Yes.Fully Pfizered.Got stinking cold like symptoms for a week & felt like I had been punched in the arm from the first shot.Second one was uneventful except for a strange compusion to buy 5 copies of windows 11.Well worth it though.
I had the arm ache on the first jab too, but no other side effects. Though I am waiting 3 months for my second, which the booking system isn't too cooperative about. Would have been getting my second tomorrow, I had even set up a vax-date with a friend to get both of our second jabs at the same time and place (so we'd have someone to talk to during the quarter hour waiting after). But then I did a bit of research about optimal interdose intervals – 6 weeks is definitely better than 3; 12 may a bit marginal, but slightly better than that even. My companion just wants it over and done with.
Instead, I will be driving them back after and keeping an eye on them for a bit to be sure they don't have too many side-effects. Seems to vary a lot depending on the person
I must be the biggest Charlie in this lot. 74 yrs old – got 1st jab 6 weeks ago. But had heard English Doctor saying 5-6 weeks was a better gap, so asked for my 2nd jab last Saturday. But just before that, out came the news that 8 – 12 weeks was optimum. So I went in and asked for another 3 weeks' delay. I will now get my second jab on Sept 4.
I thought at the time, just my luck if… and guess what.
Groundswell leader, Jamie McFadden, interviewed by John Campbell on TV1 Breakfast, this morning.
(This is not a direct transcript)
J.M. Only a 'few bad people', are letting us down. And the government should not be making policy that ‘penalises’ everybody.
Not once in the whole interview did Jamie McFadden mention the word 'climate change'.
For that mattter neither did John Campbell.
John Campbell tried to ask Jamie McFadden about nitrate pollution
J.M. What Groundswell are saying about water, we need to look at each catchment.
(No mention of climate).
Maybe both McFadden and Campbell need to read this;
It’s time to freak out about methane emissions
This lesser-known greenhouse gas will make or break a “decisive decade” for climate change.
By Rebecca Leber, Vox, Aug 12, 2021
……Even though methane is not nearly as well understood as carbon, it’s playing an enormous role in the climate crisis. It’s at least 80 times as effective at trapping heat than carbon in a 20-year period, but starts to dissipate in the atmosphere in a matter of years. If this is the “decisive decade” to take action, as the Biden administration has said, then a methane strategy has to be at the center of any policy for tackling global warming.
Methane could mean the difference between a rapidly warming planet changing too quickly and drastically for humanity to handle, and buying the planet some much-needed time to get a handle on the longer-term problem of fossil fuels and carbon pollution….
Farmers are doing what every other business will do as the need to respond to CC bites – fight to protect profitable business models, their decision-making autonomy and a way of life they like. They will obscure this core material fact with fluffy stuff (some of it partly true, some of it greenwash) about feeding the nation, caring about the land, and already doing what is needed in their own way and own time. Meanwhile they will be hard-nosed in trying to install sympathetic governments.
This is how humanity fails in its response to CC – by not seeing that fear of economic insecurity drives behaviours that are rational in the short term, but in the long term are pathological. The idea of an economically just transition needs to be embedded, and soon, but I am not hopeful.
You have plenty of reckons about the Farmers stance, fair enough. They may be true or not. But you do point out some interesting stuff – including fear.
Loads of fear going round. Justifiable and understandable. We should address or at least acknowledge these fears, of both farmers, and persons who fear farmers will stall climate mitigation.
We all know who really stalled climate mitigation. It's big oil, and governments in bed with them. Finding other industries and individuals to take the heat off the big players – those most culpable, is a dirty trick at best, but I'm more inclined to call it sociopathic and self centred murderous and criminal negligence.
They (govts and corporate PR) keep pushing onus onto individuals, and their broad sweeping laws are similar to their broad sweeping statements – largely pointless, but masterful in misdirection.
Now I'd much prefer a Labour to Nat led government, but the neo-lib BS is rife with both. They'd be flying everywhere if not for covid. It's all do as I say not as I do. Feckless wannabes using ecology (which they know fuck all about) to hit others over the head with.
What impact does the NZ government have on big oil? Outside of trying to transition NZ off fossil fuels which is what kicked off this ground swell issue.
In NZ our biggest contributor is Agriculture. We can sit back and cry about big fossil fuel all we want, but if we aren't addressing what we control then who are we to lecture anyone?
Given that methane is so bad (I accept that) shouldn't a large part of any carbon tax go towards the people working on the methane vaccine? Cows arnt hoingcaway here or over seas .
Imho there are two ways to decrease the quantity of methane emitted by farmed ruminants: (1) Decrease the number of ruminants, and (2) Decrease the average amount of methane each ruminant emits. Farmers could (try to) do both.
(1) is in the farmers' fields/court – stock numbers change over time, so it's doable.
(2) Plenty of research on this in NZ and globally; more needed – might be doable.
The idea of a "methane vaccine" calls to mind the farmer protests (in 2003) against a ‘Fart Tax’, which was proposed as a way of funding research into (2).
Based on historical and recent farmer protests, I believe an impartial observer would conclude that many farmers are (still) more concerned about maintaining methane emissions than they are about global warming. Open to Groundswell protesters persuading me otherwise, but they need to do better than this:
"MAD COW"
"PRETTY COMMUNIST"
"CINDY –> STALIN"
"MAGA – Make Ardern Go Away"
"JACINDAis aCOMMUNIST BITCH", and
"What does Jacinda & Toilet Paper have in common?
They are both Full of S*#T"
They really do.
A image from the 4 Sept 2003 protest at Parliament by farmers concerned about the proposed fart tax. The tax has been proposed on ruminant emissions to finance research into emission reduction. Images from the National Party media unit.
The vaccine is well under way , the nz scientists working on give them a reasonable chance of succeeding, but buy all means cherry pick the loonier grunts from the worst morons to have a crack at farmers in general.
… but buy all means cherry pick the loonier grunts from the worst morons to have a crack at farmers in general.
Thanks bwaghorn, will try to remember your invitation for next time – I predict we have even loonier grunts from even worse morons to ‘look forward to’, although hopefully none from a future Prime Minister.
I've been (peripherally) involved in supervising some post-graduate students trying to identify factors associated with low methane emissions – smaller rumens are looking promising for sheep.
One thing the scientists grizzle about is having to down tools every year while they go cap-in-hand for more funding. Who knows how much further down the methanogen vaccine track we'd be now if it wasn't for those 'fart tax' protests.
Talk about a sector shooting itself in the foot. Carry on…
If farmers would rather not pay taxes (such as a 'fart tax') to fund research aimed at mitigating the methane emissions of farmed ruminants then it's no skin off my old nose, but it's not a farsighted stance, imho. Carpe diem!
Btw, NZ ranks 6th in the world (behind Brunei, Grenada, Bahrain, Turkmenistan and Barbados) for per capita methane emissions, and 15th for per capita total GHG emissions (CO2 + methane).
Per capita seems like a stupid measure too me.
after all NZ Ag feeds over 30 million people, factor that into your per capita and we are one of the best in the world.
if change your formula to per hectare again the best in the world.
Intriguing opinion – I quite like per capita measures as a way of highlighting individual responsibilities, and whether (or not) NZers are punching above their weight, as we do for both methane emissions (bad) and food production (pretty good).
