Open Mike 04/11/2018

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, November 4th, 2018 - 178 comments
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178 comments on “Open Mike 04/11/2018 ”

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  1. Jenny 1
    4 November 2018 at 6:37 am

    What’s this all about?

    Those who should know, are claiming that they don’t know.

    What’s gone wrong with New Zealand’s electricity market?
    Susan Edmunds – Stuff.co.nz, November 3, 2018

    • Jenny 1.1
      4 November 2018 at 7:32 am

      That has left generators competing for smaller amounts of fuel with which to create electricity.

      ALLEGATIONS FLY

      Some retailers allege there is something more sinister going on…….

      ……Stephen Poletti, senior economics lecturer at University of Auckland, conducted a study of the market over seven years and found the gentailers were consistently exercising market power. He said he would not be surprised if they were gaming the system.

      “In a current situation where there’s a squeeze on gas and lakes are bit a lower, these are the perfect conditions for them to exercise market power. I would expect it.”

      NOTHING TO SEE HERE

      But Marc England, chief executive at gentailer Genesis Energy, said while there was “something unusual” going on, there was no gaming of the system. “There’s no big versus small plot here.”

      He said, while it was not uncommon for lakes to dry out, it was a problem when combined with the gas outages. “It creates a very stressed wholesale market. We will get through but it will require careful management of fuel resources.”…..

      ……”That’s all happening behind the scenes and is an example of the market working in a fuel-challenged environment.” [my emphasis J.]

      Big industrial users of gas such as Methanex had been encouraged to use less, so that more could go into electricity generation, he said. The spot price of gas was reaching heights of more than five times the norm.

      Coal was used as a back-up to water and gas….

      …….Genesis would normally have a stockpile of 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes or enough to get through a three-month drought.

      It is about to start bringing in coal from Indonesia but England said that was contentious, expensive and had supply chain risks.

      “We have to pay to import millions of dollars’ worth of coal and if there is a big storm and the lakes fill up no one will want it for generation.

      Like others quoted in this article, I smell a rat.

      I wouldn’t be at all surprised if all this is blamed on the Government and particular the Greens.

      All through this report are hints and comments about the shortage of fossil fuels, as being the reason behind the price gouging and threats of outages.

      These hints and veiled threats, perfectly match the squealing of the fossil fuel lobby over the government’s ban on new off shore oil and gas exploration permits, and government’s refusal to rubber stamp Te Kuha Coal Mine expansion into conservation land.

      Genesis Chief Executive, Marc England talks of “….careful management of fuel resources” and a “….fuel challenged environment” “….all happening behind the scenes.”.

      England says that he may have to import $millions worth of coal from Indonesia (though admitting it may never need to be used.)

      In my humble opinion to secure our supply the government needs to bypass the threats and blackmail of the fossil fuel sector and invest in the renewable sector.

      • bwaghorn 1.1.1
        4 November 2018 at 8:35 am

        Accidentally or otherwise this might be proving nz isn’t ready to go coal and gas free . Of course importing it can make us look good as we can claim e don’t mine .

        • Jenny 1.1.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 9:42 pm

          bwaghorn 1.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 8:35 am
          Accidentally or otherwise this might be proving nz isn’t ready to go coal and gas free,,,,,,

          I would beg to differ.

          There are alternatives, and it would only take a few legislative changes to make them viable.

          Windfarm backtrack costs hundreds of jobs
          Jenna Lynch and Chris Gardner – Waikato Times, August 21, 2018

          A move by Contact Energy to back out of a windfarm on the Waikato’s west coast has blown away hundreds of potential jobs in a move described as another disappointment to a region buffeted by lay-offs….

          ….Waikato Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandra Perry said the news was just another disappointment for the region, especially for those in the energy sector following last week’s Huntly Coal Mine lay-offs.

          After the announcement that 93 jobs were to go at the Huntly Mine, Ms Perry was hopeful that some of the younger employees facing redundancy could retrain and head into new jobs – like the construction and maintenance of the windfarm.

          “Here was an opportunity for them to retrain in the skills needed for constructing the windfarm and that’s gone now, so it’s another disappointment for the region,” she said…..

          ……New Zealand Wind Energy Association chief executive Eric Pyle was also disappointed with the decision as it was a step backward in the plan for a focus on renewable energy in New Zealand.

          “Wind generation is charging ahead globally – 2012 was the biggest year yet for wind installations, with five times New Zealand’s entire electricity capacity commissioned,” he said….

          ….Eric Pyle hoped there might be a future for the Waikato project as a smaller proposition.

          “The project is fully consented and with the right policy settings it could be built in stages over time.”

          Get that, The “right policy settings” could see this huge project go ahead cutting down on this country’s reliance on gas and coal and creating “an estimated 1033 jobs once operational and generate enough power for around 170,000 homes….”

          The availability of cheap coal for generating electricity at Huntly had undercut the windfarm, Government policy settings that placed the currently externalised costs of fossil fuel pollution firmly back with the polluters would make this wind farm viable.

      • Dukeofurl 1.1.2
        4 November 2018 at 9:07 am

        You could say that the current situation regarding gas supply is unsustainable anyway.
        The answer to that is build a LNG import terminal so we can obtain cheaper gas from world markets – like Queensland.

        After all drilling offshore is like investing in bitcoin, but the odds of losing all your money far greater

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.3
        4 November 2018 at 11:40 am

        The ‘electricity market’ in NZ is completely artificial as it is a natural monopoly and thus should be state owned and operated and not return a profit. It will therefore be a government service which everyone has a right to.

        Have it so that each household gets a free amount each month determined by number of occupants. Anything used above that is charged for at $1/KwH or more. This gives a floor preventing energy poverty and discourages excessive use.

        The present system increases costs and shifts the power to the new owners thus causing harm to the country.

        • gsays 1.1.3.1
          4 November 2018 at 4:20 pm

          Thanks Draco and tc below.

          It’s like the answer has sirens, streamers, flashing lights and in a tinsel explosion.
          Take the assets back.

          The only reason for not doing it would involve words like monopoly, inefficiencies, markets… All of them are fictions.
          That does not trump affordable energy for the citizenry.

          It also gets profit out of the way when dealing with our nuclear issue.

          C’mon Labour, you did it with rail now power.
          Let’s do this.

    • Dukeofurl 1.2
      4 November 2018 at 7:35 am

      Have to remember the ‘spot’ market is only part of the way electricity is paid for by the wholesalers.
      The Good side , well the only advantage, is the door to door marketing to change your power company retailer seems to have disappeared this month !

    • tc 1.3
      4 November 2018 at 8:52 am

      Privatisation is what’s wrong with it. Pure and simple. We had a working system under NZED looking after ALL of NZ.

      It’s gouging the users, lining private pockets and failing to provide the resilience and investment required to future proof if.

      It’ll come with its hand out again for that when under NZED it was included in the regular bill.

  2. WeTheBleeple 2
    4 November 2018 at 7:05 am

    Hope y’all are having as much fun spring planting as I am. I go to the supermarket and just get robbed. I go to the garden and get taken care of.

    This is for organic gardeners and greenies:

    Use of beneficial plants/insects can be rather hit and miss (patience, the predators must build up), Dr Eric Brennan’s exemplary work in this field cannot be understated. Here he demonstrates the evolution of an inter-planting system with 0% loss in yields.

    Farmers take note, the multi-species hedgerows are a crucial design element.

    Be sure to check out his other material on youtube to learn more on ecological gardening and some real insights into cover cropping.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVLgt2_J1Wk

    • Dukeofurl 2.1
      4 November 2018 at 7:37 am

      Hedgerows ? Who has hedgerows in NZ farms unless they farmed liked they do in England ?

      • Rosemary McDonald 2.1.1
        4 November 2018 at 7:41 am

        You need to get out more Dukeofurl. Away with you laddie….take the day off from here and go expand your horizons.

        We’ll try to cope.

      • WeTheBleeple 2.1.2
        4 November 2018 at 7:49 am

        Hedgerow, shelter belt, same principle.

        Shelter can increase production significantly in and of itself via reducing evaporation and lessening wind chill. Farmers should be all over it. That’s before the parasitoids and predators, habitat, nitrogen fixation, peak dry season fodder etc etc.

        I’m designing multi-functional shelter belts including NZ species for NZ conditions now.

        No old english folks BS required.

        • Dukeofurl 2.1.2.1
          4 November 2018 at 9:03 am

          Why didnt you call them multi functional shelter belts to start with.

          While hedgrows in England were used in Roman times, the Inclosures Act in the 18th century meant they really took off.

          • WeTheBleeple 2.1.2.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 9:32 am

            Maybe because I invented the term. Butt out you’re boring me.

          • Draco T Bastard 2.1.2.1.2
            4 November 2018 at 11:45 am

            Why didnt you call them multi functional shelter belts to start with.

            How about you learn English?

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge

            A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. Often they serve as windbreaks to improve conditions for the adjacent crops, as in bocage country.

