I don’t suppose there are any protests planned for when John Key leaves Parliament. It would be great to give him a final hurray to let him know that a lot of people don’t like him. I don’t live in Wellington so couldn’t make it but it is a fine thought.
I also don’t think he is just disliked by the general population. He has unjustly ruined the reputations and careers of a lot of people by passing the blame, particularly in the Public Service. They, their families and friends must know the truth when someone further down the chain of command has been the scapegoat for the actions of Key and his ministers.
He may have unjustly ruined the reputations and careers of a lot of people. He may deserve a noisy send-off. (or better still a ‘Bugger off!’) I personally think he was a lying, weasly opportunist.
It’s a fact though that he was not disliked by the general population. Certainly not by any significant numbers.
Media assisted Key. Take this weeks Nation and Q&a, both had annoying stupid greying balding hacks on, no doubt paid by the 1% to go on TV and say annoyingly stupid things. Franks says Greens caused Aucklands Housing crisis, you know the Green party that constucted the stupid city, Key, and the ACT MP Hide who became local govt minister. Then on Q&a former ACT leader, the more balding one, says that not only should foregn buyers have no cultural concerns when shifting to a new different culture, but once here should total act without any community spirit, doubling down on how mney makes rich people invinsible invisible even to us general oiks. This is how Key got such an easy ride, dumb and stupid are merged and put into the media spotlight, just right, that it does not show. As long as the talking heads dont shift the shadows, insure the obvious lies aren’t not asked or answered, then the distraction is complete. everyone gets paid. Hey think about the Chinese tourists, how can they feel about bringing their monkey year child up on NZ milk, to NZ and feeling at home swimming in a shitty river like back home.
The dairy boom was a politicial Chinese need for milk and we all paid for it with farm debt, land misuse in conversions, overstocking and shiity rivers. No wonder NZ gets poorer, it grows and takes on all the risks and hands off the profits.
You do realise that Q & A usually has a political scientist, plus a commentator from the left and the right; same with the Nation. As publicly funded political programmes I guess they naively think balance is important.
So it is no doubt really annoying for you to put with comment from the right as well as the left. Though Jamie Whyte is a true libertarian and does not really buy into regulation, certainly much less than National supporters think appropriate.
At least it gives you something to complain about.
“Jamie Whyte is a true libertarian and does not really buy into regulation.”
Must be a real bastard for him that there are traffic lights and speed limits restricting his freedom to choose.
The right by which you mean super individualists whose objective is to stymie the issue and keep systemic wealth unaccountable. Essentially false libertarians whose job is to hose down any issue. Any company that grows has growing pains, its essential those matrs are brought to the boardroom, inequality, low pay, high rents, por public transit, shitty rivers, etc are all met by these paid supposed libertarians with ad hom, distraction fed by mediator of some gen war. If the nats really thought these particular commentators are doing themselves any favors then sirely they deserve the now obvious joke. Trump, like them makes bald obvious untrue claims of greatness, how he’s great with the economyetc Facts are nAtional are woeful managers of the economy, who shorts their kids? Tax cuts coupled with taxing education, its decades of shoving future weath into the pile of present politicial expediancy.
And its all now coming back to bite. The ultra stupid savants of ACT are hardly credible rightwing commentators, just lousy socialists for the few.
Christ Wayne – you really are quite a naiive little wall flower aren’t you. And here’s me thinking you were the Brains of Britain with a wealth of experience.
No accounting for a closed mind, rote ‘learnings’ and ideology though I ‘spose.
Btw…..did you check out Matty boy this morning?. Someone’s obviously told him to try and be cool calm and collected. He ALMOST made it.
He was almost convincing. He certainly had Nick Smith and major friend Bill pegged (as to their mediocre intelligence, disguised by polly and spin speak).
It was probably Matty’s attempt at exercising a smidgeon of honesty (going forward).
Congratulations Matty – you almost made it.
But as for you Wayne – much as I tried to think otherwise, now I know you’re really just full of shit dressed up in the robes of academic rationalism and supposed experience.
You’ll go far (going forward). A+ with honours
And oh btw @ Wayne
Did you hear Nick Smith on Q+A or The Nation (both fairly feeble efforts at holding our political ‘representatives’ to account in a democratic nation state) say
“I did them the courtesy of meeting them in my office”.
??
It seems to me that Nick the faux has lost all notion of what his job is, what a functioning rep dem is, and the idea that he is a servant. (As of course were you and ilk if you could just get past your priviledges and swilling at the trough)
Historically, that’s the sort of arrogance that got the natives really really restless. Lucky we don’t really have a functioning mainstream media that picks up on those details – though as Dear Matty suggests – Nick Smith is managing to piss off people all on his own
Ah well it’s been about 4 hours and fuk all response from ‘The Wayne’.
My reason for not engaging in discussion in the past was more about the state of TS – whereas, it appears ‘The Wayne’s’ is more about a troll-like hit and run agenda in pursuit of his agenda and in the name of self preservation.
@The Wayne, and @The Nick Smith …… we know you present yourselves as the gorgeous voices of reason (going forward), and as the intelligensia of the Neshnool Party along with that bitter old queen from the Eastern suburbs trying to define High and Might (there’d be one or two Snots Porridge old boys along with a few polly bois that still have ushooooos).
(There are a few of them that set themselves apart from the feral leopard skins but who are publicly so-in-sync with the same publicly – for some – it hurts: IT REALLY HURTS)
Why do you keep at it @ Wayne? (It’s a genuine question).
Are you actually as thick as I suspect you might be and just riding on your past, or are you getting just an eeensie teeeensie little bit scared.
I think Matty Dear the Hooter could actually be correct, and that you, along with Nuk Smuff could actually be just a little bit FUK
Let me clarify @ Wayne
by which I mean you have the capacity for argument but not reason, ideology over issue, and a total lack of critical thought processes.
Polly wanna Cracker?
Wayne – you’re in ….compliant? ideologically comitted’ cultural? company. There’s a Hekia to ya roit, and a Crus to ya left. A part time feminist to ya roit, and a bitter old poof to ya left (even though he’d be too scared to move)
. And both sides protesting a high ground in a compliant and main stream media (check out that AM Show fukwit trying his hardest to cling to yoof and relevance for a start -and no ….. not the “Dunk”
A tuff on croim coward to ya roit, and probably half the fucking back bench asking where to point their tounges: should it be towards a Bling giving a thrill his wife yet never has – or ……. (And it’s a shame that so many are just a little bit ….. you know …. Nafe Goi).
Jesus! I sure as shit hope you’re getting value for the CT dollar, but I suspect (as do others in your politically defined bracket) your time is up and you’ll have to start dealing with the ushooooze
Its hard? Could be he has a lots of super rich people breathing down his neck, who are entitled to not pay tax, not pay tarriffs, not be concern for local culture, community or environment needs, and wealth for then is a pissing contest, as they cant take it with them, they find the only purpose to life is to piss highest up the wealth pole.
Put a tax on how far pottable water is transported, including bottled. People should live close to water storage, like they live close to food, transport, work, as it saves energy.
