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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by Daphna Whitmore The long years of Netanyahu’s reign are drawing to an end. For years he has epitomized reactionary zionism as he oversaw hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers seize land in the West Bank. There are now 700,000 settlers, putting an end to the myth that Israel was ...
BP, Z and Mobil all insist that petrol price hikes are temporary, “in a very literal sense.” The nation’s major petrol providers are trying to allay customer fears over prices, promising that they’ll move to lower them again “immediately” when the Middle East is returned to its formerly peaceful state. ...
South African coach Rassie Erasmus says he has no idea what they’re going to do about the boat. In a highly anticipated press conference this afternoon, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has finally unveiled the team’s boat for its Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign. In a press conference that went ...
The Operation Burnham inquiry continued to question senior NZDF staff today, and their shoddy coverup over their knowledge of civilian casualties continue to fall apart. If you recall, first, we were asked to believe that it was all a series of "mistakes and errors": a senior officer with multiple degrees ...
The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 2) had part of its committee stage yesterday. its a generally tedious bill about the nitty-gritty of local government reorganisation. But it includes a clause making the Local Government Commission subject to the Ombudsmen Act, and hence the OIA. Great! Except of ...
Yesterday Ihumātao's mana whenua reached a consensus that they would like their land back, and asked the government to negotiate with Fletcher's for its return. The government's response? Try and undermine that consensus, while talking about how doing anything would undermine existing Treaty settlements. The first is just more bad ...
Its Suffrage Day, the 126th anniversary of women winning the right to vote (but not stand in elections) in New Zealand. And to celebrate, the government has bought Kate Sheppard's house in Christchurch:The government has bought Kate Sheppard's former home in Christchurch for more than $4 million. The Ilam villa ...
The UN climate summit is happening in new York next week, and unlike previous years, coal-burners and denier-states are not being invited to speak:Leading economies such as Japan and Australia will not be invited to speak at next week’s crunch UN climate change summit, as their continued support for coal ...
Get Back Jojo! The elation in Mayor Phil Goff’s camp may be easily imagined as they watched social media light up in indignation at challenger John Tamihere’s "Sieg Heil to that" quip. Just when JT’s notoriously right-wing, sexist and homophobic stains were beginning to fade back into his ‘colourful’ past, ...
Patrick Gower is good value when he's high. Not that I've ever, you know, got stoned with him. But in the second part of his documentary Patrick Gower on Weed, he does what you'd expect in a modern weed documentary and immerses himself – first with a doctor, then a ...
We surveyed candidates on their attitudes to issues facing the Western Bay Region, find out what they think: “Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues ...
Please spread widely, and sign, to support science and rationalism over the new irrationalism sweeping universities and institutions. PROJECT NETTIE Sexual reproduction, the generation of offspring by fusion of genetic material from two different individuals, evolved over 1 billion years ago. It is the reproductive strategy of all higher animals ...
Just when I was thinking that Palmerston North's mayoral race (which includes a convicted child molester / public wanker and a convicted child beater) was the worst in the country, Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere opened his mouth:Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is being slammed for using the words "sieg ...
We reprint below an article from the excellent website the Economics of Imperialism by Tony Norfield This is an update of the statistics for my Index of Power, using data for 2018-19 and discussing what a country’s ranking reflects. The major change is that China’s rank has shifted up and ...
The All Blacks have been, for more than a century, arguably the most successful International sports team in the world. But they are more than that; even for those Kiwis who are immune to the charms of rugby (and there are more than a few), the All Blacks are ambassadors ...
Alone, Alone, All, All, Alone: To argue that the Prime Minister is the victim of her advisers’ failure to keep her informed may offer Jacinda some measure of exoneration – but only at the cost of casting her as a hopeless political ingénue. A star-dusted muppet, whose only purpose is to ...
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...
I don't want to give pblicity to certain parts of the internet that are better left to fester in their own irrelevance (I know, a bit like this place) but the listing of Chris Trotter as a 'author' on Cameron Slater's spinoff website, the BFD requires some explanation.Now, I don't ...
