I am getting sick of reposting all the terrible climate change disasters that come through my inbox. And have generally stopped doing it.
But Fiji is different, because it gives us a glimpse of the future for all of us.
With their agricultural areas devastated, many are sheltering in sodden makeshift shelters, all that remains of their dwellings demolished by the last named super storm, Winston, while record breaking rains from an unnamed storm raise water to waist height in public streets, meanwhile another repeat named hurricane, Zena, barrels down on them.
Under these conditions maintaining the infrastructure that makes civilisation possible are frayed to the point of permanent collapse.
It has become clear to me that the age of fossil fuel use must come to an end now. Not in twenty years, not in ten years.
Not in some kick it down the road fantasy, Where politicians announce some nebulous date where some future administration will take action.
That action needs to be taken now.
Starting with the planned closure of all coal mines in this country.
Instead of planning the shut down of our fossil fuel infrastructure, our political leaders are planning to ramp it up. The plan is to ramp up fossil fuel production with new coal mines, in both the North and South Island. And deep sea oil drilling off our coasts.
I was recently talking to a Fonterra executive and he told me that they operate under “economic constraints” and will not stop their burning of coal, or their conversions of crop lands to dairying, until they are reined in by government regulation.
Methane from agriculture is New Zealand’s biggest contribution to climate change.
Globally coal is the number one cause of climate change.
Fonterra continue to ramp up both, in an unsustainable and unregulated manner.
Despite brutally laying off hundreds of workers from the underground mining industry, in Greymouth and Huntly. The government and the industry hypocritically claim it is all about jobs.
Meanwhile opening, less labour intensive, but more environmentally destructive, open cast mines in both the South and North Islands of this country.
The old turbine wasn’t up to scratch any more and is being replaced by the new one, which as the article states will power 490 homes. The previous one powered 110 homes.
The Brooklyn wind turbine is more a well loved iconic feature of the skyline than a nose to the grindstone wind farm……….. You will be aware of the two fully functioning wind farms in Wellington I assume?
West wind powers approximately 62,000 standard homes:
Instead of investing in windfarms the government blew a total of $255 million in two attempted bail outs of Solid Energy, only for it to go bust, taking all that tax payer’s money with it.
I think the reason can be found in the government and in particular, the Prime Minister’s views denying the impact of climate change. Views which obviously are behind much of National’s economic strategy.
Sorry Jenny. I don’t really get your angle. Like I mentioned there are two wind farms in Wellington. Mill Creek in Ohariu has 26 turbines, 18 of which I have a glorious view of from my place, and West Wind in Makara has I don’t how many but it’s around a similar number.
So, we don’t just have one turbine in Wellington……………..and yes, more of them were installed……………Or are you talking about the planned wind farms in the South Island whose plans were scuttled due to a lack of private funding? It’s not entirely clear.
As for the Key govt’s lack of action on climate change and their backwards looking view, you’re preaching to the converted!
Both the Greens and Winston Peters on Morning Report have come out against this and a professor of banking has said that KiwiBank is being sold at 40% less than its market value …and can be sold off down the track
‘Banking expert says the Kiwi Group deal below market value’
Labour should disassociate themselves from Cullen…he is a jonkey Nact stooge…already betrayed New Zealanders on the overseas spying on New Zealanders bill
They have another ex-Labour cabinet minister working for them to as deputy head of Environment Canterbury – David Caygill – one of the prime architects of introducing monetarism to New Zealand.
“Michael Cullen should be congratulated for securing a route to expand KiwiBank and keep it in public ownership, given the refusal of National to provide more capital for NZ Post or KiwiBank.
“Michael Cullen’s solution only works to ensure the bank will remain in public ownership if National promises that if ACC or the Super Fund sells its shares, then the government of the day would exercise its first right of refusal and buy them back.”
Parker said Labour would commit to buying the shares back if required.
Grant Robertson and Labour in general working to keep capitalism. They seem to think that capitalism can continue when it’s obvious that it can’t as it simply doesn’t work.
