‘Don’t let anyone tell you different. Yes, extreme heat is the trigger but, Lake Taupo’s problem is years of phosphorous and nitrogen build-up from dairy farming.’
wondering if it would have an effect on the volcano, am not a scientist, but would the phosphorous and nitrogen blend via water tables/routes with other chemicals/elements found only around volcanoes? Will climate change light the fuse (ie hot weather)?
Hope that makes sense, am alarmed at the news about the lake.
35 years of neoliberalism are we are reduced to this.
A country owned and being destroyed by corporations.
‘Minister warned of critical pressure on natural resources.
‘In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.
“These issues are of such magnitude that their impacts are being felt across New Zealand,” said the briefing.
“They contribute to wider impacts (eg, on housing affordability, tourism revenue and health), which means more than one benefit can be achieved if the right actions are taken – for example, the potential for significant emissions reductions through improved urban design.”
i was hoping for something that backed Stewart’s claim . There is bugger all dairy around taupo and over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm and many non at all
yeah I know – I was trying to help out. I think you know the answer.
Anyway, maybe this/these
“Lake Taupō is under threat from increasing nitrogen leaching from land uses in the catchment. In order to maintain the lake’s water quality, we need to reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the lake from farmland and urban areas by 20 per cent.”
Dunno about “… over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm…”. Looking at the google satellite images it’s pasture for quite a way inland for roughly 3/4 of the way around Lake Taupo.
Been a while since I’ve driven that back road from Turangi through Kuratau up to Whakamaru, but it was definitely pasture most of the way. Didn’t pay attention to what was grazing it though.
i think it’s on Stewart or her supporters to back her ranting up , i was on a station there recently and large chunks have been taken out of stock and planted , they operate under some stiff nitrogen rules in the taupo catchment. is it enough i don’t know.
Yes OAB,
It seems that the farmers took the mobney and ran is they must have been John Key clones to eh?
Steven Joyce must know more paid out clones did the some as this as his $11.7 Billion hole is now emerging, after Labour is now finding that lot’s of National’s promises made before the election were left without funding too??????
National = criminal gang
Also very wise man has advised yesterday, that there is a inquiry going on now in the US and here, into a case where John Key apparently gave $13 million of NZ taxpayer money to Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.
This was illegal also without notifying NZ taxpayers of the NZ or US Government, and John Key had been forced to resign after being warned of the illegal move to spend unlawful Government money to swing a foriegn county election.
Seems like it will all come out in the wash in months I and guessing.
Just a question.
Why were they not saying this to Smith and the rest of the National gansters in the past 9 years.
Or were they?
And being ignored?
‘The Environment Ministry has warned its minister that pressures on New Zealand’s natural resources are reaching a critical point.
It said the country’s economic reliance on primary sector exports was starting to show its environmental constraints.
In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.’
And in fact, too. The charities that have been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations. If you have some evidence (not assertions) to the contrary please share.
“One Anonymous Bloke” states, in apparent high seriousness, that the notorious Clinton charity racket has “been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations.”
His faith-based assertion stands in stark contrast to the evidence presented so clearly in that item. Could “One Anonymous Bloke” tell the rest of us exactly how the following “good works” carried out by the Clinton “charities” actually did any good?….
It was also been revealed the Clinton charities utilised the devastating Haiti earthquake to implement disaster capitalism, funneling funds into Haiti under the pretense of aid but only for the funds to flow away from the Haitians desperately in need and instead to companies who had made previously large donations to the Clinton Foundation.
Then there is the $145 million ‘pay for play’ contributions made to the Clinton Foundation by shareholders of Canadian company Uranium One, a mining company with concessions in Kazakhstan and the US. Uranium One sought to sell these concessions to the Russians, but the deal had to be approved by a government committee due to the implications to national security.
On this beautiful summer day I won’t inflict Standardisti with any offensive footage of the Old Groper, but here’s a clip of his wife speaking with her characteristic “charity” about black people….
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey. You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
I posted the evidence. Bill and Hillary Clinton’s involvement in predatory “disaster capitalism” has been exhaustively documented. Are you trying to suggest they have not been exposed repeatedly?
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey.
Ooohh, that’s a bit mean, isn’t it?
You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
Mean—and more than a bit extreme. I bring “nothing substantive” to discussions? Never?
Still, on the bright side, you’ve paid tribute to my “entertainment value”, so that’s a positive.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
I didn’t just post a video of her saying things you or I disagree with: I posted a video of her unleashing a cynical, horrible, racist rant that could have been delivered by Donald Trump at his most deranged. The point of my posting that horror was to underline the point that the very idea of the Clintons and “charity” is an absurdity.
All charity is obscene. That is not the same as saying, as dv did and you implied (“racket”), that Clinton diverts money from the CF for her own gain.
I note that the POTUS does exactly that with his own “charities”. The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
The contributions made by this “One Anonymous Bloke” are becoming more bizarre. Let’s inspect his latest offering….
1.) So that’s no evidence then. Exactly as expected.
This is what is known as “attempting to brazen it out” of an awkward situation. This writer, i.e., moi, had pointed out to him that the Wake Up NZ site referenced by “dv” in 1.3.2 had shown clearly that the Clinton “charities” racket is little more than a brutal exercise in disaster capitalism. This presentation of evidence was not good enough for dear old O.A.B., however; he apparently thinks closing his eyes and stubbornly insisting he can’t see what is shown to him is enough to win his point.
2.) All charity is obscene.
????? Would I be the only person to think that is one of the stupider statements to be posted on this forum in all of 2017?
3.) The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
???? Again, what the HELL is this fellow trying so ineptly to say?
4.) As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
Anybody who works for the Clintons is either inordinately ambitious, and unscrupulous, or simply bewildered—kind of like the poor sods who worked for their election campaigns.
dv that was never told us before thhe election was it and here is another site claiming Key was guilty of using taxpayer fuds to put into a foriegn election, ad this is highly a crime againt international law and NZ law.
You are really intense about this.
As a point you are the one that have implied that mfat , Clinton association are corrup.
I have not used those words, or close.
This is a direct result of our current industrial farming methods which not only are destroying our soils but also killing our water ways, lakes, and coastal waters.
At the present time the destruction of our soils by tillage and chemical fertilisers is occurring at the alarming rate of around 24bn tonnes per year, and according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) the planet can only employ current practice for another 60 years before the situation is so bad that the dirt remaining will not support plant life. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
The situation that is now occurring in our largest lake is something that has been happening in the Great Lakes of North America since the early 2000’s. This year has been no different for the residents of Toledo. 3 million people are dependent upon their drinking water from Lake Eire and for at least 3 years now their water supply has been so toxic that they have had to truck in water from elsewhere yet they live in the edge of one of the largest “freshwater” lakes on the planet.
The mayor of Toledo, Paula Hicks-Hudson, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump on Sept. 26, calling on the federal government to declare Lake Erie impaired, which would allow for the lake’s nutrient loads to be regulated under the Clean Water Act.
“There is something very wrong with our country when our rivers and lakes turn green,” Hicks-Hudson wrote in her letter. “As I look out my office at a green river, I can tell you one thing: The status quo is not working.”
The causes of soil destruction include chemical-heavy farming techniques, deforestation which increases erosion, and global warming. The earth under our feet is too often ignored by policymakers, experts said.
“Soils are the basis of life,” said Semedo, FAO’s deputy director general of natural resources. “Ninety five percent of our food comes from the soil.”
Unless new approaches are adopted, the global amount of arable and productive land per person in 2050 will be only a quarter of the level in 1960, the FAO reported, due to growing populations and soil degradation.
Soils play a key role in absorbing carbon and filtering water, the FAO reported. Soil destruction creates a vicious cycle, in which less carbon is stored, the world gets hotter, and the land is further degraded.
“We are losing 30 soccer fields of soil every minute, mostly due to intensive farming,” Volkert Engelsman, an activist with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements told the forum at the FAO’s headquarters in Rome.