The text below is a Twitter thread by Heather Heying that explains the essence of sexual reproduction and it long evolutionary history. She is an evolutionary biologist and a “professor-in-exile” after she and her husband, Bret Weinstein, stood up to supporters of an enforced “Day of Absence” for white staff and teachers ...
With crunch time for new Zealand climate policy approaching, most of the New Zealand media have got on board with a global reporting effort to cover the issue. There's one strand of stories today about polling and what it shows about changing public attitudes to the crisis, but the strand ...
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...
Current and former NZDF top brass are being publicly grilled this week by the hit and run inquiry over their public responses to allegations of civilian casualties. Previously, they've claimed there were no casualties, a position which led them to lie to Ministers and to the public. Now, they're saying ...
by Rafael D. Quiles (gender-critical gay man from Puerto Rico) The writing on the wall is right in people’s faces and people just don’t see it or don’t want to. What could actually possess a heterosexual male to want to feminize himself and claim that he is a lesbian? Because ...
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...
by the Redline blog collective At Redline we are very saddened to hear of the death of Magdalen Burns who passed away on the morning of Friday, September 13 (British time). Magdalen was a great fighter for the rights of women in general and lesbian women in particular, a defender ...
The Brexit issue has certainly brought with it a series of apparently difficult constitutional issues, many of them concerning the respective roles of the executive and parliament. Most of them arise because of the unwillingness of MPs, despite their professions to the contrary, to be bound by a constitutional rarity ...
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...
The government has released its Arms Legislation Bill, containing the second tranche of changes to gun laws following the March 15 massacre. And it all looks quite sensible: a national gun register, higher penalties for illegal possession and dealing, tighter restrictions on arms dealers and shooting clubs, and a shorter ...
Private prisons are a stain on humanity. Prison operators explicitly profit from human misery, then lobby for longer prisons terms so they can keep on profiting. And in the US, prison companies run not only local and state prisons, but also Donald Trump's immigration concentration camps. Faced with this moral ...
When National was in power, they were very keen on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) - basicly, using private companies to finance public infrastructure as a way of hiding debt from the public. They were keen on using them for everything - roads, schools, hospitals. But as the UK shows, that "service" ...
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...
by Philip Ferguson Much of the left, even people who formally identify as marxists, have collapsed politically in the face of postmodern gender theory of the sort pioneered by American philosopher Judith Butler. For Butler even biological sex is socially constructed. “If the immutable character of sex is contested, perhaps ...
The media is reporting that the (alleged) Labour party sexual assaulter has resigned from their job at Parliament, which means hopefully he won't be turning up there making people feel unsafe in future. Good. But as with everything about this scandal, it just raises other questions. Most significantly: why the ...
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...
Property developers think there is an "oversupply" of houses in Auckland:High turnover rates and falling prices may be a sign that there are too many new houses going in to some parts of Auckland, commentators say. [...] Property developer David Whitburn said there was a "bit of an oversupply" in ...
Labour Party president Nigel Haworth resigned yesterday over the party's sexual assault scandal. But while that's good news, its unlikely to take away the stench of a coverup. Because according to Paula Bennett in Parliament yesterday, pretty much everyone in the Prime Minister's office was involved as well:I have been ...
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...
There has been a lot of talk about Boris Johnson wanting an election, and he has blustered with great gusto about 'chicken' Jeremy Corbyn refusing one, but I think there are many reasons why he is secretly glad he has been refused the opportunity:The Tories are an utter rabble,tearing themselves ...
Scottish appeal court judges have declared that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the run-up to the October Brexit deadline is unlawful. The three judges, chaired by Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, overturned an earlier ruling that the courts did not have the powers to interfere in the prime ...
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...
I understand there's some stuff going round about how the SIS "was removed from the list of public offices covered by the Public Records Act in 2017". The context of course being their records derived from US torture, which will be disposed of or sealed. The good news is that ...
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ...
Australia is burning down again, and meanwhile its natural disaster minister is denying climate change:Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, has said that he doesn’t “know if climate change is manmade”. Clarifying earlier comments that the question is “irrelevant” when considering the Coalition government’s response to ...
Auckland Philippines Solidarity is excited to host Professor Judy Taguiwalo for a speaking tour of NZ in September. She is a well-known activist in the Philippines and was a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship. Professor Taguiwalo briefly served as a Cabinet member under President Duterte but was forced from ...