I’d say that they’re too wrapped up in being part of the 1%.
Clinton shows real face on CNN last night. Let me, let you read the statement yourself then watch the video.
“The Clinton campaign has been watching these Wisconsin results come in, and the delegate race of course is tight there, but the reality is they’re running out of patience. So they’re going to begin deploying a new strategy, it’s going to be called disqualify him, defeat him and then they can unify the party later.”
It seems to me we have seen this from Clinton before with her treatment of Barrack Obama. What was that awful campaign again. Oh that right – she tried to “Make Him UN-American” That was just bloody awful, and showed how much of a reactionary Clinton really is.
So…Clinton will lose. It’s that simple. She’s following the same tactic (a kind of Project Fear) that was used against the SNP as well as against Jeremy Corbyn…and look how those contests panned out. 🙂
No seems to be too concerned that a huge amount of the steel mesh made by Steel & Tube and used as concrete re-inforcing over the past few years may not be up to standard and not resilient in earthquakes. I wonder if they are even going to be able to find out given all of it is actually stuck in the middle of concrete blocks of already constructed buildings in Christchurch and elsewhere. If they can’t find out, then I wonder if these buildings will require further reinforcing to insure they are up to scratch or be condemned.
There was this exchange on 60 Minutes back in 2008.
Kroft: You said you’d take Obama at his word that he’s not…a Muslim. You don’t believe that he’s…
Clinton: No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know.
Kroft: It’s just scurrilous…?
Clinton: Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors, that I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, gets smeared with the kinds of rumors that go on all the time.
..as far as I know. Weasel-worded accusation that our ridiculous PM would be proud to use.
On the theme of the world view of the wealthy. (Think Panama Papers)
From “Starlight Peninsula” by Charlotte Grimshaw. pg. 206. 2015
The author is speaking of the residents of a fictional Remuera. (I think it’s Remuera going by the geographical description).
“This is where the affluent lived and and rejoiced in the gap – the gap between the rich and the poor. Because what would be the point of being rich if everyone else was rich too? Look how far away the poor were! The further away they got, the more enjoyable everything was. And it was clearer once you’d arrived. Obv”.
Good explanation. The author goes on to discuss the “hilarity and tolerant mirth that ideas like wealth distribution and fairness were met with around these parts”
These kinds of observations of the attitudes of the super wealthy seem to be covered in the tv drama “Filthy Rich” too.
You might not see the attitudes of the super wealthy examined in the msm but you do see it examined in NZ music, literature and drama.
Charlotte Grimshaw always has a canny way of bringing current social and political issues into her characters lives. The blurb on “Starlight Peninsula”
Convictions that are wrong are still wrong no matter how courageous the person who holds them is. Holding wrong convictions when there is so much evidence showing her that she’s wrong makes her an idiot.
No, she wasn’t and it’s not specifically Left-wing to silence people. That’s authoritarian. And most authoritarians can be found on the political-right.
Seriously? ‘Throwing their arms up in frustration’ sounds a lot worse than ‘raising my arms in disagreement’. Not sure I’ve ever seen either done in a meeting, and I’ve seen some pretty pissed off people in meetings.
Makes me wonder whether it’s “PC gone mad” or “obnoxious dick disciplined for trying to railroad meeting”.
You’re sooooooo predictable, Puckers. That story comes direct from one of today’s Kiwiblog Posts. No need for independent thought – just let Mr Farrar provide the day’s attack lines for you.
The ever-shrinking Israel lobby on University campuses has a long history of making highly-dubious “Anti-Semitism” smears and claims of marginalisation and oppression by other students. Whenever analysts look into the claims, they almost always turn out to be either peripheral or complete nonsense. Usually part of yet another pre-planned PR campaign to close down growing criticism of Israel’s brutal 50 year Occupation and Annexation of Palestinian land. But you can always be sure those sort of spurious claims make the front page of the dear old Daily Telegraph.
