Just to keep you posted: TESCO, which owns the Fukushima plant has finally admitted that reactor no1 is in total meltdown and that they have been lying about the true state of affairs for a while.
Added to that reactor 4 is leaning precariously and reactor 2 is leaking. But don’t worry because they are going to build huge tents around the reactors to stop the radioactive gasses from spreading.
I thought you were esposing the REAL owner of the plant, then realised it’s a typo. TESCO is the UK supermarket chain, where I often shopped in my time in the UK. Fukushima is owned by TEPCO
Um, they didn’t “admit” it had melted down. They confirmed, with more 1st hand evidence, that it definitely has, and the extent to which it had melted down.
Lanthanide, you have a credibility issue, with your seeming readiness to believe official pronouncements after this catastrophe.
Only your good self, a few sad fools from the looney right blogosphere, and the utterly corrupt and disgusting CEO of Air New Zealand continue to express confidence in the integrity of the Japanese government and TEPCO.
VIDEO UPDATE: May 13th, 2011
Fukushima – One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems. Gundersen says Fukushima’s gaseous and liquid releases continue unabated. With a meltdown at Unit 1, Unit 4 leaning and facing possible collapse, several units contaminating ground water, and area school children outside the exclusion zone receiving adult occupational radiation doses, the situation continues to worsen. TEPCO needs a cohesive plan and international support to protect against world-wide contamination.
This is not a time or place to say “Told you so…” but it would be an excellent opportunity for Jim (RNZ voice of I’m-ever-so-humble-reasonable-boy-next-door-apologist-for-the-National-Party) Mora to get all his pundits who made their pro-nuclear comments at the time of the quake to now give us their opinions and he could start with the Penguin from the Kiwiblog. Just another instance of how wrong and uninformed Farrar can be. Perhaps it’s time he was dropped from the show completely
(Sorry but cannot find link to the Afternoons panel – but it was within a couple of days of the tsunami)
Yes, and for Rob Fife to retract his statements about how bloggers and irresponsible newspaper journalists make the Fukushima disaster worse than it really is.
TEPCO learned about the water level of the pressure vessel after workers who entered the reactor building beginning Tuesday adjusted a water-level gauge. Previously, the reading of the water level had remained almost unchanged at about 1.6 meters below the top of fuel rods since immediately after the outbreak of the crisis at the plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
After adjusting the gauge, workers found the actual water level was more than 5 meters below the top of the fuel rods. As the fuel rods are about 4 meters long, they are considered to have been fully exposed above the cooling water, TEPCO said. …
At the bottom of the steel pressure vessel, which is 16 centimeters thick, the water level is believed to stand at a maximum of only about 4 meters, TEPCO said. The company believes that most of the 190 tons of water injected every day is leaking from the pressure vessel, which is likely to be damaged more seriously than previously thought.
Seems to be missing the first 100 years or so. The US has effectively been in a state of perpetual war ever since it’s founding. There hasn’t been any sudden or radical change in their policy in the last two decades. What has changed is that more people know about the US military interventions at the time that they’re happening than before due to the networking (local and global) that the internet and other modern communications methods have allowed.
The leading candidate for the Maori Party now seems to be Pita Tipene Chairperson of the Ngati Hine Forestry Trust, he is from Ngati Hine.
At best any Maori Party candidate would end up at around10%. Kelvin from Labour at most would sit around 30%, while Hone and Mana would at least be around the 60% mark in the June 25 By Election.
The Maori Party is politically mortally wounded in the North, and shall become of no electoral relevance in the North.
When you stand Hone against Kelvin, Hone and Mana win hands down with the Maori Party candidate performing extremely badly.
The Northern Advocate Newspaper ran an online poll yesterday, it had120 votes.
Hone Mana Party 77%
Kelvin Labour Party 18%
Maori Party Candadiate 5%
The newspaper also under took a street poll through Northland. Mr Brown said “he had not voted in the 2008 general election, but had since grown to admire Mr Harawira”, Ms Mare 63 said she voted for the Maori Party in 2008 “because of Hone.”, “What he says he does,” pledging a switch to Mana. Grace Takimoana said “…I voted for Labour last time, but they haven’t got much hope with their new leader.”
In the last General Election Hone had a resounding 32% majority over Kelvin, Hone’s electorate vote grew about 10% in 2008, while the Maori Party vote decreased by 1.3%. Combine that with the Advocate poll result the trend is clear Hone has grown support while the Maori Party has lost support.
I heard there may have been around 16 at the Maori Party Waitangi hui, that should have been the story of the day. Further the president Pam Bird of the Maori Party dismisses Maori youth our future leaders. In a poll during the last election 70% of the voters in the electorate wanted the Maori Party to work with Labour, not National. Do not forget the New Zealand First backlash for going into government with National, the seats were basically wiped out.
Polling prior to the 2008 election from Maori Television poll had some interesting numbers;
Only 20.6% surveyed said Kelvin Davis could be trusted, 21.2% to deliver on his promises. When you move on to he knows the needs of local people Kevin performs badly again at 16.2%.When it comes to leadership Kevin only manages 19.2%. The survey about who has personality Kelvin scores 11.2%, while Hone scores 71.4%.
Police say it’s still too dangerous to enter the mine – after 5 months? Who do they think they’re kidding? And, ‘two or three months to enhance the latest images’?
Conspiracy theories aside, it’s looking very much like someone’s hiding something.
I think it’s money that is the major problem now for advancing Pike River surveys and recovery. Nothing will be done if the family doesn’t keep it current, the authorities just want to let it fade till it ends with a shrug and a sad face with nothing more attempted.
There has been first tight control by authorities and a dependence on machinery to try and allow perfect safety, but they have also excluded affected families from entering themselves to look. Iif there was a window of opportunity to penetrate and survey the mine with a large percentage likelihood of safety they might have chosen to put themselves in danger.
The same style of rigid control in Christchurch with total exclusion of people involved with the area.
As blunt as this sounds, I have to question the coroners finding into the time and cause of death of the very brave 29 who were killed in the Pike River mine. It is clear how important it is to have the scene examined due to the latest footage or two possible bodies being intact.
If my loved one was in there, I would not stop until the mine was entered regardless on how long my patience was being tried, I would also not allow the cost to deter me either.
So you or the families would be prepared to stump up all the cost? Suppose that worked out to $1 million each. Still necessary?
As great as my sympathy is for the Pike River families for the loss of their 29 men the fact has to be faced that current technology makes it extremely difficult, dangerous and expensive to recover these bodies. Situations in which bodies are not recovered occur fairly regularly in NZ. As such the demands being made by the families spokesman and the mayor border on the unreasonable and in fact the irrational.
After today’s announcement
“A Mines Rescue service team would enter the mine on Monday with the sole purpose of resealing the entryway to stabilise the main tunnel, not recover the bodies, Hollis said.
He said a feasibility plan for the recovery process was discussed in the meeting and could have lead to the confusion.”
There is no confusion. There is just a track record of Kokshoorn and Monk fabricating information to suit their egos.
Like I said before
They might as well be at the bottom of the sea, it’s just as dangerous.
Or inside the Chernobyl reactor.
The mine is full of methane gas, which is explosive when mixed with air at a certain percentage. once you have dug out some of the mine – which it was when operating – there is a lot more methane being released than there was when they first dug their way in through the original tunnel. The whole of the mine will be full of it, so there is a lot more danger than when the mine was first built.
The only realistic way of making it safe is to get the ventilation operating – however obviously they think there is a risk of it bursting into flame again – which happens quite often in mines, spontaneous combustion and underground fires are common situations in underground coal mines and they often burn for decades or centuries in some cases. If it does catch fire again then it could explode and they would have to go through all the rigamarole with the Gag machine again. I think everyone who is pushing for it to be reopened has conveniently forgotten the explosions and the fire 6 months ago because that was seriously dangerous and there was no less risk to life and limb then.
As it is the Families spokesman and the mayor of Greymouth look like motor mouths more and more, every time they are calling up the papers to say this and that they get shot down in flames. Brutal as it may sound the families have to move on and just live with the fact they may never get the bodies back.
Good stats and info on Mana Party Terry. Those stats confirm what someone else said – that it is wasting a good pollie such as Kelvin Davis throwing him against Hone and the Maori Party when he is unlikely to win.
In this weeks review; the protest flotilla, Operation 8 update, Typhoid Fever in NZ, His Royal Highness, Child poverty leads to skin conditions, Bees being decimated, Refugees, Oil drilling in the Arctic, People interfering with explosives in the Naki, US Floods, ACC, Kiwisaver and WFF gutted, Protest in Gisborne and Julian Assange gets an award.
