The previous government, under National’s control, got the ball rolling on Nongfu Springs’ potential investment but it was signed off in June by Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage.
The application has prompted community groups to come together and appeal the consent application.
Whakatane resident Mawera Karetai, who has a masters in environmental studies, told Newstalk ZB not enough was known about the aquifer to be taking water out of it.
“I have a particular interest in water and I have quite serious concerns that we don’t know enough about the aquifer,” she said.
“We don’t know how long it takes for the aquifer to recharge, all of the reports that were generated are full of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’.
“There’s a lot of information missing and a decision has still been made. I think that’s wrong.”
Has the appeal by local Maori against extending the existing water-extraction right under the RMA got a result yet? I agree with her that the viability of the aquifer is the crucial issue. I doubt that scientific expertise is capable of measuring aquifers.
“I doubt that scientific expertise is capable of measuring aquifers”
Very easy to do. Look up something like HB regional council. They use both observations of aquifer pressure from monitoring bores and existing wells and computer modelling for the large aquifers under Heretaunga plains around Hastings. https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/hawkes-bay/aquifers/
HBRC operates more than 100 wells for monitoring short and long term changes in groundwater levels and quality. We monitor key water quality indicators such as nitrate-nitrogen, bacteria levels (Escherichia coli or E. coli), dissolved iron, dissolved manganese, and total hardness. That is of course what science is about.
The reality is the actual water take at Otakiri Springs is a tiny fraction of the aquifer flow in lower Rangitaiki.
In this instance the bottling plant has been operation without effects for some time, the application was to have a larger land area around the existing plant.
“I wish we could put a stop to bottling water altogether and have little springs to refill reusable bottles everywhere.”
Asleep , only a few places have artesian supplies. So no springs everywhere like you say.
There is that other thing which no doubt you must use . Its called a tap from city supply.
Artesian water that isnt used mostly flows out to sea. I HB they have hundreds of wells and marge larger quantities that the bottling plant are taken for residential and industrial use –
The bore pressure is down compared to decades back but the water hasnt run out, but isnt of course an infinite supply.
Getting one group leader to signoff, selling a property right, before the real assessment of value and full community has been consulted, so historical.
Of course Pakeha also have interests, so it’s strange that Maori groups would suggest implicitly all those historic grievances, were fine. Selling land water what’s the diff.
Takes outs from the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings?
I once sat as a juror on a child sex abuse trial. The evidence from the victim was powerful, compelling and left the jury a wreck and ready to convict, convict, convict. The next day, the defense demolished the crown case and the jury was left confused, and weighed down by their duties. For the record, the case then collapsed.
The point is, I have had direct experience of where unchallenged testimony is always powerful, emotional and compelling. But mere accusation is not evidence and in a world where the law must, by definition, be rules and evidence based you cannot attack someone with merely an emotional response to a powerful story and expect to succeed beyond your partisan choir. Down that road lies nothing but trouble and anarchy.
Therefore I think the following:
1/ Democrats – and US liberals in general – haven’t learnt a single damn thing from the defeat of Hillary Clinton. Kavanaugh could have been crucified on his views on abortion, womans reproductive rights, the powers of an imperial president. Instead, his nomination was fought on the basis of a decades old sex assault allegation. The US Liberal elite are just as enthusiastic for endless culture wars as the right. But they always lose that fight – the Democrat poll lead that had them in the box seat for the mid terms is now under threat – https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/poll-kavanaugh-hearing-galvanized-republicans-erasing-dem-enthusiasm-edge
2/ The US liberal class simply won’t talk about what counts – the destruction of the US working and artisan classes, wages, the drug epidemic, the health care crisis. They’d rather inflate Russian interference into a liberal Dolchstoßlegende (the “stab in the back myth” of interway Germany) moment and line up alongside a deeply corrupt political establishment in an endless, bitter culture war.
3/ The culture wars may have gone beyond the point of no return in the USA. That in turn points to the collapse of the current USA political system sometime in the next 20-30 years. Who knows what will happen then, although anyone who has studied the devastating Thirty Years war will know how vicious wars that seek to open windows into the soul can be.
4/ The US constitution as imagined in the 20th century is dead. It has been powerless to stop massive corruption, authoritarian partisan politics and has given rise to an Imperial presidency which will soon, by courtesy of a stacked Supreme court, be placed above the rule of law. Erdogan’s Turkey, Orban’s Hungary, Putin’s Russia, Trump’s America. All peas in the same pod.
5/ The only hope for the USA lies with the progressive democrats, who are willing to talk about the real issues that impact on the lives of real Americans. They may have to fight a new civil war to achieve anything – unless the US breaks up.
This sort of doom casting about the United States has been raised at various times over the last 50 years.
The United States is not going to descend into civil war. Yes, people are passionate, but are things as roiled up as they were in the Vietnam War? I think not.
Elections roll around every 2 years in the US. Elections change things. Trump now, who knows in just two years.
The Constitution is not dead. It works every single day. It is why the United States is the democracy that it is. Being so hard to change provides its own protection. The United States is flawed no doubt, but it is a much better alternative to say Putin and Erdogan.
The mid terms could eliminate the republican senate edge. Paul Ryan isn’t restanding as one example as polling tells him he’s gone burger.
Many other ‘safe’ seats are no longer under the Donald’s man child reign as the chooks roost back home and even some republicans realise he needs a counterweight.
There are a few things you may like to think about
1. Ryan’s got 65% of the vote last election and he usually does better in the mid-terms.
2. He was widely reported as going to quit for a long time before he actually made his announcement. Trying to get policy through for a nut like Trump was soul destroying.
3. His going won’t have any effect on the Senate, regardless of what you might think. After all he is in the House of Representatives, not the Senate.
Wayne
You are merely parroting things you have always said. Appealing to your own higher authority!
I do not see how you can consider that the USA is ‘a much better alternative’ to Putin and Erdogan. It is in the same part of the spectrum that they are in, and just shows different variables.
Funnily enough, Wayne, many of us have lost confidence in the ridiculous, not very truly democratic (note the small d, and the real meaning) system.
‘Proper democracy’ as you call it? – bullshit.
You love the superficial, don’t you?
But Wayne a superficial look at the USA would show to the interested that much of what you have said is not true.
Are you into truthiness?
Just because you have listed the accepted theme for the political play du jour or de decade, doesn’t mean that you should go around quoting those lines as if they are the received wisdom of the Gods.
It’s a curious thing Dahlian polyarchy – in its own way as stagnant as the worst aspects of late Confucianism. The deadlock created by the separation of powers is not fast on its feet enough to respond to real issues like declining real wages, environmental degradation, or an overcapitalized low production economy.
Yes, it’s better than Putin’s Russia. Just not much better.
Sanctuary. I try not to avoid doing +1’s just for the sake of it. But I’m compelled to express a very strong agreement and respect for your comment above. Especially your third para.
Sexual crimes were traditionally considered to be of similar gravity and consequence as homicide, but were always far more difficult to prosecute by their very nature. Homicide is rare, and the victim even more rarely consents to it. By contrast non-violent sex is exceedingly commonplace and almost always consented to; it’s only the relatively rare exceptions which are of interest to the law.
In earlier times the law more or less confined itself to dealing with the most egregious sexual offences, involving violence, gross physical coercion and obvious forensic consequences. If an investigation could uncover forensic and corroborating witnesses, a prosecution would be no more challenging than your usual homicide.
However in recent times we’ve expanded the definition of sexual assault so that at the margins it blurs onto the wide range of relatively commonplace sexual behaviours. Very often, as with Ford, there is no forensic or corroborating evidence, and it simply comes down to a matter of credibility. Which as you say, is by itself insufficient in every sense of the word and a prosecutors nightmare.
Worse still we know that for many reasons, not all allegations are supportable. We only have a vague idea what fraction; I’ve read people make arguments for numbers as low as 2% right up to 40%. (Don’t flame me on this, I’m agnostic on the metric.) But we do know that our legal system is floundering, and the very understandable reactions on both sides of the deal are becoming increasingly anguished and polarised.
“…However in recent times we’ve expanded the definition of sexual assault so that at the margins it blurs onto the wide range of relatively commonplace sexual behaviours…”
Well, Ford’s claims amount to sexual assault in any era, and IMHO Kavanaugh looks and sounds like the sort of asshole entitled frat boy who might have behaved that way. However, they are *just* her claims and that is *just* my opinion of the guy and there is no actual solid additional evidence to support those two things either way, and that means we have no alternative narrative of events that may simply reduce things to the crime of being found guilty now for things that were not seen as a crime then.
No one knows, which is why this is such a weak issue for a full blown partisan attack on the GOP/Trump’s nomination for the Supreme court.
Attack the guy on his record, on the facts, on his rank professional unsuitability to do the job, not some some liberal “fake news” outrage around decades old allegations of personal improprieties. The first option will eventually win you the war. The second will just ensure more paralysis in bitter trench warfare.
Well, Ford’s claims amount to sexual assault in any era,
According to her narrative I have to agree. But work with me on this; hypothetically how hard would it be to enlarge on this story. Three kids headed up to the bedroom for some monkey business. A mix of typical teenage bravado, risk-taking, alcohol and a total unawareness of consequences. Throw in a complete lack of honest and effective communication … also a standard feature of teenage life.
And then one of them realises a bit late she’s in deeper than she’s prepared for and tries to back out. One of the guys is focussed on taking the initiative and pushing for action (it’s what guys are expected to do) and for a few moments there’s a complete mismatch of expectation, she wants out, he thinks he’s being smart and cool. Fortunately his less involved mate intervenes and within moments it’s all over. 38 years later and everyone recalls it quite differently, if at all.
Let me be clear, my version doesn’t represent anything like a smart or good idea. But I think all of us can relate to things we did as teenagers which were dumb ideas and in hindsight we’re only grateful we grew out of that. And most certainly when it comes to a ‘job interview’ we’d be shocked if our youthful past came back to haunt us quite so dramatically.
To wrap this however, I don’t want to distract to far from your original brilliant comment. In some sense Andre is right, the USA has been through torrid straits in the past and survived. But the internet does amplifying things for better or worse, and the degree of manifest philosophical polarisation is fearful.
You propose that they should have
“Attack the guy on his record, on the facts, on his rank professional unsuitability to do the job”
The American Bar Association, in their September 7 report to Congress on the nomination gave Kavanaugh a rating of “well qualified” which is the highest rating they have.
Can you explain why you think your opinion of his abilities is somehow superior to theirs?
the ABA is looking again at Kavanaugh as they now have reason to doubt on one of the 3 criteria they evaluate : Judicial Temperament.
he got quite rancourous when asked about his drinking habits.
Damn right. Even putting his lies to one side, he acted like a spoilt brat at the hearings. Entitlement. Privilege. No gravitas or integrity exhibited. The ABA could easily decide that his performance changed their view of him. If they take into consideration that compilation of the evidence that he lied, they’d have a sound basis to recommend that congress impeach the turkey.
The road to a USA Supreme Court judge has twists and turns. i remember the story of Clarence Thomas’ accession to the thrones, which was amazing to a naive believer in the great ole’ country of law and ethical people etc. He is a black judge which was an important consideration, as bringing balance to a white-dominated line-up. Unfortunately the role model aspect for USA citizens was not served by choosing Thomas. The racial affect overwhelmed the quality and experience affect, in the decision makers minds; they definitely were not looking for the best and right candidate for Judge, and particularly wanted the continuing bias to a right-wing, Conservative viewpoint that had grown to dominance after good ole’ Ronald Reagan. https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2018/09/midterm-time-capsule-52-days-to-go-rush-to-judgment-on-kavanaugh/570391/
https://www.thecut.com/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-and-clarence-thomas-history-repeats-itself.html Now, Professor Ford may testify before the Senate, in an eerie reliving of Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony on the eve of Justice Clarence Thomas’s confirmation. Hill had to recount, on a national stage, the sexual harassment that she says Thomas subjected to her while working at Department of Education and the EEOC (charged with enforcing civil rights!). Thomas, Hill testified, would call her into his office to to tell them about how he enjoyed watching pornography featuring rape scenes and an actor named Long Dong Silver.
Her argument is not based, however, on the infamous workplace sexual harassment allegations lodged against Thomas by Anita Hill during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991, or even those brought forward by Moira Smith in October 2016.Supreme-Court-Justice-Clarence-Thomas.html
When will it ever end and the USA tidy itself and live up to its own hype? At present this debacle shows it is deja vu, all over again.
Looking.
Well no. They asked that a vote be postponed until the FBI had investigated. Well it has investigated, found, surprise, surprise, nothing and he was voted into the job.
The ABA never changed their recommendation.
However, and much more to the point.
Sanctuary was arguing that they should have attacked Kavanaugh on his record and unsuitability rather than old sexual misbehaviour claims.
If they had they would have been laughed out of the hearings given the top rating given by the ABA. There wouldn’t have been any emotional reaction from Kavanaugh either so there would have been no reason for the ABA to reconsider.
1/ A large part of the early part of the hearings actually was about Kavanaugh’s views on reproductive rights, imperial presidency etc. Where Kavanaugh easily evaded saying anything remotely controversial, so it was all a bit of a yawnfest, and Kavanaugh was cruising to an easy confirmation with all Repugs and a few red state Dems voting yes. But nothing fires up passions like issues around actually having sex, on both sides, for good and bad.
2/ You’re misrepresenting what actually is being talked about. There’s plenty going on about healthcare, opioids, hollowing out the middle class etc. Sure it gets lost in the shade a bit when there’s a high-profile lurid shitshow going on DC, but if you actually look at what the Senate, House, state and local candidates are talking about, you’ll find most are strongly focused on those issues.
3/ Culture wars have always been a big thing, and maybe 50 of the last 3 or or 4 “points of no return” have been clear when they were actually happening. It’s going to be at least the end of 2020 before there’s any kind of real sense of whether anything has really changed.
4/ There have been plenty of attempted imperial presidencies before now. By people considerably more competent than the combover con. So I would be very surprised if he can actually pull it off over the long term, the real damage done by stacking the courts notwithstanding.
5/ If the US as a whole is to change course, it needs many more moderate Conor Lambs that can win in red districts than it needs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes that can only win in deep blue districts. And it needs the fringe to be able to go to the polling booths, swallow hard, and vote for the most progressive candidate that actually can win.