Noted. Wealthy people change nothing, nothing to see types, its so good, its never been better… …oh and bring back beatings for kids. Yeah, they hven’t ben holding back Northland with thei ineffective neolib fantasy of leaving it to the market, no not them, that stress out families, working two jobs, never able to communicate values to their kids.
New Zealand, in my considered opinion, is and has been riddled with endemic and entrenched corruption for decades.
The ‘commercialise – corporatise -PRIVATISE Neo – liberal Rogernomics’ model, locally, nationally and internationally, promoted and enforced the contracting out of public services that used to be provided ‘in house’ by central and local government.
The ‘Rogernomics RORT’ was based upon the unsubstantiated myth and mantra
‘PUBLIC IS BAD – PRIVATE IS GOOD’.
That public service provision, under the genuine non-commercialised (not for profit) public service model was supposedly ‘inefficient’.
‘Inefficient’ in my view, was corporate-speak for ‘we haven’t yet got our filthy hands on it’.
The NZ Business Round Table (made up of CEOs of NZ BIG business) who both vigorously promoted and directly benefited from the Rogernomics reforms which served their vested interests – focused on a form of ‘grand’ corruption which most New Zealanders have never even heard of.
STATE CAPTURE – where vested interests get their way at the POLICY level, to get laws passed which serve their vested interests.
Where do you look to find STATE CAPTURE in New Zealand?
Look at the Regulatory Impact Statements that are produced before proposed law changes go to Cabinet.
Look at those with whom the ‘policy analysts’ have consulted.
That’s how this form of endemic ‘grand’ corruption has been carried out for decades in this corrupt, polluted tax haven, falsely and misleadingly marketed as ‘clean, green New Zealand’.
What a total CROCK.
The answer?
In my considered opinion ?
Open the books.
Cut out the contractors.
Return public services to ‘in house’ provision under the public service model.
Penny Bright
Proven ‘anti-privatisation / anti-corruption Public Watchdog’
Bruce has got a great idea, the natural world doesn’t like the west coast or people very much so the plan is to export the natural world to China. Genius!
This is a great boost for the West Coast, S.I. NZ The locals think it’s all right.
Yeah, a good idea we’ve got plenty of it heh heh, says Fred Dagg, a local.
I’ll become a supplier, wear one of those heavy waterproof coats and a hat with a rim and catch the flow in a container at the hem. The way it rains here I’ll be a millionaire in ten years. They are short of water in the world but we will always have plenty to spare. Great idea, need some business and new people to boost house prices here.
Great news. Today’s farmers have a new idea – they are putting in water troughs like NZ farms always used to have. However the energy being used as of now to move the water is not provided by solar, so they are really starting with an old model which would probably have been gravity-fed and adding old technology to it. Hey guys and girls there are things that have been discovered since then – solar, and of course there is the ancient method of windmills that have been updated. So much to learn, it’s a problem.
Up-front capital costs included pipes, troughs and tanks, as well as fences and additional stock. Running costs were fuel or electricity, insurance, as well as additional fertiliser and extra supplementary feed.
It takes a very switched on farmer to farm the organic way , there have been some horror stories about animals suffering under people that have tried and failed.
It’s not hard technically. Organics is just another set of skills and approaches (although I think you probably do need to have the philosophy clear in your own head too). I can’t see how it would be any harder than switching from sheep to industrial dairying for instance.
The problem is that the huge infrastructure that exists to support farming doesn’t support organics very well. Banks, farm advisors, support organisations, govt research etc are still massively weighted towards industrial and conventional farming. Not to mention supply line issues. Farm debt is a big one too from what I understand. Banks are less likely to lend to operations they don’t understand and perceive as risky. Risk assessment being affected by all that other weighting.
we’ve breed sheep and cattle for at least 50 years using all manner of potions to keep them safe ,they have no natural resistance , the most successful ones i’ve heard of have two blocks ,one organic one not so they can transfer the weaker stock that need help to the chemical farm
yep that would be the biggy , some ram breeders are working on worm resistance , as drench resistance is becoming more of a problem we may be forced to go drench free at some point down the track, unless they come up with a new one.
fly strike would be a hard one too, and with things getting warmer that is a problem that will only grow. on the bright side the new dips are a lot less toxic than the old ones
Vaccines have been the saviour of us and animals though.
I read in a series of novels set in the 18th century that there had been a bad cattle plague. It certainly was a doozy.
Wikipedia: Cattle plagues recurred throughout history, often accompanying wars and military campaigns. They hit Europe especially hard in the 18th century, with three long panzootics which, although varying in intensity and duration from region to region, took place in the periods of 1709–1720, 1742–1760, and 1768–1786.[14]
There was a major outbreak covering the whole of Britain in 1865/66. Later in history, an outbreak in the 1890s killed 80 to 90% of all cattle in southern Africa, as well as in the Horn of Africa. Sir Arnold Theiler was instrumental in developing a vaccine that curbed the epizootic. More recently, a rinderpest outbreak raged across much of Africa in 1982–1984, costing at least an estimated US$500 million in stock losses.
But good news! On 14 October 2010, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that field activities in the decades-long, worldwide campaign to eradicate the disease were ending, paving the way for a formal declaration in June 2011 of the global eradication of rinderpest.[5]
On 25 May 2011, the World Organisation for Animal Health announced the free status of the last eight countries not yet recognized (a total of 198 countries were now free of the disease), officially declaring the eradication of the disease.[6]
In June 2011, the United Nations FAO confirmed the disease was eradicated, making rinderpest only the second disease in history to be fully wiped out, following smallpox.[7]
In relation to Organic Dairy Farming the limited amount of supply was reduced further 2-3 years ago by incompetence (a particular manager) at a mid-management level in Fonterra when their dedicated group of organic suppliers around the Manawatu and Wanganui regions were told that their Organic premiums were going to cease and their organic milk would be pumped in with the regular milk supply.
After a couple of years many of the suppliers forwent their Organic status as the low payout meant their farms lost much of their profitability.
Role on a couple more years and the incompetent had been fired and then Fontera were begging for Organic supply again – not so easy to regain your organic status.
How many farms? That sounds like someone who doesn’t know what they are doing rather than being about organics. What kinds of farmer would let their animals get in that state?
”What kinds of farmer would let their animals get in that state?”
a useless one and as there is no licence to farm there is no way of stopping his type,
although a bad outbreak can catch out even the good cockies.
“The reported incidence of Crohn’s disease in Canterbury, New Zealand has doubled over the past decade, crowning the region with the highest reported incidence globally. Scientists around the world believe environmental factors are contributing to this disconcerting rise. In this investigation, we present the research on a disease found primarily in dairy cattle called Johne’s disease, which has the same symptoms as Crohn’s disease and is recognised on over half of all dairy farms in New Zealand. If the MAP bacteria which causes the immune responses in dairy cattle is tested and found in our local drinking water supplies, our air and our dairy products, we could be facing a public health issue of massive proportions.
Johne’s (“Yo-nees”) disease is a contagious, chronic and sometimes fatal infection caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Johne’s disease is found primarily in agricultural ruminants such as cattle and sheep, and is an immune system response following MAP infection which leads to deteriorated bowels. This inability to process nutrients leads to the most obvious signs an animal may have contracted Johne’s such as weakening, weight loss and even death. Most animals are infected during the first months of their life, yet signs of the infection can take years to show.”
