Open Mike 17/10/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 17th, 2017 - 123 comments
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123 comments on “Open Mike 17/10/2017 ”

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  1. ScottGN 1
    17 October 2017 at 6:22 am

    Gee that born-to-rule triumphalism we saw from National and their mates on election night seems a long, long time ago now…

  2. Ed 2
    17 October 2017 at 6:29 am

    With a dearth of political news over the past 3 weeks, what an opportunity for our wonderful media to look at some of the issues facing our country in depth; some real investigative journalism looking at water quality, poverty, mental health, housing, the gas pipe leak…….. there’s quite a list of subjects calling out for enquiry from the 4th estate.

    But no…..

    Reality TV is more important
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11933580

    And foreign celebrities
    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2017/10/ed-sheeran-breaks-arm-after-being-hit-by-car.html

    We need a better media.

    • James 2.1
      17 October 2017 at 8:08 am

      Or better consumers. After all they write what people read.

      • tc 2.1.1
        17 October 2017 at 9:14 am

        No they write what they’re told to, readership isn’t a factor.

        Surely you’ve got more nuanced memes than that lazy ill fitting one James ?

      • Draco T Bastard 2.1.2
        17 October 2017 at 9:41 am

        No they don’t:

        Traditional media continue to deliver the biggest audiences in New Zealand, however these audiences have declined since 2014 and nearly all online media and especially SVOD services have grown significantly.

        The consumers are fine – it’s the people in there ivory towers (CEOs, PMs, and other hierarchical types) complaining about the consumers not liking what they’ve been told to like.

        • tc 2.1.2.1
          17 October 2017 at 10:45 am

          Also there’s autobots writing and publishing pieces now. Bezos has used his ownership of washington post to roll out the tech behind it.

          Feed it some numbers, it’s normally hooked into a data stream, throw in some key phrases to use in a meta structure and shazam ! Auto ‘journalism’ as you get full control over theme and structure without pesky salaries.

          The kind of dross our media has churned out since election day could’ve come from a creative writing class it’s so lacking in facts and keeps circling the same themes.

      • Stuart Munro 2.1.3
        17 October 2017 at 11:04 am

        Friend of mine did a PhD on this. Journalism quality is crucial to readership – she was able to lift circulation in two different papers by over 70% by pursuing quality indicators like freshness, newsworthiness, depth and so forth.

        Your logic is what nearly killed TV3.

      • rhinocrates 2.1.4
        17 October 2017 at 11:31 am

        Nope, newspapers make most of their money from advertisers, so they write what the advertisers want. They’re their market.

        • Robert Guyton 2.1.4.1
          17 October 2017 at 11:51 am

          Hi rhinocrates – this is completely off topic but… I know your handle is to be read, “rye – nok – rat- ees”, and is a play on “Hippocrates” but I can’t help but mouthing, “rhino – crates” every time I see it; you know, a rhino in a crate, being moved from one African location to another. Fyi 🙂

          • weka 2.1.4.1.1
            17 October 2017 at 1:57 pm

            it’s the brilliance of the name 🙂

          • Macro 2.1.4.1.2
            17 October 2017 at 2:51 pm

            Actually I got to touch a Rhino earlier this year. Mind you there were 6″ steel bars between me and him! Impressive animals.

            • Robert Guyton 2.1.4.1.2.1
              17 October 2017 at 2:56 pm

              We’re annihilating them though, right? Hippos are next.

              • Macro …
                17 October 2017 at 5:20 pm

                This one was quite safe in the Auckland zoo. I got to feed a giraffe and see her baby born on xmas day at the same time.
                Yes we are in the midst of the 6th great extinction…
                Zoos are now seen more as sanctuaries rather than exhibition places – at least that is how the keepers view their task.

              • weka …
                17 October 2017 at 7:09 pm

                I think we’re annihilating everything. Apparently we will escape into space when we need to.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  17 October 2017 at 7:25 pm

                  “Technology will fix it.”

                  • Ed …
                    17 October 2017 at 7:30 pm

                    That’s bm’s response to climate change…..

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      17 October 2017 at 8:56 pm

                      Yup – that’s who I was thinking of.

                      But I find myself liking this movie more and more – at some level it’s kindof faithful to Mœbius’s vision of the future.

                      Hollywood should have a crack at one of Druillet’s maybe…

      • Foreign waka 2.1.5
        17 October 2017 at 5:58 pm

        James, “they” would then be story tellers but by no means reporters. Mind you, looking at the caliber on offer, lets leave it at story tellers.

    • Sparky 2.2
      17 October 2017 at 9:57 am

      What we need is real journalism but that’s a rare thing in NZ these days…..

      • greywarshark 2.2.1
        17 October 2017 at 10:57 am

        We try to keep them on their toes though.
        Buyers in Auckland with agreements as to their ability to buy to a certain price are being turned down when they apply often because the bank considers the price too high, or that the income is too low to service it. Unless you get a fully analysed agreement taking into account your debts and reliable wage, and some of the middle class precariat are contractors, part time workers with variable salaries, then it might be thumbs down. Don’t count your chickens until they are hatched, or you may end up living in the henhouse and be glad of it! Our
        brighter future may come, but not before we have a storm.
        http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/341696/bank-caution-leaves-home-buyers-high-and-dry

        Somebody that’s got a $120,000 deposit gets pre-approved for a $500,000 mortage; they go out and find a property to buy around the $600,000 mark; they go back to their lender, who’s pre-approved them, and then they get turned down.
        “They get told, ‘well, actually we don’t value it to where you do. We think that we’ll loan you $480,000’.”

        Cleangreen’s 15/10 piece on downward trend of the world economy fits with this.
        link https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15102017/#comment-1400592

  3. Ed 3
    17 October 2017 at 7:04 am

    ‘It can no longer continue’: mental health service cuts beds over staff woes.’