Zionism is an aggressive militant political nationalism. Nothing to do with religion, although that is what it hides behind. As a European sourced militant political nationalism, Zionism has plenty of parallels with another European sourced militant political nationalism which also developed around the 1920s and 1930s.
Hence the familiar sounding and fierce moral justification of the ghettoisation and semi-regular mass slaughter of Palestinians and their children in Gaza.
The way the Kiwibank sale works is like this (using simple numbers):
Now:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets now: $20,000m
Kiwibank Value owned by government now:$1,000m
Government forces Cullen Fund/ACC to buy 45% of Kiwibank
Cullen Fund/ACC sells shares worth $450m in order to buy $450m of Kiwibank
Result:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets $20,000m
Kiwibank owned by government $550m
Money available for tax cuts $450m
The effect is that National is reducing state-owned capital assets in order to finance a short-term tax cut bribe.
Of course they are denying that the Cullen Fund/ACC are being forced to buy Kiwibank, but that is yet another big lie for the BLiP list. Questions should be asked about this as these funds are supposed to be independent.
David Parker says Michael Cullen has come up with a briliant idea. These two are the top, most highly experienced, Labour Party finance brains in the country.
What’s your problem with it. Get in behind and support the team.
Pike River chair John Dow and co-defendants walked away.
Four months after former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was found guilty for his role in a 2010 mining disaster that killed 29 miners, he has been sentenced to the maximum one year in prison and another year of supervised release.
Judge Irene Berger also imposed a maximum $250,000 fine, which is due immediately, West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Dave Mistich reports for NPR’s Newscast unit.
“Blankenship was convicted in December of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws — a misdemeanor,” Mistich said. “The charge stemmed from an investigation into the April 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine near Montcoal [W.Va.] that killed 29 men.”
I see in the Herald Nick Smith has announced a further 36 Special Housing Areas in Auckland, glancing down the list I see that the areas are mostly around the periphery of Auckland with the exception of an area of Manukau Road in Epsom. Odd how there isn’t one listed in the “leafy” suburbs. Bloody typical really of how there is one law for one lot of us and another for the wealthy. Would be too much to suggest that maybe people on lower incomes might welcome living closer to the city to save on petrol or public transport fares. Seems logical and sensible to me. But then, what would I know.
John Key when asked about the Panama Papers
“Has anyone seen my hat ” then he left and there was a gunshot ,no not John Key, John Doe ,Yep that quick vanished .
“I’ve seen a lot of leaders get up and say that this is potentially the biggest threat to mankind. Well that may be true, but my point really would be it’s not going to get there.” JOHN KEY
If I say it is not happening. It’s Not Happening! John Key
Kiritimati is where El Nino, along with global warming, has done the most damage to corals in the past two years, experts said. While dramatic images of unprecedented total bleaching on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are stunning the world, thousands of miles to the east conditions are somehow even worse.
Really fucking sad that the article is misleadingly headed “Scientists blame El Nino, warming for ‘gruesome’ coral death.”
I know there’s a comma in there, but seriously, how many people are going to read that as scientists blaming El Nino and warming, rather than El Nino warming?
And that’s ignoring the fact that scientists are actually saying El Nino is only exacerbating global warming. So if the article heading was aiming to be even half way accurate, it would be saying something like “Scientists blame global warming and El Nino for ‘gruesome’ coral death”
It is sad Bill, in fact it is more than sad, it’s tragic and criminal, because it is just this sort of obfuscation and downplaying of climate change, and its current and future consequences, that is common right throughout the establishment media and both the main establishment parties.
It is like people know what to say and what not to say.
And what you are not allowed to say, is anything that will upset the current status quo of business as usual.
Opening new coal mining operations, supporting deep sea oil prospecting and drilling, spending $billions on new motorways, while starving public transport of funding.
The sort of practices that would be challenged if the mainstream media, including social media pundits and commentators started taking climate change seriously.
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
The change allows for devices that do screening, similar to at drink-drive checkpoints, rather than having to test oral fluid to an evidentiary standard. ...
