I saw in an awards piece yesterday that ex-PMs are now knighted as matter of course. Why? For doing their job? And why Double Dipper when he was only PM for about a year?
It said of course that he was also being recognised for being our most successful Minister of Finance whose wisdom and general awesomeness got us through the Global Financial Crisis and now he was going to make a new career advising others how he created our rockstar economy (or something like that).
But it is about looking after themselves. The main fault with the awards systems is that politicians have their sticky fingers all over it. I would have hoped that a true left-wing Labour-led government would not have recognised such a man. But that’s not what we’ve got.
I wonder as an aside if the Greens and NZ First were allowed any input or a veto.
I suspect went something like: Bill English asked for a knighthood (through the Nats) and the govt thought it would be bad publicity to refuse him. They’d look mean and lose votes. Farrar and co would wet themselves complaining about it for years to come. That particular boil has been lanced.
Yeah it’s just like upper management salaries. They all scratch each others back because they’re afraid if they were to break the cycle they might miss out themselves. Self serving pricks.
Former British PMs once received an Earldom but Macmillan was the last to get one and as for other honours Thatcher has been the only one, being a Baroness.
They seem to see it as a pointless gesture, why cant we. My use of an honorific is of course a parody.
Never mind though eh? It serves as a reminder to politicians in future who wonder why their public have no confidence or faith in them.
Could have been worse. It could have been Dame Paula Bennett, and then Madge really would have good reason to expect people pissing on her grave (going forward)
But then when you think of various others ….. such as in Pillars, or budgetry advice advocacy, or advocates for education, health, the indigent – it is a bit sickening.
I hope they don’t expect any R E S P E C T because they’ll be shit out of luck.
Maybe they were trying to be ‘fair and balanced’.
Ms Healy does deserve respect. The double dipper (who as a Kethlik, really should have a very guilty conscience) is deserving of none.
Like that Parmjeet Kaur on another strand, I spose it’s the difference between faith and religion. (I religiously get up at 5am and religiously take a dump at 5.30)
Perhaps ‘Sir’ stands for ‘Social Investment Required’?
Someone who places their Wellington house into a trust in order to claim $900/week in accommodation allowance for having to live in Wellington, surely shows a lack of understanding of social norms? Early identification and remediation of this problematic behaviour while Bill was still in primary school may have worked. The behaviour is particularly concerning, seeing $900 is as much as many Kiwis (most without discernibly less talent than Bill English) earn in a week.
To add insult to injury, I had to endure listening to the smug, repellent fool wittering on about social investment this morning on RNZ.
Let’s be clear, ‘social investment’ is a smokescreen and a propaganda exercise. Its purpose is to keep a broken economic system in place by suggesting that its victims are at fault by being somehow defective. They therefore need to identified early so they can be ‘fixed’. The truth is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the vast majority of the poor.
Life of a worker is cheap like it would be in a third world country.
One of the stevedores who went to hospital claims it’s not the first time workers have been exposed – “it’s a common event” – and says some colleagues have refused to work when methyl bromide is being vented.
“They just don’t come out of their huts if they’re de-tarping.”
The worker says he wants to speak out but has been “muzzled”.
“If you don’t do what you’re told you get removed off the board and they don’t give you work.”
We get hit with this stuff unloading containers for international performers. Open container, stand back. I’ve suggested large fans…
One time a huge foreign moth flew up out of the container and off into the spotlights surrounding the grounds. As a biologist type my sphincter did clench…
Nothing came of it. It could have been carrying eggs… But that’s the reason they’re so keen on the bromide in containers. Me, I’d just make them airtight, suck the air out, critters die, job done.
Landlords complain of price gouging insulation companies.
Ironically (in the context that this is EXACTLY what landlords inflict upon tenants) landlords point out that subsidies don’t make it cheaper, instead the subsidy is essentially additional income to the insulation company.
They’ve had plenty of time to get this done when the demand was lower.
Yet they dragged their heels because providing a warm dry home for tenants is actually the very last thing on their minds. The slow uptake on the subsidy was noted.
Wonder how they’d feel if the Accommodation Supplement was cancelled. It is, after all, a subsidy to landlords who automatically put their prices up whenever it increases.
Should really get rid of the AS and have a payment tied to a rental WoF. Then landlords and tenants would be able to weigh up their options and make choices based on that.
Plastic: “And yup, child rapists sometimes get as little as two years’ jail time.”
Really ? Really really ? Where the maximum sentence for rape is 20 years ? Where the staring point without the aggravating factor of child victim is not less than 8 years ? I guess there must be one such case because if there weren’t Plastic would be lying on Trumpian scale.
Give me the case citation Plastic. Give me the judge’s sentencing notes. I’ll bet the farm that the factors of offender’s extreme youth/age/mental impairment figured overwhelmingly in producing such an extraordinarily rare outcome.
Plastic flicks off this “two years jail time” as though it’s reflective of modern sentencing. It’s not. Demonstrably it’s not. Actually Plastic IS lying when she peddles one extraordinarily rare sentence as “sometimes”. As misleading as allowing that this cackling yuppie fool “sometimes” engages journalism.
As Truman Capote said of a contemporary…….”That’s not writing……that’s typing”.
I dont read her stuff anymore, its always as bad as you describe.
Her analytics must have dropped as they try hide her name and just use click bait headlines
Wouldn’t it be great if Bridges, Collins etc watched Prime’s TV 60 Minutes last night, Special Prison Edition.
In Germany the focus is not at all about Punishment but on Rehabilitation and treating inmates with humanity. And lesser crimes have Home Detention and Community involvement, rather than as we do, lock them all away to teach each other worse skills so that on release they can do worse stuff.
(Can’t seem to get replay on Prime?)
I remember that some years ago I was doing adult reading tutoring in a drug rehabilitation house (before it got closed down). As I worked with one young man who was trying to break habit so he could rejoin his wife and child with the addiction behind him, he told me that one task given was to read a book on someone’s experience on giving up marijuana. He said he had to be able to discuss it with the clinicians but could read the whole page and yet not remember the meaning and information at the end.
I mentioned to the clinicians about his problem which they had not been aware of. Apparently it takes some time to get better brain functioning
after long-term marijuana use. They had to work on that before expecting him to be able to handle reading and learning at the level normal for his age. It was part of his set steps that had to be achieved before he could meet requirements for treatment.
They probably mostly do have these problems. But they also commit very violent crimes. About two thirds of all inmates are in for serious violent and sexual crimes. In addition a fair number for serious drug dealing, and a fair number for serious fraud. The other category are serious repeat driving offenders, such as killing or injuring someone when driving drunk.
Is their scope to reduce prisoner numbers? Yes, but not by 30%, more realistically 10%, at least in the median term.
I know that we are often said to be among the highest imprisoners in the OECD. That is correct. We are in a band of UK, Canada, Australia and some central european nations. We are often at the top of that group, as indeed are our crime rates. Many European nations have lower imprisonment rates, typically 50 to 60% lower. They also have lower crime rates.
The US is out in their own category. To put it in perspective, if we imprisoned at the US rate we would have 45,000 prisoners instead of the 11,000 we actually have. US crime rates, especially for homicide, are about 4 times higher than NZ.
So we are often at no 2 in the OECD, but the rate is basically comparable to Australia, the UK and Canada. We are miles less than the US.
One reason we have a high crime rate is the prevalence of gangs in NZ, which now date back to the 1960’s. Not Rotary! But Headhunters, Mongrel Mob, etc. Again the percentage of people in criminal gangs is higher in NZ than most other OECD countries.
Gang life is characterised by extreme violence and sexual crimes. And unfortunately has become multi-generational. If we could reduce the appeal of gangs by say 30 to 50%, then our crime rate would also dramatically reduce.
Not easy, but it should be able to be done. After all most people in poorer social economic communities (where gangs are most prevalent) don’t actually join gangs. So we need to ask why is that? Why can most young people resist the temptation and others not.
The higher the imprisonment rate, the higher the crime rate.
The higher the amount of poverty and inequality, the higher the crime rate.
Cause and effect right there.
Putting the young and stupid, the addicted, and the brain damaged and illiterate, in ‘crime university’ does not work. As Iceland, Holland, Portugal and others have conclusively shown.
Maybe the easiest way to reduce the crime rate, is to imprison all right wing politicians. A reduction on most of the proven causes of crime, and ‘legal’ white collar crimes, would follow very quickly.
We don’t know how to deal with members of our society when they are amidst us and we have even less of a clue on how to deal with convicts. Maybe we should start a reasoned debate or do you think this is too early for little New Zealand?
The point is that we have a social, legal, financial, moral disaster on our hands which all of us have an obligation to acknowledge and address without minimisation. Minimisation benefits only dog-whistling rightist politicians, blood-lusters like the SST’s Garth McCrackers, and multi-national private jailers.