Sabine thanks for that heads up.
That is really interesting. And it might be one of those illnesses that faecal implants are able to help. I’ve heard Crohn’s is horrible. A real kick in the guts.
It sounds similar to leptospirosis, which is passed on from animals.
http://www.medicinenet.com/leptospirosis/page2.htm What causes leptospirosis?
The cause of leptospirosis is bacteria, Leptospira interrogans, a Gram-negative spirochete (spiral-shaped bacteria). The bacteria infect many types of animals (many wild animals, rodents, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, cattle, for example) that subsequently contaminate water, lakes, rivers, soil, and crops when they urinate because the bacteria are present in urine.
The bacteria then infect humans when they invade through breaks in the skin or mucus membranes or when people ingest them. The bacteria multiply in the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Person-to-person transfer of this disease is rare.
That too leaves a person weaker and vulnerable to illness and seems chronic.
So on top of all the other factors which make dairy farming bad economically.
Now it would appear, that those with a predisposition to catching Crohn’s disease (which we have no idea of those numbers) are catching the disease because it is a zoonotic (transferable from animals to humans) in nature. And our dairy heard is full of the disease.
This national government, does nothing beyond short term – at the expense of the long term health of the population. What else will we learn that their shortsightedness has done to hurt the population I wonder.
we shifted house 8 weeks ago, but because of our chinese landlord not being here in nz and not having signed the form we must wait 31 working day for a time out and then we will be re-funded our bond.
Now luckily we are not too poor and moved into our own pad, so did not need the bond to be returned in time to pay for another bond (or pay back any advances from the bank).
I wonder how standard this is, how much interest people loose on their bond money, and how many overseas landlord make it hard fro people to get their money back.
Also, can someone explain to me why bond money that is held for years is refunded without interest?
the reason i am asking is simple, the government holds the bonds paid by people. It would be fair to assume that the money held is accruing interest. where does that interest go?
again boring but, in Germany the bond (kaution) is held in an savings account on behalf of the tenant by the landlord and when both parties sign to release the bond, the amount plus interest is paid back to the tenant as it is their money security to save keep the house/flat. Right?
http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t97250.html
“The fairest way to deal with the Kaution is to put it in a savings book. This is held in the tenants name, the landlord looks after the book. The cash can only be withdrawn when both parties sign at the end of the tenancy so landlord and tenant have to agree any deductions before either get the cash. This is called a Bankburgschaft. As it is a savings account it collects interest and the tenant will recieve this.”
Another benefit of the intensive dairying in NZ
No doubt the scientist have got it all wrong just like the scientist who warn us about global warming sarc/
A thoughtful piece by the President of the PPTA and a totally predictable reply by Alan Price – National Party’s Kaikohe Chair. “It’s abundantly clear that the last 32 years haven’t seen teachers wishing to turn back the clock. Unless Alan Price was willing to staff schools with National Party branch chairs and members of Family First, it’s hard to see how reintroducing corporal punishment could happen.” http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/327017/why-corporal-punishment-doesn't-work
Our Cranky Uncle Game can already be played in eight languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. About 15 more languages are in the works at various stages of completion or have been offered to be done. To kick off the new year, we checked with how ...
The (new) Prime Minister said nobody understands what co-governance means, later modified to that there were so many varying interpretations that there was no common understanding.Co-governance cannot be derived from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not use the word. It refers to ‘government’ on ...
It’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump on this link for our chat about the week’s news with special guests Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and Auckland City Councillor Julie Fairey, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which ...
In March last year, in a panic over rising petrol prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government made a poor decision, "temporarily" cutting fuel excise tax by 25 cents a litre. Of course, it turned out not to be temporary at all, having been extended in May, July, ...
This month’s open thread for climate related topics. Please be constructive, polite, and succinct. The post Unforced variations: Feb 2023 first appeared on RealClimate. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two fresh press releases had been posted when we checked the Beehive website at noon, both of them posted yesterday. In one statement, in the runup to Waitangi Day, Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis drew attention to happenings on a Northland battle site in 1845. ...
It’s that time of the week again when I’m on the site for an hour for a chat in an Ask Me Anything with paying subscribers to The Kaka. Jump in for a chat on anything, including:Auckland’s catastrophic floods, which are set to cost insurers and the Government well over ...
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters When early settlers came to the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers before the California Gold Rush, Indigenous people warned them that the Sacramento Valley could become an inland sea when great winter rains came. The storytellers described water filling the ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Wayne Brown managed a smile when meeting with Remuera residents, but he was grumpy about having to deal with “media drongos”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: In my pick of the news links found in my rounds since 4am for paying subscribers below the paywall:Wayne Brown moans about the media and ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Hipkins’ aim this year will be to present a ‘low target’ for those seeking to attack Labour’s policies and spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Anyone dealing with Government departments and councils who wants some sort of big or long-term decision out of officials or politicians this year should brace for ...
Last night’s opinion polls answered the big question of whether a switch of prime minister would really be a gamechanger for election year. The 1News and Newshub polls released at 6pm gave the same response: the shift from Jacinda Ardern to Chris Hipkins has changed everything, and Labour is back ...
Over the last few years, it’s seemed like city after city around the world has become subject to extreme flooding events that have been made worse by impacts from climate change. We’ve highlighted many of them in our Weekly Roundup series. Sadly, over the last few days it’s been Auckland’s ...
And so the first month of the year draws to a close. It rained in Auckland on 21 out of the 31 days in January. Feels like summer never really happened this year. It’s actually hard to believe there were 10 days that it didn’t rain. Was it any better where ...
A ‘small target’ strategy is not going to cut it anymore if National want to win the upcoming election. The game has changed and the game plan needs to change as well. Jacinda Ardern’s abrupt departure from the 9th floor has the potential to derail what looked to be an ...
When Grant Robertson talks about how the economy might change post-covid, one of the things he talks about is what he calls an unsung but interesting white paper on science. “It’s really important,” he says. The Minister in charge of the White Paper — Te Ara Paerangi, Future Pathways ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The clean up has begun but more rain is on the way. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Auckland’s floods over the last three days are turning into a macroeconomic event, with losses from Aotearoa’s biggest-ever climate event estimated at around $500 million and Auckland’s schools all closed for a week until ...
The news media were at one ceremony by the looks of things. The Governor-General, the Prime Minister and his deputy were at another. The news media were at a swearing-in ceremony. The country’s leaders were at an appointment ceremony. The New Zealand Gazette record of what transpired says: Appointment of ...
I n some alternative universe, Auckland mayor Efeso Collins readily grasped the scale of Friday’s deluge, and quickly made the emergency declaration that enabled central government to immediately throw its resources behind the rescue and remediation effort. As Friday evening became night, Mayor Collins seemed to be everywhere: talking with ...
They called it an “atmospheric river”, the weather bombardment which hit NZ’s northern region at the weekend. It exacted a terrible toll on metropolitan Auckland and the rest of the region. Few living there may have noted a statement from electricity generator Mercury Energy labelled “WET, WET, WET!” This was ...
