Open mike 18/07/2022
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6:00 am, July 18th, 2022 - 123 comments
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- If not now, then when?
Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...57 mins ago - THE FACTS: 77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
The Facts has posted – KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...1 hour ago - Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...2 hours ago - Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so criticalNew research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...3 hours ago
- Old habits
Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...4 hours ago - Bennie Bashing.
If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...6 hours ago - The kindest cutsLabour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...9 hours ago
- Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...12 hours ago - At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
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 ...19 hours ago - How could this happen?
Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...21 hours ago - Always Be Campaigning
The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...21 hours ago - STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push backThe following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...22 hours ago
- Competing on crueltyThe right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...22 hours ago
- Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...23 hours ago - Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...1 day ago - Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
Voters are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris Hipkins’ valiant rearguard action. So where are they heading? Clearly not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that the outcome will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a few weeks ago was ...1 day ago - GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes – With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...1 day ago
- Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influenceAs the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...1 day ago
- Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...1 day ago - After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummetedThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...1 day ago
- September-23 AT Board Meeting
Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...1 day ago - Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...1 day ago - Big money brings Winston backNational leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...1 day ago
- 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...2 days ago - A night out
Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...2 days ago - A pallid shade of Green IIIClearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...2 days ago
- A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaosToday's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...2 days ago
- More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekersBuzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...2 days ago
- Letter To Luxon.
Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...2 days ago - LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbersLindsay Mitchell writes – While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...2 days ago
- BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Brian Easton writes – Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...2 days ago
- CRL Progress – Sep-23It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...2 days ago
- Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enoughWe are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...2 days ago
- Game on; Hipkins comes out punchingLabour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...2 days ago
- Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...3 days ago - MIKE GRIMSHAW: It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...3 days ago
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- The End Of The World.
Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...4 days ago - Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's ChildrenClimate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...5 days ago
- Has There Been External Structural Change?
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...5 days ago - Another Labour bullyBack in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...5 days ago
- Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problemIts that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...5 days ago
- JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New ZealandJERRY COYNE writes – If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...5 days ago
- Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession. This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...5 days ago
- The Scafetta SagaIt has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...5 days ago
- Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolishTL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...5 days ago
- CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluffFor nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...5 days ago
- The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...5 days ago - A Womance, and a Nomance.
After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...5 days ago - When The Internet Rushes To Your Defense
Hi,You can’t make this stuff up.People involved with Sound of Freedom, the QAnon-infused movie about anti-child trafficker Tim Ballard, are dropping like flies. I won’t ruin your day by describing it here, but Vice reports that footage has emerged of executive producer Paul Hutchinson being inappropriate with a 16-year-old trafficking ...5 days ago - Doubts about Robertson’s good news dayThe trading banks yesterday concluded that though GDP figures released yesterday show the economy is not in recession, it may well soon be. Nevertheless, the fact that GDP has gone up 0.8 per cent in the latest quarter and that StatsNZ revised the previous quarter’s figure to show a ...5 days ago
- The Votes That Media Dare Not Speak Its Name
.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..A recent political opinion poll (20 September) on TV1 presented what could only be called bleak news for the Left Bloc:National: 37%, down two points equating to 46 seatsLabour: 27%, down one point (34 ...6 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38 2023Open access notables At our roots Skeptical Science is about cognition of the results of climate science research in the minds of the entire human population. Ideally we'd be perfectly communicating understanding of Earth's climate, and perfectly understood. We can only approximate that, but hopefully converging closer to perfection. With ...6 days ago
- Failing To Hold Back The Flood: The Edgy Politics of the Twenty-First Century.
Coming Over The Top: Rory Stewart's memoir, Politics On The Edge, lays bare the dangerous inadequacies of the Western World's current political model.VERY FEW NEW ZEALANDERS will have heard of Rory Stewart. Those with a keen eye for the absurdities of politics may recognise the name as that of the ...6 days ago - Pick this Chris, you get the Greens. Pick the other one you get Seymour.
A bit of a narrative has been building that these two guys, your Chris and your Chris, are not so very different.It's true to a point. The bread and butter timidity has been dispiriting to watch, if you have a progressive disposition. It does leave the two of them relatively ...6 days ago - RICHARD PREBBLE: Who won the Leaders’ debate?Richard Prebble writes – There was a knockout winner of the Leaders’ debate. Check for yourself. Recall how they looked. If you cannot remember or missed it, the debate is on TVNZ’s website. Turn off the sound and ask: “Which one looks like a Prime Minister?” ...6 days ago
- Thursday's Chorus: GDP up an extra 33c per person per weekJust like National when it was in government, Labour bought nominal GDP growth and momentum by pulling as hard as it could on the population lever. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Stats NZ has reported better-than-expected GDP growth in the June quarter, thanks largely to record-high net migration of ...6 days ago
- Climate Change: National’s policy for failureWe already know that the National Party are de facto climate change deniers who want to reverse virtually all climate change policy. So how do they think they'll cut emissions? According to their climate change spokesperson, polluting corporations will do it out of the goodness of their hearts: The ...6 days ago
- NZ’s big dairy company reports a massive profit jump – but the lobby group Greenpeace doesn’...Dairy farmers, or at least those who are also shareholders in the Fonterra dairy co-operative would have received a second dose of good news this week, when the dairy giant reported a massive profit jump. This followed news of a better sale at the Fonterra GDT auction this week. Net ...6 days ago
- Big issues out of the mouths of giant babes
A longtime New Zealand broadcaster and commentator is taking a theatrical turn in advance of the General Election to draw different kinds of attention to the issues New Zealanders will be voting on in October.In a pre-election event that invites audiences to consider New Zealand politics through a theatrical lens ...6 days ago - That new hospital which Labour is promising – is it the same one which Sepuloni mentioned in May ...Our busy ministers – desperately busy trying to whip up voters’ support as their poll support sags, among other things – have added just one item of news to the government’s official website over the past 24 hours or so. It’s the news that the Government has accepted the Environment ...6 days ago
- Queenstown was keeping rates lowOn Monday, we learned that Queenstown, one of the country's largest tourist destinations, suddenly had to boil its water to avoid cryptosporidium. Now, it looks like it will last for months. Why? The usual reason: they'd been keeping rates low: Queenstown could face months of having to boil water ...6 days ago
- Gordon Campbell on chaotic coalitions, drinking water and useless debatesThis week’s ONE News-Verian poll had the National/ACT coalition teetering on the edge of being able to govern alone while – just as precariously – having its legislative agenda vulnerable to a potential veto by Winston Peters in the House. So close, but so perilous. During the run-up to election ...6 days ago
- An ill windNational Leader Christopher Luxon likes to bag the way the Resource Management Act worked. Though it has been repealed and replaced by the Labour government, Luxon plans, before Christmas, to repeal the new legislation and, for the foreseeable future, revert to the old Act that he has consistently criticised. ...6 days ago
- Further Adventures with Martin the Chess Bot
Earlier this month, I had a bit of fun with Chess.com’s worst AI, the one and only Martin Bot: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/09/02/nine-queens-against-martin-chess-hilarity/ Well, in the past few days, I’ve achieved a trio of notable personal firsts against Martin. I thought I would record them in the morbid interests of ...7 days ago - The Inflation Reduction Act is reducing U.S. reliance on ChinaThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Over a year later, its climate provisions remain a hot topic. The law’s proponents argue that it’s created a boom in domestic manufacturing jobs within the United States while paving ...7 days ago
- Relief for dairy farmers – and the NZ economy – as prices rise again at latest GDT auctionNew Zealand’s dairy farmers will be relieved that prices rose for the second time this month at the latest Fonterra GDT auction. The encouraging feature of the sale was the activity of Chinese buyers who drove up prices. As a result, the GDT price index rose 4.6%, helped by a 4.6% lift ...7 days ago
- Democracy McNuggets
Here is a review of last night’s Democracy McNuggets debate, delivered in the style of last night's Democracy McNuggets debate.McNugget #1This format was very advantageous for the man who speaks in lazy SLAM DUNK.To hark back a few editions: The lazy SLAM DUNK doesn’t bother to make its case. It simply offers ...7 days ago - A Forced Pause.