You say that
” Kavanaugh could have been crucified on his views on abortion, womans reproductive rights, the powers of an imperial president”.
The problem is that you don’t really know what they are and that one can never tell until he is actually on the Supreme Court bench and a case comes up.
Anyone appearing before a Senate Committee these days simply refuses to give their opinion on these matters.
In Kavanaugh’s appearances he said things like.
“During his first round of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh said he views Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, as “important precedent of the Supreme Court” that has been “reaffirmed many times.” Yet he declined to say he would not vote to reverse Roe, saying that such a vow — on any case — would violate judicial norms.”.
Then he said
“During his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh declined to elaborate on his views on executive power or protections for a president who might face an investigation and subpoena.
When Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Kavanaugh if a sitting president could be compelled to respond to a subpoena, he declined to offer his views. “I can’t give you an answer on that hypothetical question,” he said.”
He simply refused to answer such questions and to have done so would have, as I am sure any lawyer would tell you, disqualify him from hearing cases.
An interesting local case involving precedent was Dotcoms extradition, a previous court of appeal case had a kiwi local avoiding extradition to US for ‘racketeering’- exactly as KDC.
Guess what the Court just decided to ignore that precedent ( which they can do) as it didnt suit their purpose and Finlaysons pick on the career path for a future Chief Justice , Appeal Court President Kos was on that case.
Doesnt look like Kos will get that job now that we have a new government. Elias is 69 now and retirement age is 70. boo hoo.
Kos -2011 High Court, 2015 Appeal Court, 2016 President Appeal Court ( who decides which cases judges sit on). I think that pathway was going to be Chief Justice in 2019 ?
“His words were just a well crafted non answer thought out before hand”.
Of course they were. Candidates who answer in anything other than generalities get into trouble so they don’t say anything significant.
Look at what happened to Robert Bork who actually seemed well qualified but was attacked by the Democrats. He really did answer all the questions. Opposing Senators didn’t care. They were going to oppose anyone at all who Reagan nominated.
” Senate Democrats had asked liberal leaders to form a “solid phalanx” to oppose an “ideological extremist” replacement to Powell”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork_Supreme_Court_nomination
It doesn’t change my argument of course. We have absolutely no way of really knowing what Kavanaugh’s views are and we won’t until he starts making them from the Supreme Court bench..
My point is, and I thought I made it abundantly clear, is that since Bork got done over, nominees hoping to get appointed DON’T say anything other than to give non-answers.
Garland never even got a hearing. That stank. To not even give him a hearing was merely taking the partisanship one step further than it had been over the last 40 years.
Appointments to the Supreme Court have been getting more bitterly party political since about 1970. Prior to that the appointees generally got through fairly cleanly. There were occasional exceptions like Abe Fortas but he was a pretty iffy, and sniffy, specimen when Johnson put him up for Chief Justice.
The idea of a new civil war in the US is ridiculous. the circumstances that lead to the initial civil war in the States were unique and rooted in the historical tension in the distribution of political power between the Northern and Southern States which the expansion of the the US to the West exacerbated. The Southern States did not wish to be dominated by the more populous and industrialised North. Hence why they broke away. There is no indication that significant elements of the US feel the need to break away.
Only if you constrain your analysis to territorial concerns. But Ad didn’t draw a comparison on that basis; he pointed instead to the Thirty Year War driven by deep philosophical (theological even) differences:
Prior to WW1 it was probably the most bloody conflict in human history, and the lesson the West derived it still informs our instincts around the separation of church and state to this day.
Even the Thirty years war had territorial concerns. The political struggles could not have occurred without the various nations and semi-independent political entities taking sides. It is why the majority Protestant nations are concentrated in the Northern parts of Europe and the majority Catholic nations in the South.
It was a balance of power thing as well. They were careful to admit territories as new states to maintain the balance of slave states and free states.
The underlying reasons there were that each state had 2 senators . Much as its is now the balance of senators decides things.
Example after the civil war was the Dakota territory which was split into 2 states with 4 instead of 2 senators as an example of the then Ruling republicans increasing their power in senate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Territory
Not really any more territories to admit as states – unless Washington DC which has similar population as the smallest states – Vermont and Wyoming are smaller.
Puerto Rico and Samoa Territories have other difficulties.
The Presidential electoral college is an absurd thing but unlikely the small states will allow changes, but one better balalncing change is electoral votes only on the numbers of congresspersons , not like it is now Senators and Congresspersons. As every state has 2 senators no matter what while every state has minimum of 1 congressperson ( 7 states) and are fairly well balanced by population for the rest.
What would happen if there is major event like an assassination attempt on Trump and his family ?
If Trump survived he would change the definition of ‘unhinged’
Agreed with this view here sanctuary up on (2) 100%
The Senate and President Trump must indict George Soros for his activities to change the voting in our elections using his “ill gotten money” but his cabal is denying any wrongdoing. – Surprise suprise!!!.
“George Soros has zero ownership or involvement in our company. Smartmatic has no ties to political parties or groups in any country and it abides by a strict code of ethics that forbids the company from donating to any political campaigns of any kind.”
Kavanaugh wasnt accused of a crime he was doing a ‘job interview’
The things that occur at a trial didnt happen here, he wasnt aquitted or convicted. If voted down he would have gone back to his existing job, like other job applicants would do.
Squillionaire rocks up to airport customs Kiwi Values Test, goes “I’m just an unassuming billionaire with plans to build an apocalypse proof bolt-hole for myself and my cronies.”
Reply:
“That’s zero out of five for egalitarianism………
…… which luckily hasn’t been a kiwi value since the 80s.”
Not only that, cruise ships are exempt from the ‘conservation tourist’ tax of a pathetic $35 and are highly polluting in every way.
Last day today to oppose in submissions, although completely understand many don’t bother anymore due to being ignored repeatedly in public submissions from Supercity to unity plan – Auckland council have trained people that public submissions are a waste of time because you will be ignored!
“Our reasons for objecting to the proposed ‘dolphins’ are:
An unnecessary 90 metre extension into the Waitemata Harbour from Queens Wharf into the busiest and most publically significant part of the harbour – something current political leaders including government Ministers, all opposed at the last election.
Queens Wharf was purchased by the Auckland Council and the Government to be our premier waterfront space, our marae atea, connecting the city with the harbour – berthing the oversized vessels on Queens Wharf industrialises and commercialises the “Peoples Wharf”.
Queens Wharf is a Cat-1 listed Heritage place, including the views to and from the end of the wharf. The mooring buoys and gangway will severely impact these features. A 35 year consent is not for a temporary facility as alleged. “There is nothing more permanent than a temporary structure.”
The extension of Queens Wharf with concrete 15m x 15m mooring structures and gangways is an ad-hoc, inappropriate solution to allow mega-cruise ships to dock 3 to7 days only a year. It is not aligned with Council’s long-term waterfront planning objectives as underway in the Central Wharves Strategy that propose Captain Cooks wharf as the prime cruise ship berth.
We believe the Market Economics economic report used as justification for extending Queens Wharf has used exaggerated revenue figures and does not use Cost Benefit Analysis methodology correctly.
We believe alternative arrangements for these mega-ships should be managed within the existing Port, as the Queen Mary 2 has been accommodated previously.”
Air quality on cruise ship deck ‘worse than world’s most polluted cities’, investigation finds
‘Each day a cruise ship emits as much particulate matter as a million cars’
“Speaking to the Dispatches team, Daniel Rieger, of the German environment association NABU (Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union), said: “Ships cause not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
“Per day one cruise ship emits as much particulate matter as a million cars. So 30 cruise ships pollute as much as all the cars in the United Kingdom.”
Dont they only have generators running in port , not the huge engines driving propellers ?
I think as well they are considering Princes Wharf to get mains power connections for Cruise ships ?
Crazy, POA is ‘supposed’ to be owned by the ratepayers but through various COO structures answers to no-one, kills employees, and now they (aka ratepayers) are paying for their reports into paying to do the research into ‘helping’ the polluting cruise ships… ahh shouldn’t the polluting cruise ships be paying for their own feasibility studies, nope because they don’t actually care…
Here’s a hint, get rid of the cruise ships – then we don’t have the emissions or the negative noise, biohazards etc… and be a clean, green city.
From their own report as linked by Dukeofurl above…
“The environmental impact of emissions from berthed vessels is a significant challenge faced by city ports worldwide. To understand the range of technologies available for mitigating these, POAL engaged WorleyParsons/Advisian to complete a feasibility study. This sought to investigate options for reducing noise, pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from berthed cruise vessels and determine the preferred solution(s) using a triple bottom line approach.
The study reflects the POAL sustainability commitment and represents a proactive step to assist in reducing emissions within the Auckland airshed. It also follows growing global trends to address shipping emissions, such as incentive schemes and MARPOAL Annex VI regulations.
At berth, cruise ships run generators to provide electrical power for on-board amenities, typically fuelled with high sulphur, heavy fuel oil (HFO). In addition to the noise impacts, considering the terminal’s central city setting, studies have highlighted direct correlations between some of the emission components and adverse public health outcomes.”
Nope, apparently one day of a cruise ship can burn more particulate material than a million cars. They are MASSIVE polluters, much less efficient that air travel and at least air ports are away from the public most of the time.
Yep but that comes with massive pollution to everyone else in Auckland – they are worse polluters than even container ships and it’s heavy metals and lots of nasty stuff.
I can’t work out why when we have a ‘Green’ government that are so keen to get everyone walking and cycling at great costs (aka petrol taxes) yet somehow burning a million cars worth of particulate matter a day for big business is actively encouraged and dumping massive sewerage and biohazards not to mention the sweat shop labour and disruption to the environment and taking public space away, is not worthy of their interest…
Thanks for posting the article about exploitation of cruise ship workers save NZ. My husband volunteers for mission to seaman and they have just re-started cruise ship visits, he has distributed the article to his colleagues
Good articles here, we often wondered what the air quality was like on those secluded cabins, as our family travelled from Southampton to “Port Everglades” (Ft Lauderdale) on the Camberra in 1987 and us two males got some type of poisoning during the 7 day cruise.
They failed to really find the cause then, – uummmmm.
…… which luckily hasn’t been a kiwi value since the 80s.””
totally on point.
Sad that our public spaces are being decimated so that polluting industries can prosper – aka the cruise ship industry stealing the harbour with the Auckland council cheering it on (oh and don’t forget we have America’s cup full speed ahead)
Yep, why allow the ratepayers and residents the right to have decent public space which they pay for, when instead we can pollute the air, water and sea life with more cruise ships instead…
Yesterday a great link about a similar case of NZ grabbing the dollar at the expense of the environment and locals and an endangered species and conservation and air and water quality, with loads of wonderful economic figures to justify it. But all lies, instead 400 million of debt and the negative impacts in every direction.
In other news, I see Labour is preparing the spectacularly mis-manage the politics of rising petrol prices by doing and saying absolutely nothing until the public rises in open revolt and blames them.
Do you think the government is trying to have it both ways? High enough prices to drive behaviour changes and shift people from cars to other forms of transit and/or e- vehicles but not so high as to bring about a voter rebellion. I’ll bet they’re polling like crazy on this one…?
Outside Auckland the current excise duties amount to about 70 cents per litre. And then, of course, GST is levied on top of that, including about 10 cents GST levied on the excise duties themselves, so a tax on a tax. In Auckland you can add the extra 10 cents Regional Fuel Tax and, of course, the GST on that.
So while the most recent price increases can be ascribed to currency exchange and US foreign policy and crude supply etc there is still considerable scope for public unrest at what they see as government revenue gathering.
I’m living at Auckland’s West Coast at the moment and I’m starting to think I should get one of Twyford’s LRT carriages named after me, given the contributions I’m making…
Was there wild unrest for the price of petrol when national increased
GST from 12.5 to 15% ? That pushed petrol up
They added extra excise of 9c plus GST ( decision was announced a week before Xmas in 2012 but not flagged in previous election like all their tax increases …no siree)
So national is being hyprocrites now since Bridges had previously voted to increase GST and voted to increase fuel excise tax + GST by over 10c a litre.
But its all good because of management ?
Like to know how you manage the US dollar rising ?
Like to know how you manage the rising crude price ( in US dollars)
Reduce the tax component? Well that would have to come from somewhere else or no roads or congested roads.
Engineer a rise in NZD? That would tank export sectors and drive up interest rates, fast.
Or the Venesuela / Muldoonist option of subsidising fuel. We know how that would pan out.
Oil has been up around USD100 before and we didn’t die, probably would have been a lot better off if it had stayed there. The reason for the current spike is the war between US and China.
Even better if they announced that they’ll no longer add GST to the excise portion of fuel prices. There’s a 10 cent per litre drop right there, the impact of which is offset for the government by higher GST on the core price of fuel as prices rise anyway.
..and double the road user charges on trucks that carry more than 10 tonnes…
Sure your purchases from Amazon or Ali baba will cost more and may take longer…
Also supermarket prices will rise – so no downside.
Once the big trucks are off the road, the maintenance bill shrinks to negligible, freeing up money for public transport.
On one hand – I am vegetarian for 36 years. Originally because I couldn’t stand the animal suffering involved. I think we treat most animals terribly, as commodities, as things. We dont treat them with respect as living entities imo. This disconnect leads to many societal woes. If we treat animals with no regard, we treat people the same. Our society is insensitive and glorifies violence. I see a direct connection to the ills of society and how we treat vulnerable people and how we treat animals.
I feel quite sick after just seeing the pictures. Couldn’t bring myself to read the rest properly. Yes, pests have to be killed but the lack of respect etc …
I am not vegetarian but eat very little meat these days and have many friends etc who are or who are vegan and highly respect their rights to be – and am quite good at vegetarian/vegan cooking. I was also involved in animal welfare organisations for many decades on a voluntary basis.
Funny enough I saw this yesterday when I checked out Felix’s tweets to see whether he had tweeted about the Matthew Blomfield/Cameron Slater defamation trial which starts in Auckland today, and immediately thought of you!
*Me teasing Mr 6*
Partner: You’ll give him a nervous breakdown.
Mr 3 (a vegetarian): Is there meat in a nervous breakdown?
Partner: No.
Mr 3: Can I have one too?”
They do – and it is not just pizzas, its anything!
When I used to ‘entertain’ a lot and arrange food for animal welfare events, my rule was that vegetarians/vegans got first – and second – dibs on that food, and only when they had had their fill, did others get access to the leftovers.