            My bold.

      • Ad 2.1.3
        4 November 2018 at 7:54 am

        Southland

        • WeTheBleeple 2.1.3.1
          4 November 2018 at 7:59 am

          That was informative…

          Hedgerows still widespread in Southland? It’d make perfect sense with the cold.

          Must take another trip down those ways. Last time was too busy working.

          • Ad 2.1.3.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 8:26 am

            Mossburn to Riverton especially.

            Talk to Guyton while you’re there.

            • Robert Guyton 2.1.3.1.1.1
              4 November 2018 at 9:26 am

              I missed this discussion from yesterday but would love to have talked hedgerows – I’ve planted many and plan to plant many more before my time’s up. There are simple hedgerows here in Southland – mainly hawthorn and or gorse, with some of the awful Leyland or macrocarpa “windbreaks”. Mine are multi-plant, with small trees of all sorts, native and exotic, as well as vines, perennial vegetables and flowers and biennials such as cow parsley etc, especially for the insects. I’d like to see hedgerows across the country.

              • WeTheBleeple …
                4 November 2018 at 9:39 am

                Excellent Robert. I won’t preach to the choir then. I’m putting together a synopsis of our native microbial companions and nitrogen fixers, then I’ll be incorporating their hosts into shelter design.

                And I’ll get a bunch of science together to state a case for shelter belts being restored in dairy. Business requires data, fair enough.

                I’ll keep you posted when I get close to putting it all together, sounds like you’d be well worth having a cider with.

                Just made a huge mound of rotten wood, compost and sand, then put an avocado in it.

                Did I mention I LOVE spring 😀

                • Robert Guyton …
                  4 November 2018 at 11:10 am

                  Hi WTB
                  That sounds very interesting indeed. Hugelkulture too! I planted Guevina avellana yesterday and wondered about their microbial companions, having heard there’s a high loss rate at this point (seedlings into open ground). I’ve done all I can to promote such organisms here, but can’t know if the appropriate ones are here yet. I’m hoping there’s a generic organism that suits. Spring’s the buzz, that’s for sure! I’ve “dead man’s finger” seedlings popping up (first time) and horseradish from small root cuttings too – haven’t tried that before. Lots of Chilean wineberry from seed, hundreds of hosta (they’re edible, did you know?) and Angelica archangelica from seed, by the score. Lots and lots more, coz, Spring!!!

                  • WeTheBleeple …
                    4 November 2018 at 7:53 pm

                    Didn’t know the Hosta’s were edible. Asparagales eh. Just put in my first asparagus bed this year.

                    Up here in AK had good success with Taro and even bananas last year so fingers crossed for more. The more tropical style plants really do like to be in a guild they seem out of sorts alone. Macadamia, banana, taro and coffee, bulbs. Great guild. I’m quietly suspicious the synergy is partly to do with microbial companions I’d brewed some pretty crazy hydrolysate with entomapathogenic fungi and Trichoderma, then added it to biochar with three types of compost, worm castings, soil, pond sludge, lacto bacillus… LOL! Why muck around.

                    Rhizobia for NZ Kowhai (8 species) and brooms (Carmichaelia, 23 endemic species) are different to the clover type rhizobium. They aren’t dispersed like the common ones too. Find closest relative plant hosts (or same species) in good health, get some dirt, get some roots with nodules and look for the purple-red in them. That’s the gold right there. Smear them up make a paste and put it on your seeds. Seed and dirt from the same host is perfect. Know when these nitrogen fixers drop seeds you’ll be sorted for free nitrogen in native shrubs, trees and ground covers. The native rhizobia will cover all native species, maybe not the alpine brooms, as I’ve not read that far yet…

                    Similarly for mycorrhizae. Find the closest relatives if you can’t find established plants of the same species. Get soil, hope for the best. Most mycorrhizae are relatively promiscuous but the specialists can be a PITA. Don’t get arrested trying to import Chilean soil 🙂

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      4 November 2018 at 10:11 pm

                      Yes to most of that, WTP. I’ve practiced soil-relocation for a long time now and imagine it’s helping 🙂 I have, to my great surprise, relocated amanita to a mature birch here, all the while believing it wasn’t possible – seemingly some will, even at that late stage. My Carmichaelia do really well, despite being well out of zone, perhaps because I have plenty of kowhai in the garden. I do wonder about Manuka, some of which fail spontaneously through what seems like lack of partnering mychorrizae. Some of the off-shore, Deep South oleria/brachyglottis also seem short-lived and partnerless. Could be the extra-warm conditions here that bring them to an early end though, hard to now. I have plenty of Chileans walking around my garden in their Chilean-bought boots, so there’s no need for subterfuge 🙂 You’re oxygenating your mixes? For how long? Spraying the resulting brew onto the plant? Soil? injecting any of it subsoil? Cultivating it in, out of the sunshine?

                • Patricia Bremner …
                  4 November 2018 at 12:30 pm

                  I love posts like these WTB. and R G.. Uplifting and reminding us to tackle the smaller stuff to help “The big picture”.

        • Robert Guyton 2.1.4.1
          4 November 2018 at 1:12 pm

          I saw boxthorn for the first time, last week when I was in the Wairarapa. Imagine the Canterbury Plains, criss-crossed by multi-species hedgerows, walking paths alongside of or between them, fruit, berries, nuts, birds, flowers, butterflies, cool shade…it could be done. And then spread across the island. Jones wants us to plant trees. Let’s do it right.

          • bwaghorn 2.1.4.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 2:11 pm

            #$%@^% mongrel @#$% is box thorn

            • gsays 2.1.4.1.1.1
              4 November 2018 at 4:27 pm

              I’m with you wags, I have an ‘unproductive’ patch of box thorn here in a little gully.
              Was moving the goat, he zagged instead of zigged and I ended up falling head first into this growth.

              Several thorns were removed.

            • joe90 2.1.4.1.1.2
              5 November 2018 at 1:37 pm

              Way back in the PEP (Project Employment Programmes) days I cut a shed load of the bastard stuff. A year or so later my SO had a squeeze of a wee lump on my forehead hairline, and out comes a 30mm thorn.

        • Pingao 2.1.4.2
          4 November 2018 at 1:39 pm

          Boxthorn, as mentioned in the link, is a pest plant species. Environment Canterbury put out an excellent booklet for native plant hedges a few years ago.

          • WeTheBleeple 2.1.4.2.1
            4 November 2018 at 8:45 pm

            https://api.ecan.govt.nz/TrimPublicAPI/documents/download/1769838

            There’s that booklet on native shelter belts. It has some good info. I especially like the ‘start small’ advice. Learn as you go before you break the bank.

            Mulching heavily can make most problems go away but it is not practical to scale up considerably.

            I would recommend combining information from the pamphlet and what has been said here by myself and Robert.

            Mix and match things for your farms needs.

            Nitrogen fixers – imo a staple. Who wants to be babysitting trees, when they could be planting more trees. Nitrogen fixers help feed your trees.

            Natives – for conservation, bird and insect food and habitat, for their ability to grow without pampering and create support/shade/shelter for more expensive plants, for medicinal plant sources.

            Animal fodder – supplementary or emergency stock food.

            Tall, medium, short species: Tall to the south, short to the north, stack em up and get more functions/products.

            Legacy timber – plant some trees worth good money as wood for the future. A great idea when you have young-un’s. Dot them through shelter belts so they can be selectively logged without destroying the shelter.

            Fruit, nuts, berries. Products, food, preserves.

            Bulbs and flowers and bushes and trees for bees and other beneficial insects.

            Robert mentioned walkways… nice. Be some tourism potential around these types of planted walkways as well. Educational and beautiful.

            There’s an awful lot more potential than the silly poplar/pine combos we see in the north, and the cursed boxthorn…

            • Robert Guyton 2.1.4.2.1.1
              4 November 2018 at 10:16 pm

              Coppice-able trees interest me the most atm. There are a multitude of them, from sweet chestnut to fodder willows. Have you thought seriously about sycamore? Coppiced/managed, charcoaled, harvested for fuel when the diameter of a PET bottle, “bled’ for sugar/syrup/wine making, other uses…

              • Pingao …
                5 November 2018 at 3:03 pm

                Hi Robert … unfortunately sycamore is a big problem as an environmental weed here in Canterbury and also in other parts of the South Island. It is in the Canterbury Regional Pest Management Stategy as well as the Southland RPMS and named as a pest tree in Tasman Nelson region.

  3. James 3
    4 November 2018 at 8:23 am

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12153965

    On point in the NZ hearld this morning.

    Of course I’m guessing Cindy won’t fire him – after all she backed him to the hilt.

    Reading beteeen the lines I’m guessing neither of them actually read the files.

    • Cinny 3.1
      4 November 2018 at 8:34 am

      Any reasonable person would wait and see how the investigation turns out.

      Any reasonable person….. except heather by the sounds of it.