If we can agree that ruminant methane emissions are bad (for spaceship Earth, and so for the 'crew'), and that food production is good (for the crew, if not for the spaceship), then it only remains to figure out how to minimise the bad while retaining sufficient 'good'.
How hard can it be, how much longer might it take, and would it really be as bad as the Groundswell movement apparently believes it to be?
Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction
“The key finding of my study is that we still have a choice to align with a scenario that does not end in collapse. With innovation in business, along with new developments by governments and civil society, continuing to update the model provides another perspective on the challenges and opportunities we have to create a more sustainable world.”
Some more good news – just hope against hope it doesn't come to that.
Actually the claim that it "disappears" is rather a false one. Yes methane may break down over a period of years, but into what? CO2 and water vapour – both Greenhouse gases.
The most effective sink of atmospheric methane is the hydroxyl radical in the troposphere, or the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. As methane rises into the air, it reacts with the hydroxyl radical to create water vapor and carbon dioxide. The mean lifespan of methane in the atmosphere was estimated at 9.6 years as of 2001; however, increasing emissions of methane over time reduce the concentration of the hydroxyl radical in the atmosphere.[41]With less OH˚ to react with, the lifespan of methane could also increase, resulting in greater concentrations of atmospheric methane.[75]
If it is not destroyed in the troposphere, methane will last approximately 120 years before it is eventually destroyed in Earth's next atmospheric layer: the stratosphere. Destruction in the stratosphere occurs the same way that it does in the troposphere: methane is oxidized to produce carbon dioxide and water vapor. Based on balloon-borne measurements since 1978, the abundance of stratospheric methane has increased by 13.4%±3.6% between 1978 and 2003.[76]
Groundswell New Zealand says it is planning a "major nationwide protest event" in November, following a lack of response by the Government to its concerns.
Although a date was yet to be set and details of the event outlined, spokesman Bryce McKenzie, of West Otago, said it would be "of a scale and impact that will be significant in New Zealand's history".
This is extremely good timing for the farmers to protest against this government.
The government is in poll freefall and is a long way from bottoming out. This team want that third term like a bastard.
In response, I suspect the government will show that they are listening carefully (even though there are very few votes to be turned in it), and walk back bunches of the water protection provisions.
Very, very hard to see Mahuta's water governance reforms lasting.
The green left have long since been given notice that they are not going to get their climate reforms in without a fight, and should have been able to arrange some kind of supportive counter-march by now. The first protest happened and the green left just sat back.
Instead the field of civic action has been left free for the rural community to rise up and do it all again. So they are. And now have a much better chance of changing the government's mind as a result.
This is probably a super naive question, but why don't they just talk it through with the appropriate minister(s) and see if they can get some compromise? Seems like it went from being an issue to an OTT response very quickly. What have I missed?
We keep broad-brushing the issue, and due to this failing to learn. Some of it we might push back on, some of it is entirely valid. Ignoring it will create a large voting block that takes from the left, who are simply being insulting, and making statements that show their own cognitive dissonance.
Turning farms into pine is one of their issues. Who is the pine benefitting, cos it's an ecological insult to NZ.
We're all concerned with mitigating climate. What are all these farmer bashing townies doing?
The farming industry is lagging badly, like tourism. We need the farmers that want action on climate to organise and be public. Lefties bashing farmers won't help that happen.
In fact farmers like this one, and I know others, like him/her, tell me they get shouted down and drowned out in rural meetings by the Groundswell types.
yep, I get that in my area… not possible to have a proper discussion with most.. it instantly becomes a bomb-fest of useless loud one-liners, interspersed with derogatory comments about women politicians most commonly… been like it for decades
My mild mannered and not 'greenie' b-i-l planted and fenced his stream edges over 25 years ago and was suitably thought of as being odd and weird then. His sheep and cattle farm was able to transition, on the lower areas to dairy run-off in environmental safety. He keeps a good eye on the leased part of his property as some of the workers below herd manager levels can be a bit out of control and lacking in sense.
The point is they pay their subs but just don't go to the Fed Farmers meetings to share or be shouted down. . Therefore innovation on the ground, localised, often does not filter out very far.
The point also about living in a rural community especially for the more feisty 'incomers' used to living in towns, or rural thinkers is that to keep ahead you have to really stand schtum & basically 'shut-up.'. There is little tolerance in some rural communities for anyone who is deemed to rock the boat……in all sorts of ways from speaking out on low quality education strategies adopted by BoTs right through to changes in farming practices.
Sometimes regulation or legislation or the threat of such is the only way to get the community working together to get the best from it rather than waiting for it to evolve incrementally, It won't happen incrementally as we saw with the response to the delay in higher farming standards and this:
The Howl, in my circle were seen by some as a wing of the Nats or worse, and totally out of touch with CC because of the focus on utes and because the organisers had not thought through the impact of having silly off message signs about 'communism' and 'the treaty' and 'cindy' etc carried by the participants.
Another thing that puzzles my non greenie b-i-l are why there are different environmental standards for putting in things such as wood burners between those living in towns and those living in the country, His point is that smoke/particulate matter is released into the atmosphere whether in town or country and polluted air is polluted air.
The country towns used by this couple have incredibly poor or non- existent refuse or /recycling facilities. My sister travels 2 hours every couple of months to to cities with proper recycling facilities. Luckily they buy low plastic etc and have good storage. With reliance on tank water and water supply schemes getting contaminated sometimes they need to buy in drinking water.
The lack of proper recycling facilities leads to the continuation of the ubiquitous gut hole.
So dealing with waste in rural town and hinterlands is usually poor in comparison with cities.
Particulate rules for fireplaces are more about health than emissions.
Cities like Christchurch and Hamilton sit in basins, so particulates and smog hang around in the basin. Causing smog, visibility and health effects. Other places, conveniently, get them blown out to sea. Where it is ," someone else's problem".
For those places fireplace rules are less stringent.
I agree that different rules for different places can seem puzzling.
I used to stay on rellies farms, most long dead now. And the farms sold on.
Most of the streams were planted with trees and fenced.
They were proud of the thriving native stream life, "unlike those overseas rivers" where they are to polluted to support life. Lots of native eels, Koura etc.
Greens, of course, were a thing of the future
I wonder what they would have thought about the overloaded with nutrients, and dying, rivers and lakes we see now
Those "farmer bashing townies" city businesses, and their employees, have for decades complied with safety and environmental requirements, and community regulations, way in excess of the fraction farmers have been dragged kicking and screaming into compliance with. Anyone who thinks farmers are being bashed, when they have simply lost their social licence, because of their own attitudes, is showing"cognitive dissonance". Farming is fast losing the huge amount of urban goodwill and support they once enjoyed. And it is entirely their own fault. Which saddens me because I have many farming relatives who are quietly getting on with it, looking at better ways of farming. Who didn’t join in the pro pollution protests
No because I understand that when they are referring to townies, they are not intending to tar all townies with the same brush. The same as when they used a broad "lefties" term.
I chose to take their argument in the best possible light. That allows for the actual gist of the argument to be considered as opposed to derailing into a discussion about "not all men".
I'm both a townie and a leftie. Are these two words really an issue? A micro-aggression?
It's either ridiculously woke or shouting down groups. Some people need to get the fuck over themselves and stop being so precious about every damn thing.
How will we ever have conversations when most of it is derailed by all this mud slinging? Trot out the worst offenders, attach them to the entire group. Ignore or mock their issues. USA, coming your way.