One of the fastest, cleverest, most exciting football players of his generation, Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to the 2013 Super Bowl, the first time the 49ers had made it in twenty years.
But it’s as a moral leader that he has really made his mark. To register his disgust at police killings of black citizens and the war crimes of the United States overseas, Kaepernick refused to stand for the militarised national anthem ceremony before games. He has carried on the proud tradition of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and countless other black athletes who have refused to be bullied into silence by politicians and their media accomplices.
To the fury of the flag-idolating right wing, Kaepernick’s leadership has inspired hundreds of athletes in many sports, from professional to high school level, to refuse to participate in state-sponsored obedience ceremonies before their games.
So influential, and so threatening, has Kaepernick’s moral stature become that he provoked the Groper-in-Chief to unleash a public tirade against him, hilariously urging NFL owners to “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
“He’s one of the brightest, most articulate and committed people that I have ever come across. I knew Muhammad Ali. I most certainly worked with Carlos and Smith. Bill Russell, Jim Brown, some of these people from the 1960s, Arthur Ashe—I put him in that class. And I’m pushing him. I hope that he’ll become a person of the year—all of the athletes collectively—and I personally am pushing him for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, even if he doesn’t get it, because I think he’s going to have that impact as we look back 20 years from now, 30 years from now. And I think it should be recognized.”–Dr. Harry Edwards https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/25/dr_harry_edwards_nominate_football_player
“Heroes” is a series devoted to those courageous and brilliant people who show us that, in a world seemingly run by flag-fetishists, cowards, conformists, crooks, abusers, scoundrels, mass murderers and liars, there are still reasons for optimism.
It also seems “The Intercept has exclusive publishing rights and an exclusive hold on the content of the Snowden leaks, of which this newly released document is a part. Indeed, the Intercept was founded after the Snowden leaks were made public and its first hires were Glenn Greenwald and Lauren Poitras, the only journalists possessing the full Snowden cache. Those documents now belong to the Intercept’s founder — billionaire eBay founder, — and his for-profit media company, First Look Media.”
“His (Omidyar) investments with USAID have continued since the Intercept’s founding, helping fund the NGO’s more recent overseas programs aimed at “advancing U.S. national security interests” abroad.”
What do we do when we can’t even trust The Intercept?
I think we can trust Glenn Greenwald and the rest of the brilliant and principled writers there. But, as with all owners of media outlets—like the Kochs, the Murdochs, the Russian, Australian and British governments—Omidyar needs to be scrutinized.
We can only hope National’s “legacy” of Child poverty, Homelessness, Degraded lakes and waterways, degraded public health system, idiotic education “reform”, and general gifting of money in large amounts to ones friends and oneself, will quickly disappear to be replaced by a far more equitable, caring and environmentally friendly society. That is a legacy one would hope would endure.
‘A Hong Kong businessman’s plan to build a $3 million lodge on Crown land bordering a scenic South Island lake has raised the hackles of the Acting Commissioner of Crown Lands. But there are strong signals the lakeside land will be offered up for sale, David Williams reports.
A massive lodge could be built on what is now Crown land, just 40 metres from the shore of pristine Lake Pukaki.
Why a sale’s even being considered isn’t clear. LINZ’s consent says “there are no applicable offer-back provisions” and Blue Lake “is not entitled to the benefit of any offer back”. But the Crown considered it had a “moral duty” to offer the land back to Guide Hill’s former owners, the Gould family, and the new allotment should “logically” be amalgamated with the rest of the station. Forest & Bird’s Canterbury/West Coast regional manager Jen Miller says the whole situation “stinks” and appears murky. She also believes a neighbouring landowner might be disputing the potential sale.
Revealed: who bought NZ’s most expensive home of 2017
‘State-owned enterprise Quotable Value records show that the buyer was Lichun Gao. A check on other titles shows he has been active since 2015, buying a number of properties across the city, valued collectively at more than $56m. Most of his properties are on the North Shore and some have big development potential.
Companies Office records show Gao is the sole director and shareholder of New Zealand-registered company Far East NZ Investment and gives his address as 17 O’Neills Ave, Takapuna.
‘Far East is listed in one business directory as a milk products manufacturing business.
Titles which QV lists as those Gao owns are:
• 19 O’Neills Ave: a residential dwelling on a 4396sq m site, three separate titles of 19, 21 and 23 O’Neills Ave. Two homes were built there by Sky TV founder Craig Heatley who had a helipad on the property. Gao bought it in July, QV records showed.
• 84 Trig Rd, Whenuapai: Auckland Council says is valued at $9.8m. A 4.04ha lifestyle property which is now bare land with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year;
• 62 Paritai Dr, Orakei: a residential dwelling built between 1914 and 1929 on a 1173sq m site. This is in one of Auckland’s best streets, home to the $39m property which set the national record in 2013 as New Zealand’s most expensive residential property, sold by agent Graham Wall. Auckland Council valued this place at $7.4m. QV records the place as being sold to Gao last April.
• 11 Spedding Rd, Whenuapai: a 4.9ha lifestyle property now bare land but with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year. Auckland Council has this property valued at $7,170,000.
• 52 Dairy Stream Rd, Dairy Flat: a 3.2ha site listed as a lifestyle property, being bare land with subdivision potential which Gao bought in April, 2015.
New Zealand’s immigration system “lacks integrity” and is so financially hamstrung it can’t investigate fraud and exploitation cases, its new Minister says.’
Typical of how national views immigration. They just wanted more immigrants to dilute the Maori vote an put us on the bread line I’m working my ass off going nowhere because of keys immigration policy and now we find another state organisation in a mess we will never let national back in government the corrupt money worshipers Ana to kai
Yep, very much doubt that Maori will be the 2nd largest ethnicity in NZ anymore after National’s immigration policy. National have prospered vote wise by importing in votes and moving poorer people out of main cities and making them homeless.
For sale.
Our assets, our environment, our sovereignty.
35 years of neoliberalism.
‘A Chinese-owned corporation is converting a former wool scouring factory in the Christchurch area into a water bottling factory, and it has consent to extract more than 4.5 million litres of water per day. Environment Canterbury is among the groups expressing concern about the new neighbour.’
The private rental market is forcing low-income Kiwis to move too often, the human rights watchdog has told the new Government.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford has promised new legislation by the end of 2018 that would get rid of no-cause terminations and limit rent increases to once per year.
But the Human Rights Commission suggest more than just new rental laws: officials within the document suggest that for the most vulnerable the security provided by state housing is the best option.
With almost 6000 thousand on the waiting list for a state home, it shows what Labour are currently offering is vastly insufficient, thus the pressure is mounting on Labour to build more state homes. The question is, will they?
Apart from your bizarre Labour bashing stance (you never criticised National on housing policy), that’s a valuable article you link to which describes an awful problem in NZ where low income families are forced to move often on the say so of amateur landlords. This transience creates fractured communities where children struggle to feel valued and struggle to form important long term social connections.
I myself don’t think a massive social housing drive is the answer. I think much more needs to be done to make anyone involved in rental investments know that they are first providing a social service and second providing for their own benefit.
I went mowing lawns today an the idiots were playing all sorts of dum ass games they think they are going to break me YEA RIGHT. I will keep going hard for my family and this is why I won’t back down. I no if I move they will chase me were ever I go so_______them.
I’m at the farm relief milking and mowing my lawns in between milking I get to spend time with our moko my youngest granddaughter is a paua to her Papa when ever she sees me she has her hands out for me to pick her up she has just started crawling she is away into everything lol she has beautiful blue eyes and I call her my prime minister lol I want her to have a very secsessfull long happy life and I will do what it takes for all our children and mokos to give them a good life. Kia kaha
“…From 2018, as the new look takes final shape, shop owners and landlords may be encouraged by more pleasant surrounds to spruce up their acts; and developers heartened by a new vitality may be drawn to further breathe life into a town centre that otherwise may have died.