    ‘The only acute mental health unit on Auckland’s North Shore has been forced to close five beds because it can’t find staff.
    For months, staff at He Puna Waiora have worked double shifts of 16 hours or longer, often dealing with violent and aggressive patients.
    A Public Service Association spokesperson said the shortage of nurses had forced the ward to reduce its bed numbers for seven weeks.
    The shortage of nurses had forced the ward to reduce its beds for seven weeks, the PSA said. It’s understood four nurses left their jobs last week.
    Ms Polaczuk said the staff shortages had placed pressure on staff to work double shifts.
    “A week recently … there were 35 double shifts worked. There would almost be no days where there is not somebody on shift who has a double.
    “It’s been going on for some months and obviously it’s at the point now where it can no longer continue,” she said.
    The union said the pressure on staff had increased the risk of violent and aggressive behaviour by patients.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/341695/mental-health-service-cuts-beds-over-staff-woes

    This is the sort of issue that James and other right wing ‘contributors’ to this site do not care about.
    Instead they care abut the betting odds for a National government.
    How can someone not care about this?

    • garibaldi 3.1
      17 October 2017 at 7:27 am

      Ed , as BM and James will tell you,it’s all about personal choices (sarc).

      • James 3.1.1
        17 October 2017 at 8:11 am

        It is.

        If they don’t offer enough money for a job – people won’t work there. (Unless there is nothing better around).

        So people are choosing to work elsewhere.

        • marty mars 3.1.1.1
          17 October 2017 at 9:30 am

          Nice attitude iceman – you don’t care about others unless you’re moaning that they haven’t got your latte right. Sad. Fake carer about people especially mental health workers and patients is outed – nice slow clap for James.

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.2
          17 October 2017 at 9:50 am

          So, perhaps health funding should have been raised so that wages for nurses could go up so that people would be encouraged to become nurses rather than cutting them, as National did, so as to give tax cuts to the rich?

        • DoublePlusGood 3.1.1.3
          17 October 2017 at 10:14 am

          So what you are saying is the government has failed to provide sufficient resources to have the service function properly.
          Thank you for admitting that National has failed.

        • cleangreen 3.1.1.4
          17 October 2017 at 10:34 am

          James it’s all about brainwashing by the Corporatge controlled media or are you just so blind you can’t see or are you representing Corporate media?

    • joe90 3.2
      17 October 2017 at 7:45 am

      How can someone not care about this?

      Because in the majority’s just-world, the betting odds for a National government are a damn sight more important than the needs of those enduring an acute mental health crisis.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis#Illness

      This is not a new thing.

      The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.

      British colonial administrator Charles Trevelyan, on the victims of The Great Hunger.

    • cleangreen 3.3
      17 October 2017 at 8:05 am

      100000% Ed, fully agree.

      National and their media dont want to raise throrny issues that would show them up as being inept and ineffectual.

      “Money talks while truth walks” – is best given as the motto that belongs to the National Party.

    • James 3.4
      17 October 2017 at 8:09 am

      They could just pay the staff more. Then they would get staff. Easy really.

      • KJT 3.4.1
        17 October 2017 at 9:30 am

        Then. They would have to raise taxes!

        • Ad 3.4.1.1
          17 October 2017 at 9:44 am

          There’s plenty of money in the public sector both now and in the forecasts.

          This is all on Coleman’s head.

      • Psych nurse 3.4.2
        17 October 2017 at 9:45 am

        It’s not the money, it’s all about the work stress, lack of opportunity to work with your patients, the inability to take leave or days off, all leading to burnout and loss of skilled educated people to the health professions. On a double shift I could bring home a thousand dollars a day but its not worth it. Excess overtime is a killer.

        • Macro 3.4.2.2
          17 October 2017 at 2:57 pm

          My son-in-law is on a double shift today – 14 hours straight. How anyone can be expected to make good decisions at end of that, I fail to see.

          • RedLogix 3.4.2.2.1
            17 October 2017 at 3:24 pm

            Been there in the past year. 14 hr plus days, 21 days on end without a break. Then 7 days off and repeat 6 times over a period of 7 months. In an environment with no sunlight for most of the period.

            Short answer is it breaks people. It damages memory, concentration, metabolism and breaks down their immune system. The ability to cope with distractions and aggravations diminishes, they make mistakes for which they get blamed which only adds another layer of stress.

            Looking back I’m kind of amazed at how the whole team survived it without anyone falling completely apart on the project, but fortunately it has come to a definitive end.

            I’m still recovering mentally. As Pysch Nurse puts it … just not really worth it. And the liability totally sits with the employers who manipulate people into doing this kind of shit.

            A few high profile prosecutions are really needed.

            • Macro 3.4.2.2.1.1
              17 October 2017 at 5:37 pm

              Yep – by offering days off in lieu and same money for apparently less work employers avoid penal rates and a host of other worker conditions.

        • Foreign waka 3.4.2.3
          17 October 2017 at 6:03 pm

          To many bureaucrats sitting in front of a PC all day over analyzing whatever with those trusty spreadsheets and ending up completely depraved of humanity.

      • Psycho Milt 3.4.3
        17 October 2017 at 10:28 am

        They could just pay the staff more.

        I wonder who the “they” in that statement is intended to represent? Because you’re a partisan supporter of the “they” who could pay them more, but won’t, and who pretend “won’t” is a virtue. You might as well write “Then let them eat cake.”

    • James 3.5
      17 October 2017 at 8:16 am

      By the way Ed – did you place a bet ?

      You could do a lot of good with those profits – or don’t you care ?

  4. eco maori 4
    17 October 2017 at 7:58 am

    Many thanks to the staff at Rotorua Hospital for the care they gave my family.
    I take my hat off to you ladys whom raise our children as I would rather work the hardest job I have worked for free than care for sick children its a hard task.
    Many thanks to the rest home in Napier whom are caring for my mother.
    In my view our high suicide rate is directly linked to broken family’s .
    As one needs love and guidance from mothers fathers and grandparents in our world as this love helps one lift there wairua and one can learn a lot from our experienced elderly people. So we need to make changes to our society that encourage the the family to stay together. ie reward 2 parent family’s as this financial reward will help prevent many problems we have with our youth and we will gain substantially from this minor adjustment to Winz . We will avoid having to many people end up in the ambulance at the bottom of the hill E,C,T. Many thanks to all the people who support me

  5. miravox 5
    17 October 2017 at 8:28 am

    Did Trump say he’s going to make other countries pay more for medicines so the U.S pays less? (CNN post cabinet meeting) I think he did. That’s not something to ignore – especially in terms of avoiding the non-existent Trans-Pacific partnership.