AND I used to do/order at least double the amount of vege/vegan offerings relative to the numbers of vege/vegan people, compared to non-vege food/people.
Ooopps – only just realised from your 11 that it is Mental Health Awareness Week.
Above tweet, and my posting/quoting it is in no way meant to belittle mental health – my position is quite the opposite – but did think it quite funny from a 3 year old. I actually have a niece who has been vegetarian from the time she went onto solids and would not eat anything with meat or fish in it.
Bullshit to Bridges on fuel prices. I filled up the truck in Blenheim last week and bloody diesel was $1.81. I’ve have been away for 3 months and when I left it was in the $1.40s. That’s not TAX, thats fucking opportunism.
The Auckland tax does not apply here BTW. But Bullshit Bridges is trying to convince the rest of the country that it is Labour Govt charges.
“When National came into power in 2008 the price of 91 was around $1.70 a litre. Under National, petrol prices bounced around, peaking at about $2.30 in 2013”
The opportunist behaviour of the petrol companies is illustrated graphically here in West Auckland. You can save yourself 20 cents a litre off the bat if you use a Gull petrol station or another station that’s forced to compete with them.
These are deep problems which I am beginning to think we can not overcome in time to prepare for the decimation of our society and land from climate change. We are linear thinking, narrow, conservative, and unreasonably large in positive myths about NZ character and leadership, from successes that have been brought about by other motivations rather than the vaunted one (womens suffrage was so they could limit the out-of-control alcohol intake of the men for instance, not so that women as a whole could have more respect and not be villified usually for their sexuality). MMP was the result of an off-the-cuff comment caught on television if I remember rightly.
It’s no wonder we cannot get anything done that is good for the mass of the people, we don’t care two hoots about them. We choose to gloss over the reality of our poverty in NZ in living standards, we blame the poor and strugglers, they are deficient therefore it isn’t our problem, so we are not vocal and supportive to back money and action for a happy, working country with busy employed people. We have a pathetic lack of vigour when it comes to thinking about what we deserve for ourselves in our country, always wanting what they have overseas, wanting money from lower taxes at the cost of public services.
We need to limit time spent watching tv screens and bullshit artists on all media, tablets, social media, cellphones, and put that time into thinking and working and face-to-face activities that will build resilient communities who live simpler, poorer lives that look to self-sufficiency. This period is like the time between the world wars, the 1920s and 1930s when the devil and evil were brewing but everybody was either looking for a good time, or just time spent trying to live through the Great Depression. Think about it, see the similarities now.
This period is very much like when the last messiah approached our lives pre world war two (Hitler and his propaganda machine Joseph Goebbels to stir up our population into a frenzy and preparing them for another second war then.
We should look very carefully at the funder of all these groups that are being funded now as Goebbels arranged to get hitlers base started then beginning with George Soros, as he is a self confessed Nazi himself.
Here is has activities now funding almost all groups on the left sadly they are taking the bait, so is he preparing us for the third war war? he was center stage out of the blocks accusing Russia .
I won’t get centred on George Soros cleangreen as there are many really wealthy people out there who have lost touch with the real world and become malign. And the sort of real world I mention is one that has people who care about other people having lives, security, behaviour standards, and some joy in life.
I think there are many George Soros’. I think be aware of them, and look for positives to do for now, helping oneself and neighbours, our country and trying to protect ourself against Australia. Their latest disgrace is manipulating poor little Nauru to the stage where they have given Medecin Sans Frontiere spelling?, the push.
Try to keep cheered up cg. And watch some happy tv, and choose a book that has a positive ending. I have been reading The Long War by Pratchett and Baxter and it is wearying, but it is interesting. I have others thank goodness.
I noticed you feeling rather strongly about him joe 90. Didn’t know what set it off. There are so many things and people who can be faulted these days.
I know though I can count on you to keep putting up useful links. Thanks.
greywarshark, what do you think the appropriate response to cleangreen’s repeated antisemitic Soros smears should be?
There’s plenty of evidence that Soros is simply what he appears to be on the surface: a jewish survivor of the Nazis who is now putting part of his good fortune to work trying to reduce the worldwide mistreatment of vulnerable people. Yes, he did a few dubious things on the way to that fortune (what immensely wealthy person hasn’t?), but there’s no evidence he’s now participating in some kind of shadowy global conspiracy.
In contrast, the malignant smears that cleangreen propagates seem to come from alt-right hate groups, with no basis in reality.
Its Mental Health Awareness Week joe90 and Andre. Mental Health includes aging conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers and there are a few here who are going down those roads who are losing certain abilities to see what they are condoning, advocating etc. Hard as it is (and I am part Jewish), probably the best response is really just to ignore and not respond or react. kia kaha
I have first hand experience with both vascular dementia and Alzheimers and unless they’re expressing firm, long held held beliefs sufferers don’t suddenly take to the interwebs and parrot extreme right hate speech.
At best your defence of CG is benignly deluded and at worst, you’re an apologist for a malignant anti-Semite.
There’s likely to be people reading this site that may take the smears cleangreen is repeating at face value and not go digging further. Are you seriously suggesting that that kind of vicious shit be left unchallenged, simply because it’s being posted by someone that may be suffering age-related mental decline? If yes, then what other vile shit should just be ignored and not responded or reacted to?
vv, previously you said you assumed I didn’t have anyone close suffering from those kinds of age-related disabilties. As it happens, both my parents are going through some of that kind of age-related decline. My experience has been the only way to “get through” is immediate feedback every time, in somewhat stronger terms than I would have used ten or even five years ago.
He was nine years old when the war started. At the end of WWII he was 14. The entry age of the SS was 17. He cannot possibly have become a member!
Secondly, that photo purporting to be him as a young man in the SS uniform has been sourced. Snopes tells us who it actually is. The campaign to discredit Soros because he uses his money to help leftist causes is a deliberate repetition of the methods used historically by both nazis & communists. You ought not to allow yourself to be suckered by it!
I mean really, how can you believe that he’d openly disclose helping his caregiver when he was a kid if he was really guilty? Of course he would have kept quiet about it. He obviously had no idea about the job his caregiver was doing or the political implications of that. What kid would?? Add to that the fact that his father parked him with the caregiver to keep him safe, and the strategy obviously worked: “young George’s temporary protector (a Hungarian bureaucrat named Baumbach) was taking inventory of Jewish properties already confiscated by the Nazis”.
“George’s father, Tivadar Soros, provided a similar account of the incident in his 1965 autobiography, Masquerade: Dancing Around Death in Nazi Occupied Hungary”. “The following week the kind-hearted Baufluss, in an effort to cheer the unhappy lad up, took him off with him to the provinces. At the time he was working in Transdanubia, west of Budapest, on the model estate of a Jewish aristocrat, Baron Moric Kornfeld. There they were wined and dined by what was left of the staff.” He was only there three days!
Instead of reporting the actual history of Soros, the right-wing conspiracy theorists have deliberately created a false version to destroy his reputation, and they have used the traditional method of faking evidence to support it.
I’ve been following Jarret Walker via his blog humantransit.org for sometime grewwarshark. It’s worth a read for some context around the debacle that’s unfolded in Wellington.
And worth pointing out too that the rollout of the hub-based bus systems in Auckland and loads of other cities in North America, Asia Pacific and elsewhere has been pretty good overall.
I can see that Walker has many issues with Louisson’s report. So I think it would be important for Louisson to deal with those separately with him.
You say that hub-based systems have been put in elsewhere. Being pretty good overall sounds a fishy measure of success and passenger satisfaction.
In the meantime perhaps Simon Louisson can keep looking at what is happening in Wellington with the buses and passengers finding ways of serving the routes needed. The background to the design and what is actually behind the changes is always interesting. There is one quote in the link below that the previous transport system was not going to be suitable for future years. That would stand being more detailed. Here is earlier link to report on The Standard. https://thestandard.org.nz/wellington-bus-debacle-deeply-damaging-to-govts-transport-policy/
Thanks for the link. It’ll be interesting reading.
Without reading it, I’d say (as do a lot of other bus users) that there are problems both with design and implementation. As to whether that is the consultant’s fault is another issue.
Usually when undertaking a major project such as this, the USER requirements are identified first. One problem maybe GWRC’s understanding just who that USER is.
It appears that they nconsider themselves as the user whereas it should be the bus users (patrons). Anyone will tell you that there was inadequate consultation with them despite the spin now emerging.
As such it looks like the starting point was looking at a map and trying to cover territory RATHER than determining where if was people actually wanted to go and from where (e.g. in Wellington, from the various burbs to the ‘golden mile’, universities and the regional hospital); AND what would be a reasonable transfer system (e.g. those from the Kapiti Coast or the Hutt Valley might reasonably be expected to transfer, WHEREAS someone from the south coast of Wellington should not be expected to have to transfer twice – i.e. 3 buses – to get to their destination.
THEN there’s the implementation which did not have to be ‘big bang’ unless GWRC prioritised trying to simplify bringing in new contracts, or disposing of existing services (along with overheads , etc.) OVER the requirements of the travelling public.
The designer may well have had successes elsewhere (Seattle maybe for example), however if he was given a pile of shit and assumptions to work with based on shoddy data, he’d have been at a disadvantage from the start.
Listening to the guy this morning, he did sound a little defensive, but he may well have reason to be. When this bugger’s muddle is over, there’ll be enough blame to share around.
Sounds like the Health and Safety Reactionary Brigade should be the ones to decide on this weighty problem. Not surprising that religious institutions can’t allow people to think for themselves, we are the sheep and they are the shepherds. Baaa.
This might just be a bit hard for you greywarshar, but the Presbyterian Church listened to it’s congregation, before making this announcement. So on this one, you’re absolutely wrong, and your prejudice is showing.
But then again how else to get your rotten law through, without lying about, and abusing those who oppose it.
Adam
The Presbyterian Church and all who sail in her, have not got the right to abuse everyone and deny everyone, and I object to being called a liar – those in churches are not encouraged to think for themselves – I think that is almost an absolute truth. Submit to the teachings is the requirement as a rule. And it is not a rotten law, it is just the receptors in your brain are set on one line and cannot see any other point of view. You don’t care about others who can and ask for the country’s laws to set up a system that can be followed so they can go when they wish. And it would be to a kinder place than this one where I can be called a liar and abused.
You called people sheep, and unthinking then get all huffy when someone calls you on your B.S.
Funny, if it was not so sad.
Really a rotten law designed to disadvantage the vulnerable, maybe you want to read it, or at the least have a look at how badly it’s written as it stands.
As for you ACT party propaganda – turn it down a notch ah – this is a site dedicated to the interest of the labour movement.
adam
You are so disgusting in your attitudes and comments. Not worth replying to. And calling me ACT. I have been commenting for a decade? here and you are just a new and wilfully ignorant superior-thinking smartarse who wants to dominate the discourse here with multiple opinions.
They’re worried you might request being offed in a moment of weakness greysie. They’ve heard tales of Belgian doctors putting demented old ladies down forcibly despite their last minute change of heart. I’d be a bit worried some kind hearted meddler would make the decision on my behalf.
Gabby
That was what the law is about. To enable us to make the decisions that we want. It is part of our life process to die. It would be good if we could make the decision ourselves, when we are capable of deciding and have had as much help as can be achieved.
Here are some NZ things to talk about. The USA can manage its affairs for a short time without our input I think. We need to look at our own, as i don’t think we will get much time to manage ours without their input.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says there has never been a better opportunity to transform a punitive and limiting culture of the welfare system.
Revelations govt invited foreign water bottlers to NZ
From Morning Report, 6:15 am today
Listen duration 3′ :16″
Anti-water bottling campaigners are gobsmacked by revelations government officials were actively encouraging foreign bottlers to set up in New Zealand. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise has confirmed that in 2015 it contacted the Chinese bottling giant Nongfu Spring and similar companies around the world about potentially investing in local water businesses. Earlier this year, Nongfu Spring was given approval to expand its Otakiri Springs water bottling plant near Whakatane with the aim of exporting more than one billion litres of water a year.
We can let NZTE speak for themselves: “New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the Government agency charged with … one single purpose: growing companies internationally, bigger, better and faster, for the benefit of New Zealand. We employ 600 people, have over 200 private sector partners and draw on a global network of thousands more. We have people based in 50 offices, working across 24 time zones and 40 languages to support New Zealand businesses in over 100 countries.”
We can therefore say that our public service is using the capitalist system to help kiwi businesses export goods. A public/private partnership model. Govt gets a share of these enterprises via tax. Who knows how much? Given that foreign trade enables our current standard of living, who would condemn such behaviour?
Okay, so much for the general scenario. With regard to aquifer depletion, I’d condemn it real fast – unless the extraction can be shown to be sustainable.
@ Adam, Someone died last month after accident at Ports of Auckland.
Laboom Midnight Dyer, 23, suffered critical injuries from the accident on August 27. He was taken to Auckland City Hospital but died from his injuries on September 3.
A few days ago they also had an inferno and worker rushed to hospital with burns.
Worker in hospital after port inferno
A machinery operator has been taken to hospital with burn injuries after a large fire broke out at the Ports of Auckland.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing across the city, including the North Shore, from the blaze this morning.
Is the object of interest which locations are more dangerous, or which industries?
If it’s a construction site on the wharf, it’s the construction operator in direct control, rather than the ports company. Arts and rec services, same deal.
The timeframe on the worksafe site is basically the reports with a summary of what seemed to have happened when the report was made. Whether the summaries are updated when investigations are resolved is another matter.
There aren’t that many deaths in Auckland so far this year. I count 5. None match what you’re talking about.
Either way, what exactly are you looking for – an itemised list of all workplace deaths, identifying individuals, companies, locations, dates, and investigation outcomes? That’s not what this dataset is for. Most of the deaths this year wouldn’t even have completed the investigative processes yet. And it would be unfair naming&shaming companies and workers on the face of it, when impartial investigation might find other causes.
Each of the cases for Auckland brought up the media reports that detailed the projects and often employers at the time. But then fault wasn’t established.
OK, so maybe a third of the cases could well still be unresolved (some can be unresolved for ten years, thinking of one case).
When you name and shame the companies, do you anticipate consulting the bereaved families first, or would you prefer to just exploit their grief for your political ends?
Helen Kelly worked with the families, she didn’t just wield a database. This is union work, not fodder for interweb exploitation.
