"Meridian and Contact say they are seriously considering building a plant which would convert about 12 per cent of the country’s total electricity generation into green hydrogen. The plant would be based in Southland as an alternative user of the energy the Tiwai aluminium smelter uses, should it close as scheduled at the end of 2024."
"Meridian and Contact’s first feasibility report suggests New Zealand is well placed to be a leading green hydrogen producer; its high proportion of renewable electricity meaning it could export as well as meeting domestic needs."
I suspect the devil is in the detail of how exactly hydrogen would be exported – is tank tech sufficiently secure yet? I wonder if export in liquid form would be feasible.
"On the export front, the Government already has agreements of co-operation with Japan and Singapore to research production and explore New Zealand’s export potential. A letter of intent was also signed some years ago between a New Zealand private consortium and several South Korean companies to explore hydrogen exporting, although MBIE says it has yet to progress. There is also the research alliance with Germany, which has already committed to moving to green hydrogen."
"According to the report, the investment in a green hydrogen economy could generate one-time benefits of $0.6 billion to $0.8 billion, and thousands of jobs, with ongoing benefits of $350 million to $450m per annum and hundreds of jobs. Some of those benefits might include attracting high tech talent and money from large sustainable investment funds, or chemical, fertiliser and other industries set up alongside the plant… Standards New Zealand has convened a hydrogen standards advisory group, and the Government will begin developing a hydrogen roadmap this year to examine the issue in more detail."
Probably depends on the business case, eh? Or, to be more precise, the various competing business cases involved. So cabinet will have a plethora of input (refined by relevant ministers before it gets tabled) to eventually consider…
renewable, climate-saving power generation as a capitalist lottery rather than say a strategic asset core to how we transition and get through the next century.
Well, it is how the cabinet is likely to decide. Jacinda being High Priestess of Neoliberalism – eventually to go down in history as St Jacinda the Neoliberal and featuring as such in the publications of next-century historians.
If Labour were to ditch muddle thro the middle and form a govt with the Greens with formal sustainability/resilience focus, your scenario would apply.
It's a contemporary variation on trickle-down theory. Instead of wealth trickling down from profit-driven enterprises, this time it will be salvational technology. God knows – but they may be right. Because we have spent 35 years eviscerating the State of both the will and the capacity to do much, this may be all we are left with.
I suspect the future road map will have a mix of EV's and hydrogen. Both have their distinct optimal use cases and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. EV's definitely have a head start, but there is reason to think hydrogen could play a very large role in some contexts.
The other aspect is using hydrogen for the direct (carbon free) conversion of iron ore to steel. One of my colleagues right now is an expert in this field and I'm impressed at what a big game changer this will be. Expect major plant startups using this technology within this decade.
"Meridian and Contact say they are seriously considering building a plant which would convert about 12 per cent of the country’s total electricity generation into green hydrogen……
…….New Zealand has convened a hydrogen standards advisory group, and the Government will begin developing a hydrogen roadmap this year to examine the issue in more detail."
Could the 'green hydrogen', proposed to be produced at Tiwai, be used to re-energise spent powdered iron fuel on an industrial scale?
Unburnt (un-oxidised) iron powder has a higher energy density than coal and even petrol.
For obvious reasons it can't burnt in Internal Combustion Engines, but it can be burnt in External Combustion Engines. That's right the good 'ol steam engine to you and me.
Once burnt the only remains from the combustion of Iron powder, (Fe), is FeO2. That's right, good 'ol rust to you and me. (also in the form of a powder).
To separate the O2 from the depleted iron, heated Hydrogen is passed over the powdered iron oxide to combine with the Oxygen to produce H2O which is vented as a vapour. The iron powder is ready to be burnt again. Repeatedy.
If the Hydrogen is produced from a renewable source, which would be the case at Tiwai, then the whole cycle is completely carbon free.
The energy from the hydrogen imbedded in the iron powder, can be stored for months and even years. Without the need for expensive pressure vessels, subject to leaks and explosions.
The only downside of iron powder as a fuel is its weight, (another reason why it will never be a suitable replacement fuel for cars trucks and aeroplanes).
In big surface vessels, ships and trains, where weight bearing is not such a big issue, iron powder is the perfect replacement for fossil fuels, especially the very dirty heavy bunker fuel oil used in ships.
Iron powder could also be burnt in base load power stations, (Huntly could stay open).
Iron powder could replace coal as a source of industrial heat, in bakeries and breweries and brick kilns, and for drying milk powder in dairy factories. And its non-toxic, did i mention that. (unlike oil and coal).
We could bring back the Kingston flyer as a test bed for this new technology.
(The Steampunks might have been on to something)
The following article from Popular Mechanics claims that iron fuel is the fuel of the future.
But is it?
What is the draw back?
it sounds too good to be true.
Where is the fly in the ointment?
Can anyone tell me?
Burning Iron for Fuel Sounds Crazy. It's Also the Future.
The most surprising renewable yet could power plenty of industries.
Caroline Delbert Popular Mechanics, NOV 9, 2020
A brewery in the Netherlands is making environmental history by using a cycle of renewable iron as fuel for its furnace.
Royal Swinkels Family Brewers is working with Eindhoven University of Technology and a technology think tank calledMetal Poweron the circular economy of iron burning. “The iron acts as a kind of clean battery for combustion processes, charging up via one of a number of means including electrolysis, and discharging in flames and heat,”New Atlas reports.
Here’s how it works: Iron is burned in furnaces, fulfilling a key industry requirement for high heat that isn’t covered by many other renewables. Then, the resulting oxidized rust waste is recycled back into newly re-burnable iron fuel using electrical energy that can be from clean sources…..
Will this be one of the issues that the hydrogen standards advisory group, and the Government will begin examining in more detail?
With me it happened in primers 1,2 & 3. Come primer 4, I no longer needed to do it. But I gather the education system has slid steadily down the hill since the 1950s, so there may indeed be a real need for the techies here to come to your rescue.
Dyslexia is a very real problem in Aotearoa/New Zealand,most folk in prison struggle with it an it excludes a large number of people pitisapating in DEBATE.thanks to Solkta advise,I've got my self a new dictionary.It may suit some for others not too ingauge,but I will keep trying even though it might take twenty minutes to write this.
Oh and too find the word can be difficuted,Phonics might help but that dictionary has disappeared.
I don't know much about dyslexia but can imagine the frustration. A trick that might or might not work is just to write the consonants – t's srprsng hw qckly txt wrttn ths wy cn b ndrstd! Hp ths hlps?
Too be fair,I've always tried to spell out the word as I found txt languque a slippery slop.. but trust me I've tried many options. I see it as exclustionary,back to the dictionary,,exclusionery ,not there,Damn
My daughter has a form of dyslexia. We realised that there was no way she was going to cope in the public school system, and so we decided that we would try an alternative education for her at around the age of 9. We had been reading to her every day as she was unable to read at that time even the most basic text. The new school saw that she had a problem with connections between left brain and right brain. They began a series of curative eurythmy for her. Astoundingly, within 3 months she was able to read the first Harry Potter, and is now an avid reader, and writer. She still has difficulty with correct spelling on some of the more tricky English words.