Kiim Hill on Radionz first off this morning interviewed climate change scientist.-
8:15 James Hansen
Dr James Hansen is the Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and one of the best-known climate scientists in the world. He is visiting New Zealand to give a public lecture, Climate Change: a Scientific, Moral and Legal Issue, in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin, Gore and Christchurch, from 12 to 21 May. He will also participate in the Symposium on the Future of Coal (17 May, Wellington), and the Festival for the Planet (21 May, Auckland).
He responded to Kim’s questioning well without impatience and explained all his points clearly and
was very informative. Now I really must make some changes myself. By the way he doesn’t see nuclear as an evil thing. It needs to be run well, but more people die from cancers from other causes than from nuclear problems. And there is the point that climate change will be likely to do more damage. If we want energy we have to decide what loss of our present environment we will accept. Wind turbines affecting country vistas, dams for hydropower etc.
No getting round it. And we must not rely on coal, huge producer of CO2. And we should have a carbon tax so we all get the proper signals of how expensive it is to our environment which will grow affecting more our children’s future than our present.
weka – Yeah but there is the situation of needing energy and choosing the best from a group of alternatives that each have downsides. Wishful thinking would lead us to hope for cheap ways of harnessing the sun but we can’t get enough for all our needs that way.
One here at present with a downside being protested is the Kaipara Harbour turbines. Changing the environment and depleting food species has to be considered with this one – apparently major spawning area for snapper. Would nuclear at this location run carefully be less hurtful to the environment? Hansen referred to Three Mile Island, as a notable failure for the USA which sounded really bad but actually was not so bad.
Hi prism, there are enough good reasons for reducing energy consumption/need without even having to consider nuclear – if increasing energy allows us to keep living beyond our environmental means then the obvious solution is to stop using so much.
As someone posted yesterday, we could be building houses that need very little power to heat. This idea that we have to have perpetual energy growth is wrong, we don’t need it for a good life. Increasing demands for power are about wants not needs.
I don’t know anything about the Kaipara situation, but have seen some of the protest in the South Island. We could be moving away from the big, very wasteful power schemes towards local power generation. Let individual communities decide what they want and how much energy they want to use. Most of the big power schemes get protested by locals.
hi weka – We have to think nationally as well as locally. Cities, big manufacturers need to draw on outside their areas and people away from the city need to think beyond ‘mine’ and ‘local’ to share some of their assets for other’s benefit. There has to be protection and control so that is done the least permanently destructive way, ie wind turbine with bird lanes? preferred to drowning all our valleys and natural fast rivers for hydro.
There will be an increase in need for power merely because of natural population growth, plus immigration. We can limit this to a more sustainable level by giving people information and help so they can limit family size below say four, most would choose less I think. This would be sure to be controversial but is what an intelligent societies should be doing at this state of human over-development.
I agree energy saving is a must. One thought I had was that during the winter nights there could be a community message about 8pm on tv requesting a turn off of unnecessary lighting, even one. This would have both a symbolic and actual savings effect. Double glazing, retro glazing, doing sensible things in an efficient way is a positive provided we regulate and control this so that there isn’t a bunch of cowboys ripping off individuals and the country as I believe happened in Oz with household energy improvements.
Yep. And turning electronics and chargers off at the wall instead of leaving them on standby could save twenty to thirty watts per household. With a million households and offices…30 MW saved with no loss of lifestyle. Sweet.
Solar hot water heating and hot water cylinder insulation – both musts IMO. That’ll save a lot more than 30 MW.
CV I tried to be a bit clever and bought a charger for my rechargeables for camera etc which is a rapid one that turns itself off when done. I think this must be an energy saver plus the advantage of not having to watch for over-charging of battery.
“We have to think nationally as well as locally. Cities, big manufacturers need to draw on outside their areas and people away from the city need to think beyond ‘mine’ and ‘local’ to share some of their assets for other’s benefit. ”
You’re teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs there prism, given you are talking to a Mainlander
The South Island rivers and windy hills aren’t ‘assets’. They’re the land that gives us our life. I don’t mind sharing some of the wealth of this land with our cousins up North, but I do object to building more dams on the Clutha and transporting that power to the NI, or even Chch, when so much power gets lost in the transfer.
I also object to having more dams and windfarms here so that Aucklanders can wear tshirts in the winter. Or people can have heated towel rails. If Aucklanders really believe that being able to wear tshirts in the winter is a necessity of life (as opposed to putting on a jersey) then they can make their own local decisions about power generation by putting the generation in *their* backyard (as long as it’s not nuclear – I agree with you there, some decisions need to be made nationally).
Turning off lights isn’t going to make much of a saving. We have to think about our whole relationship with energy and our lifes (including industry and the economy). Solutions like CV is talking about most likely need to be legislated – why build electronics that need to be reset everytime you turn them off at the wall? And the insulation one is a no-brainer. But we could also be legislating so that every new house in NZ has to have solar hot water (dual systems for those with less sunshine) and passive solar heating. These aren’t difficult things to do, and there are many many things we could do around energy efficiency.
Yes weka all true. But our ‘land that gives us our life’ is our asset, though not one as a simple listing on a financial document. And we Mainlanders are part of the NZ mix and have to watch our power usage as well as Aucklanders. Turning off lights isn’t a great saving no but I did mention the symbolic effect which means that people are reminded of the need to keep monitoring energy use and not procrastinate or think it’s SEP – someone elses problem. While we voters put it off we give pollies who want to be in charge of everything, the OK to proceed to do sweet FA. If something is done by one gang then when the other gets in they wipe it, deballs it, or extend the time plan into the never-never. Despairing sort of stuff and neither political persuasion gives confidence, which is why the Greens are so important.
Your ideas sound really good, but the pollies and their financial mates who like to gamble on the casino of life, and manage to win most of the time, allow conditions in financial markets to wipe all our monetary assets and give taxes back to the people who already have an excess of excess, and then they announce a financial crisis and prudent people couldn’t agree to any state expenditure and they haven’t time to pass legislation on energy saving measures etc.
Unfortunately electric power has been the cleanest and easiest form to prevent pollution and taking out fireplaces and free-standers and replacing them with heat pumps is going to use up quite a lot. Auckland will need them too in the summer if the temps continue to rise as the climate change effect continues. Auckland should be looking at providing more of its energy for sure – they could use solar, and heat retention house designs. But Kaipara turbines might be less satisfactory than hydro from a sustainable level, eg not decimating food supplies and fertility – hard decisions to make. Having nuclear might seem better if its between the destruction of our rivers, or great technology that upsets a major food source.
I said that hydro is a problem. I think they are planning new one/s on the Clutha aren’t they?
The heatpump one is interesting, and I agree that it’s a big consumer of electricity. Wood for fuel is one of the few carbon neutral active energy sources we have, and it has multiple flow on effect for humans and the environment if done properly. I’d rather see R and D go into burning wood fuel efficiently than building more dams/windfarms (or developing NZ based nuclear power that will always carry too high a risk).
There are always plans afoot for new Clutha dams. Labour said no way the last time they were in power. It’s just taken the industry a while to get back to it under National.
I still don’t accept your argument re nuke power. If we reduce consumption and improve efficiency we don’t even need to consider it, so it’s a red herring to compare nuclear with alternatives that damage the environment.
The heatpump one is interesting, and I agree that it’s a big consumer of electricity.
Installed and run correctly it’s the most efficient form of heating available – that includes wood burning.
I’d rather see R and D go into burning wood fuel efficiently than building more dams/windfarms.
I’d rather see more wind farms and better insulated, longer lasting houses. It’s more efficient and allows our forests to progress to old growth which would help increase bio-diversity.
Or, even better, people encouraged to use less electricity so we don’t need any more wind farms of dams.
Agreed on the last point. Problem with the other points is that that kind of power generation isn’t sustainable in practical terms with peak oil, or environmental terms with climate change.
“Installed and run correctly it’s the most efficient form of heating available – that includes wood burning.”
I doubt it, but we’re probably comparing different things. What about a thermal mass stove in a house with passive solar?
How much extra energy are you using to cut and transport the wood? Is it more or less than what’s needed to get the electricity to the heat pump? (Hint: It’s more, much more). Please note, the efficiency of a heat pump comes from the point that it’s not actually making heat – it’s transferring it from one place (outside) to another (inside).
I’d go for a passive solar heat store (yeah, you don’t actually have to burn things to heat up those rocks) backed by a heat pump.
Problem with heat pumps is that some people buy into the sales story that they are just sooooo efficient. And end up running them at 21 deg C all day and all night.