This is two in just a few days, as there was also this death at a Kawarau sawmill just on Friday last week (5 Oct). Not on the Waterfront but again wood/logs related. Also both women.
Also places like Ports of Auckland, seem to have a lot of accidents and deaths… funny how they also were prosecuted for illegal work place practices too.
Seems to be spreading because a swimmer was killed by ferries in the harbour too recently.
Too many boats – time they moved the ports out of Auckland and get rid of the congestion and pollution too it creates.
Happy for Northland to get ‘the money’ because when you work out how much public money is spend on corporate welfare, the corporate welfare is better spent of attracting more sustainable and less polluting work into the area, especially with the amount of people now living nearby.
There is already a technical hub for example on Auckland waterfront.
The fact they drive it across town before they distribute it, makes Auckland bad as well. Funny enough, if they brought down by train from Northland, it would have the added bonus of decongesting the roads in Auckland.
Berlin, October 7, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Bulgarian authorities to conduct a rigorous, thorough investigation into the killing of Victoria Marinova, presenter and administrative director for local television channel TVN. Marinova, 30, was found dead yesterday in the Bulgarian town of Ruse, 300 km (185 miles) northeast of the capital Sofia; she had been raped, beaten, and strangled, according to media reports that cited Bulgarian police.
[…]
Marinova’s last broadcast was an interview with Romanian journalist Attila Biro from the investigative news site Rise Project and his Bulgarian counterpart, Dimitar Stoyanov, from investigative news site Bivol, who were looking into allegations of fraud involving EU funds for the global investigative reporting platform Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Bulgarian news site Terminal 3 reported. The two reporters were detained by Bulgarian police in September, CPJ reported.
The alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi is up there, too.
Turkish authorities suspect that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared on Tuesday after entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, was killed inside the consulate, Turkish sources told Middle East Eye and news agencies on Saturday.
A senior Turkish police source told MEE that police believed that Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was “brutally tortured, killed and cut into pieces” inside the consulate after visiting the building on 2 October.
“Everything was videotaped to prove the mission had been accomplished and the tape was taken out of the country,” the source said.
An unnamed Turkish official told the Reuters news agency that Turkish police believed Khashoggi had been killed and his body then removed from the building.
And stand up to the gangster oligarchs whose looted wealth oils everything from the City banks and law firms to private schools and Mayfair property prices. Nah.
Murdering journalists has become a lot more common.
In the old days the media companies looked after and defended ‘their journalists’. Nowadays with the rise in cost cutting, journalists on contracts or gig work, trivia, paying for content, commercialisation, media now being bought as part of a portfolio for private investors as a ‘companion’ business to their other big businesses, journalists seem to be very at risk on the job when they do investigative work for social good, in particular.
Women the perfect victims – there is so much more harm can be done to them than men. RIP Victoria Marinova and may the perpetrator and his boss and cohorts get theirs too before very long. Some people we can do without very well.
We live in a great place, BUT…what of our diminishing NZ Values ??
No wonder so many (Even Upper Middle class) are struggling to cope.
Good to see that some govt is at least bring such to light, I am sure that there are many more instances that warrant investigation, which is so sad to make comment on 🙁
That dozy old All Black coach can’t even say
the word “football” properly. Time to hang up his boots?
Monday, Oct. 8, 2018
Just heard, on the 5 o’clock news, that egregious old stumble-tongue Steve Hansen being asked to comment on the return from injury to the All Blacks of Dane Coles. Hansen slurred: “He’ll have enough footy under the belt….”
WTF?!!??!??
Hansen is not merely gruff, surly and arrogant; he’s apparently too st000-pid to say the word “football”?
More third rate crap by Hansen, for those who can bear it….
What’s the story Morrissey?
Do you reckon Steve Hansen pooed in your handbag or something?
I agree elocution isn’t his strong point, however that isn’t what he is paid for.
Bad timing to take pot shots at arguably the best AB coach, within days of a unlikely victory in the republic.
Are you a closet round ball sport fanboy?
Save it till after the world cup in Japan when you can conjure up a haters diatribe regardless of the result.
In a related vein, I am sparing a thought for Sam Cane who metaphorically dodged a bullet.
Without knowing much, the high neck fracture could spell the end of his ‘footy’ career.
A future captain who reminded me of McCaw in his playing style.
We’ve had this discussion before, Moz. Footy is used all around the world as shorthand for football. Different countries, different codes though. Footy in Melbourne is AFL, and in Sydney it’s league. In most of the rest of the world it’s the beautiful game.
This is how language works; it is, as Burroughs pointed out, a virus. And it gets simpler as it mutates. Complexity is smoothed out and spelling loses out to common usage. It’s a tide, Morrissey, give in to it!
Footy is used all around the world as shorthand for football.
No it’s not. If you said “footy” anywhere in Great Britain, you would be regarded, quite rightly, as a halfwit. It’s a puerilism that’s never used in the U.S., Canada, or Japan, or indeed by anyone with an IQ above room temperature in Australia or New Zealand.
It is used, however, by the brutes at Fox Television in Australia, and clearly it’s enforced ruthlessly. Those poor slaves on the ridiculously named “Fox Footy” channel are obliged to say “footy” and “AFL footy” relentlessly and repeatedly throughout every broadcast. Only Hamish McLachlan insists, against orders, on calling football “football”.
In most of the rest of the world it’s the beautiful game.
In France, it’s Rugby football that is le beau jeu. (Of course, as we all know, there’s also an ugly side to French rugby, which also has a name: le jeu dur.) The advertising term “the beautiful game” has only been used by soccer authorities in recent years, and it’s strictly advertising-speak. The term comes from Pelé’s brilliant book My Life and the Beautiful Game, which is an endorsement of all that is wonderful in Brazilian football as opposed to the cynicism and dullness of the European game, with its routine back-passes to the goalkeeper, and its strangling systemization, as epitomized by Inter Milan’s wretched catenaccio.
Where to start? Rugby is not ‘the beautiful game’ in France. It never has been called that as far as I know and as I’ve shown you previously it’s followed by bugger all people in France anyway. Fun fact; league was the bigger version of egg chasing in France pre-war, but the local fascists preferred union and closed down the superior code.
The word footy is most widely used downunder, for sure, but it is a recognizable term world wide, and particularly so in the in the UK.
Still, carry on your one man campaign to limit the use of the word if you want. Nobody is listening, nothing will change.
Where to start?
Classic! Announce to everyone how bewildered you are. Effective strategy.
Rugby is not ‘the beautiful game’ in France.
Yes it is. You don’t know much about France, and especially French rugby.
It never has been called that as far as I know
As far as you know. Which is… not far. Your repetition of that dismal treiziste fantasy blaming the war for the failure of the Die-with-the-Ball game only underlines how little you do know.
The word footy is most widely used downunder, for sure,
Not by anyone intelligent. It’s football, whether the game is rugby or soccer. I’ve never heard a football (soccer) player or manager or commentator in either Australia or New Zealand ever use the infantile “footy” on television or radio; unlike their rugby counterparts, they’re much smarter and much more aware of the importance of speaking correctly.
but it is a recognizable term world wide, and particularly so in the in the UK.
No it’s not. It’s used as often in the U.K. as it is in the U.S. Virtually never.
Still, carry on your one man campaign to limit the use of the word if you want. Nobody is listening, nothing will change.
Well, YOU seem pretty upset about it. Still, if you want to endorse the moronic, morose and contemptuous “Shag”, go ahead.
You don’t need elocution lessons to say the word football. You just need to not be puerile.
Bad timing to take pot shots at arguably the best AB coach…
My criticism of Hansen has nothing to do with his coaching, and everything to do with his lack of graciousness, his gruffness, his arrogance, and (in his excruciatingly stupid comment yesterday) his seeming inability to speak like an intelligent adult.
Are you a closet round ball sport fanboy?
What? I like all sports. I detest a lot of the ideology and bullshit and the stumble-tongued coaches that they’re burdened with.
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, 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?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 - ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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, Wednesday 24 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12138555
The previous government, under National’s control, got the ball rolling on Nongfu Springs’ potential investment but it was signed off in June by Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage.
The application has prompted community groups to come together and appeal the consent application.
Whakatane resident Mawera Karetai, who has a masters in environmental studies, told Newstalk ZB not enough was known about the aquifer to be taking water out of it.
“I have a particular interest in water and I have quite serious concerns that we don’t know enough about the aquifer,” she said.
“We don’t know how long it takes for the aquifer to recharge, all of the reports that were generated are full of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’.
“There’s a lot of information missing and a decision has still been made. I think that’s wrong.”
Has the appeal by local Maori against extending the existing water-extraction right under the RMA got a result yet? I agree with her that the viability of the aquifer is the crucial issue. I doubt that scientific expertise is capable of measuring aquifers.
I don’t know but it sounds like other groups are appealing too.
I wish we could put a stop to bottling water altogether and have little springs to refill reusable bottles everywhere.
“I doubt that scientific expertise is capable of measuring aquifers”
Very easy to do. Look up something like HB regional council. They use both observations of aquifer pressure from monitoring bores and existing wells and computer modelling for the large aquifers under Heretaunga plains around Hastings.
https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/hawkes-bay/aquifers/
HBRC operates more than 100 wells for monitoring short and long term changes in groundwater levels and quality. We monitor key water quality indicators such as nitrate-nitrogen, bacteria levels (Escherichia coli or E. coli), dissolved iron, dissolved manganese, and total hardness. That is of course what science is about.
The reality is the actual water take at Otakiri Springs is a tiny fraction of the aquifer flow in lower Rangitaiki.
In this instance the bottling plant has been operation without effects for some time, the application was to have a larger land area around the existing plant.
“I wish we could put a stop to bottling water altogether and have little springs to refill reusable bottles everywhere.”
Asleep , only a few places have artesian supplies. So no springs everywhere like you say.
There is that other thing which no doubt you must use . Its called a tap from city supply.
Artesian water that isnt used mostly flows out to sea. I HB they have hundreds of wells and marge larger quantities that the bottling plant are taken for residential and industrial use –
The bore pressure is down compared to decades back but the water hasnt run out, but isnt of course an infinite supply.
Getting one group leader to signoff, selling a property right, before the real assessment of value and full community has been consulted, so historical.
Of course Pakeha also have interests, so it’s strange that Maori groups would suggest implicitly all those historic grievances, were fine. Selling land water what’s the diff.
Takes outs from the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings?
I once sat as a juror on a child sex abuse trial. The evidence from the victim was powerful, compelling and left the jury a wreck and ready to convict, convict, convict. The next day, the defense demolished the crown case and the jury was left confused, and weighed down by their duties. For the record, the case then collapsed.
The point is, I have had direct experience of where unchallenged testimony is always powerful, emotional and compelling. But mere accusation is not evidence and in a world where the law must, by definition, be rules and evidence based you cannot attack someone with merely an emotional response to a powerful story and expect to succeed beyond your partisan choir. Down that road lies nothing but trouble and anarchy.
Therefore I think the following:
1/ Democrats – and US liberals in general – haven’t learnt a single damn thing from the defeat of Hillary Clinton. Kavanaugh could have been crucified on his views on abortion, womans reproductive rights, the powers of an imperial president. Instead, his nomination was fought on the basis of a decades old sex assault allegation. The US Liberal elite are just as enthusiastic for endless culture wars as the right. But they always lose that fight – the Democrat poll lead that had them in the box seat for the mid terms is now under threat – https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/poll-kavanaugh-hearing-galvanized-republicans-erasing-dem-enthusiasm-edge
2/ The US liberal class simply won’t talk about what counts – the destruction of the US working and artisan classes, wages, the drug epidemic, the health care crisis. They’d rather inflate Russian interference into a liberal Dolchstoßlegende (the “stab in the back myth” of interway Germany) moment and line up alongside a deeply corrupt political establishment in an endless, bitter culture war.
3/ The culture wars may have gone beyond the point of no return in the USA. That in turn points to the collapse of the current USA political system sometime in the next 20-30 years. Who knows what will happen then, although anyone who has studied the devastating Thirty Years war will know how vicious wars that seek to open windows into the soul can be.
4/ The US constitution as imagined in the 20th century is dead. It has been powerless to stop massive corruption, authoritarian partisan politics and has given rise to an Imperial presidency which will soon, by courtesy of a stacked Supreme court, be placed above the rule of law. Erdogan’s Turkey, Orban’s Hungary, Putin’s Russia, Trump’s America. All peas in the same pod.
5/ The only hope for the USA lies with the progressive democrats, who are willing to talk about the real issues that impact on the lives of real Americans. They may have to fight a new civil war to achieve anything – unless the US breaks up.
Sanctuary,
This sort of doom casting about the United States has been raised at various times over the last 50 years.
The United States is not going to descend into civil war. Yes, people are passionate, but are things as roiled up as they were in the Vietnam War? I think not.
Elections roll around every 2 years in the US. Elections change things. Trump now, who knows in just two years.
The Constitution is not dead. It works every single day. It is why the United States is the democracy that it is. Being so hard to change provides its own protection. The United States is flawed no doubt, but it is a much better alternative to say Putin and Erdogan.
The mid terms could eliminate the republican senate edge. Paul Ryan isn’t restanding as one example as polling tells him he’s gone burger.
Many other ‘safe’ seats are no longer under the Donald’s man child reign as the chooks roost back home and even some republicans realise he needs a counterweight.
There are a few things you may like to think about
1. Ryan’s got 65% of the vote last election and he usually does better in the mid-terms.
2. He was widely reported as going to quit for a long time before he actually made his announcement. Trying to get policy through for a nut like Trump was soul destroying.
3. His going won’t have any effect on the Senate, regardless of what you might think. After all he is in the House of Representatives, not the Senate.
Wayne
You are merely parroting things you have always said. Appealing to your own higher authority!
I do not see how you can consider that the USA is ‘a much better alternative’ to Putin and Erdogan. It is in the same part of the spectrum that they are in, and just shows different variables.
Greywarshark
Pretty easy to say the US is very different to Putin’s Russia.
A proper democracy for one. Elections make a real difference.
Rule of law. Trump can’t go around arresting his opponents.
Vibrant civil society. Just look at the last two weeks.
Many different centres of political power. No one party dominates for very long.
Free press. Even if you don’t think so.
But I guess none of that will convince you.
Funnily enough, Wayne, many of us have lost confidence in the ridiculous, not very truly democratic (note the small d, and the real meaning) system.