As you will be well aware "dyslexia" does not mean "unintelligent". There have been many advances in human knowledge and understanding and outstanding achievements made by persons with dyslexia. A cousin of mine was unable to complete school certificate because of his poor scores in English, yet he became a Professional Member of the NZ Royal Society. It was my task to proof read the papers he was about to send for publication in scientific journals to check the English.
Macro, the science behind the "Wobble board" is interesting. It is used in education to assist with the practice of using both right and left brain to assist learning. The brain, the new frontier.
@Macro
Thanks and yes. hope your daughter is going well,intelligents has very little too do as you say,but jokingly with my self I wonder sometimes,Ha.the thing is i can speak well enough and understand what most words mean,may get out of order but hey-ho,just the print and lack of coninuity,which make a narritive difficult.I have made boo-bo's here more than once,cheers for your input.
DF Why bother to reply with only a sarky patronising response. If you can't help, don't want to, it's no help to get negatives from the self-consciously smart.
Tbh, I was actually trying to help. Seemed like everyone ignored the problem yesterday, so I figured replying would draw attention to the request, thus raising the probability of a tech solution…
What? Are you lobbying for the style police position at TS yet again?? Last time resulted in a collective slap-down, I seem to recall, but full marks for dogged perseverance anyway!
Technically, it would be ignorant – since I had to google word blindness to discover that it is an established cultural term that I'd not previously encountered. Rude is intentional behaviour, where the intent is to offend the other person.
When aghast at the tendency of postmodernism to accelerate the evolution of language, conservatives seek solace in a cuppaT & lie-down. This method may not work for progressives – however a switch of focus from trivia to essentials usually does.
If, instead, you actually get off on picking nits, I'll try to generate a few more for you…
[Sure, if you want to make up shit to suit yourself then accept the consequences without trying to put blame on others. If you don’t like to be called rude then don’t be rude and start acting all victimized because we don’t understand that you operate at a higher dimension than we do or we didn’t receive the same education as you did or because we are dyslexic, for example. Just to avoid any post-modern confusion, stop your post-modern BS and maybe apologize to make up for your unintentional rudeness; it won’t kill you – Incognito]
I actually didn't blame anyone for anything – so why pretend that I did??
[actually, you did shift it to others and even the education system but you seem to ignore this, how convenient for you. Your comment @ 2.1.4.1.1.1 was a sly put down and avoiding taking responsibility too. I told you to stop your post-modern BS and will add to this your tendency to gaslight. In case it is not clear to you, your comments are being moderated and digging in is not smart. Maybe you keep quiet and take heed of the notes, yes – Incognito]
Since when has a "sly put down" been unacceptable? I see them here from others all the time. The about page doesn't forbid them, right? Gaslight is not a term I'm familiar with. I think you're just trying to bully me by operating a double standard. I'm puzzled as to why you are…
[You ask:
Since when has a “sly put down” been unacceptable?
Since it is used as deflecting blame and responsibility for your own commenting behaviour, which you still haven’t accepted, I note, and you’re still digging in.
Google “gaslighting” and you will enrich your post-modern vocabulary.
Not smart at all to argue back to a Moderator and accusing them of bullying you.
In any case, not all context is the same, which might come as a surprise to you; different comments and commenters are treated differently depending on a wide range of reasons.
Since you seem to think that perception and interpretation are everything, so for your information, from the Policy:
What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others. [my italics]
…
We don’t really want to ban anyone. If you’re borderline we’ll probably warn you first.
…
Generally wasting a moderators time is just not a good idea. We’re there to deal with isolated problems. People persistently sucking up our voluntary time won’t like the results.
…
Arguing with moderation is a trait requiring darwinian winnowing that usually results in a rapid education about who runs the site …
…
Finally, the moderators may put you into moderation for what they consider is bad behaviour, while they get around to having a look at your patterns of behaviour.
Please don’t try to argue your way out of Moderation, as it won’t work and you simply end up wasting more Moderator time. I have given you two warnings for something quite minor, but you opted to escalate it and this is your last warning. Take heed and STFU or take a ban – Incognito]
Am happy to bring this up with Lynn again. Do you mean you want a spell check in the comment box? What do you need? Mis-spelled words are underlined, do you want to be able to click on them for the correct spelling?
Yes, it's a long standing issue on TS, and as Sacha says I think it's browser/OS dependent. Seem to remember we had a discussion about this a while back, I'll see if I can find it.
It's not browser or OS dependent. If it was it would occur on all other website comment boxes and it doesn't.
Besides spellcheck is commonly the default. That the word is underlined shows that the browser recognises the incorrect spelling but for some reason doesn't initiate the next correct option. i.e. the list of possible words.
I'm using Firefox and occasionally Chrome on Ubuntu.
Yup, Lprent can do a lot on this site but he cannot control people’s devices and browsers and settings unless he hacks them, which he tends to not do 😉
Brigid
I'm on Firefox but probably behind with updates. Do you notice that the spellchecker frequently underlines an s and seems to want me to put z. I think my English speller has a US bias or something. It is quite 'aggressive' about this.
Yes. Insisting on 'z' rather than 's' is common. That's because the spell checker default is set to American spelling. You can choose 'add to dictionary' to teach the damned thing that we aren't all American. Hopefully it wont be underlined next time you use it.
Yes the words are underlined but right click just shows paste,and I can not see how I could use that,so yes is their a spell check but not on my lap top. I have most things including replys etc. regards Al
If you're on a laptop, a temporary work-around might be to use a word processor (e.g. libreoffice on linux) to draft things up and then paste them into the comment box.
I tend to do that with longer pieces or important emails.
I'm on gmail and find it useful sometimes to draft using the Compose window which has a useful set of gadgets to manage the text. Then I just copy it and paste it in TS. And my Compose window is set for frequent saves so it's virtually idiot proof.
Dr. Stella Immanuel, a Texas doctor who spoke at the press conference insisted that cysts were caused by people having sex with demons and witches.
Dr. Simone Gold, a doctor and lawyer in Los Angeles, founded the group and previously appeared on Fox News when Donald Trump was president. Gold also has connections to the Tea Party Patriots Foundation. Gold was also at the Washington riot on January 6, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of 2020's election results that made Joe Biden president. Gold even made a speech a day earlier calling the covid-19 vaccine an “experimental, biological agent deceptively named a vaccine,” according to the Washington Post.
‘Ridiculous’: Vaccine myths cripple U.S. uptake as delta surges
By Josh Wingrove, Kristen V. Brown and Daniael Zuidijk
BLOOMBERG, Jul 22, 2021
…..Unvaccinated Americans cite a litany of myths to explain their hesitance to get shots, confounding local health officials battling yet another surge of coronavirus cases fueled by the more transmissible delta variant……
“Everything from Bill Gates putting a microchip in it — I’ve heard everything. It’s ridiculous,” said Tom Keller, chief executive officer of Ozarks Health Care in southern Missouri, a region with low vaccination rates that’s an epicenter of the U.S. delta outbreak.
“People are listening to social media instead of listening to their docs,” he said. “Somebody who has a million followers all of the sudden becomes the expert on not getting the vaccine.”