      • James 3.1.1
        4 November 2018 at 8:53 am

        That would be a new behaviour on there. If it’s anyone from the right many are happy to pile in well before any investigation is completed.

        Curious huh?

        • Cinny 3.1.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 9:01 am

          Goes both ways James.

          Is it a competition?

          • James 3.1.1.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 9:20 am

            No –

            But what’s good for the goose etc.

            So here is a question – do you think he should be fired if his decision is changed ?

            • Ankerrawshark 3.1.1.1.1.1
              4 November 2018 at 10:20 am

              No I don’t think he should be fired if Decision is changed.

              I am more interested in finding out what went wrong. I expect mistakes do happen. My hunch is he wasn’t given all the information and we need to know why that was. If he didn’t read the information fully, then that leaves ???……..we just don’t know

              Why would we fire someone at this stage? If wouldn’t happen in a fair workplace.

            • Cinny 3.1.1.1.1.2
              4 November 2018 at 10:52 am

              No, as a wise person should be humble enough to change their decision when more information is presented to them.

              But after nine years of the contrary it’s understandable why some may be reacting they way they are.

              To me it looks like another broken system that needs repairing.

        • McFlock 3.1.1.2
          4 November 2018 at 2:12 pm

          That just goes to how blatantly incompetent tory ministers can be.

          ISTR Ardern did fire a minister before the investigation had been formally completed but when the misconduct that had been identified was serious enough to warrant it.

          If the decision needs to be changed, I suspect the main question would be whether ILG failed to read the file properly, or whether the file had glaring errors.

    • ScottGN 3.2
      4 November 2018 at 9:38 am

      As both Audrey Young and Tracy Watkins pointed out this weekend James, the Sroubek case is just part of the daily travails of government for the PM to manage and both went on to say that, however challenging those travails are, its a million times better than being stuck on the sidelines in Opposition.
      Incidentally both journalists also said that National’s internal polling was going downhill in the wake of the JLR fiasco and that support for Bridges was near terminal. Like it or not it looks like more and more NZers are lining up behind Ardern. Augurs well for 2020.

      • James 3.2.1
        4 November 2018 at 10:04 am

        It might be part of the daily travails but they Stuff did stuff it up.

        And it looks bad.

        Yep I can believe polling is down. Hell I’ve even paused my monthly contribution to national and won’t start paying again until bridges is gone – so no argument from me on that one.

        Still waaaaaay to far out to state the impact this will have on 2020.

        Ps – don’t worry – I left the $$ in an account and will ‘catch up’ when we have a new leader. I’m cheering for Collins.

        • ScottGN 3.2.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 10:20 am

          Yes it does look like a stuff up at best and Ardern is entitled to feel somewhat aggrieved at having to wade in to rescue her minister. However it also looks like a planned hit job from an Opposition desperate to change the narrative after a disastrous couple of weeks of pretty spectacular internal fighting. As for 2020, it’s interesting that some in the Press Gallery are already saying that former National cabinet ministers have privately conceded that election.

        • Keving 3.2.1.2
          4 November 2018 at 11:31 am

          You will be cheering till you are hoarse then. Believe it or not, the National caucus isn’t that stupid…. or maybe they are?

    • Herodotus 3.3
      4 November 2018 at 9:39 am

      If nothing else results from this ILG WILL be better for this.
      And it is a learning experience for all, and I hope as a result we get better decision making.
      https://thoughtcatalog.com/rania-naim/2016/02/15-powerful-lessons-only-life-can-teach-us/

      • ScottGN 3.3.1
        4 November 2018 at 9:51 am

        Given that no cabinet minister ever wants the immigration portfolio ILG is probably hoping to get shuffled out of it when Ardern inevitably refreshes her ministry sometime next year?

    • AB 3.4
      4 November 2018 at 9:50 am

      The barrel is very empty when some manufactured laura norder beat-up causes a frenzy for over a week. I can hear the fingernails scraping on the wood.

      • ScottGN 3.4.1
        4 November 2018 at 9:56 am

        It’s funny AB. National has obviously thought they have a surefired winner on their hands with the Sroubek case, and yet, they still managed to look utterly dejected all of last week. Points to a party heading into a period of considerable disarray I reckon.

      • Patricia Bremner 3.4.2
        4 November 2018 at 12:39 pm

        Re Sroubek,Yes and at worst they will find penny pinching has meant the records don’t contain the necessary information (Ports of call after the first for instance).
        Indicates tweaks to the system rather than the people involved.

    • Anne 3.5
      4 November 2018 at 10:25 am

      Reading beteeen the lines I’m guessing neither of them actually read the files.

      Reading between the lines someone from Immigration NZ failed, for whatever reason, to give Lees Galloway all the files. Hence the investigation.

      • Cinny 3.5.1
        4 November 2018 at 10:53 am

        Nailed it Anne.

      • Graeme 3.5.2
        4 November 2018 at 12:26 pm

        And reading the conditions ILG put on the residency he appeared to be concerned by the whole affair and had a bob each way.

        My reading of it was that he’ll be gone as soon as he can’t provide valid current travel documents in his real name within the prescribed period. Chucking him out forthwith would have set a precedent making it really difficult for most genuine refugees.

        The minister had an intimate knowledge of the documents presented to him to have written the letter he did.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 3.6
      4 November 2018 at 11:03 am

      Duplicity-Allan is a reliable National cheer leader, and not much else.

      Ardern has indicated she is not confident in the decision, which is hardly ‘backing him to the hilt’

      https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/370132/pm-has-no-confidence-in-czech-drug-smuggler-residency-decision

    • SaveNZ 3.7
      4 November 2018 at 12:10 pm

      The Druglord should be deported ASAP although I’m not sure Ian should go with him. The blame should be centred around the reports put in front of the minister whether they were full of lies, omissions and untruths and that is where the investigation should focus on. Was all the relevant information in the report aka he went back to EU, his wife has a restraining order, he is in prison for nearly 6 years…. seriously surely a normal person would work out he does not deserve to be in NZ and it is certainly not in the public’s interest or safety for him to be here.

  4. WeTheBleeple 4
    4 November 2018 at 8:33 am

    Should we farm Weka and Kereru?

    This is a controversial topic. Eugenie Sage has a good point that numbers are not high enough to have these species on the menu. But farms would be professional breeding operations, and rules could be set something like every third chick is released till numbers are acceptable. And breeding stock are interchanged. Ecologically sound, and meanwhile, business models can progress.

    Diversity is a huge part of sustainability. We see manuka coming into markets with honey, and soon to be medicines. Many other indigenous plants are being assayed as I type. Having original products for the worlds markets and the added bonus of unique tourism could be extremely lucrative; and an active part of conservation.

    Likewise whitebait. Farming them produces HUGE numbers. At the late Charles Mitchell’s farm you could practically walk on the fish waiting in the estuary to come into his ponds. They fatten up in the ocean and swim ‘home’. Why are we not farming them? Ridiculousness disguised as government is my best guess, and what Charles kept telling me…

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/108139307/call-to-showcase-new-zealands-unique-cuisine-by-serving-up-native-species

    • bwaghorn 4.1
      4 November 2018 at 8:38 am

      We aren’t even allowed to farm the water weasel trout so good luck getting common sense on this one .

      • WeTheBleeple 4.1.1
        4 November 2018 at 10:00 am

        Yeah legislation is tough. But legislation is also ridiculous in many cases. I was clearing riparian plants back in the day, the consensus was the plants made rivers dirty. Whole busloads of workers in work schemes doing it all over the country. Clear-felling riparian zones, go the legislators!

        A bunch of dairy and pines and all the problems with these mono-cultures, or diversity and resilience in the agricultural sector…

        Remember we were also killing the Kea, a ‘pest’, for sheep farmers.

        A history of blatant stupidity is no excuse for more of the same.

        Without a clue, politicians are muppets at the hand of farm lobbyists. I sincerely hope this historical stupidity has been identified as exactly that.

        More committees with professional science and business advisers please. We are sitting on a goldmine both ecologically and economically.

        Tourism, food, medicine, building materials, textiles…

        Even our clothes are shitty plastic. Change required in thinking and practice.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 11:54 am

          A history of blatant stupidity is no excuse for more of the same.

          But that is what we get. It’s why the spam in the mailbox is still allowed despite it being worse for us than the spam in the email. Millions of kilograms of waste every year plus all the wasted effort to deal with it for no benefit and all because its ‘traditional’.

        • Patricia Bremner 4.1.1.2
          4 November 2018 at 12:52 pm

          True “Our clothes are shitty plastic” WTB. Try buying cotton.. 100% cotton.
          Underwear PJs towels tea towels sheets and fabrics for drapes, So hard to source. Real Silk and wool also difficult to find, and so dear by comparison.
          Sadly the cause of explosive fires are our “fabrics” made of oil.

