The Climate Crisis Is Worse Than You Can Imagine. Here’s What Happens If You Try.
Peter Kalmus, out of his mind, stumbled back toward the car. It was all happening. All the stuff he’d been trying to get others to see, and failing to get others to see — it was all here. The day before, when his family started their Labor Day backpacking trip along the oak-lined dry creek bed in Romero Canyon, in the mountains east of Santa Barbara, the temperature had been 105 degrees. Now it was 110 degrees, and under his backpack, his “large mammalian self,” as Peter called his body, was more than just overheating. He was melting down. Everything felt wrong. His brain felt wrong and the planet felt wrong, and everything that lived on the planet felt wrong, off-kilter, in the wrong place.
Nearing the trailhead, Peter’s mind death-spiralled: What’s next summer going to bring? How hot will it be in 10 years?…..
……To cool down, Peter, a climate scientist who studied coral reefs, had stood in a stream for an hour, like a man might stand at a morgue waiting to identify a loved one’s body, irritated by his powerlessness, massively depressed. He found no thrill in the fact that he’d been right…..
At least she recognises the cliff we are all running towards full speed.
we patently still need people ringing the alarm bell even if they don’t know how to stop the stampede. Others know but the bell still needs to be rung.
We have lots of good people here who know all that Jennyhtgt says – no need to fill the posts repeating it. And often with that mocking, all-knowing jibe at the pollies. It is really irritating. It's better to have one rant every now and then than trailing disappointment and discontent with whoever in the government in each comment.
What we need is keeping on with the next steps being talked about at length, discussed etc as has been done with the electricity thing below. Otherwise we end up with a lot of whining, and whys, and appearing like wimps who don't know their A from their E. Citizens need to be thinking up policy, stuff that will work, and not be too expensive. And show how we can get it going, and keep on about that. And notice when someone goes OTT with plans, and notice when something good does get done. And what we think about it, is it the best thing to be done at present, or is there another way.
How we can get out of the hole we are in is paramount. And arguing for sensible things, rather than just rushing out to protest all the time. If we can;t get good stuff going and show that we are not goofs that pollies can ignore or throw nice-sounding policies that meet some kindness criteria but are not practical, we are in deep doo-doo next election.
We don't want Labour going off on a n'uclear' path and leavng their rear undefended so that our pockets get pinched by fast-fingered-financial-finaglers like the nerds in Treasury and the right-wing think tanks as before. Now we have the sharpies using their tech education to build armaments and space weapons and trying to sell us robotics because employers can't get the trained people they want to employ. Great government – look what a f..k up you made, stepping back and leaving it to business to do the thinking and organise the educated people they would want for future employees/
And look what has happened to us by leaving others to run the country while we thought we could just skive off and were relaxing thinking we had it made. That's 20th century stuff, now Labour needs people who can think about social welfare, and business at the same time.
This has turned out a rant. So I will add something else I think we need. That is all pollies will have to go through an educational program, which includes humanities and social anthropology as well as business direction, and the environment looking at dairying destruction for one and desertification and desecration of the fertile areas of the earth for minerals etc. And rehashing the idea that progress is good, and physical work and the simple life are for losers and peasants. And perhaps the government terms will be four years, and the pollies must step down and out into private life after three terms – 12 years. And we will learn how to live simply and save up for things, and how to get a house when you have saved a certain amount, just a small one but your own to get started with. Lovely first aims, of what young adults want, achievable and not never-never land. With some happiness in just being and living in a country with people who are interested in each other doing good things, and all enjoy life and work together to cope with climate change and some sort of hostilities, two inevitabilities.
How to look into the abyss, fall in, and not have an idea of how to get out? Jenny How to Get There will show us the way.
I don't know if we fall into this abyss that there is a way to get out.
But what I do know, is that BAU cannot continue in the present.
Building a bridge for bicycles costing hudreds aof millions of dollars so as not to impinge on cars having untrammelled use of an eight lane motorway in the heart of our biggest city, is BAU folly of the highest order.
Does the design for this modern folly incorporate a storm cellar, or escape tunnel inside its structure?
Hopefully by the time the agrarian sector is driving around in electric utes and tractors, Huntly will be de-commissioned. Currently Huntly provides the backup when there's no wind and / or low lake levels.
Current best looking replacement is pumped hydro storage at Lake Onslow in Otago. I say hopefully because it's a project with a few tricky aspects, top of the list being how the hell we integrate it within the current current market of four publicly listed gentailers. It's logical owner would be Contact since it would draw most of it's power from Roxburgh and Clyde at high flows, Clyde has provision for two extra turbines intended for this, but it's so big that Contact would then dominate the electricity market. It's also at the wrong end of the country, but if the bulk of generation to power the fleet comes from Manapouri (see Andre below) the transmission issues will be dealt with.
Cockies often have lots of roof space to put PV panels on. They also tend to get seriously bent over by local lines companies. They often have a large supply of what is currently a problematic waste to dispose of, that could get digested into a gas supply for powering a generator for backup.
I think there might solutions that lower costs and increase independence for cockies …
Kinda missing the point ,about nz importing coal from Indonesia!!
Typical rich.country behaviour, shut you own dirty mines/factories/ behaviours down and offshore what you can and sneak around in the shadows do dirty shit while acting high and mighty,.
This is my issue we are off shoring our emissions and patting ourselves on the back, in reality we are are likely increasing global emissions.
Its a global problem that needs global solutions, best ROI to rapidly drop emissions globally would be to focus on the devloping world stop the deforestation, build renewables etc. Lots of currently available tech would make huge difference if we deploy it globally.
On average 80% of electricity is generated from renewables. Some perspective in the arguments would be helpful. These sort of antics don’t help either.
Overheard a very irate ute owner jabbering on about Indonesian coal getting trucked to huntly at 20 loads a day yesterday, and I thought to much fb for that butter sounds like they are telling the truth.
with tiwai point smelter shutting down, there will be plenty of electricity generation up for use. and as most ev's should be charged at night(off peak) there shouldnt be much for ute owners to jabber about. hopefully petrol and diesel prices will go through the roof and the last few ute jabberers can have that to whinge about. OR, the ute owners could be pro-active(for a change) and convert there petrol utes to lpg (gee, that sounds familiar) and have clean burning energy..nah, much easier to play the victim….
A quick calculation sez Tiwai Point uses something like 5.4 billion kWhr per year. A light vehicle can go around 7 km on a kWhr. So Tiwai Point's electricity use could drive a light vehicle 38 billion km. There's around 3.6 million light vehicles in NZ, averaging around 12000 km/year, or around 43 billion vehicle kilometres annually.
So shutting Tiwai Point would almost cover swapping all light vehicles in New Zealand over to electric.
Yeah, to cover the buses, trucks, trains etc as well we'd need to get a move on with building some of the already consented wind and geothermal projects that have been shelved because of flat demand and the ever-present threat of Tiwai Point shutting and dumping all that excess power into the market.
Probably also need some hefty pumped storage,like the Onslow-Manorburn basin and/or around Lake Moawhango and the headwaters of the Ngaruroro.
Most geothermal power technologies really don't like being ramped up and down. So they're great for continuous baseload power.
Yes, wind has its intermittency problem. Hence the merit in adding substantial pumped hydro storage. Overall, wind in NZ seems to operate at around 35% capacity factor on an annual basis. That should increase as installed turbines get larger, maybe getting up to around 40% fleet average.
So to add another Manapouri's worth of generation to supply electric buses, trucks etc would require installing maybe 1800MW of wind plus pumped hydro storage, or 700ish MW of geothermal. Or do both to have enough generation capacity to completely electrify NZ land transport plus shut down Huntly and Stratford. I only got a short way down the list of consented projects and there was well over 2000 MW of wind consented, together with around 300MW of geothermal.
It's all solvable, with changes in behaviour, living within our means, utilising local and owner generation as well as national grid, electricitysector regulation. But we're not having that conversation nationally atm. Instead we're having the green tech BAU, reductionist paradigm one, where we continue to think that the world is an unlimited resource.
(and that's not even getting to the issues of how much GHGs we're emitting to go down this cul de sac).
If EVs become more prevalent, Savonius rotors make a pretty readily managed home charge option. Crunches are likely in things like battery supply and disposal however.
Biggest constraint will be transmission, most of the bulk generation is in the south, especially wind. There's also distributed generation, solar roofs with batteries. All this will need / result in a rather different electricity generation and distribution market to what we have now.
I built a semi passive house in early 90's (suspended wooden floor so not quite the full thing) and am surprised at the quiet uptake of passive principles in building design. Often not that overt but you can see designers taking opportunities that present themselves.
Lol, no way will NZ go down that path (quakes, tsunamis, economics, waste disposal, indigenous sovereignty, and a very strong anti-nuke culture in the general population).
But it would go some way to explaining why so many people aren’t talking about EVs and power generation, the hope that we will have some inexhaustable source of power in the future.
If you do a search for an electric version of whatever kind of land vehicle you're interested in, your chances of getting hits are now pretty good. Scandinavian companies seem to be leading the way, at least in wealthy western countries.
There's a variety of options for 'refueling', from quick-swap batteries, to running electricity in to longer-term job sites.
Truck ,tractors, earth movers and forestry machines will have to be hydrogen surely
Not necessarily
All the biggest earth movers on the planet are electrically powered and connected to the grid with high tension trailing power cables, which are moved every day.
Ironic really, because they are used to dig for low grade lignite. Which is used for burning in electric power stations, to power, wait for it, electric excavators, connected to the grid by high voltage trailing cables.
yeah, I didn't get what you meant by increased use. I thought you were saying that if Tiwai closed today the freed up power wouldn't be enough to replace all the gas and coal currently burned. Is that right?
Have you seen any my many comments about the numerous consented and shelved renewable energy projects? Shelved at least partly because of the ever-present threat of Tiwai Point closing and that power flooding the current market?