No we don’t “lock them all away” as you irrelevantly say. Why “irrelevantly” ? Because the social, legal, financial, moral disaster exists without us doing that.
So, you miss the point. Again. So that you can stick out your fragile rightist mindset. Again. As always. Strutting for dog-whistlers, blood-lusters, and private jailers. What do you get ? The look of a fool.
Stunned…….would be helpful if you’d actually identify from the vast body of material in the Corrections Department link you provide, “the issue” you mention. Which you cryptically complain “no one likes to mention”.
C’mon Stunned……don’t be coy. Out with it. As long as you don’t launch into a Roseanne Barr racist white-trash rant though.
Still, as rotten as that would be it would confirm your penchant for inadvertently making the point by missing it.
The number on remand, who’ve been convicted of nothing, and the time they spend on remand, which is gradually increasing.
One feature of a functional justice system is that it be able to provide swift justice, primarily for the victims’ sake. So much for right wing crocodile tears about victims’ rights.
Interesting stats thanks Stunned Mullet. But not sure what your point is. What say 50% of those in custody would be better off being helped in a variety of well organised facilities out in society? Drugs, alcohol, mental, learning to read and handle social maths and work support?
And yes there are said to be 100 very serious offenders who should be really locked up. (0.01%) But lets not use those few serious offenders to get in the way of discussion.
Nearly 3,000 people are locked up on Remand, without and before conviction. Probably because the strident screamers have pointed to a few cases where a person not on remand but awaiting trial has gone has gone on to commit a gruesome crime, but 3,000???
Odiferous burbling? Can you try and concentrate and discuss important issues instead of using this post as a therapeutic place to release your simple prejudices? The problems now need real thought, research and practical modern methods to change the bad statistics. You are just one of the 19th century repressors and judgmentals who find it a bridge too far to think in today’s mode to deal with today’s problems in the chemical and television and technology mind-bending age.
Do you think they are ignorant of the facts? I don’t. I think they have a different goal in mind: putting taxpayers’ money into the back pockets of private prison owners.
Just as they were fully aware of the massive fraud that is meth testing. Just as they were fully aware of the situation at Middlemore.
Unforgettable Ass-Kickings
No. 2: George Galloway deals to Christopher Hitchens
Remember these two had quite a history. Galloway had humiliated Hitchens on at least a couple of occasions before this one. At the 3:25 mark here, watch Hitchens nearly choking on bile as Galloway points out he’s a liar…
Hitchens (now unmemorably deceased) exemplified the loon who starts off pointedly Left and ends up pointedly, disgustingly Right. Richard “Mad Dog” Prebble anyone ?
Galloway marches on, indefatigably, hypocrites and scabs left confounded in his wake. See him here before a US Senate committee:
Thanks North! Making this even better, as I’m sure you’re aware, Galloway’s demolition of Senator Coleman was immediately preceded by his dispatching to the boundary of one… Christopher Hitchens! The self-appointed Scourge of Princess Diana attempted to taunt Galloway before his appearance at the Committee, and even in that highly charged atmosphere Galloway humiliated him. The defeated Hitchens was caught shortly afterwards on camera, snarling “You really are a thug!”
Now we have Sir Deceiving Defrauding Double Dipper of Dipton! An attempt at ripping off the taxpayer. Then there is the Todd Barclay affair. Something for which Blinglish wasn’t made accountable for. Possibly much more malevolence behind the scenes as well.
Key, English et al … seems honorifics are only reserved for the slimy con artists and crooks of the land!
Key, English et al … seems honorifics are only reserved for the slimy con artists and crooks of the land!
That does seem to be true.
We need to remove the giving of honorific from the politicians and give it to the people. Add one aspect to it as well – nobody can get one for doing their job.
Over 70 Syrian tribes issued a joint statement on Saturday that announced the formation of a new combined force that would fight the US-backed militias and foreign troops in northern Syria.
The tribesmen from the Al-Hasakah, Aleppo, and Al-Raqqa governorates reportedly met in the government-held city of Deir Hafer, where they all agreed that they will come together to expel the US and their militias from their provinces.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stated during his latest interview with Russia Today that the US-backed forces and foreign troops in northern Syria will be dealt with militarily if they do not withdrawal.
The Pentagon responded to this threat by warning the Syrian President that any attack on their forces in Syria will end ‘badly’ for him.
Not sure if having his army and airforce destroyed are in Assad;’s best interests. Consider what happened to the Wagner mercenaries.
Of course it’s always possible that the Kremlin will order Trump to withdraw US troops, but would he comply? How well do fascist kleptocrats get along? Are the pee-tapes really that much blackmail currency against the guy with the Pentagon at his disposal?
It’s that the US arrogance shows no bounds.
“The Pentagon responded to this threat by warning the Syrian President that any attack on their forces in Syria will end ‘badly’ for him.”
The Wagner mercenaries were a disaffected bunch from the Urals, poorly trained and equipped. The ultimate question is: who pays Wagner and the numerous other Russian private military companies.
Arrogance, or a simple statement of fact. The destruction of the Syrian army and air-force would destablise the region again. Assad would be lucky to survive this.
“Poorly equipped”, depends who they’re fighting. If it’s the US military, “poorly” is an understatement. Poorly trained? Depends who you ask.
Here is an ironic picture of comfortable and complacent minds confronted by modernity and change and feeling like hermit crabs forced out of their shells.
From the wit of Tom Sharpe in Porterhouse Blues.
Lunch was a mournful occasion. It was the end of term and the Fellows at High Table ate in a silence made all the more noticeable by the lack of conversation from the empty tables below them. To make matters worse, the soup was cold and there was cottage pie. But it was the knowledge of their own dispensability that cast gloom over them.
For five hundred years they and their predecessors had ordained at least some portion of the elite that had ruled the nation. It had been through the sieve of their indulgent bigotry that young men had squeezed to become judges and lawyers, politicians and soldiers, men of affairs, all of them imbued with a corporate complacency and an intellectual scepticism that desiccated change. They were the guardians of political inertia and their role was done. They had succumbed at last to the least effectual of politicians.
‘A student council to run the College. It’s monstrous,’ said the Senior Tutor, but there was no hope in his protest. Despite his cultivated mediocrity of mind, the Senior Tutor had seen change coming. He blamed the sciences for re-establishing the mirage of truth, and still more the pseudomorph subjects like anthropology and economics whose adepts substituted inapplicable statistics for the ineptness of their insights.
And finally there was sociology with its absurd maxim, The Proper Study of Mankind is Man, which typically it took from a man the Senior Tutor would have rejected as unfit to cox the rugger boat….
‘There must be something we can do,’ said the Dean.
‘Short of murder I can think of nothing,’ the Senior Tutor answered.
The crime here is that Forestry is allowed to let log litter accumulate with catastrophic effect on Tolaga Bay people and their homes when the rain comes.
Scroll down the page to see the huge accumulation of logs.
A woman, her partner and their four-year-old granddaughter had no choice but to climb on to their roof while they waited for a rescue helicopter to arrive as water smashed against their home.
Mention in this report about unstable land occurs in relation to roading here:
(I am not expert in handling docos and obtaining info from them – I couldn’t just highlight and copy bits I wanted to show. Have done my best. It looks as if there were not adequate demands made as to the aftercare of logged areas which has left these people lower down in Tolaga Bay etc exposed to damage.
)
MAF ‘East Coast forest industry and wood availability forecasts 2008’ https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/854/loggedIn
The unstable nature of the East Coast landscape and the
roads location of many of the newer forests in less accessible
areas of the region will pose a challenge for the future
expansion of forestry operations. The cost of obtaining
and carting roading materials will also affect profitability
of operations.’…
Biofuels and cogen potential
A very large resource of pulpwood and other by-products
are potentially available – subject to the economics of use
for biofuels, cogeneration or other reconstituted wood
products.
When landing slash is counted, the potential
volume is much greater than that shown in this report;
this could be particularly significant for the East Coast
communities north of Gisborne who are currently
serviced with electricity via limited infrastructure.
The current lack of a local market for pulp wood and
other by-products is a constraint on harvest profitability
and limits the maximum utilisation of forest production.
It is unlikely that cut-over recovery of residues will be
economic, owing to the predominantly very steep
topography of much of the production forests and the
distance to a potential plant in one of the main centres on
region, what is really required is a world-scale solid wood
the East Coast.
Limited Wood Processing Capability
The current lack of local processing is a constraint that
leaves forest owners with few options other than to export
large volumes of logs.
This leaves the region exposed to the log export
market and limited port facilities.
