Open mike 09/06/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 9th, 2022 - 208 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

208 comments on “Open mike 09/06/2022 ”

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  1. Pataua4life 1
    9 June 2022 at 7:04 am

    Gutten Tag from Austria.

    No masks, no mandates' life is normal in Europe. Weather is warm.

    Things are cheap as compared to NZ.

    [No follow-up response received to Mod notes; take the 2 weeks off and enjoy your trip – Incognito]

  2. pat 2
    9 June 2022 at 7:08 am

    Coming to a town near you.

    "For the next four months, a doctor will be available just three days a week at the medical centre, instead of five, and many of those consultations will be by video, not in person."

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/cuts-to-gp-service-alarm-west-coast-town

    • Ad 2.1
      9 June 2022 at 7:29 am

      The NZ growth in video doctor consults is massive. Do it from your bed!

    • weka 2.2
      9 June 2022 at 7:36 am

      People will still be able to make appointments to see Reefton’s rural nurse specialist and practice nurse, including on weekends and holidays, and they will be available on-call for emergencies.

      I would have thought teleconsults could be done from Chch too, so it's not entirely clear what is happening here.

    • weka 2.3
      9 June 2022 at 7:37 am

      Best way I can think of to get a GP to live in that area would be to gift them some land with a decent house on it.

      • alwyn 2.3.1
        9 June 2022 at 9:22 am

        The problem is that if you have "a" GP they never get time off. They are on call 24 hours of every day and holidays become almost impossible to arrange. It would need more than providing a house to overcome that problem.

        At least a doctor who works in a big city Medical Centre can take holidays.

        • aj 2.3.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 10:23 am

          Reported my + covid result yesterday afternoon. My GP called me on my mobile last night to ensure I was ok, stocked up with medication and supplies, and to ensure I knew the signs of significant problems. Offered a loan of a pulse oximeter, they have 15 for loaning out, but my daughter had bought me one (and a body temp sensor) about 6 months back.

          I don't think you'd get better service from a GP than that.

        • weka 2.3.1.2
          9 June 2022 at 10:44 am

          Do you know what a locum is?

          • alwyn 2.3.1.2.1
            9 June 2022 at 10:59 am

            Well yes, I do know what a locum is.

            I don't understand your question though in terms of your original comment. When you said "a GP to live in that area would be to gift them some land with a decent house on it." I assumed you meant a permanent resident, not a locum. Were you suggesting a house for a locum would be an incentive?

            If, on the other hand, you were suggesting that the permanent doctor could get a locum so they could take a holiday I don't see how they could do it. If the DHB can't find locums how is an individual doctor going to do any better?

            • weka 2.3.1.2.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 11:37 am

              The DHB can find locums, just not enough in the current system. Who do you think does the three days a week currently? Having a permanent GP would change things a lot, then bring in locums as the GP needs to go on holiday, have breaks etc. It's not an all or nothing.

              From the link,

              The Reefton clinic serves a population of about 1000 people and is staffed by GP locums supplied by the DHB, who often stay locally. Some have worked in the town for several months at a time.

      • Molly 2.3.2
        9 June 2022 at 12:24 pm

        Perhaps two GPs – one full-time and one who wants to reduce workload and willing to work part-time and be on call.

        • Visubversa 2.3.2.1
          9 June 2022 at 12:53 pm

          My late father did a locum for a rural GP in the mid 1950's. He was advised that many of the locals had not yet grasped the principles of a cash economy. He got the GMS benefit for everyone he saw, but the rest was very much "in kind". Fortunately my mother was raised on a farm and her father was a butcher so being confronted with large lumps of recently demised animal or bird (often complete with shotgun pellets) did not worry her. She could also pluck and dress a chicken. We were particularly happy if someone had been over to the coast and we got fresh or smoked fish or crayfish. When there was not produce it was "mow your lawn Doc?" or "clean your car Doc?". We certainly ate well and his tax return was very good that year,

        • weka 2.3.2.2
          9 June 2022 at 3:09 pm

          Might work for a couple who are both GPs? But assuming they have accommodation for locums, I was thinking a freehold house would be the kind of incentive for someone to make the move permanently.

          • Molly 2.3.2.2.1
            9 June 2022 at 4:31 pm

            Yes, I agree.

            But was thinking a family home with a separate apartment would work.

            • weka 2.3.2.2.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 5:34 pm

              Buy two houses and then they have more choice.

              • weka …
                9 June 2022 at 5:36 pm

                $350,000 – $400,000 each. Wonder how much the DHB is spending on travel and accommodation now.

              • Molly …
                9 June 2022 at 5:40 pm

                True. I was thinking for attracting young people sometimes low maintenance is attractive. So is extra income option with Air B n B.

    • pat 2.4
      9 June 2022 at 11:51 am

      "Chair Lisa Neil says the absence of a GP will load more work on to the minimal nursing staff at the medical centre.

      “We have a vulnerable elderly community here and the nurses are already under pressure dealing with Covid in the community.”

      Cutting services at a time when Reefton people are in the thick of the epidemic and under stress from spiralling living costs is a bad idea, Neil says.

      “It’s a real blow. People are reluctant to front up [with depression] as it is, and if you’re dealing with an intimate problem, elderly people especially won’t be comfortable talking to a TV screen and having an extra person in there with them as well.”

      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/cuts-to-gp-service-alarm-west-coast-town

      Who needs a face to face with a GP anyway…..hopefully nobody.

  3. Joe90 3
    9 June 2022 at 9:14 am

    Whatever it is, they're against it!

    The co-founders of Groundswell admit they have not read the three waters legislation they are so vehemently against.

    […]

    Groundswell co-founders Laurie Paterson and Bryce McKenzie also said they haven't read the proposed legislation. Paterson says, nonetheless, they're opposed to what's on the table.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018845171/groundswell-co-founders-haven-t-read-bill-they-re-vehemently-against

    • Incognito 3.1
      9 June 2022 at 9:25 am

      Yup, same attitude and response from ‘critics’ of Three Waters roaming free here on TS. They refuse to engage with the proposals, they choose to close off their minds, and they self-justify this by pointing at all sorts of things being thrown around in the MSM and by the opposition parties, i.e. pointing at ‘hidden agendas’, alleged ‘secrecy’ and ‘dishonesty’, ‘stealth’, et cetera. They will never have to find out how good or bad the reforms might be (very bad, of course) and they simply stick their fingers in their ears. But at the end of the day it is always the same as from the outset: prejudice, pure & perfect prejudice. However, never say this to those people because they’ll flip their lid in a fit of incongruence rage.

      • Sanctuary 3.1.1
        9 June 2022 at 9:55 am

        Co-governance is a thorny one. Take the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation Bill) currently going through parliament. To my mind Ngāi Tahu getting to appoint two representatives to an elected board is undemocratic.

        But of course, the same people vigorously race baiting over this co-governance arrangement were more than happy in 2010 when National dumped the elected councillors and replaced them with commissioners to enable the pillaging and theft of Canterbury's water resources on behalf of corporate dairy interests.

        So the opposition to Ngāi Tahu getting two representatives isn't so much a principled defense of democracy as being aggrieved the wrong people are getting a nice salary for life.

        Personally, I strongly doubt the Ngāi Tahu representatives will prove to be any better guardians of the waters of Canterbury than some entitled cocky whose family arrived on the Charlotte Jane in 1850. The squabble is really over which bunch of entitled twots get to make money out of the commons that is water. To that extent, I oppose co-governance – to my mind, greed is colour and race blind and the only way to really keep an eye on these wannabe rentiers for life and keep them in check is full participatory democracy.

        • weka 3.1.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 11:41 am

          Labour just sacked the democratically elected DHBs /shrug.

          • Craig H 3.1.1.1.1
            9 June 2022 at 5:25 pm

            Bit of a difference between an entity being disestablished and the board being sacked while the entity continues operating.

            • weka 3.1.1.1.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 5:34 pm

              sacking was a reference to when National sacked the elected members of the Area Health Boards in the early 90s.

        • Grumpy 3.1.1.2
          9 June 2022 at 11:51 am

          Ngai Tahu are one of (if not) the biggest owners of dairy farms in Canterbury. If any other sector were given 2 seats on ECAN it would be called a Conflict of Interest.

        • Incognito 3.1.1.3
          9 June 2022 at 8:48 pm

          If you’re referring to royalties, I’ve seen arguments these could have advantages over the non-pricing structure currently in place for drinking water. I fail to see, at present, that this is a get-rich-quick scheme for anybody, but greed is not in my nature.

      • RedLogix 3.1.2
        9 June 2022 at 10:08 am

        The only consistent prejudice I see on display here is the one that says anything to do with white people is to be discounted, deplored and derided at every opportunity.

        According to Witi Ihimaera it is a Maori Universe after all.

      • aj 3.1.3
        9 June 2022 at 10:26 am

        Two things frighten them. Anything that eats into profit, and anything that gives Maori any say in the environment.

    • Graeme 3.2
      9 June 2022 at 9:53 am

      It’s amusing that a farmer from Gore has taken a position opposing the 3 Waters reforms.

      Gore has a combined sewage / stormwater system. A throwback from the 19th century and rather expensive to fix. It’s also got a shrinking ratepayer (dying) ratepayer base. Without the socialisation of costs that 3 Waters will bring Gore will probably cease to exist as the rates required will be unsustainable.

      • Ad 3.2.1
        9 June 2022 at 10:39 am

        A combined sewer-stormwater system is a modern septic outrage.

        WTF is that Council doing?