That’s a regulatory issue right? The market can’t do the thing that society needs right now. Although I assume you and I disagree on what projects should happen.
Your quick calculation misses transmission & distribution losses (~7%), and losses in charging the ev battery (12-15%). That's about 20% of the energy wasted.
Then there's the consideration of whether allowing business as usual mobility is the best use of Manapouri's generation, because we also have to shut down our coal & gas generation. A lot of our mobility energy consumption can be significantly reduced by providing comprehensive public transport.
Another issue not often discussed is whether there will be a good supply of reasonably priced EVs. Most other countries are not in the position of having low emission generation. If they are to reduce their fossil generation they won't have electricity for vehicle charging, so there will not be a large demand for EVs and so efficiencies of mass production will not be achieved. NZ will never have enough sales to influence that.
EVs are unfortunately not quite there yet in terms of battery technology. The reason is the charging system and the hardware that demands high waste, high environmental damage and exploitation of people. But hey, who cares, right? I mean its colonization in a different way all over again. Maybe we can sell the rubbish battery waste back to those who were exploited and give them "work" to diassemble the stuff that rich countries so eagerly buy. So lets celebrate this and encourage more of the exploitation, degradation of a continent and pat ourselves on the shoulder how good we are doing the "right" thing.
Ah yes, no thinking required, just a cocktail in hand musing over a 100K car.
Waste is still an issue. NZ has no means of dismantling, separating metals etc.
Lithium batteries are hazardous materials and regulated except in NZ. The lifetime of a battery is about 2 years and they will most likely go to landfills.
Perhaps before we sponsor those rather expensive cars for the few who can afford it, we should start "sponsoring" a disposal plant first. Because you cannot just ship the batteries like pebbles around the globe.
When it comes to a fast-moving technical topic, it's probably best to scan the first couple of pages of google results for credible up-to-date articles, rather than just clicking the first hit which might be two years out of date from a mass-market msm publisher that doesn't really understand the topic.
Here's just one of the many efforts starting up now that there are starting to be significant quantities of used ev batteries to be recycled:
When it comes to disposal, what do you think would stop the shipment of end-of-life ev batteries? They would be much higher value than recyclable plastic or paper, and those are routinely shipped all around the world. Sure, the batteries would need to be fully discharged first for safety, but that's a very easy operation.
And once more, it seems exporting a problem and not dealing with the full cycle of a product is the preferred solution. As I have mentioned, NZ has no means of recycling lithium batteries. To ship them, special permits are needed. Not from NZ but the country of destination. Never mind, its not worth getting all upset about it.
with tiwai point smelter shutting down, there will be plenty of electricity generation up for use……
Hi Woodie, Did you know that aluminium can be used as a fuel?
It has heaps of embedded electrical energy in it, and has been used for generations in fireworks and explosives.
Powered and fed into a furnace it burns hotter than coal
Better yet, when aluminium powder is burnt as a fuel it releases zero green house gas emissiions.
And it's infinitely recyclable, no need to import any more bauxite from Aussie.
We could use the existing Tiwai Smelter to re-refine it, and ship it all over the country, and then return it when it is spent, in a closed cycle.
(The energy embedded in aluminium comes from the electricity in the refining process).
Could metal particles be the clean fuel of the future?
…. hydrogen requires big, heavy fuel tanks and is explosive, and batteries are too bulky and don’t store enough energy for many applications,” says Bergthorson, a mechanical engineering professor and Associate Director of the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design at McGill. “Using metal powders as recyclable fuels that store clean primary energy for later use is a very promising alternative solution.”
Novel concept
The Applied Energy paper, co-authored by Bergthorson with five other McGill researchers and a European Space Agency scientist in the Netherlands, lays out a novel concept for using tiny metal particles – similar in size to fine flour or icing sugar – to power external-combustion engines.
Could we see the rebirth of the external combustion engine, (commonly and collectively known as steam engines), being used to power ships and trains and industrual boilers?
Could steam engine locomotives powered by aluminium powder one day be seen again on the Main Trumk Line?
Let's bring back the Kingston Flyer from retirement as a test bed. (See if it still flies.)
Refining aluminium is a pretty carbon heavy process – it relies on sacrificial carbon anodes that are cured at high temperatures for up to a month. The electricity only shifts the direction of the reaction so that the carbon reduces the alumina – the carbon still burns.
The aluminium industry produces 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
(this figure is inclusive of non-renewable electricity generation from coal and gas).
When carbon (or consumable) anodes are used, the reaction frees up the oxygen present in the alumina, but it immediately reacts with the carbon from the anode to form CO2….
Conventional carbon anodes have a limited life-span as they as ‘consumed’ during the smelting process. The oxidation (or consumption) of the carbon anode creates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions…..
The anode is used to carry the electrical energy to the cathode, which in this case is the molten aluminium bath. The anode which is connected to the electricity supply is driven into the molten aluminium which creates a high temperature arc which melts the aluminium, while eroding the anode, which has to be continually replaced.
Research is being carried out into non-eroding, or inert annodes, and/or low erosion anodes that don't bond with oxygen to form CO2. (or don't do so as much).
…..According to the IEA, 2008, “the ultimate technical feasibility of inert anodes is not yet proven, despite 25 years of research.” Additional fundamental R&D on materials is needed
However, all is not lost. coal produces 38% of green house gas emissions.
If all the coal burnt in the world was replaced with aluminium powder, and all that aluminium was reduced with renewable electricity. Even if aluminium production increased by a multiple of ten, we should still be better off.
So it’s a bit like the fabled electric utes. Introduce a car tax now, burn double to coal and the infrastructure will follow in 5 or so years time, maybe.
Wouldn't it be cheaper and quicker to convert the smelter into making aluminium fuel powder instead of ingots? All that needs to be done to create aluminium fuel power is to spray it when it is still molten.
The aluminium fuel could then be shipped around the country to replace coal in all our industrial processes, including the Huntly Power Station.
This was originally produced by mechanical means using a stamp mill to create flakes. Subsequently, a process of spraying molten aluminium to create a powder of droplets was developed by E. J. Hall in the 1920s.
Coal is a solid fuel – The combustion of coal in power plants and industrial processes is the number one source of the green house emissions responsible for global warming and climate change.
Aluminium powder like coal is a solid fuel – Aluminium powder burns hotter than coal, but unlike coal produces none of the emissions responsible for global warming and climate change.
What Are the Different Uses of Aluminum Powder?…
Rocket fuel is often made with aluminum, and many solid rocket fuels are based on chemical reactions involving this metal. In fact, this type of fuel was used to power the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle.
We do it in small as well as big parcels. My 13 solar panels will produce some 5000 kw/h annually. My Leaf will use 1600 kw/h to travel 12000 km in a year.
Note: 1 in 4 Australian homes has solar panels. NZ has 32000 homes (there are 1.9 million households in NZ) with solar power at the end of March- that's 1:60! Australia has 10.2 million households and therefore 2.5 million houses with solar panels. In 2018 it had 1.96 million so equipped.
That kind of commitment to solar energy would power a lot of EVs.
Spoke to a fellow takeaways customer last night who enquired after my Leaf. He works in a vineyard where he could see possible expansive use of electric vehicles and machinery. No interest at all from management when he raised the topic.
Yet, as he said, we have driven electric forklifts for years.
Your solar panels and 5000 kw\h annually , The low user household number is 8000kWhr – when they no longer qualify for low user daily charges
You will cetainly be taking a grid feed – during peak hours, the 'worst time'- to keep your lights on
Australia is quite unique in its solar power uptake because it has a lot of sun, well ahead of most of NZ- dont forget the shorter daylight hours in winter , and the low level of the sun in the sky
Yes Huntly has been running for some months as there is a shortage of gas capacity due to a Taranaki NG processing site having long scheduled maintenance.
The Huntly site which has a gas turbine alongside the last 2 thermal coal boilers operating has been very high output, 600MW plus – as it was originally designed for as a baseload station, not feeding in for morning and night as many other stations do. Any fossil fuel used has to pay carbon taxes on that. As well the power consumption at Auckland which is fed by medium distance lines needs a generator not far away to cover the voltage drop from long distance lines, theres a small GT at Otara plus one at Huntly ( quick start ups)
By then the biggest emitters of most of the GHGs, China, Russia, India etc will probably not even have started cutting back on emissions and coal fired power stations will be springing up everywhere. Global emissions will be accelerating and little ole NZ will be chock full of EVs and will have made absolutely no difference.
Driving a country into the ground because our leaders want to virtue signal when it will have absolutely no effect is criminal.. So when our economy and society is completely destroyed, China, India, and Russia will decide to follow our example?
Can you provide any actual evidence that our economy is being driven into the ground,? Or are you just a staunch blue team member who thinks bring their moron memes here is going get you somewhere?
If you think topping up their EVs will be front and centre of people's minds. You have just not been paying attention.
There are people alive now who will experience the biggest biosphere collapse since the Chixilube extinction event.
Scrambling for higher ground, trying to reserve a space in a storm cellar. Trying to survive frequent extreme weather events, crop failures, might be the sort of things exercising people's minds more than topping up their EV.
Vulva owners*, what say ye? I say fuck the neoliberal capture of social justice and the planet burning machine it rode in on. Also Fuck the parts of the left sanctioning this.
It is a powerful image and well done to Robert Kitchin for capturing it, particularly as Sio appears to have finished his address is leaving the stage. He's taken his glasses off, picked up his notes, it's done. This is a dangerous time for photographers because you tend to down tools as something finishes.
His assignment that day would have been quite dry, shooting people talking in press conferences. He would have done this hundreds of times and constantly wondered how to make interesting, meaningful images from such familiar and structured circumstances.
Then just as it's all over, Alan Wendt produces such a simple, human gesture which we all immediately and emotionally connect with. Very, very easy to miss, and it requires a lot of skill and experience to keep alert in those crucial moments.