Almost 40% of those departing NZ long-term are aged 18 to 30. What sort of country will they leave behind, asks Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Young people leading the charge out the door Last year saw ...
New Health Minister Simeon Brown is presiding over a list of resignations from high-ranking health officials that some say is a "bloodbath". What's going on? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Rickerby, Lecturer, School of Product Design, University of Canterbury The Poly-1. MOTAT , CC BY-NC Some 45 years ago, a team of staff and students at Wellington Polytechnic designed and built a desktop computer with an operating system customised for ...
The Forum has raised concerns regarding the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill, which, if enacted, will radically undermine existing human rights protections, Indigenous rights, and constitutional safeguards ...
The passage of time hasn’t been kind to Ngāi Tahu.When its High Court hearing over wai māori (freshwater) commenced last week, 52 months after the claim was filed, the tribe mourned the loss of two named first plaintiffs – Bishop Richard Wallace, of Makaawhio, and Theo Bunker, of Wairewa – ...
Margie Apa, Nicholas Jones, Diana Sarfati, the board of Health New Zealand … and will Lester Levy be next?The biggest names in our health service are tumbling like dominos.It’s been called a bloodbath and a crisis.What’s going on?Every day there’s a new story about shortages, patients having to wait for ...
Opinion: The coalition Government’s recent revisions to the business investor visa, officially the Active Investor Plus but commonly known as the ‘golden visa’, has put pay-for-residency back in the headlines. While many object to the commodification of citizenship implicit in this policy, questions should be asked about its potential as ...
One Christmas, to thank him for helping me hugely with my writing (on a mentor scheme), I sent Michael King a dark blue cashmere scarf. I chose it with the awful knowledge that he was battling cancer, and I somehow thought it might keep him warm and make him feel ...
Comment: Readers may recall the commentaries from academics that appeared on these pages as well as on many media outlets, alarmed and appalled by the disbanding of the Marsden panels for humanities and the social sciences.The Marsden Fund is a “blue skies” initiative established by Simon Upton in the 1990s. ...
The same councillors who decry excessive spending on pet projects just voted to pump millions of dollars into a greenhouse for flowers. On Thursday last week, Wellington City Council voted to consult on repairing Begonia House, the greenhouse for exotic flowers in Wellington Botanic Garden. The options for repairs range ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard seven hours of submissions. Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.An “insult to every one of our tīpuna” was the first advice the Justice Committee heard on the Treaty principles bill ...
It’s important to respect people’s right to free speech and peaceful assembly, but how much political deference is due when it isn’t peaceful? Commenting on Destiny Church members storming a children’s event at the Te Atatū library and community centre on Saturday, prime minister Christopher Luxon said it’s important to ...
Comment: US is capitulating to Moscow’s demands before negotiations over Ukraine even begin The post The day the West died appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 18 February appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Two Palestinian resistance groups have condemned “the brutal assault” on prisoners at Ofer Prison, saying it was “barbaric criminal behaviour that reflects the fascist and terrorist nature of” Israel. In the joint statement, Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called the attack a “miserable attempt” by Israel ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown hopes to have “an opportunity to talk” with the New Zealand government to “heal some of the rift”. Brown returned to Avarua on Sunday afternoon (Cook Islands Time) following his week-long state visit to China, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia R. Grover, Clinical Professor of Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Menstruation, or a period, is the bleeding that occurs about monthly in healthy people born with a uterus, from puberty to menopause. This happens when the endometrium, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ella Barclay, Senior Lecturer, School of Art and Design, Australian National University Despite the perceived outrage at Khaled Sabsabi’s depiction of Hassan Nasrallah in his 2007 work You, Australian art has long made subjects of outlaws and questionable figures. And it is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Honorary Research Associate, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney Lisa Tomasetti/Opera Australia “It’s an old song”, Hermes (Christine Anu) sings at the opening of Hadestown, but “we’re gonna sing it again and again”. Based on a ...
An additional $13 million will be invested in tourism infrastructure, including upgrading huts and resolving the backlog in Milford Sound concessions. ...