        Auckland Council's Stormwater team and Watercare only finished separating out flows from the whole of the Ponsonby-Herne Bay-Freemans Bay-Wynyard Quarter catchment last year. Including a 3.3metre diameter stormwater line 600 metres long.

        They still have 2 years to go doing the Central Interceptor project that separates most of the previously joined system. That's over $1b of work in that one alone.

        • Graeme 3.2.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 12:14 pm

          WTF is that Council doing?

          Well they’ve got a seriously good Art Gallery… But they are thinking about it and I think they will start in a few years, it’ll probably take 20 years at what they can afford. If there’s a poster child for 3 Water it’s Gore Anywhere else would have been amalgamated three reforms ago

          But as you’ve pointed out Auckland isn’t too flash in this regard, and at a much larger and more public scale. This gets hard to fix and most TAs don’t have Aucklands scale and resources

      • joe90 3.2.2
        9 June 2022 at 10:58 am

        After the 1990's nact inflicted disasters that beset the city Whanganui was unable to afford a ten year waste water separation scheme. But we did.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/stormwater-separation-129-houses-from-completion/UXGZEVBHTCGMXEFBCNAGVYD6M4/?c_id=1503426&objectid=11011217

      • weka 3.2.3
        9 June 2022 at 11:42 am

        apart from the financial forecast, what problems does Gore have with its drinking water, greywater and sewerage?

        • Graeme 3.2.3.1
          9 June 2022 at 11:58 am

          In much / most of Gore and Mataura there is only one pipe for sewage and stormwater. When it rains the lot goes into the shit ponds which discharge into the river. Hasn’t been ideal practice since about 1900.

    • Ad 3.3
      9 June 2022 at 10:42 am

      My reckons is there is no further polling damage 3-Waters can do to the government. The legislation will be implemented without fuss. But it will take over a decade to notice much difference.

      The really big difference is the state fresh water regulator enforcing the National Fresh Water Drinking Standards, upon water systems from lazy shitty little farmer-owned councils who didn't give a damn for decades.

      • Sanctuary 3.3.1
        9 June 2022 at 11:01 am

        My only reservations about three waters is water governance is being consolidated into a nice ripe target for privatisation by a future National government (which will inevitably involve a grubby little cronyist deal with corporate Iwi that'll entrench rentier lifestyles for all those lucky enough to be at the table when the divvy up is done) and a real sadness that it signals a complete and utter failure of local democracy.

        I would have preferred the government had spent a few hundred million on a local democracy revival project before declaring them all incompetent.

        • Ad 3.3.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 12:14 pm

          I can't think of a single Wellington bureaucrat who would support strengthening local government.

          They've gutted them ever deper since 1989.

      • gypsy 3.3.2
        9 June 2022 at 2:52 pm

        The fresh water regulator is a positive step.

        "My reckons is there is no further polling damage 3-Waters can do to the government."

        I respectfully disagree. There are tens of thousands of people invested in privately owned rural schemes (plus the people in the hundred or so rural council owned schemes) who will suddenly find the schemes they have paid for they no longer control. There is the ongoing and deep set resentment across local government towards central government at the perceived loss of control over ratepayers assets. and at the way the process has been undertaken. And then there's the commitment of both National and Act to overturn the entire structure.

        "But it will take over a decade to notice much difference."

        Certainly there will be no benefit before the next election, and that is a huge problem, because over the next year the media will be full of reports of the cost of establishing the entities. This is a big play by Labour, and it will be interesting to see how the politics plays out.

        • Ad 3.3.2.1
          9 June 2022 at 3:43 pm

          I'm sure there are indeed several thousand on private water systems, but seriously Labour never had them to start with.

          There will certainly be structural setup stories, but the river pollution stories are going to get bigger and bigger.

          • gypsy 3.3.2.1.1
            9 June 2022 at 4:19 pm

            "I'm sure there are indeed several thousand on private water systems, but seriously Labour never had them to start with."

            I have a friend who lives on a lifestyle block near Masterton. He's one of the many rural people who is part of a private scheme, and he voted for Labour in Wairarapa in 2020, along with significant others that saw the seat go red. He's one of many that will vote blue in 2023 due significantly because of 3Waters. That will play out across provincial NZ, IMHO.

            • KJT 3.3.2.1.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 5:12 pm

              When I was in a private developers scheme, I heaved a sigh of relief when the local council took over that ongoing liability, even though it cost a considerable sum at the time, to get the scheme connected to the public one.

              Many of the smaller council's in particular, should be relieved that the costs will now be shared over a much wider area.

              • pat …
                9 June 2022 at 5:18 pm

                Would you be as equally relieved if the water authority determined your scheme was no longer viable?

                • KJT …
                  9 June 2022 at 5:24 pm

                  They did, down the track, and rebuilt it into a new reticulation and treatment scheme.

                  • pat …
                    9 June 2022 at 5:46 pm

                    and reduced your rates 80% at the same time?

                    • KJT …
                      9 June 2022 at 9:17 pm

                      No. Rates over the whole town went up a little to pay off the new scheme.

                      Much cheaper than we would have had to pay in annual levies for the private scheme,which only served about a hundred odd houses.

                      Economies of scale. Eh?

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 9:32 pm

                      Or cross subsidy.

                      Economies of scale set against increased bureaucracy, larger and disparate areas of activity, promised improvement of both delivery and standard and thousands more employed.

                      Something dosnt add up.

                    • KJT …
                      9 June 2022 at 9:57 pm

                      Simply that the cost and efficiency of the water and waste water plants per user, improved, when going from about a hundred houses, in the private scheme, to being shared amongst over 8000.

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 10:04 pm

                      "No. Rates over the whole town went up a little to pay off the new scheme."

                    • KJT …
                      9 June 2022 at 10:22 pm

                      Originally there was no water or sewage plant, except for the development.

                      Which of course was paid for by buyers, including myself, in the subdivision.

                      We would have had to pay all the ongoing costs ourselves of the rather expensive to run water and wastewater scheme split amongst a hundred households.
                      Noting that unit costs drop as plant gets bigger.

                      The rest of the town was on tank and septic tank.

                      Later the rest of the town was reticulated to the extended private scheme. Both water and wastewater supply.

                      Further down the track this was inadequate, as the town grew, and a new scheme was built. Every section paid a levy for the new scheme and ongoing running costs became part of rates.

                      Much cheaper per household than the original scheme. And saving a nice bit of coast from leaking septic tanks.

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 10:28 pm

                      You are using terms you apparently dont understand….yes your (future) personal expense was reduced because it was met by a larger group whos future expense was increased…this is contrary to both what is promised by 3 Waters and economy of scale.

                    • KJT …
                      9 June 2022 at 10:37 pm

                      No. You fail to understand.

                      Their future expense went down.

                      No more maintaining septic tanks.

                      As did mine.

                      Economies of scale.

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 10:45 pm

                      Again

                      "No. Rates over the whole town went up a little to pay off the new scheme."

                    • KJT …
                      9 June 2022 at 10:55 pm

                      Rates which are less than the ongoing costs per household, if the scheme wasn't done.

                      Originally non reticulated households, also benifited from the initial work and plant built and paid for by the houses in the private scheme, so if there was any cross subsidy, it was from those of us who paid for the private scheme at the start.

                      Everyone gained from the new scheme. At reduced ongoing cost per household.

                    • Molly …
                      10 June 2022 at 11:20 am

                      @pat, we had a similar situation in our rural community.

                      However, in this case the local government solution was to require the developer to provide a considerably bigger upgrade for wastewater treatment than his resource consent number of properties warranted.

                      Once in place, other rural land was rezoned, and the council charged those developments to connect to the now upgraded system.

                      Other rural land in the area with Grade I soil, has followed with residential zoning, partly justified by the access to the waste water system which retains excess capacity.

                      A particularly pernicious way of rezoning rural land. In this case there are other factors that make this rezoning not as bad a full greenfields development but it does indicate the lack of transparency.

                    • pat …
                      10 June 2022 at 11:38 am

                      @ Molly.

                      I have no idea what is grade 1 soil but guess it is productive(?)

                      However designated land use is imo likely the only effective way of addressing the multitude of issues we face though it would need to be considered in a holistic manner…and it would be deeply unpopular.

                      When it comes to water infrastructure the problems and solutions remain the same regardless of governance form, management style or political persuasion.

                    • Molly …
                      10 June 2022 at 11:48 am

                      @pat. Yes, Class I soils are productive. There are/were issues with the soil classifications maps that could be up to 5km out in some places. That might have been resolved.

                      However, the rural land here was not only zoned Class I, it was historically and currently used for food production.

                      The alternate reasons why this development is not as bad as it could be. There is a geological (topographical) limit to residential expansion, where the sprawl is contained. The community has a long history – pre treaty, and so is well serviced in terms of services and recreational community assets that have built up over time. There is remnants of a train station, with a working rail line. If passenger trains were reinstated to this line, residents would have a viable alternative to car travel.

                      In my opinion, this is a significantly different situation to other rural developments that have been permitted without connection to existing communities or public transport links.

                    • pat …
                      10 June 2022 at 12:23 pm

                      @Molly

                      Many rural communities have historically survived and thrived without the 'benefit' of the latest infrastructure, however the environment (in both senses) has changed….and not for the better.

                      As one commenter noted a few days ago our population is widely dispersed and many of our communities small and distant from large scale infrastructure removing the option of consolidation….all of these will still require access to potable water, and to meet the standards for waste….and no one has yet addressed the question of contamination of water supplies be it nitrates, PFOS or whatever other contamination we discover that is both extremely difficult and expensive to remove and is historical.

              • gypsy …
                9 June 2022 at 6:16 pm

                These schemes have ben paid for by private citzens, who are quite happy to control their system, and not at all happy having it stolen from them.