          • Dukeofurl 4.1.1.2.1
            4 November 2018 at 4:49 pm

            So dear by comparison …..?
            The reason for that is polymers are ‘made’ ( from coal, water, air , petroleum) while the others are ‘grown’

    • Ad 4.2
      4 November 2018 at 8:39 am

      NZ Rugby League line from 1990s:

      “Give em a taste of Kiwi”

    • Jenny 4.3
      4 November 2018 at 9:10 am

      Maybe we could farm Kiwi for their giant eggs [sarc]

      Genetically engineer a cross with the domestic chicken and we could get a giant egg every other day.

      A little bit of crispr maybe?

      And Kiwi feather cloaks could become de rigueur day wear.

      Try and get that past the Greens.

      ACT would be in favour, especially served up in disposable plastic bags. Too bad they are not in government, and unlikely to be ever again.

    • marty mars 4.4
      4 November 2018 at 11:09 am

      Farm cats and dogs for the flesh eaters and for fur. Get that sorted and then you can start on our birds imo

    • Graeme 4.5
      4 November 2018 at 12:06 pm

      Culinary Weka would be a goer IF it could be done in a way that enhanced wild populations. Probably start with a captive breading program and once that’s running well look to very controlled sale.

      But farming the thing the things would be a challenge. They aren’t cute, passive and slightly stupid like a chook, Weka are highly intelligent, independent animals with a vindictive streak that take delight in pissing you off. Trying to manage a couple of hundred of them would be, interesting.

      Weka are very tasty birds, I’ve consumed one confirmed and one probable, the confirmed was a bird that became a total pia around the house and resisted all attempts at re-education and transportation so ended up as Sunday roast, and the other was a rotisserie “chook” that looked the part in the shop but wasn’t quite the right shape once consumed. Both much better than your 70’s supermarket or butcher chook.

      With whitebait the disconnect between the extractive mindset of the fishers and habitat conservation to ensure the survival of the species is galling. Unfortunately I fear that bait may be going the way of too many of our great native species the could have been much better than what replaced them.

      Kua ngaro i te ngaro o te moa
      Lost as the moa was lost

    • Robert Guyton 4.6
      4 November 2018 at 1:05 pm

      Giant kokopu “fatten up” in my freshwater spring.

    • Stuart Munro 4.7
      4 November 2018 at 4:57 pm

      Whitebait is undergoing some research, but the standard NIWA conclusion is pretty much: Insufficient research has been done at this time.

      There was an Otago study that can be found here: https://nzaquaculture.co.nz/old-archives/AC49.pdf

      The capital cost of scaling up to an operation that will support its operators is probably the limiting factor.

      • Stuart Munro 4.7.1
        4 November 2018 at 10:00 pm

        Mind, the article was 2012.

        Plenty of time to have rolled it out.

        Kind of begs the question – why aren’t there a bunch of modest whitebait startups out there? What’s the constraint: Regulatory? Environmental? Skills? Capital?

        Solve that, and there are probably quite a few entry-level aquaculture possibilities that could work.

        • WeTheBleeple 4.7.1.1
          5 November 2018 at 5:58 am

          The restraint is regulatory. I bred banded kokopu in a tank 1st ever to do it. Got ignored except by Charles. They’ve got no data because they ignore people on the front lines working with the fish. They do nothing except fund Mahurangi which from what I’ve seen is a training ground for industry with slightly less racism than NIWA. UoA was a far better choice for education.

          Mahurangi are keen on developing products, far more keen on products than preservation. Now they have learned to breed eels it’s all about international markets and patents and $$. They’ve got a course now for ‘superyacht crewing’ for 4 grand… serious institution, indeed…

          But all universities are being forced into ‘applied science’ which ensures we have no decent information unless it is a potential product. I’m saying all of these species and many more are potentially products, and through this financial incentive we might actually get action on a large scale.

          Highly regulated action – the caveat being the regulations are designed for the industry involved not some 18th century political hangover.

          Recreational fishers and commercial operators who act in self interests… regulate em. People who act entitled need a good slapping. People who work hard to help the country deserve an honest wage.

          The capital costs would be covered if a farmer could sell their stock. But no, the governments view is if I breed 10 000 000 fish I can sell none. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

          An estaurine river, some timber, a digger, seed. Additionally a solar panel, battery bank and air pump would be useful to stock higher. That’s what it takes to make a whitebait farm. Food requires plantings, industry wastes converted to insects, and some pellets for breeding time – to be sure.

          The banded’s leap up onto banks to catch insects! I knew they could jump (18 inches) but this is amazing. They also aestivate, which I think I’m the only observer of this to my knowledge. They lie with no water, in mud under rocks, waiting for water to return. They’re hard as nails if you keep them cool and aerated.

          Huge numbers can be easily achieved. But where’s the incentive – red tape, no thanks…

          For the weka fans – they can take stoats. This was observed outside of Featherston one got too close to a nesting weka and it ran it down then killed it outright taking it with it’s beak behind the front legs. That’s why they’re still alive despite being tasty imo. More hard as nails locals 😀

          I’ve also observed a stoat rolling an egg uphill 150 metres into the scrub line. Hard working pests.

    • Robert Guyton 4.8
      4 November 2018 at 10:37 pm

      Should we farm?

      • Stuart Munro 4.8.1
        5 November 2018 at 1:12 am

        If it increases diversity, probably. Makes for a more robust ecosystem.

      • Grey Area 4.8.2
        5 November 2018 at 6:37 am

        Perhaps the better question Robert is should we eat other sentient beings? The answer for me is clearly no.

        And then there’s climate collapse and the changes we must make:

        Huge-reduction-in-meat-eating-essential-to-avoid-climate-breakdown

      • bwaghorn 4.8.3
        5 November 2018 at 6:46 am

        What’s the other option ?
        7 billion people subsisting on a few acres ?
        You can’t be serious!!

        • Robert Guyton 4.8.3.1
          5 November 2018 at 6:54 am

          “You can’t be serious”
          bwaghorn, you said “subsisting on a few acres” not anyone else, so you’ve aimed the charge, “you can’t be serious” at yourself, surely. Agriculture is harmful. It’s use needs to be reviewed.

        • Grey Area 4.8.3.2
          5 November 2018 at 10:33 am

          Did you read the article? To have any hope of feeding the planet humans have to stop wastefully raising animals to eat at the unsustainable rate we do.

    • Pingao 4.9
      5 November 2018 at 2:51 pm

      Certainly not Kereru. Aside from the practicalities of farming them while allowing them a natural life, it would be impossible to control the taking of wild birds and you would be creating a demand where previously there was very little demand. Their numbers in the wild are too low to sustain any harvesting

      I suppose you could breed them to release them but still have 100% protection.

      For weka I am not so sure … They are protected except on the Chathams. There was a trial on Banks Peninsula to farm them – I’ll see if I can find the link.

  5. Lenore 5
    4 November 2018 at 9:14 am

    RNZ news about another anti-abortion group – this time women who have had abortions saying the govt needs to consider the emotional effects partly funded by family first! The PM wants this to be a health issue – damn right! As an older women who is so thankful I had a termination many years ago (and was treated like shit by the doctors and nurses at Nelson hospital) and that I find it interesting how people’s views change when they no longer are at risk of being in that situation or look back and want to inflict their regrets on other’s rights to choose. Such hypocrisy. We used to have to provide safe passage for women entering parkview clinic in Wellington in the 1980s as they were harassed by nutters and I will never forget how distressing that was for women. If we look at abortion as a health issue, not a criminal issue, there will be less of a toll emotionally on women, having to tell some story about the ‘danger to their life’ to a doctor because they don’t want the pregnancy. We also change the secrecy and stigma of it and enable women to be able to talk about it and get the emotional support they need.

    • James 5.1
      4 November 2018 at 9:23 am

      That was a great post.

    • Rosemary McDonald 5.2
      4 November 2018 at 9:29 am

      Hiya Lenore…could you put up a link please? I skim read a similar article but can’t seem to find it now….

      • Lenore 5.2.1
        4 November 2018 at 9:52 am

        I heard it on RNZ news this morning and will try and hunt down the link – they said there was an article in two national papers.

        • ScottGN 5.2.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 9:59 am

          No they said there were paid advertisements in 2 weekend papers. The item was a piece in the 9 am news bulletin so there probably isn’t anything online yet?

          • Lenore 5.2.1.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 10:12 am

            Thanks – a paid advert makes more sense as to why I couldn’t find a specific link to this although plenty back to Family First. I got so angry that it has made me realise, I need to do something and get active in this area again to be part of the solution to get the legislative changes women need in Aotearoa. The personal is political!!!!!

            • Rosemary McDonald 5.2.1.1.1.1
              4 November 2018 at 10:27 am

              Natrad is seriously bad for that. There will be an item on the news….no link on their webpage and no further reports. Often this is late at night or early in the morning and one is left wondering if you imagined it.

              Does my head in.

              I was running around, but my partner heard the piece. From his account it was more than a passing reference.

              And yes…the political is often personal. 😉

              • ScottGN …
                4 November 2018 at 10:51 am

                National Radio can hardly be expected to provide an online link for every item that features in their hourly news bulletins.

