PT, cycle infrastructure, relocalising services and work, train network, and so on.
I guess it will be both. A large number of cars in NZ are business cars, i expect these to be EV when that becomes mandatory. Then there are those that already have them or will upgrade and can either afford it outright, or slap the car on the mortgage.
how the lower income to poor people are to afford these vehicles i have no idea.
I know a few people that are scared of this day for exactly this reason. But i expect the government to give tax incentives to those that can afford these cars to reaise 'interest' and 'uptake' and then for those that can't afford it, sucks to be them.
We will end up affording them same as we do with ice cars now, second hand resale and imports.
But I don’t think we can see how it will work because it hasn’t happened before and we will have to transition off the kind of car use and reliance we have now into a different kind of society. Not many people with good vision on that, relatively. Yet.
It will be interesting to watch, that is for sure.
I am staggered that over 20,000 extra cars were put on our roads in May alone. Weka's link is all gung-ho about sales, but gives no figure for the number of old cars taken off the road.
I doubt if that number would get to 10,000. Can anyone reassure me?
If we are constantly putting far more cars onto the roads than we are taking off, the matter of how many are hybrid is irrelevant. We will always be worsening our carbon footprint.
And gridlock will spread everywhere. Not even national's big road-building programmes will prevent gridlock everywhere.
Nobody seems to be doing any planning or intervention on how many vehicles are being put onto our roads each year compared to how many are taken off .
Sheer stupidity, unless I am wrong in assuming that fewer vehicles are being taken off.
But I bet I am right!
for comparison
https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/fleet-statistics/sheet/vehicle-fleet
As far as I can tell, all those graphs show increasing numbers of vehicles, with no indication of whether we are taking any vehicles off the road at all.
Changing to more fuel-efficient vehicles does not help our carbon footprint if we are constantly putting more vehicles onto our roads than we are taking off.
I feel more cynical than ever.
Not sure it's cynicism, as such.
There is information about new registrations in LTSA data, as well as some downloadable datasets.
If you're just guesstimating, then basically you can look at the charts with new and renewed registrations, particularly light passenger vehicles. The line (total vehicles) is going up, but if the "existing" point for 2015 is lower than the "new plus existing" in 2014, then some cars have gone off the road.
EVs are spiking, but as a proportion of the fleet larger engined "light passenger vehicles" have also increased regularly over 40 years. I'm thinking SUVs.
But EV tech seems to be maturing quickly, and buses are increasing in number quickest of all, so, it's not all bleak. But it is complex, and easy to focus on the wood instead of all the trees.
I thought the saying was that one could not see the wood for the trees..
We need as least as many cars coming off the road as we are putting on to just start breaking even and making progress with EVs.
It seems we have no real indication of how many cars are coming off our roads.. and I suspect that if we did, we would cringe.
To interrupt the flow of cheap imported cars would provoke the ire of the entire right-wing pro-market economy sector.
Is this why it is so hard to find figures for just how many cars are coming off our roads?
It's difficult to find because it's a particularly niche piece of data, and there are many twigs to examine, and sometimes one needs to be familiar with data collections and the mindset of data collators to know how to search for a particular twig.
Most things are available, it's just a case of figuring out who has it and where to find it and how to get it. Organisations literally have people highly trained at doing exactly that. And nosy fellows like me watching them do it.
If you go to Weka's link, select "2019 annual fleet statstics", and "view sections", you can download a pdf report and an xlsx workbook. I believe you're after sheet 5.1 in the workbook.
BUT
the report is more helpful. There are more cars with bigger engines, but per capita travel in those vehicles is lower and the CO2 emissions of those vehicles is also lower than older vehicles.
And buses are increasing in number.
Good stuff to go to bed on, looks like lol
I bought a 4-door 1.2 litre Suzuki Swift new for $20k 3 years ago. It runs on the smell of an oily rag and compares well in terms of emissions with somewhat larger EV's. Suzuki now make a hybrid Swift which I think is $26k new and has even lower emissions.
Hi Andre, it is laudable that car manufactures offer EV's.
I have some questions though.