This open letter to the Green Party was penned after an opinion piece by Jill Abigail, a feminist and founding member of the party, was censored by the Greens’ leadership. (Redline has reprinted her article here).The intolerance of the Green Party leaders and their acceptance of the misogyny of gender ...
Today is a Member's day, and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill continues its slow crawl through its committee stage. They're spending the whole day on it today, though the first hour is likely to be spent on voting left over from last time. After that they'll move on ...
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. So how's that going? I was curious, so I asked for all advice about the proposal. ...
As the Brexit saga staggers on, the focus is naturally enough on the Prime Minister and his attempts to achieve Brexit “do or die”. But the role played by the Leader of the Opposition is of almost equal interest and complexity. The first problem for Jeremy Corbyn is that he ...
Last week, English Prime Minister Boris Johnson boldly declared that he would rather die be dead in a ditch than delay Brexit. Unfortunately for him, the UK parliament accepted the challenge, and promptly dug one for him. The "rebellion bill" requires him to ask for and secure yet another temporary ...
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...
It has been two years since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called climate change her generation's nuclear free moment. And on Monday, against a backdrop of global climate protest, she will give the opening speech at the United Nation's climate ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson is under intense scrutiny. New figures show economic growth has slowed to levels not seen for six years. And he has chosen not to answer questions about when he heard about serious allegations of a sexual assault cover-up ...
NZDF Attends Commemorations to Mark International Mission in East Timor A New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contingent participated today in the 20th anniversary commemorations of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) mission in Dili. The commemoration ...
They’ve only been up and running for a few months, but a New Zealand not-for-profit has already made a big impact on period poverty in New Zealand. ...
The allocation of money for publicly funded broadcasting for election campaigns should be turned on it's head according to Massey University professor of communication design Claire Robinson. ...
Disappointment expressed by Fletcher Building CEO, Ross Taylor, reflects the increasing frustration held by many with this Government’s failure to protect private property rights.[1] ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee today launched an eight-week, nationwide call for evidence on options available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ...
Social Credit has lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman over the way the Overseas Investment Office is handling its official information request for disclosure of documents on the sale of Westland Milk Products to Chinese company Inner Mongolian ...
This Friday in Solidarity with the Global Climate Strike All of the SodaStream’s e-commerce platforms and head office operations will be closed to kick-off the week-long event, and employees will march the #CLIMATESTRIKE in Auckland on 27 September. ...
Federated Farmers congratulates the Auditor-General’s office on its release today of its report Managing Freshwater Quality: Challenges and Opportunities. ...
Growth has now slowed to a 6-year low, and downside risks are dominating. June quarter GDP growth came in at 0.5%qoq, in line with our expectation, and slightly above consensus. Although there were a few sensational reports of the chance of a negative print. ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is calling the release of the National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA) framework a good first step in balancing New Zealand’s response to climate change. ...
Family First NZ says that a new Colorado report compiled by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area finds marijuana-positive traffic fatalities, hospitalisations, marijuana use, and illegal market activity have exploded since marijuana legalization. ...
This year’s Ratepayers’ Report , local government league tables released yesterday, reveals which local councils owe the most and which owe the least. ...
Rachel MacGregor welcomes the decision released today by Justice Hinton. The key issue on which all the various litigation has been based is the question, did Colin Craig sexually harass Rachel. That question has been answered – he did. Justice ...
The Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) has today ratified a ground breaking pay deal with Dunedin Railways which will see all union members being paid a living wage and the lowest paid receiving an 18% wage increase. Higher paid RMTU members ...
Inclusion for trans women/men and non-binary peoples has today been announced as the cornerstone of a new resolution for the National Council of Women New Zealand (NCWNZ). ...
It took a testy Morning Report interview this week to remind me that Simon Bridges was still the Leader of the Opposition. Until then, he had been largely invisible as the events of recent weeks unfolded. ...
The National Council of Women NZ has today welcomed the news that the Government has purchased Kate Sheppard’s house in Christchurch, the base for the NZ suffrage campaign. ...