Just as the Biden administration appeared on the verge of snuffing out COVID-19 in the U.S., a shadow pandemic of disinformation threatens to prolong the crisis. Promulgated virus-like itself through social media platforms, a miasma of uncertainties, anecdotes and outright lies has seized the imaginations of Americans hesitant to be vaccinated, slowing the U.S. campaign to inoculate its population.
…..A political divide has also emerged, with Republicans far more likely to be unvaccinated than Democrats, polls show. Conservative media and some Republican officeholders have in some cases amplified disinformation, or have tacitly supported vaccine hesitancy by refusing to get shots themselves — or admit they have.
This doctor's account on the ground in Alabama makes pretty sad reading (I found the days old article linked via a Guardian story today):
Dr. Brytney Cobia said Monday that all but one of her COVID patients in Alabama did not receive the vaccine. The vaccinated patient, she said, just needed a little oxygen and is expected to fully recover. Some of the others are dying… “One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.”…
“I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same.”
“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can’t. So they thank me and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write their death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.”…
“All these kids are about to go back to school. No mask mandates are in place at all, 70% of Alabama is unvaccinated. Of course, no kids are vaccinated for the most part because they can’t be,” Cobia said. “So it feels like impending doom, basically.”…
‘Why haven’t you gotten the vaccine?’ And I’ll just ask it point blank, in the least judgmental way possible,” she said. “And most of them, they’re very honest, they give me answers. ‘I talked to this person, I saw this thing on Facebook, I got this email, I saw this on the news,’ you know, these are all the reasons that I didn’t get vaccinated.
“And the one question that I always ask them is, did you make an appointment with your primary care doctor and ask them for their opinion on whether or not you should receive the vaccine? And so far, nobody has answered yes to that question.”
Maybe they could go all 'old school' trade unionism on him, and threaten to go on strike, until he gets his jab, or the organisers agree to ban him.
Tokyo Olympics: 'Foolish, selfish' US swimmer slammed for refusing Covid-19 vaccine
Phil Lutton 17:40, Jul 22 2021
American swimmer Michael Andrew has been vocal about his refusal to have a vaccine before the Tokyo Games. Now, as the reality of the Covid-19 situation at the Olympics starts to hit, former US swimmers are calling him out for putting the health of the powerhouse Team USA squad in peril……
“He sounded proud as he spoke, proud of his selfish, foolish ways. Proud to be a hindrance to his teammates, a worry to all. Proud to be doing whatever the heck he wants, no matter how it affects anyone else,…..”
Prominent USA Today columnist Christien Brennan.
“That Michael would make a decision that puts even a bit of risk on his teammates for his own perceived well-being frustrates me,”
Fellow US Swim Team member, backstroke gold medallist, Maya DiRado
Reading about US swimmer Michael Andrew's 'vocal' and 'proud sounding' refusal to be vaccinated, reminded me of an incident I had occasion to be involved in at a large unionised South Auckland workplace back in the good old days before the anti union Employment Contracts Act.
The workers had one of the best shop floor delegates that I ever met. Indefatigueable and fearless in confronting the boss on her workmates behalf. Naturally she was well loved and respected..
One day, (outside of work hours), she was involved in a bad car accident that left her with hand injuries and unable to work.
As a sign of respect and in recognition of her advocacy on their behalf, the workers took a vote to each garner their wages by $20 a week for one month to help their delegate's recovery. In those days all decisions on any collective action was decided by a vote of 60 to 40. I can't remember the winning percentage, but the vote was carried by the needed margin.
After a week I was contacted by the stand-in acting job delegate, who informed me there was a problem. Two women had point blank refused to give the delegate their $20, and it was creating some dissention among the rest. "Really? I was surpirsed. "Who are they?". She told me their names. I recognised one name. she was a new immigrant who I knew had been helped in the past by the injured delegate.
I told the acting delegate I would sort it out.
At lunch time both women were sitting together at a table in a corner of the canteen. They both recognised me as I approached. The woman I didn't know had a deeply lined face and a pinched expression and just glared at me. The other woman who I knew looked glad to see me. I sat down. "Do you you remember", I began, "when you first came to this country and this was your first job in New Zealand?"
"Do you remember that it created a fuss when everyone found out the employer had hired you on less than the agreed rate.?"
She nodded. "Then you would remember that time in the carpark where the delegate made you all wait outside while she went in to see the boss on your behalf." She nodded again. "Then you will remember when she came back and said the employer has agreed to pay you the full rate".
"What you mightn't know" i continued, "Is that the manager initially refused to increase your rate, saying he had no legal obligation to do so, as your qualifications weren't recognised in this country. The delegate told the boss, "I don't care where she comes from she is doing the same work as the rest of us, therefore she gets the going rate". The employer then told the delegate if she insisted that you be paid the same rate as the rest, he would have to let you go. The delelgate then threatened to call a strike, unless he relented.
"That was more than three years ago, I have my New Zealand registration now."
"Yes but for a long time you worked on the full rate, even without your New Zealand qualification. If it hadn't been for your delegate, you could have been working here for a lot less, or even not working here at all."
"I also know that with the extra money you made, you and your husband were able to scrape up enough between you to put a deposit on a house". (It was much easier in those days).
"So how about it? Will you agree to pay the levy?"
She said she would.
As I got up to leave, I remember the shocked blank look on the face of her friend, even the deep lines on her face had seemed to plump out.
Some would call that exerting undue influence, or even coercion.
I would call it democracy.
But what would I know. I am just an ignorant old working person from South Auckland.
P.S.
A week later I checked in with the acting delegate. "Is that worker paying the levy?" "Yes" she replied. "What about the other one?" "Yes, she is paying it too."
I accept that mpledger but it is not an insurmountable problem. I doubt anyone is suggesting lots of little vaccination clinics but rather one or two well placed pharmacies/GP clinics per region who have the skills, capacity and the desire to be involved in the project.
An example is my region – the North Shore. We have one large clinic in Birkenhead which covers an area stretching from Devonport in the south to Rodney in the North. It also stretches west into suburbs nominally considered to be part of West Auckland. That is a huge area and they are doing a tremendous job. I went there for my first jab and witnessed it for myself.
The main problem is that some elderly and vulnerable folk do not have the capacity (for whatever reason) to get to this clinic. Setting aside retirement villages and rest homes, there are significant numbers in this category who have not had their first jab yet. A local pharmacy or GP clinic with the skills required – plus easy access – in the south of the region and another in the north would see a lot more category 3 people coming forward for vaccination.
GPs also handle other vaccinations already and have trained nurses and appropriate storage. They are more trusted by some people than strangers in a big vax centre. Yet some DHBs seem unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. No wonder they are for the chop.
Hmmm… I know 2 ladies at age 88 and 93 and both have no phone or computer which seem to be the pre requisite to get anything going. Both still live in their own home and it should be their GP that should contact them so that they have certainty.
I am pretty certain that these 2 ladies are not he only ones who will forever be kept on the waiting list.
Dec.11/20 How New Zealand's film industry boomed during the pandemic
…Thanks to its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is enjoying an unprecedented boom in film production, with directors seeking safe conditions, and that most elusive thing this year – a normal life.
International blockbusters including James Cameron's Avatar sequels, Amazon's Lord of the Rings series and Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog – starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst – all managed complex film shoots in New Zealand this year.