Where we now have some run-down premises, we could in the future find medium-rise developments (the Unitary Plan allows for four-to-eight storeys in town centres – logically with shops below and apartments and perhaps offices above) and a more appealing retail and food mix.
…”
First – remove the parking – kill small businesses so property developer$ can buy these buildings, and help drive customers to the multi-national run malls?
Not only clear out small business but increase the risk of flooding with the amount of paving. Who knows why Auckland Transport and their overpaid band of consultants hates trees so much? Never mind it can all be sold cheap and converted with overseas money to apartments for new residents not bankrupted by government and council policy and lowered wages.
MATAURA RIVER
Yesterday the river made 1 news in Gore as the river has low flows and the town is running out of water
What could be the problem low rainfall or maybe a combination of low rainfall and the loss of our wetlands for recharging the river or the hundreds of km of drains under ground to stop the land holding water or the never-ending expansion of the center pivots which are running flat out today in the upper Mataura and the planting of pine forist on land that uesd to be tussock lands and this is all allowed by Environment Southland. This is looking more like It could end up like the disaster in Canterbury
You no how I told you that my MAMA die of a heart attack when I was 9. Well here’s the hole story. About a week before that event my mama an one of her grand sons that lived with us he is the one who named me honky they were arguing
about him not being a good father to his child he was still going out an shaging around and she wanted him to put his child first I remember her saying to him you all are getting nothing it is all going to eco. So a week goes by and mama and I were watching TV he comes home she goes into the kitchen to talk to him she closed the door to the sitting room and the argument started they were arguing about her will shouting she said no of use are getting my estate it is all going to eco than I heard her fall and he was over her as when I heard her fall I went it the kitchen at that time one of her son came in and they started arguing about what to do in stead of giving her angina pill. Next the ambulance came and they said she was dead So she had a will draw up and it was in her room. They burnt it and this story can be verified by my extended whano the ones who never called me honky there mother told them about the will and they told me she had a lot of shear in land up the east coast. The person that caused her death ripped me later on to I sold him my lawn run I set up his $20.000 loan as his bank manager was mine as well and the years before I had $100.000 going into my bank from forestry I gave him my business accounts so he could get the loan I had a loan of $10.000 so when his loan came through that got paid as we were walking out the bank he said that the other $10.000 of his loan was going to pay off his credit card. I was blown away but I was still submissive and had to start working in Hamilton in 3 days he had not paid me a cent of that money in 13 years. Did he give a______about my children missing out because of his actions no. The business was worth $30.000 WTF.
When my wife grandfather died he left me all his tools my wife’s brothers were pissed about that so was her 1 uncle he got the rife as I did not have a gun licence.
While we were planning his funeral his bank accounts were frozen and no one had any money to pay for it so my wife and I wrote out a check to pay for his funeral
We got our money back 12 months later we were just happy that his funeral went down with out any problems There are other story’s of me an my wife helping her family with other events like that to. That idiot who ripped me off had abandoned his first family of 2 children and to what a__________. That’s all for now Ka pai
I no that the Gisborne man is in the top command of the cops top 10 so he will have his boys spread any shit he can to save his religious self righteous ass but no ECO WILL WIN IN THE END Kai kaha
Speechless.“Forty years ago in Alabama, there’s a lot of mamas and daddies that’d be thrilled that their 14-year-old was getting hit on by a district attorney.” pic.twitter.com/Q6SUJzSBgF— Holly O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) December 8, 2017
Trump campaigning hard for Moore shows how confident he is of identifying and turning out his base, because FFS Obama is more popular than Trump in Alabama:
Moore will have no problem on the day getting over the line.
It’s lovely that the Dems are going for long-shots, but Alabama was wayyy too much of a long-shot to hit its target. You have to go back to you-know-who to remember a Democrat really making it there. Hint: it’s a little place called Hope.
Yeah, Jones is still a long shot. But if he pulled it off there’d be so many D.C. Repugs shitting themselves the sewers would erupt.
*There’s a New Hope and a Good Hope in Alabama, but no actual Hope. Perhaps you mean nearby Arkansas? The last Dem pres to win ‘bama was Carter. The last Dem to win statewide office was Shelby for his second term in 92, but even he decided life would be easier as a Repug so he switched in 94. I wonder if the Chump realized he was rallying for Moore in Florida, but the election is the next state over?
@CleanGreen.
I was thinking about the Gisborne line and the wash-out (both the real one and the gNat wash-out attitude), and thought you might be interested in this:
Yes we have an Indian Manager of a large Gisborne exporter and his home town has far worse geographical areas where rail goes and believes the washouts on the Gisborne section is minor compared to what he has seen.
We also have a ex rail manager from Kiwirail who kept the l;ine in top shape before the washouts and said it was caused by clearing of scrub in the hillside above the track ad heavy rail that blocked the old culverts and washed that section out again as this was the third time in 39yrs.
During Bola the Ministry of Works came along and fixed the washouts in 6 weeks after March 1988, we are advised when it was washed out during bola so you are right iit can be repaired within just weeks jnot months so we cant see why they just dont get it fixed and allow us to incease our rail freight as we proved durug the eight months before the washouts as we had inceased the freight three times higher then after a flat rail freight recorded prior when Toll had it.
A fellow Gisbornite supports you. There are a lot of us whisperers here
— we whisper because’ the few’ are very few here, and we speak because we are humans and NZers.
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Lovin' you has go to be (Take me to the other side)Like the devil and the deep blue sea (Take me to the other side)Forget about your foolish pride (Take me to the other side)Oh, take me to the other side (Take me to the other side)Songwriters: Steven Tyler, Jim ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Hi,Back in 2022 I spent a year reporting on New Zealand’s then-biggest megachurch, Arise, revealing the widespread abuse of hundreds of interns.That series led to a harrowing review (leaked by Webworm) and the resignation of its founders and leaders John and Gillian Cameron, who fled to Australia where they now ...
All nation states have a right to defend themselves. But do regimes enjoy an equal right to self-defence? Is the security of a particular party-in-power a fundamental right of nations? The Chinese government is asking ...
A modest attempt to analyse Donald Trump’s tariff policies.Alfred Marshall, whose text book was still in use 40 years after he died wrote ‘every short statement about economics is misleading with the possible exception of my present one.’ (The text book is 719 pages.) It’s a timely reminder that any ...
If nothing else, we have learned that the economic and geopolitical turmoil caused by the Trump tariff see-saw raises a fundamental issue of the human condition that extends beyond trade wars and “the markets.” That issue is uncertainty and its centrality to individual and collective life. It extends further into ...
To improve its national security, South Korea must improve its ICT infrastructure. Knowing this, the government has begun to move towards cloud computing. The public and private sectors are now taking a holistic national-security approach ...
28 April 2025 Mournfor theDead FightFor theLiving Every week in New Zealand 18 workers are killed as a consequence of work. Every 15 minutes, a worker suffers ...
The world is trying to make sense of the Trump tariffs. Is there a grand design and strategy, or is it all instinct and improvisation? But much more important is the question of what will ...
OPINION:Yesterday was a triumphant moment in Parliament House.The “divisive”, “disingenous”, “unfair”, “discriminatory” and “dishonest” Treaty Principles Bill, advanced by the right wing ACT Party, failed.Spectacularly.11 MP votes for (ACT).112 MP votes against (All Other Parties).As the wonderful Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke said: We are not divided, but united.Green ...
The Pacific Response Group (PRG), a new disaster coordination organisation, has operated through its first high-risk weather season. But as representatives from each Pacific military leave Brisbane to return to their home countries for the ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been defeated in Parliament with 112 votes in opposition and 11 in favour, but the debate about Te Tiriti and Māori rights looks set to stay high on the political agenda. Supermarket giant Woolworths has confirmed a new operating model that Workers First say will ...
1. What did Seymour say after his obnoxious bill was buried 112 to 11?a. Watch this spaceb. Mea culpac. I am not a crookd. Youse are all such dumbasses2. Which lasted longest?a. Liz Trussb. Trump’s Tariffsc. The Lettuced. Too soon to say but the smart money’s on the vegetable 3. ...