        • veutoviper 5.2.1.2
          4 November 2018 at 10:36 am

          Here you are, Lenore, and others – the link to the RNZ 9.00am News this morning. The item is the first one up in the link but was not repeated in the 10.00am news and RNZ don’t seem to have any written article up on the website.

          https://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/news-bulletin/story/2018669690/radio-new-zealand-news

          • veutoviper 5.2.1.2.1
            4 November 2018 at 11:02 am

            UPDATE – RNZ just repeated the item as the first one on their 11.00am News. Word for word the same as the 9.00am item so no need to provide link which will not be up for a while yet.

    • Morrissey 5.3
      4 November 2018 at 10:08 am

      Family First wants them to be born so they can be hit with hairbrushes when they’re toddlers.

      • SaveNZ 5.3.1
        4 November 2018 at 12:15 pm

        @Morrissey – good joke.

        • Morrissey 5.3.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 4:16 pm

          Sadly, my friend, it’s not really a joke. Bob McCoskrie, the Obergruppenführer of Family Fist, is on record averring that it is reasonable and acceptable to hit a young child with a hairbrush.

          I think the technical word for bashing a child like that is “chastisement.”

    • bwaghorn 5.4
      4 November 2018 at 10:30 am

      Do you think there should be any place in the new legislation for the rights of the father? . There must be the odd case (probably few I admit) where the father would be willing to take sole custody at birth of the child and surely if that is the case he must have some rights .
      Because If we flip it round and the father didn’t want it but the mother had the baby he would still responsible in some way .
      It seems unfair that only the female has all the rights and the father has none.

      • Sabine 5.4.1
        4 November 2018 at 10:43 am

        How about first to teach men to not just willy nilly ejaculate into a vagina. How about teaching young men and old ones too that unless they are prepared to be a father they should ‘condom’ it up or maybe even have a vasectomy? Because women can have a lot of sex, have many many orgasms but the only thing that gets women pregnant is men ejaculating into a vagina. 🙂 So clearly the issue at hand is not women having sex, but men not taking responsibility for the deposition of their semen during their sexual intercourse (unless of course they are having sex with men, go and do as you wish with your semen 🙂 )

        So before we give men the right to decide women lot, – and keep in mind that abortion in NZ is literally a crime and in order to get it a women literally has to declare herself mentally not able too, or too poor, or of too poor a health to continue – we dont we teach men to take some personal responsibility and when they go about fucking like they are wont to do so that they ejaculate ‘not into a vagina’ so as to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

        Can you please explain to me why pregnancy is a womens responsability, especially unwanted ones, and why men don’t seem to be responsible for all the children they father?

        And can you then please put forward an idea what should be done to men – whose children were born out of wedlock – that do refuse to take part in any of the childbearing business cause they are not ‘ready for a child’, or they wanted the sex but not the child and or mother? Or hey i thought you took the pill, or any other excuse they could give for fathering a child but not wanting to be responsible for it.

        And would you be happy for a child to be dropped at the fathers doorstep if the women had the child, but does not want it, but could not end the pregnancy, and now is settled with a child she neither needs nor has the mental, financial and emotional stability to raise? After all the bloke ejaculated in her vagina, knowing this could lead to a pregnancy? Would you be ok for this to be legal and not be considered ‘c hild abandonment’?

        Or are you simply for a bit of ‘what about the blokes that get to fuck without consequences’ and how they are screwed over by the women whom these blokes fuck?

        Fact, teach your sons that fucking without protection leads to children. Fact, teach your sons that fucking without protection can lead to 25 odd years of child support. Fact, teach your sons that they are responsible for their fertility. Fact, teach your sons to not just willy nilly fuck and ejaculate (unless with men if they are same sex interested) and maybe not fuck at all if they are not ready to be a father.
        And frankly, unless the bloke is happy to have the newborn, stay at home and raise it, go to Winz to beg for a benefit as a stay at home parent, no they don’t get a say. They had their say when they fucked without protection and an ounce of personal responsibility.

        • Cinny 5.4.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 10:56 am

          This bit…

          “Can you please explain to me why pregnancy is a womens responsability, especially unwanted ones, and why men don’t seem to be responsible for all the children they father? ”

          Exactly !

          And this bit MOS DEF…. “And frankly, unless the bloke is happy to have the newborn, stay at home and raise it, go to Winz to beg for a benefit as a stay at home parent, no they don’t get a say. They had their say when they fucked without protection and an ounce of personal responsibility.”

        • bwaghorn 5.4.1.2
          4 November 2018 at 11:57 am

          “How about first to teach men to not just willy nilly ejaculate into a vagina”
          That’s the stupidest thing I’ve read on the standard !!
          Unless it’s rape she was willing you moron .
          Condoms and pills fail you moron .

          • bwaghorn 5.4.1.2.1
            4 November 2018 at 12:01 pm

            I never said the current rule was ok .
            Are you suggesting kids have never been dropped off and the fathers and not pickled up ??
            I know a falla doing a great job of raising their kids because the mother is unfit .

            I have no problem with the donor paying child support .

          • Sabine 5.4.1.2.2
            4 November 2018 at 12:10 pm

            Babtymaking 101 – vaginal intercourse during which men ejaculate semen in said vagina may lead to pregnancy. It does not matter if the ‘sex’ was consensual or not.

            You have an issue with basic biology now?

            • bwaghorn 5.4.1.2.2.1
              4 November 2018 at 12:24 pm

              No I have an issue with man hating feminists saying pregnancy is all the man’s fault .

              • Sabine …
                4 November 2018 at 12:27 pm

                oh boy, now you are just silly.

                you need a snickers waghorn, you are getting mean and petty.

              • marty mars …
                4 November 2018 at 12:52 pm

                Wow waggy seems you’ve got some issues. The point is straightforward – too far eh accepting dumb dicks might have to take responsibility for ejaculating in a vagina.

                • bwaghorn …
                  4 November 2018 at 12:55 pm

                  At what point have I said they should have no responsibility?? My whole point us based around the complete opposite. But no doubt you’ll get your belly scratch for the lovies in you life for wading in .

                  • marty mars …
                    4 November 2018 at 1:06 pm

                    Well your man hating bullshit showed you were losing it. Seems you’re too immature to get the point. Oh and I’ve been gender shamed by more viciously dicked people than you. But good try lol.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 5.4.2
        4 November 2018 at 11:09 am

        “It seems unfair that only the female has all the rights and the father has none.”

        Until birth, the female is the only one who is pregnant.

        • bwaghorn 5.4.2.1
          4 November 2018 at 12:04 pm

          The bar would need to be set high . If they’ve been a couple for awhile etc I’m not suggesting forcing them to complete I just think they should be part of the discussion.

          • Sabine 5.4.2.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 12:31 pm

            you assume that it is not part of the discussion. Says a lot about your fears just right here.

            • bwaghorn 5.4.2.1.1.1
              4 November 2018 at 12:51 pm

              I’m just an old teaser ram now so I have no fears when it comes to this . But I would have done anything a could to meet my baby if her mother had of decided to abort .
              (No I wouldn’t have locked her up safely for 9 months)

      • lenore 5.4.3
        4 November 2018 at 3:52 pm

        How should we raise our daughters then? Raise them to think they have control and independence of their bodies until at some points of their life, society thinks they shouldn’t or there is inequity to be able to make these choices. Don’t we all want to be able to make informed health choices and then have access to services? Our health services have been gutted under national but we can with terminations, there can be access to safe terminations in NZ if we change the laws, remove the stigma and enable women anywhere in NZ to access these services. There is the medical pill available.

        Also going through a pregnancy and childbirth can have lifelong affects on women given the politics of childbirth and the surgical interventions, particularly as women get older. I sometimes get the feeling that people just think it is about the pregnancy and childbirth – and yes, I think people should have a choice about whether their insides get so shoved about that they spend a good amount of time being sick, acid reflux, stretched, muscles split through to either pushing out a large pumpkin through a small hole, being cut from end to end (episiotomy) or having your stomach sliced open and stitched up again, let alone the more serious affects that lead to some poor women getting wire mesh embedded in their cervix and vagina. Now who wouldn’t be pissed off if they were forced to endure all this because society decided that other people had more rights.

        • Cinny 5.4.3.1
          4 November 2018 at 4:08 pm

          Bravo Lenore ! Bravo !

        • bwaghorn 5.4.3.2
          4 November 2018 at 4:52 pm

          So if there has been a long term relationship you don’t see the Male as having any rights . ?
          To be clear I understand the need to change the archaic law we have it would be good if all angles are covered in the new one .

          • Lenore 5.4.3.2.1
            4 November 2018 at 5:58 pm

            Short answer is nope and no partner (cis male or other) has rights over someone else’s body no matter how long they have been together. It would terrify me if this happened – just feels like a slippery slope towards Margaret Atwood’s dystopia which gave me nightmares when I read it years ago.