Unfortunately I will need to take a bit of time off from this blog. After months of misdiagnoses and a change in GPs, my precious son is in Starship Hospital about to have major surgery. He already has had one … Continue reading ...7 days ago - Better-than-expected BoP figures give Robertson something to bray about – but revisions helped, a...Buzz from the Beehive Source: ANZ The latest balance of payments statistics – providing a broad measure of what the country earns and spends internationally – gave grist to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s publicity mill today. The current account deficit narrowed to 7.5 per cent of ...7 days ago
- Dirty dairy corrupts our democracyThe planning process under the RMA is meant to be one of public consultation: the council prepares a plan, and we all get to have a say on it. But it turns out that in Otago, the dirty dairying industry has been trying to rewrite the new land and water ...7 days ago
- Calling The Big Dog’s Bluff.7 days ago
- Climate Change: “Offsets” aren’tSince we began worrying about climate change, the market fundamentalists have pushed the idea of "offsets" rather than actual emissions reductions. There's just one atmosphere after all, so in theory it doesn't matter where the reductions are made, so you can just pay someone on the other side of the ...7 days ago
- GRAHAM ADAMS: Is Ardern a liability for Labour?Ministers are pretending the former PM has simply vanished. Graham Adams writes – Late last week, Tova O’Brien asked Grant Robertson on her Stuff podcast if Jacinda Ardern should be “rolled out” to “galvanise the base” to help save Labour’s faltering campaign. Robertson laughed. ”I’m sure for ...7 days ago
- Wednesday’s Chorus: Biggest insurer starts targeted climate retreatOwners of property deemed at risk from climate change related floods and rising sea levels will increasingly find their access to affordable insurance shut off. Some may become ‘prisoners’ in their uninsurable and therefore unbankable homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: IAG, which insures more than 60% of homes ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour releases balanced, costed and credible fiscal plan
Labour’s fiscal plan will continue its focus on carefully managing the books while protecting critical public services like health and education and investing to deliver high wage jobs and a low carbon economy. ...4 hours ago - Green Party will end child poverty
The Green Party will double the Best Start payment and make it available for every child under three years of age - and it will be paid for with a fair tax system. ...1 day ago - Release: Labour pledges billion-dollar medicines boostLabour will fund more medicines for more New Zealanders by investing over $1 billion of new funding into Pharmac if re-elected, Chris Hipkins announced today. ...1 day ago
- National's welfare policy is cruelThe National Party’s job seeker policy announced today is heartless. ...1 day ago
- Release: Labour releases New Zealand’s first climate manifestoNew Zealand faces a stark choice this election – vote for Labour to continue to confront the climate emergency with eyes wide open or bury your head in the sand alongside Christopher Luxon. ...2 days ago
- Green voice crucial for climate actionThe Green Party is today welcoming Labour’s climate manifesto, but is clear that much more will need to be done to tackle the climate crisis. ...2 days ago
- Speech: Chris Hipkins – Wellington Rally, 24 September...3 days ago
- People need a government that will build many more homesLabour’s plan to build more homes is a welcome step forward, but it lacks ambition. ...3 days ago
- Release: Supercharging public housingLabour is supercharging its plan to solve the public housing shortfall created by National, promising another 6,000 homes on top of what has already been committed says Labour Housing spokesperson Dr Megan Woods. ...3 days ago
- Release: New Super Visa for migrants’ parents and rights for Dawn Raid victimsLabour will back migrant working families by introducing a 10-year multiple-entry parents’ and grandparents’ Super Visa, and make good on the Dawn Raids apology by providing a one-off visa for overstayers who have been in the country ten years or more, Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Andrew Little says. ...4 days ago
- Only the Greens will deliver a fair amnesty for overstayersThe Green Party is today welcoming Labour coming to the table to ensure an amnesty for overstayers, but only the Greens will ensure immigration settings actually reflect the reality of people who have been failed by our immigration system. ...4 days ago
- Climate future of communities on the line this electionGreen Party co leader James Shaw attended a South Dunedin Future street meeting today to discuss local responses to climate change. ...4 days ago
- Green Party calls for stronger action by Auckland Council to protect urban trees and native forestThe Green Party is calling on Auckland Council to do more to protect urban trees and housing developer Aedifice Property Group to restore and replant the native forest it cleared, and protect all the remaining trees on Ngahere Road in Pukekohe after a significant number of native trees were cut ...5 days ago
- Release: Ram Raids drop to two-year lowLatest Police data shows monthly ram raids have hit a two-year low, laying waste to Christopher Luxon’s false claim that there are two ram raids a day says Labour’s Police Spokesperson Ginny Andersen. ...5 days ago
- Every party needs to step up on school lunchesLabour has finally said it would continue free school lunches - and the Green Party is calling on every party to step up. ...5 days ago
- Release: School lunches on the line this electionFree and healthy school lunches will be here to stay if Labour is re-elected, guaranteeing food for our kids who need it most and significant cost saving for parents. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour commits to a new hospital for the people of Hawke’s BayThe next Labour Government will build a new hospital in Hawke’s Bay, Labour leader Chris Hipkins and Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall announced. ...6 days ago
- Govt changes fall short of what’s needed for migrant protectionThe Green Party will keep up the fight to support exploited migrant workers, including pushing to end single employer visas, after the government picked up Green recommendations to improve immigration settings. ...7 days ago
- Clean Power Payment the smartest way forward to reduce emissions and billsGreen Party co leader James Shaw visited a home in Auckland today that has been upgraded with a wide range of energy improvements, similar to those that would be supported through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...7 days ago
- Foreign Minister's Action – A Contempt For “Caretaker Government” Convention
The Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s presence in New York today at the United Nations General Assembly is a contempt of New Zealand’s “caretaker government” convention. Despite the long-standing caretaker convention, Minister Mahuta is today at the UN to sign a highly contentious “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement”, delivering a ...1 week ago - Back To Black ResponsiblyThe Pre-Election Fiscal Update Changes Everything Within an hour of this speech there is going to be a debate between the political parties that the media, under MMP, still think are the only parties that matter in this campaign. Both of those parties are riddled with inexperience, as evidenced by ...1 week ago
- Stop the cuts before they start – Labour launches new TV adNational and ACT's tax plans don't add up, and that means deep cuts to the public services New Zealanders rely on, says Labour Campaign Chair Megan Woods. ...1 week ago
- Free school lunches paid for with a wealth taxThe Green Party will expand free school lunches and pay for it with a fair tax system. ...1 week ago
- The Pacific Reset & the Blue ContinentThank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon about New Zealand Foreign Policy. After offering one or two general thoughts about the nature of foreign policy, the focus today will be the Pacific Reset and why its goals remain even more important today as when they were ...1 week ago
- Release: Huge hole in National’s climate budgetNational’s plan to cut policies that are reducing New Zealand’s climate emissions will result in a huge gap in the country’s emissions budgets and could see Kiwis paying significantly more at the petrol pump as a result of Christopher Luxon hiking the ETS price. ...1 week ago
- Greens would push Labour much further on solar powerLabour’s plan to support rooftop solar is a step in the right direction, but falls short of what could be achieved through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...1 week ago
- Release: Doubling rooftop solar to reduce bills & emissionsLabour will double the number of houses with rooftop solar in New Zealand, lowering household power bills, reducing emissions and boosting renewable electricity generation. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour will advance women’s health, careers, and legal protectionsA re-elected Labour Government will continue its proud tradition of advancing women’s health, employment, and legal rights Spokesperson for Women Jan Tinetti said. ...1 week ago
- Green Party confirms plan for five weeks annual leaveSpeaking at the E Tū Election Launch in Auckland today, Green Party co leader Marama Davidson outlined the Green Party’s manifesto commitment to ensure everyone has five weeks of annual leave. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour to keep lifting worker wages and rightsA re-elected Labour Government will protect hard-fought workers’ rights and keep the momentum on wage growth to lift incomes for all New Zealanders, leader Chris Hipkins announced today. ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand First Party List 2023New Zealand First is proud to announce the Party List for the upcoming 2023 General Election. We have had a great number of applicants and potential candidates moving through the selection process over the past few months. Our final selection for our list proves we have a wide range ...2 weeks ago
- A National/ACT Government would make life miserable for those already worst offOnly a party vote for the Greens will end poverty. ACT’S welfare policy announced today is as cruel as it gets. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Willis’ resignation call means only one thing – $2 billion more cutsMassive cuts to public service are on the cards as Nicola Willis has promised to resign if she doesn’t deliver tax cuts but is refusing to make the same commitment if she doesn’t raise enough income from her bungled foreign buyer’s tax. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: A faster justice system focused on victimsLabour will help more victims of crime achieve justice faster by introducing a formal class-action regime, modernising consent laws and increasing the use of technology to speed up hearings. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Gaping hole confirmed in National’s tax planA whopping $2.1 billion dollar hole has been confirmed in National’s tax scheme in a new report released today. ...2 weeks ago