And this is what I'm gonna doI'm gonna put a call to you'Cause I feel good tonightAnd everything's gonna beRight-right-rightI'm gonna have a good time tonightRock and roll music gonna play all nightCome on, baby, it won't take longOnly take a minute just to sing my songSongwriters: Kirk Pengilly / ...
The Indonesian military has a new role in cybersecurity but, worryingly, no clear doctrine on what to do with it nor safeguards against human rights abuses. Assignment of cyber responsibility to the military is part ...
The StrategistBy Gatra Priyandita and Christian Guntur Lebang
Another Friday, another roundup. Autumn is starting to set in, certainly getting darker earlier but we hope you enjoy some of the stories we found interesting this week. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday we ran a guest post from the wonderful Darren Davis about what’s happening ...
Long stories shortest:The White House confirms Donald Trump’s total tariffs now on China are 145%, not 125%. US stocks slump again. Gold hits a record high. PM Christopher Luxon joins a push for a new rules-based trading system based around CPTPP and EU, rather than US-led WTO. Winston Peters ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s shock and (partial) backflip; and,Health Coalition Aotearoa Chair ...
USAID cuts and tariffs will harm the United States’ reputation in the Pacific more than they will harm the region itself. The resilient region will adjust to the economic challenges and other partners will fill ...
National's racist and divisive Treaty Principles Bill was just voted down by the House, 112 to 11. Good fucking riddance. The bill was not a good-faith effort at legislating, or at starting a "constitutional conversation". Instead it was a bad faith attempt to stoke division and incite racial hatred - ...
Democracy watch Indonesia’s parliament passed revisions to the country’s military law, which pro-democracy and human rights groups view as a threat to the country’s democracy. One of the revisions seeks to expand the number of ...
The StrategistBy Linus Cohen, Astrid Young and Alice Wai
Australia should follow international examples and develop a civilian cyber reserve as part of a whole-of-society approach to national defence. By setting up such a reserve, the federal government can overcome a shortage of expertise ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill (Cameron Brewer) Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Restrictions on Issue of Off-Licences and Low and No Alcohol Products) Amendment Bill (Mike Butterick) Crown ...
Te Whatu Ora is proposing to slash jobs from a department that brings in millions of dollars a year and ensures safety in hospitals, rest homes and other community health providers. The Treaty Principles Bill is back in Parliament this evening and is expected to be voted down by all parties, ...
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has repeatedly asserted the country’s commitment to a non-aligned foreign policy. But can Indonesia still credibly claim neutrality while tacitly engaging with Russia? Holding an unprecedented bilateral naval drills with Moscow ...
The NZCTU have launched a new policy programme and are calling on political parties to adopt bold policies in the lead up to the next election. The Government is scrapping the 30-day rule that automatically signs an employee up to the collective agreement when they sign on to a new ...
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te must have been on his toes. The island’s trade and defence policy has snapped into a new direction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. The government was almost ...
Auckland’s ongoing rail pain will intensify again from this weekend as Kiwirail shut down the network for two weeks as part of their push to get the network ready for the City Rail Link. KiwiRail will progress upgrade and renewal projects across Auckland’s rail network over the Easter holiday period ...
This is a re-post from The Electrotech Revolution by Daan Walter Last week, UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took the stage to advocate for slowing the rollout of renewables, arguing that they ultimately lead to higher costs: “Huge amounts are being spent on switching round how we distribute electricity ...
That there, that's not meI go where I pleaseI walk through wallsI float down the LiffeyI'm not hereThis isn't happeningI'm not hereI'm not hereSongwriters: Philip James Selway / Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood / Edward John O'Brien / Thomas Edward Yorke / Colin Charles Greenwood.I had mixed views when the first ...
(A note to subscribers:I’m going to keep these daily curated news updates shorter in future to ensure an earlier and more regular delivery.Expect this format and delivery around 7 am Monday to Friday from now on. My apologies for not delivering yesterday. There was too much news… This ...
As Donald Trump zigs and zags on tariffs and trashes America’s reputation as a safe and stable place to invest, China has a big gun that it could bring to this tariff knife fight. Behind Japan, China has the world’s second largest holdings of American debt. As a huge US ...
Civilian exploration may be the official mission of a Chinese deep-sea research ship that sailed clockwise around Australia over the past week and is now loitering west of the continent. But maybe it’s also attending ...
South Korea’s internal political instability leaves it vulnerable to rising security threats including North Korea’s military alliance with Russia, China’s growing regional influence and the United States’ unpredictability under President Donald Trump. South Korea needs ...
Here are 5 updates that you may be interested in today:Speed kills and costs - so why does National want more of it?James (Jim) Grenon Board Takeover Gets Shaky - As Canadian Calls An Australian Shareholder a “Flake” Billionaire Bust-ups -The World’s Richest Men Are UncomfortableOver 3,500 Australian doctors on ...
Australia is in a race against time. Cyber adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than we can identify and patch them. Both national security and economic considerations demand policy action. According to IBM’s Data Breach Report, ...
The ever brilliant Kate Nicholls has kindly agreed to allow me to re-publish her substack offering some under-examined backdrop to Trump’s tariff madness. The essay is not meant to be a full scholarly article but instead an insight into the thinking (if that is the correct word) behind the current ...
In the Pacific, the rush among partner countries to be seen as the first to assist after disasters has become heated as part of ongoing geopolitical contest. As partners compete for strategic influence in the ...
The StrategistBy Miranda Booth, Henrietta McNeill and Genevieve Quirk
We’ve seen this morning the latest step up in the Trump-initiated trade war, with the additional 50 per cent tariffs imposed on imports from China. If the tariff madness persists – but in fact even if were wound back in some places (eg some of the particularly absurd tariffs on ...
Weak as I am, no tears for youWeak as I am, no tears for youDeep as I am, I'm no one's foolWeak as I amSongwriters: Deborah Ann Dyer / Richard Keith Lewis / Martin Ivor Kent / Robert Arnold FranceMorena. This morning, I couldn’t settle on a single topic. Too ...
Australian policy makers are vastly underestimating how climate change will disrupt national security and regional stability across the Indo-Pacific. A new ASPI report assesses the ways climate impacts could threaten Indonesia’s economic and security interests ...
So here we are in London again because we’re now at the do-it-while-you-still-can stage of life. More warm wide-armed hugs, more long talks and long walks and drinks in lovely old pubs with our lovely daughter.And meanwhile the world is once more in one of its assume-the-brace-position stages.We turned on ...
Hi,Back in September of 2023, I got pitched an interview:David -Thanks for the quick response to the DM! Means the world. Re-stating some of the DM below for your team’s reference -I run a business called Animal Capital - we are a venture capital fund advised by Noah Beck, Paris ...
I didn’t want to write about this – but, alas, the 2020s have forced my hand. I am going to talk about the Trump Tariffs… and in the process probably irritate nearly everyone. You see, alone on the Internet, I am one of those people who think we need a ...
Maybe people are only just beginning to notice the close alignment of Russia and China. It’s discussed as a sudden new phenomenon in world affairs, but in fact it’s not new at all. The two ...
The High Court has just ruled that the government has been violating one of the oldest Treaty settlements, the Sealord deal: The High Court has found the Crown has breached one of New Zealand's oldest Treaty Settlements by appropriating Māori fishing quota without compensation. It relates to the 1992 ...
Darwin’s proposed Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct is set to be the heart of a new integrated infrastructure network in the Northern Territory, larger and better than what currently exists in northern Australia. However, the ...
Local body elections are in October, and so like a lot of people, I received the usual pre-election enrolment confirmation from the Orange Man in the post. And I was horrified to see that it included the following: Why horrified? After all, surely using email, rather ...