The Māori Party supports mana whenua of Ihumātao and acknowledges their coming together to reach consensus on the future of their whenua. “We also acknowledge the leadership of the Kīngitanga who have played an important role in supporting ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning why, for the second time, Jacinda Ardern has appointed a Crown-owned company Chief Executive to Chair her “Business Advisory Council”, following her announcement that Mercury CEO Fraser Whineray ...
Responding to the Government’s decision to give around $300 million to Amazon as a sweetener for filming a TV series in New Zealand, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “As a matter of simple waste, this is striking, ...
I am very pleased with Air New Zealand’s Decision to backdown and withdraw their application to trademark into a logo Kia Ora. I said at the time that it was an ill conceived idea and poorly thought out – more importantly it should never have been ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa members will be joining with others across the union movement by wearing black and white in support of pay equity on Suffrage Day tomorrow, and urging the Government to commit to a settlement for teacher aides this year. ...
Yesterday’s announcement from the Minister for Immigration, to improve temporary work visas for migrant workers, provides some positive changes but more detail is needed. The Council of Trade Unions fundamentally supports the principle of making ...
FIRST Union today welcomed Westpac’s public admission of the significant gender pay gap in its workforce and reiterated its call for employers to work with unions to close this disparity, arguing that this work must begin at the bottom of the pay ...
Changes to the work visa system announced by the Minister of Immigration are not all positive for employers or migrants, comments Ms June Ranson, chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) , a leading voice in the ...
The Dairy Workers Union (DWU) has welcomed the announcement from dairy company, Synlait, that they will be boosting parental leave entitlements significantly for working parents. ...
In June, the Children’s Commissioner announced a thematic review into Oranga Tamariki’s policies, processes and practice relating to care and protection issues for tamariki Māori aged 0-3 months. Today the Children’s Commissioner has released the full ...
“Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues of the Western Bay region. We believe that this is ...
In response to DairyNZ's attempt to dismiss an economic report that highlighted dairy's role in the New Zealand economy is only three per cent of GDP, Fish & Game New Zealand Chief Executive Martin Taylor says: "If DairyNZ wishes to reject a report ...
Kiingi Tuuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has successfully guided the mana whenua of lhumaatao to reach a consensus on the future of their whenua. ...
Two activists disguised as shareholders interrupted the AGM of a gold mining company in central Auckland this morning to inform shareholders their plans to mine for gold in conservation estate in the Karangahake Gorge were unwelcome. ...
The Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) has been labelled ‘NATO’ (no action, talk only) when it comes to child mental health, with just 0.6 full time staff (24 hours per week) for inpatient child psychology and just 0.8 full time staff ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has awarded three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union , in partnership with the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance , has today published this year's Ratepayers' Report – online local government league tables – at www.ratepayersreport.nz . ...
NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small welcomes the news New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with US President Donald Trump in New York next week. ...
The recent NZIER report trivialises the significant role the dairy sector plays in New Zealand’s economy – and fails to look at the specifics of the Government’s freshwater package, according to DairyNZ. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said ...
This week, the New Zealand Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will jointly host a seminar on tackling the global spread of illicit weapons. ...
Josie Adams, Hayden Donnell, and Alice Webb-Liddall read thousands of policy statements to find the climate change deniers, fudgers, prevaricators (and believers) running in our local elections.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The SpinoffMembers. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.One of the problems ...
The paintings of Colin McCahon convey dissonance and uncertainty, writes Shannon Te Ao. So what does this say about us? And why are we maintaining this Pākehā male narrative at the expense of more inclusive representation?Colin McCahon would have turned 100 on August the 1st. If you keep one eye ...
Amanda Thompson spends a day with the New Zealand men’s roller derby squad as they prepare for next year’s world champs in the US.Let’s play a word game. Let’s list some contact sports and the top teams in those codes.Say rugby. Are you thinking about the All Blacks yet? What ...
Covering Climate Now:Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we go crazy for crickets in a climate week special.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. ...
To mark International Day of Peace, Dr Rebecca Dudley of the New Zealand Red Cross explores the role that New Zealanders play in the global story of war and peace. Personal stories about war almost always begin with a memory.A humid afternoon in South Sudan.A calm Wednesday evening in Beirut.A bustling ...