High praise from me for that, but the rest of the article is utter rubbish. It's anonymous, sniffy, hurt, self-indulgent, lazy, and hypocritical. The last is what makes me quietly rage. The anonymous Stuff gallery reporters claim the Facebook pages of Ardern and Robertson "ripped off" the image and failed to attribute it properly.
Well, cry me a fucking river.
At least Ardern and Roberston's social media handlers made an attempt to credit the photographer, despite committing the terrible crime of misspelling his name. Stuff and New Zealand media have an appalling culture of not crediting photographers. They almost never attribute or caption work properly outside of their own navel-gazing organisations. I see it every single day. It happens to me more weeks than not and I don’t shit the bed over it. Stuff and others are lazy in the extreme, and for them to act all huffy in this instance is hypocrisy in the extreme.
The idea of being captured by the government gives us an allergic reaction. Holding the powerful to account is now, and will remain, a core job of journalists.
A robust statement of and for the impartiality and objectivity of NZ journalism in general and Stuff’s journalism in particular.
Powerful to account ? media babble is always about (ordinary) peoples stories, as that gets readers eyeballs which is the most important part of their business
'news' is a bad word these days , as they want to talk 'stories, engagement, perspectives, conversations' and other buzz words.
Hard news is dead! The most 'read stories' on NT Times is the recipes, which anyone can see well positioned on their digital front page.
Hint: there’s a hint in the headline as to what the article is about and it is not about recipes.
This is at the top of the piece with the complete documentary of over 38 min.
Seven children are among 17 civilians killed or injured in incidents connected to unexploded ordnance left behind on New Zealand’s firing ranges, Stuff Circuit's documentary Life + Limb reveals.
If journalism was in the pockets of government, this would never have been aired.
I assume you don’t read TS for its recipes either, but it is a good idea for improving its readership statistics
the line quoted -'Holding the powerful to account is now, and will remain, a core job of journalists'
It just isnt true , the readers of a major 'new's site like NY Times show that the recipes come first. NZ news sites are even fuller of flim flam lifestyle stories and shilling for the property industry
The newer online only places like Newsroom and Spinoff are even more directly as 'copywriters' for their business supporters. Like this sponsored piece written by the very capable Russell Brown- wheres the investigative pieces from him – no sponsors ?
I disagree with you. Stuff is not the NY Times, Newsroom, nor Spinoff although it does cross-post regularly from Newsroom.
On top of Stuff Circuit’s investigations, we’ve had NZ on Air funding for podcasts such as Once a Panther and Collapse, and for video projects including Munted and Night Shift. Production companies can also seek funding for projects that will air on Stuff, such as Kea Kids News, made by Luke Nola & Friends.
None of these are “flim flam lifestyle stories and shilling for the property industry” or recipes. Sure, those are present as well, they have to make a living too, don’t they. It is actually mentioned in the article I quoted. A news site such as Stuff will (have to) do all of the above, the good, the bad, and the ugly. They don’t cater just for intellectual snobs, Thorndon bubble, foodies, house porn addicts, or what have you.
I really don’t see how you came to this description of Newsroom as “even more directly as 'copywriters' for their business supporters”, but I guess I’ve been reading a completely different Newsroom. I can only assume that you’re referring to its partners at the bottom of the home page.
The independence of our journalism is supported by our partners in the corporate and tertiary education sectors, as well as by private donations from New Zealanders. To add your support to our independent voice, make a donation using the Press Patron platform link here.
You seem to be insinuating the exact thing that the Stuff article was countering. Just as well, I try to avoid falling in the binary trap and see things differently, so we have to agree to disagree here.
"The idea of being captured by the government gives us an allergic reaction"
Excellent – so if they can add to that an allergy to being captured by their own funders and owners, and even by the interests of the social class to which they themselves belong – then we're really getting somewhere.
Note: Stuff seems much improved since the sell-off and I'm generally OK with it. Some others, not so much.
Yes, I also like to think that Stuff has improved and that they’re not sitting on their laurels.
However, you make the same unsupported and unfounded (IMO) accusations. There seems much bias against NZ journalism and not without some reason, may I add, but some are definitely trying harder than others.
Our journalism will remain free from political or commercial influences, as our company charter enshrines. Stuff’s sources of revenue do not affect the impartiality or objectivity of our journalism, the investigations we undertake, or how we scrutinise the powerful.
“We will fiercely protect our editorial independence from commercial interests, including our own, and any political influence. Our journalists will:
[followed by 4 bullet points]
We run stories that are unfavourable to advertisers, and we freely criticise the government. It wouldn’t even enter a journalist’s head to pull their punches to protect a funder.
And here’s the most relevant bit to your accusation:
In truth, we’re not politically partisan. Media outlets overseas – notably in the UK – will endorse or align themselves with particular political parties. We don’t. New Zealand is too small for a mass-market product such as Stuff or any of our newspapers to support a political party and still attract a general audience.
On trans women’s physiological advantage when competing in women’s sports. Look at the charts in the Twitter thread. The argument is often made that tw train harder than women and that’s why they jump to top ranking when shifting to women’s categories. Does this seem likely with these figures?
Not that 'amateur' sports medicine researcher Emma Hilton again. The one that has a published research on trans women which didnt include any trans women athletes
[please provide evidence (a cut and paste with link, not just a link) to back up your claim here, so we can all know what you are talking about rather than just being left with the ad hom – weka]
It was the link you asked us to read last time , and it included the actual online paper published . I made those same comments based on actual words in the paper then, which you dismissed . Surely you read relevant parts of the paper ?
Hilton works as a research technician in another area completely from sports medicine and has had no previous research published in sports medicine so she an amateur in my opinion
Its all very well to show stuff from twitter, but as we all found out during covid self appointed experts were very common who had an academic background but no knowledge of infectious diseases and their epidemiology. A court would never allow expert witness testimony from someone who was a proven expert ON a topic
[post a cut and paste and link explaining your claim about Hilton and “published research on trans women which didnt include any trans women athletes” or you will get a short ban so you don’t derail the discussion. – weka]
I have no idea what they're referring to, I read and comment so much on TS and twitter, few people can keep all that in their head. I'm also not doing someone else's work for them.
FYI, TS is not a Court but a place for supported opinions and arguments and robust debate, and the odd joke.
Dr Emma Hilton is a developmental biologist and Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, and teaches in her field. She has a particular interest in the science of biological sex and writes and speaks about this, including in the WSJ and runs the Nettie Project supported by many scientists and academics across a range of disciplines (who obviously don't have your prejudice about cross disciplinary work).
You appear to be saying that no-one can have an informed opinion about sports medicine other than sports medicine researchers. Which is obviously a stupid position to take because it would invalidate your own (I'm assuming you're not a sports medicine researcher).
If Hilton is making bad arguments, then address them and demonstrate how they are bad. That you think her being a lowly research technician (afaik she's not) is sufficient to write off her work says something about your own views on hierarchy and power. As a non-academic, I'm much more interested in whether what she says makes sense.
Sorry for the delay but had other things to attend to
Emma Hiltons amateur status regarding sports medicine. her other contributions in publications are her specialist area of infections and such https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/emma.hilton.html
Males with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy provide a second avenue to examine training effects during testosterone suppression…
Males huh ?
It is acknowledged that the findings presented here are from healthy adults with regular or even low physical activity levels [91], and not highly trained athletes. Thus, further research is required in athletic transgender populations
The research conducted so far has studied untrained transgender women. Thus, while this research is important to understand the isolated effects of testosterone suppression, it is still uncertain how transgender women athletes [rest of quote missing]
In my view its junk science, while its not new researach undertaken and its merely a publications review, it has so many caveats that dont make it viable for drawing any conclusions about ‘transwomen athletes’
[formatting edited for clarity. Italicised emphaisis added by Ghost – weka]
Re Hilton's work, this from her twitter 2 years ago when challenged about her qualifications,
In response. Alice has the right Emma Hilton. I am currently being paid a basic wage by a colleague to bridge a funding gap after the MRC chucked back my last proposal, despite it garnering two 6s (internationally exceptional) and a 5 (internationally excellent). https://twitter.com/theAliceRoberts/status/1204737787888574464
Science funding is pretty dire right now <grumble Brexit> My scientific record is easily returnable on Web of Science, where metrics such as my h-index will demonstrate the impact of my research. I have received international prizes for my work.
I am not ashamed that I am struggling to my next funding deadline. I hope normal service will be resumed early next year 🙂
I am amazingly grateful to my colleagues, who have supported me during the first funding gap I've experienced in 15 years. They are ace. They also know what sex is 😉
Sorry, I should have spelled this out. Until this current funding gap, I was employed as a senior research fellow. This is the position my current funding application will (fingers crossed) restore to me 🙂
I get annoyed with unqualified researchers putting oar in . You seem to think shes an expert on this area and thus worth quoting her 'twitter'
Shes not even a post doc in sports medicine, which the bottom rung of the research ladder. A persons qualifications and background are important in academic research – that why their publications and university position are at very top of the paper.
Hilton is a scientist with enough expertise to comment on research. I also consider her an expert commentator on gender critical social issues and how those relate to sport. As I said, I don’t believe the only people who should be read are those with direct research experience. Eg science journalists have relevant experience to bridge between researchers and the public.
And, you seem to have misrepresented Hilton’s expertise.
What's your point? The research is looking at what physiological advantage biological males have over females, that is conferred at puberty.
Key Points
Given that biological males experience a substantial performance advantage over females in most sports, there is currently a debate whether inclusion of transgender women in the female category of sports would compromise the objective of fair and safe competition.
Here, we report that current evidence shows the biological advantage, most notably in terms of muscle mass and strength, conferred by male puberty and thus enjoyed by most transgender women is only minimally reduced when testosterone is suppressed as per current sporting guidelines for transgender athletes.