‘Proper democracy’ as you call it? – bullshit.
You love the superficial, don’t you?
But Wayne a superficial look at the USA would show to the interested that much of what you have said is not true.
Are you into truthiness?
Just because you have listed the accepted theme for the political play du jour or de decade, doesn’t mean that you should go around quoting those lines as if they are the received wisdom of the Gods.
It’s a curious thing Dahlian polyarchy – in its own way as stagnant as the worst aspects of late Confucianism. The deadlock created by the separation of powers is not fast on its feet enough to respond to real issues like declining real wages, environmental degradation, or an overcapitalized low production economy.
Yes, it’s better than Putin’s Russia. Just not much better.
Sanctuary. I try not to avoid doing +1’s just for the sake of it. But I’m compelled to express a very strong agreement and respect for your comment above. Especially your third para.
Sexual crimes were traditionally considered to be of similar gravity and consequence as homicide, but were always far more difficult to prosecute by their very nature. Homicide is rare, and the victim even more rarely consents to it. By contrast non-violent sex is exceedingly commonplace and almost always consented to; it’s only the relatively rare exceptions which are of interest to the law.
In earlier times the law more or less confined itself to dealing with the most egregious sexual offences, involving violence, gross physical coercion and obvious forensic consequences. If an investigation could uncover forensic and corroborating witnesses, a prosecution would be no more challenging than your usual homicide.
However in recent times we’ve expanded the definition of sexual assault so that at the margins it blurs onto the wide range of relatively commonplace sexual behaviours. Very often, as with Ford, there is no forensic or corroborating evidence, and it simply comes down to a matter of credibility. Which as you say, is by itself insufficient in every sense of the word and a prosecutors nightmare.
Worse still we know that for many reasons, not all allegations are supportable. We only have a vague idea what fraction; I’ve read people make arguments for numbers as low as 2% right up to 40%. (Don’t flame me on this, I’m agnostic on the metric.) But we do know that our legal system is floundering, and the very understandable reactions on both sides of the deal are becoming increasingly anguished and polarised.
“…However in recent times we’ve expanded the definition of sexual assault so that at the margins it blurs onto the wide range of relatively commonplace sexual behaviours…”
Well, Ford’s claims amount to sexual assault in any era, and IMHO Kavanaugh looks and sounds like the sort of asshole entitled frat boy who might have behaved that way. However, they are *just* her claims and that is *just* my opinion of the guy and there is no actual solid additional evidence to support those two things either way, and that means we have no alternative narrative of events that may simply reduce things to the crime of being found guilty now for things that were not seen as a crime then.
No one knows, which is why this is such a weak issue for a full blown partisan attack on the GOP/Trump’s nomination for the Supreme court.
Attack the guy on his record, on the facts, on his rank professional unsuitability to do the job, not some some liberal “fake news” outrage around decades old allegations of personal improprieties. The first option will eventually win you the war. The second will just ensure more paralysis in bitter trench warfare.
Well, Ford’s claims amount to sexual assault in any era,
According to her narrative I have to agree. But work with me on this; hypothetically how hard would it be to enlarge on this story. Three kids headed up to the bedroom for some monkey business. A mix of typical teenage bravado, risk-taking, alcohol and a total unawareness of consequences. Throw in a complete lack of honest and effective communication … also a standard feature of teenage life.
And then one of them realises a bit late she’s in deeper than she’s prepared for and tries to back out. One of the guys is focussed on taking the initiative and pushing for action (it’s what guys are expected to do) and for a few moments there’s a complete mismatch of expectation, she wants out, he thinks he’s being smart and cool. Fortunately his less involved mate intervenes and within moments it’s all over. 38 years later and everyone recalls it quite differently, if at all.
Let me be clear, my version doesn’t represent anything like a smart or good idea. But I think all of us can relate to things we did as teenagers which were dumb ideas and in hindsight we’re only grateful we grew out of that. And most certainly when it comes to a ‘job interview’ we’d be shocked if our youthful past came back to haunt us quite so dramatically.
To wrap this however, I don’t want to distract to far from your original brilliant comment. In some sense Andre is right, the USA has been through torrid straits in the past and survived. But the internet does amplifying things for better or worse, and the degree of manifest philosophical polarisation is fearful.
You propose that they should have
“Attack the guy on his record, on the facts, on his rank professional unsuitability to do the job”
The American Bar Association, in their September 7 report to Congress on the nomination gave Kavanaugh a rating of “well qualified” which is the highest rating they have.
Can you explain why you think your opinion of his abilities is somehow superior to theirs?
the ABA is looking again at Kavanaugh as they now have reason to doubt on one of the 3 criteria they evaluate : Judicial Temperament.
he got quite rancourous when asked about his drinking habits.
They will want to look again at his lies told.
Damn right. Even putting his lies to one side, he acted like a spoilt brat at the hearings. Entitlement. Privilege. No gravitas or integrity exhibited. The ABA could easily decide that his performance changed their view of him. If they take into consideration that compilation of the evidence that he lied, they’d have a sound basis to recommend that congress impeach the turkey.
+ 1
Yep he showed himself to be the man he is. Poor temperament, uncontrollable anger and lying – no wonder the orange freakpimple loves him.
I’ve had a few of those freakpimples lately. I find that if you keep scratching them and make them bleed, they will eventually dry up and disappear.
Maybe that is the right strategy to apply to the orange freakpimple. 👿
The road to a USA Supreme Court judge has twists and turns. i remember the story of Clarence Thomas’ accession to the thrones, which was amazing to a naive believer in the great ole’ country of law and ethical people etc. He is a black judge which was an important consideration, as bringing balance to a white-dominated line-up. Unfortunately the role model aspect for USA citizens was not served by choosing Thomas. The racial affect overwhelmed the quality and experience affect, in the decision makers minds; they definitely were not looking for the best and right candidate for Judge, and particularly wanted the continuing bias to a right-wing, Conservative viewpoint that had grown to dominance after good ole’ Ronald Reagan.
https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2018/09/midterm-time-capsule-52-days-to-go-rush-to-judgment-on-kavanaugh/570391/
A run-through of the background to Justice Clarence Thomas selection and the sexual harassment case that was brushed aside to enable that.
http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/hilloutline2.htm
https://www.thecut.com/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-and-clarence-thomas-history-repeats-itself.html
Now, Professor Ford may testify before the Senate, in an eerie reliving of Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony on the eve of Justice Clarence Thomas’s confirmation. Hill had to recount, on a national stage, the sexual harassment that she says Thomas subjected to her while working at Department of Education and the EEOC (charged with enforcing civil rights!). Thomas, Hill testified, would call her into his office to to tell them about how he enjoyed watching pornography featuring rape scenes and an actor named Long Dong Silver.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5409547/Impeachment-
20 February 2018
Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has penned an op-ed that makes a case for the impeachment of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Her argument is not based, however, on the infamous workplace sexual harassment allegations lodged against Thomas by Anita Hill during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991, or even those brought forward by Moira Smith in October 2016.Supreme-Court-Justice-Clarence-Thomas.html
When will it ever end and the USA tidy itself and live up to its own hype? At present this debacle shows it is deja vu, all over again.
Looking.
Well no. They asked that a vote be postponed until the FBI had investigated. Well it has investigated, found, surprise, surprise, nothing and he was voted into the job.
The ABA never changed their recommendation.
However, and much more to the point.
Sanctuary was arguing that they should have attacked Kavanaugh on his record and unsuitability rather than old sexual misbehaviour claims.
If they had they would have been laughed out of the hearings given the top rating given by the ABA. There wouldn’t have been any emotional reaction from Kavanaugh either so there would have been no reason for the ABA to reconsider.
1/ A large part of the early part of the hearings actually was about Kavanaugh’s views on reproductive rights, imperial presidency etc. Where Kavanaugh easily evaded saying anything remotely controversial, so it was all a bit of a yawnfest, and Kavanaugh was cruising to an easy confirmation with all Repugs and a few red state Dems voting yes. But nothing fires up passions like issues around actually having sex, on both sides, for good and bad.
2/ You’re misrepresenting what actually is being talked about. There’s plenty going on about healthcare, opioids, hollowing out the middle class etc. Sure it gets lost in the shade a bit when there’s a high-profile lurid shitshow going on DC, but if you actually look at what the Senate, House, state and local candidates are talking about, you’ll find most are strongly focused on those issues.
3/ Culture wars have always been a big thing, and maybe 50 of the last 3 or or 4 “points of no return” have been clear when they were actually happening. It’s going to be at least the end of 2020 before there’s any kind of real sense of whether anything has really changed.
4/ There have been plenty of attempted imperial presidencies before now. By people considerably more competent than the combover con. So I would be very surprised if he can actually pull it off over the long term, the real damage done by stacking the courts notwithstanding.
5/ If the US as a whole is to change course, it needs many more moderate Conor Lambs that can win in red districts than it needs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes that can only win in deep blue districts. And it needs the fringe to be able to go to the polling booths, swallow hard, and vote for the most progressive candidate that actually can win.
You say that
” Kavanaugh could have been crucified on his views on abortion, womans reproductive rights, the powers of an imperial president”.
The problem is that you don’t really know what they are and that one can never tell until he is actually on the Supreme Court bench and a case comes up.
Anyone appearing before a Senate Committee these days simply refuses to give their opinion on these matters.
In Kavanaugh’s appearances he said things like.
“During his first round of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh said he views Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, as “important precedent of the Supreme Court” that has been “reaffirmed many times.” Yet he declined to say he would not vote to reverse Roe, saying that such a vow — on any case — would violate judicial norms.”.
Then he said
“During his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh declined to elaborate on his views on executive power or protections for a president who might face an investigation and subpoena.
When Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Kavanaugh if a sitting president could be compelled to respond to a subpoena, he declined to offer his views. “I can’t give you an answer on that hypothetical question,” he said.”
He simply refused to answer such questions and to have done so would have, as I am sure any lawyer would tell you, disqualify him from hearing cases.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/09/politics/kavanaugh-on-the-issues/index.html
If you can crucify him for his views and claim you know what they are then, as Kipling so memorably put it.
“You’re a better man than I am Gunga Din”
His words were just a well crafted non answer thought out before hand.
Like Politicians when previous precedents get in the way , Scotus judges dont ‘overule’ they just pretend they dont exist
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/politics/kavanaugh-abortion-precedent.html
An interesting local case involving precedent was Dotcoms extradition, a previous court of appeal case had a kiwi local avoiding extradition to US for ‘racketeering’- exactly as KDC.
Guess what the Court just decided to ignore that precedent ( which they can do) as it didnt suit their purpose and Finlaysons pick on the career path for a future Chief Justice , Appeal Court President Kos was on that case.
Doesnt look like Kos will get that job now that we have a new government. Elias is 69 now and retirement age is 70. boo hoo.
Kos -2011 High Court, 2015 Appeal Court, 2016 President Appeal Court ( who decides which cases judges sit on). I think that pathway was going to be Chief Justice in 2019 ?
“His words were just a well crafted non answer thought out before hand”.
Of course they were. Candidates who answer in anything other than generalities get into trouble so they don’t say anything significant.
Look at what happened to Robert Bork who actually seemed well qualified but was attacked by the Democrats. He really did answer all the questions. Opposing Senators didn’t care. They were going to oppose anyone at all who Reagan nominated.
” Senate Democrats had asked liberal leaders to form a “solid phalanx” to oppose an “ideological extremist” replacement to Powell”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork_Supreme_Court_nomination
It doesn’t change my argument of course. We have absolutely no way of really knowing what Kavanaugh’s views are and we won’t until he starts making them from the Supreme Court bench..
Didnt Reagan nominate someone else, so what was your point.
What about Obamas Merrick Garland who the republicans opposed no matter what ?
My point is, and I thought I made it abundantly clear, is that since Bork got done over, nominees hoping to get appointed DON’T say anything other than to give non-answers.
Garland never even got a hearing. That stank. To not even give him a hearing was merely taking the partisanship one step further than it had been over the last 40 years.
Appointments to the Supreme Court have been getting more bitterly party political since about 1970. Prior to that the appointees generally got through fairly cleanly. There were occasional exceptions like Abe Fortas but he was a pretty iffy, and sniffy, specimen when Johnson put him up for Chief Justice.
The idea of a new civil war in the US is ridiculous. the circumstances that lead to the initial civil war in the States were unique and rooted in the historical tension in the distribution of political power between the Northern and Southern States which the expansion of the the US to the West exacerbated. The Southern States did not wish to be dominated by the more populous and industrialised North. Hence why they broke away. There is no indication that significant elements of the US feel the need to break away.
Only if you constrain your analysis to territorial concerns. But Ad didn’t draw a comparison on that basis; he pointed instead to the Thirty Year War driven by deep philosophical (theological even) differences:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War
Prior to WW1 it was probably the most bloody conflict in human history, and the lesson the West derived it still informs our instincts around the separation of church and state to this day.
Even the Thirty years war had territorial concerns. The political struggles could not have occurred without the various nations and semi-independent political entities taking sides. It is why the majority Protestant nations are concentrated in the Northern parts of Europe and the majority Catholic nations in the South.
It was a balance of power thing as well. They were careful to admit territories as new states to maintain the balance of slave states and free states.
The underlying reasons there were that each state had 2 senators . Much as its is now the balance of senators decides things.
Example after the civil war was the Dakota territory which was split into 2 states with 4 instead of 2 senators as an example of the then Ruling republicans increasing their power in senate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Territory
Not really any more territories to admit as states – unless Washington DC which has similar population as the smallest states – Vermont and Wyoming are smaller.
Puerto Rico and Samoa Territories have other difficulties.
The Presidential electoral college is an absurd thing but unlikely the small states will allow changes, but one better balalncing change is electoral votes only on the numbers of congresspersons , not like it is now Senators and Congresspersons. As every state has 2 senators no matter what while every state has minimum of 1 congressperson ( 7 states) and are fairly well balanced by population for the rest.
What would happen if there is major event like an assassination attempt on Trump and his family ?
If Trump survived he would change the definition of ‘unhinged’
Agreed with this view here sanctuary up on (2) 100%
The Senate and President Trump must indict George Soros for his activities to change the voting in our elections using his “ill gotten money” but his cabal is denying any wrongdoing. – Surprise suprise!!!.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262364/arrest-george-soros-matthew-vadum
https://conservativedailypost.com/soros-controlled-companies-are-providing-voting-machines-in-these-16-states/
Soros is a US citizen, so not a crime to be involved in US elections.