The history of tattoo art in Japan is deep-rooted and complex – and so is the cultural aversion to tattooed bodies, explains Brian Ashcraft, the author of a book on subject.Tonight, when the All Blacks take the field, they’ll be covering up. In order not to run afoul of Japanese ...
Covering Climate Now: Saying climate change is important is one thing. So why are we so incapable of having a real conversation about what actually addressing it will mean? Sam McGlennon investigates. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Up until a week ago, ...
Michael Mann, a climatologist and famous press critic, talks to the Columbia Journalism Review about the dangers of both understating and overstating the dangers of climate change. ...
"This is what Wellington boy said, after he finished his quick and bloody deed. You know what your problem is? Once a slut, always a slut": a short story by Auckland writer Eileen Merriman. ...
Ahead of the All Blacks first game Trevor McKewen makes some his fanciful, fraught and some hopefully on-point predictions for the Rugby World Cup.Can you take one for the team? Could you cope with the All Blacks coming up short in achieving an unprecedented third straight World Cup if it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Leigh Sullivan discusses Scott Morrison’s new family law inquiry with Michelle Grattan. They also speak of the developments in the Tamil family from Biloela’s case, and the UN barring ...
Analysis - Jacinda Ardern heads for the UN as the sexual assault scandal rumbles on at home, and Simon Bridges says he isn't going to ease off his personal attacks on the PM. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dries Verstraete, Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Design and Propulsion, University of Sydney CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d ...
In this episode of our new tarot reading show Wild Card, The Spinoff’s resident psychic divines the outcome of the All Blacks’ opening match against the Springboks on Saturday.In the first and potentially only episode of Wild Card, we have a focus on sport. The Spinoff’s psychic-in-residence, Jo Sees, specialises ...
Recently-retired Sky TV chief executive John Fellet talks to Newsroom business editor Nikki Mandow about baseball, media, goldfish, accountancy - and more baseball. ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.With Duncan enjoying a MAFS-style beach holiday in Bali, Alex and Jane are left to cover another crazy week in reality television. Shannon Ryan has gone full beast-mode in Celebrity Treasure Island, Married ...
Dr Bryce Edwards“Diversity” is a central theme of the current local government elections – with the common criticism that incumbent politicians are generally too “stale, male, and pale” (or variations on that). Numerous commentators and candidates have lamented the lack of women, ethnic minorities, and youth in local government. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Climate change, environment Paul Gorman (Stuff): How would you spend an unlimited war chest for ...
A review into the Ministry for Culture and Heritage will look into the relationship between a staffer and the external developer responsible for a massive data breach. ...
Covering Climate Now: The Spinoff crew who took on climate change with a vegan diet for the week reflect on the highs, the lows, the pies and the fries. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!As I write, I’m tucking into ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Crisp, Professorial Fellow, Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University As world chiefs and youth leaders gather in New York at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, many of us as individuals are feeling powerless and overwhelmed. Making big personal changes ...
The head of one of the country's biggest news media firms is the latest subject of criticism for darkening his face at a staff party he attended dressed as US basketballer Lamar Odom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Coral Gartner, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland Health authorities in the United States are investigating 530 cases of lung illness, including seven deaths, reportedly connected to vaping. Some of these patients have been diagnosed with lung inflammation ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Chatto & Windus, $48)Obvs. (Read our review by Pip Adam here)2 Three ...
When comedy documentary Funny As was made, a lot of interviews got left on the cutting room floor which NZ On Screen quickly picked up. Here are some of our favourites.We’re a pretty funny bunch us Kiwis. Trapped on a tiny island at the end of the earth it appears ...
Auckland rapper JessB has just released a new EP and wraps up a national mini-tour tonight in her home town. Jogai Bhatt talked to her about her world travels, performing at Ihumātao, and how her community and her music intersect.It’s only been two years since JessB entered the public radar ...
A new poem by Waiheke poet Rata Gordon.PacingA deep bow to NerudaIt so happens I am sick of being a woman. It happens that I walk into BP stations and supermarkets greasy, swollen, like a cow made of soap, losing my way in a field of placentas and pesticides.The smell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Gardiner, Lecturer, Edith Cowan University In August, a 24-year-old woman appeared before the Western Australian District Court after pleading guilty to concealing the birth of her newborn baby in 2018. The charge of concealment of birth refers to hiding the dead ...