I know, that is a pretty corny title but given the circumstances here in the Auckland region, I just had to say it. The more oblique reference embedded in the title is to the leadership failures exhibited by Mayor Wayne Brown and his so-called leadership team when confronted by the ...
How much confidence should the public have in authorities managing natural disasters? Not much, judging by the farcical way in which the civil defence emergence in Auckland has played out. The way authorities dealt with Auckland’s extreme weather on Friday illustrated how hit-and-miss our civil defence emergency system is. In ...
TLDR: Here’s the key news links and useful longer reads I’ve spotted since 4 am this morning, including:calls for a more ‘spongey’ urban infrastructure after Auckland’s floods;demands for an inquiry into Auckland Council’s communications failure;the latest on Chris Hipkins’ plans for Three Waters; inside the PR trainwreck that is Wayne ...
TLDR: Here’s the key news links and useful longer reads I’ve spotted since 4 am this morning, including:calls for a more ‘spongey’ urban infrastructure after Auckland’s floods;demands for an inquiry into Auckland Council’s communications failure;the latest on Chris Hipkins’ plans for Three Waters; inside the PR trainwreck that is Wayne ...
Mayor Wayne Brown, under fire for his communication failures, quietly visited the scene of the fatal Remuera slip on Sunday, with his staff taking photos for social media updates. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: The cleanup and the post-mortem have begun, even though the rain just keeps falling in Auckland after ...
Mayor Wayne Brown, under fire for his communication failures, quietly visited the scene of the fatal Remuera slip on Sunday, with his staff taking photos for social media updates. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: The cleanup and the post-mortem have begun, even though the rain just keeps falling in Auckland after ...
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The recent leadership change in the governing Labour party resulted in a very strange response from National’s (current) leader, Christopher Luxon. Mr Luxon berated Labour for it’s change of leader, citing no actual change.As ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 22, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 28, 2023. Story of the Week New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing LaterClimate change is affecting the timing of both ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
After four years, executive director Max Tweedie has stepped down from Auckland Pride. He tells Sam Brooks about shepherding the festival through a tumultuous few years, and where he’s going from here.This year’s Auckland Pride Festival is set to be the biggest one yet. Over the course of more ...
A flailing mayor was only the public face of a multifaceted flooding communications failure. Duncan Greive examines the mess, and asks what can be done to improve it.It’s a chilling timeline. Stuff’s Kelly Dennett catalogued, beat-by-beat, the 12 hours in which Auckland was pummelled by a catastrophic deluge, interspersing ...
The Dunedin branch of the Green Party has selected Francisco Hernandez as its candidate for the Dunedin electorate in this year’s general election. Francisco Hernandez was the Otago University Students Association President in 2013. He has held a number ...
Waitangi organisers are trying to push political leaders to the side at Sunday's pōwhiri, but Labour's deputy leader says it's not for them to decide who speaks. Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour’s deputy leader, Kelvin Davis, says the Prime Minister will speak at Sunday’s pōwhiri at Waitangi, in defiance of local ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we spoke to an aid worker who had made the trip to the war zone in Ukraine, looked at why Carmel Sepuloni was picked to be the new deputy prime minister, visited the flood-torn streets of Titirangi in West ...
Schools play an integral but often unrecognised and unacknowledged role in helping communities respond to and recover from disastersOpinion: Schools in Auckland and other flood-affected areas are about to re-open after a delayed start to the new school year. Students will return to school having experienced wide-ranging impacts. While some ...
A very short story for Waitangi weekend The pā is a lonely place nowadays. Gorse has marched on it like the British troops of old, consuming the hills and leaving the marae looking a bald patch on the head of the earth mother herself. Even the roads have worn thin, ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend. This week, it's The School Away From School written by Bill Morris and published in NZ Geographic's January/February 2023 issue. You can find the entire article, with photos from Lottie Hedley, on the NZ Geographic website. One hundred years since its ...
COMMENTARY:By Kayt Davies in Perth I wasn’t good at French in my final year of high school. My classmates had five years of language studies behind them. I had three. As a result of my woeful grip on the language, I wrote a terribly bad essay in my final ...
RNZ Pacific Journalist Victor Mambor, who is the chief editor of the West Papuan newspaper and websiteJubi, has received the Oktovianus Pogau Award from the Indonesian-based Pantau Foundation for courage in journalism. The foundation’s Andreas Harsono said Mambor’s decision to return to his father’s homeland and defend the rights ...
RNZ News Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick is brushing off concerns a temporary rent freeze in flood-hit Auckland would just see landlords hike rents even more when the controls were lifted — arguing they should stay permanently. More than 20 organisations have signed a letter urging Minister for Auckland Michael ...
Iwi leaders have accused National and ACT of "fanning the flames of racism", urging the prime minister to be brave and not walk away from partnership on three waters. ...
About this time last week it had become apparent that Auckland was in for a bit more than just a wet Friday. While the state of emergency remains in place for another seven days, it appears the worst should now be behind us. Last night, Niwa shared a fascinating thread ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra ShutterstockIndigenous Australians are respectfully advised that the following includes the names and images of some people who are now deceased. The Reserve Bank of Australia ...
The government has confirmed the money will be spent in Northland, including unlocking greenfields land and transport upgrades like a new bridge in Kamo. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that sometime between August and November this year, the Australian people will go to a referendum for the first time since 1999. We’ll be asked whether we support ...
Viewers across the United States were today shown a slice of New Zealand, with a reporter for Good Morning America broadcasting live from Rotorua. Robin Roberts, a co-anchor for the popular morning TV show, has been touring the country this week. During her visit to Rotorua’s Te Puia centre, she ...
They can be environmentally unsound and are a symbol used to shame millennials, but everyone still loves an avo. I love avocados, always have, always will. The buttery golden-green flesh from a perfectly ripe avocado is a culinary blessing. Today I’d love to simply wax poetic about twisting open a ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (Penguin Press, $50) The beautiful ...
A new poem by Robin Peace. To the kahikatea I see from my bed Thinking inside the square, the ellipse, the round of what life is, I only see the trees. Not only as if that were the only thing I see, but only as if the tree matters more. ...
A week ago, Elton John’s first Auckland show was called off at the last minute. What was it like getting there, being there, and trying to return home afterwards?Elton John has long been a blessing for our ears, but in recent years his Auckland shows have been cursed. His ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
For Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say The mayoral chains must have been heavy this week for Auckland’s Wayne Brown, as his response to last week’s flood garnered its own veritable torrent of scandals and media scrutiny. Almost exactly one week on from ...
Ours Not Mines is cautiously excited about reporting that the Government is drafting legislation to ban new mines on conservation land. The anti-mining group's spokesperson, Morgan Donoghue says: "The Government has been promising us some action for ...
People who enjoy the outdoors for recreation, fishing and hunting will lose rights under the Natural and Built Environments Bill. Fish & Game New Zealand chief executive Corina Jordan says the proposed replacement for the Resource Management ...
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has conceded he “dropped the ball” during last Friday’s major flooding event. The state of emergency in the super city has today been extended for a further seven days, though Brown said he expects it will be lifted early. After a week of defensiveness over his ...