This evidence is relevant for policies regarding participation of transgender women in the female category of sport.
Seems pretty normal for researchers to suggest further research is needed. This is how science works, it builds on the work of previous research.
In my view its junk science, while its not new researach undertaken and its merely a publications review, it has so many caveats that dont make it viable for drawing any conclusions about ‘transwomen athletes’
And yet you don't explain how it is junk science or why it's not useful in the debate about whether TW should compete in all women's sports. All you've said is that it doesn't include TW, but studies on male physiology is relevant (most TW are born biologically male, most go through male puberty, and many have no or minimal medical transition), and research is still in the early stages.
Quoting results from one event at one (open entry) competition four years ago in the career of one trans athlete is called "cherry picking" and displays bias.
To show an opposite bias, one might point to the 2019 world champs where Hubbard pulled a similar weight to 2017 and came in sixth place. But that would be equally dishonest, because assuming one case to be typical of a population is stupid.
Remember this motorway that was cancelled by new government in 2018
The EWL was a $1.85 billion priority roading project of the last Government, connecting State Highway 20 at Onehunga and State Highway 1 at Mt Wellington
It was a massive vanity project , with incredible costs, of the last government, the cycling bridge – which I think is aspirational rather than practical- was about half that.
Its Open Mike isnt it , where the commenting is more free flowing
Its Open Mike isnt it , where the commenting is more free flowing
Sure it is, and when you post a flow of consciousness expect non-mind reading people to ask for clarification. I hope that’s ok with you
Essentially, what I believe you’re trying to convey here is that the walking & cycling bridge is a semi-massive vanity project or a massive semi-vanity project because, you know, it costs a lot of money.
No. I said the EW Motorway was an expensive project- twice that of the cycling bridge- that was cancelled.
Thats its relevance, is as the cost is what has 'aroused hearts and minds' over the cycling bridge.
No it didnt say 'the bridge' is a vanity project at all . Im still curious about the whole idea thus the aspirational tag.
Its easier if you leave the part about what I said to me.
The woman whom thousands of Canadians believe is their secret ruler isn’t afraid to tell her followers she’s calling for the executions of health care workers and politicians behind the vaccination rollout.
“At the firing squad, the military firing squad, you will receive not one, but two bullets on your forehead for each child that you have harmed as a result of injecting this experimental vaccine,” said Romana Didulo* to those involved in vaccination efforts in a recent video on Telegram. “So when you go home tonight, think about how many bullets.”
Tim Shadbolt facing off Deputy Mayor, in a physical challenge. Reminds me of Russia's President Putin wresting with a bear? Showing he was up to it, some years ago. Then married a young gymnast. What next for Shadbolt?
Hopefully retirement as new blood is needed for Invercargill. I am sick of hearing about the infighting that goes on in councils as it is unproductive for the region.
Tampons may need to be flushed down the toilet, and perhaps condoms too. They will both be carrying body fluids that if not disposed off quickly and correctly would be disease carriers. There isn't always a rubbish bin, and how often are they emptied?
Stop people from using wipes, ban them from supermarkets and pharmacies. People can cut up their old clothes and put them to some use instead of throwing them out when holey in one place. Use them instead of wipes, cut down waste, then thow them in a bin. Make the three-letter words fashionable language, like the four-letter ones!
Cotton tips are very useful and people will have to learn not to throw them down the toilet. Men as well as women need to learn. Many males regard all that hygiene business and carry-on about doing things right as just fussy stuff that women do.
Seems the only way to go but I think preaching about the three 'ps' and bad-mouthing for the others is the modern way. Thinking of efficiency first and foremost is the thing now. People have to be cut and moulded to fit the systems not the other way round. Makes sense – set a target, make people conform. Public service is going down the loo!
In 1979, just a couple of months into his stint with 20/20, ABC’s fledgling television news magazine, producer and documentarian Joseph Lovett was “beyond thrilled” to be assigned an interview with author James Baldwin, whose work he had discovered as a teen.
[…]
The finished piece is a superb, 60 Minutes-style profile that covers a lot of ground, and yet, 20/20 chose not to air it.
After the show ran Chase’s interview with Michael Jackson, producer Lovett inquired as to the delay and was told that no one would be interested in a “queer, Black has-been”:
I was stunned, I was absolutely stunned, because in my mind James Baldwin was no has-been. He was a classic American writer, translated into every language in the world, and would live on forever, and indeed he has. His courage and his eloquence continue to inspire us today.
Ministry of Transport spokesperson Ewan Delany said motorcycles were not considered at the start of the Clean Car Discount, because they were a small part of the emissions problem.
…
"While this vehicle segment was excluded from the initial Clean Car Standard and recently announced Clean Car Discount, it may be considered for inclusion as the scheme progresses, so that we can respond to the opportunity that new EV and low emission technologies in the motorcycle segment represent."
The scheme also excluded mopeds and motor tricycles, as well as all heavy vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes.
To me, this is odd not to say short-sighted and narrow-minded.
Why not encourage all alternatives for transport that are clean(er) while discouraging fuel cars? What is so different about a motorised 2-wheeler compared to 4-wheeler (AKA car)? Government wants to encourage cycling but not motorised 2-wheelers!? I suppose one would still require a special driver’s licence and all that.
I said it before, I reckon if e-bikes are subsidised quite a few people will make the switch. I see more and more of them around already. What’s not to like?
Possibly too much/hard for Government to handle all in one go …
This sounds like a good idea. I wonder if the countries and arms agents can give up their obssession with this horrible practice/drug. Can they go cold turkey?
World's Largest Arms Exporters:
Rank Supplier Arms Exp
(in billion TIV)
1 United States 9,372
2 Russia 3,203
3 France 1,995
4 Spain 1,232
5 Germany 1,201
6 South Korea 827
7 Italy 806
8 China 760
9 Netherlands 488
10 United Kingdom429
That is a good start to this comment. This sex thing has been around for ever, especially with winning sportsmen. It used to be talked about and then not forgotten but not become the issue it is now with the small cameras that everyone has now in their cellphones. It has now morphed into dirty, deceitful, disrespectful behaviour, and as someone has said, a matter to be bullied about and harassed and shamed. From foolish and unwise to a practice that is turning sexually naive students who are immature into porn actors and perverts with this photographic porn to blackmail and hurt others with.
What is needed in the short term I don't know. If parents concerned, and the school teachers and pupils had a formal meeting and discussed the problem and just put in words what is happening and how each speaker felt about it, and the long-term results of it, perhaps an agreement could be reached about setting a code of behaviour for individuals to keep to.
In the long term I am sure that we need some social anthopologists in the Education Department instead of thinking that all we need is to teach science, maths, and communication, and team thinking – to turn out the successful conformists of the future.
We need to teach philosophy, and how cultures build up, and what zeitgeist and leitmotif mean. We need to talk about individuals having a vision of what they want to be, and how to realise their strengths and weaknesses. And we need to teach the importance of delay of immediate gratification. That would cut out this idea of sex being a sort of drug that you have on a night out. You get blotto and anything can happen, wheee. And then when it happens everyone is shocked if someone cries rape when nobody seemed to be worrying about anything?
Where does the leadership for teaching personal standards and morality come from? Is there any talk at home/school about how to cope when temptation looms, when companions suggest a good time, no holds barred – are you up for it, to each other? Or is it boys will be boys and we don't impose rules on them, same with girls? How could a bright, intelligent girl get knifed 200 times by a man in a frenzy – of jealousy? What did she know about assessing someone's character and self-control? Who is teaching how to hold back on sex until it is something worthwhile with someone you both like and respect. That cuts right across this drift into decadence that we are in.
Think Grace Mullane and Tinder? What a dangerous past-time. No need to go puritan and extra-moralistic, just talk personal respect and standards, inner confidence, not being coerced by companions, and looking for real friends not just for the fun-loving, no-worries group.
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
'
Is it time to look into the abyss yet?
How to look into the abyss, fall in, and not have an idea of how to get out? Jenny How to Get There will show us the way.
At least she recognises the cliff we are all running towards full speed.
we patently still need people ringing the alarm bell even if they don’t know how to stop the stampede. Others know but the bell still needs to be rung.
We have lots of good people here who know all that Jennyhtgt says – no need to fill the posts repeating it. And often with that mocking, all-knowing jibe at the pollies. It is really irritating. It's better to have one rant every now and then than trailing disappointment and discontent with whoever in the government in each comment.
What we need is keeping on with the next steps being talked about at length, discussed etc as has been done with the electricity thing below. Otherwise we end up with a lot of whining, and whys, and appearing like wimps who don't know their A from their E. Citizens need to be thinking up policy, stuff that will work, and not be too expensive. And show how we can get it going, and keep on about that. And notice when someone goes OTT with plans, and notice when something good does get done. And what we think about it, is it the best thing to be done at present, or is there another way.
How we can get out of the hole we are in is paramount. And arguing for sensible things, rather than just rushing out to protest all the time. If we can;t get good stuff going and show that we are not goofs that pollies can ignore or throw nice-sounding policies that meet some kindness criteria but are not practical, we are in deep doo-doo next election.
We don't want Labour going off on a n'uclear' path and leavng their rear undefended so that our pockets get pinched by fast-fingered-financial-finaglers like the nerds in Treasury and the right-wing think tanks as before. Now we have the sharpies using their tech education to build armaments and space weapons and trying to sell us robotics because employers can't get the trained people they want to employ. Great government – look what a f..k up you made, stepping back and leaving it to business to do the thinking and organise the educated people they would want for future employees/
And look what has happened to us by leaving others to run the country while we thought we could just skive off and were relaxing thinking we had it made. That's 20th century stuff, now Labour needs people who can think about social welfare, and business at the same time.