- Labour pledges biggest ever increase to training DoctorsLabour will deliver the largest ever increase to the number of doctors trained each year, adding an additional 335 doctors a year to our health workforce from 2027, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has announced. ...2 weeks ago
- PREFU Exposes Political PromisesToday’s PREFU has some alarming statistics showing an economy deteriorating and the cost of unaffordable government expenditure, mainly in the 2022 and 2023 budgets. Despite this alarming economic and fiscal picture, political parties are making unaffordable promises, talking about a surplus by 2027, or four years time, all of which ...2 weeks ago
- State of books makes clear case for wealth taxThe case for a wealth tax has never been stronger. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour pledges free cervical screeningIf re-elected Labour will make cervical screening services free to all women and people with a cervix aged 25 – 69 years, delivering better cancer care for over 1.4 million New Zealanders. ...2 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins sets out 9 key pledges to New ZealandLabour Leader Chris Hipkins has set out nine key pledges to be achieved in his first full term as Prime Minister. ...2 weeks ago
- Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...24 hours ago - Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefitRegions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...3 days ago
- Immigration settings updatesJudicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...4 days ago
- Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga HohepaTangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...5 days ago
- Renewable energy fund to support community resilience40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...5 days ago
- COVID-19 funding returned to GovernmentThe lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...5 days ago
- Appointment of District Court JudgeSusie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today. Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...5 days ago
- Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilienceThe Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...6 days ago
- Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-upAnother $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...6 days ago
- Taupō Supercars revs up with Government supportThe future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...6 days ago
- There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarterThe economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...6 days ago
- Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springsThe Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today. “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...6 days ago
- More support for victims of migrant exploitationTemporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...7 days ago
- Strong export boost as NZ economy turns cornerAn export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...1 week ago
- Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te KarakaThe Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...1 week ago
- Further business support for cyclone-affected regionsThe Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...1 week ago
- New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underwayDefence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...1 week ago
- Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General AssemblyForeign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...1 week ago
- Midwives’ pay equity offer reachedAround 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealand provides support to MoroccoAotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...2 weeks ago
- Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilienceThe Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...2 weeks ago
- Government invests in Greymouth’s futureThe Government has today confirmed a $2 million grant towards the regeneration of Greymouth’s CBD with construction of a new two-level commercial and public facility. “It will include a visitor facility centred around a new library. Additionally, it will include retail outlets on the ground floor, and both outdoor and ...2 weeks ago
- Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ MeetingForeign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Suva, Fiji alongside New Zealand’s regional counterparts. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to working with our pacific whanau to strengthen our cooperation, and share ways to combat the challenges facing the Blue Pacific Continent,” ...2 weeks ago
- PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflationEconomy to grow 2.6 percent on average over forecast period Treasury not forecasting a recession Inflation to return to the 1-3 percent target band next year Wages set to grow 4.8 percent a year over forecast period Unemployment to peak below the long-term average Fiscal Rules met - Net debt ...2 weeks ago
- New cancer centre opens in ChristchurchPrime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...2 weeks ago
- Government invests in top of the south’s roading resilience$12 million to improve the resilience of roads in the Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman regions Hope Bypass earmarked in draft Government Policy Statement on land transport $127 million invested in the top of the south’s roads since flooding in 2021 and 2022 The Government is investing over $12 million to ...2 weeks ago
- New Zealanders continue to support the revitalisation of te reo as we celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Mā...Ko tēnei te wiki e whakanui ana i tō tātou reo rangatira. Ko te wā tuku reo Māori, e whakanuia tahitia ai te reo ahakoa kei hea ake tēnā me tēnā o tātou, ka tū ā te Rātū te 14 o Mahuru, ā te 12 o ngā hāora i te ahiahi. ...2 weeks ago
- New Wildlife Act to better protect native speciesThe 70-year-old Wildlife Act will be replaced with modern, fit-for-purpose legislation to better protect native species and improve biodiversity, Minister of Conservation Willow-Jean Prime has announced. “New species legislation is urgently needed to address New Zealand’s biodiversity crisis,” Willow-Jean Prime said. “More than 4,000 of our native species are currently ...3 weeks ago
- Further safety initiatives for Auckland City CentreCentral and Local Government are today announcing a range of new measures to tackle low-level crime and anti-social behaviour in the Auckland CBD to complement Police scaling up their presence in the area. “Police have an important role to play in preventing and responding to crime, but there is more ...3 weeks ago
- Govt confirms additional support for Enabling Good LivesThe Government has confirmed $73.7 million over the next four years and a further $40.5m in outyears to continue to transform the disability support system, Minister for Disability Issues Priyanca Radhakrishnan has announced. “The Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach is a framework which guides positive change for disabled people, ...3 weeks ago
- New Zealand gets AAA credit rating from S&PStandard and Poor’s is the latest independent credit rating agency to endorse the Government’s economic management in the face of a deteriorating global economy. S&P affirmed New Zealand’s long term local currency rating at AAA and foreign currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook. It follows Fitch affirming New ...3 weeks ago
- Appointment of Environment Court JudgeChristchurch barrister Kelvin Reid has been appointed as a Judge of the Environment Court and the District Court, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Mr Reid has extensive experience in Resource Management Act issues, including water quality throughout the South Island. He was appointed to the Technical Advisory Group advising the ...3 weeks ago
- NZ’s biggest ever emissions reduction project hits milestoneNew Zealand is on track to have greener steel as soon as 2026 with New Zealand Steel’s electric arc furnace project reaching a major milestone today. The Government announced a conditional partnership with New Zealand Steel in May to deliver the country’s largest emissions reduction project to date. Half of ...3 weeks ago
- Fiscal plans fly as overseas voting opens
Everything the Labour Party has promised it can pay for with some left over, it says, but National has dubbed the notion a fantasy The Labour Party has released its fiscal plan showing how its election promises and the ongoing cost pressures in the public sector would fit within Budget allowances. Finance spokesperson ...44 mins ago - Ruapehu has had a great ski season – but we need to reimagine the future of NZ’s iconic volcano
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Gender, University of Waikato As a former competitive snowboarder and instructor, and later a researcher of snow sports, I’ve been lucky to enjoy ski resorts around the world. But nothing compares to Mount Ruapehu ...1 hour ago - Election 2023: What you need to know before voting
Explainer - On 2 October, early voting will begin for the general election that will decide who will govern the country for the next three years. So let's take a look at the nuts and bolts of casting a vote. ...1 hour ago - Hackers offer stolen Auckland Transport data for sale on dark web
Customer and financial data 'not compromised', city's transport agency believes Auckland Transport confirms hackers have made good on their threat to offer up the transport agency’s stolen data on the dark web. Roger Jones, the executive general manager for business technology, and his team were monitoring the threat overnight, after a group ...1 hour ago - Politics Of Benefit Sanctions Cruel And Dishonest
Benefit advocate and Welfare Expert Advisory Group member Kay Brereton is calling for some basic facts and empathy from political parties looking to fish for votes with beneficiary bashing. Brereton says the call to put sanctions on people on benefits ...2 hours ago - Hipkins Completely Misunderstands His Own Party’s GST CostingsChris Hipkins’ claim this morning that Labour’s costings for removal of GST off fruit and veg account for behavioural changes are completely untrue. Responding to Mr Hipkins’ attacks on the Union, spokesman Jordan Williams said: “We couldn’t ...2 hours ago
- Demise of CSU news journalism course was ‘greatly exaggerated’A Charles Sturt University journalism academic says the evolving communication course at his institution in Australia continues to feed the ranks of the irrepressible “Mitchell Mafia’”. Jock Cheetham, senior lecturer in news and media in the Charles Sturt School of Information and Communication Studies in Bathurst, said recent “news” ...2 hours ago
- Overseas voting opens, campaign encourages Kiwis in Australia to voteAbout 78,000 enrolled voters have an overseas address, the Electoral Commission says. ...2 hours ago
- New poll: Labour maintains lead in Te Tai Tonga, albeit a shrinking one