The reality is that we have no obligation to tolerate the intolerant. They are using violence to shut down and silence others. The result of tolerating intolerant views is the loss of everyone’s freedom of speech except for the one who most effectively ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University Adwo/Shutterstock Humans have been poisoning rodents for centuries. But fast-breeding rats and mice have evolved resistance to earlier poisons. In response, manufacturers have produced second generation anticoagulant rodenticides such as bromadiolone, widely ...
Alex Casey unearths Simon Court’s full sales pitch for how menstrual cups could end poverty. On Friday last week, Act MP Simon Court was accused of “mansplaining” during a parliamentary committee hearing about benefit sanctions. After submitter Rachel Dibble shared her concerns about period poverty and the impact that sanctions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
I am getting sick of reposting all the terrible climate change disasters that come through my inbox. And have generally stopped doing it.
But Fiji is different, because it gives us a glimpse of the future for all of us.
With their agricultural areas devastated, many are sheltering in sodden makeshift shelters, all that remains of their dwellings demolished by the last named super storm, Winston, while record breaking rains from an unnamed storm raise water to waist height in public streets, meanwhile another repeat named hurricane, Zena, barrels down on them.
Under these conditions maintaining the infrastructure that makes civilisation possible are frayed to the point of permanent collapse.
It has become clear to me that the age of fossil fuel use must come to an end now. Not in twenty years, not in ten years.
Not in some kick it down the road fantasy, Where politicians announce some nebulous date where some future administration will take action.
That action needs to be taken now.
Starting with the planned closure of all coal mines in this country.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/78639882/fiji-on-high-alert-for-second-tropical-cyclone-landfall-in-six-weeks-as-zena-approaches
Instead of planning the shut down of our fossil fuel infrastructure, our political leaders are planning to ramp it up. The plan is to ramp up fossil fuel production with new coal mines, in both the North and South Island. And deep sea oil drilling off our coasts.
I was recently talking to a Fonterra executive and he told me that they operate under “economic constraints” and will not stop their burning of coal, or their conversions of crop lands to dairying, until they are reined in by government regulation.
Methane from agriculture is New Zealand’s biggest contribution to climate change.
Globally coal is the number one cause of climate change.
Fonterra continue to ramp up both, in an unsustainable and unregulated manner.
Despite brutally laying off hundreds of workers from the underground mining industry, in Greymouth and Huntly. The government and the industry hypocritically claim it is all about jobs.
Meanwhile opening, less labour intensive, but more environmentally destructive, open cast mines in both the South and North Islands of this country.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/75414769/Open-cast-coal-mine-proposed-for-Westport
Only one?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/78560118/first-section-of-new-brooklyn-wind-turbine-goes-up-without-a-hitch
This is a joke.
Hi Jenny. What do you mean “a joke”?
The old turbine wasn’t up to scratch any more and is being replaced by the new one, which as the article states will power 490 homes. The previous one powered 110 homes.
The Brooklyn wind turbine is more a well loved iconic feature of the skyline than a nose to the grindstone wind farm……….. You will be aware of the two fully functioning wind farms in Wellington I assume?
West wind powers approximately 62,000 standard homes:
https://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/about-us/our-power-stations/wind/west-wind
Mill Creek powers approximately 30,000 homes:
https://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/about-us/our-power-stations/wind/mill-creek
Hi Rosie, in answer to your question of why I think just one is a joke.
“Windfarm backtrack costs hundreds of jobs”
Instead of investing in windfarms the government blew a total of $255 million in two attempted bail outs of Solid Energy, only for it to go bust, taking all that tax payer’s money with it.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/taxpayers-kiss-goodbye-to-128m-bailout-for-solid-energy-q05550
How could the government have been so stupid?
I think the reason can be found in the government and in particular, the Prime Minister’s views denying the impact of climate change. Views which obviously are behind much of National’s economic strategy.
Act-shully, it’s not that bad
Sorry Jenny. I don’t really get your angle. Like I mentioned there are two wind farms in Wellington. Mill Creek in Ohariu has 26 turbines, 18 of which I have a glorious view of from my place, and West Wind in Makara has I don’t how many but it’s around a similar number.