        • Incognito 3.3.2.2
          9 June 2022 at 4:46 pm

          Private schemes are outside the Three Waters reforms.

          • gypsy 3.3.2.2.1
            9 June 2022 at 6:20 pm

            That's not what Keiran McAnulty told a meeting in the Wairarapa.

            It's also not what people are being told in areas such as Queenstown.

            I suspect there is some confusion.

            • pat 3.3.2.2.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 6:36 pm

              Much has yet to be determined…there are areas where the new entities will have an impact on private schemes and there is also concurrent reform with Taumata Arowai

            • Incognito 3.3.2.2.1.2
              9 June 2022 at 8:53 pm

              Perhaps you could dig into it and clear it up for us and your friend in Masterton?

              • gypsy …
                10 June 2022 at 11:26 am

                Perhaps the government should have thought all this through before effectively stealing assets paid for by ratepayers and private citizens.

                • Incognito …
                  10 June 2022 at 4:04 pm

                  And again, you have no game surprise

                  If I had more time to spend on this I would. In the meantime, confusion reigns, which suits you, doesn’t it?

                  • gypsy …
                    10 June 2022 at 5:28 pm

                    confusion reigns

                    Gee I wouldn’t go that far. We know enough to determine the scheme is inferior to alternatives.

                    But look I’ll be generous and save you some time. When you said “Private schemes are outside the Three Waters reforms” you obviously weren’t aware of this:

                    Acquisition and Vesting of Private 3-waters Schemes Policy

                    2.2.1 PRIVATE/SMALL DRINKING WATER SCHEME OPERATORS CAN EXPECT TO SEE:

                    · Increased and immediate investment requirement in backflow prevention.

                    · Increased monitoring of water schemes and treatment to meet DWSNZ.

                    · Requirement to develop and administer a drinking water safety plan and a source water risk management plan (catchment).

                    · Increased costs of source water quality monitoring and testing.

                    · Increased personal liability to directors with heavy fines for incidences, up to and including imprisonment.

                    2.2.2 PRIVATE/SMALL WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER SCHEME OPERATORS CAN EXPECT NEW LAWS EMPOWERING TAUMATA AROWAI TO:

                    · Compile information about wastewater and stormwater networks in a national public database:

                    · Set environmental performance measures, which wastewater and stormwater operators will have to report against annually:

                    · Publish an annual report on the environmental performance of wastewater and stormwater networks and their compliance with applicable regulatory requirements (such as resource consents): · Identify and promote national good practice for the design and management of wastewater and stormwater networks.

                    https://www.qldc.govt.nz/media/hv4bxvy3/acquisition-and-vesting-of-private-3-waters-scheme-policy-draft-rev-1-16-12-2021.pdf

                    • weka …
                      10 June 2022 at 7:30 pm

                      I don't know how you managed to make the html in that comment so complicated, but I've stripped it out and made it more readable. It's good practice to put links in the clear especially if they are to PDFs. People need to see what they are clicking on.

                    • Incognito …
                      10 June 2022 at 9:36 pm

                      I don’t have time to rebut this properly. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, you have not clarified anything, not cleared up the confusion but only added to it.

                      Clearly, you have an anti-Three Waters Reforms agenda. You quote some stuff to prove something but it isn’t clear what that is except to bolster your agenda of negativity.

                      Just briefly, from your linked PDF:

                      • 3-waters Reform – Governance, administration and operation of Council 3-waters networks are likely to be transferred to new regional entities from 1 July 2024 (subject to legislation).

                      …

                      Until the full enactment of 3-waters reforms underway, Council is the operational and controlling authority responsible for the supply, treatment, reticulation/conveyance and discharge of public 3-waters services (excluding private networks) within the District. [my italics]

                      Your PDF also states:

                      Check the Department of Internal Affairs Three Water Review1 for updates.

                      Which means that you can go there and find out that private schemes are outside the Three Waters reform, as I correctly stated before. Unless you can find more recent info that contradicts this, e.g. because Government has done a U-turn.

                  • Gypsy …
                    11 June 2022 at 9:31 am

                    So you are given a list of requirements proposed for private schemes and you double down! Your comment about private schemes being “outside the Three Waters reforms” was incorrect.

                    On the wider issue of 3Waters, I suggest you read the article by Sandra Coney in the Herald about the Waitakete Ranges.

                    [Link required. Don’t expect others to do the donkey work for you. And you have to explain why and how the NZH article is relevant to the discussion thread about Three Waters Reform and private schemes, not just point to it and say ‘read it’ – Incognito]

                    • Incognito …
                      11 June 2022 at 2:15 pm

                      I suggest that when you make a suggestion for somebody to read something you include a link and spell names correctly. And if it is in the NZH then it better be not behind the pay-wall or it could be conceived as a troll comment by you – the onus is on you to avoid wasting other people’s time and not put them on wild goose chases through Google, the internet, and then find a brick wall and a hard stop when the article is finally found. I hope for your sake that this is not the case because you will receive a Mod note soon.

                      Since you seem be adamant on heaping confusion on the matter at hand rather than helping to clarify things I’ve made some time to do some digging.

                      Can you handle a one-page Summary Fact Sheet on Three Waters Reform – Rural water supplies? Sure you can; you handled the 18-page QLDC policy no sweat.

                      Under the reforms, only council-owned assets necessary for the delivery of drinking water, wastewater or stormwater services will be transferred to the new water service delivery entities. Privately owned supplies or people who supply their own water for their house will not be impacted.

                      There are a range of existing service delivery arrangements between councils and community/rural schemes. These will be worked through with all parties during the transition period. This will ensure services continue with appropriate agreements in place with the new entities – for example, private community operated services that require technical assistance.

                      And

                      Only council-owned assets necessary for the delivery of three waters services will be transferred to the new entities. Privately owned schemes and supplies will not be transferred.

                      And

                      The recently passed Water Services Act will require all drinking water suppliers, other than domestic self-suppliers, to provide safe drinking water and meet drinking water standards. This is to ensure all communities receive safe drinking water, no matter where they live or who supplies this service.

                      Private drinking water suppliers currently registered under the Health Act will have a year to comply under the Water Services Bill – this includes all public supplies and some large networked rural supplies. Suppliers that are not currently registered under the Health Act will have four years to register with Taumata Arowai (the new water regulator); and seven years to comply.

                      https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/three-waters-reform-programme-2021/$file/rural-water-supplies-fact-sheet-three-waters-reform-programme.pdf

                    • Incognito …
                      11 June 2022 at 2:17 pm

                      Mod note

                    • gypsy …
                      11 June 2022 at 2:58 pm

                      The link is in the original post. But you know that.

                      https://www.qldc.govt.nz/media/hv4bxvy3/acquisition-and-vesting-of-private-3-waters-scheme-policy-draft-rev-1-16-12-2021.pdf

                      The NZH article is relevant to the wider discussion about 3Waters and it’s merits. It’s worth purchasing a copy for.

                      [So, still no link to the NZH article and still no explanation why and how it is relevant to the discussion here. And now you suggest I and other readers here should pay and purchase a copy!? Because it’s worth it, in your opinion, without explaining why and how!?

                      The link I requested was to the NZH article. But you know that.

                      However, you provided the same link to the QLDC policy draft again, for the third time, after extensively and selectively quoting irrelevant stuff. I referred to it in my reply @ 11 June 2022 at 2:15 pm and I’ve quoted from it myself. But you know that.

                      It is unclear and ambiguous to refer to the “original post” without being more specific about which exact comment you mean. When I refer to the OP I refer to the blog/article/piece written by the Author, not to the beginning of a discussion thread or sub-thread. In any case, it is not clear what you’re referring to and this is OM!?

                      So, you’re a disingenuous troll here, baiting, diverting, obfuscating and you’re wasting Moderator time. Take a week off – Incognito]

                    • Incognito []
                      11 June 2022 at 4:21 pm

                      Mod note

                  • gypsy …
                    11 June 2022 at 3:02 pm

                    "Can you handle a one-page Summary Fact Sheet on Three Waters Reform – Rural water supplies? "

                    And then you go on to provide a link about transfer of ownership. Your claim was "Private schemes are outside the Three Waters reforms." and yet your own reference states:

                    "Private drinking water suppliers currently registered under the Health Act will have a year to comply under the Water Services Bill – this includes all public supplies and some large networked rural supplies."

                    If the scheme has to comply with any new regulations under 3Waters, it is simply false to suggest the scheme is ‘outside’ of the reforms.

                    • gypsy …
                      11 June 2022 at 3:14 pm

                      And in anticipation that you will try to claim your comment was about 'ownership', the comment you were replying to when you made your claim, and my subsequent comments, have referred to 'control' not 'ownership'.

                    • Incognito …
                      11 June 2022 at 4:46 pm

                      Nope, neither control nor ownership are transferred out of and away from private schemes. You’re confusing compliance with the new regulations and regulatory framework with loss of control, which is bot inaccurate and incorrect and amounts to fearmongering. The same fearmongering and propaganda as we might expect from some rural quarters with hysterical outburst and frankly ridiculous claims such as "They're stealing our water!", FFS. https://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/rural-news/rural-general-news/they-re-stealing-our-water

                      To have something stolen from you, you have to own it in the first place. Some rural folk seem to think that they own the commons and because they have been free to use it and waste it they own it, for all intents & purposes. Now, who are the real thieves here?

                      By all accounts you’re quite intelligent, yet you don’t do anything to help clearing up confusion. Rather, you antagonise and obfuscate. The most obvious conclusion is that you have a deliberate agenda in stalling Three Waters Reform as much as possible and ideally make it fail.