This has turned out a rant. So I will add something else I think we need. That is all pollies will have to go through an educational program, which includes humanities and social anthropology as well as business direction, and the environment looking at dairying destruction for one and desertification and desecration of the fertile areas of the earth for minerals etc. And rehashing the idea that progress is good, and physical work and the simple life are for losers and peasants. And perhaps the government terms will be four years, and the pollies must step down and out into private life after three terms – 12 years. And we will learn how to live simply and save up for things, and how to get a house when you have saved a certain amount, just a small one but your own to get started with. Lovely first aims, of what young adults want, achievable and not never-never land. With some happiness in just being and living in a country with people who are interested in each other doing good things, and all enjoy life and work together to cope with climate change and some sort of hostilities, two inevitabilities.
I don't know if we fall into this abyss that there is a way to get out.
But what I do know, is that BAU cannot continue in the present.
Building a bridge for bicycles costing hudreds aof millions of dollars so as not to impinge on cars having untrammelled use of an eight lane motorway in the heart of our biggest city, is BAU folly of the highest order.
Does the design for this modern folly incorporate a storm cellar, or escape tunnel inside its structure?
The answer is blowing in the wind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58XWF6B3AA
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444472/new-zealand-s-use-of-coal-for-electricity-generation-surges
It's good to know that when us cockies buy all these ev Utes well have clean green power for them 😏
See a coal mine. Shut it down.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/23/842807177/pandemic-shutdown-is-speeding-up-the-collapse-of-coal#:~:text=Since%20the%20coronavirus%20hit%20the%20U.S.%2C%20coal%20mines,a%20coal%20analyst%20at%20the%20firm%20Wood%20Mackenzie.
Hopefully by the time the agrarian sector is driving around in electric utes and tractors, Huntly will be de-commissioned. Currently Huntly provides the backup when there's no wind and / or low lake levels.
Current best looking replacement is pumped hydro storage at Lake Onslow in Otago. I say hopefully because it's a project with a few tricky aspects, top of the list being how the hell we integrate it within the current current market of four publicly listed gentailers. It's logical owner would be Contact since it would draw most of it's power from Roxburgh and Clyde at high flows, Clyde has provision for two extra turbines intended for this, but it's so big that Contact would then dominate the electricity market. It's also at the wrong end of the country, but if the bulk of generation to power the fleet comes from Manapouri (see Andre below) the transmission issues will be dealt with.
Huntly provided that backup in the first three months of this year – we burned more coal for electricity in the past ten years due to low lake levels! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/climate-change-new-zealand-burns-most-coal-for-electricity-in-nearly-a-decade/MH6J3LMMFMMHRY2TH44G2PJSRU/
Maybe we should nationalise Contact, thus taking it out of the market.
Just before Onslow appeared in the media Contact's share price took a bit of a spike. May have been related… maybe not
Cockies often have lots of roof space to put PV panels on. They also tend to get seriously bent over by local lines companies. They often have a large supply of what is currently a problematic waste to dispose of, that could get digested into a gas supply for powering a generator for backup.
I think there might solutions that lower costs and increase independence for cockies …
Kinda missing the point ,about nz importing coal from Indonesia!!
Typical rich.country behaviour, shut you own dirty mines/factories/ behaviours down and offshore what you can and sneak around in the shadows do dirty shit while acting high and mighty,.
We're starting to be like Europe.
This is my issue we are off shoring our emissions and patting ourselves on the back, in reality we are are likely increasing global emissions.
Its a global problem that needs global solutions, best ROI to rapidly drop emissions globally would be to focus on the devloping world stop the deforestation, build renewables etc. Lots of currently available tech would make huge difference if we deploy it globally.
On average 80% of electricity is generated from renewables. Some perspective in the arguments would be helpful. These sort of antics don’t help either.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/121980237/meridian-involved-in-undesirable-trading-situation-says-electricity-authority-in-preliminary-decision
Overheard a very irate ute owner jabbering on about Indonesian coal getting trucked to huntly at 20 loads a day yesterday, and I thought to much fb for that butter sounds like they are telling the truth.
How will we power 2 million evs in 10 years? .
How will we power 2 million evs in 10 years? .
Who cares?
Time to stop playing games.
As someone who will put their body in front of the diggers if they try to dam another South Island river, I care, a great deal.
"How will we power 2 million evs in 10 years? ."
I think we can safely say we wont be.
Yep
I concur with that.
Even with the rebate, most of us still won't be able to afford them.
The infrastructure for them is not there.
Even if it was there, it would struggle to cope with 2 million of them.
Only vastly expanded public transport network could be converted to electricity at a speed and a cost that will make a difference.
Four for the price of one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVXWGBgYj3M
with tiwai point smelter shutting down, there will be plenty of electricity generation up for use. and as most ev's should be charged at night(off peak) there shouldnt be much for ute owners to jabber about. hopefully petrol and diesel prices will go through the roof and the last few ute jabberers can have that to whinge about. OR, the ute owners could be pro-active(for a change) and convert there petrol utes to lpg (gee, that sounds familiar) and have clean burning energy..nah, much easier to play the victim….
Do you have the numbers on what Tiwai uses compared to EV use? Is that more of a guess or hopeful thinking?
A quick calculation sez Tiwai Point uses something like 5.4 billion kWhr per year. A light vehicle can go around 7 km on a kWhr. So Tiwai Point's electricity use could drive a light vehicle 38 billion km. There's around 3.6 million light vehicles in NZ, averaging around 12000 km/year, or around 43 billion vehicle kilometres annually.
So shutting Tiwai Point would almost cover swapping all light vehicles in New Zealand over to electric.
(repeated from this 2019 comment: https://thestandard.org.nz/100-carbon-free-power-generation/#comment-1631961)
Ta! So interim partial supply but not enough for trucks, buses, trains, industry and increasing population.
Yeah, to cover the buses, trucks, trains etc as well we'd need to get a move on with building some of the already consented wind and geothermal projects that have been shelved because of flat demand and the ever-present threat of Tiwai Point shutting and dumping all that excess power into the market.
Probably also need some hefty pumped storage,like the Onslow-Manorburn basin and/or around Lake Moawhango and the headwaters of the Ngaruroro.
Wind ?
During last week at the morning peak the wind output was around 15% of its capacity in NI ( which is 700MW)., its currently at 23% – which is typical.
geothermal is more like 80% of capacity which is typical as they have to allow for reserve generation which can be accesed quickly
Most geothermal power technologies really don't like being ramped up and down. So they're great for continuous baseload power.
Yes, wind has its intermittency problem. Hence the merit in adding substantial pumped hydro storage. Overall, wind in NZ seems to operate at around 35% capacity factor on an annual basis. That should increase as installed turbines get larger, maybe getting up to around 40% fleet average.
So to add another Manapouri's worth of generation to supply electric buses, trucks etc would require installing maybe 1800MW of wind plus pumped hydro storage, or 700ish MW of geothermal. Or do both to have enough generation capacity to completely electrify NZ land transport plus shut down Huntly and Stratford. I only got a short way down the list of consented projects and there was well over 2000 MW of wind consented, together with around 300MW of geothermal.
what happens when that's not enough?
What about solar panels on homeowners roofs?
I know quite a few EV owners who use their own solar to charge their EVs
It's all solvable, with changes in behaviour, living within our means, utilising local and owner generation as well as national grid, electricitysector regulation. But we're not having that conversation nationally atm. Instead we're having the green tech BAU, reductionist paradigm one, where we continue to think that the world is an unlimited resource.
(and that's not even getting to the issues of how much GHGs we're emitting to go down this cul de sac).
If EVs become more prevalent, Savonius rotors make a pretty readily managed home charge option. Crunches are likely in things like battery supply and disposal however.
Biggest constraint will be transmission, most of the bulk generation is in the south, especially wind. There's also distributed generation, solar roofs with batteries. All this will need / result in a rather different electricity generation and distribution market to what we have now.
As well as reducing demand via such tech as passive solar building. We're still a long way from this conversation though.
I built a semi passive house in early 90's (suspended wooden floor so not quite the full thing) and am surprised at the quiet uptake of passive principles in building design. Often not that overt but you can see designers taking opportunities that present themselves.
Nukes.
(Ad, you can roast me now for giving RedLogix an entry to burbling on about them again)
Lol, no way will NZ go down that path (quakes, tsunamis, economics, waste disposal, indigenous sovereignty, and a very strong anti-nuke culture in the general population).
But it would go some way to explaining why so many people aren’t talking about EVs and power generation, the hope that we will have some inexhaustable source of power in the future.
Truck ,tractors, earth movers and forestry machines will have to be hydrogen surely
If you do a search for an electric version of whatever kind of land vehicle you're interested in, your chances of getting hits are now pretty good. Scandinavian companies seem to be leading the way, at least in wealthy western countries.
There's a variety of options for 'refueling', from quick-swap batteries, to running electricity in to longer-term job sites.
Heh, the Google algorithms are getting smarter, not better
Where will the hydrogen come from?
When a Mummy hydrogen and a Daddy hydrogen really love each other…
Sorry weka, it's one of my favourite lines, I couldn't resist.
Lol.
Oh. 🙂
Not necessarily
All the biggest earth movers on the planet are electrically powered and connected to the grid with high tension trailing power cables, which are moved every day.
Ironic really, because they are used to dig for low grade lignite. Which is used for burning in electric power stations, to power, wait for it, electric excavators, connected to the grid by high voltage trailing cables.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjAfVSd4g8Q&t=12s
You'd power the freight and public transit first. Individual vehicles cannot be the priority in a carbon-focused future.
Here’s hoping we get smart enough to do that
Takes leadership.
That would be nice too.
If Tiwai point was not operating today,there would still be a shortfall of 300mw,without increased use from EV.
how come?
That is the amount of FF generation that needs to be replaced ie the EV will be running on FF electricity.
https://www.transpower.co.nz/power-system-live-data
yeah, I didn't get what you meant by increased use. I thought you were saying that if Tiwai closed today the freed up power wouldn't be enough to replace all the gas and coal currently burned. Is that right?
yep
did you see this? https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19-06-2021/#comment-1798935
If we want off FF, Tiwai closing will almost get us there. That's before the EV fleet upgrade.