    • joe90 5.1
      17 October 2017 at 9:36 am

      tRump blames drug companies for the cost of prescription drugs….. but it’s the rest of the world’s fault.

      .

      As far as — and I didn’t speak to Mitch about this today, but a priority of mine, and you know that this is coming up, will be the cost of prescription drugs. We’re going to get the costs way down, way down — and those drug companies. So you have the insurance companies on the one case (ph). In the other case, actually with regard to both you have the drug companies.

      They contribute massive amounts of money to political people. I don’t know, Mitch, maybe even to you. But I have to tell you, they contribute massive amounts of money.

      Me? I’m not interested in their money. I don’t need their money.

      I will tell you, you have prescription drugs — you go to England, you go to various places, Canada, you go to many, many countries, and the same exact pill from the same company, the same box, same everything is a tiny fraction of what it costs in the United States. We are going to get drug prices — prescription drug prices way down, because the world is taking advantage of us. The world is taking advantage of us when that happens, so that’s going to be very important.

      http://time.com/4984507/donald-trump-mitch-mcconnell-rose-garden-press-conference/

      • miravox 5.1.1
        17 October 2017 at 9:58 am

        Ahh – thanks joe90.

        Yes, that was it… he was free-wheeling a lot in that briefing. So he’s going to threaten the UK first. May will be heart-broken.

        Easier to bully other countries than to look at why the US can’t negotiate better pharma pricing in the US, I guess.

  6. cleangreen 6
    17 October 2017 at 9:11 am

    They murdered the Panama papers writer today so we have a bad world full of crooks now, so time for a revolution is moving closer with this murder of free press.

    • AB 6.2
      17 October 2017 at 9:47 am

      So what do we now make of John Key’s reluctance to cast light on secret foreign trusts in NZ, the existence of which was disclosed in the Panama Papers?
      Does this make him a grubby enabler of the sorts of criminals who would conspire to murder a journalist?
      Not directly responsible in any way of course, just a low-level enabler of a rotten system.

      • Carolyn_Nth 6.3.1
        17 October 2017 at 12:17 pm

        On Nine-to-Noon:

        There’s shock and anger in Malta as news spreads about the death in a car bomb of the Maltese journalist and blogger who led the investigation into the Panama Papers scandal. Daphne Caruana Galizia died overnight when a powerful explosive device blew her car into pieces and threw the debris into a nearby field. She spoke to Nine to Noon last April. Her most recent revelations pointed the finger at Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides, connecting offshore companies linked to the three men with the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the government of Azerbaijan. David Thake is a former Nationalist party general election candidate and radio presenter in Malta, who knew Daphne Caruana Galizia well.

        • reason 6.3.1.1
          17 October 2017 at 6:43 pm

          https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/DSC_8970bw3.jpg

          John Keys legacy is like an abscess …. poisons the blood.

          “Income inequality is one of the defining issues of our time,” the statement begins, asking why its “sudden acceleration” has many people “helpless to stop its steady growth.”

          “The Panama Papers provide a compelling answer to these questions: massive, pervasive corruption,”…. : John Doe

          http://www.sarawakreport.org/2017/07/australia-and-new-zealand-slide-from-their-responsibilities-over-mass-corruption-and-malaysia/

          “Confronted with the blatant nature of the grubby pillaging of 1MDB, however, and the huge sums flushed through property, businesses and the art market, countries like the United States, Switzerland and Singapore have taken action and are punishing financial facilitators in their regions.

          Yet, down south, Australia and New Zealand are still doing their best to pretend none of this was to do with them.” …..
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          And Lignite Bill has no problems with facilitating theft from Mexican or Maltese children …

          Hon BILL ENGLISH: …… “In this case, the concerns about tax avoidance are concerns held by the Mexican Government and the Maltese Government, not by the New Zealand Government. There is no suggestion that these trusts are used to erode New Zealand’s tax base” …

          Helping steal from poor kids …..English and Key have the class of dog shit.

    • marty mars 6.4
      17 October 2017 at 10:15 am

      Shocking – unbelievable really that they could murder this hero. RIP and I hope her family are well supported.

  7. WILD KATIPO 7
    17 October 2017 at 10:05 am

    Well now Peter Dunny’s getting in on the act I see.

    Pretty rich coming from that guy about anything to do with NZ First is doomed to failure… he left because he knew Peters had his number ,… and has been a one man band like ACTS leaders have for years as well…

    Sour Grapes all around , … that’s what this is.

    • cleangreen 7.1
      17 October 2017 at 10:41 am

      Peter Dunne was a dispicable character;

      While he was a well groomed man he was in fact just another Corporate puppet .

      Nothing else was there to see in him as just another National “hollow man” that Nicky Hagar will write about in his next book.

      • tc 7.1.1
        17 October 2017 at 10:50 am

        Dunne summed himself up best with the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ line.

        Confirmed what everybody already knew about Dunnster, a whore with a pricetag who is not too bothered about morality.

        Perfect national coalition partner really.