Lets say we have some
As at 31 May 2021
As at 31 May 2021 Vehicle TypeTotal5,493,773AGRICULTURAL MACHINE2,849ATV8,109BUS32,796GOODS VAN/TRUCK/UTILITY806,577HIGH SPEED AGRICULTURAL VEHICLE144MOBILE MACHINE23,500MOPED31,618MOTOR CARAVAN48,229MOTORCYCLE167,758PASSENGER CAR/VAN3,505,856SPECIAL PURPOSE VEHICLE3,315TRACTOR45,923TRAILER NOT DESIGNED FOR H/WAY USE980TRAILER/CARAVAN816,119
If the point you're trying to make is that there are lots of other kinds of vehicles that are also fossil-fueled, all I can suggest is pick whatever class of vehicle you're interested, and search for electric [whatever kind of vehicle you're interested in].
Here's just my first hit for electric tractor: https://www.futurefarming.com/Machinery/Articles/2020/3/John-Deere-We-believe-in-electric-tractors-100-552869E/.
Or electric rubbish truck: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/emack-lr-electric-garbage-truck/
It is impossible to follow the money.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pete-mckenzie-politics-rife-with-dark-money
Come on ACT and/or the Green Party! Time to do some virtue signalling and expose this to loads of sunlight and oxygen. Or do you have something to hide as well …?
Here is one for tour local Imperialist Liberals, you know who you are….
Two Centuries Of ‘The Imperialist, Warmongering, Hate-Filled Guardian’
https://www.medialens.org/2021/two-centuries-of-the-imperialist-warmongering-hate-filled-guardian/
…Guard Dogs of the Liberal status quo, always have been and still are.
Not sure we have many Liberals in NZ
Wave a stick round these parts and you'll hit half a dozen of them.
Capital L Liberal isn't really a thing in NZ.
My understanding of l(L)iberal was those that saw Corbyn as an anti-semite, Assange as treacherous, keepers of the status quo. Kinda like conservatives on the left side of politics.
Small el liberal in NZ historically has meant socially liberal people who vote on the left.
Large el L liberal is a political position and theory that most people here aren’t even aware of. Adrian and others use it as a pejorative and label designed to corral. I don’t find it particularly helpful because it’s often inaccurately applied.
the people you refer to are what I would call centre lefties.
liberal also has a more modern meaning, basically socially liberal but comfortable with neoliberal economics so long as progress can be made. Eg the term liberal feminism is used to mean feminists who want equal pay but don’t act to end the patriarchy.
Thanks weka. Yr last paragraph resonates, there is a ' blow the bridge, I'm over' or 'I'm alright, Jack' attitude to them.
"the people you refer to are what I would call centre lefties" …aahhh No, the people referred to as 'Liberals' are Centrists, which is it's own quite defined and distinct ideology.
And we know this because as we have seen with our own eyes, the way the Third Way Centrists in the UK and the establishment Centrist Dems defended their ideology against the actual Progressive Left as aggressively as any political ideologue we have seen in action recently in western politics.
These Free market Liberal Imperialists and their media arm are a more immediate threat and major obstacle at present to any Progressive Left project taking root anywhere in the West than the Right IMO, thereby making them a serious threat to the survival of our planet.
Not sure how many leftish people thought assange was "treacherous". Or even Corbyn as personally being anti-Semitic (although the party as a whole seemed to have a problem that was never addressed).
meh.
Why does the left have so many labels?
So people on the left know who to hate.
You are right about the hate.
During the height of Assange's turmoil there was a lot of hate directed at him round these parts.
The 'left' saves it's worse for it's own. Often stemming from a kinda purity Olympics.
Well, I for one don't think I ever accused Assange of being "treacherous".
I would have liked him to have faced trial for his alleged sexual assaults, though. I guess for the true left that's "po-tay-to po-tah-to" though.
They say every cloud has a silver lining.
Could this be a good news story?
From sunny Northland:
Bring it on, I say.
That's over 100 of Northlands last $100k salaries up and gone.
So it's reasonable to deduce in your glee you're a pitiless shit happy to see such social damage.
That's not very charitable of you Ad.
I'm not a pitiless shit happy to see such social damage, I am hopeful that these highly skilled workers may find a place at the proposed solar farm.
This is my hope.
That the transition from a fossil fuel economy is done in a just way.
This transition must happen.
Or don't you accept the need for us to move away from fossil fuels?
We should be making the most of this opportunity to make the solar farm a reality.