Voting papers are being sent out today, and lots of people say they won’t fill them out because they don’t know anything about the candidates. Respected website ‘The Spinoff’ is trying to fix that through its Policy Local tool. But it’s not the only one. Catherine Jeffcoat talks to the ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by literary editor Steve Braunias ...
Writer and cannabis legalisation expert Russell Brown watched episode two of Patrick Gower on Weed, and found it highly entertaining but dangerously light on facts. Patrick Gower is good value when he’s high. In the second part of his documentary Patrick Gower on Weed, he does what you’d expect in a ...
Sydney shock-jock Alan Jones has written to Jacinda Ardern saying he didn't intend any violence towards her when he said on air that Australia's Prime Minister should "shove a sock down [her] throat". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caio Seguin, PhD candidate, University of Melbourne Brain regions exchange information by sending and receiving signals through a network of nerve connections. This exchange is crucial to all aspects of the brain’s functioning, including how we experience the world, form and retrieve ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miranda Kaye, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney Over the next 12 months, a joint parliamentary committee will examine Australia’s family law system. It will be led by conservative Liberal MP Kevin Andrews and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Allen, Senior Lecturer in Public Management, Victoria University of Wellington This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. For three years in a row, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Moscova, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, UNSW Women’s nipples have long been a source of fascination and controversy, from celebrity gossip stories of wardrobe malfunctions and “nip slips” to feminist movements for gender equality. Nipples even became a fashion accessory. Men’s nipples ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Holmes, Director, Climate Change Communication Research Hub, Monash University One of the great paradoxes of climate change communication in Australia is that politicians command the most attention on the issue, yet are among the least trusted sources of climate information. Research ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Sharman, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. Thousands of school students across Australia are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin., Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Newstart recipients and other Australians on benefits get their half-yearly pay rise today (and also on March 20). This one is vanishingly small. Announced very quietly by Social Services Minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Warren Hogan, Industry Professor, University of Technology Sydney The budget was for practical purposes in neither deficit nor in surplus in 2018-19, the final figures released by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann on Thursday reveal. The underlying cash deficit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW This week NBN Co announced pricing changes for the National Broadband Network. It includes a new plan boasting a download speed of 1 gigabit per second and an upload speed of 50 megabits per second for ...
Covering Climate Now: Just how much of an impact would a shift to vegetarian diets have on the battle to halt climate change, asks Mirjam Guesgen.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Kiwi cuisine is replete with meat: fish and chips, meat and ...
It's not a risk assessment, but it's a start: an instruction manual for the experts who'll be writing New Zealand's first national climate risk report for the government was released on Thursday. ...
The Wellington Mayor's main rival in the upcoming local elections, Andy Foster, won't say how much Sir Peter Jackson has stumped up in a bid to get him elected. ...