  8. eco maori 8
    17 October 2017 at 10:26 am

    This is my interpretation of the 2 choices that New Zealand First has to make for our future and how I view that future under the 2 different choices .
    Nzf Lab Grn We have many sports stars of Maori descent and every Maori in our world is proud to be Maori. Because we change our system to divert most of our young from the clutches of the judicial system . In my view we are locking up our sports stars whom could be making millions around our world. We are all talking about movies made about our past and how proud everyone in NZ is about our Maori culture these movies are all based on fact and show how advanced Maori were in the 1800 and we have movies about Apirana Ngata as it is the media and movies that makeup our reality .That movie that say that we could control our weather is a farce as we will only be able to predict our weather more accurately in the future not control it on a large scale.
    Year 10 we have 25 % electric cars on our roads our 50 % less trucks we have plans for high speed rail that links our major city’s. Our oil use has been cut by a third we have had many surpluses on our trade with the rest of the world as everyone around the world no that our clean and green image in true and we are looking after everything in our country and everyone around our world is making the changes to there systems to copy our successful systems.
    Our hospital waiting list is 7 days long as we have made change that have cut management cost and stream lined the systems back to a models like our hosptial boards we have saved millions everyone is treated before they develop more complicated health issues .We have next to no homeless people as we have come up with idea’s to give them employment and housing all our bad stats have droped down the OECD charts
    All our sports stadiums are full as everyone has some spare money in a more equal society our racing industry’s and all our other regional industry’s are thriving and because of this we don’t have to much exposure to Dairy as all our exports are trading well and not just Dairy .Our electricity is 100 % renewable we have banned plastic in everything but the essentials products 1/3 of our houses have solar power
    as the electricity company’s pay a fair price for net metering of power. Everyone is talking about the right choices that our governments. All the wealthy people from around our world flock to our shores but they can only lease our land and this stops us from being tenants in our own country there are many positive scenarios in this partnership and in every partnership everyone has to give and take to get along.
    In 40 years we will be view Winston Peters in the same light as Apirana Ngata.

    Nzf nat they have poured more money into our health system and because its not cutting our waiting list there are plans to privatize parts of our health systems look at the USA do we want to go there. Our exports are still dominated by dairy the old saying to many eggs in one basket is not logically Ideal we have huge and expensive highways that are not coping with the traffic all our bad stats on the OECD charts are getting worse but no one is talking about it because national have total control of our media/reality our major city’s are bursting at the seams and not even the middle class people can afford to buy a house as all the rich and famous have flocked to our shores and pushed up the price of everything We can look around our world now and see this effect now we have spent millions trying to clean up our enviroment but national are just keeping the image that everything is fine a new oil well has bursted and ruined our hoki fisheries our jails are costing more and half of them are privatized and no one is talking about the bad atrocities in private prisons.
    Even some middle class could be classed as home less in our big city’s they have banned homeless people from all the tourist destinations there has been a lot of bad press about NZF as natianal set them up ie sex scandal money scandal and because natianal don’t want a great Maori leader to shine they minuplate the media to portray Winston as a maverick that just used his power to line his own pockets.
    Look at the Maori party they had good intentions with there smoke price hike but national new that this move would upset and cost the Maori party there support as Maori have the highest percentage of smokes It would have been better to ban smoking but this would not go down with the tobacco companys .
    Another underarm to the Maori party was the whano ora policy .The Maori party had good intentions with this policy but all national did was take from other health budgets and transfer the money to whano ora and everyone was moaning about the the other needed health services that were missing out on funding and this was going to Maori a lot of my elderly clients were talking about this fact.
    national will show you a to good to be true deal up front but as soon as they get the chance they will throw you under the bus as they don’t like to share anything and especially power and if we get more immigrants the will vote national and with tec advancing so fast that could swing voters 5 % more to national. The left will never have a another chance to get into power this is happening all around our world Kia Kaha

  9. joe90 9
    17 October 2017 at 10:42 am

    Shit’s getting serious.

    .

    A Spanish judge has ordered two leaders of Catalonia’s pro-independence movement jailed while they are being investigated on possible charges of sedition.

    The judge jailed Jordi Sanchez of the Catalan National Assembly and Jordi Cuixart of the Omnium Cultural group after questioning them and two senior law enforcement officials on Monday.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catalonia-independence-leaders-jailed-spain-judge-sedition-jordi-sanchez-jordi-cuixart-latest-news-a8004001.html

  10. cleangreen 10
    17 October 2017 at 11:02 am

    Thoughtful analogy Eco maori,

    I like the rail bit, but you will need to break up the high powered Trucking lobby as they have taken over the National Government and intend to kill rail dead as rail poses a threatn to their road freight transport policy going forward.

    Top ex national ministers are hired to run the trucking lobby groups and use ‘greenwashing’ to convince politicians that truck freight is so very environemntally responsible, but it is full of lies and deception.

    Note rail do not use tyres;

    The trucks run up to 32 tyres each truck, that cause the worst tyre pollution in our times, now as tyre dust is entering our streams,rivers, lakes, aqifers and into our drinking water as we speak, and tyre pollution causes cancer and nervous system damage and reproductive damage.

    look up 1,3, butadiene which is one of the main components in tyres today.

    https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/106990.html

    1,3-Butadiene
    Recommend on FacebookTweetShare May 1994
    Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)
    CAS number: 106-99-0

    NIOSH REL: Exposure level; None established; NIOSH considers 1,3-butadiene to be a potential occupational carcinogen as defined by the OSHA carcinogen policy [29 CFR 1990].

    Thanks for your excellent post.

    • Andre 10.1
      17 October 2017 at 11:32 am

      You’re worried about the 1,3-Butadiene, huh? Here’s how your data sheet describes it: “Description of Substance: Colorless gas with a mild aromatic or gasoline-like odor.”

      A gas isn’t much use for making a tyre. So the butadiene is a precursor component that gets polymerised into the final solid rubber. The properties and hazard profile of a polymer are very different to the properties of the monomers that go into it.

      edit: If you really feel like having a freakout about hazardous chemicals, look up the hazards of styrene, than ponder how much food spends time in contact with polystyrene.

      • cleangreen 10.1.1
        17 October 2017 at 12:18 pm

        Wrong Andre,

        The 1,3, butadiene is also an “inert” component traced in the final composition as you can verify it when you go to NZTA site for tyre materials review of the final composition of the tyre material, or any other data study of components found therin.

        Many studies have been done of tyre repairers and workshops where tyre dust is prevelent so your point is very simplistic and flawed.

        Tyre dust is very hazardous read this;

        https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2013/wp29grpe/GRPE-65-20e.pdf

        “Due to their volatility, carcinogens such as N-nitrosamines, which cause cancer,
        are able to segregate from tyre rubber into the atmosphere as dust and fine aerosol during tyre use.
        The research of chemical content of tyre dust and fine aerosol from different tyres (manufactured by domestic and foreign manufacturers), performed in the Russian Federation in 1999-2000 [2], allowed to determine that each kilogram of tyre dust and fine aerosol may contain different value of volatile N-nitrosamines, which may reach up to 70μg.
        Thus, during vehicle operation with wear of tyres considerable values of not only tyre dust, but also the carcinogenic substances causing various oncology diseases are allocated in environment.”