                      Three Waters Reform boiled down

                      – a quick overview

                      Provided by the Department of Internal Affairs

                      Updated June 2022

                      https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Three-waters-reform-programme-2022/$file/Three-Waters-Reform-boiled-down-May-2022.pdf

                      The Three Waters Reforms are complex. This has meant there is some confusion about the reform proposals. The following slides discuss some common misconceptions or myths about the three waters service delivery reforms.

                      Question: Will the Three Waters Reforms take private water supplies / take back water allocations

                      Answer: No. The Three Waters Reforms aim to reform council-owned services only. This discussion is not about taking over operation of privately-owned supplies. However, the Government is working with a Rural Supplies Technical Working Group to understand how the proposed entities may support private supplies who currently receive assistance from councils.

                      The proposed entities will continue to operate within the resource management system – the Three Waters Reforms will not alter resource consents, allocations, or address ownership of freshwater. This is subject to work of the Ministry for the Environment.

                      I cannot make it any clearer for you or for anybody else. To draw conclusions that are in direct contradiction with the information provided is a sure sign of being disingenuous and not commenting & debating here in good faith. This is the very strong impression you create time after time.

    • Sanctuary 3.4
      9 June 2022 at 10:55 am

      There is a full on white panic going on in certain parts of the country right now, assiduously dog whistled by an army of GOP adjacent racists and/or culture warriors like Laurie Paterson and in the MSM by an army of right wing opinionistas.

      That this is a race based backlash can be discerned from the targets – co-governance, smearing Mahuta and attacking Poto Williams, racist fear mongering over three waters, the vigorously pumped conspiracy theories from He Puapua to white paranoia about rigging elections (see National MP David Bennett) to far out conspiracy theories like the great replacement theory which is increasingly being mainstreamed on the NZ right and popping up in comments sections of the likes of the NZ Herald.

      • joe90 3.4.1
        9 June 2022 at 11:11 am

        But it's not about race, it's about privatisation….

        The council-iwi working group, on which Smith was a member, had recommended an entrenched clause to stop the water assets' privatisation. The sale or transfer of even a single pipe would require the agreement of at least 75 percent of all MPs.

        […]

        Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson called on opposition parties to "step up" if they believed in public ownership. "We've heard certainly from the National Party that they've been throughout this process concerned about the loss of ownership in communities," he said. "Now they can step up and say 'we will agree that these assets won't be sold'."

        But it's understood the National Party did not agree to support the entrenched clause, protecting against privatisation – it is ironic for Jason Smith that it is the party he has just joined that has effectively blocked the requirement for a super-majority.

        https://www.newsroom.co.nz/three-waters-entrenchment

      • Anne 3.4.2
        9 June 2022 at 11:16 am

        Got it in one Sanctuary. And its percolating through centrist communities too. If you confront them – as I have with a few family members – they descend into fits of outrage because it's not racism. Oh yeah.angry

        I have been following stories on the trip to England by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. There it is again. Racism in all its glory. Hatred and vitriol abounded in subtle and less subtle guises. They are dammed if they do and damned if they don't. I can't even begin to imagine the uproar if it had been their little boy, Archie who played up on the balcony and elsewhere.

        It will be understandable if they never return to racist Britain.

        • Belladonna 3.4.2.1
          9 June 2022 at 7:25 pm

          It will be understandable if they never return to racist Britain.

          I'm sure Britain will be ecstatic.
          Meanwhile they're living in considerably-more-racist USA.

          Really, you care what the H&M roadshow says or does? Talk about the pinnacle of irrelevance. At least the R Family (privileged though they may be) actually work [truly, you couldn't pay me to do their jobs, be in that goldfish bowl, and live a life in the public eye]

          I had sympathy for H&M when they wanted to ditch it all; but the sympathy waned rapidly when it was apparent that they actually wanted to live like A-list celebrities, and were perfectly prepared to sacrifice their precious privacy at the altar of their new god, Netflix.

          • Anne 3.4.2.1.1
            9 June 2022 at 10:08 pm

            Actually I was picking up on Sanctuary @3.4 and talking about racism Belladonna. The example I gave is just the latest.

            Don't care what you may think I care or don't care about, or for that matter what you may care or not care about. Don't do Netflix and don't follow the pair's antics in the US so don't know what you're talking about. And just so as you get the message I don't care either. 😈

            • Belladonna 3.4.2.1.1.1
              10 June 2022 at 10:15 am

              Then perhaps you should use an example where you do care, and have bothered to do a minimal level of research.

              • Anne …
                10 June 2022 at 11:03 am

                I care about racism and other forms of destructive prejudice. I don't care about the circumstance or past mistakes of the individual/individuals who happen to be the targets.

                A less judgemental approach to commenters based on… zero knowledge of their backgrounds or the extent of their "research" endeavours into matters that happen to be of interest to them would be helpful. You might find the favour being returned.

                • Belladonna …
                  10 June 2022 at 11:25 am

                  I you make a statement that

                  Don't care what you may think I care or don't care about, or for that matter what you may care or not care about. Don't do Netflix and don't follow the pair's antics in the US so don't know what you're talking about. And just so as you get the message I don't care either.

                  It's pretty obvious that you've done little or no research.

                  And I suggest a mirror, when you're talking about "less judgemental approach"

      • PsyclingLeft.Always 3.4.3
        10 June 2022 at 7:29 am

        "Nobody owns the water, " former broadcaster Peter Williams told an audience in Gore yesterday.

        About 400 people turned up to the meeting hosted by Groundswell New Zealand to protest against the Three Waters reforms.

        It was the third meeting of four hosted by the group in Otago and Southland.

        A Taxpayers Union board member, Mr Williams was the keynote speaker at the meeting.

        https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/hundreds-3-waters-reforms-protest-meeting

        A LOT of venting about bullies….and Maaries and WHO should own the Water. Well, them Farmers of course ! (They already do……)

    • Populuxe1 3.5
      9 June 2022 at 2:19 pm

      Apart from the people who drafted it, I doubt even the minister has read the whole thing. It would be more to the point to ask if they'd read the summary of the Bill and the discussion document.

  4. Ross 4
    9 June 2022 at 9:50 am

    Bad news for the Government.

    the National Party is still perceived by New Zealanders as most capable of managing 4 of the top-5 issues, a significant shift compared to June 2021, when Labour was seen as most capable of managing 19 of the 20 issues.

    The top five issues are:

    1. Inflation/cost of living.

    2. Housing/price of housing.

    3. Healthcare/hospitals.

    4. Petrol prices/fuel.

    5. Crime/law and order.

    National should be delighted with the attention Labour is giving 3 Waters.

    https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2022-06/17th%20Ipsos%20New%20Zealand%20Issues%20Monitor%20-%207%20June%202022%20%28report%29.pdf

    • Anne 4.1
      9 June 2022 at 10:11 am

      And when have the top five issues ever been anything else other than the ones quoted. You're a gullible idiot!

    • Corey Humm 4.2
      9 June 2022 at 4:43 pm

      I don't think they care about reelection at this point. I think the cabinet of mediocrity is simply hoping it gets as many of its social engineering reforms through by mid 2023 as possible.

      They are doubling and trippling down on everything that makes them unpopular and have abandoned anything remotely popular.

      People voted labour because they thought they might do something about unaffordable housing, unaffordable rents, living costs, mental health, welfare ,health, tax reforms and in 2017 Jacinda even said she supported drug reform.

      Instead all those problems are worse and labour is worrying about Geoffrey Palmer esque pie in the sky constitutional reforms and social engineering.

      Tens of thousands wait on social housing lists and labour won't increase the percentage of social housing in total supply better to just copy national and throw them in costly motels rather than build state housing which is revenue asset for the govt but nevermind.

      Private Rentals are impossible to find but theres a hundred thousand empty houses in NZ the govt just shrugs. Instead of developing land and building houses we give land to developers to sell extremely overpriced two bedroom boxes that sit empty.

      Cost of living is out of control and our supermarket duopoly greed is hurting our people and a war with them would be extremely popular, the govt spends months saying it'll do something major doesn't even do the bare minimum. Another failed opportunity

      Instead of spending loads on training new nurses and doctors for free we spend loads on centralizing healthcare bureaucracy. While dying people sit in beds in our ers.

      Drops a CGT as soon as they start polling highly after March 15. wasted opportunity

      Pm whose popularity, like way Trudeau would have gotten weed reform Says she supports drug reform in 2017, the party doesn't wrote a coherent drug policy, pm refuses to say she supports drug reform Incase it costs her a single vote but will support euthanasia, the result is pretty much 50/50 and immediately govt rules out any reform desire weed reform being popular with half the country. Another cynical wasted opportunity and if you look at the weed industries around the world, one that is leaving NZ behind. Failure to get any drug reform from this govt is shameful.

      Instead of things on housing,cost of living , health, things people actually vote labour for we get hate speech laws, woke extremists running an anti terrorist unit, 3 waters, centralization, more hotels, a broadcast merger, co-govt constitutional reforms and a few crumbs like wage rises, benefit rises, bland climate reforms, weak workers rights reforms and more and more unaffordable empty box apartments.

      Yippie.

      Then there's the off touted COVID response , the one praised for not clogging up our healthcare system…. Except…… ambulances are so busy they aren't taking calls heart attacks have 1/4 survival rate, hospitals are chocker full and ambos are just dropping patients to emergency bay and picking which ones get treated and which ones don't…. Boy seems like we just postponed the health crisis by two years and didn't do anything with the two extra years to increase health care capacity.