The country's home-grown movies have also received a boost at the box office by Kiwis supporting their industry, leading one local filmmaker to joke that they're now living in "the Hollywood of the Pacific".
…According to the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the industry supports about 21,000 local jobs and contributes $NZ 2.7 billion (£1.4bn) to its GDP every year. The government has also announced a NZ$50 million (£26million) production grant that Annabelle Sheehan hopes “will lead to a surge in New Zealand led stories.”
She also reports “about a doubling” of international inquiries for filming in the country in 2021.
I read a lot of Anne Perry and see that she has shifted from Scotland to the West Coast USA and I think that movie/s are under discussion. What about making some here. She is a very sensitive writer about people, and gets cliff-hanging plots, with strong characters. A lot are set in London, with one character being in the River Police, and another more to do with society foibles. But there is a WW1 series that are good. Just an idea.
This sounds like an Israeli intelligence coup. And after reading I see it as similar to arms dealers selling arms to both sides of a conflict, and if they know all about the two countries' weaknesses (through covert intelligence) then they know how to inflame them, and reap the benefit of selling them arms to fight it out. Perhaps we should go back to primitive bare knuckling, men or women, perhaps we should be gender free, or turn our trans men into national heroes.
why has our minister not led the conservation and gone bush ? One reason could be he has been placed in this position because the govt doesn’t want debate and he is incapable to (promoted to fail, I know a bit Machiavellian ) Sure there are some who have taken over the role in this matter (posts on TS) but it is the govt to take control, if they cannot enter into coheriant conversation it says alot and not very complementary . https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/447500/silence-over-hate-speech-laws-has-allowed-misinformation-in-minorities-say
Water , honey and a little red food colouring all in a happily and well enjoyed (now) empty bottle of wine and a dish . The bottle upended and framed on a wooden stand with a platform for the birds to stand on. There are a few tui's around, have not sighted a kereru since the initial lock down, last April. Then the number of native birds seen was very uplifting. But city life appears to have sent them back to a more peaceful area.
"The Cyberspace Administration of China — a powerful internet watchdog with Chinese Community Party links that trace all the way up to President Xi Jinping — banned Didi from app stores days after its initial public offering. The CAC, which has accused Didi of illegally collecting and using personal information, also joined several other government agencies, including ministries in charge of public and state security, in visiting the Beijing-based company to review its cybersecurity."
"The watchdog, whose influence has ballooned since Xi set the agency up in 2014, is also setting its sights on curtailing overseas listings. It recently proposed thatany company with data on more than one million users must seek the agency's approval before listing its shares overseas."
"Things are looking pretty dire for Chinese tech right now, especially firms that have been considering overseas listings as a way to raise money. The chill created by tensions, both within China's borders and with its greatest rival, could bring overseas investment in Chinese tech to a grinding halt. Investors are already rattled. China's unprecedented tech crackdown has wiped$1 trillion off the value of overseas-listed Chinese tech stocks since February — one of the worst sell-offs in history, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a research report last week."
"Goldman estimated that China's digital economy accounts for 40% of the country's GDP, and that the tech sector represented some 40% of the MSCI China Index, which is widely followed by global equity investors as a major benchmark."
"US investors now hold about $1 trillion in Chinese stocks. That includes about $590 billion worth of exposure in Hong Kong, $330 billion in the United States, and $135 billion in mainland China, according to a recent estimate by Goldman Sachs."
Looks like the reef fish just got shifted into flight mode, eh? Another crisis of capitalism may ensue – aversion to melt-down likely to be motivating central bankers all round the world, crisis meetings for contingency planning…
A new word has popped up in news stories about the MIQ booking nightmare – script. It's the key to Ietting a highly contested space in managed isolation.
Jon Brewer was offered this kind of high-tech help to get out of Singapore where he has been living with his wife.
But he says it is cheating and he refuses to break the terms and conditions of the MIQ booking system.
He's taking his fight to the Ombudsman and if that doesn't work he'll hire a lawyer.
"I want them to compel MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) to solve the problem. I went to them (the Ombudsman) because I complained to MBIE through their process that I was unable to interact with the site in a way that would allow me to get a booking the way that they have required me to use the site.
This public service announcement is a succinct 1 minute video push by every previous President (except Trump), and including 96-year old Jimmy Carter, urging all to get vaccinated.
Once we get to the hard-to-reach and moronic who don't want the vaccine, it would be time for all of our previous Prime Ministers still around to do the same on video, and they are: Palmer, Bolger, Shipley, Clark, Key, and English.
We need cross-Party leadership to assist in this nationwide effort.
Fortunately we in NZ have mostly avoided making the vaccine a political identity issue the way the Donnie One-Term cultists have. Who aren't likely to be influenced by Shrub's endorsement in any case. So I have doubts any of our former PMs would be influential among those that would need to be influenced.
The political 'leaders' we would need to get on board here in NZ include the likes of Billy Te Kookiha, Sue Kedgley etc. Good luck with that.
Good that someone's pointed this out. McClay's despicably disingenuous response reeked of the same desperation that runs throughout the national party at the moment.
What's important, though, is that the government keeps in the front of its mind what Coffey referred to, which is that all of this emergency and transitional housing malarkey is a temporary fix. This is easy to say but hard to execute. It's easy to see emergency and transitional housing getting a permanent spot within our wider social welfare system. Just look at what food banks have become. They were talked about as a temporary measure back around the time of the 1991 benefit cuts. Now the bloody Ministry of Social Development even funds them. An extremely sad state of affairs things have come to this, but it's nothing new because it's something that affects only the poor so nobody really gives a fuck, which is the only reason this has been allowed to happen, of course. The same thing will happen to emergency and transitional housing unless there are a clear and deliberate efforts to avoid it.
Can booze be used as anti-freeze? Did you ever hear that story about film star David Niven out skiing who noticed numbness in his vitals and found brandy helped?
Yes, ethanol is a very effective antifreeze. In water it lowers the freezing point progressively with increasing concentration all the way to about 93% by weight where it freezes at about -115C. Which is why it is about major ingredient in windscreen washer fluid in cold climates.
David Niven may have thought the brandy helped, but what it actually did was open up the capillaries near his skin which gives the sensation of warmth, but actually increases heat flow away from his vitals.
The rivers of rain we are getting are obviously an effect of climate change.
Should this be a concern for those Wellingtonians who live on the sides of steep hills. And from memory there are a lot of them. Perhaps planning has already taken this hillside/slippage/mud slide thing into consideration.
DHB board chair Sharon Shea first saw it on Thursday night, was offended and found it wrong, she said in a statement.
“Since last night, I have been informed it was designed by a Māori artist, and had input from Māori marketing specialists and it had gone through an approval process, including consultation with some local iwi,” she said.
I notice that many males ride on bikes in a way similar to how they would drive. Then there are ones in the twilight and dark all dressed in black, no brightness to show up, and they possibly won't have a light either. They don't indicate and they go through red lights relying on being nippy and thinking that cars can see them. They don't realise if they are in front of headlights that they are invisible.
Drivers have to wait at busy inter-sections longer because in the middle of the only space for half a minute is a cyclist, slower, vulnerable and defenceless. Then when they choose to ride on the footpath they can woosh by and then the pedestrian gets stressed out. It's mostly males, used to getting what they want, who have started the footpath stunt for adults, okay for children though they can be fast. Because it is males who are most vociferous, they are catered to without spending on a needed division on the footpath so both wheels and feet have their own space. Happy people intermingling on coloured mock-ups for council publicity mock reality about safety and ease for walkers.