        For example, how do you consider the “butadiene/styrene” as being cited as the primary components in tyre material when the tyre is placed in a laboratory analysis under GCMS as Spectrometry mass testing prodedure?

        Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an analytical method that combines the features of gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample.

        Applications of GC-MS include drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation, and identification of unknown samples, including that of material samples obtained from planet Mars during probe missions as early as the 1970s. GC-MS can also be used in airport security to detect substances in luggage or on human beings. Additionally, it can identify trace elements in materials that were previously thought to have disintegrated beyond identification. Like liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, it allows analysis and detection even of tiny amounts of a substance.

        Please be careful not to send the message falsely that tyre dust is not harmful as you appear to suggest as it is widely known now in Europe as a major human hazard and cancer causing air and water pollutant.

        WHO even recognises this fact.

        • Andre 10.1.1.1
          17 October 2017 at 12:35 pm

          If you want to talk about the hazards of tyre dust, then by all means give us information about tyre dust. Hazard information about a constituent precursor is relevant to workers compounding the rubber, but not relevant to the hazard from the wear debris of the final product.

          Similarly the volatiles given off by tyres, especially new ones, are relevant to workers in the tyre industry who are exposed to them in high concentrations during their workday through working in enclosed spaces where they are stored. They are much less relevant to the general public who spend 15 minutes in a tyre shop every four years or so, and the rest of the time their vehicle is outdoors where the volatiles quickly disperse.

          • cleangreen 10.1.1.1.1
            17 October 2017 at 2:02 pm

            Andre,
            I am astouded that you fail to see the affects of tyre particulates as being importent here as I told you for the last time the inert coumpouds including styrene and 1,3, butadiene are traced inside the final polymer compounds of the tyre not the monomer (precursor) and and I did not say a ‘new tyre’ which you seem to be centering your comments on as irrelevent to my comments..

            I have begun my post discssing the truck tyre has become a largest polutant in “road runoff” from our roads now going into our waterways and you failed sadly had no concerns about this as to see the connection.

            So I cannot get through to you about this new (so far “out of sight”) “public health” issue of tyre dust pollution which is now being ignored by some agencies and some industries (perhaps those who produce those tyres or trucking interests) that I have suggested already.

            It is puzzling why you do not show any health concerns about tyre dust?

            I quote again for the last time;
            https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2013/wp29grpe/GRPE-65-20e.pdf
            “Automobile tyres as a source of deterioration products till now remain out of sight of the experts engaged in technical rationing. For a long time was considered, that tyre protector deterioration product particle sizes are large enough and do not pose a health hazard. However, research of the American doctors [1], who noticed a higher sensibility to allergic and oncology diseases of inhabitants of the houses located near to motorways in cities, had allowed to assume, that at natural wear of automobile tyres significant amount of aerosol is emitted to the atmosphere. After thorough research of the air at highway with moderate traffic, the researchers found between 3,800 and 6,900 tyre particles per cubic meter of air while more the 58% of them are under 10 microns in size and therefore are able to penetrate into human lungs causing bronchial asthma, allergic reactions, as a result of skin and mucosa contact – rhinitis, conjunctivitis and urticaria. Such tyre particles almost cannot be excreted from the body. According to the research carried out in Moscow [2] the core pollutant of the city air (up to 60% of hazardous matter) is the rubber of automobile tyre used up in a small dust. The performed analysis of various tyres in operation, had allowed to define weights of a worn out parts of tyres of different sizes, which are resulted in the Tables”

            NZTA documents show one truck tyre sheds 0.2mgs per km and a car 0.07mgs every day so 32 tyres are emitting a considerable amount of these dust compounds.

            The studies show on any road carrying an average of 20 000 vehicles every day sheds 9kilos per km along that road.

            It washes off the road in rain and enters our aqifers and waterways so think when you drink that water.

            So we know this has a dramatic effect truck freight traffic has on our environmental health over rail what uses no tyres at all.

            • Andre 10.1.1.1.1.1
              17 October 2017 at 3:13 pm

              Congratulations. You’ve finally isolated the relevant hazard of the dust to show the rest of us.

              Now do you want to have a go at putting some context around how that hazard compares to other everyday hazards, such as the volatiles you breathe in when you fill your tank? Or the particulates from diesel and petrol exhaust? Interestingly, the latest generations of direct injection petrol engines may be worse than diesels…
              http://gas2.org/2017/05/27/gasolne-engines-emit-particulates-diesels/

              • cleangreen …
                17 October 2017 at 4:11 pm

                Andre did I say tyre dust was the only toxic exposure? = answer = no.

                And you failed mostly to read the posts as your responses were wildly off the focus of my subject. Rail vs road freight.

                Lastly – as I have asked you several times before in other words, ‘what is your interest in the subject of Trucking – rail which was my subject here in case you forgot?

                What is your interest in these exposures to toxins or are you representing some ‘bussiness interests like road freight industry or representing a chemical industry or associated client?

                Guess you are reluctant to respond are you?

                • Andre …
                  17 October 2017 at 4:51 pm

                  My interest is in hazard assessment and mitigation. Most of the places I’ve worked deal with a variety of hazardous substances, and understanding and managing the risks of those substances usually ends up on my plate.

                  Saying something is hazardous and treating that as an argument against that activity is meaningless, I can’t think of anything I do or have contact with that doesn’t have some kind of hazard. It’s the relative size of the hazard compared to the alternatives that matters.

                  So when you start your argument with an assertion about tyre dust, then present information about a substance totally unrelated to the hazard of tyre dust, well, it’s a crap argument.

                  As it happens, I have a very poor opinion of the trucking industry and agree that improving rail would bring huge benefits to NZ. But weird scaremongering about tyre dust that doesn’t even correctly identify the hazard, let alone put it context, is more likely to set the cause back than help it.

                  • cleangreen …
                    17 October 2017 at 5:42 pm

                    Andre,

                    You are entitled to your opinions, unfounded as they are, and i can see that you are of the opinion that tyre dust is harmless which is sadly very misguided;

                    You have no evidence to support or prove that tyre dust is harmless other than just simple words claiming such.