We keep telling you this . Enough already
Soros and voting machine company is a |pants on fire lie
Claim that George Soros owns U.S. voting machines is Pants on Fire!
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/31/sean-duffy/wisconsin-congressman-fuels-soros-voting-machine-r/
“George Soros has zero ownership or involvement in our company. Smartmatic has no ties to political parties or groups in any country and it abides by a strict code of ethics that forbids the company from donating to any political campaigns of any kind.”
Regarding 1/, the repugs care less about reproductive rights than they do about sexual assault allegations.
Kavanaugh wasnt accused of a crime he was doing a ‘job interview’
The things that occur at a trial didnt happen here, he wasnt aquitted or convicted. If voted down he would have gone back to his existing job, like other job applicants would do.
Great cartoon in the NZHerald today:
Squillionaire rocks up to airport customs Kiwi Values Test, goes “I’m just an unassuming billionaire with plans to build an apocalypse proof bolt-hole for myself and my cronies.”
Reply:
“That’s zero out of five for egalitarianism………
…… which luckily hasn’t been a kiwi value since the 80s.”
Funny because it’s TRUE and sad.
More stealing of our harbour for corporate gain…
Not only that, cruise ships are exempt from the ‘conservation tourist’ tax of a pathetic $35 and are highly polluting in every way.
Last day today to oppose in submissions, although completely understand many don’t bother anymore due to being ignored repeatedly in public submissions from Supercity to unity plan – Auckland council have trained people that public submissions are a waste of time because you will be ignored!
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/have-your-say-notified-resource-consent/notified-resource-consent-applications-open-submissions/Pages/ResourceConsentApplication.aspx?itemId=243&applNum=CST60323353
From ‘stop stealing our harbour’
“Our reasons for objecting to the proposed ‘dolphins’ are:
An unnecessary 90 metre extension into the Waitemata Harbour from Queens Wharf into the busiest and most publically significant part of the harbour – something current political leaders including government Ministers, all opposed at the last election.
Queens Wharf was purchased by the Auckland Council and the Government to be our premier waterfront space, our marae atea, connecting the city with the harbour – berthing the oversized vessels on Queens Wharf industrialises and commercialises the “Peoples Wharf”.
Queens Wharf is a Cat-1 listed Heritage place, including the views to and from the end of the wharf. The mooring buoys and gangway will severely impact these features. A 35 year consent is not for a temporary facility as alleged. “There is nothing more permanent than a temporary structure.”
The extension of Queens Wharf with concrete 15m x 15m mooring structures and gangways is an ad-hoc, inappropriate solution to allow mega-cruise ships to dock 3 to7 days only a year. It is not aligned with Council’s long-term waterfront planning objectives as underway in the Central Wharves Strategy that propose Captain Cooks wharf as the prime cruise ship berth.
We believe the Market Economics economic report used as justification for extending Queens Wharf has used exaggerated revenue figures and does not use Cost Benefit Analysis methodology correctly.
We believe alternative arrangements for these mega-ships should be managed within the existing Port, as the Queen Mary 2 has been accommodated previously.”
Air quality on cruise ship deck ‘worse than world’s most polluted cities’, investigation finds
‘Each day a cruise ship emits as much particulate matter as a million cars’
“Speaking to the Dispatches team, Daniel Rieger, of the German environment association NABU (Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union), said: “Ships cause not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
“Per day one cruise ship emits as much particulate matter as a million cars. So 30 cruise ships pollute as much as all the cars in the United Kingdom.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pollution-cruise-ships-po-oceana-higher-piccadilly-circus-channel-4-dispatches-a7821911.html
Dont they only have generators running in port , not the huge engines driving propellers ?
I think as well they are considering Princes Wharf to get mains power connections for Cruise ships ?
https://www.poal.co.nz/sustain/Documents/Cruise%20Vessel%20Emission%20Reduction%20Technologies.pdf
cant see how POAL wants others to pay for it.!
Crazy, POA is ‘supposed’ to be owned by the ratepayers but through various COO structures answers to no-one, kills employees, and now they (aka ratepayers) are paying for their reports into paying to do the research into ‘helping’ the polluting cruise ships… ahh shouldn’t the polluting cruise ships be paying for their own feasibility studies, nope because they don’t actually care…
Here’s a hint, get rid of the cruise ships – then we don’t have the emissions or the negative noise, biohazards etc… and be a clean, green city.
From their own report as linked by Dukeofurl above…
“The environmental impact of emissions from berthed vessels is a significant challenge faced by city ports worldwide. To understand the range of technologies available for mitigating these, POAL engaged WorleyParsons/Advisian to complete a feasibility study. This sought to investigate options for reducing noise, pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from berthed cruise vessels and determine the preferred solution(s) using a triple bottom line approach.
The study reflects the POAL sustainability commitment and represents a proactive step to assist in reducing emissions within the Auckland airshed. It also follows growing global trends to address shipping emissions, such as incentive schemes and MARPOAL Annex VI regulations.
At berth, cruise ships run generators to provide electrical power for on-board amenities, typically fuelled with high sulphur, heavy fuel oil (HFO). In addition to the noise impacts, considering the terminal’s central city setting, studies have highlighted direct correlations between some of the emission components and adverse public health outcomes.”
Its a port. Ships use fuel, just like cars and trucks.
Airports have planes which burn their fuel too.
To my mind the fuel burnt in port is a fraction of that while at sea.
Nope, apparently one day of a cruise ship can burn more particulate material than a million cars. They are MASSIVE polluters, much less efficient that air travel and at least air ports are away from the public most of the time.
Eventually operators will only call at ports that offer shore power so best POA get cracking.
https://www.princess.com/news/backgrounders_and_fact_sheets/factsheet/Princess-Ships-Clear-the-Air-with-Shore-Power-Connections.html
Yep but that comes with massive pollution to everyone else in Auckland – they are worse polluters than even container ships and it’s heavy metals and lots of nasty stuff.
I can’t work out why when we have a ‘Green’ government that are so keen to get everyone walking and cycling at great costs (aka petrol taxes) yet somehow burning a million cars worth of particulate matter a day for big business is actively encouraged and dumping massive sewerage and biohazards not to mention the sweat shop labour and disruption to the environment and taking public space away, is not worthy of their interest…
If I could afford an egolf I’d be quite happy living in a garage, not being suffocated by high petrol costs.
Four year supply gap and we’re just beginning…
The world’s largest cruise ship and its supersized pollution problem
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/21/the-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-and-its-supersized-pollution-problem
Even ‘Green’ Cruise Ships Are Polluting the Earth at Incredible Rates
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/cruise-ships-polluters-ocean-sewage-particulates/
Cruise ships dump 1 billion gallons of sewage into the ocean every year
https://qz.com/308970/cruise-ships-dump-1-billion-tons-of-sewage-into-the-ocean-every-year/
Cruise liner crews slave below decks
Passengers enjoy luxury on the high seas, but a new study reveals the misery of those who serve them
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2002/sep/08/travelnews.uknews.theobserver
Thanks for posting the article about exploitation of cruise ship workers save NZ. My husband volunteers for mission to seaman and they have just re-started cruise ship visits, he has distributed the article to his colleagues
SaveNZ
Good articles here, we often wondered what the air quality was like on those secluded cabins, as our family travelled from Southampton to “Port Everglades” (Ft Lauderdale) on the Camberra in 1987 and us two males got some type of poisoning during the 7 day cruise.
They failed to really find the cause then, – uummmmm.
Food poisoning especially norovirus- endemic on cruise ships and passenger ships.
I guess in relation to AD comments
” egalitarianism………
…… which luckily hasn’t been a kiwi value since the 80s.””
totally on point.
Sad that our public spaces are being decimated so that polluting industries can prosper – aka the cruise ship industry stealing the harbour with the Auckland council cheering it on (oh and don’t forget we have America’s cup full speed ahead)
Yep, why allow the ratepayers and residents the right to have decent public space which they pay for, when instead we can pollute the air, water and sea life with more cruise ships instead…
Yesterday a great link about a similar case of NZ grabbing the dollar at the expense of the environment and locals and an endangered species and conservation and air and water quality, with loads of wonderful economic figures to justify it. But all lies, instead 400 million of debt and the negative impacts in every direction.
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2018/10/what-happened-here/
yep, egalitarian is not just dead, but worse than that, neoliberalism has also found new ways to make the less powerful subsidise and pay their costs…
In other news, I see Labour is preparing the spectacularly mis-manage the politics of rising petrol prices by doing and saying absolutely nothing until the public rises in open revolt and blames them.
Neo-liberal left. Utterly useless.
Do you think the government is trying to have it both ways? High enough prices to drive behaviour changes and shift people from cars to other forms of transit and/or e- vehicles but not so high as to bring about a voter rebellion. I’ll bet they’re polling like crazy on this one…?
The rising US dollar plus the rising crude oil prices are responsible.
Outside Auckland less than 4c is from Government action.
Against the Aussie dollar we are much the same Oct17 92c Oct18 91c.
Typical rightwing economic bullshit. wouldnt know an exchange rate from a bitcoin.
Watch Hosking fall into the same hole…..its the gumint
Outside Auckland the current excise duties amount to about 70 cents per litre. And then, of course, GST is levied on top of that, including about 10 cents GST levied on the excise duties themselves, so a tax on a tax. In Auckland you can add the extra 10 cents Regional Fuel Tax and, of course, the GST on that.
So while the most recent price increases can be ascribed to currency exchange and US foreign policy and crude supply etc there is still considerable scope for public unrest at what they see as government revenue gathering.
I’m living at Auckland’s West Coast at the moment and I’m starting to think I should get one of Twyford’s LRT carriages named after me, given the contributions I’m making…
Was there wild unrest for the price of petrol when national increased
GST from 12.5 to 15% ? That pushed petrol up
They added extra excise of 9c plus GST ( decision was announced a week before Xmas in 2012 but not flagged in previous election like all their tax increases …no siree)
No there wasn’t which was due in large part to the political management of the increase to GST which just reinforces Santuary’s original point.
So national is being hyprocrites now since Bridges had previously voted to increase GST and voted to increase fuel excise tax + GST by over 10c a litre.
But its all good because of management ?
Like to know how you manage the US dollar rising ?
Like to know how you manage the rising crude price ( in US dollars)
But what can the givernment, if either stripe do?
Reduce the tax component? Well that would have to come from somewhere else or no roads or congested roads.
Engineer a rise in NZD? That would tank export sectors and drive up interest rates, fast.
Or the Venesuela / Muldoonist option of subsidising fuel. We know how that would pan out.
Oil has been up around USD100 before and we didn’t die, probably would have been a lot better off if it had stayed there. The reason for the current spike is the war between US and China.
We can’t do much about that.
Two things off the top of my head:
Signal that if petrol hits a certain price it will immediately fund full fare relief on PT for commuters;
and
It could announce the electrification of government vehicle fleets wherever practicable
Even better if they announced that they’ll no longer add GST to the excise portion of fuel prices. There’s a 10 cent per litre drop right there, the impact of which is offset for the government by higher GST on the core price of fuel as prices rise anyway.
That would be the obvious move if it was reasonably fiscally neutral, and didn’t open up a huge can of worms in other areas.
I can remember the sales tax regime pre gst and it wasn’t pretty. We’d want to be careful we didn’t go back there bu opening up exemptions.
..and double the road user charges on trucks that carry more than 10 tonnes…
Sure your purchases from Amazon or Ali baba will cost more and may take longer…
Also supermarket prices will rise – so no downside.
Once the big trucks are off the road, the maintenance bill shrinks to negligible, freeing up money for public transport.
Charges are stepped so a small truck like 10tons pays a lot less than a super heavy 60 tonner.
Big trucks off road ? Forget any food in supermarkets or goods to factories . Its a stupid idea.
So duke, here in Aotearoa, countdown truck all meat to Auckland, process it, then truck it back to hubs, then move it to individual supermarkets.
If you are advocating for that, there lies the stupidity.
As for goods to factories, we have a train set to move stuff.
Bernie Sanders speech on Kavanaugh becoming a Supreme Court judge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3cQJGX2ZnI
Mental Health Awareness Week.
Listen a bit more.
Be in the moment with people you love a bit more
Connect with nature a bit more
Lots of things happening around the country – be part of the awareness and activities.
https://www.mhaw.nz/whats-on
A pity this week was not aligned with the school Term time.
Why
Sometimes it’s hard to hold the dialectic
On one hand – I am vegetarian for 36 years. Originally because I couldn’t stand the animal suffering involved. I think we treat most animals terribly, as commodities, as things. We dont treat them with respect as living entities imo. This disconnect leads to many societal woes. If we treat animals with no regard, we treat people the same. Our society is insensitive and glorifies violence. I see a direct connection to the ills of society and how we treat vulnerable people and how we treat animals.
I also think pests have to be killed.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/lifestyle/107661237/forgotten-world-highway-fun-animal-carcasses-sausages-and-fox-terrier-races
I feel quite sick after just seeing the pictures. Couldn’t bring myself to read the rest properly. Yes, pests have to be killed but the lack of respect etc …
I am not vegetarian but eat very little meat these days and have many friends etc who are or who are vegan and highly respect their rights to be – and am quite good at vegetarian/vegan cooking. I was also involved in animal welfare organisations for many decades on a voluntary basis.
Funny enough I saw this yesterday when I checked out Felix’s tweets to see whether he had tweeted about the Matthew Blomfield/Cameron Slater defamation trial which starts in Auckland today, and immediately thought of you!
https://twitter.com/BarristerNZ/status/1033229946603196416
“Felix Geiringer @BarristerNZ Aug 24
*Me teasing Mr 6*
Partner: You’ll give him a nervous breakdown.
Mr 3 (a vegetarian): Is there meat in a nervous breakdown?
Partner: No.
Mr 3: Can I have one too?”
😊 I find everyone eats the vegetarian pizzas first but my view could be slanted.
They do – and it is not just pizzas, its anything!
When I used to ‘entertain’ a lot and arrange food for animal welfare events, my rule was that vegetarians/vegans got first – and second – dibs on that food, and only when they had had their fill, did others get access to the leftovers.