So, we don’t just have one turbine in Wellington……………..and yes, more of them were installed……………Or are you talking about the planned wind farms in the South Island whose plans were scuttled due to a lack of private funding? It’s not entirely clear.
As for the Key govt’s lack of action on climate change and their backwards looking view, you’re preaching to the converted!
Both the Greens and Winston Peters on Morning Report have come out against this and a professor of banking has said that KiwiBank is being sold at 40% less than its market value …and can be sold off down the track
‘Banking expert says the Kiwi Group deal below market value’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/businessnews/audio/201796083/banking-expert-says-the-kiwi-group-deal-below-market-value
‘ACT says Government should get some guts on Kiwibank’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201796080/act-says-government-should-get-some-guts-on-kiwibank
( Goldman Sachs waiting in the shadows )
This is another well timed move as panama papers and a prominent nz’er potentially put focus on shonkys crew, cant have that now.
Step up sir cullen, theres a good boy perhaps another sinecure in it if you do well.
Labour should disassociate themselves from Cullen…he is a jonkey Nact stooge…already betrayed New Zealanders on the overseas spying on New Zealanders bill
They have another ex-Labour cabinet minister working for them to as deputy head of Environment Canterbury – David Caygill – one of the prime architects of introducing monetarism to New Zealand.
http://fossils-archeology.wikia.com/wiki/File:265681d1398449745t-what-whaa-positive-blackberry-mr-burns-excellent-1.jpg
Don’t hold your breath Chooky. I wasn’t exactly reassured by Grant Robertson’s view on the sale of KB, on Radio Active this a.m.
http://thestandard.org.nz/kiwibank-partial-sell-off/#comment-1157207
Hasn’t Parker already said it’s a good idea?
thanks.
Grant Robertson and Labour in general working to keep capitalism. They seem to think that capitalism can continue when it’s obvious that it can’t as it simply doesn’t work.
I’d say that they’re too wrapped up in being part of the 1%.
Clinton shows real face on CNN last night. Let me, let you read the statement yourself then watch the video.
“The Clinton campaign has been watching these Wisconsin results come in, and the delegate race of course is tight there, but the reality is they’re running out of patience. So they’re going to begin deploying a new strategy, it’s going to be called disqualify him, defeat him and then they can unify the party later.”
It seems to me we have seen this from Clinton before with her treatment of Barrack Obama. What was that awful campaign again. Oh that right – she tried to “Make Him UN-American” That was just bloody awful, and showed how much of a reactionary Clinton really is.
So…Clinton will lose. It’s that simple. She’s following the same tactic (a kind of Project Fear) that was used against the SNP as well as against Jeremy Corbyn…and look how those contests panned out. 🙂
No seems to be too concerned that a huge amount of the steel mesh made by Steel & Tube and used as concrete re-inforcing over the past few years may not be up to standard and not resilient in earthquakes. I wonder if they are even going to be able to find out given all of it is actually stuck in the middle of concrete blocks of already constructed buildings in Christchurch and elsewhere. If they can’t find out, then I wonder if these buildings will require further reinforcing to insure they are up to scratch or be condemned.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/300799/steel-mesh-found-to-fail-strength-tests
Oh come on what is the chance of an earthquake in Christchuirch. Wait a minute …..
There was this exchange on 60 Minutes back in 2008.
..as far as I know. Weasel-worded accusation that our ridiculous PM would be proud to use.
On the theme of the world view of the wealthy. (Think Panama Papers)
From “Starlight Peninsula” by Charlotte Grimshaw. pg. 206. 2015
The author is speaking of the residents of a fictional Remuera. (I think it’s Remuera going by the geographical description).
“This is where the affluent lived and and rejoiced in the gap – the gap between the rich and the poor. Because what would be the point of being rich if everyone else was rich too? Look how far away the poor were! The further away they got, the more enjoyable everything was. And it was clearer once you’d arrived. Obv”.