Open mike 14/05/2011 
. . Just when you thought Simon Bridges couldn’t sink any lower – he has. After the March 15th Christchurch terror attack, the (current) Leader of the National Party issued strong committments to support urgently needed gun law reform; “We will be ready and prepared to be constructive and to ...12 hours ago
We all know that bad parents simply don’t care about their children’s education. Most truants have loser parents, and grow up to be involved with crime, or in low paid employment usually like their parents. The nonsense so-called “climate strike” coming up will be attended mostly by the least intelligent ...22 hours ago
Today is the first day of the global climate strike. Led by schoolkids, people all around the world are going to protest to demand action on climate change. New Zealand isn't doing it till next Friday (join us!), but if you want to get active early, there's plenty to do ...1 day ago
To Protect and Serve: When the Prime Minister finds herself enmeshed in the coils of a full-blown political scandal, her colleagues and party comrades have only one priority: to release her as swiftly – and with as little lasting injury – as possible. Is this what Jacinda Ardern’s colleagues and ...1 day ago
When military leaders cover up and lie to elected civilian authorities, the foundation of democratic civil-military relations is undermined because it is those authorities who are entrusted to hold the military accountable to the public that they mutually serve. But this is only true if civilian political authorities take their ...1 day ago
by Daphna Whitmore The long years of Netanyahu’s reign are drawing to an end. For years he has epitomized reactionary zionism as he oversaw hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers seize land in the West Bank. There are now 700,000 settlers, putting an end to the myth that Israel was ...1 day ago
BP, Z and Mobil all insist that petrol price hikes are temporary, “in a very literal sense.” The nation’s major petrol providers are trying to allay customer fears over prices, promising that they’ll move to lower them again “immediately” when the Middle East is returned to its formerly peaceful state. ...2 days ago
South African coach Rassie Erasmus says he has no idea what they’re going to do about the boat. In a highly anticipated press conference this afternoon, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has finally unveiled the team’s boat for its Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign. In a press conference that went ...2 days ago
Get Back Jojo! The elation in Mayor Phil Goff’s camp may be easily imagined as they watched social media light up in indignation at challenger John Tamihere’s "Sieg Heil to that" quip. Just when JT’s notoriously right-wing, sexist and homophobic stains were beginning to fade back into his ‘colourful’ past, ...3 days ago
Patrick Gower is good value when he's high. Not that I've ever, you know, got stoned with him. But in the second part of his documentary Patrick Gower on Weed, he does what you'd expect in a modern weed documentary and immerses himself – first with a doctor, then a ...3 days ago
We surveyed candidates on their attitudes to issues facing the Western Bay Region, find out what they think: “Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues ...3 days ago
Why is New Zealand climate change policy so crap? The Herald this morning has a long article on the twists and turns of climate change policy in New Zealand [paywalled / depaywall script], which shows where we've been. The short version is that the government first began worrying about this ...3 days ago
The All Blacks have been, for more than a century, arguably the most successful International sports team in the world. But they are more than that; even for those Kiwis who are immune to the charms of rugby (and there are more than a few), the All Blacks are ambassadors ...3 days ago
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Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...5 days ago
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...5 days ago
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...5 days ago
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...6 days ago
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...1 week ago
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...1 week ago
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...1 week ago
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...1 week ago
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...1 week ago
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ... 1 week ago
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...2 weeks ago
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...2 weeks ago
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...2 weeks ago
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...2 weeks ago
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...2 weeks ago
On Newshub Nation: Simon Shepherd Interviews The New Zealand Initiative's Executive Director Oliver Hartwich ...7 hours ago
Josie Adams, Hayden Donnell, and Alice Webb-Liddall read thousands of policy statements to find the climate change deniers, fudgers, prevaricators (and believers) running in our local elections.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here.One of the problems ...6 hours ago
The paintings of Colin McCahon convey dissonance and uncertainty, writes Shannon Te Ao. So what does this say about us? And why are we maintaining this Pākehā male narrative at the expense of more inclusive representation?Colin McCahon would have turned 100 on August the 1st. If you keep one eye ...10 hours ago
Amanda Thompson spends a day with the New Zealand men’s roller derby squad as they prepare for next year’s world champs in the US.Let’s play a word game. Let’s list some contact sports and the top teams in those codes.Say rugby. Are you thinking about the All Blacks yet? What ...11 hours ago
To mark International Day of Peace, Dr Rebecca Dudley of the New Zealand Red Cross explores the role that New Zealanders play in the global story of war and peace. Personal stories about war almost always begin with a memory.A humid afternoon in South Sudan.A calm Wednesday evening in Beirut.A bustling ...12 hours ago