So net, it consumes way more power than if they had used standard heating.
See, I keep hearing those stories and wonder WTF went wrong. The heat pump should be turned on all the time and left to run as determined by the thermostat and pre-programmed timing plans as then it will operate at it’s most efficient.
What you describe can only be put down to either of two things:
1.) Bad installation that was reading the temperature wrong or
2.) The people operating the heat pump overrode the devices internal logic forcing it to run all the time.
Generally speaking, and with my experience as a CSR, I’d say it was most likely the latter. PEBKAC, the most common fault with computers.
I also object to having more dams and windfarms here so that Aucklanders can wear tshirts in the winter.
It would make more sense for more energy to be generated near Auckland. But, really, some of us Aucklanders don’t wear tshirts (at least not without some other layers on top) in winter indoors. But even with a few layers on in the coldest weather, I would find it really difficult inside in Auckland during the winter without heating. It especially effects my hands & feet – they get cold very easily & it’s hard to do anything much when they are very cold.
Mind you, I haven’t switched on a heater at my place yet this year. Remarkably warm autumn so far. There has been a couple of cold snaps, but some extra layers of clothes in the evening worked fine.
He tried to minimize the catastrophe at Three Mile Island. That was as dishonest as anything we are seeing right now from TEPCO or the Japanese government’s “communications” people.
I wonder if Hansen would have had the gall to go to Fukushima or Chernobyl to say how safe nuclear power is.
morrissey I think Hansen puts a nuclear failure causing some deaths beside other factors causing death or injury, ie the onset of general cancers and road deaths and looks to see which one is greater.
Last post tah tah. See dimpost for Brash’s secret letter – reveals his concern about the decline in effort by the National Party bowling club to improve their system for winning at ten pin bowling.
…This has resulted in the White House making a press release stating that it is illegal to alter photos in this way. So in light of this ridiculous request, we at the Jackal have searched far and wide for the best photo-shopped image of the Obama national security team watching Osama bin Laden being killed… and the winner is:
A good National Radio interview here, broadcast on Wed night. Globalisation versus Americanisation.
Essentially, American powers influenced the rest of the world to take up their model of financial management and governance (I mean, look what good its done for the people of the US so far).
Hi Rare earth man,
TEPCO admits, conceded, admits, admits (and that is just a small selection of the 940,000 hits I got when I googled; TEPCO admits) they are lying scum destroying our planet.
Any nuclear reactor not cooled for 90 minutes goes into meltdown, period….. It took them way more than that to even get some cooling back online.
They found plutonium 1 miles away from the reactors according to Arnie Gunderson this meant the initial speed with which that piece of plutonium must have started was some 1000 miles per hour. That is one hell of an explosion.
11 million litres of water have disappeared from reactor no1. Were is it gone? My guess is back into the ocean being spread around the planet via the beltway stream contaminating the entire planet with radioactive crap.
Rare earth man, I don’t know were you’re coming from but your shite is sounding more and more inane to me.
I love NZ, you think its bad then something really stupid happens to make it worse. The NZ economy is at the whim of the global market, and commodities are booming, yet NZ is going backwards. Its astonishing how badly run this country is, and then we elected John Key. LOL.
But then would I have like the pressure of London or Sydney, the pollution, the social climbing being brought here to NZ.
So my question is how to keep NZ a rural backwater but without looking like the rural idiot.
David Cunliffe excelled last night on Willie Jackson’s Newsbite. Passionate crystal clear definition of where Labour sis going in spite of the negative commentary from some.
I can’t find a way into their site or if they have replay. Anyone?
Site is : http://www.maoritelevision.com/Default.aspx?tabid=605
Now I’m aware that we have some very smart and clever contributers to the Standard, so please would someone tell me just where all the money that has been raised and due for Christchurch is going. Now is not the largest bill not covered by insurance ? . What about Earth Quake Commission money? Are not the injured covered by ACC.
However what does concern me is the money being raised around the country and in fact world wide.Every town,village and city in NZ have had fund raisers ,it must amount to millions of dollars. So why is this government telling us ad,nausem .that we must sell assets to pay for the Christchurch disaster? Why does English tell us that the country is in a mess because of Christchurch. To be honest if I was a Christchurch resident I would be a bit a pissed of at being blames for the mess this government has put us.
I don’t normally point people to stuff like this as I’m anti-capitalist but it’s well worth reading.
It’s funny that when people reach a certain age, such as after graduating college, they assume it’s time to go out and get a job. But like many things the masses do, just because everyone does it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. In fact, if you’re reasonably intelligent, getting a job is one of the worst things you can do to support yourself. There are far better ways to make a living than selling yourself into indentured servitude.
Here are some reasons you should do everything in your power to avoid getting a job:
As I say, I’m anti-capitalist and consider that the socio-political system we labour under a failed system but this article highlights some of the real meanings behind getting a job are and points out that getting a job is the worst thing you can do. It also points out the parasites at the top of our present system and how they benefit from your work.
“Editorial: NZ’s culture of honesty one to be cherished
Corruption is foreign to New Zealand’s government, we believe.
The belief is so deeply ingrained in this country that we instinctively doubt an accusation such as that levelled against the Government this week over the ministerial vehicle fleet replacement.
…….
In any other country there would be that perception, but here? We are blessedly confident in the probity of our public service. The country rates close to zero on international measures of corruption and local industry representatives who deal abroad say we do not realise how lucky we are.
………….
No country can be too vigilant against corruption. If this is one of the world’s least corrupt places, it is at risk of assuming too much. Corruption, after all, is not completely unknown here.
………………..
Exceptions are sufficiently rare to prove the rule: we retain a culture of honesty in public life that we ought never to take for granted. ”
If New Zealand is supposed to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’ (along with Singapore and Denmark, according to the 2010 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – then arguably we should be the most ‘transparent’?
Here are some quite specific points which clearly identify where NZ lacks genuine transparency.
If these were turned into ‘demands’ and achieved – in my view – there would be quite a transformation which is long-overdue.
________________________________________________________________________________
CORRUPTION REALITY CHECKLIST – NEW ZEALAND
1. Has NZ ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption? ……… NO
2. Does NZ have an independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption? ……. NO
3. Do NZ’s laws ensure transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central government level? …………………. NO
4. Do NZ Members of Parliament have a ‘Code of Conduct’? NO
5. Do NZ Local Govt elected reps have a ‘Code of Conduct’? ……. YES
6. Is it an offence for NZ Local Govt elected reps to breach the ‘Code of Conduct’? ..NO
7. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt elected reps? …………………NO
8. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Govt staff responsible for procurement? ……………… NO
9. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt staff responsible for procurement? ………. NO
10. Is there a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Govt Public Sector, and Local Govt (Council) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny?……. NO
11. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
12. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Local Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
13. Does NZ have a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary? ……NO
14. Are all NZ Court procedings recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them?……………NO
15. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’? …. NO
16. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ at Central Govt Ministerial level? ………… NO
17. Is there a legal requirement at NZ Central and Local Govt level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine ‘ period’ from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector?………………NO
18. Is it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central Govt or Local Govt level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships? …………………. NO
19. Is it unlawful in NZ for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level? …………………………. NO
20. Do NZ laws promote and protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local govt level and within the judiciary? ……………………………. NO
Prepared by Penny Bright – for Transparency International 14th Conference 7/11/2010
IACC ID D – 1198 http://waterpressure.wordpress.com[email deleted]
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In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital waiting list crisis just gets worse, including compelling interviews with an over-worked surgeon who is leaving, and a patient who discovered after 19 months of waiting for a referral that her bowel and ovaries were fused together with scar tissue ...
Plainly, the claims being tossed around in the media last year that the new terminal envisaged by Auckland International Airport was a gold-plated “Taj Mahal” extravagance were false. With one notable exception, the Commerce Commission’s comprehensive investigation has ended up endorsing every other aspect of the airport’s building programme (and ...
Movements clustered around the Right, and Far Right as well, are rising globally. Despite the recent defeats we’ve seen in the last day or so with the win of a Democrat-backed challenger, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, over her Republican counterpart, Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel, in the battle for ...
In February 2025, John Cook gave two webinars for republicEN explaining the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. 20 February 2025: republicEN webinar part 1 - BUST or TRUST? The scientific consensus on climate change In the first webinar, Cook explained the history of the 20-year scientific consensus on climate change. How do ...
After three decades of record-breaking growth, at about the same time as Xi Jinping rose to power in 2012, China’s economy started the long decline to its current state of stagnation. The Chinese Communist Party ...