AND I used to do/order at least double the amount of vege/vegan offerings relative to the numbers of vege/vegan people, compared to non-vege food/people.
oh great . Lets have millions starve if that was applied to the public at large.
lol are you for real?
Ooopps – only just realised from your 11 that it is Mental Health Awareness Week.
Above tweet, and my posting/quoting it is in no way meant to belittle mental health – my position is quite the opposite – but did think it quite funny from a 3 year old. I actually have a niece who has been vegetarian from the time she went onto solids and would not eat anything with meat or fish in it.
All good 😊
Bullshit to Bridges on fuel prices. I filled up the truck in Blenheim last week and bloody diesel was $1.81. I’ve have been away for 3 months and when I left it was in the $1.40s. That’s not TAX, thats fucking opportunism.
The Auckland tax does not apply here BTW. But Bullshit Bridges is trying to convince the rest of the country that it is Labour Govt charges.
AND the last 3.5cent rise was initiated by the natz wasn’t it?
Yes dV.
It was the National Government that increased the fuel price ‘multiple times’ from $1.70 to $2.30 or 30% increase.
But they now suffer from amnesia forgetting that fact.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/107395440/factchecking-nationals-claim-the-government-is-to-blame-for-rising-living-costs
“When National came into power in 2008 the price of 91 was around $1.70 a litre. Under National, petrol prices bounced around, peaking at about $2.30 in 2013”
The opportunist behaviour of the petrol companies is illustrated graphically here in West Auckland. You can save yourself 20 cents a litre off the bat if you use a Gull petrol station or another station that’s forced to compete with them.
These are deep problems which I am beginning to think we can not overcome in time to prepare for the decimation of our society and land from climate change. We are linear thinking, narrow, conservative, and unreasonably large in positive myths about NZ character and leadership, from successes that have been brought about by other motivations rather than the vaunted one (womens suffrage was so they could limit the out-of-control alcohol intake of the men for instance, not so that women as a whole could have more respect and not be villified usually for their sexuality). MMP was the result of an off-the-cuff comment caught on television if I remember rightly.
It’s no wonder we cannot get anything done that is good for the mass of the people, we don’t care two hoots about them. We choose to gloss over the reality of our poverty in NZ in living standards, we blame the poor and strugglers, they are deficient therefore it isn’t our problem, so we are not vocal and supportive to back money and action for a happy, working country with busy employed people. We have a pathetic lack of vigour when it comes to thinking about what we deserve for ourselves in our country, always wanting what they have overseas, wanting money from lower taxes at the cost of public services.
We need to limit time spent watching tv screens and bullshit artists on all media, tablets, social media, cellphones, and put that time into thinking and working and face-to-face activities that will build resilient communities who live simpler, poorer lives that look to self-sufficiency. This period is like the time between the world wars, the 1920s and 1930s when the devil and evil were brewing but everybody was either looking for a good time, or just time spent trying to live through the Great Depression. Think about it, see the similarities now.
Yes greywarshark,
This period is very much like when the last messiah approached our lives pre world war two (Hitler and his propaganda machine Joseph Goebbels to stir up our population into a frenzy and preparing them for another second war then.
We should look very carefully at the funder of all these groups that are being funded now as Goebbels arranged to get hitlers base started then beginning with George Soros, as he is a self confessed Nazi himself.
Here is has activities now funding almost all groups on the left sadly they are taking the bait, so is he preparing us for the third war war? he was center stage out of the blocks accusing Russia .
http://www.theeventchronicle.com/study/george-soros-funded-organizations/
I won’t get centred on George Soros cleangreen as there are many really wealthy people out there who have lost touch with the real world and become malign. And the sort of real world I mention is one that has people who care about other people having lives, security, behaviour standards, and some joy in life.
I think there are many George Soros’. I think be aware of them, and look for positives to do for now, helping oneself and neighbours, our country and trying to protect ourself against Australia. Their latest disgrace is manipulating poor little Nauru to the stage where they have given Medecin Sans Frontiere spelling?, the push.
Try to keep cheered up cg. And watch some happy tv, and choose a book that has a positive ending. I have been reading The Long War by Pratchett and Baxter and it is wearying, but it is interesting. I have others thank goodness.
Dude parrots the far right’s antisemitic hate speech. Fuck him.
I noticed you feeling rather strongly about him joe 90. Didn’t know what set it off. There are so many things and people who can be faulted these days.
I know though I can count on you to keep putting up useful links. Thanks.
greywarshark, what do you think the appropriate response to cleangreen’s repeated antisemitic Soros smears should be?
There’s plenty of evidence that Soros is simply what he appears to be on the surface: a jewish survivor of the Nazis who is now putting part of his good fortune to work trying to reduce the worldwide mistreatment of vulnerable people. Yes, he did a few dubious things on the way to that fortune (what immensely wealthy person hasn’t?), but there’s no evidence he’s now participating in some kind of shadowy global conspiracy.
In contrast, the malignant smears that cleangreen propagates seem to come from alt-right hate groups, with no basis in reality.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/feb/08/george-soros-demonised-by-populists-nationalists-and-right-wing-press
Its Mental Health Awareness Week joe90 and Andre. Mental Health includes aging conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers and there are a few here who are going down those roads who are losing certain abilities to see what they are condoning, advocating etc. Hard as it is (and I am part Jewish), probably the best response is really just to ignore and not respond or react. kia kaha
I have first hand experience with both vascular dementia and Alzheimers and unless they’re expressing firm, long held held beliefs sufferers don’t suddenly take to the interwebs and parrot extreme right hate speech.
At best your defence of CG is benignly deluded and at worst, you’re an apologist for a malignant anti-Semite.
There’s likely to be people reading this site that may take the smears cleangreen is repeating at face value and not go digging further. Are you seriously suggesting that that kind of vicious shit be left unchallenged, simply because it’s being posted by someone that may be suffering age-related mental decline? If yes, then what other vile shit should just be ignored and not responded or reacted to?
vv, previously you said you assumed I didn’t have anyone close suffering from those kinds of age-related disabilties. As it happens, both my parents are going through some of that kind of age-related decline. My experience has been the only way to “get through” is immediate feedback every time, in somewhat stronger terms than I would have used ten or even five years ago.
You a making a big mistake recycling that fake claim without doing the necessary research. The actual history is available here: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/george-soros-ss-nazi-germany/
He was nine years old when the war started. At the end of WWII he was 14. The entry age of the SS was 17. He cannot possibly have become a member!
Secondly, that photo purporting to be him as a young man in the SS uniform has been sourced. Snopes tells us who it actually is. The campaign to discredit Soros because he uses his money to help leftist causes is a deliberate repetition of the methods used historically by both nazis & communists. You ought not to allow yourself to be suckered by it!
I mean really, how can you believe that he’d openly disclose helping his caregiver when he was a kid if he was really guilty? Of course he would have kept quiet about it. He obviously had no idea about the job his caregiver was doing or the political implications of that. What kid would?? Add to that the fact that his father parked him with the caregiver to keep him safe, and the strategy obviously worked: “young George’s temporary protector (a Hungarian bureaucrat named Baumbach) was taking inventory of Jewish properties already confiscated by the Nazis”.
“George’s father, Tivadar Soros, provided a similar account of the incident in his 1965 autobiography, Masquerade: Dancing Around Death in Nazi Occupied Hungary”. “The following week the kind-hearted Baufluss, in an effort to cheer the unhappy lad up, took him off with him to the provinces. At the time he was working in Transdanubia, west of Budapest, on the model estate of a Jewish aristocrat, Baron Moric Kornfeld. There they were wined and dined by what was left of the staff.” He was only there three days!
Instead of reporting the actual history of Soros, the right-wing conspiracy theorists have deliberately created a false version to destroy his reputation, and they have used the traditional method of faking evidence to support it.
Wellington bus network: Consultant defends original scheme
10:32 am today
The American transport consultant behind Wellington’s new bus network blames the capital’s bus chaos on the implementation not the design.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368167/wellington-bus-network-consultant-defends-original-scheme
Sounds like Roger Douglas’ theme when he talks about our economy.!
I’ve been following Jarret Walker via his blog humantransit.org for sometime grewwarshark. It’s worth a read for some context around the debacle that’s unfolded in Wellington.
And worth pointing out too that the rollout of the hub-based bus systems in Auckland and loads of other cities in North America, Asia Pacific and elsewhere has been pretty good overall.
https://humantransit.org/2018/10/wellington-notes-on-an-nz-newsroom-article.html
I can see that Walker has many issues with Louisson’s report. So I think it would be important for Louisson to deal with those separately with him.
You say that hub-based systems have been put in elsewhere. Being pretty good overall sounds a fishy measure of success and passenger satisfaction.
In the meantime perhaps Simon Louisson can keep looking at what is happening in Wellington with the buses and passengers finding ways of serving the routes needed. The background to the design and what is actually behind the changes is always interesting. There is one quote in the link below that the previous transport system was not going to be suitable for future years. That would stand being more detailed. Here is earlier link to report on The Standard.
https://thestandard.org.nz/wellington-bus-debacle-deeply-damaging-to-govts-transport-policy/
Thanks for the link. It’ll be interesting reading.
Without reading it, I’d say (as do a lot of other bus users) that there are problems both with design and implementation. As to whether that is the consultant’s fault is another issue.
Usually when undertaking a major project such as this, the USER requirements are identified first. One problem maybe GWRC’s understanding just who that USER is.
It appears that they nconsider themselves as the user whereas it should be the bus users (patrons). Anyone will tell you that there was inadequate consultation with them despite the spin now emerging.
As such it looks like the starting point was looking at a map and trying to cover territory RATHER than determining where if was people actually wanted to go and from where (e.g. in Wellington, from the various burbs to the ‘golden mile’, universities and the regional hospital); AND what would be a reasonable transfer system (e.g. those from the Kapiti Coast or the Hutt Valley might reasonably be expected to transfer, WHEREAS someone from the south coast of Wellington should not be expected to have to transfer twice – i.e. 3 buses – to get to their destination.
THEN there’s the implementation which did not have to be ‘big bang’ unless GWRC prioritised trying to simplify bringing in new contracts, or disposing of existing services (along with overheads , etc.) OVER the requirements of the travelling public.
The designer may well have had successes elsewhere (Seattle maybe for example), however if he was given a pile of shit and assumptions to work with based on shoddy data, he’d have been at a disadvantage from the start.
Listening to the guy this morning, he did sound a little defensive, but he may well have reason to be. When this bugger’s muddle is over, there’ll be enough blame to share around.
Are these two the essential NZ spirit?
Dame Lynda: ‘There’s been a lot of farmers trying to curtsey’
8:55 am today
Musical comedy duo The Topp Twins will celebrate their new status as dames at an investiture ceremony in Auckland today.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368161/dame-lynda-there-s-been-a-lot-of-farmers-trying-to-curtsey
Politics health
7 Oct 2018
Presbyterian Church disagrees with euthanasia bill
11:03 am on 7 October 2018
The Presbyterian Church has come out against euthanasia in its biannual meeting, saying it is too dangerous for public safety in the long term.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/368110/presbyterian-church-disagrees-with-euthanasia-bill
Sounds like the Health and Safety Reactionary Brigade should be the ones to decide on this weighty problem. Not surprising that religious institutions can’t allow people to think for themselves, we are the sheep and they are the shepherds. Baaa.
This might just be a bit hard for you greywarshar, but the Presbyterian Church listened to it’s congregation, before making this announcement. So on this one, you’re absolutely wrong, and your prejudice is showing.
But then again how else to get your rotten law through, without lying about, and abusing those who oppose it.
Adam
The Presbyterian Church and all who sail in her, have not got the right to abuse everyone and deny everyone, and I object to being called a liar – those in churches are not encouraged to think for themselves – I think that is almost an absolute truth. Submit to the teachings is the requirement as a rule. And it is not a rotten law, it is just the receptors in your brain are set on one line and cannot see any other point of view. You don’t care about others who can and ask for the country’s laws to set up a system that can be followed so they can go when they wish. And it would be to a kinder place than this one where I can be called a liar and abused.
The poor me routine response.
Oh dear, really.
You called people sheep, and unthinking then get all huffy when someone calls you on your B.S.
Funny, if it was not so sad.
Really a rotten law designed to disadvantage the vulnerable, maybe you want to read it, or at the least have a look at how badly it’s written as it stands.
As for you ACT party propaganda – turn it down a notch ah – this is a site dedicated to the interest of the labour movement.
adam
You are so disgusting in your attitudes and comments. Not worth replying to. And calling me ACT. I have been commenting for a decade? here and you are just a new and wilfully ignorant superior-thinking smartarse who wants to dominate the discourse here with multiple opinions.
They’re worried you might request being offed in a moment of weakness greysie. They’ve heard tales of Belgian doctors putting demented old ladies down forcibly despite their last minute change of heart. I’d be a bit worried some kind hearted meddler would make the decision on my behalf.
Gabby
That was what the law is about. To enable us to make the decisions that we want. It is part of our life process to die. It would be good if we could make the decision ourselves, when we are capable of deciding and have had as much help as can be achieved.
Here are some NZ things to talk about. The USA can manage its affairs for a short time without our input I think. We need to look at our own, as i don’t think we will get much time to manage ours without their input.
Politics
1 Oct 2018
Marama Davidson: Get Work and Income out of people’s personal lives
8:56 am on 1 October 2018
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/367635/marama-davidson-get-work-and-income-out-of-people-s-personal-lives
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says there has never been a better opportunity to transform a punitive and limiting culture of the welfare system.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018665798/revelations-govt-invited-foreign-water-bottlers-to-nz
environment
6:15 am today
Revelations govt invited foreign water bottlers to NZ
From Morning Report, 6:15 am today
Listen duration 3′ :16″
Anti-water bottling campaigners are gobsmacked by revelations government officials were actively encouraging foreign bottlers to set up in New Zealand. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise has confirmed that in 2015 it contacted the Chinese bottling giant Nongfu Spring and similar companies around the world about potentially investing in local water businesses. Earlier this year, Nongfu Spring was given approval to expand its Otakiri Springs water bottling plant near Whakatane with the aim of exporting more than one billion litres of water a year.
What can one say about this??
We can let NZTE speak for themselves: “New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the Government agency charged with … one single purpose: growing companies internationally, bigger, better and faster, for the benefit of New Zealand. We employ 600 people, have over 200 private sector partners and draw on a global network of thousands more. We have people based in 50 offices, working across 24 time zones and 40 languages to support New Zealand businesses in over 100 countries.”