With transport costs making the long cartage of lower value
material marginal or unprofitable, the regional harvest is ‘
at risk of losing potential added-value through the
processing or utilisation of this material as it gets left on
the cut-over.
A greater number of competitive options for
the full range of log products on the East Coast will
contribute considerably to the region’s forestry success.
Part Concluding Comments:
There is still substantial potential for expansion of the
existing forest estate on the East Coast, although all this
may not necessarily be for production purposes, but for
other values such as watershed management, erosion
control and carbon sequestration.
There is discussion about new planting which will also provide land stabilisation.
There is a possibility of businesses setting up wood handling factories when the market is right, and the flow of wood makes it economic and the factor of carbon sequestration.
There is talk about the steep slopes and the need for cable-hauling which requires skilled workers.
There is mention of the okay being given if there is attention given by the loggers to erosion, water etc.
The GDC is a unitary authority that keeps control of important issues relating to land disturbance and logging and clearing and resource consents are required.
Liaison with the Department of Conservation may be required because of the extent and species affected by clearing and logging.
The consent process associated with the harvesting of forests on the East Coast has generally not been an issue.
It seems that the matter of dealing with cut down left-overs has been put on the back burner in the eagerness to get into the log trade, and the intention has been to utilise it at a later date for electricity if there is a viable market for it. It appears that no warning bells have sounded about the instability of the land left bare and the residue from logging left lying where they could be dislodged by expected heavy rain storms although this is a known result of other logging sites in NZ which have been left in a disorganised fashion and have resulted in damage to housing and property and likely to injure people and animals as they have rolled or propelled down slopes onto those below.
Would think if the Gizzy to Napier Railway was still operational that some or all of the by-product could’ve been rail out in bulk with Gizzy being the bulk handing depot for the trucks etc? Or have a Bio- Fuel power plant at Napier to supply the Hawke’s Bay- Gizzy regions?
Don’t know when the trees were felled but as you say the fact of having the rail could have made a big difference in choices of what could be done about the leftover stuff (not correct forestry term!). But NZ had to wait to get a political party that wasn’t constipated. I think within the report it talks about bio-fuel plant. But I was mainly looking for specific mention that the area had to be left in good condition with leftovers stacked safely etc. and didn’t find anything that definite. She’ll be right mate.
So much of our forestry resource that we should have kept and run for the national good in the effective way, has been sold to big firms and institutions
In 1999 Forest & Bird criticised Carter Holt Harvey selling a forest to the east of Taupo to a private buyer. The block was considered to be one of the most ecologically valuable areas of forest in the North Island. Carters in 1994 had withdrawn the forest, Pohokura from sale, and agreed to secure its protection and manage it in consultation with Forest and Bird and DoC. F&B said,”Unfortunately the American managers who now run Carter Holt Harvey Forests have a hardline attitude on environmental issues…they do not wish to work co-operatively with the NZ conservation movement.”
(Newsroom Forest and Bird Press release 2/12/99 16:37:00 Native Forest Sale Breach of Forest Accord.)
Also Fletcher Challenge sold 51% interests in Nelson in 1997 to giant Weyerhaeuser for $275 million; the other 49% was owned by foreign institutional investors. Weyerhaeuser owned or was licensed to operate on an area approaching the size of the entire North Island, 11.4 million hectares, almost three-quarters of which was classed as productive forest land.
The Nelson Mail p15 28/9/99
If I had a big pile of flotsam on my property and a storm washed it all onto the street causing flooding to spread to other houses, will I be exempt for damages so caused? (I am just a little person so it would be easier to punish me.)
I understand what you are saying, with everyone after a quick buck and to hell with everyone especially with outsiders in an management role not understanding NZ workers/ culture in IRT protecting the environment etc.
I can a story about Weyerhaeuser and Fletchers that involve one of my cousins, who runs a forestry contacting gang who runs it like an old school NZ Forest Service logging gang based around a semi co-op system (just how the family ran the coal mine on Coast).
He was asked by Fletchers to move down to Nelson and they going top dollar as well cost to move everyone lock stock and barrel because of his very standards/ skill sets they had. Anyway if they had moved down from Nth Isl, Fletchers sold out and this mob moved in straight away cutting costs left right centre ie bringing in the Nth America logging practices which BTW are bloody dangerous to an already dangerous job. To a point that he was being under cut by other logging gangs and final straw was when he got the job to work over the hill (Golden Bay Area), but Weyerhaeuser refuse to pay any accommodation and transport costs and basically he told them where to go. He left Nelson with his gang and equipment back to the Nth Isl after my grandmother help out as she pull a strings as he was going to call it quits and after a couple of leans yrs doing jobs that no one would do! He’s doing even better now because they starting to understand that cost cutting comes with a price, to a point some yrs later the muppets from Weyerhaeuser came crawling back ask him to work for them and in true West Coast/ typical family style he told them where to bloody go.
There are a myriad ways to use forestry by-products. What we want is sustainability.
We can innoculate the stumps with various mushroom species providing secondary crops for foresters/locals while making topsoil of the stumps.
Deadwood that is not transported offsite for re-purposing is laid flat to the ground so as to decompose further adding substrate for the soil building by fungi and other microorganisms. This also helps protect the soil when it is exposed after cropping. Brushwood piles are ridiculous constructs of the human mind that likes to ‘sweep clean’.
The placing of carbon (wood waste) with available water (ground contact for fungal access) sees opportunistic free living and plant and fungal-symbiotic nitrogen fixing organisms arrive to provide this vital resource for the process. Now nature’s working for us.
The larger scrap wood and bark can be used to make bio-char. This amendment can greatly improve the productivity of various soil types including NZ’s yellow ultic clay which I’ve successfully experimented with for > 10 yrs now. Use of biochar also directly sequesters carbon.
The process of making bio-char releases heat energy that can be re-purposed e.g. drying timber, heating facilities/water, running turbines. It also produces various chemical by-products that can be re-purposed in forestry and other industries.
Biofuel from pine wastes??? We’re not really there yet it gets technical (read expensive). Best not to be pioneers of large scale expensive systems that might have several achilles heels. That’s what R&D is for.
We can be a lot more sustainable with the guidelines above. I’d add to that system intermittently planting other crops to help the soil recover and provide alternate timber/crops to pine.
Just in case Standardistas missed one blatant bit of grandstanding by the Leader of the World watching out for our good, the United States of America.
World
2 Jun 2018
China ‘intimidating neighbours’ – US
7:02 pm on 2 June 2018 General Mattis said the Trump administration wanted a constructive relationship with China but would compete vigorously if necessary.
The US recognised that China had a role to play in the region.
The South China Sea, a key trade route, is subject to overlapping claims by six countries.
China has been building small islands and other maritime features into military facilities there.
Last month China said it had for the first time landed bombers on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands, prompting US warnings that it was destabilising the region.
Woody Island, which China calls Yongxing, is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The South China Sea dispute:
Sovereignty over two largely uninhabited island chains, the Paracels and the Spratlys, is disputed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia
China claims the largest portion of territory, saying its rights go back centuries – in 1947 it issued a map detailing its claims
The area is a major shipping route, and a rich fishing ground, and is thought to have abundant oil and gas reserves http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/358782/china-intimidating-neighbours-us
I’ve just started reading this book I got off Fishpond called “Globalisation and Defence in the Asia-Pacific – Arms across Asia” which is a collection of Essays edited by Geoffrey Till, Emrys Chew and Joshua Ho.
Chapter 2, last night was a bit interesting IRT what is happening in the South China Sea using a couple of theories called “The Long Wave by Nikolai Kondrative in the 1920’s and the Leadership Cycle” in which both talk about War between a new up and coming nation challenging the current pre-eminent nation which happens roughly once every 100yrs. “This system leader holds a preponderance of key military capabilities (chiefly blue- water sea power, they argue) while boasting the lead economy in terms of size and innovative energy. Regular rhythms in the global economy are related to the rise of this leading state. Just as importantly, key economic trends and the prospects for peace and war are found to be associated with rise, ascendancy and decline of one system leader, and the struggle to produce the next one.”
When one looks at the 50yr cycle of the Kondratiev waves and with the 100yr long Leadership Cycle. You would see Waves of technological innovations (leading sectors in the Global Economy) are very much connected to the rise and decline of global political systems dominated by a hegemonic state.
Last the last two sentences in the conclusion: “ Because globalisation disperses the control of capital, technology and the markets as never before, it remains to seen weather a single state can establish and maintain dominance in the global system on the basis of military might alone. The prospect for peace, we need to know whether the presence of such hegemon will provoke the bellicose challenges to its dominance, the competitive arms build ups and the formation of freshly armed counter- coalitions- for these are the very things which stirred and brewed into systemic war once in every century for the past 500yrs.”