Australia needs to deliver its commitment under the Seoul Declaration to create an Australian AI safety, or security, institute. Australia is the only signatory to the declaration that has yet to meet its commitments. Given ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Political leaders’ kids are routinely put on display to share the glory or the pain of election night. Earlier, they’re often at campaign launches to “humanise” the candidates. Peter Dutton pulled out all stops ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Case, Lecturer in Musicology, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney Stephen Wilson Barker/Belvoir With Big Girls Don’t Cry, Gumbaynggirr/Wiradjuri playwright Dalara Williams proves herself to be a formidable talent. Cheryl (Williams), Queenie (Megan Wilding) and Lulu (Stephanie Somerville) are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karin Hammarberg, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University KateStudio/Shutterstock The news of a woman unknowingly giving birth to another patient’s baby after an embryo mix-up at a Brisbane IVF lab ...
Axing a $118 million scheme that provides extra pay for thousands of teachers is an "ill-considered decision", says one principal, but another says most school leaders in Auckland will back the move. ...
Alex Casey farewells a truly confounding season of the reality television juggernaut. (To be read aloud in traditional Married at First Sight final vows style, aka with the cadence and confidence of an eight-year-old doing a school speech about the invention of the telephone.)Married at First Sight Australia, From ...
Winston Peters called the previous guideline "woke" and "out of touch" but the Education Minister says Peters has had no influence over the new framework. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dylan Irvine, Outstanding Future Researcher – Northern Water Futures, Charles Darwin University Lizzie Lamont/Shutterstock If you scoop a bucket of water out of the ocean, does it get lower? –Ellis, 6 and a half, Hobart This is a great ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Douglas, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), The University of Melbourne Shutterstock The family law system is crucial for protecting women and children nationwide. With its combination ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. Āku Hapa (Whakaata Māori, April 14) If you like mouthwatering kai and choice kōrero, the bite-sized Āku Hapa! is tailor-made for you and the whole whānau. Join the ...
The response confirms the incidents occurred across multiple months in 2024, with a particularly high concentration in May (5), June (4), and July (7) — suggesting a consistent pattern of misuse rather than one-off mistakes. ...
“Replacing the full licence test with a ‘good behaviour’ period and increasing penalties by reducing the demerit threshold does not build safer roads or better drivers,” says Wendy Robertson, National Director of the Driving Change Network. ...
The school was successful in receiving all four grants it applied for, including a lump sum of $120,000 for leasing obligations, and aims to reimagine 'the current Eurocentric language of circus into a voice that has a deeper resonance in Aotearoa'. ...
Writer and theatre maker Jo Randerson on getting a diagnosis in their 40s. How do you distinguish which parts of your personality are a “condition”, and what is genetic inheritance? Which aspects of self come from who you grow up with, and what parts do you make up yourself? My ...
Whether you rent or own, knowing your property’s flood risk is a smart way to stay safe. But how can you find out before it’s too late?Historically, much of Wairau Valley has been a swamp. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the area – a natural valley with ...
While there’s broad agreement that the RMA needs fixing, there’s growing unease about what its replacement will prioritise – and who it will leave out.Since 1991, the Resource Management Act has underpinned how we protect and use the whenua. It’s been the legal backbone of everything from subdivisions to ...
Labour has accused the prime minister and his deputy of immaturity, after Winston Peters criticised Christopher Luxon for calling world leaders to discuss the US tariffs without consulting him in advance. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne A wave of restrictions on protesting has been rippling through Australia’s top universities. Over the past year, all of Australia’s eight top research universities (the Group of Eight) have individually increased restrictions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior DECRA Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Unshaded cycling paths mean heat exposure on hot days, particularly for the afternoon commute.Judy Bush, CC BY Walking and cycling is good for people and the planet. But hot sunny days ...
Two members of Peace Action Ōtautahi, an activist group, were taken into custody after police requested CCTV footage from the University of Canterbury showing them briefly interacting, which contravened their bail conditions. At the start of March, two protesters from activist group Peace Action Ōtautahi chained themselves to the building ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Blair Williams, Lecturer in Australian Politics, Monash University Australian politics has historically been a male domain with an overwhelmingly masculine culture. Manhood and a certain kind of masculinity are still considered integral to a leader’s political legitimacy. Yet leadership masculinity changes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Hodgson, Professor, Curtin Law School and Curtin Business School, Curtin University Federal elections always offer the opportunity for a reset. Whoever wins the May 3 election should consider a much needed revamp of the tax system, which is no longer fit ...
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With Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs rattling global markets, the PM is vowing to fight for free trade – and not everyone’s happy about it, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Tech spared from worst of tariffs – ...
Labour has accused the prime minister and his deputy of immaturity, after Winston Peters criticised Christopher Luxon for calling world leaders to discuss the US tariffs without consulting him in advance. ...
Auckland Council, the Crown and tangata whenua are proposing a formal deed of acknowledgement to help guide the protection of Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa.For many West Aucklanders, growing up meant having the Waitākere Ranges – also known as Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa – at your back door. ...
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Lake Taupo is toxic.
Dr. Mike Joy on Facebook.
I see Mike Joy also refers to this story today.
‘And down south…#soldtothehighestbidder’
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/99659135/hong-kong-billionaire-businessman-plans-to-build-3m-pukaki-lakeside-lodge-on-crown-land
Rachel Stewart.
‘Don’t let anyone tell you different. Yes, extreme heat is the trigger but, Lake Taupo’s problem is years of phosphorous and nitrogen build-up from dairy farming.’
wondering if it would have an effect on the volcano, am not a scientist, but would the phosphorous and nitrogen blend via water tables/routes with other chemicals/elements found only around volcanoes? Will climate change light the fuse (ie hot weather)?
Hope that makes sense, am alarmed at the news about the lake.
35 years of neoliberalism are we are reduced to this.
A country owned and being destroyed by corporations.
‘Minister warned of critical pressure on natural resources.
‘In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.
“These issues are of such magnitude that their impacts are being felt across New Zealand,” said the briefing.
“They contribute to wider impacts (eg, on housing affordability, tourism revenue and health), which means more than one benefit can be achieved if the right actions are taken – for example, the potential for significant emissions reductions through improved urban design.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345805/minister-warned-of-critical-pressure-on-natural-resources
did Stewart back her claim up with facts you can link to?
https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21731435-government-data-suggests-60-rivers-and-lakes-are-unswimmable-dairy-farming-polluting-new
i was hoping for something that backed Stewart’s claim . There is bugger all dairy around taupo and over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm and many non at all
yeah I know – I was trying to help out. I think you know the answer.
Anyway, maybe this/these
“Lake Taupō is under threat from increasing nitrogen leaching from land uses in the catchment. In order to maintain the lake’s water quality, we need to reduce the amount of nitrogen reaching the lake from farmland and urban areas by 20 per cent.”
https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/your-community/for-farmers/taupo/
https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Community/Your-community/For-Farmers/Taupo/Nitrogen-management-in-the-Lake-Taupo-catchment/
Dunno about “… over half it’s rivers would barely touch a farm…”. Looking at the google satellite images it’s pasture for quite a way inland for roughly 3/4 of the way around Lake Taupo.
https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Lake+Taupo/@-38.745358,175.602133,78903m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x6d6b93694c18b70b:0x2a00ef6165e1d880!8m2!3d-38.791557!4d175.9150389
Been a while since I’ve driven that back road from Turangi through Kuratau up to Whakamaru, but it was definitely pasture most of the way. Didn’t pay attention to what was grazing it though.
i think it’s on Stewart or her supporters to back her ranting up , i was on a station there recently and large chunks have been taken out of stock and planted , they operate under some stiff nitrogen rules in the taupo catchment. is it enough i don’t know.
if you look at the catchment map in mm s 1st link (cheers mm) you will see easily haif is non farmed
Yes OAB,
It seems that the farmers took the mobney and ran is they must have been John Key clones to eh?
Steven Joyce must know more paid out clones did the some as this as his $11.7 Billion hole is now emerging, after Labour is now finding that lot’s of National’s promises made before the election were left without funding too??????
National = criminal gang
Also very wise man has advised yesterday, that there is a inquiry going on now in the US and here, into a case where John Key apparently gave $13 million of NZ taxpayer money to Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.