And no, I'm not pointing at anyone in particular not everything said is about yourselves specifically.
'these farmer bashing townies' implies I'm talking about the townies who are farmer bashing. This really needs no qualification.
No crashcart I'm not addressing you specifically, who seem to have a grip on the silliness of all the lumping in, and the leaping to defend ourselves from nothing… it's just where this point has fallen in the conversation.
Oh I don’t know. I think DB Brown might be a leftie masquerading as a farmer. Something about the writing style seems familiar.
let’s just say I don’t think you will ever see WTB in the same room as DB Brown.
WTB kindly allowed one of their comments to be published as a post, and asked for the name on the post to be DB Brown. That was in a comment on the front end, hardly a secret.
one of the reasons I put up the post is because WTB has over time provided interesting and thoughtful commentary on TS, often presenting counter points outside the binary narratives we too often get stuck in. I find it refreshing and stimulating to my own thought processes.
we often don’t like our beliefs being challenged, are more used to that coming from rw commenters but personally I’m finding the debate better when the dissent is varied in source.
Nope, because it had been approved previously and as far back as 2018, it appears 🙂
The thing with this is when the same person uses two different names interchangeably it can confuse others, which is why I tend to ask them to stick one user handle and one e-mail address. But DB Brown has not done this, so all good 🙂
DBB may be a bit of a Darkhorse. There has certainly been a good Draught around lately. At Uni in the late 60's we were required to sign a register that passed around the lecture theatre lecture in order to get "Terms" to sit the final exams. DB Lager, D Brown, L Red, M Mouse, and D Duck were very regular attendees 🙂
Neither are townies, or those on welfare, or lefties! It appears farming is a "sacred cow" we are not allowed to upset with reality.
In fact Farmers who are trying to clean up their act who talk to me agreeing about the pro pollution protests, are telling me they are a minority. And, unfortunately most are cleaning up their act because Fonterra and regulations are making them. Not from conviction.
KJT "city businesses, and their employees, have for decades complied with safety and environmental requirements, and community regulations, way in excess of the fraction farmers have been dragged kicking and screaming into compliance with."
Was exactly my point yesterday
These issues are the exact same as faced by everyone in business – in type and scale. Yet the others don't cry about it to anything like the same extent. And they certainly don't get exceptions made for them (e.g. excused from the ETS).
I am yet to see this point answered, but have my eyes peeled.
……This is extremely good timing for the farmers to protest against this government.
The government is in poll freefall and is a long way from bottoming out. This team want that third term like a bastard….
Ad, if you are so sure that this government support is in freefall and has not yet bottomed out, then all Groundswell have to do, is wait and vote them out. No need for protest action.
It will take a lot to convince me that this government will lose the next election. If the government stay on track. If they continue to stay on top of their pandemic response, if they continue to keep New Zealanders safe, while the rest of the world is in covid torment, then Labour will win the next election.
If Labour Government, finally get on top of the housing crisis, then in my opinion Labour will win the next two elections after that, as well.
The Right, (including Groundswell), sense that this Government is not going away any time soon. Knowing, they are not going to get their way from any compliant National led administration, Groundswell are using direct protest pressure to try and convince the current government into backing down over its environmental protection regulations.
This is why Groundswell supporters feel the need to hold these protests.
Those Groundswell people are entitled to protest. We are a democracy. If they name call and deny science people will call them out. I know who will look silly, and it won't be Jacinda or Labour.
There is also that issue of disorder and violence, which history shows us result in disproportionate bruises and arrests among those who oppose Massey's Cossacks. Better to let the tractor crowd wander aimlessly and rage against the rising sealevels like king Knut. It aint the Chch shooters that get surveilled or arrested, it's the Keith Lockes.
……The green left have long since been given notice that they are not going to get their climate reforms in without a fight, and should have been able to arrange some kind of supportive counter-march by now. The first protest happened and the green left just sat back……
Ad, yes you are right, we on the Left are prepared to fight for climate reforms, using peaceful and democratic means, and where necessary non-violent civil disobedience. And be prepared to be arrested for it, if that is what it takes.
We will not be organising any counter-march to Groundswell.
My advice to the Left; Do not be drawn into a street brawl with the right wing losers of Groundswell.
Ad if you are trying to incite some sort of confrontation to embarrass the government then you are going the right way about it.
We have no objection to Groundswell holding their protest march in November, that is their democratic right. If they break the law, I fully expect the authorities to act to arrest them, as they so often do for Left protesters, let see how committed these right wing protesters really are to their beliefs.
My feeling; If Groundswell's November protest is anything like their last protest, with the same racist and sexist and climate change denying and conpiracy messaging, they will disgrace themselves in the eyes of most New Zealanders without the Left having to do anything.
If we are so smug we can't even organise a counter-protest to support the government, we stand a much greater chance of losing out of sheer self-righteousness.
If we are so smug we can't even organise a counter-protest to support the government, we stand a much greater chance of losing out of sheer self-righteousness.
Not can't, won't.
Greenies etc won't organise a counter protest to support the government because we believe the government is dragging the chain and/or cementing in neoliberal systems that are problematic from a green perspective.
There were some "counter-protests" at the first "howlin'" – Extinction Rebellion people sat on a pedestrian crossing and halted the "mighty convoy" of tractors and Utes in one centre – and received abuse for their troubles ("Get the freaks off the road" one son of the soil intoned, repeatedly). Similar responses were mounted elsewhere and the reactions were the same.
Jenny htgt @10:22 am makes the valid point that the ill-disciplined, mysogynistic, racist etc. messages that accompanied the first howlin' harmed the whole protest, but I would suggest those "cowboys" will be reined-in by now and the idiotic placards won't appear again…unless… 🙂
I'm curious what the media reporting was of the XR actions, and what the wider community thought. It's a tactical mistake imo for XR to target rural people in conservative communities, and I'd ask what they are trying to achieve.
XR in the UK has been so successful because they were very smart (head and heart) in how they impacted on the general population. You have to meet people half way and bring them along.
Going hard against the banks, Fonterra, Big Oil is a different matter, still needs some intuitive sense.
The power that XR UK has isn't in stopping traffic, it comes from somewhere else. Trying to import the techniques without the kaupapa isn't going to work (imho).
Don't waste your heart and mind trying to pull down what is already destroying itself 🙂 Not my words.
“The wave of the future is on the local level. Don’t waste your heart and mind trying to pull down what is already destroying itself. But come into where you’re almost below the radar and reorganize life. We want communities where we live and work and fight for the future.” – Joanna Macy
Ha! Well, yes, but you'd only want to throw yourself into the sty and wrestle if you were confident of gaining something significant from the engagement. What do you suggest greenies might gain from waving placards at huge farm vehicles?
Televisual glory, of course! More Twitter feeds than you can shake a stick at. Something to rally the team again. Like we used to do in Helen Clark's second term.
Groundswell are proposing to toot us into submission:
"The first event is on this Friday 20th August 2021 under the banner of "CAN YOU HEAR US".
At 12:30 pm all around New Zealand, Groundswell NZ are calling for 2 minutes of show of support by every car, bike, truck, train – anything with a horn, tooting in support of our campaign.
Then this will be repeated every Friday for the following 3 weeks."
I propose a counter-campaign under the banner "STFU" – the placards will be easy to produce 🙂
Doubtless they'll come down hard on the trouble-makers, as they do with any other protester.