By my reckoning based on what I readed last night we are slowly heading to war on given and current trends within the Asia- Pacific region ATM and with the USA at its peak of the cycle or on top of wave which is about to break as new comer seeks to challenge the dominance of the US.
The public has a tolerance for other people’s suffering. We seem to have been at war or in a state of unease, a push button away from war, since WW2. On the surface it seems as if we are at peace but there are the Syrian reports, the Burmese reports, another little boat that has gone down off Africa. And there is enormous interest in films about war, I was just reading about the enormous business there is in land mines and things called butterfly bombs, and armaments are a big trade. Is it that peace is a cessation of war, a breathing space before the next one starts?
With all these poxy wars happening atm it seems it could be the prelude to the main event?
IRT to the Middle East ATM its watching the start of a yacht race with everyone jockeying for positions at the start and when it does kick off it going to be like watching the Grand National Jumps Race at Antree wondering who is going to be last horse standing.
Chapter 2 of the book mentions this is the longest period of peace since WW2 IRT major inter-state wars, but in saying that the long term trend when one looks at that a major inter-state war will break out sooner or later.
The Kondratiev wave is very interesting theory and when you combine it with the 100yr Leadership cycle to what’s happening in the Asia- Pacific Region atm, it makes for some interesting reading.
“This grim description is backed by figures that reveal the staggering decreases in seabird numbers in Shetland, the most northerly part of the British Isles. In 2000, there were more than 33,000 puffins on the island in early spring. That figure dropped to 570 last year……
….Similarly, Shetland’s kittiwake population plummeted from over 55,000 in 1981 to 5,000 in 2011…..
……there were around 110 Arctic terns there last week compared with around 9,000 that were counted in the same area in 2000. ”
Good morning Newshub Flooding in Tairawhiti Uawa Whangara Global warming is here and now .
Duncan I could see Amanda and Mark disagree with you on that. I say honoring the people who deserve it for there good deeds for OUR society is a good thing we need to show more respect for our elderly and respect for te mokopunas future I.E look after the environment. James we can grow meat and dairy organically and sustainable
Ka pai to the American mokopuna who are touring America keeping up the presser on the politician who support the Gun lobby association of America to change the laws to make it harder to get a gun for idiots.
Smoking is a hard to quit and its hard on the poor people who are most of the smokers .But Hone te Labour lead coalition government has the long game in its sights not just tomorrow even thou there mite be less money targeting Maori more money is getting to the poor and not being chewed up by bureaucratic organizations so in reality more money is reaching Maori and not half to the paper pushers. ka pai.
Did I hear that right Trump has just admitted to the accusations of Russian election scandal well thats what Eco Maori gets from him saying he can pardon his self.
With the plastic bag think what I;m going to do is use those reusable bags and as soon as they are emptied put them strait into the boot of my car or one ends up with a cardboard full of those bags . Ka kite ano P.S we need to stop using any plastic that is not biodegradable
The reason Maori cultured tangata won’t go for becoming a republic is because a republic government will ride rought shod all over Maoris Humane rights the Queen is the Guardian of the Maori tangata .
Io
I
Queen
I I
Tangata whenua NZ Goverment and people
She has been Honorable to all her subjects and is the check that Maori have against
corrupt intentions of some people have against Maori and the common person.
Tangaroa buy Tiki Tane
Just got in contact with the whano in Te Waiapu vally and they say the beach is covered in pine logs from the flooding . I remember when I was a child that the beach had heaps of wood when I last seen the beach there was not much wood there it will be interesting to see it now te Waiapu awa has filled up with silt now
Ka kite ano P.S its not as bad as the flooding in Uawa
5 years since Edward Snowden blew te whistle The common tangata person who let te tangata of Papatuanuku know that they were /are being spied on by Governments and big companys .Te kumara never tells how sweet it is the link below ka kite ano
Eco Maori is trying to have a truce with the sandflys but if they don’t stop trying to intimidat ECO MAORI that they can kiss my – – – – – –
Ana to kai Ka kite ano P.S I know what’s going down
Well I got my answers already from the sandflys so don’t go having te Waiapu come out your eyes when yous get bit on the – – – – Ana to kai Ka kite ano
I already tried to get the sandflys bosses to realise that other people are being affected negative buy there actions my clients have one family split because of them as ECO MAORI has done nothing wrong I realise that I’m unique In that I can think about who my actions affect that goes right over the sandflys heads I will still be coming back to Rotorua and travelling anywhere in Aotearoa. Ka kite ano
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
We have been on the road in England, squeezing down narrow lanes, flying up the M6, loving hedgerows and villages and cathedrals, liking the 21st century less.There have been moments when it’s felt like a movie trope. The pub in Exford, lovely seventeenth century bar, almost more dogs than people, ...
There’s a solar-storm on at the moment, and since the South Island is having a day and night with clear skies, that means Aurorae. I have just got back from a midnight visit to Tunnel Beach – southwards-looking over the Sea, and without the light pollution. Quite a few others ...
Michael Bassett writes – I’m not sure that it’s much comfort to anyone to know that the post-Covid surge in violent crimes, gang activity, ram raids, random shootings, thuggery and stabbings is occurring in other countries as well as New Zealand. These days, wagging school, out-of-control welfare and ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – Cast your mind back to mid-December. A new Prime Minister had just been sworn in, the new Government started its 100-day programme, and Christmas was only days away.Amid all the haste, a report landed that would have deserved our attention.I am talking about the ...
TL;DR: An unseasonally early icy blast at the same time as some long-overdue maintenance almost caused Aotearoa-NZ’s electricity system to black out this week. That’s because a quadropoly of gentailers1 have prioritised paying dividends from their rising profits and adding debt over investing in 1.5 GigaWatts of new wind farms ...
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
PNG Post-Courier New Zealand High Commissioner Peter Zwart and PNG Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph welcomed a C-130 Hercules to Port Moresby this week to support Papua New Guinea’s response to the March 24 earthquake and recent severe flooding. “Papua New Guinea has requested New Zealand’s assistance to transport emergency ...
Grub Street King Luxon rode through the streets Of King’s Landing, and was troubled By the sight of hungry urchins in the mud. “Who would be the best of my Lords To deal with this negative optic?” He pondered. The answer came to him instantly. “Seymour!” he said to himself. ...
“The Bill does not provide environmental protection, good quality decision making, certainty, public participation or speed. It should be withdrawn.” ...
RNZ News Television New Zealand has breached its collective agreement with the E tū union when deciding on discontinuing programmes, the Employment Relations Authority has ruled. It was announced in March that 68 staff members who work for news programmes Midday and Tonight, consumer justice programme Fair Go, current affairs ...
Asia Pacific Report Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member. This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to ...
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marlene Longbottom, Associate Professor, Indigenous Education & Research Centre, James Cook University ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the violence experienced by First Nations people in encounters with the Australian carceral system. It also contains references to ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Sir Bingles.
What the hell?
Eloquently put. WTF.
Time to get rid of this anachronism – once again!
I would have expected it under National but I would have hoped for better under a Labour coalition. Obviously not.
Cringeworthy colonial hangeover titles are a joke but they do give an indication of what an administration values.
I just ignore titles like Knight and Dame. I may be tilting at windmills but I just simply never use them. I mean Shonkey is still Shonkey.
Isn’t it insulting? They’re sure good at looking out for themselves aren’t they.
I saw in an awards piece yesterday that ex-PMs are now knighted as matter of course. Why? For doing their job? And why Double Dipper when he was only PM for about a year?
It said of course that he was also being recognised for being our most successful Minister of Finance whose wisdom and general awesomeness got us through the Global Financial Crisis and now he was going to make a new career advising others how he created our rockstar economy (or something like that).
But it is about looking after themselves. The main fault with the awards systems is that politicians have their sticky fingers all over it. I would have hoped that a true left-wing Labour-led government would not have recognised such a man. But that’s not what we’ve got.
I wonder as an aside if the Greens and NZ First were allowed any input or a veto.
I suspect went something like: Bill English asked for a knighthood (through the Nats) and the govt thought it would be bad publicity to refuse him. They’d look mean and lose votes. Farrar and co would wet themselves complaining about it for years to come. That particular boil has been lanced.
Yeah it’s just like upper management salaries. They all scratch each others back because they’re afraid if they were to break the cycle they might miss out themselves. Self serving pricks.
Former British PMs once received an Earldom but Macmillan was the last to get one and as for other honours Thatcher has been the only one, being a Baroness.
They seem to see it as a pointless gesture, why cant we. My use of an honorific is of course a parody.
Never mind though eh? It serves as a reminder to politicians in future who wonder why their public have no confidence or faith in them.