The Pike River Coal mine was a ticking time bomb.Ventilation systems designed to prevent methane buildup were incomplete or neglected.Gas detectors that might warn of danger were absent or broken.Rock bolting was skipped, old tunnels left unsealed, communication systems failed during emergencies.Employees and engineers kept warning management about the … ...
Regional hegemons come in different shapes and sizes. Australia needs to think about what kind of hegemon China would be, and become, should it succeed in displacing the United States in Asia. It’s time to ...
RNZ has a story this morning about the expansion of solar farms in Aotearoa, driven by today's ground-breaking ceremony at the Tauhei solar farm in Te Aroha: From starting out as a tiny player in the electricity system, solar power generated more electricity than coal and gas combined for ...
After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and almost a year before the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, US President George H W Bush proclaimed a ‘new world order’. Now, just two months ...
Warning: Some images may be distressing. Thank you for those who support my work. It means a lot.A shopfront in Australia shows Liberal leader Peter Dutton and mining magnate Gina Rinehart depicted with Nazi imageryUS Government Seeks Death Penalty for Luigi MangioneMangione was publicly walked in front of media in ...
Aged care workers rallying against potential roster changes say Bupa, which runs retirement homes across the country, needs to focus on care instead of money. More than half of New Zealand workers wish they had chosen a different career according to a new survey. Consumers are likely to see a ...
The scurrilous attacks on Benjamin Doyle, a list Green MP, over his supposed inappropriate behaviour towards children has dominated headlines and social media this past week, led by frothing Rightwing agitators clutching their pearls and fanning the flames of moral panic over pedophiles and and perverts. Winston Peter decided that ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
The landedAnd the wealthyAnd the piousAnd the healthyAnd the straight onesAnd the pale onesAnd we only mean the male ones!If you're all of the above, then you're ok!As we build a new tomorrow here today!Lyrics Glenn Slater and Allan Menken.Ah, Democracy - can you smell it?It's presently a sulphurous odour, ...
US President Donald Trump’s unconventional methods of conducting international relations will compel the next federal government to reassess whether the United States’ presence in the region and its security assurances provide a reliable basis for ...
Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated. Neither side is in a position to achieve its stated objectives through military force. But now there is significant diplomatic activity as well. Ukraine has agreed to ...
One of the first aims of the United States’ new Department of Government Efficiency was shutting down USAID. By 6 February, the agency was functionally dissolved, its seal missing from its Washington headquarters. Amid the ...
If our strategic position was already challenging, it just got worse. Reliability of the US as an ally is in question, amid such actions by the Trump administration as calling for annexation of Canada, threating ...
Small businesses will be exempt from complying with some of the requirements of health and safety legislation under new reforms proposed by the Government. The living wage will be increased to $28.95 per hour from September, a $1.15 increase from the current $27.80. A poll has shown large opposition to ...
Summary A group of senior doctors in Nelson have spoken up, specifically stating that hospitals have never been as bad as in the last year.Patients are waiting up to 50 hours and 1 death is directly attributable to the situation: "I've never seen that number of patients waiting to be ...
Although semiconductor chips are ubiquitous nowadays, their production is concentrated in just a few countries, and this has left the US economy and military highly vulnerable at a time of rising geopolitical tensions. While the ...
Health and Safety changes driven by ACT party ideology, not evidence said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. Changes to health and safety legislation proposed by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden today comply with ACT party ideology, ignores the evidence, and will compound New ...
In short in our political economy this morning:Fletcher Building is closing its pre-fabricated house-building factory in Auckland due to a lack of demand, particularly from the Government.Health NZ is sending a crisis management team to Nelson Hospital after a 1News investigation exposed doctors’ fears that nearly 500 patients are overdue ...
Exactly 10 years ago, the then minister for defence, Kevin Andrews, released the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence (FPR). With increasing talk about the rising possibility of major power-conflict, calls for Defence funding to ...
In events eerily similar to what happened in the USA last week, Greater Auckland was recently accidentally added to a group chat between government ministers on the topic of transport.We have no idea how it happened, but luckily we managed to transcribe most of what transpired. We share it ...
Hi,When I look back at my history with Dylan Reeve, it’s pretty unusual. We first met in the pool at Kim Dotcom’s mansion, as helicopters buzzed overhead and secret service agents flung themselves off the side of his house, abseiling to the ground with guns drawn.Kim Dotcom was a German ...
Come around for teaDance me round and round the kitchenBy the light of my T.VOn the night of the electionAncient stars will fall into the seaAnd the ocean floor sings her sympathySongwriter: Bic Runga.The Prime Minister stared into the camera, hot and flustered despite the predawn chill. He looked sadly ...
Has Winston Peters got a ferries deal for you! (Buyer caution advised.) Unfortunately, the vision that Peters has been busily peddling for the past 24 hours – of several shipyards bidding down the price of us getting smaller, narrower, rail-enabled ferries – looks more like a science fiction fantasy. One ...
Completed reads for March: The Heart of the Antarctic [1907-1909], by Ernest Shackleton South [1914-1917], by Ernest Shackleton Aurora Australis (collection), edited by Ernest Shackleton The Book of Urizen (poem), by William Blake The Book of Ahania (poem), by William Blake The Book of Los (poem), by William Blake ...
First - A ReminderBenjamin Doyle Doesn’t Deserve ThisI’ve been following posts regarding Green MP Benjamin Doyle over the last few days, but didn’t want to amplify the abject nonsense.This morning, Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, answered the alt-right’s prayers - guaranteeing amplification of the topic, by going on ...
US President Donald Trump has shown a callous disregard for the checks and balances that have long protected American democracy. As the self-described ‘king’ makes a momentous power grab, much of the world watches anxiously, ...
They can be the very same words. And yet their meaning can vary very much.You can say I'll kill him about your colleague who accidentally deleted your presentation the day before a big meeting.You can say I'll kill him to — or, for that matter, about — Tony Soprano.They’re the ...
Back in 2020, the then-Labour government signed contracted for the construction and purchase of two new rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries, to be operational from 2026. But when National took power in 2023, they cancelled them in a desperate effort to make the books look good for a year. And now ...
The fragmentation of cyber regulation in the Indo-Pacific is not just inconvenient; it is a strategic vulnerability. In recent years, governments across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, have moved to reform their regulatory frameworks for cyber ...
Welcome to the March 2025 Economic Bulletin. The feature article examines what public private partnerships (PPPs) are. PPPs have been a hot topic recently, with the coalition government signalling it wants to use them to deliver infrastructure. However, experience with PPPs, both here and overseas, indicates we should be wary. ...
Willis announces more plans of plans for supermarketsYesterday’s much touted supermarket competition announcement by Nicola Willis amounted to her telling us she was issuing a 6 week RFI1 that will solicit advice from supermarket players.In short, it was an announcement of a plan - but better than her Kiwirail Interislander ...
This was the post I was planning to write this morning to mark Orr’s final day. That said, if the underlying events – deliberate attempts to mislead Parliament – were Orr’s doing, the post is more about the apparent uselessness of Parliament (specifically the Finance and Expenditure Committee) in holding ...
Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC’s plan to build a plant in the United States looks like a move made at the behest of local officials to solidify US support for Taiwan. However, it may eventually lessen ...
This is a Guest Post by Transport Planner Bevan Woodward from the charitable trust Movement, which has lodged an application for a judicial review of the Governments Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024 Auckland is at grave risk of having its safer speed limits on approx. 1,500 local streets ...
We're just talkin' 'bout the futureForget about the pastIt'll always be with usIt's never gonna die, never gonna dieSongwriters: Brian Johnson / Angus Young / Malcolm YoungMorena, all you lovely people, it’s good to be back, and I have news from the heartland. Now brace yourself for this: depending on ...
Today is the last day in office for the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr. Of course, he hasn’t been in the office since 5 March when, on the eve of his major international conference, his resignation was announced and he stormed off with no (effective) notice and no ...
Treasury and Cabinet have finally agreed to a Crown guarantee for a non-Government lending agency for Community Housing Providers (CHPs), which could unlock billions worth of loans and investments by pension funds and banks to build thousands of more affordable social homes. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:Chris Bishop ...
Australia has plenty of room to spend more on defence. History shows that 2.9 percent of GDP is no great burden in ordinary times, so pushing spending to 3.0 percent in dangerous times is very ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Winston Peters will announce later today whether two new ferries are rail ‘compatible’, requiring time-consuming container shuffling, or the more efficient and expensive rail ‘enabled,’ where wagons can roll straight on and off.Nicola Willisthreatened yesterday to break up the supermarket duopoly with ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 23, 2025 thru Sat, March 29, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
For prospective writers out there, Inspired Quill, the publisher of my novel(s) is putting together a short story anthology (pieces up to 10,000 words). The open submission window is 29th March to 29th April. https://www.inspired-quill.com/anthology-submissions/ The theme?This anthology will bring together diverse voices exploring themes of hope, resistance, and human ...
Prime minister Kevin Rudd released the 2009 defence white paper in May of that year. It is today remembered mostly for what it said about the strategic implications of China’s rise; its plan to double ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Voters want the Government to retain the living wage for cleaners, a poll shows.The Government’s move to provide a Crown guarantee to banks and the private sector for social housing is described a watershed moment and welcomed by Community Housing Providers.Nicola Willis is ...
The recent attacks in the Congo by Rwandan backed militias has led to worldwide condemnation of the Rwandan regime of Paul Kagame. Following up on the recent Fabian Zoom with Mikela Wrong and Maria Amoudian, Dr Rudaswinga will give a complete picture of Kagame’s regime and discuss the potential ...
New Zealand’s economic development has always been a partnership between the public and private sectors.Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) have become fashionable again, partly because of the government’s ambitions to accelerate infrastructural development. There is, of course, an ideological element too, while some of the opposition to them is also ideological.PPPs come in ...
How Australia funds development and defence was front of mind before Tuesday’s federal budget. US President Donald Trump’s demands for a dramatic lift in allied military spending and brutal cuts to US foreign assistance meant ...
Questions 1. Where and what is this protest?a. Hamilton, angry crowd yelling What kind of food do you call this Seymour?b.Dunedin, angry crowd yelling Still waiting, Simeon, still waitingc. Wellington, angry crowd yelling You’re trashing everything you idiotsd. Istanbul, angry crowd yelling Give us our democracy back, give it ...
Two blueprints that could redefine the Northern Territory’s economic future were launched last week. The first was a government-led economic strategy and the other an industry-driven economic roadmap. Both highlight that supporting the Northern Territory ...
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. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Brodie, Research Scientist in Marine Ecology, CSIRO jittawit21, Shutterstock Picture this: you’re lounging on a beautiful beach, soaking up the sun and listening to the soothing sound of the waves. You run your hands through the warm sand, only to ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Although New Zealand and Australia seem to have escaped the worst of Donald Trump’s latest tariffs, some Pacific Islands stand to be hit hard — including a few that aren’t even “countries”. The US will impose a base tariff of 10 percent on all ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton both agree Australia should react to US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff regime by continuing to seek a special deal. They just disagree about which of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher, Digital Literacy and Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer met with Adolescence writer Jack Thorne to discuss adolescent safety at Downing Street on Monday. Jack Taylor/ GettyImages Netflix’s Adolescence has ignited global debate. ...
By Anneke Smith,RNZ News political reporter A stoush between the Chief Human Rights Commissioner and a Jewish community leader has flared up following a showdown at Parliament. Appearing before a parliamentary select committee today, Dr Stephen Rainbow was asked about his recent apology for incorrect comments he made about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rakesh Gupta, Associate Professor of Accounting & Finance, Charles Darwin University US President Donald Trump’s new trade war will not only send shockwaves through the global economy – it also upsets efforts to tackle the urgent issue of climate change. Trump has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Toohey, Professor of Law, UNSW Sydney It had the hallmarks of a reality TV cliffhanger. Until recently, many people had never even heard of tariffs. Now, there’s been rolling live international coverage of so-called “Liberation Day”, as US President Donald Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Fuller, Clinical Trials Director, Department of Endocrinology, RPA Hospital, University of Sydney mavo/Shutterstock In the ever-changing wellness industry, one diet obsession has captured and held TikTok’s attention: protein. Whether it’s sharing snaps of protein-packed meals or giving tutorials to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Maslow, Associate Professor, International Relations, University of Tokyo Two months into US President Donald Trump’s second term, the liberal international order is on life support. Alliances and multilateral institutions are now seen by the United States as burdens. Europe and ...
Starving public services of resources, gutting the workforce and then proposing private market solutions has been a key strategy of this government, says Vanessa Cole, spokesperson for Public Housing Futures. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
The government’s own Regulatory Impact Statement acknowledges that organic producers will bear the financial burden of adapting to the risks posed by GMO expansion. ...
The committee has "rammed it through with outrageous haste", with a report now expected tomorrow, but excluding thousands of submissions, Duncan Webb says. ...
The US president’s sweeping programme of global tariffs will hit every country abroad, including New Zealand, and dramatically raise prices at home. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here.In a dramatic, flag-draped address from the White ...
Alex Casey talks to Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi, the couple who launched a project to change 51 lives in honour of those lost in the Christchurch mosque attacks. When Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi walked into Naeem’s house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, they knew immediately that he needed their help. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Professor of Trade Law, Taxation and Climate Change, Queensland University of Technology US President Donald Trump has imposed a range of tariffs on all products entering the US market, with Australian exports set to face a 10% tariff, effective April ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Shutterstock Recent media coverage in the Nine newspapers highlights a surge in non-medical ultrasound providers offering “reassurance ultrasounds” to expectant parents. The service has resulted in serious harms, such as misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies and ...
The three MPs whose rule-breaking haka caught the world’s attention didn’t attend their scheduled hearing yesterday. Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis has the rundown of what happened, why, and what’s likely to come next. I see Te Pāti Māori and the privileges committee are in some sort of stand-off – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Turner, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University The Eurasian and North American tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland.Nido Huebl/Shutterstock Earth is the only known planet which has plate tectonics today. The constant movement of these giant slabs of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Meta has stolen millions of books to train its AI, including books by kaituhi Māori. What does that mean for mātauranga and its status as taonga? New Zealand authors are among the millions whose books have been pirated and scraped by Meta to train its AI. The New Zealand Society of ...
Some hoped the open of the New Zealand markets would open with a bounce as certain tariffs fell short of the worst-case scenario, but investors were met with a deflated thud.The New Zealand market fell immediately as stock market darling Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s shares were punished, with no update ...
Healthcare dominated the debate in an unusually sober and serious question time. “Hey David!” a group of high school students in the public gallery called out as Act leader David Seymour entered the debating chamber. Standing in the middle of the floor, before any other MPs had arrived, he happily ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Naval History, University of Portsmouth How the Shuqiao barges may be used to ferry troops ashore. X (formerly Twitter) China’s intentions when it comes to Taiwan have been at the centre of intense discussion for years. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham Netflix television series Adolescence follows a 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of his female classmate. It touches upon incel online hate groups, toxic influencers and the misogynistic online ...
Just to keep you posted: TESCO, which owns the Fukushima plant has finally admitted that reactor no1 is in total meltdown and that they have been lying about the true state of affairs for a while.
Added to that reactor 4 is leaning precariously and reactor 2 is leaking. But don’t worry because they are going to build huge tents around the reactors to stop the radioactive gasses from spreading.
TESCO, which owns the Fukushima plant
I thought you were esposing the REAL owner of the plant, then realised it’s a typo. TESCO is the UK supermarket chain, where I often shopped in my time in the UK. Fukushima is owned by TEPCO
Oh oops. my bad Of course it is TEPCO. duh. LOL
Um, they didn’t “admit” it had melted down. They confirmed, with more 1st hand evidence, that it definitely has, and the extent to which it had melted down.
Lanthanide, you have a credibility issue, with your seeming readiness to believe official pronouncements after this catastrophe.
Only your good self, a few sad fools from the looney right blogosphere, and the utterly corrupt and disgusting CEO of Air New Zealand continue to express confidence in the integrity of the Japanese government and TEPCO.
Where have I expressed confidence in the integrity of the Japanese government and Tepco?
http://www.fairewinds.com/
VIDEO UPDATE: May 13th, 2011
Fukushima – One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems. Gundersen says Fukushima’s gaseous and liquid releases continue unabated. With a meltdown at Unit 1, Unit 4 leaning and facing possible collapse, several units contaminating ground water, and area school children outside the exclusion zone receiving adult occupational radiation doses, the situation continues to worsen. TEPCO needs a cohesive plan and international support to protect against world-wide contamination.
http://www.fairewinds.com/
This is not a time or place to say “Told you so…” but it would be an excellent opportunity for Jim (RNZ voice of I’m-ever-so-humble-reasonable-boy-next-door-apologist-for-the-National-Party) Mora to get all his pundits who made their pro-nuclear comments at the time of the quake to now give us their opinions and he could start with the Penguin from the Kiwiblog. Just another instance of how wrong and uninformed Farrar can be. Perhaps it’s time he was dropped from the show completely
(Sorry but cannot find link to the Afternoons panel – but it was within a couple of days of the tsunami)
Yes, and for Rob Fife to retract his statements about how bloggers and irresponsible newspaper journalists make the Fukushima disaster worse than it really is.
With respect to aircraft flying in to Japan, Rob Fyfe was completely correct.
No, he was not.
logie97 – Funny – your description of Jim Mora. Him to a ‘t’.
Here ya go, logie97….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31032011/#comment-314772
TEPCO learned about the water level of the pressure vessel after workers who entered the reactor building beginning Tuesday adjusted a water-level gauge. Previously, the reading of the water level had remained almost unchanged at about 1.6 meters below the top of fuel rods since immediately after the outbreak of the crisis at the plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
After adjusting the gauge, workers found the actual water level was more than 5 meters below the top of the fuel rods. As the fuel rods are about 4 meters long, they are considered to have been fully exposed above the cooling water, TEPCO said. …
At the bottom of the steel pressure vessel, which is 16 centimeters thick, the water level is believed to stand at a maximum of only about 4 meters, TEPCO said. The company believes that most of the 190 tons of water injected every day is leaking from the pressure vessel, which is likely to be damaged more seriously than previously thought.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/13/975709/-Confirmed:-Fuel-rods-at-Fukushima-reactor-have-mostly-melted-Taxpayer-funded-bailout-announced
Our most successful export !!!!
Poor wages, decreasing living standards and we export our money !!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10725469
The Atlantic: How perpetual war became U.S ideology.
Seems to be missing the first 100 years or so. The US has effectively been in a state of perpetual war ever since it’s founding. There hasn’t been any sudden or radical change in their policy in the last two decades. What has changed is that more people know about the US military interventions at the time that they’re happening than before due to the networking (local and global) that the internet and other modern communications methods have allowed.
Dirty Fucking Hippies WERE RIGHT!
The leading candidate for the Maori Party now seems to be Pita Tipene Chairperson of the Ngati Hine Forestry Trust, he is from Ngati Hine.
At best any Maori Party candidate would end up at around10%. Kelvin from Labour at most would sit around 30%, while Hone and Mana would at least be around the 60% mark in the June 25 By Election.
The Maori Party is politically mortally wounded in the North, and shall become of no electoral relevance in the North.
When you stand Hone against Kelvin, Hone and Mana win hands down with the Maori Party candidate performing extremely badly.
The Northern Advocate Newspaper ran an online poll yesterday, it had120 votes.
Hone Mana Party 77%
Kelvin Labour Party 18%
Maori Party Candadiate 5%
The newspaper also under took a street poll through Northland. Mr Brown said “he had not voted in the 2008 general election, but had since grown to admire Mr Harawira”, Ms Mare 63 said she voted for the Maori Party in 2008 “because of Hone.”, “What he says he does,” pledging a switch to Mana. Grace Takimoana said “…I voted for Labour last time, but they haven’t got much hope with their new leader.”
In the last General Election Hone had a resounding 32% majority over Kelvin, Hone’s electorate vote grew about 10% in 2008, while the Maori Party vote decreased by 1.3%. Combine that with the Advocate poll result the trend is clear Hone has grown support while the Maori Party has lost support.
I heard there may have been around 16 at the Maori Party Waitangi hui, that should have been the story of the day. Further the president Pam Bird of the Maori Party dismisses Maori youth our future leaders. In a poll during the last election 70% of the voters in the electorate wanted the Maori Party to work with Labour, not National. Do not forget the New Zealand First backlash for going into government with National, the seats were basically wiped out.
Polling prior to the 2008 election from Maori Television poll had some interesting numbers;
Only 20.6% surveyed said Kelvin Davis could be trusted, 21.2% to deliver on his promises. When you move on to he knows the needs of local people Kevin performs badly again at 16.2%.When it comes to leadership Kevin only manages 19.2%. The survey about who has personality Kelvin scores 11.2%, while Hone scores 71.4%.
The murkiness continues – http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pike-river-mine-disaster/5004587/Victims-families-tell-authorities-to-go-into-Pike-River-mine
Police say it’s still too dangerous to enter the mine – after 5 months? Who do they think they’re kidding? And, ‘two or three months to enhance the latest images’?
Conspiracy theories aside, it’s looking very much like someone’s hiding something.
I think it’s money that is the major problem now for advancing Pike River surveys and recovery. Nothing will be done if the family doesn’t keep it current, the authorities just want to let it fade till it ends with a shrug and a sad face with nothing more attempted.
There has been first tight control by authorities and a dependence on machinery to try and allow perfect safety, but they have also excluded affected families from entering themselves to look. Iif there was a window of opportunity to penetrate and survey the mine with a large percentage likelihood of safety they might have chosen to put themselves in danger.
The same style of rigid control in Christchurch with total exclusion of people involved with the area.
As blunt as this sounds, I have to question the coroners finding into the time and cause of death of the very brave 29 who were killed in the Pike River mine. It is clear how important it is to have the scene examined due to the latest footage or two possible bodies being intact.
If my loved one was in there, I would not stop until the mine was entered regardless on how long my patience was being tried, I would also not allow the cost to deter me either.
So you or the families would be prepared to stump up all the cost? Suppose that worked out to $1 million each. Still necessary?
As great as my sympathy is for the Pike River families for the loss of their 29 men the fact has to be faced that current technology makes it extremely difficult, dangerous and expensive to recover these bodies. Situations in which bodies are not recovered occur fairly regularly in NZ. As such the demands being made by the families spokesman and the mayor border on the unreasonable and in fact the irrational.
After today’s announcement
“A Mines Rescue service team would enter the mine on Monday with the sole purpose of resealing the entryway to stabilise the main tunnel, not recover the bodies, Hollis said.
He said a feasibility plan for the recovery process was discussed in the meeting and could have lead to the confusion.”
There is no confusion. There is just a track record of Kokshoorn and Monk fabricating information to suit their egos.
No probs, John Key has long said that the Government would cover it.
Like I said before
They might as well be at the bottom of the sea, it’s just as dangerous.
Or inside the Chernobyl reactor.
The mine is full of methane gas, which is explosive when mixed with air at a certain percentage. once you have dug out some of the mine – which it was when operating – there is a lot more methane being released than there was when they first dug their way in through the original tunnel. The whole of the mine will be full of it, so there is a lot more danger than when the mine was first built.
The only realistic way of making it safe is to get the ventilation operating – however obviously they think there is a risk of it bursting into flame again – which happens quite often in mines, spontaneous combustion and underground fires are common situations in underground coal mines and they often burn for decades or centuries in some cases. If it does catch fire again then it could explode and they would have to go through all the rigamarole with the Gag machine again. I think everyone who is pushing for it to be reopened has conveniently forgotten the explosions and the fire 6 months ago because that was seriously dangerous and there was no less risk to life and limb then.
As it is the Families spokesman and the mayor of Greymouth look like motor mouths more and more, every time they are calling up the papers to say this and that they get shot down in flames. Brutal as it may sound the families have to move on and just live with the fact they may never get the bodies back.
Good stats and info on Mana Party Terry. Those stats confirm what someone else said – that it is wasting a good pollie such as Kelvin Davis throwing him against Hone and the Maori Party when he is unlikely to win.
IRD ditching a soft ware programme which has already cost $21 million.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5003418/IRD-shelves-project-after-spending-21-million
Where have I seen this before? The INCIS police computer.
http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/july99/0707.html
The week that was 7 – 13 May
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/week-that-was-7-13-may.html
In this weeks review; the protest flotilla, Operation 8 update, Typhoid Fever in NZ, His Royal Highness, Child poverty leads to skin conditions, Bees being decimated, Refugees, Oil drilling in the Arctic, People interfering with explosives in the Naki, US Floods, ACC, Kiwisaver and WFF gutted, Protest in Gisborne and Julian Assange gets an award.
Kiim Hill on Radionz first off this morning interviewed climate change scientist.-
8:15 James Hansen
Dr James Hansen is the Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and one of the best-known climate scientists in the world. He is visiting New Zealand to give a public lecture, Climate Change: a Scientific, Moral and Legal Issue, in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin, Gore and Christchurch, from 12 to 21 May. He will also participate in the Symposium on the Future of Coal (17 May, Wellington), and the Festival for the Planet (21 May, Auckland).
He responded to Kim’s questioning well without impatience and explained all his points clearly and
was very informative. Now I really must make some changes myself. By the way he doesn’t see nuclear as an evil thing. It needs to be run well, but more people die from cancers from other causes than from nuclear problems. And there is the point that climate change will be likely to do more damage. If we want energy we have to decide what loss of our present environment we will accept. Wind turbines affecting country vistas, dams for hydropower etc.
No getting round it. And we must not rely on coal, huge producer of CO2. And we should have a carbon tax so we all get the proper signals of how expensive it is to our environment which will grow affecting more our children’s future than our present.
Has anyone done a cost vs benefit analysis that shows how many bad nuclear disasters would tip the argument the other way?
The main argument I hear is that more people die from coal than nuclear. Well duh, stop using both.
weka – Yeah but there is the situation of needing energy and choosing the best from a group of alternatives that each have downsides. Wishful thinking would lead us to hope for cheap ways of harnessing the sun but we can’t get enough for all our needs that way.
One here at present with a downside being protested is the Kaipara Harbour turbines. Changing the environment and depleting food species has to be considered with this one – apparently major spawning area for snapper. Would nuclear at this location run carefully be less hurtful to the environment? Hansen referred to Three Mile Island, as a notable failure for the USA which sounded really bad but actually was not so bad.
Hi prism, there are enough good reasons for reducing energy consumption/need without even having to consider nuclear – if increasing energy allows us to keep living beyond our environmental means then the obvious solution is to stop using so much.
As someone posted yesterday, we could be building houses that need very little power to heat. This idea that we have to have perpetual energy growth is wrong, we don’t need it for a good life. Increasing demands for power are about wants not needs.
I don’t know anything about the Kaipara situation, but have seen some of the protest in the South Island. We could be moving away from the big, very wasteful power schemes towards local power generation. Let individual communities decide what they want and how much energy they want to use. Most of the big power schemes get protested by locals.
hi weka – We have to think nationally as well as locally. Cities, big manufacturers need to draw on outside their areas and people away from the city need to think beyond ‘mine’ and ‘local’ to share some of their assets for other’s benefit. There has to be protection and control so that is done the least permanently destructive way, ie wind turbine with bird lanes? preferred to drowning all our valleys and natural fast rivers for hydro.
There will be an increase in need for power merely because of natural population growth, plus immigration. We can limit this to a more sustainable level by giving people information and help so they can limit family size below say four, most would choose less I think. This would be sure to be controversial but is what an intelligent societies should be doing at this state of human over-development.
I agree energy saving is a must. One thought I had was that during the winter nights there could be a community message about 8pm on tv requesting a turn off of unnecessary lighting, even one. This would have both a symbolic and actual savings effect. Double glazing, retro glazing, doing sensible things in an efficient way is a positive provided we regulate and control this so that there isn’t a bunch of cowboys ripping off individuals and the country as I believe happened in Oz with household energy improvements.
Yep. And turning electronics and chargers off at the wall instead of leaving them on standby could save twenty to thirty watts per household. With a million households and offices…30 MW saved with no loss of lifestyle. Sweet.
Solar hot water heating and hot water cylinder insulation – both musts IMO. That’ll save a lot more than 30 MW.
CV I tried to be a bit clever and bought a charger for my rechargeables for camera etc which is a rapid one that turns itself off when done. I think this must be an energy saver plus the advantage of not having to watch for over-charging of battery.
Noice.
“We have to think nationally as well as locally. Cities, big manufacturers need to draw on outside their areas and people away from the city need to think beyond ‘mine’ and ‘local’ to share some of their assets for other’s benefit. ”
You’re teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs there prism, given you are talking to a Mainlander
The South Island rivers and windy hills aren’t ‘assets’. They’re the land that gives us our life. I don’t mind sharing some of the wealth of this land with our cousins up North, but I do object to building more dams on the Clutha and transporting that power to the NI, or even Chch, when so much power gets lost in the transfer.
I also object to having more dams and windfarms here so that Aucklanders can wear tshirts in the winter. Or people can have heated towel rails. If Aucklanders really believe that being able to wear tshirts in the winter is a necessity of life (as opposed to putting on a jersey) then they can make their own local decisions about power generation by putting the generation in *their* backyard (as long as it’s not nuclear – I agree with you there, some decisions need to be made nationally).
Turning off lights isn’t going to make much of a saving. We have to think about our whole relationship with energy and our lifes (including industry and the economy). Solutions like CV is talking about most likely need to be legislated – why build electronics that need to be reset everytime you turn them off at the wall? And the insulation one is a no-brainer. But we could also be legislating so that every new house in NZ has to have solar hot water (dual systems for those with less sunshine) and passive solar heating. These aren’t difficult things to do, and there are many many things we could do around energy efficiency.
Yes weka all true. But our ‘land that gives us our life’ is our asset, though not one as a simple listing on a financial document. And we Mainlanders are part of the NZ mix and have to watch our power usage as well as Aucklanders. Turning off lights isn’t a great saving no but I did mention the symbolic effect which means that people are reminded of the need to keep monitoring energy use and not procrastinate or think it’s SEP – someone elses problem. While we voters put it off we give pollies who want to be in charge of everything, the OK to proceed to do sweet FA. If something is done by one gang then when the other gets in they wipe it, deballs it, or extend the time plan into the never-never. Despairing sort of stuff and neither political persuasion gives confidence, which is why the Greens are so important.
Your ideas sound really good, but the pollies and their financial mates who like to gamble on the casino of life, and manage to win most of the time, allow conditions in financial markets to wipe all our monetary assets and give taxes back to the people who already have an excess of excess, and then they announce a financial crisis and prudent people couldn’t agree to any state expenditure and they haven’t time to pass legislation on energy saving measures etc.
Unfortunately electric power has been the cleanest and easiest form to prevent pollution and taking out fireplaces and free-standers and replacing them with heat pumps is going to use up quite a lot. Auckland will need them too in the summer if the temps continue to rise as the climate change effect continues. Auckland should be looking at providing more of its energy for sure – they could use solar, and heat retention house designs. But Kaipara turbines might be less satisfactory than hydro from a sustainable level, eg not decimating food supplies and fertility – hard decisions to make. Having nuclear might seem better if its between the destruction of our rivers, or great technology that upsets a major food source.
I said that hydro is a problem. I think they are planning new one/s on the Clutha aren’t they?
The heatpump one is interesting, and I agree that it’s a big consumer of electricity. Wood for fuel is one of the few carbon neutral active energy sources we have, and it has multiple flow on effect for humans and the environment if done properly. I’d rather see R and D go into burning wood fuel efficiently than building more dams/windfarms (or developing NZ based nuclear power that will always carry too high a risk).
There are always plans afoot for new Clutha dams. Labour said no way the last time they were in power. It’s just taken the industry a while to get back to it under National.
I still don’t accept your argument re nuke power. If we reduce consumption and improve efficiency we don’t even need to consider it, so it’s a red herring to compare nuclear with alternatives that damage the environment.
Installed and run correctly it’s the most efficient form of heating available – that includes wood burning.
I’d rather see more wind farms and better insulated, longer lasting houses. It’s more efficient and allows our forests to progress to old growth which would help increase bio-diversity.
Or, even better, people encouraged to use less electricity so we don’t need any more wind farms of dams.
Agreed on the last point. Problem with the other points is that that kind of power generation isn’t sustainable in practical terms with peak oil, or environmental terms with climate change.
“Installed and run correctly it’s the most efficient form of heating available – that includes wood burning.”
I doubt it, but we’re probably comparing different things. What about a thermal mass stove in a house with passive solar?
How much extra energy are you using to cut and transport the wood? Is it more or less than what’s needed to get the electricity to the heat pump? (Hint: It’s more, much more). Please note, the efficiency of a heat pump comes from the point that it’s not actually making heat – it’s transferring it from one place (outside) to another (inside).
I’d go for a passive solar heat store (yeah, you don’t actually have to burn things to heat up those rocks) backed by a heat pump.
Problem with heat pumps is that some people buy into the sales story that they are just sooooo efficient. And end up running them at 21 deg C all day and all night.
So net, it consumes way more power than if they had used standard heating.
This is an example of Jevon’s Paradox.
See, I keep hearing those stories and wonder WTF went wrong. The heat pump should be turned on all the time and left to run as determined by the thermostat and pre-programmed timing plans as then it will operate at it’s most efficient.
What you describe can only be put down to either of two things:
1.) Bad installation that was reading the temperature wrong or
2.) The people operating the heat pump overrode the devices internal logic forcing it to run all the time.
Generally speaking, and with my experience as a CSR, I’d say it was most likely the latter. PEBKAC, the most common fault with computers.
I also object to having more dams and windfarms here so that Aucklanders can wear tshirts in the winter.
It would make more sense for more energy to be generated near Auckland. But, really, some of us Aucklanders don’t wear tshirts (at least not without some other layers on top) in winter indoors. But even with a few layers on in the coldest weather, I would find it really difficult inside in Auckland during the winter without heating. It especially effects my hands & feet – they get cold very easily & it’s hard to do anything much when they are very cold.
Mind you, I haven’t switched on a heater at my place yet this year. Remarkably warm autumn so far. There has been a couple of cold snaps, but some extra layers of clothes in the evening worked fine.
He tried to minimize the catastrophe at Three Mile Island. That was as dishonest as anything we are seeing right now from TEPCO or the Japanese government’s “communications” people.
I wonder if Hansen would have had the gall to go to Fukushima or Chernobyl to say how safe nuclear power is.
morrissey I think Hansen puts a nuclear failure causing some deaths beside other factors causing death or injury, ie the onset of general cancers and road deaths and looks to see which one is greater.
That doesn’t make sense though. If we had a cause of cancer that was preventable why wouldn’t we try and prevent it?
Last post tah tah. See dimpost for Brash’s secret letter – reveals his concern about the decline in effort by the National Party bowling club to improve their system for winning at ten pin bowling.
Eh? You leaving us prism?
Friday the 13th Fun with Photos
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/friday-13th-fun-with-photos.html
…This has resulted in the White House making a press release stating that it is illegal to alter photos in this way. So in light of this ridiculous request, we at the Jackal have searched far and wide for the best photo-shopped image of the Obama national security team watching Osama bin Laden being killed… and the winner is:
A good National Radio interview here, broadcast on Wed night. Globalisation versus Americanisation.
Essentially, American powers influenced the rest of the world to take up their model of financial management and governance (I mean, look what good its done for the people of the US so far).
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ngts/ngts-20110511-1915-Globalisation_vs_Americanisation-048.mp3
Excellent high-resolution photo tour of the Red Zone in Christchurch. If you haven’t looked at any other photos, you should look at this collection.
https://picasaweb.google.com/RossBeckerNZ/2011April27IntoTheChristchurchRedZone#slideshow/5602376597050171794
Thanks Lanth.
Hi Rare earth man,
TEPCO admits, conceded, admits, admits (and that is just a small selection of the 940,000 hits I got when I googled; TEPCO admits) they are lying scum destroying our planet.
Any nuclear reactor not cooled for 90 minutes goes into meltdown, period….. It took them way more than that to even get some cooling back online.
They found plutonium 1 miles away from the reactors according to Arnie Gunderson this meant the initial speed with which that piece of plutonium must have started was some 1000 miles per hour. That is one hell of an explosion.
11 million litres of water have disappeared from reactor no1. Were is it gone? My guess is back into the ocean being spread around the planet via the beltway stream contaminating the entire planet with radioactive crap.
Rare earth man, I don’t know were you’re coming from but your shite is sounding more and more inane to me.
I love NZ, you think its bad then something really stupid happens to make it worse. The NZ economy is at the whim of the global market, and commodities are booming, yet NZ is going backwards. Its astonishing how badly run this country is, and then we elected John Key. LOL.
But then would I have like the pressure of London or Sydney, the pollution, the social climbing being brought here to NZ.
So my question is how to keep NZ a rural backwater but without looking like the rural idiot.
Teenaa koe, ZeeBop
I would much prefer that we went backward to pre-colony days – although I can still see internet being used.
We need to breathe deeply the 100% pure brand – the country should go organic and be green environmentally, socially, and economically.
That act alone puts our thinking at a greater level, and only the truly stupid would think us idiots.
Ooh aah shucks. Gimme a beer.
What’s wrong with looking like a rural idiot?
David Cunliffe excelled last night on Willie Jackson’s Newsbite. Passionate crystal clear definition of where Labour sis going in spite of the negative commentary from some.
I can’t find a way into their site or if they have replay. Anyone?
Site is : http://www.maoritelevision.com/Default.aspx?tabid=605
Yeah, the Maori TV website sux. It’s pretty close to impossible to find what you’re looking for.
Hell, they don’t even list by date. Either that or they’re listing using a difference dating system that I’ve never seen before.
Now I’m aware that we have some very smart and clever contributers to the Standard, so please would someone tell me just where all the money that has been raised and due for Christchurch is going. Now is not the largest bill not covered by insurance ? . What about Earth Quake Commission money? Are not the injured covered by ACC.
However what does concern me is the money being raised around the country and in fact world wide.Every town,village and city in NZ have had fund raisers ,it must amount to millions of dollars. So why is this government telling us ad,nausem .that we must sell assets to pay for the Christchurch disaster? Why does English tell us that the country is in a mess because of Christchurch. To be honest if I was a Christchurch resident I would be a bit a pissed of at being blames for the mess this government has put us.
I don’t normally point people to stuff like this as I’m anti-capitalist but it’s well worth reading.
As I say, I’m anti-capitalist and consider that the socio-political system we labour under a failed system but this article highlights some of the real meanings behind getting a job are and points out that getting a job is the worst thing you can do. It also points out the parasites at the top of our present system and how they benefit from your work.
IF NZ IS THE ‘LEAST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD – THEN SHOULDN’T WE BE THE MOST ‘TRANSPARENT’?
Seen this latest CRAP in the NZ Herald?
“Editorial: NZ’s culture of honesty one to be cherished”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10725551
“Editorial: NZ’s culture of honesty one to be cherished
Corruption is foreign to New Zealand’s government, we believe.
The belief is so deeply ingrained in this country that we instinctively doubt an accusation such as that levelled against the Government this week over the ministerial vehicle fleet replacement.
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In any other country there would be that perception, but here? We are blessedly confident in the probity of our public service. The country rates close to zero on international measures of corruption and local industry representatives who deal abroad say we do not realise how lucky we are.
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No country can be too vigilant against corruption. If this is one of the world’s least corrupt places, it is at risk of assuming too much. Corruption, after all, is not completely unknown here.
………………..
Exceptions are sufficiently rare to prove the rule: we retain a culture of honesty in public life that we ought never to take for granted. ”
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THE NZ ‘CORRUPTION REALITY CHECKLIST’!
If New Zealand is supposed to be the ‘least corrupt country in the world’ (along with Singapore and Denmark, according to the 2010 Transparency International ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – then arguably we should be the most ‘transparent’?
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results
Here are some quite specific points which clearly identify where NZ lacks genuine transparency.
If these were turned into ‘demands’ and achieved – in my view – there would be quite a transformation which is long-overdue.
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CORRUPTION REALITY CHECKLIST – NEW ZEALAND
1. Has NZ ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption? ……… NO
2. Does NZ have an independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption? ……. NO
3. Do NZ’s laws ensure transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central government level? …………………. NO
4. Do NZ Members of Parliament have a ‘Code of Conduct’? NO
5. Do NZ Local Govt elected reps have a ‘Code of Conduct’? ……. YES
6. Is it an offence for NZ Local Govt elected reps to breach the ‘Code of Conduct’? ..NO
7. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt elected reps? …………………NO
8. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Govt staff responsible for procurement? ……………… NO
9. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Govt staff responsible for procurement? ………. NO
10. Is there a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Govt Public Sector, and Local Govt (Council) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny?……. NO
11. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
12. Is it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Local Govt public finances be undertaken to substantiate that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority? ………NO
13. Does NZ have a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary? ……NO
14. Are all NZ Court procedings recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them?……………NO
15. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’? …. NO
16. Is there a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ at Central Govt Ministerial level? ………… NO
17. Is there a legal requirement at NZ Central and Local Govt level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine ‘ period’ from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector?………………NO
18. Is it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central Govt or Local Govt level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships? …………………. NO
19. Is it unlawful in NZ for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level? …………………………. NO
20. Do NZ laws promote and protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local govt level and within the judiciary? ……………………………. NO
Prepared by Penny Bright – for Transparency International 14th Conference 7/11/2010
IACC ID D – 1198 http://waterpressure.wordpress.com [email deleted]
Creating the Climate for Change
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/creating-climate-for-change.html
Did you realise that sea ice is melting and temperatures are warming even faster than climatologists predicted? There is no doubt that it’s happening because of Human-made climate change. An increasing body of scientific observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system, with new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.
CERA’s nice-to-have??
http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/home-squeeze-home-life-in-3x3x3m-20110512-1ekcg.html
Apologies if this has already been pointed out on The Standard.
That would work too Jim. And housework would only take a minute. Wonder what the NZ equivalent will be?