"Groundswell NZ is calling for all landowners to decline access for councils or their agents wanting to undertake mapping or information gathering on private land. Groundswell NZ has identified serious implications with this information gathering that landowners are largely unaware of."
Today's events will have will have effectively canceled this Friday's effort, they will be pushing the Essential Service definition to go into town to protest. That'll be an interesting interaction with the police officer.
Going much past this week and calving / lambing will be getting into full swing, and lots else will be making the farm a pretty busy place. And that's assuming we're only in lockdown for 3 – 7 days.
They won't have the spare time they had last month when about all that was happening on farm was feeding out maybe once a day. Once we get to late November farms will be before daylight to well after dusk, 7 days a week workplaces. If farmers can find time to play around protesting then, their protestations about staff shortages are waffle.
The irony is that the National Standards malarkey came about because the District focused approach of the RMA was too hard and gave some perverse boundary issues. There's a pretty stark example at Queensbury (just out of Wanaka) where quite intensive grazing is allowed in Central Otago but not just down the road in Queenstown Lakes District. Unfortunately the boundary goes through a farm unit. There's lots of other examples around the Country and this did farmer's heads in. So they petitioned the previous government for consistency between Districts, hence National Environmental Standards.
Now the current Government is getting those National Standards in place farmers are realising why the RMA took a District and catchment specific approach.
It's still been pretty outrageous to see the regional catchment regulator Otago Regional Council take such a soft stance, since they cover those catchments you mention. Witness their stated inability to regulate for air quality even though it is one of their statutory jobs. So residents like Cromwell suffer through it.
ORC has been a waste of space since it was formed. It's always been farmer and Dunedin dominated and as soon as something comes up that will restrict farming it rapidly becomes dysfunctional. The deemed permit fiasco and Manuherikia minimum flow / overallocation show how difficult ORC are finding things. Both issues aren't totally of their own making, multiple governments going back to year dot have been involved and it's left to the local level to try and sort the differences, which are almost insurmountable without someone / something being badly hurt.
The irony is that the National Standards malarkey came about because the District focused approach of the RMA was too hard and gave some perverse boundary issues. There's a pretty stark example at Queensbury (just out of Wanaka) where quite intensive grazing is allowed in Central Otago but not just down the road in Queenstown Lakes District. Unfortunately the boundary goes through a farm unit. There's lots of other examples around the Country and this did farmer's heads in. So they petitioned the previous government for consistency between Districts, hence National Environmental Standards.
Now the current Government is getting those National Standards in place farmers are realising why the RMA took a District and catchment specific approach."
…
That is very interesting and well worth keeping front of mind, as this is one of their major whinges.
Not hours after the last Groundswell tractor chugged home, in a cloud of diesel fumes, the rains began to fall.
MetService issued a red warning – only the third in its history. A month’s average rainfall came down in two days in parts of the West Coast.
More than 2000 people were forced from their homes, major roads were closed, paddocks submerged, and Buller and Marlborough had to declare local states of emergency.
I wonder if Mr Dalton has found that there really isn't that much interest in the America's Cup anymore and that there aren't people willing to pay him enormous amounts of money for the "privilege" of holding it?
Well the Government must take this chance to tell him NO. We don't need it and we don't want it. We are free of the stupid thing and we want to stay that way. At least I, and people I have talked to about it, don't want it. Trevor Mallard probably would love to have it back but he really shouldn't count.
Don't, under any circumstances, offer Dalton anything. Kick him out of his taxpayer funded quarters in Auckland and tell him to pay for his own inflated standard of living in the future. He has been ripping off the New Zealand taxpayer, and the Auckland ratepayer, for far too long.
"At its core, the regenerative approach is about finding balance between the land a farmer has, and what it can naturally support.
This means less fertilisers, no irrigation, no imported feed – just the natural cycles of sun, air, water and soil that have produced life for time eternal.
Regenerative farmers say if this balance is struck, animals actually become part of the natural cycle of the land, instead of overwhelming it. All that poo and pee becomes natural fertiliser, instead of pollution."
The natural fertility builds up with rotational grazing… this was the way we ( my husband and I and other young farmers ) were farming fifty years ago – before us my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father, until agricultural scientists influenced him otherwise , were farming more like what you would now call “regenerative” farming. Our children are farming sustainably and are financially penalised because they do. eg land rates are geared to the returns of unsustainable farming !
A fortnight ago, driven to despair by long waiting lists, inadequate staffing levels and inefficient working conditions, the departmental health and safety representative lodged a provisional improvement notice (Pin) with the SDHB.
A Pin is a statutory device under the Health and Safety at Work Act which requires a workplace to display the notice and take steps within eight days to address the safety issues raised or face possible further action.
That eight-day period has expired, and the Pin has been referred to WorkSafe for further action.
The HSR complaint was due to; understaffing and poor facilities in the old Dunedin hospital. Meaning that ED nurses had run out of toilets to cry in, while suffering mental distress from being unable to do their work safely in a professional environment.
Pressure of high patient numbers and low staffing levels routinely meant staff went into the toilets to cry, emergency department health and safety representative Anne Daniels said.
Last Thursday, after a nurse told her there were no toilets free to cry in, Ms Daniels lodged a provisional improvement notice (Pin) with the Southern District Health Board…
‘‘This nurse said, ‘Who gives a damn? Someone will die’,’’ Ms Daniels said.
‘‘The Pin is the last straw. We have been living this for the past 18 months.
‘‘We have been compromising and making do for too long, and we can no longer do that.’’
I am curious if Little, as; Minister of Health, is liable for this negligence? It wouldn't surprise me if the DHBs are constructed specifically so as to provide a cutout for ministerial responsibility, the legalese is fairly impenetrable to a nonlawyer (PCBU = Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking). I imagine the SDHB will be looking for someone to do the time (or pay the fine) for them:
A person who commits an offence against subsection (1) is liable on conviction,—
(a) for an individual who is not a PCBU or an officer of a PCBU, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $300,000, or both:
(b) for an individual who is a PCBU or an officer of a PCBU, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $600,000, or both:
(c) for any other person, to a fine not exceeding $3 million.
One would have expected that, with an ailment called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the respiratory bit would be enough to clue folk up.
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
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Everyone here got their shots now?
Getting my first lot of billgatesmindcontrol5Gspacelaser microchips installed tomorrow.
Got mine – my phone reception is a whole lot better now
Yes.Fully Pfizered.Got stinking cold like symptoms for a week & felt like I had been punched in the arm from the first shot.Second one was uneventful except for a strange compusion to buy 5 copies of windows 11.Well worth it though.
I had the arm ache on the first jab too, but no other side effects. Though I am waiting 3 months for my second, which the booking system isn't too cooperative about. Would have been getting my second tomorrow, I had even set up a vax-date with a friend to get both of our second jabs at the same time and place (so we'd have someone to talk to during the quarter hour waiting after). But then I did a bit of research about optimal interdose intervals – 6 weeks is definitely better than 3; 12 may a bit marginal, but slightly better than that even. My companion just wants it over and done with.
Instead, I will be driving them back after and keeping an eye on them for a bit to be sure they don't have too many side-effects. Seems to vary a lot depending on the person
Waiting on my provider.
I'll get my first shot on Saturday.