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
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Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
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"Meridian and Contact say they are seriously considering building a plant which would convert about 12 per cent of the country’s total electricity generation into green hydrogen. The plant would be based in Southland as an alternative user of the energy the Tiwai aluminium smelter uses, should it close as scheduled at the end of 2024."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125828691/the-hydrogen-problem-how-much-electricity-will-make-it-worthwhile
"Meridian and Contact’s first feasibility report suggests New Zealand is well placed to be a leading green hydrogen producer; its high proportion of renewable electricity meaning it could export as well as meeting domestic needs."
I suspect the devil is in the detail of how exactly hydrogen would be exported – is tank tech sufficiently secure yet? I wonder if export in liquid form would be feasible.
"On the export front, the Government already has agreements of co-operation with Japan and Singapore to research production and explore New Zealand’s export potential. A letter of intent was also signed some years ago between a New Zealand private consortium and several South Korean companies to explore hydrogen exporting, although MBIE says it has yet to progress. There is also the research alliance with Germany, which has already committed to moving to green hydrogen."
"According to the report, the investment in a green hydrogen economy could generate one-time benefits of $0.6 billion to $0.8 billion, and thousands of jobs, with ongoing benefits of $350 million to $450m per annum and hundreds of jobs. Some of those benefits might include attracting high tech talent and money from large sustainable investment funds, or chemical, fertiliser and other industries set up alongside the plant… Standards New Zealand has convened a hydrogen standards advisory group, and the Government will begin developing a hydrogen roadmap this year to examine the issue in more detail."
oh, so the Tiwai power isn't going to EVs now?
Probably depends on the business case, eh? Or, to be more precise, the various competing business cases involved. So cabinet will have a plethora of input (refined by relevant ministers before it gets tabled) to eventually consider…
renewable, climate-saving power generation as a capitalist lottery rather than say a strategic asset core to how we transition and get through the next century.
Well, it is how the cabinet is likely to decide. Jacinda being High Priestess of Neoliberalism – eventually to go down in history as St Jacinda the Neoliberal and featuring as such in the publications of next-century historians.
If Labour were to ditch muddle thro the middle and form a govt with the Greens with formal sustainability/resilience focus, your scenario would apply.
It's a contemporary variation on trickle-down theory. Instead of wealth trickling down from profit-driven enterprises, this time it will be salvational technology. God knows – but they may be right. Because we have spent 35 years eviscerating the State of both the will and the capacity to do much, this may be all we are left with.
I suspect the future road map will have a mix of EV's and hydrogen. Both have their distinct optimal use cases and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. EV's definitely have a head start, but there is reason to think hydrogen could play a very large role in some contexts.
The other aspect is using hydrogen for the direct (carbon free) conversion of iron ore to steel. One of my colleagues right now is an expert in this field and I'm impressed at what a big game changer this will be. Expect major plant startups using this technology within this decade.
Could the 'green hydrogen', proposed to be produced at Tiwai, be used to re-energise spent powdered iron fuel on an industrial scale?
Unburnt (un-oxidised) iron powder has a higher energy density than coal and even petrol.
For obvious reasons it can't burnt in Internal Combustion Engines, but it can be burnt in External Combustion Engines. That's right the good 'ol steam engine to you and me.
Once burnt the only remains from the combustion of Iron powder, (Fe), is FeO2. That's right, good 'ol rust to you and me. (also in the form of a powder).
To separate the O2 from the depleted iron, heated Hydrogen is passed over the powdered iron oxide to combine with the Oxygen to produce H2O which is vented as a vapour. The iron powder is ready to be burnt again. Repeatedy.
If the Hydrogen is produced from a renewable source, which would be the case at Tiwai, then the whole cycle is completely carbon free.
The energy from the hydrogen imbedded in the iron powder, can be stored for months and even years. Without the need for expensive pressure vessels, subject to leaks and explosions.
The only downside of iron powder as a fuel is its weight, (another reason why it will never be a suitable replacement fuel for cars trucks and aeroplanes).
In big surface vessels, ships and trains, where weight bearing is not such a big issue, iron powder is the perfect replacement for fossil fuels, especially the very dirty heavy bunker fuel oil used in ships.
Iron powder could also be burnt in base load power stations, (Huntly could stay open).
Iron powder could replace coal as a source of industrial heat, in bakeries and breweries and brick kilns, and for drying milk powder in dairy factories. And its non-toxic, did i mention that. (unlike oil and coal).
We could bring back the Kingston flyer as a test bed for this new technology.
(The Steampunks might have been on to something)
The following article from Popular Mechanics claims that iron fuel is the fuel of the future.
But is it?
What is the draw back?
it sounds too good to be true.
Where is the fly in the ointment?
Can anyone tell me?
Will this be one of the issues that the hydrogen standards advisory group, and the Government will begin examining in more detail?
You forgot the linky-tinky again.
Here it is, for everybody’s convenience: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/green-tech/a34597615/burning-iron-powder-fuel-renewable/
My apologies. It was late, I was tired. Thanks for looking it up.
so a perpetual motion machine…..the energy required to convert and reinstate the iron is greater than the energy produced
We must have more energy than we know what to do with.
Spell check,anyone ! or are we not done with the hand wringing yet.?
With me it happened in primers 1,2 & 3. Come primer 4, I no longer needed to do it. But I gather the education system has slid steadily down the hill since the 1950s, so there may indeed be a real need for the techies here to come to your rescue.
@ Dennis
Dyslexia is a very real problem in Aotearoa/New Zealand,most folk in prison struggle with it an it excludes a large number of people pitisapating in DEBATE.thanks to Solkta advise,I've got my self a new dictionary.It may suit some for others not too ingauge,but I will keep trying even though it might take twenty minutes to write this.
Oh and too find the word can be difficuted,Phonics might help but that dictionary has disappeared.
Okay, thanks for that explanation. I hope the techies get onto your case.
I don't know much about dyslexia but can imagine the frustration. A trick that might or might not work is just to write the consonants – t's srprsng hw qckly txt wrttn ths wy cn b ndrstd! Hp ths hlps?
Thanks u.
Too be fair,I've always tried to spell out the word as I found txt languque a slippery slop.. but trust me I've tried many options. I see it as exclustionary,back to the dictionary,,exclusionery ,not there,Damn
My daughter has a form of dyslexia. We realised that there was no way she was going to cope in the public school system, and so we decided that we would try an alternative education for her at around the age of 9. We had been reading to her every day as she was unable to read at that time even the most basic text. The new school saw that she had a problem with connections between left brain and right brain. They began a series of curative eurythmy for her. Astoundingly, within 3 months she was able to read the first Harry Potter, and is now an avid reader, and writer. She still has difficulty with correct spelling on some of the more tricky English words.
As you will be well aware "dyslexia" does not mean "unintelligent". There have been many advances in human knowledge and understanding and outstanding achievements made by persons with dyslexia. A cousin of mine was unable to complete school certificate because of his poor scores in English, yet he became a Professional Member of the NZ Royal Society. It was my task to proof read the papers he was about to send for publication in scientific journals to check the English.