Could have been worse. It could have been Dame Paula Bennett, and then Madge really would have good reason to expect people pissing on her grave (going forward)
But then when you think of various others ….. such as in Pillars, or budgetry advice advocacy, or advocates for education, health, the indigent – it is a bit sickening.
I hope they don’t expect any R E S P E C T because they’ll be shit out of luck.
Maybe they were trying to be ‘fair and balanced’.
Ms Healy does deserve respect. The double dipper (who as a Kethlik, really should have a very guilty conscience) is deserving of none.
Like that Parmjeet Kaur on another strand, I spose it’s the difference between faith and religion. (I religiously get up at 5am and religiously take a dump at 5.30)
In one sense. On the other hand, Bill English and knighthoods are very much institutions of the same establishment.
Perhaps ‘Sir’ stands for ‘Social Investment Required’?
Someone who places their Wellington house into a trust in order to claim $900/week in accommodation allowance for having to live in Wellington, surely shows a lack of understanding of social norms? Early identification and remediation of this problematic behaviour while Bill was still in primary school may have worked. The behaviour is particularly concerning, seeing $900 is as much as many Kiwis (most without discernibly less talent than Bill English) earn in a week.
To add insult to injury, I had to endure listening to the smug, repellent fool wittering on about social investment this morning on RNZ.
Let’s be clear, ‘social investment’ is a smokescreen and a propaganda exercise. Its purpose is to keep a broken economic system in place by suggesting that its victims are at fault by being somehow defective. They therefore need to identified early so they can be ‘fixed’. The truth is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the vast majority of the poor.
David Slack on Twitter: He’d have been knighted sooner but they kept sending the invitation letter to Dipton.
😆
Well-deserved, Sir Bill.
WTF have the Topp twins done
Congrats Bill for:
* bailing out your mates in South Canterbury Finance: $1.7 billion
* screwing Solid Energy: $128 million
* diverting billions worth of asset sales proceeds from social programs to banks
* deleting 450 unusual texts to a National Party staffer and covering for a bully (Todd Barclay)
Scumbag of the lowest order.
Key
Talley
English
Shipley
Estrange Corbet
Knighthoods and dames . It would seem they area prize for committing crimes against the citizens of New Zealand and the world.
+111
Excellent reporting from Tony Wall on our 100% Pure nation’s use of methyl bromide.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103690904/its-banned-in-other-countries-but-new-zealand-is-using-more-toxic-methyl-bromide-than-ever
There are three parts, so make coffee and toast and dig in.
Life of a worker is cheap like it would be in a third world country.
One of the stevedores who went to hospital claims it’s not the first time workers have been exposed – “it’s a common event” – and says some colleagues have refused to work when methyl bromide is being vented.
“They just don’t come out of their huts if they’re de-tarping.”
The worker says he wants to speak out but has been “muzzled”.
“If you don’t do what you’re told you get removed off the board and they don’t give you work.”
A good reason to process the logs in nz.
That is so scary-good post Rosemary.
We get hit with this stuff unloading containers for international performers. Open container, stand back. I’ve suggested large fans…
One time a huge foreign moth flew up out of the container and off into the spotlights surrounding the grounds. As a biologist type my sphincter did clench…
Nothing came of it. It could have been carrying eggs… But that’s the reason they’re so keen on the bromide in containers. Me, I’d just make them airtight, suck the air out, critters die, job done.
But thinking, you know…
Landlords complain of price gouging insulation companies.
Ironically (in the context that this is EXACTLY what landlords inflict upon tenants) landlords point out that subsidies don’t make it cheaper, instead the subsidy is essentially additional income to the insulation company.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12062882
They’ve had plenty of time to get this done when the demand was lower.
Yet they dragged their heels because providing a warm dry home for tenants is actually the very last thing on their minds. The slow uptake on the subsidy was noted.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11879566
No use complaining about the price of insulation now – supply and demand.
Muttonbird @ 4.1 cry me a river
Wonder how they’d feel if the Accommodation Supplement was cancelled. It is, after all, a subsidy to landlords who automatically put their prices up whenever it increases.
Should really get rid of the AS and have a payment tied to a rental WoF. Then landlords and tenants would be able to weigh up their options and make choices based on that.
+111
:-))
rent controls with prices administered by a government agency. the market has completely failed
Oh My God ! More scribbled-out-while-half-pissed tripe from Heather Plastic-Allan, this time on prison reform and perils of the same:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=12062674
Plastic: “And yup, child rapists sometimes get as little as two years’ jail time.”
Really ? Really really ? Where the maximum sentence for rape is 20 years ? Where the staring point without the aggravating factor of child victim is not less than 8 years ? I guess there must be one such case because if there weren’t Plastic would be lying on Trumpian scale.
Give me the case citation Plastic. Give me the judge’s sentencing notes. I’ll bet the farm that the factors of offender’s extreme youth/age/mental impairment figured overwhelmingly in producing such an extraordinarily rare outcome.
Plastic flicks off this “two years jail time” as though it’s reflective of modern sentencing. It’s not. Demonstrably it’s not. Actually Plastic IS lying when she peddles one extraordinarily rare sentence as “sometimes”. As misleading as allowing that this cackling yuppie fool “sometimes” engages journalism.
As Truman Capote said of a contemporary…….”That’s not writing……that’s typing”.
I dont read her stuff anymore, its always as bad as you describe.
Her analytics must have dropped as they try hide her name and just use click bait headlines
She’s obviously lying and needs to be held to account for a few million dollars and banned from ever being a journalist again.
There should be consequences for shit like this and there isn’t.
Many will be disappointed in the List. Bill only got a Knighthood.
They’d have expected Sainthood at minimum.
Patron Saint of Rental Properties. Double sainthood.
At first glance i thought you’d said renal properties… which would be an appropriate place to stick his knighthood 😉
To become a Saint you’ll have to meet one vital criterion … [pun intended]
I don’t think the knighthood will help him where he, according to his own religion, is going to end up.
Wouldn’t it be great if Bridges, Collins etc watched Prime’s TV 60 Minutes last night, Special Prison Edition.
In Germany the focus is not at all about Punishment but on Rehabilitation and treating inmates with humanity. And lesser crimes have Home Detention and Community involvement, rather than as we do, lock them all away to teach each other worse skills so that on release they can do worse stuff.
(Can’t seem to get replay on Prime?)
We hardly lock them all away. The majority of detainees in NZ- have multiple serious convictions.
Citation please.
From what I have heard the majority of prisoners have mental health issues \ drug and alcohol problems. Help is required not damaging people further.
and illiteracy. Teaching them to read can make a huge difference.
It certainly can work wonders here amongst the usual suspects.
This might interest you; there are many scientific studies like this:
Prevalence of traumatic brain injury in a male adult prison population and links with offence type
https://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/10718/Mitchell%20-prevalence%20of%20TBI%20in%20prison%20revised%20clean.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y
Interesting thanks.
I remember that some years ago I was doing adult reading tutoring in a drug rehabilitation house (before it got closed down). As I worked with one young man who was trying to break habit so he could rejoin his wife and child with the addiction behind him, he told me that one task given was to read a book on someone’s experience on giving up marijuana. He said he had to be able to discuss it with the clinicians but could read the whole page and yet not remember the meaning and information at the end.
I mentioned to the clinicians about his problem which they had not been aware of. Apparently it takes some time to get better brain functioning
after long-term marijuana use. They had to work on that before expecting him to be able to handle reading and learning at the level normal for his age. It was part of his set steps that had to be achieved before he could meet requirements for treatment.
Tell you what when xianmac provides a link that we lock them all up i’ll provide a link to demonstrate the counterfactual.
Regarding drug and alcohol problems, yes it is a major problem.
http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/newsletters_and_brochures/tackling_alcohol_and_drug_abuse.html
You made a statement – now back it up or we must assume that you’re lying.
maui,
They probably mostly do have these problems. But they also commit very violent crimes. About two thirds of all inmates are in for serious violent and sexual crimes. In addition a fair number for serious drug dealing, and a fair number for serious fraud. The other category are serious repeat driving offenders, such as killing or injuring someone when driving drunk.
Is their scope to reduce prisoner numbers? Yes, but not by 30%, more realistically 10%, at least in the median term.
I know that we are often said to be among the highest imprisoners in the OECD. That is correct. We are in a band of UK, Canada, Australia and some central european nations. We are often at the top of that group, as indeed are our crime rates. Many European nations have lower imprisonment rates, typically 50 to 60% lower. They also have lower crime rates.
The US is out in their own category. To put it in perspective, if we imprisoned at the US rate we would have 45,000 prisoners instead of the 11,000 we actually have. US crime rates, especially for homicide, are about 4 times higher than NZ.
So we are often at no 2 in the OECD, but the rate is basically comparable to Australia, the UK and Canada. We are miles less than the US.