I share my pity with the Mayor of Dunedin for those affected by the Southland floods, and, the even much greater social damage caused if we don't embrace a just transition.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02-06-2021/#comment-1796034
Instead of being dependent on imported fossil fuels, the North could be our solar energy capital.
Wouldn't you like to see that?
I took it that way at first too, but if you ignore the headline Jenny’s comment makes more sense and less callously. She’s cheering green jobs.
While we have our own refinery we could potentially refine our own crude which i think atm is exported take that ability away and we are totally dependent on a foreign country for our fuel , not good in my view for a people who still have some way to go before we can transition to other fuels and noone knows whats arround the corner etc .Neither would there be much in the way of jobs in a solar farm once its up an running you could prob run the whole shebang with a couple of technicians an a couple of robots to keep the panels clean .
Didn't Fletcher's pride itself on being a social responsible corporate?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300323481/mainfreight-and-fletcher-building-two-very-different-wage-subsidy-stories
Responsible to shareholders not wider society.
Fletchers thanks the NZ and Oz govt for their generosity…..yeah right.
Who amongst us covered themselves in glory at 19 yrs old?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/black-caps/125330762/england-rookie-ollie-robinsons-sexist-and-racists-tweets-return-to-haunt-him-at-lords
His apology seems fulsome and sincere. I question the motives of the retweeter.
I've not read this but yes, I'm thankful social media wasn't a thing in my teens, or 20s for that matter, I didn't mature until well into my 30s.
zouch. Walks on the field at a high point, walks off to find all that's come back.
Almost as bad as that woman who tweeted about AIDS in Africa before getting onto a 12 hour flight there, and getting off the flight to find out she'd been fired (she was back with the company within a few years, so not exactly a career-ender then, either).
Still, as long as he hasn't been turning up to EDL rallies or David Irving book signings recently, he should be ok. Most people know that depressed teens say stupid shit sometimes.
I suppose the most important bit is if he can forgive himself.
Brutal irony. At the start of the test, where you may expect National Anthems there was a wee monologue about inclusivity.
Probably why his posts surfaced while he was on the field.
Memorable comments are going to be remembered by someone.
But there seems at the same time to be a youth worship – the young green Councillor will come up with some amazing magic and practical answer to all convoluted problems that will enable the Great Forward Leap into a Better Future.
Who has found the Covid vaccine booking 0800 number, I have searched for ages and followed every direction to my DHB and still no number. Somebody really does need a kick up the arse for anything complicated in doing this.
The MoH number on my Nelson card was – Healthline 0800 358 5453. Hope that works.
You can always contact your GP to get the latest information. If you haven't one then I think you should look for a group practice where appropriate for you. They do try to help you with your health problems if they run good management.
When you get the email saying its time the login link to book is in the email
The 0800 number AUCKLAND is 0800 2VAX COVID (282926)
Other areas are slightly changed number
There's a link on the MOH covid website to the various DHb's and what they are doing. What I don't get is why they are making such a meal out of it.
I'm Capital & Coast and they are wasting money sending out invitations etc. The Flu shot doesn't have a lot of admin for the person being stabbed so why don't they use a similar system.
Just print up a bar coded form with a few rip off bits similar to an electoral voting form – you go in on your allocated day with address/age proof -fill out background information – give them bit one get stabbed and scanned then give them bit two to scan when you go in for the second shot. Immuno/other groups get the form from their Doctor.
Just allocate days to go by initial letter of surname or something similar.
Then at the end just check up on the numbers where there is only one scan. It's an exercise in getting shots into arms not in trying to collect and store ready to be hacked the personal details of everyone – which seems to be a health department obsession.
100 years since WW1 and big spending on updating our Memorial to that War. In Key's time. Easier to direct people's attention to those memories of the past which have a hold on people's consciousness. But there was WW2 so much closer that took my birth father who served bravely, and the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan war – and …? Enough to think about and should be top and front in our minds. But no, sort of slid under the carpet. And that is a discomforting place to be.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/443953/maori-war-veteran-s-skin-still-peeling-50-years-after-agent-orange-exposure
Turoa Karatea frequently scratches himself until he bleeds, but time is running out for him to get compensation for a condition he says was caused by Agent Orange. Will a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry finally deliver for Karatea and other Vietnam veterans before the last of the veterans die?