Booked mine last night, Monday week for the 1st,
Yes Two each, all done. Sons have had their first.
All three in my household are done, x 2.
Mild sore shoulders for a couple of days, nothing to complain about.
Last week of June I had my second jab.
I must be the biggest Charlie in this lot. 74 yrs old – got 1st jab 6 weeks ago. But had heard English Doctor saying 5-6 weeks was a better gap, so asked for my 2nd jab last Saturday. But just before that, out came the news that 8 – 12 weeks was optimum. So I went in and asked for another 3 weeks' delay. I will now get my second jab on Sept 4.
I thought at the time, just my luck if… and guess what.
Groundswell leader, Jamie McFadden, interviewed by John Campbell on TV1 Breakfast, this morning.
(This is not a direct transcript)
J.M. Only a 'few bad people', are letting us down. And the government should not be making policy that ‘penalises’ everybody.
Not once in the whole interview did Jamie McFadden mention the word 'climate change'.
For that mattter neither did John Campbell.
John Campbell tried to ask Jamie McFadden about nitrate pollution
J.M. What Groundswell are saying about water, we need to look at each catchment.
(No mention of climate).
Maybe both McFadden and Campbell need to read this;
Jamie McFadden did a good job and the Minister who followed was pretty average articulating how the new legislation will assist.
Jamie McFadden "did a good job" having a go at the government for putting in legislation that "penalises" everybody, because of a few "bad people".
By Jamie's logic, we should not put in place traffic legislation against speeding that "penalises" everbody, because a few "bad people" speed.
Good Job Jamie.
If the Minister stays as unconvincing as this, it will indeed be a good job by Jamie.
Come to think of it, do we really need laws against murder? Most of us aren't murderers.
Well it depends, killing people while driving drunk or just badly is pretty much a home D offense.
Farmers are doing what every other business will do as the need to respond to CC bites – fight to protect profitable business models, their decision-making autonomy and a way of life they like. They will obscure this core material fact with fluffy stuff (some of it partly true, some of it greenwash) about feeding the nation, caring about the land, and already doing what is needed in their own way and own time. Meanwhile they will be hard-nosed in trying to install sympathetic governments.
This is how humanity fails in its response to CC – by not seeing that fear of economic insecurity drives behaviours that are rational in the short term, but in the long term are pathological. The idea of an economically just transition needs to be embedded, and soon, but I am not hopeful.
You have plenty of reckons about the Farmers stance, fair enough. They may be true or not. But you do point out some interesting stuff – including fear.
Loads of fear going round. Justifiable and understandable. We should address or at least acknowledge these fears, of both farmers, and persons who fear farmers will stall climate mitigation.
We all know who really stalled climate mitigation. It's big oil, and governments in bed with them. Finding other industries and individuals to take the heat off the big players – those most culpable, is a dirty trick at best, but I'm more inclined to call it sociopathic and self centred murderous and criminal negligence.
They (govts and corporate PR) keep pushing onus onto individuals, and their broad sweeping laws are similar to their broad sweeping statements – largely pointless, but masterful in misdirection.
Now I'd much prefer a Labour to Nat led government, but the neo-lib BS is rife with both. They'd be flying everywhere if not for covid. It's all do as I say not as I do. Feckless wannabes using ecology (which they know fuck all about) to hit others over the head with.
What impact does the NZ government have on big oil? Outside of trying to transition NZ off fossil fuels which is what kicked off this ground swell issue.
In NZ our biggest contributor is Agriculture. We can sit back and cry about big fossil fuel all we want, but if we aren't addressing what we control then who are we to lecture anyone?
Given that methane is so bad (I accept that) shouldn't a large part of any carbon tax go towards the people working on the methane vaccine? Cows arnt hoingcaway here or over seas .
Imho there are two ways to decrease the quantity of methane emitted by farmed ruminants: (1) Decrease the number of ruminants, and (2) Decrease the average amount of methane each ruminant emits. Farmers could (try to) do both.
(1) is in the farmers' fields/court – stock numbers change over time, so it's doable.
(2) Plenty of research on this in NZ and globally; more needed – might be doable.
The idea of a "methane vaccine" calls to mind the farmer protests (in 2003) against a ‘Fart Tax’, which was proposed as a way of funding research into (2).
Based on historical and recent farmer protests, I believe an impartial observer would conclude that many farmers are (still) more concerned about maintaining methane emissions than they are about global warming. Open to Groundswell protesters persuading me otherwise, but they need to do better than this:
They really do.
A image from the 4 Sept 2003 protest at Parliament by farmers concerned about the proposed fart tax. The tax has been proposed on ruminant emissions to finance research into emission reduction. Images from the National Party media unit.
The vaccine is well under way , the nz scientists working on give them a reasonable chance of succeeding, but buy all means cherry pick the loonier grunts from the worst morons to have a crack at farmers in general.
Thanks bwaghorn, will try to remember your invitation for next time – I predict we have even loonier grunts from even worse morons to ‘look forward to’, although hopefully none from a future Prime Minister.
I've been (peripherally) involved in supervising some post-graduate students trying to identify factors associated with low methane emissions – smaller rumens are looking promising for sheep.
One thing the scientists grizzle about is having to down tools every year while they go cap-in-hand for more funding. Who knows how much further down the methanogen vaccine track we'd be now if it wasn't for those 'fart tax' protests.
Talk about a sector shooting itself in the foot. Carry on…
Cap on hand for more funding you say.
You mean tax money paid from people like farmers?
If farmers would rather not pay taxes (such as a 'fart tax') to fund research aimed at mitigating the methane emissions of farmed ruminants then it's no skin off my old nose, but it's not a farsighted stance, imho. Carpe diem!
Btw, NZ ranks 6th in the world (behind Brunei, Grenada, Bahrain, Turkmenistan and Barbados) for per capita methane emissions, and 15th for per capita total GHG emissions (CO2 + methane).
https://www.worlddata.info/greenhouse-gas-by-country.php
Per capita seems like a stupid measure too me.
after all NZ Ag feeds over 30 million people, factor that into your per capita and we are one of the best in the world.
if change your formula to per hectare again the best in the world.
[fixed typo in e-mail address]
Intriguing opinion – I quite like per capita measures as a way of highlighting individual responsibilities, and whether (or not) NZers are punching above their weight, as we do for both methane emissions (bad) and food production (pretty good).
If we can agree that ruminant methane emissions are bad (for spaceship Earth, and so for the 'crew'), and that food production is good (for the crew, if not for the spaceship), then it only remains to figure out how to minimise the bad while retaining sufficient 'good'.
How hard can it be, how much longer might it take, and would it really be as bad as the Groundswell movement apparently believes it to be?
Some more good news – just hope against hope it doesn't come to that.
And I keep hearing some of the less aware farmers claiming that methane is not a problem because it disappears after only 12 years.
Yet they keep on producing more of that same methane every year.
How can it disappear when they keep on producing it?
Actually the claim that it "disappears" is rather a false one. Yes methane may break down over a period of years, but into what? CO2 and water vapour – both Greenhouse gases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_methane
Groundswell New Zealand says it is planning a "major nationwide protest event" in November, following a lack of response by the Government to its concerns.
Although a date was yet to be set and details of the event outlined, spokesman Bryce McKenzie, of West Otago, said it would be "of a scale and impact that will be significant in New Zealand's history".