Te Tai Tonga, the largest of the 71 electorates, and encompassing the entire South Island, Stewart Island, the Chatham Islands, all the islands in the Southern Ocean, as well as a large part of Wellington City, has been held by incumbent Labour MP Rino Tirikatene for 12 years. And according ...2 hours ago - Election 2023: National announces 300 more frontline police to tackle inner-city crimeCiting an escalation in crime in CBD areas, National has announced it would increase the number of frontline police officers focused on inner-city crime, if elected. ...2 hours ago
- Shop the fit: Winston PetersThis week in our campaign style series, Winston Peters is the king of snot-less pocket squares and bringing things back from the depths of his wardrobe. Not many encyclopaedic entries include politicians’ personal style, choosing instead things like biography, policies, speeches and ideological alignments. But in Te Ara, the official ...2 hours ago
- The Vested Interests Shaping National Party PoliciesAs the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts ...2 hours ago
- Younger Voters And Aucklanders Most Likely To Consider Voting Women’s Rights Party This ElectionNearly half of voters aged 18-39 [49%] said, in a Curia Poll, they would consider giving the Women’s Rights Party their party vote in the upcoming Election. In a poll conducted by Curia Market Research commissioned by the Women’s Rights ...2 hours ago
- Cold weather doesn’t stop regional democracyIt’s a cold and blustery day here in the central Hawke’s Bay and I’ve just pulled into a local cafe for a coffee and some food (I now understand why being on the road like our political leaders encourages you to eat a very pastry-heavy diet). I’m here to spend ...2 hours ago
- Media Led Into Incorrectly Crediting Firearm RegistryMedia have once again been led into incorrect reporting on the firearm registry, this time repeating claims that the new firearms registry enabled identification of a firearm on-seller, even though the data had been collected separately by Police ...2 hours ago
- Labour’s fiscal plan doubles down on its ‘trust us with your money’ aestheticNo surprises in today’s final fiscal announcement – but clear evidence Labour believes its request that National ‘show it the money’ is working. Prime minister Chris Hipkins and finance minister Grant Robertson delivered Labour’s fiscal plan – its vision for how it will raise money, and what it will spend ...2 hours ago
- NZ govt ‘welcomes’ US diplomatic relations with Cook Islands, NiueBy Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The New Zealand government has given its full blessing to Cook Islands and Niue establishing diplomatic relations with the United States. At the US-Pacific summit on Monday (Washington time), President Joe Biden said he recognised the two island nations as sovereign and independent states, ...3 hours ago
- NZ govt ‘welcomes’ US diplomatic relations with Cook Islands, NiueBy Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The New Zealand government has given its full blessing to Cook Islands and Niue establishing diplomatic relations with the United States. At the US-Pacific summit on Monday (Washington time), President Joe Biden said he recognised the two island nations as sovereign and independent states, ...3 hours ago
- New Report Shows National Emissions Reduction Policies Could Impact Auckland Economy Harder Than Res...Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland could experience a six per cent reduction in GDP compared to the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand in 2050, according to a new climate report. Mitigating climate change in New Zealand: impacts on Auckland’s economy describes how the ...3 hours ago
- The everyday technologies essential for accessibilityIt’s easy to take for granted, but technology exists to help us. The Spinoff spoke to four people with disabilities about the tech they consider essential. We often think of technology as irking us – Duolingo scolds, Instagram pesters and TikTok steals time. But, if I did throw my phone ...3 hours ago
- Weird but true: The year’s most emotional TV played out on Celebrity Treasure IslandThe inspired casting of Tāme Iti on a fundamentally silly reality TV show paid off in an impossibly resonant scene last night. The scene is unimaginably pretty. Somewhere outside Wānaka, on an island far from any road, two men wander along the lakeside. The pair are bathed in sun despite ...3 hours ago
- Candidates Front Up On Social Issues...4 hours ago
- Leaflet Campaign Ranks Party Climate Policies — National And NZ First Bad, ACT WorstClimate change campaigners will be delivering 40,000 leaflets around the country to alert voters about which parties are best and worst on climate change policies. See attached leaflet. "You wouldn't know it from a lot of political posturing ...4 hours ago
- Newsletter: September 27 2023 – Items of interest and importance todayNew Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. NZ Politics Daily: 27 September 2023 ELECTION Gordon Campbell: On whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence and bashing beneficiaries, again Jessica Mutch ...4 hours ago
- Election 2023: Labour's fiscal plan looks to reduce government spending, maintain income tax se...Labour has released its fiscal plan stating now is not the time for additional taxes and acknowledged the next few Budgets would be tight. ...4 hours ago
- New IEA Report A Warning That National Must Abandon Offshore Oil Drilling Policy – GreenpeaceFollowing the release of the International Energy Agency (IEA) ‘Net Zero Roadmap Update' yesterday, Greenpeace Aotearoa says that the National Party is out of touch with its promise to reverse the 2018 ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration. ...4 hours ago
- Labour releases fiscal plan promising further savings and return to surplus in 2027Labour has released its fiscal plan, a 12-page document laying out its spending plans over the next three years in response to the PREFU released earlier this month. It is forecasting a return to budget surplus in 26/27, and net debt to peak at 22.8% in the 24/25 fiscal year. ...4 hours ago
- Labour releases fiscal plan promising further savings and return to surplus in 2027Labour has released its fiscal plan, a 12-page document laying out its spending plans over the next three years in response to the PREFU released earlier this month. It is forecasting a return to budget surplus in 26/27, and net debt to peak at 22.8% in the 24/25 fiscal year. ...4 hours ago
- Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence, September Quarter 2023The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index (ECI) fell by 7.4 points to 98.3 in the September quarter. This is the first time since March 2021 that households have held a negative view about conditions in the labour market, and the lowest reading ...4 hours ago
- Mount Albert candidates listen to renting horror stories at eventAt an event in Grey Lynn last night hosted by advocacy group Renters United, candidates for the Mount Albert electorate discussed housing issues with renters. Instead of a standard debate format, the event rotated candidates between tables of renters, giving attendees the chance to talk about some of their concerns ...4 hours ago
- Mount Albert candidates listen to renting horror stories at eventAt an event in Grey Lynn last night hosted by advocacy group Renters United, candidates for the Mount Albert electorate discussed housing issues with renters. Instead of a standard debate format, the event rotated candidates between tables of renters, giving attendees the chance to talk about some of their concerns ...4 hours ago
- Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Labas, Lecturer in Management, Federation University Australia Food waste is a global problem with approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted each year throughout the food lifecycle – from the farm to food manufacturers and households. Across the food supply chain, ...5 hours ago
- 7 ways to look after yourself and your community before and after the Voice referendumSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacob Prehn, Associate Dean Indigenous College of Arts, Law, and Education; Senior Lecturer – Indigenous Fellow, Social Work, University of Tasmania GettyImages The lead-up to the Voice referendum is already affecting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...5 hours ago
- Why the Voice could be a bulwark against Trumpism gaining a stronger foothold in AustraliaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Wolpe, Non-resident Senior Fellow, United States Study Centre, University of Sydney As former Labor minister Barry Jones has wisely noted, the Voice referendum feels like 2016 all over again. The shock from the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom in ...5 hours ago
- What do we know about long COVID in kids? And what do I do if I think my child has it?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shidan Tosif, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne While COVID in children has generally been milder than in adults, there are concerns long COVID may be a major consequence for children and young people arising from the pandemic. Long COVID, ...5 hours ago
- Playful whales can use seaweed as a hat – or exfoliant. This “kelping” behaviour is more commo...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olaf Meynecke, Research Fellow in Marine Science, Griffith University WA Western Whale Watch Australia, CC BY-NC-ND If you’re a whale, there’s often not too much to see out in deeper water. Perhaps that’s why so many whales get playful with ...5 hours ago
- Meet the experts in selling scienceFor New Zealand scientists trying to solve big-picture problems, turning them into commercial businesses is often an afterthought. Vanessa Young from the MacDiarmid Institute talks to some of the people guiding scientists through this journey. For many of us, trying to understand the hi-tech world of startups is challenging at ...5 hours ago
- Meet the experts in selling scienceFor New Zealand scientists trying to solve big-picture problems, turning them into commercial businesses is often an afterthought. Vanessa Young from the MacDiarmid Institute talks to some of the people guiding scientists through this journey. For many of us, trying to understand the hi-tech world of startups is challenging at ...5 hours ago
- On the campaign trail with Carmel SepuloniThe deputy PM on boosting the Pasifika vote turnout, her go-to cafe order and why she doesn’t want to be prime minister. Nestled among Titirangi’s native bush and towering trees, down a short steep driveway, with Labour Party hoardings spotting the yard, is the home of deputy prime minister and ...5 hours ago
- The candidate prepared to cross the floor against their own party
The voters aren't coming to them, so Maungakiekie's candidates are going to the voters. ‘They want to hear me say that if I become the local MP, I will lie on the proposed railway tracks. And I will!’ ...5 hours ago - The Bulletin: Does more advance voting impact results?Overseas voting in the October election starts today, ahead of local voting booths opening on Monday. In today’s Bulletin, the rise and rise of advance voting. In 2020, Claire Robinson concluded that advance voting probably benefits the traditional major parties and that the so-called minor parties benefit from late strategic voting. “Since ...5 hours ago