Good explanation. The author goes on to discuss the “hilarity and tolerant mirth that ideas like wealth distribution and fairness were met with around these parts”
These kinds of observations of the attitudes of the super wealthy seem to be covered in the tv drama “Filthy Rich” too.
You might not see the attitudes of the super wealthy examined in the msm but you do see it examined in NZ music, literature and drama.
Charlotte Grimshaw always has a canny way of bringing current social and political issues into her characters lives. The blurb on “Starlight Peninsula”
http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/charlotte-grimshaw/starlight-peninsula-9781775538226.aspx
Anyone who followed Kim Dot Com’s story would be interested in her Kim Dot Com character – Kurt Hartmann. Quite amusing.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/03/student-accused-of-violating-university-safe-space-by-raising-he/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&cid=sf23608950&sf23608950=1
– Crickey
Sure, she’s an idiot for supporting Israel but that is going too far.
Good on her for the courage of her convictions you mean
Convictions that are wrong are still wrong no matter how courageous the person who holds them is. Holding wrong convictions when there is so much evidence showing her that she’s wrong makes her an idiot.
Shes right in this case though and, in true left wing style, was nearly silenced
No, she wasn’t and it’s not specifically Left-wing to silence people. That’s authoritarian. And most authoritarians can be found on the political-right.
Seriously? I’m sure all socialist and communist dictators are freedom loving beatnicks
How to tell a communist nation: i>It has participatory democracy and no leaders
No such thing as a communist dictator – if it’s a dictator it’s not communist. Totalitarian – badly dressed fascists.
No, most authoritarians can be found where power can be found.
Check out the ‘successful’ right wing way of permanently silencing lefties …
http://www.actofkilling.com/ ….. you can watch the trailer there.
Or the “shock doctrine” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
The school of Americas teaches how its done …………….. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Institute_for_Security_Cooperation#Graduates_of_the_School_of_the_Americas
School of the Americas Watch.
(renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001).
http://www.soaw.org/index.php
How on earth does one ‘raise their arms in disagreement’?
http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/parts_body_language/arm_body_language.htm
Seriously? ‘Throwing their arms up in frustration’ sounds a lot worse than ‘raising my arms in disagreement’. Not sure I’ve ever seen either done in a meeting, and I’ve seen some pretty pissed off people in meetings.
Makes me wonder whether it’s “PC gone mad” or “obnoxious dick disciplined for trying to railroad meeting”.
You’re sooooooo predictable, Puckers. That story comes direct from one of today’s Kiwiblog Posts. No need for independent thought – just let Mr Farrar provide the day’s attack lines for you.
The ever-shrinking Israel lobby on University campuses has a long history of making highly-dubious “Anti-Semitism” smears and claims of marginalisation and oppression by other students. Whenever analysts look into the claims, they almost always turn out to be either peripheral or complete nonsense. Usually part of yet another pre-planned PR campaign to close down growing criticism of Israel’s brutal 50 year Occupation and Annexation of Palestinian land. But you can always be sure those sort of spurious claims make the front page of the dear old Daily Telegraph.
Zionism is an aggressive militant political nationalism. Nothing to do with religion, although that is what it hides behind. As a European sourced militant political nationalism, Zionism has plenty of parallels with another European sourced militant political nationalism which also developed around the 1920s and 1930s.
Hence the familiar sounding and fierce moral justification of the ghettoisation and semi-regular mass slaughter of Palestinians and their children in Gaza.
Yep.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06082014/#comment-861468
Ahhhhh thanks, swordfish.
Beneficiaries overwhelm support event in Mangere
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/beneficiaries-overwhelm-support-event-in-mangere-2016040517#axzz451x8lzSn
The way the Kiwibank sale works is like this (using simple numbers):
Now:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets now: $20,000m
Kiwibank Value owned by government now:$1,000m
Government forces Cullen Fund/ACC to buy 45% of Kiwibank
Cullen Fund/ACC sells shares worth $450m in order to buy $450m of Kiwibank
Result:
Cullen Fund/ACC assets $20,000m
Kiwibank owned by government $550m
Money available for tax cuts $450m
The effect is that National is reducing state-owned capital assets in order to finance a short-term tax cut bribe.