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/howl-of-a-protest-ii-groundswell-planning-even-larger-action-from-farmers/XGKNVUPK2MLXUA2VXGBJHWSHDQ/
This is extremely good timing for the farmers to protest against this government.
The government is in poll freefall and is a long way from bottoming out. This team want that third term like a bastard.
In response, I suspect the government will show that they are listening carefully (even though there are very few votes to be turned in it), and walk back bunches of the water protection provisions.
Very, very hard to see Mahuta's water governance reforms lasting.
The green left have long since been given notice that they are not going to get their climate reforms in without a fight, and should have been able to arrange some kind of supportive counter-march by now. The first protest happened and the green left just sat back.
Instead the field of civic action has been left free for the rural community to rise up and do it all again. So they are. And now have a much better chance of changing the government's mind as a result.
This is probably a super naive question, but why don't they just talk it through with the appropriate minister(s) and see if they can get some compromise? Seems like it went from being an issue to an OTT response very quickly. What have I missed?
They do not want a compromise. They expect their decades-long veto over any meaningful environmental action involving agribusiness to continue.
Oh. Thanks for the explanation.
Greens more or less decided that giving the nut jobbery pro pollution protests, even more oxygen, is counterproductive.
Considering they will eventually fall over their own cognitive dissonance.
Yup, enough rope …
We keep broad-brushing the issue, and due to this failing to learn. Some of it we might push back on, some of it is entirely valid. Ignoring it will create a large voting block that takes from the left, who are simply being insulting, and making statements that show their own cognitive dissonance.
Turning farms into pine is one of their issues. Who is the pine benefitting, cos it's an ecological insult to NZ.
We're all concerned with mitigating climate. What are all these farmer bashing townies doing?
"We're all concerned with mitigating climate."
But some are more concerned than others.
The farming industry is lagging badly, like tourism. We need the farmers that want action on climate to organise and be public. Lefties bashing farmers won't help that happen.
https://twitter.com/TerriLDonaldson/status/1427175533595353093
In fact farmers like this one, and I know others, like him/her, tell me they get shouted down and drowned out in rural meetings by the Groundswell types.
I wasn't suggesting they try and change Groundswell, but set up their own version of Fed Farmers and get their own movements going.
Groundswell is as much trying to change FedFarmers as it is the Government, https://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/rural-news/rural-opinion/rural-voices-failing-farmers
Some farmers see Fed Farmers as a branch of the Green Party, so there's a fair bit of diversity there.
Prior to the Howl there was a lot of Fed activity trying to tone it down and get rid of the lunatic fringe. Groundswell co-operated, with varying success. https://www.odt.co.nz/rural-life/rural-people/rural-group%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98wild-conspiracy-theories%E2%80%99-criticised
I am sure they do have contacts for reassurance. Some rural communities it is hard to be 'different' in any way.
yep, I get that in my area… not possible to have a proper discussion with most.. it instantly becomes a bomb-fest of useless loud one-liners, interspersed with derogatory comments about women politicians most commonly… been like it for decades
My mild mannered and not 'greenie' b-i-l planted and fenced his stream edges over 25 years ago and was suitably thought of as being odd and weird then. His sheep and cattle farm was able to transition, on the lower areas to dairy run-off in environmental safety. He keeps a good eye on the leased part of his property as some of the workers below herd manager levels can be a bit out of control and lacking in sense.
The point is they pay their subs but just don't go to the Fed Farmers meetings to share or be shouted down. . Therefore innovation on the ground, localised, often does not filter out very far.
The point also about living in a rural community especially for the more feisty 'incomers' used to living in towns, or rural thinkers is that to keep ahead you have to really stand schtum & basically 'shut-up.'. There is little tolerance in some rural communities for anyone who is deemed to rock the boat……in all sorts of ways from speaking out on low quality education strategies adopted by BoTs right through to changes in farming practices.
Sometimes regulation or legislation or the threat of such is the only way to get the community working together to get the best from it rather than waiting for it to evolve incrementally, It won't happen incrementally as we saw with the response to the delay in higher farming standards and this:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/rural/2021/07/animal-welfare-campaigners-condemn-otago-southland-farmers-caught-grazing-stock-on-substandard-paddocks.html
The Howl, in my circle were seen by some as a wing of the Nats or worse, and totally out of touch with CC because of the focus on utes and because the organisers had not thought through the impact of having silly off message signs about 'communism' and 'the treaty' and 'cindy' etc carried by the participants.
Another thing that puzzles my non greenie b-i-l are why there are different environmental standards for putting in things such as wood burners between those living in towns and those living in the country, His point is that smoke/particulate matter is released into the atmosphere whether in town or country and polluted air is polluted air.
The country towns used by this couple have incredibly poor or non- existent refuse or /recycling facilities. My sister travels 2 hours every couple of months to to cities with proper recycling facilities. Luckily they buy low plastic etc and have good storage. With reliance on tank water and water supply schemes getting contaminated sometimes they need to buy in drinking water.
The lack of proper recycling facilities leads to the continuation of the ubiquitous gut hole.
So dealing with waste in rural town and hinterlands is usually poor in comparison with cities.
Particulate rules for fireplaces are more about health than emissions.
Cities like Christchurch and Hamilton sit in basins, so particulates and smog hang around in the basin. Causing smog, visibility and health effects. Other places, conveniently, get them blown out to sea. Where it is ," someone else's problem".
For those places fireplace rules are less stringent.
I agree that different rules for different places can seem puzzling.
I used to stay on rellies farms, most long dead now. And the farms sold on.
Most of the streams were planted with trees and fenced.
They were proud of the thriving native stream life, "unlike those overseas rivers" where they are to polluted to support life. Lots of native eels, Koura etc.
Greens, of course, were a thing of the future
I wonder what they would have thought about the overloaded with nutrients, and dying, rivers and lakes we see now
Those "farmer bashing townies" city businesses, and their employees, have for decades complied with safety and environmental requirements, and community regulations, way in excess of the fraction farmers have been dragged kicking and screaming into compliance with. Anyone who thinks farmers are being bashed, when they have simply lost their social licence, because of their own attitudes, is showing"cognitive dissonance". Farming is fast losing the huge amount of urban goodwill and support they once enjoyed. And it is entirely their own fault. Which saddens me because I have many farming relatives who are quietly getting on with it, looking at better ways of farming. Who didn’t join in the pro pollution protests
Farmers aren't a hive mind, why talk about them as if they are?
Nor are "townies" but I have yet to see you pull DB Brown on it.
I don't read every comment on TS. Did you call them on it?
No because I understand that when they are referring to townies, they are not intending to tar all townies with the same brush. The same as when they used a broad "lefties" term.
I chose to take their argument in the best possible light. That allows for the actual gist of the argument to be considered as opposed to derailing into a discussion about "not all men".
I'm both a townie and a leftie. Are these two words really an issue? A micro-aggression?
It's either ridiculously woke or shouting down groups. Some people need to get the fuck over themselves and stop being so precious about every damn thing.
How will we ever have conversations when most of it is derailed by all this mud slinging? Trot out the worst offenders, attach them to the entire group. Ignore or mock their issues. USA, coming your way.
And no, I'm not pointing at anyone in particular not everything said is about yourselves specifically.
'these farmer bashing townies' implies I'm talking about the townies who are farmer bashing. This really needs no qualification.