This was illegal also without notifying NZ taxpayers of the NZ or US Government, and John Key had been forced to resign after being warned of the illegal move to spend unlawful Government money to swing a foriegn county election.
Seems like it will all come out in the wash in months I and guessing.
Just a question.
Why were they not saying this to Smith and the rest of the National gansters in the past 9 years.
Or were they?
And being ignored?
‘The Environment Ministry has warned its minister that pressures on New Zealand’s natural resources are reaching a critical point.
It said the country’s economic reliance on primary sector exports was starting to show its environmental constraints.
In its briefing to Minister David Parker the ministry said pressure from the primary sector was exacerbated by population growth, increasing visitor numbers, and urban growth.
It said the evidence showed environmental constraints and pressure points were being reached, adding from a Māori perspective, the mauri, or life force, of land and water was being compromised.
The ministry said the scale of change needed was significant, and would require co-ordinated government activity across a number of portfolio areas including managing resource use, planning, housing, infrastructure, transport, and local government.
It outlined three priority areas the minister should take action on: climate change resilience, freshwater management, and improving the liveability of New Zealand’s cities.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/345805/minister-warned-of-critical-pressure-on-natural-resources
“Ostensibly”.
And in fact, too. The charities that have been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations. If you have some evidence (not assertions) to the contrary please share.
“One Anonymous Bloke” states, in apparent high seriousness, that the notorious Clinton charity racket has “been given repeated bills of health by independent charity-watch organisations.”
His faith-based assertion stands in stark contrast to the evidence presented so clearly in that item. Could “One Anonymous Bloke” tell the rest of us exactly how the following “good works” carried out by the Clinton “charities” actually did any good?….
On this beautiful summer day I won’t inflict Standardisti with any offensive footage of the Old Groper, but here’s a clip of his wife speaking with her characteristic “charity” about black people….
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey. You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
1. If you could post the evidence (rather than the assertions) that would be choice. I said ‘please’.
I posted the evidence. Bill and Hillary Clinton’s involvement in predatory “disaster capitalism” has been exhaustively documented. Are you trying to suggest they have not been exposed repeatedly?
2. I have zero regard for your opinion, Morrissey.
Ooohh, that’s a bit mean, isn’t it?
You bring nothing substantive to this or any other discussion other than your entertainment value.
Mean—and more than a bit extreme. I bring “nothing substantive” to discussions? Never?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aQ5mmM8WJCE/Vibu-dE103I/AAAAAAAAMDM/xVnXNLNDcg4/s1600/man_despair.jpg
Still, on the bright side, you’ve paid tribute to my “entertainment value”, so that’s a positive.
3: Get a clue: you can post a billion videos of Hillary Clinton saying things I disagree with and none of them will be evidence against the employees of the Clinton Foundation. Got that?
I didn’t just post a video of her saying things you or I disagree with: I posted a video of her unleashing a cynical, horrible, racist rant that could have been delivered by Donald Trump at his most deranged. The point of my posting that horror was to underline the point that the very idea of the Clintons and “charity” is an absurdity.
So that’s no evidence then. Exactly as expected.
All charity is obscene. That is not the same as saying, as dv did and you implied (“racket”), that Clinton diverts money from the CF for her own gain.
I note that the POTUS does exactly that with his own “charities”. The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
The contributions made by this “One Anonymous Bloke” are becoming more bizarre. Let’s inspect his latest offering….
1.) So that’s no evidence then. Exactly as expected.
This is what is known as “attempting to brazen it out” of an awkward situation. This writer, i.e., moi, had pointed out to him that the Wake Up NZ site referenced by “dv” in 1.3.2 had shown clearly that the Clinton “charities” racket is little more than a brutal exercise in disaster capitalism. This presentation of evidence was not good enough for dear old O.A.B., however; he apparently thinks closing his eyes and stubbornly insisting he can’t see what is shown to him is enough to win his point.
2.) All charity is obscene.
????? Would I be the only person to think that is one of the stupider statements to be posted on this forum in all of 2017?
3.) The accusations you are so eager to mindlessly sponge and parrot are motivated by projection.
???? Again, what the HELL is this fellow trying so ineptly to say?
4.) As for your smear against the CF’s employees, just chuck them under a bus eh.
Anybody who works for the Clintons is either inordinately ambitious, and unscrupulous, or simply bewildered—kind of like the poor sods who worked for their election campaigns.
In a nutshell:
McFlock.
From the link at 1.3.2.2.2:
Good on you, O.A.B. Quoting the noted scholar and eminence grise McFlock is always a sound option.
http://www.ender.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Well-done.jpg
If I were quoting him as an authority, you’d have a point. But I’m not, so you don’t.
He just summed the argument up succinctly. That’s what “in a nutshell” indicates.
From the link at 1.3.2.2.2:
McFlock is a legend here. He’s an authority, whether we admit it or not.
The bloke is a sensitive soul M
dv that was never told us before thhe election was it and here is another site claiming Key was guilty of using taxpayer fuds to put into a foriegn election, ad this is highly a crime againt international law and NZ law.
https://investmentwatchblog.com/new-zealand-prime-minister-resigns-after-getting-caught-giving-13-7-million-in-taxpayer-money-to-the-clinton-foundation-merkel-gave-5-million-to-the-clinton-foundation-during-our-election/
Yes there seems to be enough murk for an investigation.
OAB
Re the clinton charities donation.
Why overseas US ‘charities’, and not our own charities!!! by Key.
If they are genuine charities are some what secondary.
The money in question was already earmarked for foreign affairs.
So?
No evidence there either. You’ve had your “turn” (pity you wasted it); now refute this.
Please try not to trash-talk the employees of Charity Watch the way you have the employees of the Clinton Foundation. If you can.
Yes if is such a trash talk word.
Why did key give money to the clintons charity?
MFAT gave the money to the CF. I daresay you can Google their stated reasons for doing so yourself.
Ah so it wa Mcully!
He has history.r
So you didn’t even bother to check eh. Lazy.
Obviously that means MFAT employees are all corrupt agents of the Clintons too
Get a grip.
You are really intense about this.
As a point you are the one that have implied that mfat , Clinton association are corrup.
I have not used those words, or close.
Your words.
So how the hell does the cash end up in HC’s campaign fund if the employees of the CF aren’t corrupt?
Looks pretty close to me.
As for intense, if no harm were being done that’s one thing. But political smears do real harm, and that’s before we even get to the shooting.
Well tha escalated quickly
This is a direct result of our current industrial farming methods which not only are destroying our soils but also killing our water ways, lakes, and coastal waters.
At the present time the destruction of our soils by tillage and chemical fertilisers is occurring at the alarming rate of around 24bn tonnes per year, and according to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) the planet can only employ current practice for another 60 years before the situation is so bad that the dirt remaining will not support plant life.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
The situation that is now occurring in our largest lake is something that has been happening in the Great Lakes of North America since the early 2000’s. This year has been no different for the residents of Toledo. 3 million people are dependent upon their drinking water from Lake Eire and for at least 3 years now their water supply has been so toxic that they have had to truck in water from elsewhere yet they live in the edge of one of the largest “freshwater” lakes on the planet.
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/lake-erie-is-covered-by-a-growing-and-dangerous-algae-bloom-that-can-poison-drinking-water
Fat chance of the Vandal doing anything.
Expect this to be a regular feature of Lake Taupo into the future until such time as our farmers wake up to the realisation that not only are they trashing our rivers and lakes but they are ultimately trashing their own livelihood as they constantly degrade and rundown the fertility of the land they think they farm so diligently.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/
Heroes
No. 3: COLIN KAEPERNICK
One of the fastest, cleverest, most exciting football players of his generation, Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to the 2013 Super Bowl, the first time the 49ers had made it in twenty years.
But it’s as a moral leader that he has really made his mark. To register his disgust at police killings of black citizens and the war crimes of the United States overseas, Kaepernick refused to stand for the militarised national anthem ceremony before games. He has carried on the proud tradition of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and countless other black athletes who have refused to be bullied into silence by politicians and their media accomplices.