Macro, the science behind the "Wobble board" is interesting. It is used in education to assist with the practice of using both right and left brain to assist learning. The brain, the new frontier.
@Macro
Thanks and yes. hope your daughter is going well,intelligents has very little too do as you say,but jokingly with my self I wonder sometimes,Ha.the thing is i can speak well enough and understand what most words mean,may get out of order but hey-ho,just the print and lack of coninuity,which make a narritive difficult.I have made boo-bo's here more than once,cheers for your input.
Thank you. So long as I can understand the other person I really do not care about how they spell. I'd rather hear what they say.
@Sacha
Yes true that,online is a different kettle of fish.
I don't see how just writing consonants would help with sdxl.
DF Why bother to reply with only a sarky patronising response. If you can't help, don't want to, it's no help to get negatives from the self-consciously smart.
Tbh, I was actually trying to help. Seemed like everyone ignored the problem yesterday, so I figured replying would draw attention to the request, thus raising the probability of a tech solution…
Well just say so, Most of your reply was circumlocution. Is that spelt right? And amazingly I dd fnd mslf ndstndg.
What? Are you lobbying for the style police position at TS yet again?? Last time resulted in a collective slap-down, I seem to recall, but full marks for dogged perseverance anyway!
DF BS
Hmmm, I guess "bureaucrats" wasn't on the spelling list then.
Some people suffer word blindness Dennis. Your comment is rude.
Technically, it would be ignorant – since I had to google word blindness to discover that it is an established cultural term that I'd not previously encountered. Rude is intentional behaviour, where the intent is to offend the other person.
I see that have joined others in redefining the meaning of words to suit your narrative.
When aghast at the tendency of postmodernism to accelerate the evolution of language, conservatives seek solace in a cuppaT & lie-down. This method may not work for progressives – however a switch of focus from trivia to essentials usually does.
If, instead, you actually get off on picking nits, I'll try to generate a few more for you…
[Sure, if you want to make up shit to suit yourself then accept the consequences without trying to put blame on others. If you don’t like to be called rude then don’t be rude and start acting all victimized because we don’t understand that you operate at a higher dimension than we do or we didn’t receive the same education as you did or because we are dyslexic, for example. Just to avoid any post-modern confusion, stop your post-modern BS and maybe apologize to make up for your unintentional rudeness; it won’t kill you – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 1:40 pm.
I actually didn't blame anyone for anything – so why pretend that I did??
[actually, you did shift it to others and even the education system but you seem to ignore this, how convenient for you. Your comment @ 2.1.4.1.1.1 was a sly put down and avoiding taking responsibility too. I told you to stop your post-modern BS and will add to this your tendency to gaslight. In case it is not clear to you, your comments are being moderated and digging in is not smart. Maybe you keep quiet and take heed of the notes, yes – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:58 pm.
Since when has a "sly put down" been unacceptable? I see them here from others all the time. The about page doesn't forbid them, right? Gaslight is not a term I'm familiar with. I think you're just trying to bully me by operating a double standard. I'm puzzled as to why you are…
[You ask:
Since it is used as deflecting blame and responsibility for your own commenting behaviour, which you still haven’t accepted, I note, and you’re still digging in.
Google “gaslighting” and you will enrich your post-modern vocabulary.
Not smart at all to argue back to a Moderator and accusing them of bullying you.
In any case, not all context is the same, which might come as a surprise to you; different comments and commenters are treated differently depending on a wide range of reasons.
Since you seem to think that perception and interpretation are everything, so for your information, from the Policy:
Please don’t try to argue your way out of Moderation, as it won’t work and you simply end up wasting more Moderator time. I have given you two warnings for something quite minor, but you opted to escalate it and this is your last warning. Take heed and STFU or take a ban – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 3:36 pm.
Am happy to bring this up with Lynn again. Do you mean you want a spell check in the comment box? What do you need? Mis-spelled words are underlined, do you want to be able to click on them for the correct spelling?
What devices are you using?
I think they may mean this.
When a word is misspelt in the comment box, right clicking on it doesn't give the list of various possible correct spellings but a 'paste' option.
Might depend on browser settings as well.
yep, that it does to me.
solution, post the comment, hit edit and then the red underlined words are ok to be spell checked.
desktop/chrome
Yes, it's a long standing issue on TS, and as Sacha says I think it's browser/OS dependent. Seem to remember we had a discussion about this a while back, I'll see if I can find it.
It's not browser or OS dependent. If it was it would occur on all other website comment boxes and it doesn't.
Besides spellcheck is commonly the default. That the word is underlined shows that the browser recognises the incorrect spelling but for some reason doesn't initiate the next correct option. i.e. the list of possible words.
I'm using Firefox and occasionally Chrome on Ubuntu.
On my iPhone I have the ability to click on an underlined in red word and be offered options. Mobile version.
I mean that the way @lprent has implemented it here may behave differently on browsers. Or not. It was a maybe..
Yup, Lprent can do a lot on this site but he cannot control people’s devices and browsers and settings unless he hacks them, which he tends to not do 😉
There are always limits to what components like these can do.
Some devices are smarter than others.
Brigid
I'm on Firefox but probably behind with updates. Do you notice that the spellchecker frequently underlines an s and seems to want me to put z. I think my English speller has a US bias or something. It is quite 'aggressive' about this.
Yes. Insisting on 'z' rather than 's' is common. That's because the spell checker default is set to American spelling. You can choose 'add to dictionary' to teach the damned thing that we aren't all American. Hopefully it wont be underlined next time you use it.
Hello Weka,
Yes the words are underlined but right click just shows paste,and I can not see how I could use that,so yes is their a spell check but not on my lap top. I have most things including replys etc. regards Al
Oh Weka i think it is Ubuntu 1804.5 LTS
If you're on a laptop, a temporary work-around might be to use a word processor (e.g. libreoffice on linux) to draft things up and then paste them into the comment box.
I tend to do that with longer pieces or important emails.
Ta, I'll see if that works and me working it.
I'm on gmail and find it useful sometimes to draft using the Compose window which has a useful set of gadgets to manage the text. Then I just copy it and paste it in TS. And my Compose window is set for frequent saves so it's virtually idiot proof.
@ Grey,
Cheers. Idiot proof for me,it will need to be.
left for deadshark.
This works on a phone too, on an iPhone Notes will allow predictive text and correction as well as post-typing spell check.
Hello Weka,
Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
I don't know whether to laugh or cry
https://gizmodo.com/pro-trump-group-files-motion-against-fda-to-stop-covid-1847325556
Why not do both at the same time?
Where do such doctors do their training in the USA? They need to get certification somewhere as sane persons capable of helping their fellow citizens?
On a more serious note:
This doctor's account on the ground in Alabama makes pretty sad reading (I found the days old article linked via a Guardian story today):
https://www.al.com/news/2021/07/im-sorry-but-its-too-late-alabama-doctor-on-treating-unvaccinated-dying-covid-patients.html
'
How should his team mates deal with this guy?
Maybe they could go all 'old school' trade unionism on him, and threaten to go on strike, until he gets his jab, or the organisers agree to ban him.
How should we deal with vaccine hesitancy?