We can therefore say that our public service is using the capitalist system to help kiwi businesses export goods. A public/private partnership model. Govt gets a share of these enterprises via tax. Who knows how much? Given that foreign trade enables our current standard of living, who would condemn such behaviour?
Okay, so much for the general scenario. With regard to aquifer depletion, I’d condemn it real fast – unless the extraction can be shown to be sustainable.
Meanwhile……
Another person dies from going to work.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/107673942/worker-dies-at-eastland-port-gisborne
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368170/worker-dies-at-gisborne-s-eastland-port
How many is that on our Waterfront this year? I’m thinking 3 at least, could be more.
This is utterly unacceptable.
But hey, trump is probably saying somthing silly – go over to that distraction.
https://worksafe.govt.nz/data-and-research/ws-data/fatalities/workplace-fatalities-summary/
That not a very helpful website joe90, I’m not 100% sure, but didn’t one of the construction deaths happened on the waterfront?
@ Adam, Someone died last month after accident at Ports of Auckland.
Laboom Midnight Dyer, 23, suffered critical injuries from the accident on August 27. He was taken to Auckland City Hospital but died from his injuries on September 3.
http://autotalk.co.nz/news/ports-auckland-worker-dies
A few days ago they also had an inferno and worker rushed to hospital with burns.
Worker in hospital after port inferno
A machinery operator has been taken to hospital with burn injuries after a large fire broke out at the Ports of Auckland.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing across the city, including the North Shore, from the blaze this morning.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/worker-hospital-after-port-inferno
They also have been fined for illegal actions against it’s workers.
Ports of Auckland fined $40,000 for illegal actions against its workforce
http://www.munz.org.nz/2012/12/12/ports-of-auckland-fined-40000-for-illegal-actions-against-its-workforce/
Just re-read what I wrote – by “not helpful” in that the industries which the fatalities have occured seems to muddy the picture, not make it clearer.
I’d hazard a guess and say some Tory muppet made damn sure that it was not clear web page.
Why are the industries not reasonable? They seem to be pretty standard classifications.
18/07/2018 Construction 57 Auckland Heavy vehicle rolled on to victim
I’m pretty sure that happened on the wharf. A construction site on the wharf. Now would it not been better to make that clearer?
Or this one
15/12/2017 Arts and Recreation Services 74 Otago Drowned while recovering drifting boat.
So he was working? Did it happen at wharf, in the harbour, or out to sea?
That said, I agree some are clear. But some do leave room wiggle room for employers. Which I personally don’t think we need in workplace deaths
your pretty sure might be off. You sure you’re not thinking of the straddle crane overturn a few lines up?
Is the object of interest which locations are more dangerous, or which industries?
If it’s a construction site on the wharf, it’s the construction operator in direct control, rather than the ports company. Arts and rec services, same deal.
The timeframe on the worksafe site is basically the reports with a summary of what seemed to have happened when the report was made. Whether the summaries are updated when investigations are resolved is another matter.
Yeah OK, but one death was construction was on the wharf here in Auckland. And not not the one you’re mentioning.
I got the one I guessed wrong – but kinda proves my point – as you just have to guess where these happened and what company is responsible.
There aren’t that many deaths in Auckland so far this year. I count 5. None match what you’re talking about.
Either way, what exactly are you looking for – an itemised list of all workplace deaths, identifying individuals, companies, locations, dates, and investigation outcomes? That’s not what this dataset is for. Most of the deaths this year wouldn’t even have completed the investigative processes yet. And it would be unfair naming&shaming companies and workers on the face of it, when impartial investigation might find other causes.
Each of the cases for Auckland brought up the media reports that detailed the projects and often employers at the time. But then fault wasn’t established.
And what would you use the list for?
Did you see the list went back to 2013? Are they all on going investigations?
And yes, I do want to name and shame. Why do you want to protect bosses?
OK, so maybe a third of the cases could well still be unresolved (some can be unresolved for ten years, thinking of one case).
When you name and shame the companies, do you anticipate consulting the bereaved families first, or would you prefer to just exploit their grief for your political ends?
Helen Kelly worked with the families, she didn’t just wield a database. This is union work, not fodder for interweb exploitation.
This is two in just a few days, as there was also this death at a Kawarau sawmill just on Friday last week (5 Oct). Not on the Waterfront but again wood/logs related. Also both women.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12137488
Oops – too late but that was meant to be a reply to 20 and 20.1
The wood/log industry just keeps killing it workforce.
Something fundamental needs to change right across the whole chain of this industry.
Also places like Ports of Auckland, seem to have a lot of accidents and deaths… funny how they also were prosecuted for illegal work place practices too.
Seems to be spreading because a swimmer was killed by ferries in the harbour too recently.
Too many boats – time they moved the ports out of Auckland and get rid of the congestion and pollution too it creates.
Happy for Northland to get ‘the money’ because when you work out how much public money is spend on corporate welfare, the corporate welfare is better spent of attracting more sustainable and less polluting work into the area, especially with the amount of people now living nearby.
There is already a technical hub for example on Auckland waterfront.
The fact they drive it across town before they distribute it, makes Auckland bad as well. Funny enough, if they brought down by train from Northland, it would have the added bonus of decongesting the roads in Auckland.
…but we love traffic here in Auckland !!!!!
The 44th journalist to die this year.
Berlin, October 7, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Bulgarian authorities to conduct a rigorous, thorough investigation into the killing of Victoria Marinova, presenter and administrative director for local television channel TVN. Marinova, 30, was found dead yesterday in the Bulgarian town of Ruse, 300 km (185 miles) northeast of the capital Sofia; she had been raped, beaten, and strangled, according to media reports that cited Bulgarian police.
[…]
Marinova’s last broadcast was an interview with Romanian journalist Attila Biro from the investigative news site Rise Project and his Bulgarian counterpart, Dimitar Stoyanov, from investigative news site Bivol, who were looking into allegations of fraud involving EU funds for the global investigative reporting platform Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Bulgarian news site Terminal 3 reported. The two reporters were detained by Bulgarian police in September, CPJ reported.
https://cpj.org/2018/10/bulgarian-tv-host-victoria-marinova-raped-and-kill.php
That murder is way beyond creepy, it has a real feel of deterrence to it.
The alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi is up there, too.
Turkish authorities suspect that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared on Tuesday after entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, was killed inside the consulate, Turkish sources told Middle East Eye and news agencies on Saturday.
A senior Turkish police source told MEE that police believed that Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was “brutally tortured, killed and cut into pieces” inside the consulate after visiting the building on 2 October.
“Everything was videotaped to prove the mission had been accomplished and the tape was taken out of the country,” the source said.
An unnamed Turkish official told the Reuters news agency that Turkish police believed Khashoggi had been killed and his body then removed from the building.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkish-police-suspect-saudi-journalist-khashoggi-was-killed-consulate-report-1250529206
No feigned outrage from Theresa May and co. after this one.
Where is the frothing at the mouth from the UK media and government.
Oh wait Britain sells the saudis weapons to fight their war against civilians in Yemen.
And stand up to the gangster oligarchs whose looted wealth oils everything from the City banks and law firms to private schools and Mayfair property prices. Nah.
Murdering journalists has become a lot more common.
In the old days the media companies looked after and defended ‘their journalists’. Nowadays with the rise in cost cutting, journalists on contracts or gig work, trivia, paying for content, commercialisation, media now being bought as part of a portfolio for private investors as a ‘companion’ business to their other big businesses, journalists seem to be very at risk on the job when they do investigative work for social good, in particular.
No market for that, within the ‘markets’.
Women the perfect victims – there is so much more harm can be done to them than men. RIP Victoria Marinova and may the perpetrator and his boss and cohorts get theirs too before very long. Some people we can do without very well.
Just awesome to see Taylor Swift come out full political and support the Democrat Senate candidate.
For the blowback this could cause and money she will likely lose, this is a gutsy move.
Wish there were more like her.
The support of this pop singer is welcome—as long as she doesn’t start spouting paranoid fantastical nonsense about Russian masterminds.
See for yourself in her full Instagram text:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BopoXpYnCes/?taken-by=taylorswift
Thanks for that, Ad. She seems to have her head screwed on right. In stark contrast to the likes of Kid Rock and Ted Nugent and Eric Clapton.
And THIS dope….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/jesse-mulligan-sometimes-when-i-read.html
We live in a great place, BUT…what of our diminishing NZ Values ??
No wonder so many (Even Upper Middle class) are struggling to cope.
Good to see that some govt is at least bring such to light, I am sure that there are many more instances that warrant investigation, which is so sad to make comment on 🙁
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12138957
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12138990
That dozy old All Black coach can’t even say
the word “football” properly. Time to hang up his boots?
Monday, Oct. 8, 2018
Just heard, on the 5 o’clock news, that egregious old stumble-tongue Steve Hansen being asked to comment on the return from injury to the All Blacks of Dane Coles. Hansen slurred: “He’ll have enough footy under the belt….”
WTF?!!??!??
Hansen is not merely gruff, surly and arrogant; he’s apparently too st000-pid to say the word “football”?
More third rate crap by Hansen, for those who can bear it….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-23062013/#comment-652486
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02082012/#comment-501319
rissy,who are you to criticize someone who has actually achieved something in their life – you are laughable.
go out and do something useful.
I wasn’t questioning his coaching, I was questioning his gross and unattractive public persona, and his contemptible choice of sub-moronic language.
What’s the story Morrissey?
Do you reckon Steve Hansen pooed in your handbag or something?
I agree elocution isn’t his strong point, however that isn’t what he is paid for.
Bad timing to take pot shots at arguably the best AB coach, within days of a unlikely victory in the republic.
Are you a closet round ball sport fanboy?
Save it till after the world cup in Japan when you can conjure up a haters diatribe regardless of the result.
In a related vein, I am sparing a thought for Sam Cane who metaphorically dodged a bullet.
Without knowing much, the high neck fracture could spell the end of his ‘footy’ career.
A future captain who reminded me of McCaw in his playing style.
…could spell the end of his ‘footy’ career.
His football career. Come on, gsays, you can say it, even if oafs like Cane and Hansen are too stupid or too puerile or too afraid to. Football.
We’ve had this discussion before, Moz. Footy is used all around the world as shorthand for football. Different countries, different codes though. Footy in Melbourne is AFL, and in Sydney it’s league. In most of the rest of the world it’s the beautiful game.
This is how language works; it is, as Burroughs pointed out, a virus. And it gets simpler as it mutates. Complexity is smoothed out and spelling loses out to common usage. It’s a tide, Morrissey, give in to it!
Footy is used all around the world as shorthand for football.
No it’s not. If you said “footy” anywhere in Great Britain, you would be regarded, quite rightly, as a halfwit. It’s a puerilism that’s never used in the U.S., Canada, or Japan, or indeed by anyone with an IQ above room temperature in Australia or New Zealand.
It is used, however, by the brutes at Fox Television in Australia, and clearly it’s enforced ruthlessly. Those poor slaves on the ridiculously named “Fox Footy” channel are obliged to say “footy” and “AFL footy” relentlessly and repeatedly throughout every broadcast. Only Hamish McLachlan insists, against orders, on calling football “football”.
In most of the rest of the world it’s the beautiful game.
In France, it’s Rugby football that is le beau jeu. (Of course, as we all know, there’s also an ugly side to French rugby, which also has a name: le jeu dur.) The advertising term “the beautiful game” has only been used by soccer authorities in recent years, and it’s strictly advertising-speak. The term comes from Pelé’s brilliant book My Life and the Beautiful Game, which is an endorsement of all that is wonderful in Brazilian football as opposed to the cynicism and dullness of the European game, with its routine back-passes to the goalkeeper, and its strangling systemization, as epitomized by Inter Milan’s wretched catenaccio.
Where to start? Rugby is not ‘the beautiful game’ in France. It never has been called that as far as I know and as I’ve shown you previously it’s followed by bugger all people in France anyway. Fun fact; league was the bigger version of egg chasing in France pre-war, but the local fascists preferred union and closed down the superior code.
The word footy is most widely used downunder, for sure, but it is a recognizable term world wide, and particularly so in the in the UK.
Still, carry on your one man campaign to limit the use of the word if you want. Nobody is listening, nothing will change.
Where to start?
Classic! Announce to everyone how bewildered you are. Effective strategy.
Rugby is not ‘the beautiful game’ in France.
Yes it is. You don’t know much about France, and especially French rugby.
It never has been called that as far as I know
As far as you know. Which is… not far. Your repetition of that dismal treiziste fantasy blaming the war for the failure of the Die-with-the-Ball game only underlines how little you do know.
The word footy is most widely used downunder, for sure,
Not by anyone intelligent. It’s football, whether the game is rugby or soccer. I’ve never heard a football (soccer) player or manager or commentator in either Australia or New Zealand ever use the infantile “footy” on television or radio; unlike their rugby counterparts, they’re much smarter and much more aware of the importance of speaking correctly.
but it is a recognizable term world wide, and particularly so in the in the UK.
No it’s not. It’s used as often in the U.K. as it is in the U.S. Virtually never.
Still, carry on your one man campaign to limit the use of the word if you want. Nobody is listening, nothing will change.
Well, YOU seem pretty upset about it. Still, if you want to endorse the moronic, morose and contemptuous “Shag”, go ahead.
I agree elocution isn’t his strong point…
You don’t need elocution lessons to say the word football. You just need to not be puerile.
Bad timing to take pot shots at arguably the best AB coach…
My criticism of Hansen has nothing to do with his coaching, and everything to do with his lack of graciousness, his gruffness, his arrogance, and (in his excruciatingly stupid comment yesterday) his seeming inability to speak like an intelligent adult.
Are you a closet round ball sport fanboy?
What? I like all sports. I detest a lot of the ideology and bullshit and the stumble-tongued coaches that they’re burdened with.
“his seeming inability to speak like an intelligent adult.”
He might have a speech impediment or other speaking difficulty.
Footy is a well used term from where he and I grew up. Get off your high horse and back into your high chair phool.
He might have a speech impediment or other speaking difficulty.
???? You know that’s a ridiculous statement. So why make it?
Footy is a well used term from where he and I grew up.
No it’s not. It’s a new and unwelcome puerilism. You and your friends used either “football” or “rugby”—never “footy” or “rugger”.