                    I have a post grad in Occupatioal Health & Safety at a NZ University and spent seven years preceeding this in Florida and Toronto studying Chemical toxicology, so you have just insulted my intellegence.

                    I was involved in a six month workplace chemical poisoning incident in an unventillated workplace which damaged/disabled the health of several wokers and myself, before this so I know something about hazardous chemicals.

                    You are relying on academic rubbish only as if it was an exact science we should never had been damaged nor should many other workers have been in the past.

                    So while unlike you I do have personal expierience on the toxic effects of chemicals without being to specific at this time.

                    If you were personally chemically poisoned as I was you would not be so ‘cavalier’ as you are now.

                    So I end this exchange now, and will carry on making ‘tyre dust road runnoff pollution’ one of my continued studies just as the rest of the world is becomming ‘enlighted’ even if some in NZ is not prepared to be engaged in presently.

                    • Andre …
                      17 October 2017 at 6:06 pm

                      Have a careful read through my comments. At no point did I assert tyre dust is harmless.

                      I asked you to correctly identify what the hazard is, instead of scaremongering with data about irrelevant substances. I also asked you to provide some context about how great the hazard of tyre dust is compared to other everyday hazards.

                      Surely that shouldn’t be difficult for someone as learned and qualified as yourself.

              • weka …
                17 October 2017 at 7:03 pm

                Now do you want to have a go at putting some context around how that hazard compares to other everyday hazards, such as the volatiles you breathe in when you fill your tank? Or the particulates from diesel and petrol exhaust? Interestingly, the latest generations of direct injection petrol engines may be worse than diesels…

                I’d be more interested in studies on cumulative effect. Can you point to any?

                • cleangreen …
                  17 October 2017 at 7:13 pm

                  O/K Andre,

                  Since I have been chemically poisoned my role in life is to save every other soul from suffering my demise, so I will attempt to give you some idea of how serious the issue of Truck emissions as ‘dust sources from tyres and brake dust’, using the latest OECD data and cost as relative to other emissions of other hazardous chemicals/compounds.

                  My Environmental Monitoring Company chooses now to target 2.5 micrograms airborne sized particles from transport sources such as truck routes/roads through urban locations where they can affect the lives of many than a rural are would.

                  Particulates that are of a lower weighted form such as 2.5 micrograms is more dangerous than is the more common 10 micrograms sized particles as they travel lower down into our lungs causing more agressive forms of cancer.

                  It shows the actual cost of human damages from this form of air pollution.
                  Good reading regards.

                  OECD report The cost of air pollution. – transport http://www.oecd.org/env/the-cost-of-air-pollution-9789264210448-en.htm
                  http://www.oecd.org/env/the-cost-of-air-pollution-9789264210448-en.htm
                  Air pollution: Tyre and brake fatigue compound an exhausting problem
                  8 September 2016
                  tags: air pollution, road transport, rubber
                  by Guest author
                  Danger ahead
                  Shayne MacLachlan, OECD Environment Directorate
                  Anyone else feeling exhausted by all this drum humming about air pollution? Indeed it appears the fumes won’t be dissipating any time soon as we consider the extent to which tyre and brake rubbish exacerbate the problem. The European Commission says exhaust and non-exhaust sources may contribute almost equally to total traffic-related PM10 emissions. A few months ago, I was proposing (on this very Insights blog) that electric cars are essential in fighting filthy air pollution in urban areas because humans are unwilling to relinquish the comfort of their vehicles. Since then, I find myself mulling hard after this “alarmingly obvious” realisation that electric cars use tyres and brakes too! Even if they emit less of the harmful fine particles than conventional vehicles, please do feel free to file that blog in the “seemed like a good idea at the time” folder. And to turn insult to injury, I see that my own colleagues at the OECD have just published new data on PM2.5 emissions which did little to ease my blushes.
                  Fine particles vs coarse particles
                  A lot of non-exhaust pollution from tyres and brakes winds up in rivers, streams and lakes. They produce particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) which is more harmful for humans than gas pollutants like ozone and NO2. Fine particulate matter penetrates deep into your lungs and cardiovascular system. New research has even discovered tiny particles of pollution inside samples of brain tissue. The OECD is amongst a few international organisations proudly leading the fight against ambient air pollution. And rightly so, with 80% of the world population exposed to PM2.5. Outdoor air pollution causes 3.7 million premature deaths a year and 1 in 8 people die from filthy air. OECD Environment Director, Simon Upton recently stated that air pollution is not just an economic issue, but also a moral one. He urges governments to stop fussing over the costs of efforts to limit pollution and start worrying more about the even larger costs they will incur if they continue to allow it to go unchecked.

                  • Andre …
                    17 October 2017 at 8:30 pm

                    You mind making it a bit clearer what are your own words and what is quoting from elsewhere? Also, do you mean micron or micrometre where you mention 2.5 microgram and 10 microgram size particles?

                    Since you got me curious, I went looking for more info and found this.

                    http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC89231/jrc89231-online%20final%20version%202.pdf

                    So far I’ve only skimmed most of it and just stopped at interesting looking bits. The consensus seems to be most of the tyre dust mass is in particles much larger than 10 microns, and falls to the ground very quickly. Those larger particles are not a major respiratory hazard. I didn’t see anything that suggests to me that tyre dust should be raised in priority compared to exhaust issues, or fireplace smoke or a variety of other pollution problems.

                    However, the reported size and composition distribution of brake dust particles has me somewhat more concerned than I was this morning.

                    • cleangreen …
                      18 October 2017 at 12:10 am

                      Andre
                      I am now to busy for any more, so for any more I suggest you use this study (below) as I use several others in references for our Company when sizing tyre particulates in micrograms when measuring tyre dust collection of busy roads.

                      We have detected tyre dust down to 0.5 micrograms though our gravimetric filters in our air pollution monitors .

                      You are reading everything wrong here, as the road surface, amount of times the particulates are run over with other vehicles when settling of roads and other variables that can reduce particulate size.