One reason we have a high crime rate is the prevalence of gangs in NZ, which now date back to the 1960’s. Not Rotary! But Headhunters, Mongrel Mob, etc. Again the percentage of people in criminal gangs is higher in NZ than most other OECD countries.
Gang life is characterised by extreme violence and sexual crimes. And unfortunately has become multi-generational. If we could reduce the appeal of gangs by say 30 to 50%, then our crime rate would also dramatically reduce.
Not easy, but it should be able to be done. After all most people in poorer social economic communities (where gangs are most prevalent) don’t actually join gangs. So we need to ask why is that? Why can most young people resist the temptation and others not.
The gang to start with would be the Gnats – sociopathic scofflaws and scoundrels without exception.
Here is a good article from the Dominion Post
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/104107156/extra-prisoners-are-nearly-all-gang-members–thats-hardly-a-crisis
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v-wQm6nE6HE/hqdefault.jpg
Looks like an ACT opinion piece. No answers, just lots of hate. It’s a good thing kiwis don’t generally think like that.
Don’t you ever think about why gang membership is a desirable career option in New Zealand?
Over 25% of young Maori with no or zero hours jobs in Northland, for example.
The higher the imprisonment rate, the higher the crime rate.
The higher the amount of poverty and inequality, the higher the crime rate.
Cause and effect right there.
Putting the young and stupid, the addicted, and the brain damaged and illiterate, in ‘crime university’ does not work. As Iceland, Holland, Portugal and others have conclusively shown.
Maybe the easiest way to reduce the crime rate, is to imprison all right wing politicians. A reduction on most of the proven causes of crime, and ‘legal’ white collar crimes, would follow very quickly.
Oh get off the grass, please!
We don’t know how to deal with members of our society when they are amidst us and we have even less of a clue on how to deal with convicts. Maybe we should start a reasoned debate or do you think this is too early for little New Zealand?
Again you miss the point SM.
The point is that we have a social, legal, financial, moral disaster on our hands which all of us have an obligation to acknowledge and address without minimisation. Minimisation benefits only dog-whistling rightist politicians, blood-lusters like the SST’s Garth McCrackers, and multi-national private jailers.
No we don’t “lock them all away” as you irrelevantly say. Why “irrelevantly” ? Because the social, legal, financial, moral disaster exists without us doing that.
So, you miss the point. Again. So that you can stick out your fragile rightist mindset. Again. As always. Strutting for dog-whistlers, blood-lusters, and private jailers. What do you get ? The look of a fool.
The real issue regarding our inmates is the one that no one likes to mention..
http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/research_and_statistics/quarterly_prison_statistics/prison_stats_june_2017.html
…but feel free to continue with your odiferous burbling.
The real issue is that there’s an issue, really. OMG!
I know the solution to said issue: we have to find a solution. FFS!
Any chance of lifting the debate above the level of the an average 5-yr old?
Stunned…….would be helpful if you’d actually identify from the vast body of material in the Corrections Department link you provide, “the issue” you mention. Which you cryptically complain “no one likes to mention”.
C’mon Stunned……don’t be coy. Out with it. As long as you don’t launch into a Roseanne Barr racist white-trash rant though.
Still, as rotten as that would be it would confirm your penchant for inadvertently making the point by missing it.
pfft usual cant from North…why don’t you pop off with moz and have a conniption over the feline Galloway.
The number on remand, who’ve been convicted of nothing, and the time they spend on remand, which is gradually increasing.
One feature of a functional justice system is that it be able to provide swift justice, primarily for the victims’ sake. So much for right wing crocodile tears about victims’ rights.
Interesting stats thanks Stunned Mullet. But not sure what your point is. What say 50% of those in custody would be better off being helped in a variety of well organised facilities out in society? Drugs, alcohol, mental, learning to read and handle social maths and work support?
And yes there are said to be 100 very serious offenders who should be really locked up. (0.01%) But lets not use those few serious offenders to get in the way of discussion.
Nearly 3,000 people are locked up on Remand, without and before conviction. Probably because the strident screamers have pointed to a few cases where a person not on remand but awaiting trial has gone has gone on to commit a gruesome crime, but 3,000???
And instead of justifying longer sentences maybe we should be getting serious about Victim Support, almost as a separate issue.
Odiferous burbling? Can you try and concentrate and discuss important issues instead of using this post as a therapeutic place to release your simple prejudices? The problems now need real thought, research and practical modern methods to change the bad statistics. You are just one of the 19th century repressors and judgmentals who find it a bridge too far to think in today’s mode to deal with today’s problems in the chemical and television and technology mind-bending age.
Do you think they are ignorant of the facts? I don’t. I think they have a different goal in mind: putting taxpayers’ money into the back pockets of private prison owners.
Just as they were fully aware of the massive fraud that is meth testing. Just as they were fully aware of the situation at Middlemore.
Unforgettable Ass-Kickings
No. 2: George Galloway deals to Christopher Hitchens
Remember these two had quite a history. Galloway had humiliated Hitchens on at least a couple of occasions before this one. At the 3:25 mark here, watch Hitchens nearly choking on bile as Galloway points out he’s a liar…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bekpJammk
Unforgettable Ass-Kickings is a series compiled by Hector Stoop and presented by Morrissey Breen for Daisycutter Sports Inc.
No. 1: Ed Herman deals to Christopher Hitchens
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18072013/#comment-664699
Hitchens (now unmemorably deceased) exemplified the loon who starts off pointedly Left and ends up pointedly, disgustingly Right. Richard “Mad Dog” Prebble anyone ?
Galloway marches on, indefatigably, hypocrites and scabs left confounded in his wake. See him here before a US Senate committee:
Thanks North! Making this even better, as I’m sure you’re aware, Galloway’s demolition of Senator Coleman was immediately preceded by his dispatching to the boundary of one… Christopher Hitchens! The self-appointed Scourge of Princess Diana attempted to taunt Galloway before his appearance at the Committee, and even in that highly charged atmosphere Galloway humiliated him. The defeated Hitchens was caught shortly afterwards on camera, snarling “You really are a thug!”
Once again, thanks for posting this classic.
The first clip you cite is edited – have you seen the full discussion?
YouTube is full off clips in which supporters of one side or the other claim their ‘man’ won the day. Here’s an example for you:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-kUy4LxxuFQ.
It’s puerile. I enjoy both Galloway and the late Hitchens, but grow up old chap and firm your own opinions.
The insufferable Owen Jones
He’s way out of his depth with the far sharper, far more thoughtful and well read Jonathan Pie….
Tom Walker is a funny guy.
Next up: Duane Gish, master debater…
Pete (6) … according to some lost souls, only Key deserves a sainthood!
But Key is Jesus Christ in mufti so there is no limit to his reward.
Now we have Sir Deceiving Defrauding Double Dipper of Dipton! An attempt at ripping off the taxpayer. Then there is the Todd Barclay affair. Something for which Blinglish wasn’t made accountable for. Possibly much more malevolence behind the scenes as well.
Key, English et al … seems honorifics are only reserved for the slimy con artists and crooks of the land!
That does seem to be true.
We need to remove the giving of honorific from the politicians and give it to the people. Add one aspect to it as well – nobody can get one for doing their job.
Can’t agree more DTB.
Over 70 Syrian tribes issued a joint statement on Saturday that announced the formation of a new combined force that would fight the US-backed militias and foreign troops in northern Syria.
The tribesmen from the Al-Hasakah, Aleppo, and Al-Raqqa governorates reportedly met in the government-held city of Deir Hafer, where they all agreed that they will come together to expel the US and their militias from their provinces.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stated during his latest interview with Russia Today that the US-backed forces and foreign troops in northern Syria will be dealt with militarily if they do not withdrawal.
The Pentagon responded to this threat by warning the Syrian President that any attack on their forces in Syria will end ‘badly’ for him.
https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/over-70-syrian-tribes-declare-war-on-us-backed-forces-foreign-troops-in-northern-syria/
Not sure if having his army and airforce destroyed are in Assad;’s best interests. Consider what happened to the Wagner mercenaries.
Of course it’s always possible that the Kremlin will order Trump to withdraw US troops, but would he comply? How well do fascist kleptocrats get along? Are the pee-tapes really that much blackmail currency against the guy with the Pentagon at his disposal?
Nah, I’m picking a tense stand-off.
It’s that the US arrogance shows no bounds.
“The Pentagon responded to this threat by warning the Syrian President that any attack on their forces in Syria will end ‘badly’ for him.”
The Wagner mercenaries were a disaffected bunch from the Urals, poorly trained and equipped. The ultimate question is: who pays Wagner and the numerous other Russian private military companies.
Arrogance, or a simple statement of fact. The destruction of the Syrian army and air-force would destablise the region again. Assad would be lucky to survive this.