      Thank God for vaccinations because otherwise we really would be upshit creek. Which is a credit to the govt but not increasing capacity is a discredit.

      In previous elections labour used to say we'd love to do this or that if only we had a majority. Now we know they what they will do with a majority. Constitutional reforms rather than economic or housing reforms. Yay!

      I hope labour wins a third term.

      Not because I think they'll do anything, they ruled out anything that would get people excited, I hope labour wins a third term cos national and act would be horrifically bad for many of my friends and families living standards. Labour just won't make it much worse.

      But if labour loses I hope it's a nat/nzf /act govt or nat/Maori/act govt cos those two centerist parties would stop act and national reeking too much ruthanasia on the poor.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2.1
        9 June 2022 at 5:16 pm

        But if labour loses I hope it's a nat/nzf /act govt or nat/Maori/act govt cos those two centerist parties would stop act and national reeking too much ruthanasia on the poor.

        Hope you're right, remembering that Richarsdon was a National party MP, finding her natural home (the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers NZ party, founded by Douglas and Quigley), only after she departed Parliament.

        And then a step to the right

  5. Patricia Bremner 5
    9 June 2022 at 10:13 am

    Yes Ross, it is always easier to sit on one side throwing rocks into the kitchen.

    Being able to produce change in an unstable world is harder. You did not mention 3 huge problems. Covid War Climate Change.

    All we hear from National is "We could do it better and cheaper"

    Righto!! Why do you think that would be? You new boss says "He would do the same"

    "He would spend the same" So what exactly would change….. Tax cuts?? How did that work for 90% of us???

    Oh I gedditt!! You would have a Big Daddy in charge.!! Not a "Girl"

    Guess what?? He needs to do more homework. This is not a company There is a big bad world out there having an effect on us. We can't ignore that for political convenience. Most countries are struggling.

    • Jester 5.1
      9 June 2022 at 12:32 pm

      Don't forget when Labour were in opposition, they threw plenty of rocks and were going to fix the homeless issue, child poverty etc. and Kiwi build 10k houses a year, fix the state house wait list and hospital wait lists. All oppositions can promise the world as they don't have to deliver.

      How is that going now that they have been in government for nearly five years?

  6. Ad 6
    9 June 2022 at 12:08 pm

    The EU has just voted to ban diesel and electric new cars by 2035.

    That's a good signal from the world's 3rd largest co2 polluter.

    I can't remember what our target is.

  7. PB 7
    9 June 2022 at 1:37 pm

    Is everyone comfortable that around 20 people are dieing from Covid 19 related illness each day? That' over 100 deaths per week and the way its going looks odds for over 5,000 by years end. The business lobby won and the old, infirm and (probably) poor lost. I'll still vote Labour but when backbone was needed they didn't stand up for their people – it's a sore point for me and whilst I think that overall Covid was handled really well if we get to the next election with 10,000 dead from Covid it will be hard to use the handling of the pandemic as a reason to vote Labour. .

    • KJT 7.1
      9 June 2022 at 4:37 pm

      I don't think anyone is "comfortable about it". Certainly still very concerned about the vulnerable around me.

      Once omicron was in the country, and everyone that could, or would be, was vaccinated, it is hard to say what else could be done. It is doubtful if enough people would have supported further lockdowns to make them effective. As we could see at the end of the last Auckland lockdown.

      Even China's draconian lockdowns are leaking. With pretty dire results in areas with around 60% vaccination rates.

      Keeping covid out until we had 95% vaccinated, has saved thousands of lives, compared with countries that didn't reach those levels before opening up.

      One thing that was conceded to business, which may have slowed the spread more, is the required length of self isolation. Ten days, not seven, would have accorded more with the probability of being infectious. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/17/1081510375/isolation-testing-omicron-infection

  8. Blade 8
    9 June 2022 at 2:01 pm

    Interesting interview Jamie McKay had with soil scientist, Doug Edmeades. Some main points:

    1- Farmers need to realise urea isn't the best source of nitrogen, clover pasture is. Emades believes growing good clover pasture has become a lost art.

    Yeah, but urea gets a hell of a fast result even though much is lost into the atmosphere. And…I hate clover pasture, as anyone who has lifted and stacked clover hay bales will attest to.

    2- Soil does not produce nutrients, so fertiliser is a must. In the 80s when many farmers cut back on fertiliser, those who continued fertilising came out of the then farming slump in a much better position. When you use less fertiliser you need to reduce your stock numbers.

    3- Farmers use too much phosphate. That's a problem in NZ. I used bat guano for a few years. The phosphate reading when taken was off the charts. In alternative medicine, excessive phosphate is considered a cause for cancer and other diseases.

    Now for the contentious issue – Methane .

    Quote:

    ''Yes, ruminants produce CH4. Yes it is a greenhouse gas. Yes it may be possible to come up with interventions to reduce emissions from the animal.

    BUT! Let me explain.

    Methane is short-lived in the atmosphere. It hangs around for about 10 years before it is converted to CO2. For every unit of carbon the animal emits as CH4 it must ingest the same amount of carbon from its plant-based feed source, which, remember, comes initially from the CO2 in the atmosphere.

    From the animals perspective every bit of carbon it emits as methane it mopped up as carbon in its feed. The animal is both the source of the carbon in methane and it is also the sink for the equivalent amount of carbon in CO2. In this sense the carbon-methane cycle: methane-to-CO2-to-forage-plants-to-animals-to-methane, is a closed cycle.''

    Dr Doug Edmeades, MscHons, ONZM (Services to Agriculture), is an independent soil scientist based in Hamilton. He welcomes feedback – doug.edmeades@agknowledge.co.nz

    In Vino has replied yesterday to some of these similar points:

    ''Blade – I read that crap in the local café. Utter baloney – the guy lies about methane, claims a closed system when much of his 'disappearing methane' converts to carbon dioxide, and peddles a load of wishful garbage.

    He claims that 'methane is gone in ten years.' If I remember correctly, that approximate figure is its half-life. And what is the point if farmers are replenishing it with a new full amount every year? No mention of methane being up to 60 times worse that CO2 as a heat-retaining gas.''

    One-eyed, wishful drivel.

    My point here is, and has always been, we don't see enough Edmeades in the media because they have issues with some mainstream narratives on climate change.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/dr-doug-edmeades-should-methane-be-included-in-the-ets/2RTYB2WJE5HMP4Y2V2J4ZQ66X4/

    • Robert Guyton 8.1
      9 June 2022 at 2:58 pm

      Edmeades is a major drag on progress here in New Zealand.

      You're such a wag, Blade, waving your ineptly-baited hooks around here on TS. You do get nibbles, but to those watching, you're a subtle as, well, Edmeades himself.

      The methane excuse is utter nonsense. The hydroxyl argument is a red herring (note the continued fishing theme). In Vino said,

      "One-eyed, wishful drivel."

      Pretty fair comment, that.

      This, from you:

      "I hate clover pasture, as anyone who has lifted and stacked clover hay bales will attest to."

      Classic, though poorly expressed, trolling clap-trap. Red meat stuff. Carelessly expressed though – "anyone who has lifted and stacked clover hay bales" won't in fact, attest that you hate clover pasture.

      You might like to drop Edmeades a line yourself:-) and ask him why, if livestock methane is carbon-neutral and nothing to worry about, are farmers and their representatives etc. gleefully accepting the millions of dollars from the Government to research … methane reduction?

      Perhaps you can answer that question yourself?

      • Blade 8.1.1
        9 June 2022 at 6:57 pm

        I don't usually respond to you, Robert, because I consider you a soundbite karen. But as you have extended yourself let's have looksee.

        ''Edmeades is a major drag on progress here in New Zealand.''

        Based on what? Your ideology?

        ''You're such a wag, Blade, waving your ineptly-baited hooks around here on TS. You do get nibbles, but to those watching, you're a subtle as, well, Edmeades himself.''

        I put this up for debate because it is current in the media; it stops the blog becoming an echo chamber and as I'm continually considered nuts because I don't believe in manmade climate change shouldn't I be able to defend myself? Hooks and nibbles is more to do with your mind set.

        "I hate clover pasture, as anyone who has lifted and stacked clover hay bales will attest to." Classic, though poorly expressed, trolling clap-trap.

        In fact it was side comment as to the extreme weight of clover bales. Some can come in at 70-80kgs wet. I can’t see you hacking that work, Robert.wink Again your unusual mind set on display.

        ''Red meat stuff.''

        We can't have that can we, Robert. Although the world loves our pasture fed red meat.

        ''You might like to drop Edmeades a line yourself:-) ''

        Why don't you drop him a line? When you don't get a reply you may like to ask yourself why?indecision

        • In Vino 8.1.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 8:14 pm

          Sorry, Blade, but you have maxed out again. I think I did a lot more hay-bale lifting that you ever did. Through all my Uni years it was my summer holiday job. 3 of us running one truck plus a loader (good boss back then – we shared driving once every 3 loads of 120 bales, but at the barn we all had to stack like hell..

          My one little concession to capitalism: we were paid per bale moved. We were efficient. The few times we saw guys being paid by the hour, they were so slow that we felt nothing but contempt.

          So yes – reward productivity.

          Clover bales were lovely when properly dried. They hurt your thighs much less! Heavier when wet, and more likely to cook and catch alight if stacked in a barn too wet.

          I picked up bales each summer starting 1965 til 1970. I had hoped it would make me a muscleman, but it just made me skinny and wiry with little, bumpy arm muscles. And it made me very fit, but I have slowly worked that off.

          Edmeades as I see it does not prove a closed system for farming. His argument that farms absorb as much carbon dioxide as they produce does not counter the carbon dioxide produced as the methane magically disappears. Nor does he seem bothered about the seriously more damaging effect of methane itself.