                      Journal of Environmental Protection, 2013, 4, 509-515 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2013.46059 Published Online June 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep)

                      Dust Resulting from Tire Wear and the Risk of Health Hazards

                      http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JEP_2013061711221865.pdf
                      Page 514
                      Dust particles, suspended particulate matter, with a diameter of 10 μm or less, are also produced from some types of tire.
                      Page 515
                      Finally, the study discussed the possible effects of tire dust absorbed into the human body. Tire dust particles with a small diameter enter the human body. As particulate substances of 10 μm or smaller reach the alveoli, they may cause a variety of respiratory disorders, such as bronchitis and bronchial asthma.

                  • Andre …
                    18 October 2017 at 9:48 am

                    Do the math on how a 1 microgram particle or 0.5 microgram particle relates in size to a PM10 (10 micrometres maximum diameter). Hint: it’s an order of magnitude larger. So the particles you’re filtering and making a fuss over are much much larger than the PM10 and PM2.5 particles that are of particular concern to lung health.

                • Andre …
                  17 October 2017 at 8:43 pm

                  weka, I’d need to google it and I’m fairly sure your google skills are as good or better than mine.

                  The last time I had occasion to look into something close to that question was decades ago. I vaguely recall effects were more or less cumulative for particles that were effectively inert, but the hazards increased rapidly as particle size got smaller (deeper lung penetration) and hazards increased rapidly with increasing exposure if the particles had any kind of biological activity.

                  That report in my reply to cleangreen suggests that a lot of brake dust particles are very small and can be chemically active, hence my concern level rising. But that’s also a problem that will reduce with electric cars that primarily use regenerative braking so the old-school friction brakes will become emergency-only use.

                  • weka …
                    17 October 2017 at 10:52 pm

                    Sorry, that wasn’t what I meant (if I understood what you said). I meant that single substance studies are useful, but they don’t tell us about the risk associated with multiple substance and stressor exposures over time. e.g. the tyre dust and the petrol fumes and the new building off gassing and all the sugar in the diet and the stress of being unemployed or overworked and the endogenous oestrogens and nitrates in the water ( 😉 ) and so on.

  11. wekatests 11
    17 October 2017 at 12:32 pm

    test

  13. mikesh 13
    17 October 2017 at 1:08 pm

    Steve Maharey, posting on the Pundit website, reports that Peters’ has said that his forthcoming announcement could be ” written on the wall”. Is this a reference to Book of Daniel, where the writing on the wall predicted the fall of the ruling regime?

  14. Ad 14
    17 October 2017 at 1:23 pm

    I like Corbyn’s work against religious extremism here:

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/16/jeremy-corbyn-tells-twitter-and-facebook-to-tackle-racial-abuse

    Well overdue that Facebook and Twitter demonstrated themselves to be subject to advertising regulators and media regulators in Britain.

    • ianmac 15.1
      17 October 2017 at 3:54 pm

      What a careful chap is Bill. Know as little as possible. Remember very little. Say as few words as possible.
      Good advice for any of us picked up even if with a guilty conscience.
      (Mind you human nature would have caused Bill to ask a fair bit more of his “pupil”.)

      • The decrypter 15.1.1
        17 October 2017 at 4:50 pm

        Him, and his cronies certainly think ahead of any potential ramifications in their actions. Sly comes to mind.

    • Anne 15.2
      17 October 2017 at 4:46 pm

      Good grief. How ridiculous. Whats your name…. what’s your occupation… where do you live (no he didn’t ask that but he might as well have)… do you know Glenys
      Dickson… how long have you known her… did you know she was recorded… did you hear the recordings.

      English answers ‘yes”to the second to last question and “no” to the last one. So, he’s trying to kid that he never heard the recordings? And the police officer never asked whether he knew what was on them?

      I smell one big jack-up!

      • joe90 15.2.1
        17 October 2017 at 7:01 pm

        Whats your name…. what’s your occupation… where do you live (no he didn’t ask that but he might as well have)… do you know Glenys
        Dickson… how long have you known her… did you know she was recorded… did you hear the recordings.

        That’s how the plods do it when they take statements.

  16. savenz 16
    17 October 2017 at 2:42 pm

    A huge, American-owned oil and gas company is suing the Canadian government for $250 million for protecting the St Lawrence River from fracking exploration. This week, Lone Pine Resources is in court to try to force Canada to pay for Quebec’s decision to protect one of the most important waterways in the country.

    https://actions.sumofus.org/a/lone-pine-drop-usd250-million-lawsuit-against-canada-now?sp_ref=342557391.99.183682.f.0.2&source=fb

    • cleangreen 16.1
      17 October 2017 at 4:16 pm

      Yep SAVENZ,

      More the reason why we need winston here to stop Multi-national companies from doing this to us in NZ as they will if given half a chance.

  17. JC 17
    17 October 2017 at 3:56 pm

    Re Weka’s Blue Babies Post last week:

    “Council acting chair Steve Lowndes said he, like many, struggled with the twin targets the council had to meet under planning rules to increase the amount of irrigated land on the Canterbury Plains while at the same time improving water quality.

    Irrigation would not be used to grow grass for cows in the future, he said.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/341701/concerns-raised-over-nitrates-effects-on-babies