No crashcart I'm not addressing you specifically, who seem to have a grip on the silliness of all the lumping in, and the leaping to defend ourselves from nothing… it's just where this point has fallen in the conversation.
Having been around for a while, I doubt DB Brown's sincerity, and see him as our newest troll, masquerading as a leftie.
Oh I don’t know. I think DB Brown might be a leftie masquerading as a farmer. Something about the writing style seems familiar.
let’s just say I don’t think you will ever see WTB in the same room as DB Brown.
Perhaps you could stop speculating about commenters’ identities and comment on their comments rather, yes? Thanks in advance.
WTB kindly allowed one of their comments to be published as a post, and asked for the name on the post to be DB Brown. That was in a comment on the front end, hardly a secret.
one of the reasons I put up the post is because WTB has over time provided interesting and thoughtful commentary on TS, often presenting counter points outside the binary narratives we too often get stuck in. I find it refreshing and stimulating to my own thought processes.
we often don’t like our beliefs being challenged, are more used to that coming from rw commenters but personally I’m finding the debate better when the dissent is varied in source.
The avatars are identical. Still, Jim’s was a frivolous comment, IMO.
@Incognito, the name change didn't trip the filter?
Nope, because it had been approved previously and as far back as 2018, it appears 🙂
The thing with this is when the same person uses two different names interchangeably it can confuse others, which is why I tend to ask them to stick one user handle and one e-mail address. But DB Brown has not done this, so all good 🙂
I thought it frivolous at first but then wondered if Jim was just pointing out in a humourous way that the DBB is a leftie.
All good, but my sense of humour took a dive yesterday …
Understandable.
DBB may be a bit of a Darkhorse. There has certainly been a good Draught around lately. At Uni in the late 60's we were required to sign a register that passed around the lecture theatre lecture in order to get "Terms" to sit the final exams. DB Lager, D Brown, L Red, M Mouse, and D Duck were very regular attendees 🙂
Neither are townies, or those on welfare, or lefties! It appears farming is a "sacred cow" we are not allowed to upset with reality.
In fact Farmers who are trying to clean up their act who talk to me agreeing about the pro pollution protests, are telling me they are a minority. And, unfortunately most are cleaning up their act because Fonterra and regulations are making them. Not from conviction.
KJT "city businesses, and their employees, have for decades complied with safety and environmental requirements, and community regulations, way in excess of the fraction farmers have been dragged kicking and screaming into compliance with."
Was exactly my point yesterday
These issues are the exact same as faced by everyone in business – in type and scale. Yet the others don't cry about it to anything like the same extent. And they certainly don't get exceptions made for them (e.g. excused from the ETS).
I am yet to see this point answered, but have my eyes peeled.
Ad, if you are so sure that this government support is in freefall and has not yet bottomed out, then all Groundswell have to do, is wait and vote them out. No need for protest action.
It will take a lot to convince me that this government will lose the next election. If the government stay on track. If they continue to stay on top of their pandemic response, if they continue to keep New Zealanders safe, while the rest of the world is in covid torment, then Labour will win the next election.
If Labour Government, finally get on top of the housing crisis, then in my opinion Labour will win the next two elections after that, as well.
The Right, (including Groundswell), sense that this Government is not going away any time soon. Knowing, they are not going to get their way from any compliant National led administration, Groundswell are using direct protest pressure to try and convince the current government into backing down over its environmental protection regulations.
This is why Groundswell supporters feel the need to hold these protests.
They may have decided to let them make fools of themselves unmolested.
That's quite a risk to take.
I wouldn't bet against it.
Those Groundswell people are entitled to protest. We are a democracy. If they name call and deny science people will call them out. I know who will look silly, and it won't be Jacinda or Labour.
There is also that issue of disorder and violence, which history shows us result in disproportionate bruises and arrests among those who oppose Massey's Cossacks. Better to let the tractor crowd wander aimlessly and rage against the rising sealevels like king Knut. It aint the Chch shooters that get surveilled or arrested, it's the Keith Lockes.
Is Knut, Canute? Does not compute 🙂
Cnut is the patron saint of proof readers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great
Knut is more the way the Danes wrote it – it ain't easy carving a C into a runestick with a knife. Spelling standardized a bit later on.
Ad, yes you are right, we on the Left are prepared to fight for climate reforms, using peaceful and democratic means, and where necessary non-violent civil disobedience. And be prepared to be arrested for it, if that is what it takes.
We will not be organising any counter-march to Groundswell.
My advice to the Left; Do not be drawn into a street brawl with the right wing losers of Groundswell.
Ad if you are trying to incite some sort of confrontation to embarrass the government then you are going the right way about it.
We have no objection to Groundswell holding their protest march in November, that is their democratic right. If they break the law, I fully expect the authorities to act to arrest them, as they so often do for Left protesters, let see how committed these right wing protesters really are to their beliefs.
My feeling; If Groundswell's November protest is anything like their last protest, with the same racist and sexist and climate change denying and conpiracy messaging, they will disgrace themselves in the eyes of most New Zealanders without the Left having to do anything.
You just sound like you're too posh to push.
If we are so smug we can't even organise a counter-protest to support the government, we stand a much greater chance of losing out of sheer self-righteousness.
Sounds like you'll be out protesting even if nobody else is, you firebrand, you. Can you lead a protest of one from the back?
Not can't, won't.
Greenies etc won't organise a counter protest to support the government because we believe the government is dragging the chain and/or cementing in neoliberal systems that are problematic from a green perspective.
Labourites won't because they don't.
There were some "counter-protests" at the first "howlin'" – Extinction Rebellion people sat on a pedestrian crossing and halted the "mighty convoy" of tractors and Utes in one centre – and received abuse for their troubles ("Get the freaks off the road" one son of the soil intoned, repeatedly). Similar responses were mounted elsewhere and the reactions were the same.
Jenny htgt @10:22 am makes the valid point that the ill-disciplined, mysogynistic, racist etc. messages that accompanied the first howlin' harmed the whole protest, but I would suggest those "cowboys" will be reined-in by now and the idiotic placards won't appear again…unless… 🙂
Will be interesting to see how they develop.
I'm curious what the media reporting was of the XR actions, and what the wider community thought. It's a tactical mistake imo for XR to target rural people in conservative communities, and I'd ask what they are trying to achieve.
XR in the UK has been so successful because they were very smart (head and heart) in how they impacted on the general population. You have to meet people half way and bring them along.
Going hard against the banks, Fonterra, Big Oil is a different matter, still needs some intuitive sense.
The power that XR UK has isn't in stopping traffic, it comes from somewhere else. Trying to import the techniques without the kaupapa isn't going to work (imho).
I agree.
Don't waste your heart and mind trying to pull down what is already destroying itself 🙂 Not my words.
“The wave of the future is on the local level. Don’t waste your heart and mind trying to pull down what is already destroying itself. But come into where you’re almost below the radar and reorganize life. We want communities where we live and work and fight for the future.” – Joanna Macy
that's a stunningly good quote. I'm working through their active hope process at the moment, seeing a lot of potential for good responses.
That is wet Ad.
Something about wrestling, and the coating you'll receive comes to mind.
Aye true but that is politics. In every respect this is a shit fight.
Ha! Well, yes, but you'd only want to throw yourself into the sty and wrestle if you were confident of gaining something significant from the engagement. What do you suggest greenies might gain from waving placards at huge farm vehicles?