          We need to reduce methane urgently, not rabbit on about theoretically closed systems.. Edmeades appears to be aiding an interested status quo party to my mind.

          • Blade 8.1.1.1.1
            9 June 2022 at 8:37 pm

            Great story. I only did two seasons. And yes, I, like you, only put on arm muscle. But I was lean and mean…and bloody fit. I also saw 3 people walk off the job because they couldn't hack it. Lord knows how many would walk off the job nowadays.

            • In Vino 8.1.1.1.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 10:26 pm

              Only just got through my first week. Several guys dropped out after a day or so.. Including a police trainee.

              Maybe we were still under the effects that the Great Depression had on our parents… There are still plenty of good young guys (Covid has just forced my retirement from Secondary School Relief Teaching) and there are also heaps of tough-looking young guys that would not hack it.

              More worrying – there are also disaffected young guys who would put that kind of effort in for a gang, but not for a standard job.

              Low wage economy makes hard work a sucker's game nowadays?

              And how did we end up with an unproductive, low-wage economy?

              I blame Roger Douglas. I heard him say on the radio in early days that we must do all his reforms, but NOT become a low-wage economy.

              Every reform he did weakened unions, and promoted a low-wage economy.

              Great. Thanks a million, Rogernomes.

        • Blade 8.1.1.2
          9 June 2022 at 8:56 pm

          On second thoughts I will drop him a line with a link to this thread. Let's see what the cat drags in.

          • KJT 8.1.1.2.1
            9 June 2022 at 9:09 pm

            Please don't. One ignorant F-wit per thread is enough!

            • Blade 8.1.1.2.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 9:25 pm

              No abuse please. We have been warned enough.

              A reply will either show him to be incompetent, or it will as Earle Kirton was fond of saying, ''be good night nurse'' for some experts on this thread.

              • In Vino …
                9 June 2022 at 10:38 pm

                Blade – you are the recent arrival, and the troll. Don't presume to teach us manners.

                • Blade …
                  9 June 2022 at 11:02 pm

                  I'm teaching you nothing. Incognito laid down the kaupapa and suggested we follow it. That's what I'm doing and from my perspective KJT isn't.

                  You also called me a troll. You will need to back that up and show me where I'm trolling. And no, posting articles that aren't kosher from a Leftie perspective is not trolling in my opinion.

                  The good news for you is if I'm not booted off before hand , I will be gone for good after the next election. This will be no place for a Rightie to ply his trade. So grit ya teeth. Time will fly… and before you know it Luxon will be pontificating on the podium about how National is going to make NZ great again.sadfrownsurprise

    • Drowsy M. Kram 8.2
      9 June 2022 at 3:27 pm

      This is not the case with methane. The methane-carbon mop is built in. The animal is both the source and the sink – you cannot have one without the other. The animal is CH₄-carbon neutral.

      Seems Dr Edmeades' ONZM award (2013) for Services to Agriculture was well-earned.

      Increase in atmospheric methane set another record during 2021
      [7 April 2022]
      NOAA’s preliminary analysis showed the annual increase in atmospheric methane during 2021 was 17 parts per billion (ppb), the largest annual increase recorded since systematic measurements began in 1983. The increase during 2020 was 15.3 ppb. Atmospheric methane levels averaged 1,895.7 ppb during 2021, or around 162% greater than pre-industrial levels. From NOAA’s observations, scientists estimate global methane emissions in 2021 are 15% higher than the 1984-2006 period.

      How necessary and feasible are reductions of methane emissions from livestock to support stringent temperature goals? [27 Sept 2021]
      Most fundamentally though, none of the mitigation pathways and options discussed in our study will come to pass without targeted policies to address greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the global demand for emissions-intensive livestock products and provide for transitions of those most affected by the necessary transformative changes. The significant potential for the reduction of livestock CH₄ emissions can only be realized if agriculture, and livestock systems in particular, become part of mainstream climate policies, while recognizing their unique and multiple interacting social, cultural and environmental functions.

      And what Robert Guyton wrote @8.1. Sand still not bothering you? What’s your secret?

      • pat 8.2.1
        9 June 2022 at 3:53 pm

        And the source of that increase in ppm methane is?

        • Poission 8.2.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 3:57 pm

          Leaky pipes,emissions from coalfields, flaring ,flatulence from Kale.

          https://twitter.com/IEA/status/1523671693805473798?cxt=HHwWjMC–aXVlaUqAAAA

          NZ total ch4 emissions are not even the standard error.

          • pat 8.2.1.1.1
            9 June 2022 at 4:14 pm

            Indeed…and the largest source of biogenic methane (that which is part of the carbon cycle) is wetlands.

            https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/08/13/global-methane-emissions-soaring-but-how-much-was-due-to-wetlands/

            We may have too many cattle beasts but they are not the main cause of increasing atmospheric methane, indeed those studying it are struggling to account for it.

            https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/02/19/were-vastly-undercounting-methane-emissions-fossil-fuels-scientists-say/

            • Poission 8.2.1.1.1.1
              9 June 2022 at 4:30 pm

              Wetlands are interesting insofar as they have a huge ability to lay down carbon,

              https://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/trends/ecosystems/gajewski.gif

              There is a real complex ecosystem there,which is difficult to model,With coastal wetlands they do not produce so much CH4 due to SO2 from the sea (acid rain) from algae.

              • Robert Guyton …
                9 June 2022 at 4:44 pm

                Poission is right. Wetlands will be the saving of us (those of us who live in regions where wetlands were, pre-agriculture, vast wetlands – put them back)!!

              • pat …
                9 June 2022 at 4:46 pm

                I fear another forest carbon credit debacle is in the offering…..are we to ban rice paddies next?

                • Poission …
                  9 June 2022 at 4:54 pm

                  Probably right.Ted talks and investor conferences.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  9 June 2022 at 5:23 pm

                  Not ban wetlands; fens, bogs, swamps and mires – make more of them!!

                  Many more. The benefits are enormous! Food production from wetlands is something that was once well known, but has been forgotten, mainly, til now. Eels, crayfish, mussels and more, not counting plants (watercress etc.

                  Best thing though, the filtering, cleansing, water-slowing effects of wetlands. Uncounted savings to all regions, subject to flooding.

                  • pat …
                    9 June 2022 at 5:45 pm

                    But they produce methane Robert….public enemy number one!

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      9 June 2022 at 6:41 pm

                      If farmers can claim a natural methane cycle for their animals, wetland defenders can surely claim the same for their waterbodies!

                      Carbon sequestration by wetlands is beyond "significant". We'd be fools to talk wetlands down.

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 6:45 pm

                      Or…

                      If wetlanders can claim a natural methane cycle farmers can claim the same for their stock.

                      Carbon sequestration on farms is significant. We'd be fools to talk food production down.

                    • Poission …
                      9 June 2022 at 7:00 pm

                      With a 500b$ foreign liability,and a country that is fiscally restrained destocking of Bovine /ovine biomass needs to be matched by the removal of equivalent human biomass from NZ.

                      No welfare state,15-20% mortgages,councillors reduced to minimum hourly rate for meetings only,a reduction in MP'S a population of around 1990 or less.

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 7:42 pm

                      "…a reduction in MP'S a population of around 1990 or less."

                      Every cloud has a silver lining

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      9 June 2022 at 8:15 pm

                      We'd be fools not to recognise that "food production" does not equal "livestock farming as presently practiced".

                      It's not a binary.

                      There are many other food production models and many other foods.

                      Milk is not King!

                    • pat …
                      9 June 2022 at 8:42 pm

                      "There are many other food production models and many other foods.:

                      Indeed there are….however methane accounting is not being used as a reason to remove them (at least not here)

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    9 June 2022 at 8:38 pm

                    Curbing methane emissions: How five industries can counter a major climate threat [23 Sept 2021]
                    Companies can take three no-regrets actions to begin reducing methane emissions
                    Action 2: Support sustainable consumption. Stakeholders could develop mechanisms to differentiate assets and score products based on their methane footprints. If every kilogram of rice, million British thermal units (MMBtu) of natural gas, ton of steel, pound of meat, barrel of oil, and ton of coal came with a methane-intensity label, the market signals could support a more orderly decarbonization transition. With this, retailers and consumers could make more informed purchasing decisions, producers could define new foundations for competitive advantage, and investors could better understand portfolio risk.

                    Or we can support unsustainable consumption – it's a 'free' choice.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 8.2.1.2
          9 June 2022 at 4:09 pm

          New analysis shows microbial sources fueling rise of atmospheric methane [17 June 2021]
          The sudden and sustained rise in atmospheric levels of the potent greenhouse gas methane since 2007 has posed one of the most significant and pressing questions in climate research: Where is it coming from?

          Fossil fuel emissions? Biological sources? A diminished capacity by the atmosphere to break down methane? A climate tipping point?
          …
          Lan said the data pointed to microbial sources, such as natural wetlands, shallow lakes and rivers, and human-managed sources like livestock, landfills, rice paddies, and wastewater treatment.

          Quantifying fossil fuel methane emissions using observations of atmospheric ethane and an uncertain emission ratio [25 March 2022]
          Using the joint methane–ethane inverse model, we estimate annual mean UK methane emissions of approximately 0.27 (95 % uncertainty interval 0.26–0.29) Tg yr−1 from fossil fuel sources and 2.06 (1.99–2.15) Tg yr−1 from non-fossil fuel sources, during the period 2015–2019.
          https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/22/3911/2022/acp-22-3911-2022.html

    • Macro 8.3
      9 June 2022 at 3:58 pm

      The half-life of methane in the atmosphere is around 9.1 years so NO it has not all disappeared in 10 years. Only half of it has converted into CO2 and water vapour – both also GHGs. After another 9.1 years another 1/4 of the original amount will have converted into CO2 and water vapour, and then another 9.1 years later 1/8 and so on. That is how half-lifes work.