“Poorly equipped”, depends who they’re fighting. If it’s the US military, “poorly” is an understatement. Poorly trained? Depends who you ask.
Here is an ironic picture of comfortable and complacent minds confronted by modernity and change and feeling like hermit crabs forced out of their shells.
From the wit of Tom Sharpe in Porterhouse Blues.
Lunch was a mournful occasion. It was the end of term and the Fellows at High Table ate in a silence made all the more noticeable by the lack of conversation from the empty tables below them. To make matters worse, the soup was cold and there was cottage pie. But it was the knowledge of their own dispensability that cast gloom over them.
For five hundred years they and their predecessors had ordained at least some portion of the elite that had ruled the nation. It had been through the sieve of their indulgent bigotry that young men had squeezed to become judges and lawyers, politicians and soldiers, men of affairs, all of them imbued with a corporate complacency and an intellectual scepticism that desiccated change. They were the guardians of political inertia and their role was done. They had succumbed at last to the least effectual of politicians.
‘A student council to run the College. It’s monstrous,’ said the Senior Tutor, but there was no hope in his protest. Despite his cultivated mediocrity of mind, the Senior Tutor had seen change coming. He blamed the sciences for re-establishing the mirage of truth, and still more the pseudomorph subjects like anthropology and economics whose adepts substituted inapplicable statistics for the ineptness of their insights.
And finally there was sociology with its absurd maxim, The Proper Study of Mankind is Man, which typically it took from a man the Senior Tutor would have rejected as unfit to cox the rugger boat….
‘There must be something we can do,’ said the Dean.
‘Short of murder I can think of nothing,’ the Senior Tutor answered.
Caesar, watch your back for conspirators!
The crime here is that Forestry is allowed to let log litter accumulate with catastrophic effect on Tolaga Bay people and their homes when the rain comes.
Scroll down the page to see the huge accumulation of logs.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12064261
Mention in this report about unstable land occurs in relation to roading here:
(I am not expert in handling docos and obtaining info from them – I couldn’t just highlight and copy bits I wanted to show. Have done my best. It looks as if there were not adequate demands made as to the aftercare of logged areas which has left these people lower down in Tolaga Bay etc exposed to damage.
)
MAF ‘East Coast forest industry and wood availability forecasts 2008’
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/854/loggedIn
The unstable nature of the East Coast landscape and the
roads location of many of the newer forests in less accessible
areas of the region will pose a challenge for the future
expansion of forestry operations. The cost of obtaining
and carting roading materials will also affect profitability
of operations.’…
Biofuels and cogen potential
A very large resource of pulpwood and other by-products
are potentially available – subject to the economics of use
for biofuels, cogeneration or other reconstituted wood
products.
When landing slash is counted, the potential
volume is much greater than that shown in this report;
this could be particularly significant for the East Coast
communities north of Gisborne who are currently
serviced with electricity via limited infrastructure.
The current lack of a local market for pulp wood and
other by-products is a constraint on harvest profitability
and limits the maximum utilisation of forest production.
It is unlikely that cut-over recovery of residues will be
economic, owing to the predominantly very steep
topography of much of the production forests and the
distance to a potential plant in one of the main centres on
region, what is really required is a world-scale solid wood
the East Coast.
Limited Wood Processing Capability
The current lack of local processing is a constraint that
leaves forest owners with few options other than to export
large volumes of logs.
This leaves the region exposed to the log export
market and limited port facilities.
With transport costs making the long cartage of lower value
material marginal or unprofitable, the regional harvest is ‘
at risk of losing potential added-value through the
processing or utilisation of this material as it gets left on
the cut-over.
A greater number of competitive options for
the full range of log products on the East Coast will
contribute considerably to the region’s forestry success.
Part Concluding Comments:
There is still substantial potential for expansion of the
existing forest estate on the East Coast, although all this
may not necessarily be for production purposes, but for
other values such as watershed management, erosion
control and carbon sequestration.
There is discussion about new planting which will also provide land stabilisation.
There is a possibility of businesses setting up wood handling factories when the market is right, and the flow of wood makes it economic and the factor of carbon sequestration.
There is talk about the steep slopes and the need for cable-hauling which requires skilled workers.
There is mention of the okay being given if there is attention given by the loggers to erosion, water etc.
The GDC is a unitary authority that keeps control of important issues relating to land disturbance and logging and clearing and resource consents are required.
Liaison with the Department of Conservation may be required because of the extent and species affected by clearing and logging.
The consent process associated with the harvesting of forests on the East Coast has generally not been an issue.
It seems that the matter of dealing with cut down left-overs has been put on the back burner in the eagerness to get into the log trade, and the intention has been to utilise it at a later date for electricity if there is a viable market for it. It appears that no warning bells have sounded about the instability of the land left bare and the residue from logging left lying where they could be dislodged by expected heavy rain storms although this is a known result of other logging sites in NZ which have been left in a disorganised fashion and have resulted in damage to housing and property and likely to injure people and animals as they have rolled or propelled down slopes onto those below.
Would think if the Gizzy to Napier Railway was still operational that some or all of the by-product could’ve been rail out in bulk with Gizzy being the bulk handing depot for the trucks etc? Or have a Bio- Fuel power plant at Napier to supply the Hawke’s Bay- Gizzy regions?
Don’t know when the trees were felled but as you say the fact of having the rail could have made a big difference in choices of what could be done about the leftover stuff (not correct forestry term!). But NZ had to wait to get a political party that wasn’t constipated. I think within the report it talks about bio-fuel plant. But I was mainly looking for specific mention that the area had to be left in good condition with leftovers stacked safely etc. and didn’t find anything that definite. She’ll be right mate.
So much of our forestry resource that we should have kept and run for the national good in the effective way, has been sold to big firms and institutions
In 1999 Forest & Bird criticised Carter Holt Harvey selling a forest to the east of Taupo to a private buyer. The block was considered to be one of the most ecologically valuable areas of forest in the North Island. Carters in 1994 had withdrawn the forest, Pohokura from sale, and agreed to secure its protection and manage it in consultation with Forest and Bird and DoC. F&B said,”Unfortunately the American managers who now run Carter Holt Harvey Forests have a hardline attitude on environmental issues…they do not wish to work co-operatively with the NZ conservation movement.”
(Newsroom Forest and Bird Press release 2/12/99 16:37:00 Native Forest Sale Breach of Forest Accord.)
Also Fletcher Challenge sold 51% interests in Nelson in 1997 to giant Weyerhaeuser for $275 million; the other 49% was owned by foreign institutional investors.
Weyerhaeuser owned or was licensed to operate on an area approaching the size of the entire North Island, 11.4 million hectares, almost three-quarters of which was classed as productive forest land.
The Nelson Mail p15 28/9/99
If I had a big pile of flotsam on my property and a storm washed it all onto the street causing flooding to spread to other houses, will I be exempt for damages so caused? (I am just a little person so it would be easier to punish me.)
I understand what you are saying, with everyone after a quick buck and to hell with everyone especially with outsiders in an management role not understanding NZ workers/ culture in IRT protecting the environment etc.
I can a story about Weyerhaeuser and Fletchers that involve one of my cousins, who runs a forestry contacting gang who runs it like an old school NZ Forest Service logging gang based around a semi co-op system (just how the family ran the coal mine on Coast).
He was asked by Fletchers to move down to Nelson and they going top dollar as well cost to move everyone lock stock and barrel because of his very standards/ skill sets they had. Anyway if they had moved down from Nth Isl, Fletchers sold out and this mob moved in straight away cutting costs left right centre ie bringing in the Nth America logging practices which BTW are bloody dangerous to an already dangerous job. To a point that he was being under cut by other logging gangs and final straw was when he got the job to work over the hill (Golden Bay Area), but Weyerhaeuser refuse to pay any accommodation and transport costs and basically he told them where to go. He left Nelson with his gang and equipment back to the Nth Isl after my grandmother help out as she pull a strings as he was going to call it quits and after a couple of leans yrs doing jobs that no one would do! He’s doing even better now because they starting to understand that cost cutting comes with a price, to a point some yrs later the muppets from Weyerhaeuser came crawling back ask him to work for them and in true West Coast/ typical family style he told them where to bloody go.
There are a myriad ways to use forestry by-products. What we want is sustainability.
We can innoculate the stumps with various mushroom species providing secondary crops for foresters/locals while making topsoil of the stumps.
Deadwood that is not transported offsite for re-purposing is laid flat to the ground so as to decompose further adding substrate for the soil building by fungi and other microorganisms. This also helps protect the soil when it is exposed after cropping. Brushwood piles are ridiculous constructs of the human mind that likes to ‘sweep clean’.