Reflections on democracy;
(debate carried over from Freedom Day)
Democracy has been described as the dictatorship of the majority over the minority.
I have had the honour and privilege to have had my political views about democracy shaped by my experience in the grass roots trade union movement…..
https://thestandard.org.nz/freedom-day/#comment-1804430
Reading about US swimmer Michael Andrew's 'vocal' and 'proud sounding' refusal to be vaccinated, reminded me of an incident I had occasion to be involved in at a large unionised South Auckland workplace back in the good old days before the anti union Employment Contracts Act.
The workers had one of the best shop floor delegates that I ever met. Indefatigueable and fearless in confronting the boss on her workmates behalf. Naturally she was well loved and respected..
One day, (outside of work hours), she was involved in a bad car accident that left her with hand injuries and unable to work.
As a sign of respect and in recognition of her advocacy on their behalf, the workers took a vote to each garner their wages by $20 a week for one month to help their delegate's recovery. In those days all decisions on any collective action was decided by a vote of 60 to 40. I can't remember the winning percentage, but the vote was carried by the needed margin.
After a week I was contacted by the stand-in acting job delegate, who informed me there was a problem. Two women had point blank refused to give the delegate their $20, and it was creating some dissention among the rest. "Really? I was surpirsed. "Who are they?". She told me their names. I recognised one name. she was a new immigrant who I knew had been helped in the past by the injured delegate.
I told the acting delegate I would sort it out.
At lunch time both women were sitting together at a table in a corner of the canteen. They both recognised me as I approached. The woman I didn't know had a deeply lined face and a pinched expression and just glared at me. The other woman who I knew looked glad to see me. I sat down. "Do you you remember", I began, "when you first came to this country and this was your first job in New Zealand?"
"Do you remember that it created a fuss when everyone found out the employer had hired you on less than the agreed rate.?"
She nodded. "Then you would remember that time in the carpark where the delegate made you all wait outside while she went in to see the boss on your behalf." She nodded again. "Then you will remember when she came back and said the employer has agreed to pay you the full rate".
"What you mightn't know" i continued, "Is that the manager initially refused to increase your rate, saying he had no legal obligation to do so, as your qualifications weren't recognised in this country. The delegate told the boss, "I don't care where she comes from she is doing the same work as the rest of us, therefore she gets the going rate". The employer then told the delegate if she insisted that you be paid the same rate as the rest, he would have to let you go. The delelgate then threatened to call a strike, unless he relented.
"That was more than three years ago, I have my New Zealand registration now."
"Yes but for a long time you worked on the full rate, even without your New Zealand qualification. If it hadn't been for your delegate, you could have been working here for a lot less, or even not working here at all."
"I also know that with the extra money you made, you and your husband were able to scrape up enough between you to put a deposit on a house". (It was much easier in those days).
"So how about it? Will you agree to pay the levy?"
She said she would.
As I got up to leave, I remember the shocked blank look on the face of her friend, even the deep lines on her face had seemed to plump out.
Some would call that exerting undue influence, or even coercion.
I would call it democracy.
But what would I know. I am just an ignorant old working person from South Auckland.
P.S.
A week later I checked in with the acting delegate. "Is that worker paying the levy?" "Yes" she replied. "What about the other one?" "Yes, she is paying it too."
Perhaps his teammates can force his personal medical choices on him… Although not all of us want to relive some kind of facist society.
If he feels so strongly about it, he can always quit. It's a free world afterall.
Maybe he could trade his celebrity/notoriety for a job in the Donald Trump re-election team.
The Qanon movement need a hard done by martyr, maybe he could apply for the position.
Ostracise him, isolate him and leave him on his tod to deal with the consequences of his bone-headed dogma.
Thread.
https://twitter.com/ggreeneva/status/1418217446121512960
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1418217446121512960.html
Just another Right Wing Superspreader-individualistic-covid-19-atrocious-expelia-docious
Don’t shove your infection down our throat.
(And into our lungs).
Idiot!
Link for that quote?
see comment at 3 they were replying to
It's from the gizmodo piece linked in Jenny's comment directly above it.
Snap
Ta
I think some DHBs don't like their little fiefdoms being penetrated by GPs and pharmacies. Sheesh!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018805111/pharmacies-underutilised-in-covid-19-vaccine-rollout
It takes a lot more administrative effort to run lots of little vaccination clinics then one big clinic.
I accept that mpledger but it is not an insurmountable problem. I doubt anyone is suggesting lots of little vaccination clinics but rather one or two well placed pharmacies/GP clinics per region who have the skills, capacity and the desire to be involved in the project.
An example is my region – the North Shore. We have one large clinic in Birkenhead which covers an area stretching from Devonport in the south to Rodney in the North. It also stretches west into suburbs nominally considered to be part of West Auckland. That is a huge area and they are doing a tremendous job. I went there for my first jab and witnessed it for myself.
The main problem is that some elderly and vulnerable folk do not have the capacity (for whatever reason) to get to this clinic. Setting aside retirement villages and rest homes, there are significant numbers in this category who have not had their first jab yet. A local pharmacy or GP clinic with the skills required – plus easy access – in the south of the region and another in the north would see a lot more category 3 people coming forward for vaccination.
GPs also handle other vaccinations already and have trained nurses and appropriate storage. They are more trusted by some people than strangers in a big vax centre. Yet some DHBs seem unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. No wonder they are for the chop.
"Labtests NZ" collection centres too, but only two on the shore.
Hmmm… I know 2 ladies at age 88 and 93 and both have no phone or computer which seem to be the pre requisite to get anything going. Both still live in their own home and it should be their GP that should contact them so that they have certainty.
I am pretty certain that these 2 ladies are not he only ones who will forever be kept on the waiting list.
But hopefully not if their GPs make sure they get vaccinated
edit
Good things happened in the NZ film business during Covid19, now we have proved to the world that we are up to it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55272486
Dec.11/20 How New Zealand's film industry boomed during the pandemic
…Thanks to its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is enjoying an unprecedented boom in film production, with directors seeking safe conditions, and that most elusive thing this year – a normal life.
International blockbusters including James Cameron's Avatar sequels, Amazon's Lord of the Rings series and Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog – starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst – all managed complex film shoots in New Zealand this year.
The country's home-grown movies have also received a boost at the box office by Kiwis supporting their industry, leading one local filmmaker to joke that they're now living in "the Hollywood of the Pacific".
…According to the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the industry supports about 21,000 local jobs and contributes $NZ 2.7 billion (£1.4bn) to its GDP every year. The government has also announced a NZ$50 million (£26million) production grant that Annabelle Sheehan hopes “will lead to a surge in New Zealand led stories.”
She also reports “about a doubling” of international inquiries for filming in the country in 2021.