As the reality TV juggernaut returns for a new season, Tara Ward steps into the minds of the show’s relationship experts to assess the compatibility of this year’s brides and grooms. Married at First Sight: Australia returns on Monday night, and by season ten, you’d think the show’s relationship experts ...
Auckland’s state of emergency is expected to be extended for another seven days, according to the Herald. It was due to expire overnight after being declared a week ago, the day of the worst flooding in the super city. While weather conditions have improved, the city is continuing to experience ...
Proposed pay equity claim settlements for school librarians and science technicians have been reached between the Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa, Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted and NZEI Te Riu Roa president, Mark Potter, announced ...
Members of NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating on behalf of school librarians, library assistants and science technicians are excited to announce that proposed pay equity settlements are ready to be voted on by their colleagues. They include pay increases of up to ...
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) is calling for Michael Wood, the Minister of Transport, and now Auckland, to cancel the light rail project immediately. Auckland Light Rail was never going to happen, as our group has repeatedly said dozens of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has been asked to intervene following confirmation today that the Government plans to implement a ban on all extractive sector activities on the conservation estate. Wayne Scott, CEO of the Aggregate and Quarry Association, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Getty Images The heated (and often confused) debate about “co-governance” in Aotearoa New Zealand inevitably leads back to its source, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. But, as its long-contested meanings demonstrate, very little ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jodie Hutchinson/Red StitchReview: Wittenoom, directed by Susie Dee, Red Stitch Deep in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, the town of Wittenoom lies empty, desolate … and contaminated. Wittenoom ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver Bown, Postdoctoral fellow, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock The past few years have seen an explosion in applications of artificial intelligence to creative fields. A new generation of image and text generators is delivering impressiveresults. Now AI has also found ...
New Zealand’s egg shortage is hitting cruise ships too – forcing the crew of one vessel to hatch a poaching plan. This story was first published on Stuff. On the hunt for eggs, a crew from a luxury cruise ship got cracking and hatched a cunning plan. Earlier this week, Stuff ...
Now demolished, the First Church of Christ Scientist was a masterclass of architectural imagination. Kate Linzey visits the site on which it once stood, to learn more. The object is delicate and small. Small enough to sit in the palm of my hand and weighing less than 300 grams. It ...
When your food parcel arrives before the emergency alert, you know something’s not working properly.This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. I’ve spent the last week desperately and at times fruitlessly attempting to drain and then sweep my whānau home of knee-deep water, pull up ...
Drongo-gate continues for another day with the Herald reporting that Auckland’s mayor has been caught out using the slang term for a second time. It comes this time from a former minor mayoral candidate, Mike Kampkes, who said he received a message from Brown in response to a media release ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how venture capitalists are funding Aotearoa’s fastest growing, least-polluting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Guastella, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Sydney Shutterstock With childcare and schools starting the new year, parents might be anxiously wondering how their child will adapt in a new ...
I am delighted to announce the appointment of John Price ONZM as the new Director Civil Defence Emergency Management and Deputy Chief Executive Emergency Management for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). John has been a member of the ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki are calling on the new Prime Minister and new Minister of Conservation Willow Jean Prime to immediately implement the 2017 promise to ban new mining activity on conservation lands. “ The mining industry group Straterra ...
How does Aotearoa stop relying so heavily on agriculture to prop up our economy? Online tax and accounting service Hnry just raised $35m to grow its software on-demand service across the globe. In the latest episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with AirTree partner Jackie Vullinghs about how ...
There’s a fear that highlighting menopause will undermine women, especially at work. But what have centuries of secrecy achieved for us? Are you sick of hearing about menopause? Kim Hill is. The living legend of Aotearoa broadcasting told actor Robyn Malcolm (also a legend) on her Saturday Morning show on RNZ ...
Dunedin city council has reached an agreement to save Foulden Maar from commercial mining. The maar is the site of a crater lake from 23 million years ago with the diatomite of the lake preserving fossils and a climate record covering 100,000 years from that period. It is fantastic news for Otago University ...
Some are speculating whether the Auckland Mayor's leadership is circling the drain. James Elliott hopes they're right. There’s never been a week quite like it. It was the week when the rains came. All of them. Even the rain from Spain that was supposed to fall mainly on the plain, came. ...
The Bus and Coach Association supports the Government’s decision to continue half-price fares on public transport services. The fare reduction was set to expire on 31 March 2023, but will now continue to 30 June 2023. “Half-price fares have cost ten-times ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Hipkins’ bread and butter reshufflePolitical scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Chris Hipkins hires a lobbyist to run the BeehiveNew Zealand Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, speaking when Minister of Education, at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of the New Zealand Parliament, 15th August 2018. Image; Wiki Commons. New Zealand is ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayCO-GOVERNANCE, WAITANGI, THREE WATERS Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Blowing Off The Froth: Why Chris Hipkins Must Ditch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brian Tweed, Senior lecturer, Massey University Shutterstock/Renata Apanaviciene As we approach another Waitangi Day, we should be thinking again about what Te Tiriti o Waitangi means. As the late Moana Jackson commented, the meaning of Te Tiriti will be ...
Even prime ministers get caught in bad weather. It’s a week on from the devastating flooding that hit Auckland and Northland and Chris Hipkins has been forced to drive north for the start of Waitangi weekend commemorations after his plan was turned away from Kerikeri airport (twice). Today will see ...
Less than a year ago, co-governance had a future, at least as potentially accepted terminology. Now some iwi leaders want the label removed and replaced, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
“The decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to not replace the late Queen with Charles on the Aussie $5 note should indicate to our Reserve Bank that it’s time to change the NZ $20 note” said Lewis Holden, campaign chair of New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Wolf, Associate Professor, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University Somchat Parkaythong/Shutterstock Black holes are bizarre things, even by the standards of astronomers. Their mass is so great, it bends space around them so tightly that nothing can escape, even ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Revell, Associate Professor in Environmental Physics, University of Canterbury Getty Images The ozone layer is on track to heal within four decades, according to a recent UN report, but this progress could be undone by an upsurge in rocket ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney At the New South Wales election on March 25 a 12-year-old Coalition government will be seeking re-election. Hoping to return as premier is Liberal leader Dominic Perrottet – a political conservative ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Trauer, Associate Professor, Monash University Anastelfy/Shutterstock The XBB.1.5 subvariant, known informally as “Kraken”, is the latest in a menagerie of Omicron subvariants to dominate the headlines, following increasing detection in the United States and United Kingdom. But there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeline Combe, Doctoral student, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock As the economist Herman Daly pithily said, the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment – not the reverse. Nature makes our lives possible through what scientists call ecosystem ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Jefferson, Lecturer in Education, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock Grit. Don’t quit. That’s the mantra many parents may have in mind when they, like me, spend what feels like years ferrying children to a seemingly endless variety of sports and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Sydney Sam Shere/Wikimedia Commons A few weeks ago, Gautam Adani was indisputably India’s richest man. Now his fortune is slipping away as the stocks of his many companies crash, thanks to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Divna Haslam, Senior Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and noticed you felt a bit down? Maybe a little envious? Why aren’t you on a yacht? Running a startup? Looking ...