The placing of carbon (wood waste) with available water (ground contact for fungal access) sees opportunistic free living and plant and fungal-symbiotic nitrogen fixing organisms arrive to provide this vital resource for the process. Now nature’s working for us.
The larger scrap wood and bark can be used to make bio-char. This amendment can greatly improve the productivity of various soil types including NZ’s yellow ultic clay which I’ve successfully experimented with for > 10 yrs now. Use of biochar also directly sequesters carbon.
The process of making bio-char releases heat energy that can be re-purposed e.g. drying timber, heating facilities/water, running turbines. It also produces various chemical by-products that can be re-purposed in forestry and other industries.
Biofuel from pine wastes??? We’re not really there yet it gets technical (read expensive). Best not to be pioneers of large scale expensive systems that might have several achilles heels. That’s what R&D is for.
We can be a lot more sustainable with the guidelines above. I’d add to that system intermittently planting other crops to help the soil recover and provide alternate timber/crops to pine.
Just in case Standardistas missed one blatant bit of grandstanding by the Leader of the World watching out for our good, the United States of America.
World
2 Jun 2018
China ‘intimidating neighbours’ – US
7:02 pm on 2 June 2018 General Mattis said the Trump administration wanted a constructive relationship with China but would compete vigorously if necessary.
The US recognised that China had a role to play in the region.
The South China Sea, a key trade route, is subject to overlapping claims by six countries.
China has been building small islands and other maritime features into military facilities there.
Last month China said it had for the first time landed bombers on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands, prompting US warnings that it was destabilising the region.
Woody Island, which China calls Yongxing, is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The South China Sea dispute:
Sovereignty over two largely uninhabited island chains, the Paracels and the Spratlys, is disputed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia
China claims the largest portion of territory, saying its rights go back centuries – in 1947 it issued a map detailing its claims
The area is a major shipping route, and a rich fishing ground, and is thought to have abundant oil and gas reserves
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/358782/china-intimidating-neighbours-us
China warns US to stop South China Sea patrols
7:31 am on 26 May 2017
China is warning that the United States risks severely disrupting negotiations between stakeholders in the South China Sea after an American warship sailed close to one of its artificial islands in the disputed waters.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/331619/us-patrols-very-likely-to-cause-unexpected-accidents-china
I’ve just started reading this book I got off Fishpond called “Globalisation and Defence in the Asia-Pacific – Arms across Asia” which is a collection of Essays edited by Geoffrey Till, Emrys Chew and Joshua Ho.
Chapter 2, last night was a bit interesting IRT what is happening in the South China Sea using a couple of theories called “The Long Wave by Nikolai Kondrative in the 1920’s and the Leadership Cycle” in which both talk about War between a new up and coming nation challenging the current pre-eminent nation which happens roughly once every 100yrs. “This system leader holds a preponderance of key military capabilities (chiefly blue- water sea power, they argue) while boasting the lead economy in terms of size and innovative energy. Regular rhythms in the global economy are related to the rise of this leading state. Just as importantly, key economic trends and the prospects for peace and war are found to be associated with rise, ascendancy and decline of one system leader, and the struggle to produce the next one.”
When one looks at the 50yr cycle of the Kondratiev waves and with the 100yr long Leadership Cycle. You would see Waves of technological innovations (leading sectors in the Global Economy) are very much connected to the rise and decline of global political systems dominated by a hegemonic state.
Last the last two sentences in the conclusion: “ Because globalisation disperses the control of capital, technology and the markets as never before, it remains to seen weather a single state can establish and maintain dominance in the global system on the basis of military might alone. The prospect for peace, we need to know whether the presence of such hegemon will provoke the bellicose challenges to its dominance, the competitive arms build ups and the formation of freshly armed counter- coalitions- for these are the very things which stirred and brewed into systemic war once in every century for the past 500yrs.”
By my reckoning based on what I readed last night we are slowly heading to war on given and current trends within the Asia- Pacific region ATM and with the USA at its peak of the cycle or on top of wave which is about to break as new comer seeks to challenge the dominance of the US.
We live interesting times.
The public has a tolerance for other people’s suffering. We seem to have been at war or in a state of unease, a push button away from war, since WW2. On the surface it seems as if we are at peace but there are the Syrian reports, the Burmese reports, another little boat that has gone down off Africa. And there is enormous interest in films about war, I was just reading about the enormous business there is in land mines and things called butterfly bombs, and armaments are a big trade. Is it that peace is a cessation of war, a breathing space before the next one starts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_1945%E2%80%931989
With all these poxy wars happening atm it seems it could be the prelude to the main event?
IRT to the Middle East ATM its watching the start of a yacht race with everyone jockeying for positions at the start and when it does kick off it going to be like watching the Grand National Jumps Race at Antree wondering who is going to be last horse standing.
Chapter 2 of the book mentions this is the longest period of peace since WW2 IRT major inter-state wars, but in saying that the long term trend when one looks at that a major inter-state war will break out sooner or later.
USSR ordered a death sentence after Kondratiev and his wave predicted the fall of Communism.
The ability of his theory to predict cycles has proven very accurate.
The Kondratiev wave is very interesting theory and when you combine it with the 100yr Leadership cycle to what’s happening in the Asia- Pacific Region atm, it makes for some interesting reading.
We are killing the world’s species
#1. Terms, kittiwakes and puffins
“This grim description is backed by figures that reveal the staggering decreases in seabird numbers in Shetland, the most northerly part of the British Isles. In 2000, there were more than 33,000 puffins on the island in early spring. That figure dropped to 570 last year……
….Similarly, Shetland’s kittiwake population plummeted from over 55,000 in 1981 to 5,000 in 2011…..
……there were around 110 Arctic terns there last week compared with around 9,000 that were counted in the same area in 2000. ”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/03/shetland-seabirds-climate-change-catastrophe-terns-kittiwakes-puffins
Good morning Newshub Flooding in Tairawhiti Uawa Whangara Global warming is here and now .
Duncan I could see Amanda and Mark disagree with you on that. I say honoring the people who deserve it for there good deeds for OUR society is a good thing we need to show more respect for our elderly and respect for te mokopunas future I.E look after the environment. James we can grow meat and dairy organically and sustainable
Ka pai to the American mokopuna who are touring America keeping up the presser on the politician who support the Gun lobby association of America to change the laws to make it harder to get a gun for idiots.
Smoking is a hard to quit and its hard on the poor people who are most of the smokers .But Hone te Labour lead coalition government has the long game in its sights not just tomorrow even thou there mite be less money targeting Maori more money is getting to the poor and not being chewed up by bureaucratic organizations so in reality more money is reaching Maori and not half to the paper pushers. ka pai.
Did I hear that right Trump has just admitted to the accusations of Russian election scandal well thats what Eco Maori gets from him saying he can pardon his self.
With the plastic bag think what I;m going to do is use those reusable bags and as soon as they are emptied put them strait into the boot of my car or one ends up with a cardboard full of those bags . Ka kite ano P.S we need to stop using any plastic that is not biodegradable
The reason Maori cultured tangata won’t go for becoming a republic is because a republic government will ride rought shod all over Maoris Humane rights the Queen is the Guardian of the Maori tangata .
Io
I
Queen
I I
Tangata whenua NZ Goverment and people
She has been Honorable to all her subjects and is the check that Maori have against
corrupt intentions of some people have against Maori and the common person.
Tangaroa buy Tiki Tane
Eco Maori has a strong connection to Tangaroa
Just got in contact with the whano in Te Waiapu vally and they say the beach is covered in pine logs from the flooding . I remember when I was a child that the beach had heaps of wood when I last seen the beach there was not much wood there it will be interesting to see it now te Waiapu awa has filled up with silt now
Ka kite ano P.S its not as bad as the flooding in Uawa
5 years since Edward Snowden blew te whistle The common tangata person who let te tangata of Papatuanuku know that they were /are being spied on by Governments and big companys .Te kumara never tells how sweet it is the link below ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/04/edward-snowden-people-still-powerless-but-aware
Eco Maori is trying to have a truce with the sandflys but if they don’t stop trying to intimidat ECO MAORI that they can kiss my – – – – – –
Ana to kai Ka kite ano P.S I know what’s going down
Well I got my answers already from the sandflys so don’t go having te Waiapu come out your eyes when yous get bit on the – – – – Ana to kai Ka kite ano
I already tried to get the sandflys bosses to realise that other people are being affected negative buy there actions my clients have one family split because of them as ECO MAORI has done nothing wrong I realise that I’m unique In that I can think about who my actions affect that goes right over the sandflys heads I will still be coming back to Rotorua and travelling anywhere in Aotearoa. Ka kite ano
Anything negative happens to anyone it’s all on the sandflys Ka kite ano