- Luxon and Hipkins ready for next showdownIt’s Tuesday, September 27 and welcome back to The Spinoff’s election live updates. I’m Stewart Sowman-Lund, on deck from Palmerston North, with support from our news team around the country. Get in touch with me on [email protected] Learn more about the political parties and where they stand at Policy.nz ...6 hours ago
- National, NZ First propose tougher beneficiary sanctions, trade tax barbsIn the same week National leader admitted he would work with New Zealand First, both parties have launched new policies aimed at reducing the number of people on benefits. Both take a hardline approach, though are significantly differ. While National’s proposal would introduce a tiered, traffic light framework at which ...6 hours ago
- The golden girl returns
Tayla Bruce has gone from a teenager fan with an NZ fern in her hair to world champion in bowls. Angela Walker tells her remarkable story “A true full circle moment,” is how Tayla Bruce described the surprise celebration that was put on for her at her bowls club in Christchurch. When ...6 hours ago - The rise and rise of advance votingOverseas voting opens today and advance voting starts on Monday. How influential could offshore voting be, and why are we still waiting for fiscal plans, asks Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Just ...6 hours ago
- NZ’s Green Party is ‘filling the void on the left’ as voters grow frustrated with Labour’s c...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priya Kurian, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Waikato The Green Party has run a strong campaign. With a 14.2% share in the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll, up by 1.9 percentage points since the previous poll, that is more ...7 hours ago
- Election 2023 updates: All the latest developments on 27 SeptemberOverseas voting for this year's general election starts today, with people having up until Election Day to cast their ballots. ...7 hours ago
- Māori leaders' debate ricochets from one hot button to next
Aaron Smale tuned in to TVNZ’s Kaupapa Māori Debate which heard from Māori from each of the main parties. He didn't find a lot to get excited about. Comment: It was a shambles but it was also telling. None of the political parties seem to have any coherent vision about where ...8 hours ago - Revolutionize Ocean Conservation: End Bottom Trawling And DredgingIndependent Whangarei Candidate Fiona Green thinks bottom trawling and dredging should be phased out because they have significant negative impacts on marine ecosystems. "Bottom trawling involves dragging a large net along the seafloor to catch fish ...8 hours ago
- Welfare experts group members criticise National's beneficiary policyMembers of the 2019 Welfare Expert Advisory Group have rejected National's claim their report backs up the party's harsher sanctions for some jobseekers. ...8 hours ago
- Will The Next Government Do Enough For Breast Cancer?Ahead of the election, Breast Cancer Foundation NZ has laid down a challenge to political parties to tackle breast cancer – the leading killer of New Zealand women under 65. The charity surveyed the seven biggest parties, asking them to adopt the ...9 hours ago
- The power and potential of the overseas vote in Election 2023Overseas voting in the general election opens today. Could those in Australia decide the winner? One million New Zealanders currently live overseas, representing 20% of New Zealand’s resident population and eligible voters. Almost 70% of our offshore citizens reside in Australia, which could mean up to half a million votes ...9 hours ago
- The hottest seat in the country? Why Wellington Central is a race unlike any otherIn the heart of a politically charged city, a high-stakes election battle is unfolding between three highly impressive candidates with significant political potential, all almost perfectly tied in the polls. With the Beehive at its centre, the symbolic importance of Wellington Central is obvious: it’s the home of the government, ...9 hours ago
- The no-brainer of removing extra tax on women and ethnic minorities
The Greens have policies on reducing pay gaps, but Act thinks employers and employees should determine contracts ...9 hours ago - Making our drinking water safe
The more we know, the more it costs when it comes to delivering water. With new discoveries about bugs come new technologies to deal with them, and it often adds up to more than councils can afford. In the 1950s, supplying drinking water was simple: find your cleanest ...9 hours ago - A big Labour collapse would make McAnulty vulnerable in Wairarapa
Voters skew conservative and older, but MP's local and national profile make the seat a tough nut to crack for National ...9 hours ago - Daily crossword, Wednesday 27 September
...9 hours ago - Shock claim: people reading NZ fiction
An annual report on the state of New Zealand fiction as something that people actually want to buy About 18 months ago, I wrote a piece for Newsroom that, along with plugging our inaugural Allen & Unwin Fiction prize, lamented the sorry state of New Zealand fiction sales at ...9 hours ago - How the Greens have supercharged their campaign
The Green Party is on track for its best electoral result ...9 hours ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 27 September
Loading...(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...10 hours ago - NZ election 2023: Exposing National leader Christopher Luxon’s Māori health falsehood in debateANALYSIS: By Ella Stewart, RNZ News longform journalist, Te Ao Māori National Party leader Christopher Luxon made claims about health outcomes that were clearly false. Why was he left unchallenged? In the TVNZ leaders’ debate last night, Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins had a testy exchange over Māori healthcare. Hipkins ...14 hours ago
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Good to see this Canterbury coal mine preparing to close.
Coal Mine Appeals Hard-Hitting Decision on Closure and Remediation | Newsroom
Hopefully Forest and Bird actually get this government to reverse its proposed exceptions to the wetland protection rules in the 2020 National Environmental Standard (NES-F), which gives generous carveouts for coal mining, dumps, and quarrying.
Toby Manhire reviews Andrea Vance's book on the Nats (includes link to 55 min podcast I have not listened to). Sounds a bit more promising than I thought. https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/18-07-2022/we-didnt-know-how-nasty-it-got-andrea-vance-on-nationals-long-nightmare
Wonder which party Board member leaked her the report?
Extending the petrol tax cut and half price public transport into next year must be considered a very smart political move by the Labour government and puts the next move onto National.
Does National support it and by implication support what they have always labelled Labour's "excessive spending" or do they oppose it and show their true colours – the party that cares little for the poor and disadvantaged – and risk alienating the many voters who are thinking hard of returning to National?
I work in public transport and have had many discussions with people about the half price fares. I always thought that they would continue past August 31 because there is evidence that passenger numbers have increased significantly.
Mike the Lefty, yes I believe they have laid down the gauntlet for National.
Do the Nats moan and challenge, or pass the baton to Seymour the mouth?
Cost savings for those who use regular Public Transport appear to be significant in their budgets, plus this is targeting the correct groups.
Those with gas guzzlers are having to face a truer cost and the growing uptick in EVs perhaps is partly driven by the realisation that the change is supported and personally cost efficient.
National have looked to have had a perceived "Decent Leader" bounce, which is dropping away as people listen closely to the clumsy slogans watch the inept behaviour, and take note of positions on key issues and negative comments made.
The offered tax cuts have had their impact and sound hollow and stale, as experience has shown they are not a total answer as they do not take care of two large issues.
In a talk, their Leader said "everyone was over covid" and I then wondered whether he believed in climate change. The advertising about him says he takes it seriously. Where is the proof of that? When has he commented on actual problems? Like the recent flooding?
I have heard him say he thought people "were over this Government" quoting early polls.. Well the people in his circles may be, and he has made plain he thinks he can do things better. The hubris is amazing. Those few remaining nasties and a crop of newbies will do better? Tui!!.
Andrea Vance's Book will no doubt confirm some events and attitudes. It is plain they are not considering those who take Public Transport.
Steve Braunias provides an entertaining take on Vance's book. Blue Blood
http://www.newsroom.co.nz/national-the-autopsy
Braunias' take on Blue Blood is very good. If I found the book lying somewhere, I'd thumb through it 🙂
Exquisite review from Braunias. Good reviews from real writers are sometimes a lot better than the thing being reviewed. That's the case here.
I was just coming back to add that. He is a far sharper writer than she will ever be.
Wonderful review – thanks Scotty.
Tova finds a way to make the book about Labour: https://www.todayfm.co.nz/home/opinion/2022/07/this-book-about-national-shows-how-bad-things-can-getlabour-should-read-it.html
Is it too late to stop climate change?
The future is clear, extreme heat, no water.
And we have a new term for it.
If you haven't got air conditioning at home. Get it.
"If you haven't got air conditioning at home. Get it."
Therein lies the problem
Indeed.
If you have the space, a clay soil and the will, dig a little cave. When the temperature gets too high, crouch in it 🙂
If you have the space, a clay soil and the will, dig a little cave. When the temperature gets too high, crouch right over, and kiss your arse goodbye.
🙂
Never.
Give.
Up.
I will never give up.
No surrender
If your solution, for those who can't afford air conditioning, is to dig a hole in the mud to crawl into. I fear that you have.
The planet cant afford the air conditioning
I know.
Not without completely decarbonising our supply chain, transport and energy systems, and agriculture, at least.
'Rational' behaviour producing the outcome we seek to avoid….its complicated (reductionism helps unscramble it)…yet another paradox
Ironically air conditioning could also be the thing that turns public sentiment to doing something about climate change. On the day when a lot of people somewhere can't survive (as in die) without air conditioning, and the power supply fails. If this happens in a city it will be tragic, and messy.
However I suspect that the outcome will be a bigger power supply…
and our near neighbour a likely candidate
Mostly too dry, probably wouldn't get humid enough. And most of the tropics, while humid, doesn't quite get hot enough for the Wet Bulb to go over 35º. I'd pick the USA Midwest, Chicago came close in 1995
https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/5td0kc/badgerys_creek_in_western_sydney_had_a_wetbulb/
Wouldnt rule it out
Not given up. Too busy digging.