          • Cinny 5.4.3.2.2
            4 November 2018 at 6:00 pm

            I’d say the rights belonged to the body who is pregnant.

          • Andre 5.4.3.2.3
            4 November 2018 at 6:36 pm

            Should the male have any rights, even partial, that might lead to compelling the female to carry another organism to term inside her?

            Nope. None whatsoever.

            The way I see it is, carrying a fetus to term requires the female to experience a whole range of uncomfortable and even medically dangerous changes, some of which may affect her the rest of her life, culminating in either an excruciatingly painful expulsion of the parasitic organism she’s been encumbered with, or alternatively an extremely invasive operation to remove said organism. Nobody and nothing should have the ability to compel that, the only way that should ever happen is by the female’s completely free choice.

            When society changes to the point that you, wags, and I, are at risk of being compelled to undergo some vaguely equivalent risky painful invasive procedure with long term negative consequences, say … involuntary organ donation, then maybe I might come round to thinking maybe we males should have some say in whether a female should carry a fetus to term. But until then, it should be the female’s sole and free choice.

            In the context of a long term relationship, if the female chooses to terminate a pregnancy without involving the male in any way, or against the male’s wishes, then the male certainly has the right to consider whether that’s a relationship he wants to be a part of. And the male has the right to end the relationship and move on if he chooses. But the male’s rights end there.

            • bwaghorn 5.4.3.2.3.1
              4 November 2018 at 6:49 pm

              What about a mandatory counseling session if the man feels he isn’t being heard ? But with the woman still having full and final choice.

              • marty mars …
                4 November 2018 at 6:55 pm

                Why don’t you ask him if his belly’s been patted eh?

              • Andre …
                4 November 2018 at 6:59 pm

                Nope. No mandatory anything.

                The only right the male should have (and does have) if the female’s choices and actions (including declining voluntary counselling) don’t work for him is to end the relationship and move on to one where his partner’s actions and hopes fit him better.

          • Molly 5.4.3.2.4
            4 November 2018 at 8:43 pm

            I think trying to come up with a hard and fast rule in this instance is a waste of time. I think I understand where you are coming from, and I do agree that if our expectation is for males to work towards being better supportive partners, and parents, then we must also acknowledge the emotional connection that they may already have with an unborn child. It is not the exclusive domain of the female to bond with a child until it is born.

            A good partnership – joined with effective family planning – means that the scenario of one partner wanting an abortion while the other does not would never happen. But real life is messier than that.

            A conversation on options where there is reassurance expressed that the father will take a supportive role for both mother and child, or alternatively, that they feel unable to step up to that role provides information that aids decision making.

            I agree, the ultimate decision is the female’s. But outside of rape or coerced pregnancy – I believe the ethical thing to do is allow the male to have input and be able to express their fears, desires and any practical offers of help.

            I have three sons of varying ages, and we have engaged in age appropriate conversations on sex, respect for sexual partners, contraception and the likelihood of them not having a choice if an unplanned pregnancy occurs on whether the pregnancy is carried to term or not.

            I believe the need to have complicated issues like this simplified in order to have unequivocal answers is a problem. Perhaps there is no hard and fast rule.

            If I relate the “purely my choice” approach to my long-term relationship, with a partner of more than three decades and after four children, I can only think that that response would be disrespectful of our past, and hostile, given his love and support over the years. In the same way that he would listen to my fears and my desire if I wanted to terminate a pregnancy, I could not do less for him, and would ask for – and take his views – into consideration.

  6. Charlie 6
    4 November 2018 at 10:34 am

    With regards that piece in the Herald today calling for the immigration minister to resign that idiot racist moron HDPA is just dog whistling. The decision to grant residency came with caveats that meant it could be reviewed at the ministers discretion. HDPA is a pathetic try hard attempting to land a hit on the govt that her mates in National desperately need. The Herald being the mouth piece for National would publish any crap as they have proven in the past. $100,000 fake donations anyone.

  7. Bearded Git 7
    4 November 2018 at 10:42 am

    Amazing woman-Professor Brady-being interviewed on Wallace’s RNZ now.

    She studies all things political Chinese. Speaks Chinese.

    Has talked about how the Chinese have sent people home for re-education when they publish the wrong kind of things about China in NZ. Yes in NZ.

    She has had her house burgled. Scary stuff. Well worth a listen.

    • Sabine 7.1
      4 November 2018 at 10:49 am

      china is a totalitarian regime. and totalitarian regimes do as totalitarian regimes have done since ever.

      and you better don’t ever piss of the politburo.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.3
      4 November 2018 at 12:00 pm

      Has talked about how the Chinese have sent people home for re-education when they publish the wrong kind of things about China in NZ. Yes in NZ.

      If there is proof of that then the government should be cutting all ties with China right away.

    • SaveNZ 7.4
      4 November 2018 at 12:48 pm

      +1 Bearded Git – in the wake of the Jamal Khashoggi murder as well, maybe power trumps law because there seems to be this idea that if you are a powerful nation then you can go around harassing, kidnapping or murdering people you don’t like on foreign soil and that foreign soil can just be bought off or silenced. The real people and person behind the murder will probably never be bought to justice it is a sham…

      NZ already self silenced or bought by Chinese interests. We even have the Natz thinking two Chinese MP’s here are worth more than two Indians and obviously the Pakeha is fucking useless. That is the comment that shows where NZ government is leaning towards aka just like they do for the economy, clip a bit of the ticket and exchange power, influence and control for a little cash donation and self silencing.

      The Chinese government has unique problems and issue with it’s massive population to control and to try to somehow make it work. NZ does not have those issues but seems to be trying to go from a social, formerly egalitarian democracy into more a Chinese model of renqing and mianzi which might work with 1.3 billion people but in NZ we have only 4.5 million so rule of law and transparency is our model, and favour and face is not not supposed to influence decision making because that leads to corruption, stupidity and self serving rule without egalitarianism.

      • Fang Zhou 7.4.1
        4 November 2018 at 1:06 pm

        I get very sad when I read many Kiwi comments about China. ‘China’ is not a country. It is an empire. If the autonomous regions of Xijiang and Xizang break away, China is a relatively small country and one with few resources.

        Right now in Xinjiang and Xizang, the policies of Mao are being once again pursued by Mr Xi. Forced reeducation to Mr Xi’s teachings. Forced shaving of beards and non wearing of Islamic clothes. The list goes on and on. And yes, many many deaths from the security forces and brutality is a normal day to day thing.

        People on here and in NZ go on and on about Israel and Palestine, but are generally ignorant and care not about far far worse things happening in China. Is that because we have yellow faces and so do not count? Where are the demonstrations outside the Chinese Embassy?

        • JanM 7.4.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 5:25 pm

          It’s more likely because we don’t know and that may be because people from China are too afraid to speak up 🙁

          • Exkiwiforces 7.4.1.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 7:20 pm

            That’s a really point to bring Jan, but I’ll would like to add this as well. That there is now a enough evidence that elements of the Chinese Communist Party have infiltrated a number of expat Chinese communities/ groups and including long established one dating when the first Chinese people arrived in Australia and NZ or are influencing these communities/ groups especially the foreign students.

            The more established Chinese Communities/ Groups are actually starting to inform the Police/ Intelligent Services at the infiltration or influenced of the Chinese Communist Party activities in those groups who really have no links to present day Mainland China expect for ancestral links to China.

    • SaveNZ 7.5
      4 November 2018 at 12:53 pm

      Some good links and points – describes NZ position as ‘fairy land’ with regard to China influence. Apparently we are immune??? At least OZ has enough freedom in their media to explore the ideas of soft power China.

      https://croakingcassandra.com/2018/10/25/free-from-interference-ardern/

      “It differs from country to country but I think there are three or four key objectives for China in respect to Australia,” Prof Medcalf said.

      “China wants to weaken the Australia-US alliance to reduce the possibility that Australia would support America in a conflict in the Asian region.

      “It’s also trying to silence Australia’s independent voice in the Indo-Pacific region to make it less critical of Chinese policy. Many countries in South-East Asia look to Australia to be a solid voice. If that can be silenced, other voices can potentially be silenced as well.”

      China also has an interest in growing its technological advantage in both a military and civilian sense, and Australia is home to both quality, cutting-edge research and sensitive materials shared by allies.

      “And as I’ve pointed out, the final goal is to do with seeking to control Chinese communities in Australia,” Prof Medcalf said.

      “It’s really important to note that this increased awareness is not about being anti-Chinese. It’s about protecting Australia and Australians. That includes Chinese Australians. If we let foreign powers intimidate communities here, we have failed to protect their freedoms.”

  8. marty mars 8
    4 November 2018 at 10:48 am

    I really hope this woman and her family can get out before they are killed.

    “Asia Bibi’s husband pleads for family asylum in UK after blasphemy acquittal.