The science of ‘event attribution’ is growing, with researchers working to accelerate their assessments. A leading NZ climate scientist tells Toby Manhire how it works, how climate change impacted the ‘off the chart’ weekend downpours, and why we can’t put a number on it tomorrow. Brutal, unexpected, record-breaking, destructive, tragic. ...
Those lockdown vibes are back – and maybe they never really went away. We were supposed to be organised. For a while there, we were. A uniform, purchased across a frenzied weekend dashing between specialist stores, was spread out over our son’s bed. Tags removed, shirts folded, socks in balls, ...
Establishing a Truth, Reconciliation and Justice Commission and recognising Māori tino rangatiratanga are among several recommendations in two pivotal reports released today (Friday 3 February) by Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. The ...
Losing her mum at an early age, Ivari Christie found strength in netball. The explosive teen midcourter has now burst into the Southern Steel, with help from a couple of Silver Ferns legends, Suzanne McFadden writes. It was the biggest moment in Ivari Christie’s netball career; just 18 years old ...
The latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve BrauniasFICTION 1 Kāwai by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99) Huzzah to Monty Soutar, huzzah to his publishers, and huzzah to the three wise judges of the fiction prize at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand national book awards for ...
I don’t suppose there are any protests planned for when John Key leaves Parliament. It would be great to give him a final hurray to let him know that a lot of people don’t like him. I don’t live in Wellington so couldn’t make it but it is a fine thought.
I also don’t think he is just disliked by the general population. He has unjustly ruined the reputations and careers of a lot of people by passing the blame, particularly in the Public Service. They, their families and friends must know the truth when someone further down the chain of command has been the scapegoat for the actions of Key and his ministers.
He may have unjustly ruined the reputations and careers of a lot of people. He may deserve a noisy send-off. (or better still a ‘Bugger off!’) I personally think he was a lying, weasly opportunist.
It’s a fact though that he was not disliked by the general population. Certainly not by any significant numbers.
Media assisted Key. Take this weeks Nation and Q&a, both had annoying stupid greying balding hacks on, no doubt paid by the 1% to go on TV and say annoyingly stupid things. Franks says Greens caused Aucklands Housing crisis, you know the Green party that constucted the stupid city, Key, and the ACT MP Hide who became local govt minister. Then on Q&a former ACT leader, the more balding one, says that not only should foregn buyers have no cultural concerns when shifting to a new different culture, but once here should total act without any community spirit, doubling down on how mney makes rich people invinsible invisible even to us general oiks. This is how Key got such an easy ride, dumb and stupid are merged and put into the media spotlight, just right, that it does not show. As long as the talking heads dont shift the shadows, insure the obvious lies aren’t not asked or answered, then the distraction is complete. everyone gets paid. Hey think about the Chinese tourists, how can they feel about bringing their monkey year child up on NZ milk, to NZ and feeling at home swimming in a shitty river like back home.
The dairy boom was a politicial Chinese need for milk and we all paid for it with farm debt, land misuse in conversions, overstocking and shiity rivers. No wonder NZ gets poorer, it grows and takes on all the risks and hands off the profits.
aerobubble,
You do realise that Q & A usually has a political scientist, plus a commentator from the left and the right; same with the Nation. As publicly funded political programmes I guess they naively think balance is important.
So it is no doubt really annoying for you to put with comment from the right as well as the left. Though Jamie Whyte is a true libertarian and does not really buy into regulation, certainly much less than National supporters think appropriate.
At least it gives you something to complain about.
Are you suggesting political scientists are all balanced?
“Jamie Whyte is a true libertarian and does not really buy into regulation.”
Must be a real bastard for him that there are traffic lights and speed limits restricting his freedom to choose.
The right by which you mean super individualists whose objective is to stymie the issue and keep systemic wealth unaccountable. Essentially false libertarians whose job is to hose down any issue. Any company that grows has growing pains, its essential those matrs are brought to the boardroom, inequality, low pay, high rents, por public transit, shitty rivers, etc are all met by these paid supposed libertarians with ad hom, distraction fed by mediator of some gen war. If the nats really thought these particular commentators are doing themselves any favors then sirely they deserve the now obvious joke. Trump, like them makes bald obvious untrue claims of greatness, how he’s great with the economyetc Facts are nAtional are woeful managers of the economy, who shorts their kids? Tax cuts coupled with taxing education, its decades of shoving future weath into the pile of present politicial expediancy.
And its all now coming back to bite. The ultra stupid savants of ACT are hardly credible rightwing commentators, just lousy socialists for the few.
Christ Wayne – you really are quite a naiive little wall flower aren’t you. And here’s me thinking you were the Brains of Britain with a wealth of experience.
No accounting for a closed mind, rote ‘learnings’ and ideology though I ‘spose.
Btw…..did you check out Matty boy this morning?. Someone’s obviously told him to try and be cool calm and collected. He ALMOST made it.
He was almost convincing. He certainly had Nick Smith and major friend Bill pegged (as to their mediocre intelligence, disguised by polly and spin speak).
It was probably Matty’s attempt at exercising a smidgeon of honesty (going forward).
Congratulations Matty – you almost made it.
But as for you Wayne – much as I tried to think otherwise, now I know you’re really just full of shit dressed up in the robes of academic rationalism and supposed experience.
You’ll go far (going forward). A+ with honours
And oh btw @ Wayne
Did you hear Nick Smith on Q+A or The Nation (both fairly feeble efforts at holding our political ‘representatives’ to account in a democratic nation state) say
“I did them the courtesy of meeting them in my office”.
??
It seems to me that Nick the faux has lost all notion of what his job is, what a functioning rep dem is, and the idea that he is a servant. (As of course were you and ilk if you could just get past your priviledges and swilling at the trough)
Historically, that’s the sort of arrogance that got the natives really really restless. Lucky we don’t really have a functioning mainstream media that picks up on those details – though as Dear Matty suggests – Nick Smith is managing to piss off people all on his own
Ah well it’s been about 4 hours and fuk all response from ‘The Wayne’.
My reason for not engaging in discussion in the past was more about the state of TS – whereas, it appears ‘The Wayne’s’ is more about a troll-like hit and run agenda in pursuit of his agenda and in the name of self preservation.
@The Wayne, and @The Nick Smith …… we know you present yourselves as the gorgeous voices of reason (going forward), and as the intelligensia of the Neshnool Party along with that bitter old queen from the Eastern suburbs trying to define High and Might (there’d be one or two Snots Porridge old boys along with a few polly bois that still have ushooooos).
(There are a few of them that set themselves apart from the feral leopard skins but who are publicly so-in-sync with the same publicly – for some – it hurts: IT REALLY HURTS)
Why do you keep at it @ Wayne? (It’s a genuine question).
Are you actually as thick as I suspect you might be and just riding on your past, or are you getting just an eeensie teeeensie little bit scared.
I think Matty Dear the Hooter could actually be correct, and that you, along with Nuk Smuff could actually be just a little bit FUK
Let me clarify @ Wayne
by which I mean you have the capacity for argument but not reason, ideology over issue, and a total lack of critical thought processes.
Polly wanna Cracker?