Keep digging.
Not too stupid an idea. It has been surmised that the reason mammals survived the Chixulub impactor, while non-avian dinosaurs did not, is because the small mammals of the time were burrowers. And also nocturnal, the only time they came above ground was at night.
This could be the future of humanity in the humid tropical zones where day time temperatures above ground might regularly go above 35C wet bulb temperature.
NZ will be well placed to farm camels. Nile perch for the aquaculture industry. Oz should move into spice – Shai Hulud will love the outback.
It's a government requirement on all rental properties.
Safe and warm people.
Technically not….heating is a requirement as is ventilation….practically that usually means a heat pump which can also operate as an air conditioner, but air conditioning is not required per se.
Have you been through the HNZ standard rental agreement recently?
All the requirements are there in black and white. More than one heater, specify age of heat pump, materials and age of insulation on ceiling, wall and floor, vent extractors, multiple other detailed requirements. You can't make a heat pump go without power.
btw my rentals all have heat pumps, full wrap insulation, full double glazed, and HVAC, just to keep it a crispy.
Thats got little to do with air conditioners.
Actually there's in practicality very little difference.
Heat Pumps vs Air Conditioners | Compare Heat Pump vs AC (carrier.com)
You know you can set them to cool the air, yeah?
have you read the thread?…all well and truely covered, and of course heat pumps are not the only acceptable heating solution to meet HHS but most pertinent of all, air conditioning is NOT required.
Have a look at the heating days/vs cooling days across sites in NZ.
Some such as Invercargill have 2 cooling days vs 160 heating days.Canterbury towns have the largest temperature range (and the lowest humidity)
https://www.degreedays.net/
Enter weather station number for your location.
Invercargill?….no surprises there however i will note that those that have heat pumps that I know appear to have them running permanently ..summer ,winter, no matter the conditions. I happily admit I hate them with a passion but that is not the basis of my argument….rather than promoting the use of energy and consumer products (esp imported) we should be seeking to reduce energy consumption.
I only use them at night ( Just turned on as air t was 19.5c today) in winter,The house is designed so winter sun enters house,tiled conservatory,open doors and heat flows and surfeit protects from direct summer heat.During summer I open windows on south side (shaded) and heat moves to cool zone.
I agree we should be seeking to decrease energy consumption,it is known for example that temperature decreases in large urban centres over the weekends and holidays (Tokyo over 1c) mostly due to AC etc (urban centres also cool overnight more slowly then rural due to slow radiative cooling)
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/7/074003
Air temp was about that here too….unfortunately at around 100kph
Easterly at the coast,little wind
You've obviously never experienced a 30 degree Canterbury summer day
Obviously…
…you have no idea what you speak of.
Here's how not to freak out Jenny.
1. we waste a lot of water. So water restrictions at this point are probably manageable (haven't looked at the details).
2. going forward, there is a range of tech we don't use currently in the mainstream that conserves water. We can integrate that.
3. air conditioning is one of the drivers of climate change. See https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world
4. there is a hierarchy of sustainability that says start with passive tech before looking at high tech. Many cultures have developed ways of living in hot climates before industrialisation, we can learn from them.
5. the heatwave in the UK is a civil emergency, treat it as such rather than an inconvenience that can be solved by air con. Change plans, stay at home if possible and if this is going to be cool enough. Give portable air con to the people that really need it. Use passive tech to cool the body.
6. behaviour change is as important as tech solutions.
7. going forward, plant trees, many many trees, create microclimates in all areas where humans live. Think about wildlife too. Restore ecologies. Plants keep local environments cooler, think like a forest. This needs some careful planning around other extreme weather events, so employ whole systems thinkers to do this.
We're way past all that.
I have been freaking out about this for more than 2 decades.
We need to urgently decarbonise now.
Sweet. Please stop advocating for an increase in air con.
people need to know how to change, not just that change is necessary
consider that the government insists in air con for heating in their warmer home policies. At least were feasable.
What sort of heating do you think in NZ would work on both islands that does conserve on energy and does not fuck up the environment?
what is needed in Southland and Otago is different from Auckland or Wellington. Rural vs urban and so on. Depends on the house, how sunny or shady, the weather over the year etc. There's no one size fits all.
I consider heat pumps fairly problematic in parts of Otago and Southland (and other places) because if there is a power outage, eg in a big storm in winter, then people have no way to keep themselves warm. I would never live without a wood burner. But we should be mandating (lol that word) very high efficiency wood stoves like those used in Europe, to lessen the amount of firewood burned and to protect air quality. We should also be planting firewood and managing that forestry sustainably. We should also be mandating grid tied solar. Multiple solutions and designed for local conditions and situations are best for resiliency eg solar power, solar hot water, a wood burner and mains power.
Air con for cooling can be replaced by passive cooling techniques, in builds and retrofitted. We should be planning this now (along with all the other things)
All the new builds are regulated by region already, and are heading to get stronger.
Consultation document – Building Code update 2021 (mbie.govt.nz)
In rural towns you combine wood fire air pollution with car pollution and you get deaths by the thousands. The regulations have gone up and up but
Air pollution: Invercargill revealed as deadliest centre – study | RNZ News
In Otago and Southland a new build with two heatpumps and underfloor heating is a minimum. Few are putting in chimneys for burners.
Did you miss this bit in my comment?
Invercargill isn't a rural town, it's a city, and has its own set of problems to resolve.
They have re-regulated wood burning stoves across Canterbury and Otago and Southland for quite a while, and the air pollution is still killing people.
Home heating measures in my clean air zone | Environment Canterbury (ecan.govt.nz)
Approved heating appliances | Otago Regional Council (orc.govt.nz)
Southland wood burner ban coming into effect | RNZ News
However one defines a city, burning wood for heat in Canterbury, Otago or Southland isn't good for you and the bans on different burners have increased steadily since 2015. Sure, the romance has gone, but it's pretty much like trying to make a clean combustion engine.
NZ doesn't routinely use high efficiency woodburners. We're just not very good at this yet.
The car industry reacts the same way.
space heating with wood can be carbon neutral. ICE cars can't. You seem to not be aware what a high efficiency wood stove is.
What's the plan for people in Te Anau if the big one hits mid winter and there's no power for a month? Mass evacuation? Or a major snow storm in Central Otago that takes out power for a week? Do you think these things won't happen? We might get lucky and the Alpine Fault shifts in summer I guess. But the big storms and power losses are in our future. And much more frequent, which is the kicker. We think we can just fix everything, but as events get more frequent this becomes harder economically and technically (and it's likely we will experience materials shortages as well).
Is it the home-fires killing people in these cities … or the diesel fuelled trucks driving through the city wot dun it?
Wooly jumpers.
wooly mammoths, heat a village
The poor elephant-seal hunters of the sub-Antarctic islands made their homes from driftwood and heated them by burning great slabs of elephant-seal blubber in their fire-places.
Let's hope it doesn't descend to that!
The change that is necessary is for the government to stop issuing permits for coal mining on Crown land in Huntly.
The change that is necessary is for the government to stop importing coal from Indonesia.
The change that is necessary is for the government to switch funding for more motorways into public transport.
The government need to ban intensive dairying conversions on traditional cropping lands unsuitable for it that lead to massive nitrate pollution of our waterways as well as increase our carbon emissions.
The government need to stop subsidising carbon intensive industries like Air New Zealand to the tune of $billion and start encouraging surface travel instead.
Until our leaders can stop being hypocrites, the only option for the rest of us is to cope with the symptoms the best we can.
That's utterly defeatist, attitudinally and strategically. If we wait for governments we will lose. Governments and other leaders are people like us. Further, governments are dependent upon voters in short term cycles. If NZ doesn't want radical change, Labour can't force that.
Your position also strikes me as a cop out. Oh, we can't do anything until the government does. Bollocks. We can all do things now, all of us. Many things. The choices on what to do are better now than they used to be. No way am I going to wring my hands and give up on action just because Labour are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
There is a lot we can do to ease the worst of the effects especially if a we look towards how people adapted to hot climates before the advent of air con. For example the limewashed white homes in Greece. A number of years ago I read a paper advocating that we look to paint / use reflective colors on the rooves in densely populated areas as way of reducing the heat island effect. That's something we should be moving towards, Likewise we should be further reducing the amount of paved surface around housing and cities (I count fake lawn as paved) in exchange for more landscaped space to help reduce the heat island effect. No doubt we could also design with the prevailing winds in mind to maximise opportunties for ventilation.
Ventilation design doesn't need to utilise prevailing winds.
Design can use glazing and thermal mass to create hot air, as that air rises and releases through higher openings, it can pull air from vents lower down on the cooler side of the house.
A friend built a house in Spain using this passive method:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombe_wall
Thermal mass building, and solar design can also reduce temperature fluctuations.