Yes.
Have you seen any my many comments about the numerous consented and shelved renewable energy projects? Shelved at least partly because of the ever-present threat of Tiwai Point closing and that power flooding the current market?
That’s a regulatory issue right? The market can’t do the thing that society needs right now. Although I assume you and I disagree on what projects should happen.
If we want off FF, Tiwai closing will almost get us there.
That was weekend daytime ,night time demand has now increased by the size of manapouri (5.8 gw vs 4.9) very difficult to ban night time.
Your quick calculation misses transmission & distribution losses (~7%), and losses in charging the ev battery (12-15%). That's about 20% of the energy wasted.
Then there's the consideration of whether allowing business as usual mobility is the best use of Manapouri's generation, because we also have to shut down our coal & gas generation. A lot of our mobility energy consumption can be significantly reduced by providing comprehensive public transport.
Another issue not often discussed is whether there will be a good supply of reasonably priced EVs. Most other countries are not in the position of having low emission generation. If they are to reduce their fossil generation they won't have electricity for vehicle charging, so there will not be a large demand for EVs and so efficiencies of mass production will not be achieved. NZ will never have enough sales to influence that.
Yep. So many holes in the half arsed plan
EVs are unfortunately not quite there yet in terms of battery technology. The reason is the charging system and the hardware that demands high waste, high environmental damage and exploitation of people. But hey, who cares, right? I mean its colonization in a different way all over again. Maybe we can sell the rubbish battery waste back to those who were exploited and give them "work" to diassemble the stuff that rich countries so eagerly buy. So lets celebrate this and encourage more of the exploitation, degradation of a continent and pat ourselves on the shoulder how good we are doing the "right" thing.
Ah yes, no thinking required, just a cocktail in hand musing over a 100K car.
colonisation without the bothersome people dying/getting disabled/being poor or child labour in our backyard, but somewhere out of sight.
Lots going on in the battery world.
Bloomberg; The next generation of batteries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPOncWZMoC0
QuantumScape says its technology is ready to move from the lab to VW’s dealerships. But this secretive startup is very familiar with failure.
https://archive.is/1MG9A (Bloomberg)
Solid state batteries are safer and use fewer raw materials. Are they the answer to technology’s power problem and a threat to Tesla’s dominance?
https://archive.is/n4H3n (FT)
Not to mention stuff like LFP (lithium ferro phosphate or LiFePO4). No cobalt or nickel. Already good enough for Tesla's lowest-spec made in China models and good enough for BYD electric trucks and electric buses.
Waste is still an issue. NZ has no means of dismantling, separating metals etc.
Lithium batteries are hazardous materials and regulated except in NZ. The lifetime of a battery is about 2 years and they will most likely go to landfills.
Perhaps before we sponsor those rather expensive cars for the few who can afford it, we should start "sponsoring" a disposal plant first. Because you cannot just ship the batteries like pebbles around the globe.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/111367821/what-happens-to-all-those-ev-batteries
When it comes to a fast-moving technical topic, it's probably best to scan the first couple of pages of google results for credible up-to-date articles, rather than just clicking the first hit which might be two years out of date from a mass-market msm publisher that doesn't really understand the topic.
Here's just one of the many efforts starting up now that there are starting to be significant quantities of used ev batteries to be recycled:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2021/06/14/redwood-materials-spending-hundreds-of-millions-to-speed-recycling-for-ev-batteries/?sh=58762e77b643
Or somewhat of a more technical overview of different recycling and materials recovery techniques:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/millions-electric-cars-are-coming-what-happens-all-dead-batteries:
When it comes to disposal, what do you think would stop the shipment of end-of-life ev batteries? They would be much higher value than recyclable plastic or paper, and those are routinely shipped all around the world. Sure, the batteries would need to be fully discharged first for safety, but that's a very easy operation.
And once more, it seems exporting a problem and not dealing with the full cycle of a product is the preferred solution. As I have mentioned, NZ has no means of recycling lithium batteries. To ship them, special permits are needed. Not from NZ but the country of destination. Never mind, its not worth getting all upset about it.
[typo fixed in e-mail address]
Hi Woodie, Did you know that aluminium can be used as a fuel?
It has heaps of embedded electrical energy in it, and has been used for generations in fireworks and explosives.
Powered and fed into a furnace it burns hotter than coal
Better yet, when aluminium powder is burnt as a fuel it releases zero green house gas emissiions.
And it's infinitely recyclable, no need to import any more bauxite from Aussie.
We could use the existing Tiwai Smelter to re-refine it, and ship it all over the country, and then return it when it is spent, in a closed cycle.
(The energy embedded in aluminium comes from the electricity in the refining process).
Could we see the rebirth of the external combustion engine, (commonly and collectively known as steam engines), being used to power ships and trains and industrual boilers?
Could steam engine locomotives powered by aluminium powder one day be seen again on the Main Trumk Line?
Let's bring back the Kingston Flyer from retirement as a test bed. (See if it still flies.)
Steam Punk was begun in New Zealand.
Rather than a retro movement harking back to a long dead era, Steam Punks, might just possibly be, ahead of their time.
https://boingboing.net/2015/01/12/a-visit-to-steampunk-hq-new-z.html
Refining aluminium is a pretty carbon heavy process – it relies on sacrificial carbon anodes that are cured at high temperatures for up to a month. The electricity only shifts the direction of the reaction so that the carbon reduces the alumina – the carbon still burns.
You are right of course
The aluminium industry produces 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
(this figure is inclusive of non-renewable electricity generation from coal and gas).
The anode is used to carry the electrical energy to the cathode, which in this case is the molten aluminium bath. The anode which is connected to the electricity supply is driven into the molten aluminium which creates a high temperature arc which melts the aluminium, while eroding the anode, which has to be continually replaced.
Research is being carried out into non-eroding, or inert annodes, and/or low erosion anodes that don't bond with oxygen to form CO2. (or don't do so as much).
However, all is not lost. coal produces 38% of green house gas emissions.
If all the coal burnt in the world was replaced with aluminium powder, and all that aluminium was reduced with renewable electricity. Even if aluminium production increased by a multiple of ten, we should still be better off.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/26/climate-change-coal-still-king-global-carbon-emissions-soar/3276401002/
Of course you don’t just switch off the smelter and hey presto electricity for cars. Five to eight years of investment needed first.
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.rnz.co.nz/article/7e5f0aae-6e75-4eb9-b627-f3690467b0ae
So it’s a bit like the fabled electric utes. Introduce a car tax now, burn double to coal and the infrastructure will follow in 5 or so years time, maybe.
Wouldn't it be cheaper and quicker to convert the smelter into making aluminium fuel powder instead of ingots? All that needs to be done to create aluminium fuel power is to spray it when it is still molten.
The aluminium fuel could then be shipped around the country to replace coal in all our industrial processes, including the Huntly Power Station.
Coal is a solid fuel – The combustion of coal in power plants and industrial processes is the number one source of the green house emissions responsible for global warming and climate change.
Aluminium powder like coal is a solid fuel – Aluminium powder burns hotter than coal, but unlike coal produces none of the emissions responsible for global warming and climate change.
We do it in small as well as big parcels. My 13 solar panels will produce some 5000 kw/h annually. My Leaf will use 1600 kw/h to travel 12000 km in a year.
Note: 1 in 4 Australian homes has solar panels. NZ has 32000 homes (there are 1.9 million households in NZ) with solar power at the end of March- that's 1:60! Australia has 10.2 million households and therefore 2.5 million houses with solar panels. In 2018 it had 1.96 million so equipped.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_New_Zealand
That kind of commitment to solar energy would power a lot of EVs.
Spoke to a fellow takeaways customer last night who enquired after my Leaf. He works in a vineyard where he could see possible expansive use of electric vehicles and machinery. No interest at all from management when he raised the topic.
Yet, as he said, we have driven electric forklifts for years.
Your solar panels and 5000 kw\h annually , The low user household number is 8000kWhr – when they no longer qualify for low user daily charges
You will cetainly be taking a grid feed – during peak hours, the 'worst time'- to keep your lights on
Australia is quite unique in its solar power uptake because it has a lot of sun, well ahead of most of NZ- dont forget the shorter daylight hours in winter , and the low level of the sun in the sky
My point really is that homes and businesses supplied by solar power can help with the greater demand imposed by EVs.
Produce 5 Mw and use 1.6 Mw in the EV.
Yes Huntly has been running for some months as there is a shortage of gas capacity due to a Taranaki NG processing site having long scheduled maintenance.
The Huntly site which has a gas turbine alongside the last 2 thermal coal boilers operating has been very high output, 600MW plus – as it was originally designed for as a baseload station, not feeding in for morning and night as many other stations do. Any fossil fuel used has to pay carbon taxes on that. As well the power consumption at Auckland which is fed by medium distance lines needs a generator not far away to cover the voltage drop from long distance lines, theres a small GT at Otara plus one at Huntly ( quick start ups)
By then the biggest emitters of most of the GHGs, China, Russia, India etc will probably not even have started cutting back on emissions and coal fired power stations will be springing up everywhere. Global emissions will be accelerating and little ole NZ will be chock full of EVs and will have made absolutely no difference.
Sorry to disappoint you you ya old curmudgeon, but just because other countries possible arnt acting is not a reason to not do the right thing,
Driving a country into the ground because our leaders want to virtue signal when it will have absolutely no effect is criminal.. So when our economy and society is completely destroyed, China, India, and Russia will decide to follow our example?
Can you provide any actual evidence that our economy is being driven into the ground,? Or are you just a staunch blue team member who thinks bring their moron memes here is going get you somewhere?
Grumpy, you sound like part of the choir, a year ago, screeching on behalf of 'the economy'.