Of course they are denying that the Cullen Fund/ACC are being forced to buy Kiwibank, but that is yet another big lie for the BLiP list. Questions should be asked about this as these funds are supposed to be independent.
who is buying the Superfund/ACC shares?
They have a portfolio that they manage and trade on the open market like anyone else.
ok, thanks, I did’t know that.
David Parker says Michael Cullen has come up with a briliant idea. These two are the top, most highly experienced, Labour Party finance brains in the country.
What’s your problem with it. Get in behind and support the team.
Two years in the making, the Hillsborough inquest jurors have retired to consider their verdict.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11618191
https://twitter.com/hboroinquests
http://hillsboroughinquests.independent.gov.uk/
Previously on TS –
joe90 40
9 April 2013 at 5:25 pm
Perhaps now that Thatcher is dead there’ll be a little light shed on her role in the Hillsborough cover up.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19584313
Cracker obit too.
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/the_death_of_a_class_warrior_margaret_thatcher_1925_2013
joe90 30
5 September 2013 at 7:01 pm
Hillsborough’s dead and dying were pickpocketed. By the police.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hillsborough-police-paid-money-found-among-the-dead-into-forces-coffers-8793702.html
Pike River chair John Dow and co-defendants walked away.
Four months after former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was found guilty for his role in a 2010 mining disaster that killed 29 miners, he has been sentenced to the maximum one year in prison and another year of supervised release.
Judge Irene Berger also imposed a maximum $250,000 fine, which is due immediately, West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Dave Mistich reports for NPR’s Newscast unit.
“Blankenship was convicted in December of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws — a misdemeanor,” Mistich said. “The charge stemmed from an investigation into the April 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine near Montcoal [W.Va.] that killed 29 men.”
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/06/473256648/former-coal-executive-don-blankenship-sentenced-to-1-year-in-prison
I see in the Herald Nick Smith has announced a further 36 Special Housing Areas in Auckland, glancing down the list I see that the areas are mostly around the periphery of Auckland with the exception of an area of Manukau Road in Epsom. Odd how there isn’t one listed in the “leafy” suburbs. Bloody typical really of how there is one law for one lot of us and another for the wealthy. Would be too much to suggest that maybe people on lower incomes might welcome living closer to the city to save on petrol or public transport fares. Seems logical and sensible to me. But then, what would I know.
That be to sensible Whispering Kate.
Nick Smith makes Rottweilers look smart.
John Key when asked about the Panama Papers
“Has anyone seen my hat ” then he left and there was a gunshot ,no not John Key, John Doe ,Yep that quick vanished .
Act-shully – It’s not that bad –
The new face of climate change denial:
Maybe John Key could tell it to the Fijians.
If I say it is not happening. It’s Not Happening! John Key
Really fucking sad that the article is misleadingly headed “Scientists blame El Nino, warming for ‘gruesome’ coral death.”
I know there’s a comma in there, but seriously, how many people are going to read that as scientists blaming El Nino and warming, rather than El Nino warming?
And that’s ignoring the fact that scientists are actually saying El Nino is only exacerbating global warming. So if the article heading was aiming to be even half way accurate, it would be saying something like “Scientists blame global warming and El Nino for ‘gruesome’ coral death”
It is sad Bill, in fact it is more than sad, it’s tragic and criminal, because it is just this sort of obfuscation and downplaying of climate change, and its current and future consequences, that is common right throughout the establishment media and both the main establishment parties.
It is like people know what to say and what not to say.
And what you are not allowed to say, is anything that will upset the current status quo of business as usual.
Opening new coal mining operations, supporting deep sea oil prospecting and drilling, spending $billions on new motorways, while starving public transport of funding.
The sort of practices that would be challenged if the mainstream media, including social media pundits and commentators started taking climate change seriously.