    Pakistan government accused of signing death warrant by blocking Christian woman from leaving the country”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/03/asia-bibi-husband-pakistan-blasphemy-acquittal-christian-plea-asylum

  9. joe90 9
    4 November 2018 at 10:50 am

    It’s 1938, again.

    Can we just arrest George Soros ad seize his assets already? I am sick and damned tired of hearing about him trying to disrupt our Democracy every day.— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) October 25, 2018

  10. marty mars 10
    4 November 2018 at 10:57 am

    Nick Cave and grief

    “Grief and love are forever intertwined. Grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love and, like love, grief is non-negotiable. There is a vastness to grief that overwhelms our minuscule selves.”

    “Within that whirling gyre all manner of madnesses exist; ghosts and spirits and dream visitations, and everything else that we, in our anguish, will into existence.”

    “These are precious gifts that are as valid and as real as we need them to be. They are the spirit guides that lead us out of the darkness.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46084553

  11. joe90 11
    4 November 2018 at 11:05 am

    Holy wars are go.

    Washington state Rep. Matt Shea acknowledged Wednesday he had distributed a four-page manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which describes the Christian God as a “warrior,” details the composition and strategies of a “Holy Army” and condemns abortion and same-sex marriage.

    The document is organized in 14 sections with multiple tiers of bullet points and a smattering of biblical citations. Under one heading, “Rules of War,” it makes a chilling prescription for enemies who flout “biblical law.” It states, “If they do not yield – kill all males.”

    http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/oct/26/rep-matt-shea-takes-credit-criticism-for-document-/

  12. Dukeofurl 12
    4 November 2018 at 12:32 pm

    There was a whole panopoly of lies here on The Standard yesterday about Kiwibuild….public owned land is gifted….houses are sold well below cost…going to upper middle class homeowners……and for you DTB, new homes aren’t warm and dry

    It was morongate if there ever was one. I’ve been involved in house development and the construction process as well as the supply of a major component, the windows. Yet people who knew about home building went on as though they did

    [Moving to open mike, off topic – MS]

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

    • adam 12.1
      4 November 2018 at 12:51 pm

      Yeap a whole false web site was set up, and then a rumour was begun, twitter ran new memes and wads of people started spreading rumours about the labour party – all here on the standard!!!

      Why is it labour party hacks get so upset when people questioning the official narrative?

      Why are some labour party hack doing the whole “if you’re not for us, you’re against us” meme? Who was the far right politician who popularised that line of attack again, oh that right George W.

      • Dukeofurl 12.1.1
        4 November 2018 at 1:26 pm

        So your reply to specific lies is to go full bullshit about …..George Bush.WTF
        Sure kiwibuild doesn’t do anything for people who can’t afford a new house…but the rest of the stuff was just lies…….which makes it just like morongate.
        Why have a fake website when there is a place to spread the fabricated stuff at hand.
        By all means make your case against the policy… But have those things that are foreign to you, things called facts…they aren’t found by reading kiwiblog closely for talking points.
        BTW Adam , you are one of the loudest voices for ‘the either for us/ or you are against us’ method of political action…too loud in my view as well. No wonder you can remember a well forgotten person from 16 yrs ago.

        • adam 12.1.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 1:44 pm

          Sheesh go out, run your hands through some dirt or somthing.

          You not being able to handle criticism, nor bad use of humour, is the sign of someone who is wound up to hard for their own good.

          • Dukeofurl 12.1.1.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 2:32 pm

            Nah…just I have the chops to back up my thoughts…been on more building sites than you have had hot dinners

            • adam 12.1.1.1.1.2
              4 November 2018 at 4:33 pm

              One would be more than me, but then again I’m sure I’ve been in more squats than you. And that I’ve helped more homeless and disabled than you.

              But that is not the debate, which ironically MS sorted for all of us. You and your false equivalence…

    • Muttonbird 12.2
      4 November 2018 at 1:24 pm

      I really thought you were brighter than this. That you are not adds to my disappointments of the last week.

    • Bill 12.3
      4 November 2018 at 2:02 pm

      A poorly chosen phrase pertaining to the transfer of assets, that was challenged and never defended in comments.

      And beyond that, you’re allegations revolve around the legitimate activity of people airing their opinions.

      I do like how your dragnet manages to miss the lies you wrote down and posted about sources used for specific bits of information in the post. An exercise you repeated in spite of being corrected. That’s classy.

      Oh. And your trolling. We’ll lob that over for you to catch and add to the rest of that baggage you’re heaving around on your side of the morongate 😉

      • Dukeofurl 12.3.1
        4 November 2018 at 2:27 pm

        I don’t go back read everything again, but what did happen about that student thesis?
        I have years of experience involved with building real homes in NZ, including with builders who didplaces for Housing NZ and Habitat for Humanity. You don’t have to give your background away, but I’m assuming what you know about new homes in NZ is a bit above nothing. That’s fine. Just that readers should know that. You might like to confirm it and your interest in Mass housing is purely ‘academic’

        • Bill 12.3.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 2:53 pm

          The thesis was linked to because that was the source for the quote around UK policy.

          The information around NZ building standards came from a commissioned report that was linked to, and that included quotes from reports by other orgs including the IEA and the OECD.

          Building standards that sufficed for 20th C climatic conditions are not necessarily going to suffice for the climatic conditions that are coming down the line.

          Two comprehensive sources were provided in a reply to ankerrawshark on that front that you probably won’t be bothered to go and find because you knows it all because you’ve got experience with builders.

          Odd that you believe builders should be the “go to” people on that front. Why would builders be expected to know about likely climatic shifts? Are builders climate scientists?

      • Jenny 12.3.2
        4 November 2018 at 2:54 pm

        Bill 5.3
        4 November 2018 at 2:02 pm
        A poorly chosen phrase pertaining to the transfer of assets, that was challenged and never defended in comments…..

        Not quite,,,

        https://thestandard.org.nz/kiwibuild-doesnt-fly/#comment-1545884

        Even harsher than Bill, is John Minto over at the Daily Blog

        https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/11/03/tamaki-gentrification-comes-to-east-porirua/

        • Bill 12.3.2.1
          4 November 2018 at 3:03 pm

          K. 🙂 I should have said not challenged by me.

          Thing is. There was a lot of content in that post, and the fact some chose to base their entire (negative) engagement around the use of one (I’d say) carelessly chosen word says not a lot for where some peoples heads are.

          • Dukeofurl 12.3.2.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 5:03 pm

            Even worse was your advancing the idea that a suburb indeed a ghetto , home to 10,000 living only in state houses should be intensified to 25,000+ .

            It wasnt just a slip over the meaning of one word, which you were very very reluctant to walk back on with a a simple ‘duh’

            [I’m over your level of commentary. Ironically – given that you’re running around saying others are lying – you’re lying. Either post a link to the comment where I wrote that I favoured that degree of intensification, retract your bullshit, or come back next year. That’s a three way choice. I’ll be back in while to see which option you’ve taken] – B

            • Dukeofurl 12.3.2.1.1.1
              5 November 2018 at 12:07 pm

              Just seen this Midday Monday.

              Heres your quote with the context
              https://thestandard.org.nz/kiwibuild-doesnt-fly/#comment-1545524

              “In Māngere the proposal is for 2,700 state houses to be demolished, to be replaced with around 3,000 new state houses, 3,500 Kiwibuild homes and 3,500 market houses….. [someones elses quote you highlighted about suburb intensification]

              Your answerCould have been 9000 state homes right there, but no..

              Thats exactly why I made the comment you ‘preferred’ going from 2700 state houses in the one suburb ( ‘right there’) to 10,000.
              Its a terrible policy of ghettoisation, even if they are new homes ,

              https://thestandard.org.nz/kiwibuild-doesnt-fly/#comment-1545524

              Nope. That was in direct response to a question of how transferring public land to the private sector was blocking the building of state houses.

              Here’s what I wrote (the idea I advanced) in direct response to the question – “Do you really think it would be a good idea to build 10,000 state houses as one suburb?” in a sub-thread that you participated in.

              “Stuffing 10 000 poor people into one area with poor facilities and services would be an abomination in my eyes.

              Laying the groundwork for the gentrification of developments that are ostensibly being undertaken to alleviate homelessness, is also abominable in my eyes.

              Constructing 10 000 state houses for rent, with a good decile mix (therefore kind of guaranteeing that good services and facilities will be provided) and no right to buy ….that works.”

              So, where’s this quote where I favour the construction of 20 000 homes as ghettos?

              • solkta …
                5 November 2018 at 6:43 pm

                Constructing 10 000 state houses for rent, with a good decile mix

                I challenged you on this nonsense Bill and asked where in NZ this had happened and you said Europe but not where. I tried to continue the discussion but you ignored me.

                But even if there were cases of middle and upper income people living in state houses in a good mix your argument is still nonsense as this would not provide any more houses for low income people than doing the Kiwibuild thing.

                So much gymnastics.