The history of tattoo art in Japan is deep-rooted and complex – and so is the cultural aversion to tattooed bodies, explains Brian Ashcraft, the author of a book on subject.Tonight, when the All Blacks take the field, they’ll be covering up. In order not to run afoul of Japanese ...12 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: Saying climate change is important is one thing. So why are we so incapable of having a real conversation about what actually addressing it will mean? Sam McGlennon investigates. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Up until a week ago, ...14 hours ago
Ahead of the All Blacks first game Trevor McKewen makes some his fanciful, fraught and some hopefully on-point predictions for the Rugby World Cup.Can you take one for the team? Could you cope with the All Blacks coming up short in achieving an unprecedented third straight World Cup if it ...15 hours ago
To tackle the crises of climate and unsustainability we need great cultural changes in civil society, business and politics. ...21 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Leigh Sullivan discusses Scott Morrison’s new family law inquiry with Michelle Grattan. They also speak of the developments in the Tamil family from Biloela’s case, and the UN barring ...23 hours ago
Analysis - Jacinda Ardern heads for the UN as the sexual assault scandal rumbles on at home, and Simon Bridges says he isn't going to ease off his personal attacks on the PM. ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dries Verstraete, Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Design and Propulsion, University of Sydney CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d ...1 day ago
Recently-retired Sky TV chief executive John Fellet talks to Newsroom business editor Nikki Mandow about baseball, media, goldfish, accountancy - and more baseball. ...1 day ago
Covering Climate Now: The Spinoff crew who took on climate change with a vegan diet for the week reflect on the highs, the lows, the pies and the fries. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!As I write, I’m tucking into ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Crisp, Professorial Fellow, Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University As world chiefs and youth leaders gather in New York at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, many of us as individuals are feeling powerless and overwhelmed. Making big personal changes ...1 day ago
The head of one of the country's biggest news media firms is the latest subject of criticism for darkening his face at a staff party he attended dressed as US basketballer Lamar Odom. ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Coral Gartner, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland Health authorities in the United States are investigating 530 cases of lung illness, including seven deaths, reportedly connected to vaping. Some of these patients have been diagnosed with lung inflammation ...1 day ago
A congestion charge is needed to deter motorists from clogging central city districts at peak times, according to an economics consultancy. ...1 day ago
Jacinda Ardern confuses Japan with China - and she's not the only one with a case of political foot-in-mouth. ...1 day ago
Voting papers are being sent out today, and lots of people say they won’t fill them out because they don’t know anything about the candidates. Respected website ‘The Spinoff’ is trying to fix that through its Policy Local tool. But it’s not the only one. Catherine Jeffcoat talks to the ...1 day ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by literary editor Steve Braunias ...1 day ago
Writer and cannabis legalisation expert Russell Brown watched episode two of Patrick Gower on Weed, and found it highly entertaining but dangerously light on facts. Patrick Gower is good value when he’s high. In the second part of his documentary Patrick Gower on Weed, he does what you’d expect in a ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caio Seguin, PhD candidate, University of Melbourne Brain regions exchange information by sending and receiving signals through a network of nerve connections. This exchange is crucial to all aspects of the brain’s functioning, including how we experience the world, form and retrieve ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Miranda Kaye, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney Over the next 12 months, a joint parliamentary committee will examine Australia’s family law system. It will be led by conservative Liberal MP Kevin Andrews and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Moscova, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, UNSW Women’s nipples have long been a source of fascination and controversy, from celebrity gossip stories of wardrobe malfunctions and “nip slips” to feminist movements for gender equality. Nipples even became a fashion accessory. Men’s nipples ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Holmes, Director, Climate Change Communication Research Hub, Monash University One of the great paradoxes of climate change communication in Australia is that politicians command the most attention on the issue, yet are among the least trusted sources of climate information. Research ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kyllie Cripps, Scientia Felllow and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law UNSW Sydney, UNSW In Western Australia more than half the children placed in state care are Aboriginal. The state government committed this month to reducing this over-representation, in a move that parallels ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin., Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Newstart recipients and other Australians on benefits get their half-yearly pay rise today (and also on March 20). This one is vanishingly small. Announced very quietly by Social Services Minister ...1 day ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW This week NBN Co announced pricing changes for the National Broadband Network. It includes a new plan boasting a download speed of 1 gigabit per second and an upload speed of 50 megabits per second for ...1 day ago
Covering Climate Now: Just how much of an impact would a shift to vegetarian diets have on the battle to halt climate change, asks Mirjam Guesgen.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Kiwi cuisine is replete with meat: fish and chips, meat and ...1 day ago
It's not a risk assessment, but it's a start: an instruction manual for the experts who'll be writing New Zealand's first national climate risk report for the government was released on Thursday. ...1 day ago
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….
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).
[audio src="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?