Wayne – you’re in ….compliant? ideologically comitted’ cultural? company. There’s a Hekia to ya roit, and a Crus to ya left. A part time feminist to ya roit, and a bitter old poof to ya left (even though he’d be too scared to move)
. And both sides protesting a high ground in a compliant and main stream media (check out that AM Show fukwit trying his hardest to cling to yoof and relevance for a start -and no ….. not the “Dunk”
A tuff on croim coward to ya roit, and probably half the fucking back bench asking where to point their tounges: should it be towards a Bling giving a thrill his wife yet never has – or ……. (And it’s a shame that so many are just a little bit ….. you know …. Nafe Goi).
Jesus! I sure as shit hope you’re getting value for the CT dollar, but I suspect (as do others in your politically defined bracket) your time is up and you’ll have to start dealing with the ushooooze
Careful Bill, the head of that pin could get awfully small very fast….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90610222/no-charge-put-on-water-before-the-election-because-its-too-hard–bill-english
I don’t see what’s so hard about the ownership side, there’s no issues around petroleum and minerals, only contentious bit there is the price.
Why not set up a trust to own the water and use the funds to clean and maintain our water assets for future generations
Listening to PM Bill English saying they will do something after the election on RNZ was laughable. So I signed this latest petition 🙂
https://www.change.org/p/environment-minister-nick-smith-stop-multinational-corporations-exporting-kiwis-artesian-water-without-paying-a-royalty/u/19756904
Its hard? Could be he has a lots of super rich people breathing down his neck, who are entitled to not pay tax, not pay tarriffs, not be concern for local culture, community or environment needs, and wealth for then is a pissing contest, as they cant take it with them, they find the only purpose to life is to piss highest up the wealth pole.
Put a tax on how far pottable water is transported, including bottled. People should live close to water storage, like they live close to food, transport, work, as it saves energy.
“too hard”
That’s the theme this year, National, the too hard govt.
Agree weka, and Election hoardings will read- “Vote National for a too hard future.”
lol, we should definitely do some memes here on that.
National Party rep: The beatings will continue until morale improves
Noted. Wealthy people change nothing, nothing to see types, its so good, its never been better… …oh and bring back beatings for kids. Yeah, they hven’t ben holding back Northland with thei ineffective neolib fantasy of leaving it to the market, no not them, that stress out families, working two jobs, never able to communicate values to their kids.
At a supermarket near you.
@absurdistwords on anti-blackness in media and advertising
New Zealand, in my considered opinion, is and has been riddled with endemic and entrenched corruption for decades.
The ‘commercialise – corporatise -PRIVATISE Neo – liberal Rogernomics’ model, locally, nationally and internationally, promoted and enforced the contracting out of public services that used to be provided ‘in house’ by central and local government.
The ‘Rogernomics RORT’ was based upon the unsubstantiated myth and mantra
‘PUBLIC IS BAD – PRIVATE IS GOOD’.
That public service provision, under the genuine non-commercialised (not for profit) public service model was supposedly ‘inefficient’.
‘Inefficient’ in my view, was corporate-speak for ‘we haven’t yet got our filthy hands on it’.
The NZ Business Round Table (made up of CEOs of NZ BIG business) who both vigorously promoted and directly benefited from the Rogernomics reforms which served their vested interests – focused on a form of ‘grand’ corruption which most New Zealanders have never even heard of.
STATE CAPTURE – where vested interests get their way at the POLICY level, to get laws passed which serve their vested interests.
Where do you look to find STATE CAPTURE in New Zealand?
Look at the Regulatory Impact Statements that are produced before proposed law changes go to Cabinet.
Look at those with whom the ‘policy analysts’ have consulted.
That’s how this form of endemic ‘grand’ corruption has been carried out for decades in this corrupt, polluted tax haven, falsely and misleadingly marketed as ‘clean, green New Zealand’.
What a total CROCK.
The answer?
In my considered opinion ?
Open the books.
Cut out the contractors.
Return public services to ‘in house’ provision under the public service model.
Penny Bright
Proven ‘anti-privatisation / anti-corruption Public Watchdog’
Fletcher Building taking a massive hit, probably on just a couple of jobs: Sky City and Christchurch.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11821548
Really bad case of overreach.
Near-monopoly meets near-monopsony in a small coutnry; who’d’ve thought there’d be tears before bedtime?
Bruce has got a great idea, the natural world doesn’t like the west coast or people very much so the plan is to export the natural world to China. Genius!
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/water-from-mt-aspiring-in-the-south-island-set-to-be-shipped-overseas.html
This is a great boost for the West Coast, S.I. NZ The locals think it’s all right.
Yeah, a good idea we’ve got plenty of it heh heh, says Fred Dagg, a local.
I’ll become a supplier, wear one of those heavy waterproof coats and a hat with a rim and catch the flow in a container at the hem. The way it rains here I’ll be a millionaire in ten years. They are short of water in the world but we will always have plenty to spare. Great idea, need some business and new people to boost house prices here.
Another organic farmer, 2% up 98% to go. Come on you farmers that care about the land and doing a good job, not just screwing every last drop out of your properties – Don’t Drop-Prop!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/90617108/heriot-farmer-encourages-others-to-go-organic
Does anyone know the percentage into organics of all NZ farmers?
Great news. Today’s farmers have a new idea – they are putting in water troughs like NZ farms always used to have. However the energy being used as of now to move the water is not provided by solar, so they are really starting with an old model which would probably have been gravity-fed and adding old technology to it. Hey guys and girls there are things that have been discovered since then – solar, and of course there is the ancient method of windmills that have been updated. So much to learn, it’s a problem.
Up-front capital costs included pipes, troughs and tanks, as well as fences and additional stock. Running costs were fuel or electricity, insurance, as well as additional fertiliser and extra supplementary feed.
Manawatu AgFirst consultant Erica van Reenen said list “significant” benefits. “Such as increased subdivision, better grazing management, an increase in the number of stock run, and more sold prime rather than as store stock.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/90520128/water-troughs-bring-big-gains-for-hill-country-farmers
It takes a very switched on farmer to farm the organic way , there have been some horror stories about animals suffering under people that have tried and failed.
Thanks bwaghorn
I have heard it is hard. I note that the farmer in the NZ Farmer article said you have to do it in stages.
It’s not hard technically. Organics is just another set of skills and approaches (although I think you probably do need to have the philosophy clear in your own head too). I can’t see how it would be any harder than switching from sheep to industrial dairying for instance.
The problem is that the huge infrastructure that exists to support farming doesn’t support organics very well. Banks, farm advisors, support organisations, govt research etc are still massively weighted towards industrial and conventional farming. Not to mention supply line issues. Farm debt is a big one too from what I understand. Banks are less likely to lend to operations they don’t understand and perceive as risky. Risk assessment being affected by all that other weighting.
we’ve breed sheep and cattle for at least 50 years using all manner of potions to keep them safe ,they have no natural resistance , the most successful ones i’ve heard of have two blocks ,one organic one not so they can transfer the weaker stock that need help to the chemical farm
Are you saying that parasite management is the stumbling block?