      My point here is, and has always been, we don't see enough Edmeades in the media because they have issues with some mainstream narratives on climate change.

      The main point is that Edmeades represents about 2.5% of scientific opinion on the matter. The jury is well out against him and for good reason. There are numerous papers and reports that show that the Methane cycle is out of balance – largely caused by increased numbers of agricultural livestock. A fair summary is here:

      A 2006 UN FAO report reported that livestock generate more greenhouse gases as measured in CO2 equivalents than the entire transportation sector. Livestock accounts for 9 percent of anthropogenic CO2, 65 percent of anthropogenic nitrous oxide and 37 percent of anthropogenic methane. A senior UN official and co-author of the report, Henning Steinfeld, said "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems."[63]

      Recent NASA research has confirmed the vital role of enteric fermentation in livestock on global warming. "We understand that other greenhouse gases apart from carbon dioxide are important for climate change today," said Gavin Schmidt, the lead author of the study and a researcher at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research.[64] Other recent peer reviewed NASA research published in the journal Science has also indicated that the contribution of methane to global warming has been underestimated

      • Blade 8.3.1
        9 June 2022 at 8:10 pm

        ''The half-life of methane in the atmosphere is around 9.1 years so NO it has not all disappeared in 10 years. Only half of it has converted into CO2 and water vapour – both also GHGs. After another 9.1 years another 1/4 of the original amount will have converted into CO2 and water vapour, and then another 9.1 years later 1/8 and so on. That is how half-lifes work.''

        Could you please provide a link ? That's not how I understand things.

        https://gml.noaa.gov/education/info_activities/pdfs/CTA_the_methane_cycle.pdf

        • Incognito 8.3.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 9:14 pm

        • Macro 8.3.1.2
          9 June 2022 at 9:20 pm

          Half-life is defined as the amount of time it takes a given quantity to decrease to half of its initial value. The term is most commonly used in relation to atoms undergoing radioactive decay, but can be used to describe other types of decay, whether exponential or not.

          https://www.calculator.net/half-life-calculator.html

          Methane has a large effect but for a relatively brief period, having an estimated mean half-life of 9.1 years in the atmosphere,[21][page needed] whereas carbon dioxide is currently given an estimated mean lifetime of over 100 years.

          The globally averaged concentration of methane in Earth's atmosphere increased by about 150% from 722 ± 25 ppb in 1750 to 1803.2 ± 1.2 ppb in 2011.[22] As of 2011, methane contributed radiative forcing of 0.48 ± 0.05 Wm−2,[23] or about 17% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases.[citation needed] According to NOAA, the atmospheric methane concentration has continued to increase since 2011 to an average global concentration of 1892.2 ppb as of December 2020.[24] The March 2019 peak was 1866.2 ppb, while the April 2020 peak was 1876.0 ppb, a .5% increase.[24]

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

          • In Vino 8.3.1.2.1
            10 June 2022 at 10:27 pm

            Thanks, Macro.

            I tried to put the half-life thing to Blade a few days ago, but he ignores and pretends not to get it.

            He obfuscates deliberately. That is his role.

            • Blade 8.3.1.2.1.1
              10 June 2022 at 11:20 pm

              Easy cowboy… be careful before you jump to conclusions. That half-life thing is interesting… I'll mull over it for a couple days. You should too.

              • Incognito …
                11 June 2022 at 1:52 pm

                If the concept of half-life will take you a few days to mull over, how long did it take you to mull over magnetism and paramagnetism? The mind boggles …

    • KJT 8.4
      9 June 2022 at 4:45 pm

      "In this sense the carbon-methane cycle: methane-to-CO2-to-forage-plants-to-animals-to-methane, is a closed cycle.''

      Claptrap.

      In a "closed cycle" you don't have to keep adding nutrients, including soil carbons.

  9. Robert Guyton 9
    9 June 2022 at 3:00 pm

    "Soil does not produce nutrients"

    Oh Lordy, protect is from these fools!

    I wonder how anything grew at all, in the millions and millions of years that preceded the discovery of urea and super-duper phosphate?

    Poor know-nothing Mother Nature!

    • weka 9.1
      9 June 2022 at 5:40 pm

      Those sneaky forests too, must be running a black market import of fert. From somewhere.

      • Grafton Gully 9.1.1
        9 June 2022 at 6:56 pm

        Seabirds import fertiliser to some forests.

        "Seabird colonies in New Zealand represent the rich diversity of coastal and pelagic seabirds, and are hotspots of intense nutrient and trace element cycling that provide examples of natural nutrient enrichment in terrestrial and stream ecosystems."

        Quote from the first paragraph of the review conclusions.

        https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3455.pdf

        • weka 9.1.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 8:33 pm

          isn't it cool?! So much that nature does that we would be learning from.

      • Blade 9.1.2
        9 June 2022 at 7:49 pm

        We are talking high density farming with no biomass accumulation as in a forest.

        Talking of fert , I have tried nearly everything. Yet I've narrowed things down to seaweed, lawn clippings and salt. Salt has all the minerals many soils need due to depletion. My crops go crazy.

        Could you pass this on to Rob, Weka. Best it comes from you.

        • Robert Guyton 9.1.2.1
          9 June 2022 at 8:12 pm

          You have a lawn?

          Living in the Stone Age still!

          No matter. Converting it into soil is something.

          Keep piling on the salt, Blade.

          That'll teach you.

        • weka 9.1.2.2
          9 June 2022 at 8:34 pm

          farmers can make their crops go crazy in various ways. Or they can ask nature for a helping hand and make their farms live in perpetuity once the fossil fuels and artificial inputs are gone.

          • Blade 9.1.2.2.1
            9 June 2022 at 8:46 pm

            Agree 100%. I'm an organic farmer. Although it must be remembered organic farming like vegan diets demands very careful management and in some cases isn't superior to conventional farming ( in my opinion). Beetroots for example have a higher nitrate content when grown conventionally. And that's what health nuts and body builders want – a high nitrate profile.

            • Robert Guyton 9.1.2.2.1.1
              10 June 2022 at 7:46 am

              "I am an organic farmer"

              You use lawn clippings primarily, as fertiliser, Blade?

              How big is your farm?

              • pat …
                10 June 2022 at 8:06 am

                A piece you may (or perhaps not) enjoy Robert.

                "Aotearoa New Zealand’s pastoral agriculture has been entirely based on this through the use of grass and clover pastures. Indeed until the expansion of dairying since the 1990s, pastoral and arable farming here used no nitrogen fertilisers – all the nitrogen came from clovers biologically fixing it. This is how organic agriculture that prohibits the use of nitrogen fertilisers works. It is therefore possible to farm without using any nitrogen fertiliser at all, in contrast to lithospheric fertilisers. Yes, compromises have to be made in the production system and there can be profit implications, but, Aotearoa New Zealand farmed for nearly its entire history without nitrogen fertilisers so it is possible to do so again."

                https://www.newsroom.co.nz/farmers-dont-need-nitrogen-fertilisers-at-all

                • Blade …
                  10 June 2022 at 8:17 am

                  Interesting expansion on what Edmeades said about clover pasture use being a lost art in NZ.

                  • pat …
                    10 June 2022 at 8:37 am

                    I see it as akin to our use of PKE….we waste over a billion a year (IIRC) importing a product that is effectively unnecessary. A lot of our issues can be traced back to the need to service greatly inflated land values that force everyone to maximise every possible skerrick of production to satisfy the bank.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  10 June 2022 at 9:21 am

                  This is not news to me, pat.

                  In my forest garden, I've included a wide range of leguminous plants; clovers, vetches, lupines, peas, beans, kakabeak, kowhai, tagasaste, laburnum, gleditsia, etc. to serve as nitrogen-collectors for the benefit of the other plants.

                  New Zealand farmers will return to plant-generated nitrates for their pastures before too long. Many already have.
                  I hope the warming environment doesn’t favour weevils.

                  • pat …
                    10 June 2022 at 9:30 am

                    "New Zealand farmers will return to plant-generated nitrates for their pastures before too long."

                    I expect so, though not necessarily by choice.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      10 June 2022 at 9:45 am

                      I'm betting farmers don't choose "the need to service greatly inflated land values that force everyone to maximise every possible skerrick of production to satisfy the bank." either.

                    • KJT …
                      10 June 2022 at 9:48 am

                      Well the capital gains farmers, which appears to be the majority of "farm investors" these days, chose it, in the expectations of high returns on selling the farms.

                      Like the “house hoarders”, capital gains, not the long term future of farming, is the goal.

                    • pat …
                      10 June 2022 at 9:49 am

                      Hobsons choice

              • Blade …
                10 June 2022 at 8:10 am

                In old terms – all up, 10 acres. When I say lawn clippings, that also includes other green matter as well. The place was liberally coated with rock dust about 15 years ago, not so much for the minerals, but for the paramagnetism.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  10 June 2022 at 9:15 am

                  You fertilise your entire 10 acre block with "seaweed, lawn clippings and salt"?

                  Hmmm….

                  That's a fairly thin application of lawn clippings, Blade.

                  Unless your lawn is huge. What percentage of your farm is lawn? It would have to be considerable to be able to service 10 acres!

                  How much "salt" do you need to cover that area?