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    This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • The PM promises tax relief in the Budget – but will it be enough to satisfy the Taxpayers’ Union...
    Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when  the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Fucking useless
    Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Setting things straight.
    Seeing that, in order to discredit the figures and achieve moral superiority while attempting to deflect attention away from the military assault on Rafa, Israel supporters in NZ have seized on reports that casualty numbers in Gaza may be inflated … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Far too light a sentence
    David Farrar writes – Newstalk ZB report: The man responsible for a horror hit and run in central Wellington last year was on a suspended licence and was so drunk he later asked police, “Did I kill someone?” Jason Tuitama injured two women when he ran a red ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Unwinding Labour’s Agenda
    Muriel Newman writes –  Former US President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” The fight for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Sequel to “Real reason Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Chhour”
    Why Courts should have said Waitangi Tribunal could not summons Karen Chhour Gary Judd writes – In the High Court, Justice Isacs declined to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal to compel Minister for Children, Karen Chhour, to appear before it to be ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • The Govt’s Fast-Track is being demolished by submissions to Parliament
    Bryce Edwards writes –  The number of voices raising concerns about the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill is rapidly growing. This is especially apparent now that Parliament’s select committee is listening to submissions from the public to evaluate the proposed legislation. Twenty-seven thousand submissions have been made to Parliament ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A generation is leaving at a rate of one A320-load per day
    An average of 166 New Zealand citizens left the country every day during the March quarter, up 54% from a year ago.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy and housing market is sinking into a longer recession through the winter after a slump in business and consumer confidence in ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • NZUP RORS back to life
    The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • School Is Out.
    School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • How Are You Doing?
    Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • The Rings of Power: Season Two Teaser Trailer
    I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – What ended the Little ice Age?
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Talking Reo with the PM
    “The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Waitangi Tribunal’s authority in Chhour case is upheld – but bill’s introduction to Parliament...
    Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour.  The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Australia jails another whistleblower
    In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Some “scrutiny”!
    Back in February I blogged about another secret OIA "consultation" by the Ministry of Justice. This one was on Aotearoa's commitment in its Open Government Partnership Action Plan to "strengthen scrutiny of Official Information Act exemption clauses in legislation" (AKA secrecy clauses). Their consultation paper on the issue focused on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • TVNZ is loss-making, serves no public service due to bias, and should be liquidated
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • The conflicted Covid Chair
    David Farrar writes –  Kata MacNamara reports:    Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Attacking the smartest and most resilient people in the room is never a good idea
    Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A fortune-telling failure, surely, if the tarot cards can’t see a bulldozer coming
    RNZ reports –  It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • The climate battleground heats up
    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’ s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Tuesday, May 14
    The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on why anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitic
    To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Climate change is making hurricanes more destructive
    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Wayne Brown’s PT Plan
    Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Potaka's Private Universe.
    And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Our slow regional councils
    The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law after all
    Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • NZTA takes the wheel after govt gives it the road map for regional roads (and puts a speed governor ...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Tolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Change in Catalonia?
    or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Having an enrolment date is not depriving anyone of a vote
    David Farrar writes –  Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Perhaps house prices don’t always go up
    Don Brash writes –  There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read “One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”. The first line of text noted that “New data shows one in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Can’t read, can’t write, can’t comprehend – and won’t think…?
    Mike Grimshaw writes –  At a time when universities are understandably nervous regarding the establishment of the University Advisory Group (UAG) and the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG) it may seem strange – or even fool-hardy – to state that there are long-standing issues in the tertiary sector ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Time for some perspective
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  A lack of perspective can make something quite large or important seem small or irrelevant. Against a backdrop of high-profile, negative statistics it is easy to overlook the positive. For instance, the fact that 64 percent of Maori are employed is rarely reported. For ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Will NZ Herald’s ‘poor journalism’ cost lives?
    Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles amounting to a sustained campaign against raised pedestrian crossings, by reporter Bernard Orsman. A key part of that campaign concerned the raised crossings being installed as part of the Pt Chevalier to Westmere project, with at least 10 articles over ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to May 19 and beyond
    TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 19 include:PM Christopher Luxon is expected to hold his weekly post-cabinet news conference at 4:00pm on Monday.Parliament is not sitting this week. It resumes next week for a two-week sitting session up to and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Webworm Popup Photos!
    Hi,Thanks to all the beautiful Worms who came to the LA Webworm popup on Saturday.It was a way to celebrate the online store we launched last week — and it was super special.As I talk about a lot, I really value our community here — and it was a BLAST ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #19
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 5, 2024 thru Sat, May 11, 2024. (Unfortunate) Story of the week "Grief that stops at despair is an ending that I and many others, most notably ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • The Gods Must Be Woke.
    Last night the largest solar storm in decades resulted in Aurorae being seen across Aotearoa, causing many to ask why?Why was the sky pink? What was all this stuff about the power grid? Have we, as so many have wondered since the election, reached the end of days?I had a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • DJ Fred Again – Assurance report received
    "On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden.  “I raised my concerns after being ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago

  • Unions should put learning ahead of ideology
    Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools.     “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Craig Stobo appointed as chair of FMA
    Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Budget 2024 invests in lifeguards and coastguard
    Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • New Zealand and Tuvalu reaffirm close relationship
    New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says.  “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019.  “It is my pleasure ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand calls for calm, constructive dialogue in New Caledonia
    New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.  “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.  “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand welcomes Samoa Head of State
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Island Direct eligible for SuperGold Card funding
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Further sanctions against Russia
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • One year on from Loafers Lodge
    A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Pre-Budget speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand and Vanuatu to deepen collaboration
    New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says.    “This ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Penk travels to Peru for trade meetings
    Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Minister attends global education conferences
    Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Education Minister thanks outgoing NZQA Chair
    Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Joint statement of Christopher Luxon and Emmanuel Macron: Launch of the Christchurch Call Foundation
    New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.   This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Panel announced for review into disability services
    Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Minister welcomes Police gang unit
    Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand expresses regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners.  “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Chief of Defence Force appointed
    Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government puts children first by repealing 7AA
    Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Defence Minister to meet counterparts in UK, Italy
    Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Charter schools to lift educational outcomes
    The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • COVID-19 Inquiry terms of reference consultation results received
    “The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • The Pacific family of nations – the changing security outlook
    Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests  Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues  Ladies and Gentlemen,  Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru    It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • NZ and Papua New Guinea to work more closely together
    Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Driving ahead with Roads of Regional Significance
    The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand congratulates new Solomon Islands government
    A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office.    “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand supports UN Palestine resolution
    New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Speech to the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium
    Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • $571 million for Defence pay and projects
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Climate change – mitigating the risks and costs
    New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Getting new job seekers on the pathway to work
    Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Accelerating Social Investment
    A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says.  “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Getting Back on Track
    Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with  your Board and team, for hosting me.   I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ – European Union ties more critical than ever
    Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith,   Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States,   Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us.   Ladies and gentlemen -    In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations.   ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Therapeutic Products Act to be repealed
    The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Decisions on Wellington City Council’s District Plan
    The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Rape Awareness Week: Government committed to action on sexual violence
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