To the fury of the flag-idolating right wing, Kaepernick’s leadership has inspired hundreds of athletes in many sports, from professional to high school level, to refuse to participate in state-sponsored obedience ceremonies before their games.
So influential, and so threatening, has Kaepernick’s moral stature become that he provoked the Groper-in-Chief to unleash a public tirade against him, hilariously urging NFL owners to “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2748262-laila-ali-its-wonderful-colin-kaepernick-got-si-muhammad-ali-legacy-award
“Heroes” is a series devoted to those courageous and brilliant people who show us that, in a world seemingly run by flag-fetishists, cowards, conformists, crooks, abusers, scoundrels, mass murderers and liars, there are still reasons for optimism.
No. 1 Edward Snowden, No. 2 Gideon Levy
Speaking of Snowden, this is rather alarming
http://www.mintpressnews.com/intercept-withheld-nsa-doc-that-may-have-altered-course-of-syria-war/233757/
It also seems “The Intercept has exclusive publishing rights and an exclusive hold on the content of the Snowden leaks, of which this newly released document is a part. Indeed, the Intercept was founded after the Snowden leaks were made public and its first hires were Glenn Greenwald and Lauren Poitras, the only journalists possessing the full Snowden cache. Those documents now belong to the Intercept’s founder — billionaire eBay founder, — and his for-profit media company, First Look Media.”
“His (Omidyar) investments with USAID have continued since the Intercept’s founding, helping fund the NGO’s more recent overseas programs aimed at “advancing U.S. national security interests” abroad.”
What do we do when we can’t even trust The Intercept?
I think we can trust Glenn Greenwald and the rest of the brilliant and principled writers there. But, as with all owners of media outlets—like the Kochs, the Murdochs, the Russian, Australian and British governments—Omidyar needs to be scrutinized.
Thanks for that, Brigid, it’s very interesting.
It seems Tracey Watkins might be in the 5th phase of grief: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/99674132/going-going-gone-national-and-its-legacy
(maybe).
Not so many of the commenters
We can only hope National’s “legacy” of Child poverty, Homelessness, Degraded lakes and waterways, degraded public health system, idiotic education “reform”, and general gifting of money in large amounts to ones friends and oneself, will quickly disappear to be replaced by a far more equitable, caring and environmentally friendly society. That is a legacy one would hope would endure.
There’s an organization called “Exit” she might like to contact.
Must have piss Gisborne man off his people are going hard today they are put up all the dum ass tactics into play today. Kia kaha
New Zealand.
For sale.
To the highest bidder.
$3m lakeside lodge planned for Crown land
‘A Hong Kong businessman’s plan to build a $3 million lodge on Crown land bordering a scenic South Island lake has raised the hackles of the Acting Commissioner of Crown Lands. But there are strong signals the lakeside land will be offered up for sale, David Williams reports.
A massive lodge could be built on what is now Crown land, just 40 metres from the shore of pristine Lake Pukaki.
Why a sale’s even being considered isn’t clear. LINZ’s consent says “there are no applicable offer-back provisions” and Blue Lake “is not entitled to the benefit of any offer back”. But the Crown considered it had a “moral duty” to offer the land back to Guide Hill’s former owners, the Gould family, and the new allotment should “logically” be amalgamated with the rest of the station.
Forest & Bird’s Canterbury/West Coast regional manager Jen Miller says the whole situation “stinks” and appears murky. She also believes a neighbouring landowner might be disputing the potential sale.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/12/07/66498/3m-lakeside-lodge-planned-for-crown-land
Revealed: who bought NZ’s most expensive home of 2017
‘State-owned enterprise Quotable Value records show that the buyer was Lichun Gao. A check on other titles shows he has been active since 2015, buying a number of properties across the city, valued collectively at more than $56m. Most of his properties are on the North Shore and some have big development potential.
Companies Office records show Gao is the sole director and shareholder of New Zealand-registered company Far East NZ Investment and gives his address as 17 O’Neills Ave, Takapuna.
‘Far East is listed in one business directory as a milk products manufacturing business.
Titles which QV lists as those Gao owns are:
• 19 O’Neills Ave: a residential dwelling on a 4396sq m site, three separate titles of 19, 21 and 23 O’Neills Ave. Two homes were built there by Sky TV founder Craig Heatley who had a helipad on the property. Gao bought it in July, QV records showed.
• 84 Trig Rd, Whenuapai: Auckland Council says is valued at $9.8m. A 4.04ha lifestyle property which is now bare land with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year;
• 62 Paritai Dr, Orakei: a residential dwelling built between 1914 and 1929 on a 1173sq m site. This is in one of Auckland’s best streets, home to the $39m property which set the national record in 2013 as New Zealand’s most expensive residential property, sold by agent Graham Wall. Auckland Council valued this place at $7.4m. QV records the place as being sold to Gao last April.
• 11 Spedding Rd, Whenuapai: a 4.9ha lifestyle property now bare land but with subdivision potential, sold to Gao last year. Auckland Council has this property valued at $7,170,000.
• 52 Dairy Stream Rd, Dairy Flat: a 3.2ha site listed as a lifestyle property, being bare land with subdivision potential which Gao bought in April, 2015.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11948282
More issuers caused by years of nglect.
‘Immigration NZ broke, new Minister says
New Zealand’s immigration system “lacks integrity” and is so financially hamstrung it can’t investigate fraud and exploitation cases, its new Minister says.’
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/11/30/64436/immigration-nz-broke-new-minister-says
Typical of how national views immigration. They just wanted more immigrants to dilute the Maori vote an put us on the bread line I’m working my ass off going nowhere because of keys immigration policy and now we find another state organisation in a mess we will never let national back in government the corrupt money worshipers Ana to kai
Yep, very much doubt that Maori will be the 2nd largest ethnicity in NZ anymore after National’s immigration policy. National have prospered vote wise by importing in votes and moving poorer people out of main cities and making them homeless.
For sale.
Our assets, our environment, our sovereignty.
35 years of neoliberalism.
‘A Chinese-owned corporation is converting a former wool scouring factory in the Christchurch area into a water bottling factory, and it has consent to extract more than 4.5 million litres of water per day. Environment Canterbury is among the groups expressing concern about the new neighbour.’
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/concern-brewing-chinese-owned-water-bottling-plant-sets-up-shop-in-christchurch
A huge growth in demand for social housing will not be met by the current pipeline of new social houses, officials have told the new Government.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99631678/Social-housing-demand-not-met-by-homes-in-the-pipeline-Officials
The private rental market is forcing low-income Kiwis to move too often, the human rights watchdog has told the new Government.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford has promised new legislation by the end of 2018 that would get rid of no-cause terminations and limit rent increases to once per year.
But the Human Rights Commission suggest more than just new rental laws: officials within the document suggest that for the most vulnerable the security provided by state housing is the best option.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99660758/insecure-rentals-mean-kiwis-move-too-much-and-its-a-human-rights-issue-commission
With almost 6000 thousand on the waiting list for a state home, it shows what Labour are currently offering is vastly insufficient, thus the pressure is mounting on Labour to build more state homes. The question is, will they?
Apart from your bizarre Labour bashing stance (you never criticised National on housing policy), that’s a valuable article you link to which describes an awful problem in NZ where low income families are forced to move often on the say so of amateur landlords. This transience creates fractured communities where children struggle to feel valued and struggle to form important long term social connections.
I myself don’t think a massive social housing drive is the answer. I think much more needs to be done to make anyone involved in rental investments know that they are first providing a social service and second providing for their own benefit.
Nyttonbird
That is a really important housing issue that needs fixing as you say.
“I myself don’t think a massive social housing drive is the answer”
Really?
So where do you think the massive shortfall in low cost rentals are going to come from?
Why do you think my initial post was bashing Labour? I merely highlighted what was reported and asked a question. Is that bashing them in your eyes?