Ahh, my sister has phoned it through to me but she only got it because her husbands mate passed it on to them. It all seems very clandestine, very secret squirrel stuff.
Anyway it is 080026 88 22, pass it own but carefully like Richie Mounga organising his backline. And just another moan, if this is one of the most important numbers in NZ history why isn’t it a simple one like any company with a competent info department manages to get. I think I can see why the Government is giving health a bloody good kicking.
Lives lost, scarred people, lost revenue to the area because of lack of objective informed direction from government agencies and lost mana for the people there and all NZ.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/443934/whakaari-white-island-confusion-over-safety-responsibilities-at-senior-level
A super-heated, highly-acidic eruption tore across the crater without warning.
Ash concealed huge landmarks – helicopter landing pads, an old sulphur factory and a shipping container.
Eight adventurers died on the submarine volcano.
Another 16 would later succumb to horrific burns, inhalation and blast injuries.
And 25 survivors were left with lifelong physical and mental recoveries from the explosion.
Despite tourist companies leading visitors onto New Zealand's most active volcano for decades, some stakeholders' health and safety obligations were unclear.
RNZ can now reveal the confusion went right to the top.
Small government good, effective government bad – say the neoliberalists! Just like the pig farm idea introduced by Roger Douglas. (Can he be deknighted now we feel benighted)? Animal Farm was run by pigs who promised and made rules that they gradually altered till what the animals got was the opposite of what they had been told.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/443905/israel-reports-pfizer-vaccine-probable-link-to-heart-inflammation
Israel's Health Ministry says a small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in Israel were likely linked to their vaccination.
This was perhaps exacerbated by the stresses that so many young Israeli men are experiencing as they battle the horrific, blood-thirsty Palestinians that threaten Israel. /sarc
Water, water everywhere and not a drop for drinking, buy it by the thimbleful as you can afford it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/443956/mayors-split-over-key-water-reforms
Completed by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, it ramped up the estimated cost of how much work needs doing to upgrade the country's water systems.
But an analysis by Deloitte also showed such an investment would reap economic rewards, with a growth in GDP of up to $23b, and thousands of jobs created.
One of the most important pieces of data, however, was a projection on how the investment would impact ratepayers – and likely what councils will be concerned about the most…
By foregoing the reforms, it showed the cost burden on ratepayers would be extremely lopsided. Some could end up paying nearly $14,000 a year in their water bill, while others would pay just $1,900.
But if reforms did go ahead, and if two to four entities were created to oversee the water network, the bill would instead be a lot more evenly split amongst ratepayers.
The highest average bill would end up being just $1,600 while the lowest average would be around $800.
My present bill is I think no more than $200 pa. And what does the master grinder Deloitte consider our water would be profitable for? And are we still virtually giving it away to overseas exploiters?
In a lot of urban areas the "water" bill is mostly for sewage disposal. Watercare in Auckland does a pro rata from the water meter volume (78.5% homes and 95% for apartments) to have a volume for the waste disposal network. The waste disposal cost is 1.75 X that of water per 1000L plus a fixed yearly charge
The pure water supply is around 25% of account ( inc GST)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/443989/us-to-pacific-leaders-be-wary-of-funds-with-strings-attached
Antony Blinken told a virtual summit of leaders and delegates from 11 Pacific countries that economic coercion across the region was on the rise.
While making no specific mention of China, he also spoke of threats to order in the region.
"The United States is all for more development and investments in the Islands, but that investment should adhere to international standards for environmentally and socially sustainable development, and should be pursued transparently, with public consultation.
How would nuclear bombing part of the Marshall Islands repeatedly by the USA fit in with that worthy-sounding set of guidelines and principles?
The purpose of Operation Crossroads was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval warships. Testing in the islands began at Bikini Atoll with the Shot Able test, on July 1, 1946. … These were also the first U.S. nuclear detonations since the “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” bombs dropped over Japan. https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/marshall-islands
Tom Lehrer was writing about the nuclear bomb tensions back in the 1960s – oh we have come a long and reasoned way since then! Remember this is satire about the serious backdrop to all the flimflam that we hear from our 'betters' amongst our good leaders looking to advance Humanity and Peace.
Who's Next (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdtAFIl2jhc
So Long Mom (a song for WW111) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklr0UD9eSo
We will all go together When We Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs