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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1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
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Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
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Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
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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.
…….
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. ”
________________________________________________________________________________
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.
________________________________________________________________________________
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?