Televisual glory, of course! More Twitter feeds than you can shake a stick at. Something to rally the team again. Like we used to do in Helen Clark's second term.
Groundswell are proposing to toot us into submission:
"The first event is on this Friday 20th August 2021 under the banner of "CAN YOU HEAR US".
At 12:30 pm all around New Zealand, Groundswell NZ are calling for 2 minutes of show of support by every car, bike, truck, train – anything with a horn, tooting in support of our campaign.
Then this will be repeated every Friday for the following 3 weeks."
I propose a counter-campaign under the banner "STFU" – the placards will be easy to produce 🙂
I wonder if the cops will enforce the rules about unreasonable use of horns as much as they RUC-checked all the tractors peddling through town? lol
Doubtless they'll come down hard on the trouble-makers, as they do with any other protester.
"Groundswell NZ is calling for all landowners to decline access for councils or their agents wanting to undertake mapping or information gathering on private land. Groundswell NZ has identified serious implications with this information gathering that landowners are largely unaware of."
Isn't this inciting civil disobedience?
Well, it's a strategy I guess.
Counter protest STFU – funny AF.
Today's events will have will have effectively canceled this Friday's effort, they will be pushing the Essential Service definition to go into town to protest. That'll be an interesting interaction with the police officer.
Going much past this week and calving / lambing will be getting into full swing, and lots else will be making the farm a pretty busy place. And that's assuming we're only in lockdown for 3 – 7 days.
They won't have the spare time they had last month when about all that was happening on farm was feeding out maybe once a day. Once we get to late November farms will be before daylight to well after dusk, 7 days a week workplaces. If farmers can find time to play around protesting then, their protestations about staff shortages are waffle.
They'll be out taking photos of muddy livestock on muddy farms while the farmers are all in town on their tractors.
🙂
Drones to counter the drone.
The irony is that the National Standards malarkey came about because the District focused approach of the RMA was too hard and gave some perverse boundary issues. There's a pretty stark example at Queensbury (just out of Wanaka) where quite intensive grazing is allowed in Central Otago but not just down the road in Queenstown Lakes District. Unfortunately the boundary goes through a farm unit. There's lots of other examples around the Country and this did farmer's heads in. So they petitioned the previous government for consistency between Districts, hence National Environmental Standards.
Now the current Government is getting those National Standards in place farmers are realising why the RMA took a District and catchment specific approach.
It's still been pretty outrageous to see the regional catchment regulator Otago Regional Council take such a soft stance, since they cover those catchments you mention. Witness their stated inability to regulate for air quality even though it is one of their statutory jobs. So residents like Cromwell suffer through it.
ORC has been a waste of space since it was formed. It's always been farmer and Dunedin dominated and as soon as something comes up that will restrict farming it rapidly becomes dysfunctional. The deemed permit fiasco and Manuherikia minimum flow / overallocation show how difficult ORC are finding things. Both issues aren't totally of their own making, multiple governments going back to year dot have been involved and it's left to the local level to try and sort the differences, which are almost insurmountable without someone / something being badly hurt.
Graeme "
The irony is that the National Standards malarkey came about because the District focused approach of the RMA was too hard and gave some perverse boundary issues. There's a pretty stark example at Queensbury (just out of Wanaka) where quite intensive grazing is allowed in Central Otago but not just down the road in Queenstown Lakes District. Unfortunately the boundary goes through a farm unit. There's lots of other examples around the Country and this did farmer's heads in. So they petitioned the previous government for consistency between Districts, hence National Environmental Standards.
Now the current Government is getting those National Standards in place farmers are realising why the RMA took a District and catchment specific approach."
…
That is very interesting and well worth keeping front of mind, as this is one of their major whinges.
Genieus – November's generally drier than July, but beware in Southland, where Groundswell might yet meet ‘Let the River Swell‘.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/126093589/americas-cup-small-chance-of-nz-hosting-next-defence
I wonder if Mr Dalton has found that there really isn't that much interest in the America's Cup anymore and that there aren't people willing to pay him enormous amounts of money for the "privilege" of holding it?
Well the Government must take this chance to tell him NO. We don't need it and we don't want it. We are free of the stupid thing and we want to stay that way. At least I, and people I have talked to about it, don't want it. Trevor Mallard probably would love to have it back but he really shouldn't count.
Don't, under any circumstances, offer Dalton anything. Kick him out of his taxpayer funded quarters in Auckland and tell him to pay for his own inflated standard of living in the future. He has been ripping off the New Zealand taxpayer, and the Auckland ratepayer, for far too long.
Good explanation from Baz:
"At its core, the regenerative approach is about finding balance between the land a farmer has, and what it can naturally support.
This means less fertilisers, no irrigation, no imported feed – just the natural cycles of sun, air, water and soil that have produced life for time eternal.
Regenerative farmers say if this balance is struck, animals actually become part of the natural cycle of the land, instead of overwhelming it. All that poo and pee becomes natural fertiliser, instead of pollution."
https://www.renews.co.nz/dairy-cant-manage-its-crap-but-innovative-farmers-are-trying-to-fix-that/
Yes Robert ,
The natural fertility builds up with rotational grazing… this was the way we ( my husband and I and other young farmers ) were farming fifty years ago – before us my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father, until agricultural scientists influenced him otherwise , were farming more like what you would now call “regenerative” farming. Our children are farming sustainably and are financially penalised because they do. eg land rates are geared to the returns of unsustainable farming !
The Pin has been pulled out of the grenade:
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/worksafe-steps-over-ed-concerns
The HSR complaint was due to; understaffing and poor facilities in the old Dunedin hospital. Meaning that ED nurses had run out of toilets to cry in, while suffering mental distress from being unable to do their work safely in a professional environment.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/someone-will-die-ed-staff-take-legal-action-work-conditions
I am curious if Little, as; Minister of Health, is liable for this negligence? It wouldn't surprise me if the DHBs are constructed specifically so as to provide a cutout for ministerial responsibility, the legalese is fairly impenetrable to a nonlawyer (PCBU = Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking). I imagine the SDHB will be looking for someone to do the time (or pay the fine) for them:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2015/0070/latest/DLM5976917.html
Interesting short discussion about Delta variant.
https://twitter.com/marcdaalder/status/1427405469795061761
More here
https://twitter.com/Anna_bw/status/1427407262226599936
The consensus with aerosol science is that covid spread is mostly due to it being airborne.(formites less so)
https://twitter.com/jljcolorado/status/1391111720526024708
Deltas viral load is 1000x greater then its antecedent strains.
One would have expected that, with an ailment called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the respiratory bit would be enough to clue folk up.
You would think the obvious would hold,but like masks and a number of studies on masks that were not even wrong,heuristics are often constrained.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1425428696748462080
Community case in AK again.Stop flights out at once.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126097187/covid19-health-officials-investigating-new-community-case-in-auckland
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126097187/covid19-health-officials-investigating-new-community-case-in-auckland
lets hope that once more we get lucky.
We were lucky with Wellington and Tauranga to name 2, eventually the odds mean that we will have an outbreak.
My thoughts go out to our already under stressed health workers, should this case expand to others.
honestly, i would not want to be a health worker atm, they are made of better stuff then i am.
+1 Sabine
https://twitter.com/henrycooke/status/1427458032280117251?s=21
take care out there today folks.