The peril it faced with the lockdowns.
Turn the record over.
Hi Waghorn,
If you think topping up their EVs will be front and centre of people's minds. You have just not been paying attention.
There are people alive now who will experience the biggest biosphere collapse since the Chixilube extinction event.
Scrambling for higher ground, trying to reserve a space in a storm cellar. Trying to survive frequent extreme weather events, crop failures, might be the sort of things exercising people's minds more than topping up their EV.
Huh?
I thought we were trying to avoid a disaster!?
In any case, nobody can do anything about a big brick from space hitting Earth.
Bruce Willis can
I think Jenny is thinking more Mel Gibson.
lol
Well, that was an interesting and wide-ranging thread.
The "importing coal" reminds me of demands for migrant labour. Smacks of the same thing – outsourcing our unacceptable demands.
Vulva owners*, what say ye? I say fuck the neoliberal capture of social justice and the planet burning machine it rode in on. Also Fuck the parts of the left sanctioning this.
https://twitter.com/croneinamillion/status/1406024421467463685
*the class of humans formerly known as women.
A good little media roundup, which gives a glimpse of the frustrations and annoyances of the Stuff gallery reporters.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/125489106/points-of-order-there-are-wellqualified-and-incisive-political-commentators-and-there-is-peter-dunne
It is a powerful image and well done to Robert Kitchin for capturing it, particularly as Sio appears to have finished his address is leaving the stage. He's taken his glasses off, picked up his notes, it's done. This is a dangerous time for photographers because you tend to down tools as something finishes.
His assignment that day would have been quite dry, shooting people talking in press conferences. He would have done this hundreds of times and constantly wondered how to make interesting, meaningful images from such familiar and structured circumstances.
Then just as it's all over, Alan Wendt produces such a simple, human gesture which we all immediately and emotionally connect with. Very, very easy to miss, and it requires a lot of skill and experience to keep alert in those crucial moments.
High praise from me for that, but the rest of the article is utter rubbish. It's anonymous, sniffy, hurt, self-indulgent, lazy, and hypocritical. The last is what makes me quietly rage. The anonymous Stuff gallery reporters claim the Facebook pages of Ardern and Robertson "ripped off" the image and failed to attribute it properly.
Well, cry me a fucking river.
At least Ardern and Roberston's social media handlers made an attempt to credit the photographer, despite committing the terrible crime of misspelling his name. Stuff and New Zealand media have an appalling culture of not crediting photographers. They almost never attribute or caption work properly outside of their own navel-gazing organisations. I see it every single day. It happens to me more weeks than not and I don’t shit the bed over it. Stuff and others are lazy in the extreme, and for them to act all huffy in this instance is hypocrisy in the extreme.
Accuracy? Stuff are woefully off target here.
A robust statement of and for the impartiality and objectivity of NZ journalism in general and Stuff’s journalism in particular.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/about-stuff/125478666/the-backstory-why-government-money-doesnt-corrupt-our-journalism
Powerful to account ? media babble is always about (ordinary) peoples stories, as that gets readers eyeballs which is the most important part of their business
'news' is a bad word these days , as they want to talk 'stories, engagement, perspectives, conversations' and other buzz words.
Hard news is dead! The most 'read stories' on NT Times is the recipes, which anyone can see well positioned on their digital front page.
sigh
Hint: there’s a hint in the headline as to what the article is about and it is not about recipes.
This is at the top of the piece with the complete documentary of over 38 min.
If journalism was in the pockets of government, this would never have been aired.
I assume you don’t read TS for its recipes either, but it is a good idea for improving its readership statistics
the line quoted -'Holding the powerful to account is now, and will remain, a core job of journalists'
It just isnt true , the readers of a major 'new's site like NY Times show that the recipes come first. NZ news sites are even fuller of flim flam lifestyle stories and shilling for the property industry
The newer online only places like Newsroom and Spinoff are even more directly as 'copywriters' for their business supporters. Like this sponsored piece written by the very capable Russell Brown- wheres the investigative pieces from him – no sponsors ?
https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/nz-post/14-06-2021/more-faster-how-nz-post-is-learning-growing-and-evolving/
I disagree with you. Stuff is not the NY Times, Newsroom, nor Spinoff although it does cross-post regularly from Newsroom.
None of these are “flim flam lifestyle stories and shilling for the property industry” or recipes. Sure, those are present as well, they have to make a living too, don’t they. It is actually mentioned in the article I quoted. A news site such as Stuff will (have to) do all of the above, the good, the bad, and the ugly. They don’t cater just for intellectual snobs, Thorndon bubble, foodies, house porn addicts, or what have you.
I really don’t see how you came to this description of Newsroom as “even more directly as 'copywriters' for their business supporters”, but I guess I’ve been reading a completely different Newsroom. I can only assume that you’re referring to its partners at the bottom of the home page.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/about
You seem to be insinuating the exact thing that the Stuff article was countering. Just as well, I try to avoid falling in the binary trap and see things differently, so we have to agree to disagree here.
You got this wrong, sorry to say. Out of some 60 minutes news, 26 are advertisements, 24 are sport, 5 are for local stories and 5 are for flim flam.
Its only 5 minutes flim flam, LOL.
"The idea of being captured by the government gives us an allergic reaction"
Excellent – so if they can add to that an allergy to being captured by their own funders and owners, and even by the interests of the social class to which they themselves belong – then we're really getting somewhere.
Note: Stuff seems much improved since the sell-off and I'm generally OK with it. Some others, not so much.
Yes, I also like to think that Stuff has improved and that they’re not sitting on their laurels.
However, you make the same unsupported and unfounded (IMO) accusations. There seems much bias against NZ journalism and not without some reason, may I add, but some are definitely trying harder than others.
And here’s the most relevant bit to your accusation:
On trans women’s physiological advantage when competing in women’s sports. Look at the charts in the Twitter thread. The argument is often made that tw train harder than women and that’s why they jump to top ranking when shifting to women’s categories. Does this seem likely with these figures?
https://twitter.com/wackypidgeon/status/1399432743314853889
Not that 'amateur' sports medicine researcher Emma Hilton again. The one that has a published research on trans women which didnt include any trans women athletes
[please provide evidence (a cut and paste with link, not just a link) to back up your claim here, so we can all know what you are talking about rather than just being left with the ad hom – weka]
mod note for you.
It was the link you asked us to read last time , and it included the actual online paper published . I made those same comments based on actual words in the paper then, which you dismissed . Surely you read relevant parts of the paper ?
Hilton works as a research technician in another area completely from sports medicine and has had no previous research published in sports medicine so she an amateur in my opinion
Its all very well to show stuff from twitter, but as we all found out during covid self appointed experts were very common who had an academic background but no knowledge of infectious diseases and their epidemiology. A court would never allow expert witness testimony from someone who was a proven expert ON a topic
[post a cut and paste and link explaining your claim about Hilton and “published research on trans women which didnt include any trans women athletes” or you will get a short ban so you don’t derail the discussion. – weka]
2nd mod note and warning. What I am asking for is not difficult.
FYI, TS is not a Court but a place for supported opinions and arguments and robust debate, and the odd joke.
There are very few mind readers among the TS readership and there are very few who remember the previous exchange on this exact issue.
I have no idea what they're referring to, I read and comment so much on TS and twitter, few people can keep all that in their head. I'm also not doing someone else's work for them.
Wrong end of the stick stuff.
It happens.
sorry, who has the wrong end of the stick?
Not you.
It was barely two weeks ago.
Two weeks is a long time in politics.
In any case, they could have linked to that instead of turning it into a tortuous teeth-pulling post.
Dr Emma Hilton is a developmental biologist and Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, and teaches in her field. She has a particular interest in the science of biological sex and writes and speaks about this, including in the WSJ and runs the Nettie Project supported by many scientists and academics across a range of disciplines (who obviously don't have your prejudice about cross disciplinary work).
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emma-hilton-2bb86830
You appear to be saying that no-one can have an informed opinion about sports medicine other than sports medicine researchers. Which is obviously a stupid position to take because it would invalidate your own (I'm assuming you're not a sports medicine researcher).
If Hilton is making bad arguments, then address them and demonstrate how they are bad. That you think her being a lowly research technician (afaik she's not) is sufficient to write off her work says something about your own views on hierarchy and power. As a non-academic, I'm much more interested in whether what she says makes sense.
Sorry for the delay but had other things to attend to
Emma Hiltons amateur status regarding sports medicine. her other contributions in publications are her specialist area of infections and such
https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/emma.hilton.html
Division of Infection, Immunity & Respiratory Medicine
And from the article in 'Sports Medicine' direct quotes
Males huh ?
In my view its junk science, while its not new researach undertaken and its merely a publications review, it has so many caveats that dont make it viable for drawing any conclusions about ‘transwomen athletes’
[formatting edited for clarity. Italicised emphaisis added by Ghost – weka]
Re Hilton's work, this from her twitter 2 years ago when challenged about her qualifications,
See also https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19-06-2021/#comment-1798912
Edited.
that's why those of us that run online spaces based in debate culture get seriously annoyed with lazy ad homs.
I get annoyed with unqualified researchers putting oar in . You seem to think shes an expert on this area and thus worth quoting her 'twitter'
Shes not even a post doc in sports medicine, which the bottom rung of the research ladder. A persons qualifications and background are important in academic research – that why their publications and university position are at very top of the paper.
Too bad if that raised as a problem
Your annoyance is noted.
Hilton is a scientist with enough expertise to comment on research. I also consider her an expert commentator on gender critical social issues and how those relate to sport. As I said, I don’t believe the only people who should be read are those with direct research experience. Eg science journalists have relevant experience to bridge between researchers and the public.
And, you seem to have misrepresented Hilton’s expertise.
"Males huh ?"
What's your point? The research is looking at what physiological advantage biological males have over females, that is conferred at puberty.