                  If you are using seawater, you'd need a considerable amount to cover 10 acres; how do you collect that much seawater?

                  You also need a huge volumn of seaweed to cover 10 acres. How do you do this?

                  Your farm sounds very interesting.
                  Question: was your rockiest Israelii?

                  • Robert Guyton …
                    10 June 2022 at 9:47 am

                    Rock dust. Did it come from Israel?

                    • Blade …
                      10 June 2022 at 11:45 am

                      Nope. Up North. I originally bought it from a defunct outfit in Mt Maunganui.

                      I now buy it from: https://environmentalfertilisers.co.nz/contact/

                      Check them out. Some of their organic mixes are excellent.

                      I also use Bio Char, and my water is vortexed using Viktor Schauberger like tech.

                      Pressed for time. Will answer your other questions later.

                      Oh – seaweed meal. Beach seaweed when I have time. You cannot harvest living seaweed.

                    • Blade …
                      10 June 2022 at 7:59 pm

                      ''Unless your lawn is huge. What percentage of your farm is lawn? It would have to be considerable to be able to service 10 acres.''

                      About one third. Also boundary weeds and leaves etc. Bio Char is interesting. It is self perpetuating. But in some respects has been over sold. How Bio Char was used in the Amazon is still not completely understood.

                      ''If you are using seawater, you'd need a considerable amount to cover 10 acres; how do you collect that much seawater.''

                      Fair questions. It's not viable for most farmers. Hence ocean solids are mixed with farm water and then spread. This dude in the clip is obviously a hobby farmer like me. Other clips will show how salt in used in bigger operation.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  10 June 2022 at 8:23 pm

                  3 acres of lawn? Wow! HUGE lawn!!

                  What do you make your biochar from?

                  "The place was liberally coated with rock dust about 15 years ago"

                  I didn't realise you are still applying it – why is that? Does your land need a top-up?

                  • Blade …
                    10 June 2022 at 8:51 pm

                    ''What do you make your biochar from?''

                    I buy. But for someone like you with plenty of prunings ( I would assume) you could make your own quite easily. Just remember to inoculate it.

                    "The place was liberally coated with rock dust about 15 years ago"

                    I didn't realise you are still applying it – why is that? Does your land need a top-up?

                    I only applied it once as stated above for the paramagnetism. People forget rock dust can take ages to be broke down by bacteria. It is not bio available for a long time. Hence by using salt I am not doubling up on minerals or applying rock dust in a different form each year.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      11 June 2022 at 9:00 am

                      Oh, I see. It's just that you wrote:

                      "I now buy it from: https://environmentalfertilisers.co.nz/contact/"

                      I wondered if you are still applying rock dust.

                      Interesting to hear about your "Viktor Schauberger like tech." for vortexing your water. Those are pretty cool technologies – where did you get yours? What form does it take? It is possible to make your own – is that what you've done. Interesting stuff, Blade. I'd like to hear more!

                    • Blade …
                      11 June 2022 at 1:06 pm

                      I see..yes, I still buy it but not for my own use at present. We are soaking dust in water and using it in compost at a rellies place. He likes to grow herbs. blush I have told him he may be wasting his time with rock dust. He see's thing differently, time will tell. If I'm wrong, I learn something new.

                      I had mine made. It's a very simple affair. Something like the copper pipe in this link.

                      https://www.alivewater.com/vortex-water-revitalizer-product-description

                      But before you doing anything like that. Do this. Buy one. The price is highway robbery. I bought a packet of them for $4, I think, a while back on Ali express. But with postage delay at present, it's better to pay the higher price.

                      Then you can experiment. Minimum four twists one way, four the other way. Then water a pot plant etc. Better still, drink a cup of the water and if liver isn't clean, or your body needs a clean out, you will be down with flu like symptoms.

                      https://nzl.grandado.com/products/vortex-bottle-connector-tornado-in-a-bottle-cyclone-tube-tornado-maker-magic-toy-9?variant=UHJvZHVjdFZhcmlhbnQ6MjA4NzA4NDk4

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      11 June 2022 at 7:49 pm

                      More questions about your organic practices, Blade – what do you do with the biochar you buy?

        • Drowsy M. Kram 9.1.2.3
          9 June 2022 at 9:37 pm

          Yet I've narrowed things down to seaweed, lawn clippings and salt…
          My crops go crazy.

          Blade, do you mean NaCl (sodium chloride) salt, or nitrogen, potassium, sulfur, and phosphorus (mineral) salts? Just asking because I would have thought NaCl (sea salt) couldn't be too good for your orange tree.

          My small orange tree does alright with a few NPK granules springled along the drip line twice a year. NaCl would be much cheaper. Should I apply sparingly?
          Don't want my orange crop to become completely deranged laughlaughlaugh

          Drought and Salinity in Citriculture: Optimal Practices to Alleviate Salinity and Water Stress [24 June 2021]

          • RedLogix 9.1.2.3.1
            9 June 2022 at 9:41 pm

            I would have guessed he means unprocessed 'sea salt' – which contains a pretty wide range of minerals.

          • Blade 9.1.2.3.2
            9 June 2022 at 10:04 pm

            No, ordinary unrefined sea salt. Trust me ,when I first heard of this I called bs. I was wrong. It's one of the most potent fertilisers I have ever used . See my links.

            The ratio is three and a half litres of water to 1 teaspoon of salt, once per month.

            Others use way more. Some less. I also sprinkle a handful of salt around a mature tree once a year.

            The salt must be unrefined. The minerals in unrefined salt provides a degree of buffering. Refined salt is worthless and will kill your plants. It's not good for human health either. Makes a good weed killer though.

            Even though I get great results, I was brought up on the notion salt is a poison for plants. I can't shake that mind conditioning. I still freak out when using salt on my plants. So I suggest you carry on with what you are doing with your orange tree and just use salt on a test plant to put your mind a ease.

            Salt water from the sea can be applied directly once a month. Others suggest 1/3 sea water to 2/3 tap water.

            It's true some plants are salt sensitive. Your link says that about citrus. But I have never had a problem with the above routines. However, it may be prudent to take a year off now and again.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 9.1.2.3.2.1
              9 June 2022 at 10:16 pm

              Thanks Blade, I will try diluted seawater – certainly cheaper than Yates Thrive (Citrus & Fruit). There are, of course, a range citrus fertilisers.

    • Blade 9.2
      9 June 2022 at 9:03 pm

      It's not super-duper phosphate, Robert. It was meant to be spread with equal parts Dolomite. Now you know why much of our pastural land is out of kilter.

      • Robert Guyton 9.2.1
        9 June 2022 at 9:56 pm

        You sure learned me good tonight, Sensei!

        • Blade 9.2.1.1
          9 June 2022 at 10:08 pm

          Right. Now it's your turn to learn me something I can use.

          • In Vino 9.2.1.1.1
            10 June 2022 at 10:34 pm

            My Bullshit detector keeps annoying me. It won't turn off.

            Great trolling, I have to admit.

            • Blade 9.2.1.1.1.1
              10 June 2022 at 11:11 pm

              I wouldn't have a clue what you are talking about. Sometimes changing the battery helps.

            • Robert Guyton 9.2.1.1.1.2
              11 June 2022 at 1:42 pm

              You are watering your farm with one of those??

              Now I AM astonished!

              • Blade …
                11 June 2022 at 2:52 pm

                Well, In Vino only has a quarter acre. So he can spread his bs to a reasonable concentration.laugh

                • Robert Guyton …
                  11 June 2022 at 6:01 pm

                  Like In Vino, I think you are bullsh*tting 🙂

                  • Blade …
                    11 June 2022 at 6:28 pm

                    Then why did you feign interest and waste my time? I put some effort into those posts?

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      11 June 2022 at 7:40 pm

                      You do seem to have done some research, Blade and it shows.

                    • Blade …
                      11 June 2022 at 7:57 pm

                      Not research -practical applications. I understand. It's a little too advanced. And you cannot conceive of me doing such stuff. But Robert, you didn't fool me. Anyone could see you were stringing me along. You don't go from trolling me, to suddenly hanging off my every word.laugh

                      So why did I waste my time on you? Simple. As a testament to the machination of an Immoral Lefty mindset that knows no limits. A future reference for those asking for proof about the faults of Lefties I supposedly write about.

                      Thankyou.yes

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      11 June 2022 at 8:21 pm

                      "As a testament to the machination of an Immoral Lefty mindset that knows no limits. A future reference for those asking for proof about the faults of Lefties I supposedly write about."

                      Juicy, crunchy word-salad!

                      Yummies!

                    • Blade …
                      11 June 2022 at 9:53 pm

                      It matters not what you think. Only what you wrote. I was hoping for more. But you scribbled enough.

            • Robert Guyton 9.2.1.1.1.3
              11 June 2022 at 1:43 pm

              Your detector is in fine shape, In Vino.

              • In Vino …
                11 June 2022 at 8:28 pm

                Ahh – my eventual conclusion is that Blade was really being truthful at

                9.2.1.1.1.1 when he wrote, 'I wouldn't have a clue..'

  10. Tony Veitch (not etc.) 10
    9 June 2022 at 3:05 pm

    Loved it!

    Our damned fine Minister of Police, in response to a sarcastic question from little David, as to how she would characterise her comment to bully boy Mercenary Mitchell as 'riding shot-gun with the boys,' she replied as pretty accurate!

    Slap down!

    Poto is another one of many fine Labour Government ministers.

    • weka 11.1
      9 June 2022 at 5:41 pm

      Nek minit, a whole new set of lovely iphones for people to upgrade to. Make it right to repair Brussels and then I'll be impressed.

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    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

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