Again, we are several tens of thousands of homes short. what sort of heating could be used in NZ to allow to build affordable which already is something that is barely happening.
The coldest i lived through was – 33 in Germany 1986 (my windows were frozen shut as were the doors of the s-bahn and buses 🙂 and -25 in France in 95 (i learned how to chop firewood real fast!) the warmest somewhere around 40+ in the South of France IN 2003 (which was worse then the cold). So houses build with cold in mind and central gas heating in Germany, and River Stone build houses with huge fire places in France. Insulation alone is never going to fix it alone, and in order to be energy efficient you would have to replace most housing the world over. And i can not see that happening.
In NZ we can not even include planting to provide shade barriers in new settlements. These settlements like in OZ will be future ovens in which without air con no one will actually be able to live. Concreted over, no shade belts, and air cons blowing out hot heat into the already super hot outside.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/435088/parts-of-sydney-may-be-too-hot-to-live-in-within-decades
some problems are easier to solve than others. It's possible to retrofit many houses in NZ to make them warmer and more energy efficient. Yes, space heating is still needed.
Much of the problems you name are political and social not technological.
Inflation at 7.3 percent (32 year high).
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-inflation-at-7-3-percent-32-year-high/
higher end….RBNZ brow will be furrowed
The fuel and pt subsidy contributed around -.5%,which would extend for the rest of the year. Council Rates rise season is coming in the next 1/4,which affects both home owners and SME more,that was deemed problematic by the RBNZ .
In this release we get new housing building costs of 18%,which will also affect the RBNZ policy statement,this needs to be wacked to ensure stability and confidence in the construction industry.
Overall it seems that cost control is evident,as tradeable inflation is not that high considering the nz$ has depreciated 15% y on y.
Highest rate since 1990 a whole generation not prepared for price shocks,financial risks, also the most fragile generations
i suspect there will be significant lag in tradeable numbers, although commodities are falling considerably there will be a premium for the volatility and I expect our dollar will continue its downward trajectory….also Chinas output looks to be at serious risk.
Interesting times?
We have 2 good defensive capabilities.
First our electricity prices are not so sensitive to overseas commodity prices.The low cost of electricity over the last 1/4 for large users has been at the bottom of ranges for the last 2 years.
Second we have a good ability to produce fresh low cost food staples,which despite handwaving are readily available.
That is true…countered by the fact we import just about everything else, even a surprising amount of food.
We shouldnt starve or freeze…..fingers crossed.
At this juncture, it would be wise to grow more vegetables nearby to our populated areas, yes?
probably…though I expect we already do, those that we can.
Maybe I meant, we should grow more vegetables for our populated areas.
Prepare for trouble. Get dedicated crops into the ground.
This is not a drill (imo).
I am just reading about it now…..my sense is we have been but that may be changing….and as to timing, I dont possess a crystal ball, so its never too soon.
Not as good as I had thought from the sounds of it…
https://www.hortnz.co.nz/assets/Environment/National-Env-Policy/JR-Reference-Documents-/KPMG-2017-NZ-domestic-vegeable-production-.pdf
Productive land loss, population growth and lack of strategy before we even consider climate change….
and then theres the plankton
We may have the capacity to produce fresh low cost food staples – but that's not the reality that consumers are seeing. Fresh food prices (including locally grown/produced food) are continuing their upwards spiral.
Partly because of increased export demand/prices (if Fonterra can sell their butter for $7 kilo overseas, why would they sell it for $5 in NZ). And partly because of increased production costs (diesel for deliveries is only one). And partly because of weather (flooding, drought, etc.).
I buy fruit and veges from the local market gardens,I buy seasonal gluts,where most are around $1 -2 kilo at present,say spuds ,onions,pumpkin and kumara.Apples 1$ and kiwifruit $2 are around best value at the moment and I supplement from my deep freeze with berries ( pyo) and capsicums and courgettes brought during the autumn price lows.
Mince at my local butcher is still under 10$ a kilo,dairy which is tradeable is subject to o/s pricing,but Milk in canterbury is still cheap.
Pretty different living in Auckland – have not seen any veges at $1-2/kg. Unless you're rural – there are no real farmer's markets – the market prices for fruit and veges are pretty comparable with the greengrocers (though may be slightly cheaper than the supermarkets). Of course, you have to get to the not-really-a-farmers-market. A separate trip probably wipes out whatever gains you might have made.
I buy my veges from the local Chinese food market. The price is probably pretty similar, but the quality and choice are better than the supermarket.
Butcher prices are pretty much equivalent with supermarkets at best. They're often more expensive – as they're pretty niche – appealing to the conscious consumer. Our Mad Butcher (long gone) is much mourned & I don't know if the remnants of the chain offer the original pricing benefits.
Dairy is the same price wherever you shop (generally slightly cheaper at Pak n Save – especially if you look out for the specials)
I too, use my freezer (also preserving for tomato passata and jams). But am conscious that being able to stock up when ingredients are 'cheap' is a privilege not everyone shares.
BTW – have had no success in freezing courgettes – they just go mushy – how do you do it?
"if Fonterra can sell their butter for $7 kilo overseas, why would they sell it for $5 in NZ".
Because the rely entirely upon NZ for every cent they make?
Because they trade on being "NZ"
Because they have a responsibility to support the country that supports them?
Because they are exporting New Zealand produce??
Yes?
No??
If you want it to happen, you're going to have to legislate (or provide some form of economic incentive). Businesses are in business to make money. They don't make money by selling at a discount.
I'm not sure how Fonterra is relying on me for every cent it makes. If you're arguing that they are benefiting from the NZ environment, then look at making them pay for that – but, be aware that the price of the end product will go up.
Virtually every exporter trades on being "NZ" – and none of them sell their product at cut price in NZ. NZ wine, for example, is a good deal cheaper in London than it is in my local supermarket.
Belladonna – when businesses are in business to make a profit but do so with no concern for the society that supports them, and indulge in anti-social profit-gouging, they thoroughly deserve to be called out as public enemies.
Unfortunately, the media are now profit-driven, and are careful not to displease the marketers who run them (- even our 'state-owned' media are SOEs and now have bloody marketers as CEO..)
It appears to me that we have no hope of a sane system.
I can see Grant and Adrian asking in unison.
"Hey Clint! Is this good or bad?"
Grant and Adrian dont need Clint to tell them that grass is green.
Very furrowed
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU2207/S00254/reserve-bank-announces-new-standing-repurchase-facility.htm
Is this the latest plan for dealing with inflation? A new kind of savings account for banks. Thats certain to fix inflation.
An indication of the level of concern I'd suggest
Unfortunately, this might be another nail tapped into the Government’s coffin so big that even John Key could drive it in, after a few go’s.
https://thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/key-hammer-nail.mov
I think those building skills,may be useful for when the new housing sector corrects (as it should) and John and Max get exposed to full service from the Chow Bros.
There's also Gibbston Valley, varying stories about the Key's level of involvement but JK was very much the face of it at launch. Marketing is by Hamish Walker.
It's just down the road and unfortunately it's not Millbrook. Windy, cold and confined. I'd put it as a very likely candidate for a tits up with severely burnt contractors and buyers.
Is roading an issue there?
Serious roading works getting a safe entry off the State Highway into the development, they've been working on that for 6 months. Then there's all the development infrastructure and golf course. Lot of capital expenditure before they get any settlements. And got a long way to go before it looks like somewhere to build, just a fancy intersection under construction and a lot of gear and piles of dirt at present. But they can't do much until they've got an access.
Quite a few re-sales turning up already on TradeMe too.
There will be a large blowout on the infrastructure earthworks,wait to they get an updated pricing on services.
Yeah, lots of projects around here have wound back until costs stabilise, even some of the Government funded Covid recovery projects.
It's a bit of a local sport this time every cycle to pick the projects that are going go tits up. Really a survival strategy, as if you get caught up in one, there's several each cycle and they're usually big, you're in for a change in circumstances.
What do you think of the QLDC joint venture Lakeview?
10 hectares is a lot even for Queenstown.
Lakeview Development (qldc.govt.nz)
Funny you ask about that, we've been looking at that a lot lately as they've picked up our old premises as a sales office. Landlord will be happy, suspect she's picked up the sales contract / listing as well.
My view is that it's on the right track and will find a very receptive market. I thought the form of it was quite modest and fits well There have been lots of proposals, some lower and greater footprint, others quite tall with lots of space, along with some very high density ideas. Hopefully it will be done professionally and the project can keep to it's aims
It's not really that ideal for permanent or family living, but a lot of people who come here don't want that, they want to be here for 6 months – 2 years and partake of what the place offers, and the CBD with it's dining and entertainment is very much part of that. Also appeal to the cribbie market in Sydney and Melbourne.