People raised sheep and other stock for thousands of years before the invention of chemical farming 😉
yep that would be the biggy , some ram breeders are working on worm resistance , as drench resistance is becoming more of a problem we may be forced to go drench free at some point down the track, unless they come up with a new one.
fly strike would be a hard one too, and with things getting warmer that is a problem that will only grow. on the bright side the new dips are a lot less toxic than the old ones
are old breeds more resistant? e.g. pre-WW2?
Vaccines have been the saviour of us and animals though.
I read in a series of novels set in the 18th century that there had been a bad cattle plague. It certainly was a doozy.
Wikipedia:
Cattle plagues recurred throughout history, often accompanying wars and military campaigns. They hit Europe especially hard in the 18th century, with three long panzootics which, although varying in intensity and duration from region to region, took place in the periods of 1709–1720, 1742–1760, and 1768–1786.[14]
There was a major outbreak covering the whole of Britain in 1865/66. Later in history, an outbreak in the 1890s killed 80 to 90% of all cattle in southern Africa, as well as in the Horn of Africa. Sir Arnold Theiler was instrumental in developing a vaccine that curbed the epizootic. More recently, a rinderpest outbreak raged across much of Africa in 1982–1984, costing at least an estimated US$500 million in stock losses.
But good news!
On 14 October 2010, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that field activities in the decades-long, worldwide campaign to eradicate the disease were ending, paving the way for a formal declaration in June 2011 of the global eradication of rinderpest.[5]
On 25 May 2011, the World Organisation for Animal Health announced the free status of the last eight countries not yet recognized (a total of 198 countries were now free of the disease), officially declaring the eradication of the disease.[6]
In June 2011, the United Nations FAO confirmed the disease was eradicated, making rinderpest only the second disease in history to be fully wiped out, following smallpox.[7]
In relation to Organic Dairy Farming the limited amount of supply was reduced further 2-3 years ago by incompetence (a particular manager) at a mid-management level in Fonterra when their dedicated group of organic suppliers around the Manawatu and Wanganui regions were told that their Organic premiums were going to cease and their organic milk would be pumped in with the regular milk supply.
After a couple of years many of the suppliers forwent their Organic status as the low payout meant their farms lost much of their profitability.
Role on a couple more years and the incompetent had been fired and then Fontera were begging for Organic supply again – not so easy to regain your organic status.
“there have been some horror stories about animals suffering under people that have tried and failed.”
Such as?
only anicdata but sheep dying in numbers from worms and fly strike.
How many farms? That sounds like someone who doesn’t know what they are doing rather than being about organics. What kinds of farmer would let their animals get in that state?
”What kinds of farmer would let their animals get in that state?”
a useless one and as there is no licence to farm there is no way of stopping his type,
although a bad outbreak can catch out even the good cockies.
did anyone read this? what do they make of it?
http://www.wakeupnz.net/link-dairy-farming-crohns-disease-nz/
“The reported incidence of Crohn’s disease in Canterbury, New Zealand has doubled over the past decade, crowning the region with the highest reported incidence globally. Scientists around the world believe environmental factors are contributing to this disconcerting rise. In this investigation, we present the research on a disease found primarily in dairy cattle called Johne’s disease, which has the same symptoms as Crohn’s disease and is recognised on over half of all dairy farms in New Zealand. If the MAP bacteria which causes the immune responses in dairy cattle is tested and found in our local drinking water supplies, our air and our dairy products, we could be facing a public health issue of massive proportions.
Johne’s (“Yo-nees”) disease is a contagious, chronic and sometimes fatal infection caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Johne’s disease is found primarily in agricultural ruminants such as cattle and sheep, and is an immune system response following MAP infection which leads to deteriorated bowels. This inability to process nutrients leads to the most obvious signs an animal may have contracted Johne’s such as weakening, weight loss and even death. Most animals are infected during the first months of their life, yet signs of the infection can take years to show.”
Sabine thanks for that heads up.
That is really interesting. And it might be one of those illnesses that faecal implants are able to help. I’ve heard Crohn’s is horrible. A real kick in the guts.
It sounds similar to leptospirosis, which is passed on from animals.
http://www.medicinenet.com/leptospirosis/page2.htm
What causes leptospirosis?
The cause of leptospirosis is bacteria, Leptospira interrogans, a Gram-negative spirochete (spiral-shaped bacteria). The bacteria infect many types of animals (many wild animals, rodents, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, cattle, for example) that subsequently contaminate water, lakes, rivers, soil, and crops when they urinate because the bacteria are present in urine.
The bacteria then infect humans when they invade through breaks in the skin or mucus membranes or when people ingest them. The bacteria multiply in the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. Person-to-person transfer of this disease is rare.
That too leaves a person weaker and vulnerable to illness and seems chronic.
So on top of all the other factors which make dairy farming bad economically.
Now it would appear, that those with a predisposition to catching Crohn’s disease (which we have no idea of those numbers) are catching the disease because it is a zoonotic (transferable from animals to humans) in nature. And our dairy heard is full of the disease.
This national government, does nothing beyond short term – at the expense of the long term health of the population. What else will we learn that their shortsightedness has done to hurt the population I wonder.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90610222/no-charge-put-on-water-before-the-election-because-its-too-hard–bill-english
”If the government put a charge on water it was inevitable Maori would make a claim and English said that would be “pretty hard to resolve”. ”
it’s all the maoris fault we can’t charge for water according to english
interesting.
we shifted house 8 weeks ago, but because of our chinese landlord not being here in nz and not having signed the form we must wait 31 working day for a time out and then we will be re-funded our bond.
Now luckily we are not too poor and moved into our own pad, so did not need the bond to be returned in time to pay for another bond (or pay back any advances from the bank).
I wonder how standard this is, how much interest people loose on their bond money, and how many overseas landlord make it hard fro people to get their money back.
Also, can someone explain to me why bond money that is held for years is refunded without interest?
the reason i am asking is simple, the government holds the bonds paid by people. It would be fair to assume that the money held is accruing interest. where does that interest go?
again boring but, in Germany the bond (kaution) is held in an savings account on behalf of the tenant by the landlord and when both parties sign to release the bond, the amount plus interest is paid back to the tenant as it is their money security to save keep the house/flat. Right?
http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t97250.html
“The fairest way to deal with the Kaution is to put it in a savings book. This is held in the tenants name, the landlord looks after the book. The cash can only be withdrawn when both parties sign at the end of the tenancy so landlord and tenant have to agree any deductions before either get the cash. This is called a Bankburgschaft. As it is a savings account it collects interest and the tenant will recieve this.”
Good point about the interest.
NYT Russia conspiracy “expert”
Health warning may contain nut.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39250257
Only response I can think of to that rubbish from the crazy Tory.
Another benefit of the intensive dairying in NZ
No doubt the scientist have got it all wrong just like the scientist who warn us about global warming sarc/
http://www.wakeupnz.net/link-dairy-farming-crohns-disease-nz/
A thoughtful piece by the President of the PPTA and a totally predictable reply by Alan Price – National Party’s Kaikohe Chair. “It’s abundantly clear that the last 32 years haven’t seen teachers wishing to turn back the clock. Unless Alan Price was willing to staff schools with National Party branch chairs and members of Family First, it’s hard to see how reintroducing corporal punishment could happen.” http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/327017/why-corporal-punishment-doesn't-work