Russian band Little Big. Adult themes, dance music – one hell of a funny video.
A certain chubby North Korean dictator with an amusing haircut is not going to be happy. I laughed. Hard.
I went mowing lawns today an the idiots were playing all sorts of dum ass games they think they are going to break me YEA RIGHT. I will keep going hard for my family and this is why I won’t back down. I no if I move they will chase me were ever I go so_______them.
I’m at the farm relief milking and mowing my lawns in between milking I get to spend time with our moko my youngest granddaughter is a paua to her Papa when ever she sees me she has her hands out for me to pick her up she has just started crawling she is away into everything lol she has beautiful blue eyes and I call her my prime minister lol I want her to have a very secsessfull long happy life and I will do what it takes for all our children and mokos to give them a good life. Kia kaha
NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER ALERT!
(Saturday 9 December 2017)
IF YOU THOUGHT WHAT AK TRANSPORT (AT) HAD DONE TO WEST LYNN WAS BAD – CHECK OUT MT ALBERT!
Killing small businesses in town centres – by removing parking.
“No parking – no stopping – no shopping.”
Have YOU seen what’s happened to the Mt Albert shopping centre?
If you think what’s happened in West Lynn is bad – you need to see for yourselves what’s happened to Mt Albert!
Concrete everywhere – no parking!
How pushing cycle lanes in town centres – by removing parking – helps property developers?
How suburban cycleways in town centres help corporate shopping at the multi-national malls?
http://www.mtalbertinc.co.nz/mt-albert-town-centre-upgrade-long-path-turning-things-around/
“…From 2018, as the new look takes final shape, shop owners and landlords may be encouraged by more pleasant surrounds to spruce up their acts; and developers heartened by a new vitality may be drawn to further breathe life into a town centre that otherwise may have died.
Where we now have some run-down premises, we could in the future find medium-rise developments (the Unitary Plan allows for four-to-eight storeys in town centres – logically with shops below and apartments and perhaps offices above) and a more appealing retail and food mix.
…”
First – remove the parking – kill small businesses so property developer$ can buy these buildings, and help drive customers to the multi-national run malls?
Penny Bright
Anti-Corruption whistle-blower.
Not only clear out small business but increase the risk of flooding with the amount of paving. Who knows why Auckland Transport and their overpaid band of consultants hates trees so much? Never mind it can all be sold cheap and converted with overseas money to apartments for new residents not bankrupted by government and council policy and lowered wages.
From freshwater 111
MATAURA RIVER
Yesterday the river made 1 news in Gore as the river has low flows and the town is running out of water
What could be the problem low rainfall or maybe a combination of low rainfall and the loss of our wetlands for recharging the river or the hundreds of km of drains under ground to stop the land holding water or the never-ending expansion of the center pivots which are running flat out today in the upper Mataura and the planting of pine forist on land that uesd to be tussock lands and this is all allowed by Environment Southland. This is looking more like It could end up like the disaster in Canterbury
You no how I told you that my MAMA die of a heart attack when I was 9. Well here’s the hole story. About a week before that event my mama an one of her grand sons that lived with us he is the one who named me honky they were arguing
about him not being a good father to his child he was still going out an shaging around and she wanted him to put his child first I remember her saying to him you all are getting nothing it is all going to eco. So a week goes by and mama and I were watching TV he comes home she goes into the kitchen to talk to him she closed the door to the sitting room and the argument started they were arguing about her will shouting she said no of use are getting my estate it is all going to eco than I heard her fall and he was over her as when I heard her fall I went it the kitchen at that time one of her son came in and they started arguing about what to do in stead of giving her angina pill. Next the ambulance came and they said she was dead So she had a will draw up and it was in her room. They burnt it and this story can be verified by my extended whano the ones who never called me honky there mother told them about the will and they told me she had a lot of shear in land up the east coast. The person that caused her death ripped me later on to I sold him my lawn run I set up his $20.000 loan as his bank manager was mine as well and the years before I had $100.000 going into my bank from forestry I gave him my business accounts so he could get the loan I had a loan of $10.000 so when his loan came through that got paid as we were walking out the bank he said that the other $10.000 of his loan was going to pay off his credit card. I was blown away but I was still submissive and had to start working in Hamilton in 3 days he had not paid me a cent of that money in 13 years. Did he give a______about my children missing out because of his actions no. The business was worth $30.000 WTF.
When my wife grandfather died he left me all his tools my wife’s brothers were pissed about that so was her 1 uncle he got the rife as I did not have a gun licence.
While we were planning his funeral his bank accounts were frozen and no one had any money to pay for it so my wife and I wrote out a check to pay for his funeral
We got our money back 12 months later we were just happy that his funeral went down with out any problems There are other story’s of me an my wife helping her family with other events like that to. That idiot who ripped me off had abandoned his first family of 2 children and to what a__________. That’s all for now Ka pai
I no that the Gisborne man is in the top command of the cops top 10 so he will have his boys spread any shit he can to save his religious self righteous ass but no ECO WILL WIN IN THE END Kai kaha
This is why they are spending millions wasting their time chasing ECO Maori. Ana to kai
Alabama/Afghanistan.
Thanks for that link Joe. That is the age that Gisborne man would have realed my relation into his Webb of deceit and lies Ka pai
Ivanka’s words put in an appearance outside daddy’s rally to support Moore. Daddy will not be pleased.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ivanka-ad-trolls-trump-rally_us_5a2b63fbe4b0a290f050ed75
Trump campaigning hard for Moore shows how confident he is of identifying and turning out his base, because FFS Obama is more popular than Trump in Alabama:
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-polls/360807-fox-news-poll-obama-has-higher-favorability-in-alabama-than-trump
Moore will have no problem on the day getting over the line.
It’s lovely that the Dems are going for long-shots, but Alabama was wayyy too much of a long-shot to hit its target. You have to go back to you-know-who to remember a Democrat really making it there. Hint: it’s a little place called Hope.
There’s no Hope in Alabama.*
Yeah, Jones is still a long shot. But if he pulled it off there’d be so many D.C. Repugs shitting themselves the sewers would erupt.
*There’s a New Hope and a Good Hope in Alabama, but no actual Hope. Perhaps you mean nearby Arkansas? The last Dem pres to win ‘bama was Carter. The last Dem to win statewide office was Shelby for his second term in 92, but even he decided life would be easier as a Repug so he switched in 94. I wonder if the Chump realized he was rallying for Moore in Florida, but the election is the next state over?
Great correction!
I was awash in Bill Clinton Hope Arkansas nostalgia for a moment!
@CleanGreen.
I was thinking about the Gisborne line and the wash-out (both the real one and the gNat wash-out attitude), and thought you might be interested in this:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-railway-restores-andhra-pradesh-mountain-bridge-araku-valley-region-in-record-58-days-4974972/
I’m fairly sure no one died and also no one had HiViz fluros either – they just looked out for one another.
OnceWasTim, Thanks for the Indian story,
Yes we have an Indian Manager of a large Gisborne exporter and his home town has far worse geographical areas where rail goes and believes the washouts on the Gisborne section is minor compared to what he has seen.
We also have a ex rail manager from Kiwirail who kept the l;ine in top shape before the washouts and said it was caused by clearing of scrub in the hillside above the track ad heavy rail that blocked the old culverts and washed that section out again as this was the third time in 39yrs.
During Bola the Ministry of Works came along and fixed the washouts in 6 weeks after March 1988, we are advised when it was washed out during bola so you are right iit can be repaired within just weeks jnot months so we cant see why they just dont get it fixed and allow us to incease our rail freight as we proved durug the eight months before the washouts as we had inceased the freight three times higher then after a flat rail freight recorded prior when Toll had it.
Common Labour lets do this.
A fellow Gisbornite supports you. There are a lot of us whisperers here
— we whisper because’ the few’ are very few here, and we speak because we are humans and NZers.
6th mass extinction well underway….
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/08/starving-polar-bear-arctic-climate-change-video