Seems pretty normal for researchers to suggest further research is needed. This is how science works, it builds on the work of previous research.
And yet you don't explain how it is junk science or why it's not useful in the debate about whether TW should compete in all women's sports. All you've said is that it doesn't include TW, but studies on male physiology is relevant (most TW are born biologically male, most go through male puberty, and many have no or minimal medical transition), and research is still in the early stages.
Are her facts not acceptable to you?
Quoting results from one event at one (open entry) competition four years ago in the career of one trans athlete is called "cherry picking" and displays bias.
To show an opposite bias, one might point to the 2019 world champs where Hubbard pulled a similar weight to 2017 and came in sixth place. But that would be equally dishonest, because assuming one case to be typical of a population is stupid.
Interviews with Michael Wood and Julie Anne Genter on that Bridge.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/cycling-bridge-opponents-would-be-angry-if-lane-on-existing-bridge-was-used-instead-green-mp-julie-anne-genter.html
After reading this and Sam Stubb’s opinion piece yesterday, I’m almost inclined to write a full post on it but “who cares?”.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300333655/i-should-be-a-fan-of-aucklands-proposed-cycle-and-pedestrian-bridge–but-im-not
Remember this motorway that was cancelled by new government in 2018
The EWL was a $1.85 billion priority roading project of the last Government, connecting State Highway 20 at Onehunga and State Highway 1 at Mt Wellington
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/98489560/defunct-eastwest-link-cost-taxpayers-50-million
What is your point?
What does it have to do with my comment?
What is the relevance to the latest plan to build a new walking & cycling bridge?
It was a massive vanity project , with incredible costs, of the last government, the cycling bridge – which I think is aspirational rather than practical- was about half that.
Its Open Mike isnt it , where the commenting is more free flowing
sigh
Sure it is, and when you post a flow of consciousness expect non-mind reading people to ask for clarification. I hope that’s ok with you
Essentially, what I believe you’re trying to convey here is that the walking & cycling bridge is a semi-massive vanity project or a massive semi-vanity project because, you know, it costs a lot of money.
No. I said the EW Motorway was an expensive project- twice that of the cycling bridge- that was cancelled.
Thats its relevance, is as the cost is what has 'aroused hearts and minds' over the cycling bridge.
No it didnt say 'the bridge' is a vanity project at all . Im still curious about the whole idea thus the aspirational tag.
Its easier if you leave the part about what I said to me.
Thank you for your clear and concise clarification.
I still have no idea why you brought up the cancelled EW M-way, but I can live with this for another day.
I have no idea what you mean by “aspirational” but my will to ask and find out has disappeared.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Billy's heir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65rSmnnEWEw&feature=youtu.be
The woman whom thousands of Canadians believe is their secret ruler isn’t afraid to tell her followers she’s calling for the executions of health care workers and politicians behind the vaccination rollout.
“At the firing squad, the military firing squad, you will receive not one, but two bullets on your forehead for each child that you have harmed as a result of injecting this experimental vaccine,” said Romana Didulo* to those involved in vaccination efforts in a recent video on Telegram. “So when you go home tonight, think about how many bullets.”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aqvkw/qanons-are-harassing-people-at-the-whim-of-a-woman-they-say-is-canadas-queen-romana-didulo
I Am Our Donald*
Tim Shadbolt facing off Deputy Mayor, in a physical challenge. Reminds me of Russia's President Putin wresting with a bear? Showing he was up to it, some years ago. Then married a young gymnast. What next for Shadbolt?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125485790/sir-tim-shadbolts-deputy-accepts-challenge-to-fitness-duel-at-athletics-track
What next for Shadbolt?
Hopefully retirement as new blood is needed for Invercargill. I am sick of hearing about the infighting that goes on in councils as it is unproductive for the region.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/125486915/kiwisavers-stand-to-lose-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-in-government-contributions
Before end of June!
There is money for free to go into your Kiwisaver account if you can at least temporarily, boost your savings.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018800400/used-condoms-tampons-being-flushed-onto-wellington-beaches
Tampons may need to be flushed down the toilet, and perhaps condoms too. They will both be carrying body fluids that if not disposed off quickly and correctly would be disease carriers. There isn't always a rubbish bin, and how often are they emptied?
Stop people from using wipes, ban them from supermarkets and pharmacies. People can cut up their old clothes and put them to some use instead of throwing them out when holey in one place. Use them instead of wipes, cut down waste, then thow them in a bin. Make the three-letter words fashionable language, like the four-letter ones!
Cotton tips are very useful and people will have to learn not to throw them down the toilet. Men as well as women need to learn. Many males regard all that hygiene business and carry-on about doing things right as just fussy stuff that women do.
Could be worse it could be alligators.
Its time councils just accepted that people are going to flush more shit than just shit down the pipes, and engineered for the problem ,
Seems the only way to go but I think preaching about the three 'ps' and bad-mouthing for the others is the modern way. Thinking of efficiency first and foremost is the thing now. People have to be cut and moulded to fit the systems not the other way round. Makes sense – set a target, make people conform. Public service is going down the loo!
They're a sensitive mob.
In 1979, just a couple of months into his stint with 20/20, ABC’s fledgling television news magazine, producer and documentarian Joseph Lovett was “beyond thrilled” to be assigned an interview with author James Baldwin, whose work he had discovered as a teen.
[…]
The finished piece is a superb, 60 Minutes-style profile that covers a lot of ground, and yet, 20/20 chose not to air it.
After the show ran Chase’s interview with Michael Jackson, producer Lovett inquired as to the delay and was told that no one would be interested in a “queer, Black has-been”:
https://www.openculture.com/2021/06/watch-a-never-aired-tv-profile-of-james-baldwin-1979.html
Big:
https://twitter.com/jacktame/status/1406140675913965572
We need more leaders articulating this sort of vision to get us through the next 20 years.
https://twitter.com/SachaDylan/status/1406153082979766273
Here’s more: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300333582/rogernomics-not-on-the-watch-of-ganesh-nana-new-head-of-the-productivity-commission
(link was in tweet)
So it was. I’m not on Twitter but I do read Stuff 😉
You might enjoy the twitrs
Yes, but life is (about) making choices.
Just written a wee Post for tomorrow 🙂
From incognito link – lovely line from Mr Ganesh Nana.
But Nana concedes the painful economic reforms of the 1980s did not deliver what was promised.
On Rogernomics, “we got sold a lemon”, he says.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/ev-rebates-might-eventually-include-motorbikes-and-mopeds-just-not-for-now.html
To me, this is odd not to say short-sighted and narrow-minded.
Why not encourage all alternatives for transport that are clean(er) while discouraging fuel cars? What is so different about a motorised 2-wheeler compared to 4-wheeler (AKA car)? Government wants to encourage cycling but not motorised 2-wheelers!? I suppose one would still require a special driver’s licence and all that.
I said it before, I reckon if e-bikes are subsidised quite a few people will make the switch. I see more and more of them around already. What’s not to like?
Possibly too much/hard for Government to handle all in one go …
Motorcycles and mopeds have generally spectacular fuel efficiency
edit
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/445111/myanmar-coup-un-calls-for-arms-embargo-against-military Another 36 countries abstained, including Russia and China – Myanmar military's two biggest arms suppliers.
This sounds like a good idea. I wonder if the countries and arms agents can give up their obssession with this horrible practice/drug. Can they go cold turkey?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry
2020 (Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs) – and
SIPRI is Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
World's Largest Arms Exporters:
Rank Supplier Arms Exp
(in billion TIV)
1 United States 9,372
2 Russia 3,203
3 France 1,995
4 Spain 1,232
5 Germany 1,201
6 South Korea 827
7 Italy 806
8 China 760
9 Netherlands 488
10 United Kingdom429
"Much better sex ed would a be a good start."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445096/images-of-sexual-assaults-shared-among-dunedin-teens
That is a good start to this comment. This sex thing has been around for ever, especially with winning sportsmen. It used to be talked about and then not forgotten but not become the issue it is now with the small cameras that everyone has now in their cellphones. It has now morphed into dirty, deceitful, disrespectful behaviour, and as someone has said, a matter to be bullied about and harassed and shamed. From foolish and unwise to a practice that is turning sexually naive students who are immature into porn actors and perverts with this photographic porn to blackmail and hurt others with.
What is needed in the short term I don't know. If parents concerned, and the school teachers and pupils had a formal meeting and discussed the problem and just put in words what is happening and how each speaker felt about it, and the long-term results of it, perhaps an agreement could be reached about setting a code of behaviour for individuals to keep to.
In the long term I am sure that we need some social anthopologists in the Education Department instead of thinking that all we need is to teach science, maths, and communication, and team thinking – to turn out the successful conformists of the future.
We need to teach philosophy, and how cultures build up, and what zeitgeist and leitmotif mean. We need to talk about individuals having a vision of what they want to be, and how to realise their strengths and weaknesses. And we need to teach the importance of delay of immediate gratification. That would cut out this idea of sex being a sort of drug that you have on a night out. You get blotto and anything can happen, wheee. And then when it happens everyone is shocked if someone cries rape when nobody seemed to be worrying about anything?
Where does the leadership for teaching personal standards and morality come from? Is there any talk at home/school about how to cope when temptation looms, when companions suggest a good time, no holds barred – are you up for it, to each other? Or is it boys will be boys and we don't impose rules on them, same with girls? How could a bright, intelligent girl get knifed 200 times by a man in a frenzy – of jealousy? What did she know about assessing someone's character and self-control? Who is teaching how to hold back on sex until it is something worthwhile with someone you both like and respect. That cuts right across this drift into decadence that we are in.
Think Grace Mullane and Tinder? What a dangerous past-time. No need to go puritan and extra-moralistic, just talk personal respect and standards, inner confidence, not being coerced by companions, and looking for real friends not just for the fun-loving, no-worries group.