        • Jenny 12.3.2.2
          4 November 2018 at 3:08 pm

          I really don’t think that Bill and Minto’s critique of Kiwi Build, as harsh as you think they are Dukie, can hardly be equated with Morongate.

          • gsays 12.3.2.2.1
            4 November 2018 at 5:08 pm

            Have to agree Jenny.

            I had to read the thread a couple of times but the gist I got was ‘rent to buy’= movement to private hands.
            The whenua, the commons, privatised.

            I’ve spent a few years doing residential building, while the carpenter I worked for had integrity and was a good craftsman I was left feeling that the industry was corrupt.

            From the various dodgy dealings of James Hardie (asbestos, spending workers pensions, cladding that failed in the 1970s), modern window flashing to manage water on the farming!, to gouging prices for supplies and the practice of changing business names to dodge responsibilities.

            Greed is at the root of it, home owners wanting bang for buck, councils looking to cut costs, builders getting squeezed and suppliers enjoying a rort.

  13. bwaghorn 13
    4 November 2018 at 2:13 pm

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12154266

    Hay bill down here . Whaddya think of nuclear fusion??

    • Jenny 13.1
      4 November 2018 at 3:57 pm

      The old joke still stands.

      “Fusion is the energy source of the future, and always will be”

      • bwaghorn 13.1.1
        4 November 2018 at 4:49 pm

        They cover that in the link . Lots of things are impossible till someone knocks the bugger off.

        • Jenny 13.1.1.1
          4 November 2018 at 7:35 pm

          It may be possible, but it might never be practical. Even if break even is achieved, longer term there is the problem of neutron bombardment of the containment vessel walls which limits lifetime, requiring regular and expensive containment vessel rebuilds

          • Andre 13.1.1.1.1
            4 November 2018 at 7:46 pm

            The problem of the released neutrons making the containment vessel radioactive isn’t necessarily the killer. If it’s deuterium-tritium fusion, then those neutrons are actually needed to breed more tritium. Then there’s a bunch of aneutronic fusion reactions that don’t release significant numbers of neutrons.

            Even if the basic physics problems of managing the plasma to get it to high enough temps for long enough to get useful fusion ever get solved, I’m curious how to extract that heat from the plasma out through the containment magnets which have to be kept supercooled. I’ve yet to see any info on proposals of how to do that.

  14. eco maori 14
    5 November 2018 at 8:33 am

    Kia ora The Am Show I say fireworks should be banned from popup stores sales.
    The left are going to weld power for a long time with the success of the Labour Party conference.
    There you go with the LAWN MOWER MEN message to trump FU45 ka pai vote the trump supporters out you should see the amount of cheating that’s gone on in the American elections by the go oil party for the last 30 years gerrymandering they call it it’s CHEATING no wonder they are having a hard time putting there children’s future up as the most important thing the world society should be aiming for . a Sharp carbon reduction and a healthy planet.
    It would be nice if the teachers and the government came to a settlement .
    Would it not be a good idea to training teachers on the job like the trades you would soon find the good ones.
    Angry Anderson condolences for your loss of your son.
    I think that marriage and relationship are not held in the eyes of the people as being a important part of one life and a child’s well being . In my book if you have a child together your are married then its should be about the child’s wellbeing breaking up is the wrong thing to do unless there are major obstetrical’s relationship are hard work but you will reap the rewards of that commitment. Ka kite ano

    • Chris T 14.1
      5 November 2018 at 8:44 am

      Agree re the pop ups

      Not sure when that even started.

      You should at least have to have some sort of sales of dangerous good certificate, where you have to show they are stored and displayed securely

      Sad about Angry Anderson’s son

      Both smashed out of their trees apparently. They couldn’t even interview the alleged killer for 12 hours or so till he came down off what ever he was on.

  15. eco maori 15
    5 November 2018 at 10:30 am

    Eco Maori thinks it would be awesome if some one help sponsor these young people in there quest to voice there concerns about human caused climate in Poland’s UN Climate change conference .
    The group of seven have been busy fundraising and preparing for the intensive two-week climate talks held in Poland this year.

    India Logan-Riley (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Ngāti Hawea ki Whatuiapiti) is the head delegate for the ropu and a climate conference veteran.

    This trip marks her fourth climate conference so her role has been to prepare the group on climate policy and what to expect.

    The group is focused on ensuring there is an official indigenous voice entrenched in the Paris Agreement. We have one Mother Earth and its is like a heaven so long as greed is taken out of the Equation we will turn the whole planet into HELL if we do not dump Carbon . Ka kite ano links below.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/370171/group-to-represent-indigenous-youth-at-un-climate-conference Mother nature beauty will sail away from us.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkjQVh5KmQ&list=RD2zkjQVh5KmQ&start_radio=1

  16. eco maori 16
    5 November 2018 at 4:17 pm

    Amercian Wahine /Ladies and minority cultures please get up and vote for OUR future gennerations happy healthy Equal LIFE kia kaha
    This man won power in 2008 and had a big mess to clean up and now he is protecting his legacy by campaigning for the Democrats in the mid term American elections
    in a very Honorable fashion Kia kaha Obama you fight for all the worlds EQUAL healthy happy future.
    Former President Barack Obama said Sunday that Republicans have “racked up enough indictments to field a football team” while campaigning for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections on Tuesday Ka kite ano links below

    https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/04/politics/obama-campaigns-republicans-indictments-football-field/index.html.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOsM-DYAEhY

  17. eco maori 17
    5 November 2018 at 6:41 pm

    Kia ora Newshub yes the banks need to be held accountable people go in to the bank and they do sell products that are not need I have experienced that Ka pai Labour.
    There you go a lot of new immigrants are exploited buy there own cultures and that is not acceptable in Aotearoa in 2018 Michael .
    Lloyd it is good to honour our fallen ancestors solders in Le Quesnoy France but I say the big picture is war should be confined to our history books the war we should be fighting is correcting the chemical ballance of mother earth and slow down climate warming.
    Mike Mc Roberts I hope that the Democrats win the house and senate in the American mid term elections.
    Punakaika & Lake Ellesmere tree planting is a good program we will be planting millions of trees cool Shane .
    Mike that’s the Maori Kiwi wairua guiding Mike Lloyd 10 times running the New York Marathon have you guide him six time’s.
    Ka kite ano

  18. eco maori 18
    5 November 2018 at 7:26 pm

    Kia ora Wairangai & James The Kiwis will learn from that game Kia Kaha .
    Scotts jandles have been going fine.
    Good shot James .
    Israel had a good fight .
    The Irish Rugby player has some mean skills the All Blacks have some competition that will be good to watch The Black Teams 3 wins ka pai. Ka kite ano

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    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    23 hours ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts

    Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...

    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    5 days ago

  • Or is that just they want us to think?
    Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Arguing over a moot point.
    I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago

  • No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    Turning Point: “What has turned me away from the mainstream news media is the very strong message that its been sending out for the last few years.” “And what message might that be?” “That the people who own it, the people who run it, and the people who provide its content, really don’t ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?
    No – nothing about that in PM Luxon’s nine-point plan to improve the lives of New Zealanders. But beyond our shores Jamie Dimon, the long-serving head of global bank J.P. Morgan Chase, reckons that the chances of a goldilocks soft landing for the economy are “a lot lower” than the ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    6 days ago

  • Sad tales from the left
    Michael Bassett writes –  Have you noticed the odd way in which the media are handling the government’s crackdown on surplus employees in the Public Service? Very few reporters mention the crazy way in which State Service numbers rocketed ahead by more than 16,000 during Labour’s six years, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • In Whose Best Interests?
    On The Spot: The question Q+A host, Jack Tame, put to the Workplace & Safety Minister, Act’s Brooke van Velden, was disarmingly simple: “Are income tax cuts right now in the best interests of lowering inflation?”JACK TAME has tested another MP on his Sunday morning current affairs show, Q+A. Minister for Workplace ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Don’t Question, Don’t Complain.
    It has to start somewhereIt has to start sometimeWhat better place than here?What better time than now?So it turns out that I owe you all an apology.It seems that all of the terrible things this government is doing, impacting the lives of many, aren’t necessarily ‘bad’ per se. Those things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Auckland faces 25% water inflation shock
    Three Waters became a focus of anti-Government protests under Labour, but its dumping by the new Government hasn’t solved councils’ funding problems and will eventually hit the back pockets of everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 8:06 am today are:The Government ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Small accomplishments and large ironies
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume VII
    In order to catch up to the actual progress of the D&D campaign, I present you with another couple of sessions. These were actually held back to back, on a Monday and Tuesday evening. Session XV Alas, Goatslayer had another lycanthropic transformation… though this time, he ran off into the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Accelerating the Growth Rate?
    There is a constant theme from the economic commentariat that New Zealand needs to lift its economic growth rate, coupled with policies which they are certain will attain that objective. Their prescriptions are usually characterised by two features. First, they tend to be in their advocate’s self-interest. Second, they are ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
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  • Government redress for Te Korowai o Wainuiārua
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