This medium residence tenure is a big part of the town, and has been for ever. Sometimes totally intentional, come here for a year or so with no intention of settling long term, sometimes a bit forced. Both groups spend more in the community than they earn, which is what makes the place go 'round.
It's been rather controversial as it's on the old camping ground, so is a bit triggering to those that want to go back to the 70's and pull up in the Holden or Chrysler and have a picnic, but in reality is catering to the 2022 version of the same demographic.
There's a lot of under capitalised private land around it too, so it will set a tone for future development up there.
Potential downside is what that amount of residential in Tāhuna will do to the traffic, but they will live there, most of our traffic issues are from people who don't live in Tāhuna driving in to have dinner and party. Taumata residents can walk in, but might need a taxi home, it's a bit of a hike with the wobbly boot…
Good to hear the perspective thankyou Graeme.
AirBNB then?
The people who built the old cribs at Lakeview in the 40's and 50's were farmers and business people form Southland and Otago. They would have been the 1% of their little world south of the Waitaki.
Over time others have come in, initially from the north, and built larger and more opulent properties, elsewhere in Whaktipu, far surpassing the financial abilities of the descendants of the original Lakeview cribbies, although there's some seriously well set up retired Southland Farmers around the place.
Now we will have another cohort of people coming in and buying holiday houses (cribs) on the same piece of land who will partake in the energy of Whakatipu in the same way as the cribbies of the 50's, and people have for 800 years.
How's the food-security issue looking for Q-town, Graeme?
An Alpine shake, a severance of the supply-lines from the north?
All rosey?
Pretty much the same as Southland Robert. Pretty much everything comes by road from the north there too.
Considerably bigger issue is electricity, only one line in, and through some tricky geology. That could fuck up our day with a lot less than the Alpine Fault, there's several a lot closer. At least food demand will reduce somewhat if one of the pylons falls off the hill. In the event you should be prepared for refugees, there's less than 5% local generation so life in Whakatipu will get hard as we loose the ability to provide and dispose of our water.
Fortunately it's owned by Transpower, who put a lot of effort into maintenance, rather than Aurora who've got a stadium to pay for. A fair lodge of our ORC rates go to that as well.
If anyone was of a mind to monkey wrench the place that powerline would be a good place to start.
A good shake along Nevis – Cardrona could require some quick decision making at SDC too, if something comes down in kawarau Gorge and sends Whakatipu Wai Maori back down the Mataura. Granted there would be some rapid scuttling around here as most decamp to higher ground. More refugees for Murihiku
Graeme (4.2.1.1) – apologies if this post is repeated, but I started it and it disappeared.
If the new Gibbston Valley elite subdivision/resort is on the side of the road I'm thinking it's being established, driving from Cromwell to Queenstown and back again it appears to me, there is very little sunshine if any, during the cold winter months. Even if I had the money to buy there (which I don't), it's not a place I'd want to live for that reason alone. Besides, I don't think I'd like the neighbours
Like I said, it aint Millbrook
I paid $2.57 litre for diesel today, lowest for months. My take is high fuel prices were cynical price gouging powered by Capitalism/ Businesses main mantra.. “ Never waste a good crisis “. Bastards.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/13/oil-gas-producers-first-quarter-2022-profits
You're not wrong
Time for a Windfall Tax.
You are fortunate. Where I live in Auckland diesel is still over $3/l. Why are we still being fleeced?
We were told in 2017 the government was watching the industry and would action if there was anything untoward. $0.40/l price difference, perhaps the govt should take another look ??
Another mall shooting in the US.
Perhaps not as devastating as intended because a 20yr old pulled out a pistol and shot the gunman.
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2022/07/17/greenwood-park-mall-shooting-indianapolis/65375408007/
When advocating for gun reform, there will have to be considered reasonable responses to those that point out the reduction in harm because someone else had a weapon.
Not the case in any previous situations I have seen reported. Well done finding an exception.
It just happened a couple of hours ago.
The public conversation on gun reform is happening now.
If you don't think being able to strategise to come up with a reasonable response to an inevitable pushback is worthwhile, well I'm sure you have some other convincing argument in mind…
A reasonable response would be: Not the case in any previous situations I have seen reported.
If you are head nodding with your friends, then yes.
If you are trying to persuade others, then you might need more.
The occasions when this occurs tend to be less well reported by the media – perhaps because the bloodbath is reduced (if it bleeds, it leads, is well established as a MSM mantra).
A random assortment of other examples:
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/churchs-head-of-security-says-he-killed-an-evil-not-a-human-in-taking-down-gunman/2283824/
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/crime/2017/11/25/police-discuss-rockledge-homicide-apprehension-gunman/894502001/
https://nypost.com/2017/11/06/sharpshooting-plumber-fired-shot-that-took-down-texas-church-gunman/
https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/charleston-police-shooting-victim-pulled-assault-rifle-on-party/
This is one where the gunman was tackled, rather than shot
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-15/multiple-people-shot-at-church-in-laguna-woods-o-c-sheriff-says
That's great. Quite a few others in recent years.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States#List_of_mass_shootings_(21st_century)
Look, I'm not arguing that there are more of them, or that it's a desirable outcome – but supporting Molly in pointing out that 'I've never seen any reported' is not a winning strategy in convincing anyone.
And, also, that if the shooter is shot before he goes ahead and kills large numbers of people, it's never going to be listed as a mass shooting.
True. Imagine if the shooter found it harder to get a gun in the first place..
Pretty difficult to imagine in Auckland ATM.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/two-dead-after-shooting-in-aucklands-glendene/4UEBIAPN3TCGERVCWOWMHKKGOU/
I know what you are saying Molly. Those who mount this argument in favour of not doing away with open gun ownership have not really thought it through.
There is no mana in shooting someone. It is never ever a good thing. This is why we have specific declarations of war that lift the laws about shooting another country's military ie people but dressed in a uniform. This is why we have strong laws against guns and against people randomly killing others. To justify having open slather on carrying guns because one day you might be able to kill someone else who is on a rampage …….
I might obtain a chest held grenade launcher on the basis that the Russians may leave Ukraine and arrive in south Wellington. Or perhaps I could have used it against the Italian Airforce plane landing in Chch on its way to the Antarctic. This featured in some weird anti vaxxer story.
In my mind no mana attaches to either shooter, no matter if you are gunman no 1 or gunman no 2. Not sure for GM2 if it could even be called legal self defence.
It is like when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. I was about 9 when this happened and naively thought it was a good thing that the baddy had been killed. It was then I had the rule of law and civilisations, and who and when can shoot other people explained to me by my father. I’ve never forgotten it.
However bearing mind the Rittenhouse verdict it is clear that the US has a very different view about guns and killing people.
Feds takeover of Fish & Game complete – regional councils next!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/opinion-changes-at-fish-game-nz-beneficial-for-everyone/2VQPNARETV4EZOZYPKLMM4I7VA/
Yes – it has noticeably gone corporate. Set up to be destroyed from within like Forest & Bird was. License income has never been greater – thus far not reflected in better services.
The "Dirty Dairying" campaign died in a ditch.
I thought regional councils became an arm of the Feds shortly before inception, well in Otago anyway.
F&G's tenure must be coming close to the end, they've had a pasting in environment Court and it can't be long before DOC starts quietly assuming their responsibilities
That is true, Graeme, but since then, some woke progressives have infiltrated the regional councils and caused all sorts of problems. They need expunging!
Well, you ever want to see a good example of a guy who had done dumb and criminal stuff in his background. then simply devote his remaining short life to doing good for homeless and poor Maori of the Far North, look no further than Ricky Houghton.
Northland community hero Ricky Houghton dies aged 62 (1news.co.nz)
He gave it all he got.
Relax folks former national MP (2 years) dan bidois has the solutions to inflation from his stuff soapbox.
Shelve 3 waters, health reforms, akl light rail and lotsa eco babble you'd expect to surround the key messages on 3 waters, health and public transport.
So predictable
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/07/an-unvarnished-straight-talking-working.html
Chris Trotter ponders on the appeal of foul mouthed people to some voters by looking at Donald Trump and Leo Molloy. The points are well made.
My big concern is that this type of person has really no clues about dealing with people and I shiver when I think of the mayhem that could take place in ACC. They would need a very strong CEO to keep Molloy in his place. The CE would need to expect that there may be runs at their job as well in an effort to dislodge any mild incumbent so a more 'suitable' one could be installed. No workplace needs this kind of rubbish.
We had enough of it from late 1980s to 1990s in the PS with its array of odd CEs, following the Rogernomics/Ruthenasia platforms who did not know anything about how the PS worked.
Reminds me of Louis Crimp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyH1rlSqfkA