I read a lot of Anne Perry and see that she has shifted from Scotland to the West Coast USA and I think that movie/s are under discussion. What about making some here. She is a very sensitive writer about people, and gets cliff-hanging plots, with strong characters. A lot are set in London, with one character being in the River Police, and another more to do with society foibles. But there is a WW1 series that are good. Just an idea.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/07/22/the-pegasus-proclivity-on-recent-revelations-of-israeli-international-espionage/
This sounds like an Israeli intelligence coup. And after reading I see it as similar to arms dealers selling arms to both sides of a conflict, and if they know all about the two countries' weaknesses (through covert intelligence) then they know how to inflame them, and reap the benefit of selling them arms to fight it out. Perhaps we should go back to primitive bare knuckling, men or women, perhaps we should be gender free, or turn our trans men into national heroes.
why has our minister not led the conservation and gone bush ? One reason could be he has been placed in this position because the govt doesn’t want debate and he is incapable to (promoted to fail, I know a bit Machiavellian ) Sure there are some who have taken over the role in this matter (posts on TS) but it is the govt to take control, if they cannot enter into coheriant conversation it says alot and not very complementary .
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/447500/silence-over-hate-speech-laws-has-allowed-misinformation-in-minorities-say
"led the conservation and gone bush" lol
think you mean conversation….
Must have been my subconscious taking over as I was about to attach a liquid bird feeder to a tree out in the backyard 😉
I read that they are great once the birds take confidence that they are safe to feed from.
What would be the liquid you,d be feeding them Herodotus just out of interest ?
Water , honey and a little red food colouring all in a happily and well enjoyed (now) empty bottle of wine and a dish . The bottle upended and framed on a wooden stand with a platform for the birds to stand on. There are a few tui's around, have not sighted a kereru since the initial lock down, last April. Then the number of native birds seen was very uplifting. But city life appears to have sent them back to a more peaceful area.
https://www.selwyncomed.school.nz/courses/1627-make-your-own-birdfeeder/
Capitalists vs Controllers saga happening in China: "Beijing's sweeping tech crackdown has rocked firms from Alibaba and Ant Group to Meituan and Pinduoduo. And its efforts to control the sector spread even further this month." https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/22/investing/china-us-ipos-intl-hnk/index.html
"The Cyberspace Administration of China — a powerful internet watchdog with Chinese Community Party links that trace all the way up to President Xi Jinping — banned Didi from app stores days after its initial public offering. The CAC, which has accused Didi of illegally collecting and using personal information, also joined several other government agencies, including ministries in charge of public and state security, in visiting the Beijing-based company to review its cybersecurity."
"The watchdog, whose influence has ballooned since Xi set the agency up in 2014, is also setting its sights on curtailing overseas listings. It recently proposed that any company with data on more than one million users must seek the agency's approval before listing its shares overseas."
"Things are looking pretty dire for Chinese tech right now, especially firms that have been considering overseas listings as a way to raise money. The chill created by tensions, both within China's borders and with its greatest rival, could bring overseas investment in Chinese tech to a grinding halt. Investors are already rattled. China's unprecedented tech crackdown has wiped $1 trillion off the value of overseas-listed Chinese tech stocks since February — one of the worst sell-offs in history, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a research report last week."
"Goldman estimated that China's digital economy accounts for 40% of the country's GDP, and that the tech sector represented some 40% of the MSCI China Index, which is widely followed by global equity investors as a major benchmark."
"US investors now hold about $1 trillion in Chinese stocks. That includes about $590 billion worth of exposure in Hong Kong, $330 billion in the United States, and $135 billion in mainland China, according to a recent estimate by Goldman Sachs."
Looks like the reef fish just got shifted into flight mode, eh? Another crisis of capitalism may ensue – aversion to melt-down likely to be motivating central bankers all round the world, crisis meetings for contingency planning…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018804920/the-miq-nightmare
Today's Acronyms of note: MIQ and MoBIE
A new word has popped up in news stories about the MIQ booking nightmare – script. It's the key to Ietting a highly contested space in managed isolation.
Jon Brewer was offered this kind of high-tech help to get out of Singapore where he has been living with his wife.
But he says it is cheating and he refuses to break the terms and conditions of the MIQ booking system.
He's taking his fight to the Ombudsman and if that doesn't work he'll hire a lawyer.
"I want them to compel MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) to solve the problem. I went to them (the Ombudsman) because I complained to MBIE through their process that I was unable to interact with the site in a way that would allow me to get a booking the way that they have required me to use the site.
This public service announcement is a succinct 1 minute video push by every previous President (except Trump), and including 96-year old Jimmy Carter, urging all to get vaccinated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCza6UGmRTk
Once we get to the hard-to-reach and moronic who don't want the vaccine, it would be time for all of our previous Prime Ministers still around to do the same on video, and they are: Palmer, Bolger, Shipley, Clark, Key, and English.
We need cross-Party leadership to assist in this nationwide effort.
Fortunately we in NZ have mostly avoided making the vaccine a political identity issue the way the Donnie One-Term cultists have. Who aren't likely to be influenced by Shrub's endorsement in any case. So I have doubts any of our former PMs would be influential among those that would need to be influenced.
The political 'leaders' we would need to get on board here in NZ include the likes of Billy Te Kookiha, Sue Kedgley etc. Good luck with that.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125834890/labour-list-mp-tamati-coffey-hits-back-at-81m-rotorua-motel-purchase-critics
Good that someone's pointed this out. McClay's despicably disingenuous response reeked of the same desperation that runs throughout the national party at the moment.
What's important, though, is that the government keeps in the front of its mind what Coffey referred to, which is that all of this emergency and transitional housing malarkey is a temporary fix. This is easy to say but hard to execute. It's easy to see emergency and transitional housing getting a permanent spot within our wider social welfare system. Just look at what food banks have become. They were talked about as a temporary measure back around the time of the 1991 benefit cuts. Now the bloody Ministry of Social Development even funds them. An extremely sad state of affairs things have come to this, but it's nothing new because it's something that affects only the poor so nobody really gives a fuck, which is the only reason this has been allowed to happen, of course. The same thing will happen to emergency and transitional housing unless there are a clear and deliberate efforts to avoid it.
+100 Chris
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/447490/booze-tops-new-zealand-exports-to-antarctica
Can booze be used as anti-freeze? Did you ever hear that story about film star David Niven out skiing who noticed numbness in his vitals and found brandy helped?
Yes, ethanol is a very effective antifreeze. In water it lowers the freezing point progressively with increasing concentration all the way to about 93% by weight where it freezes at about -115C. Which is why it is about major ingredient in windscreen washer fluid in cold climates.
David Niven may have thought the brandy helped, but what it actually did was open up the capillaries near his skin which gives the sensation of warmth, but actually increases heat flow away from his vitals.
Helps you feel better about freezing to death, I guess. And who doesn't like a St Bernard? 🙂
Have enough of it, and you won't be freezing to death.
I seem to remember that Niven applied it externally, dunkin' donut style.
McMurdo Station is dry.
The rivers of rain we are getting are obviously an effect of climate change.
Should this be a concern for those Wellingtonians who live on the sides of steep hills. And from memory there are a lot of them. Perhaps planning has already taken this hillside/slippage/mud slide thing into consideration.
Any geologists out there?
Race relations commissioner Meng Foon told Newshub the booklet is "racist to the core".
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/07/absolutely-culturally-ignorant-bay-of-plenty-dhb-covid-19-vaccine-booklet-withdrawn-from-circulation.html
Hold my beer.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/125840147/covid19-mori-artist-created-offensive-pamphlet-design-with-moko-on-cartoon-virus
DHB board chair Sharon Shea first saw it on Thursday night, was offended and found it wrong, she said in a statement.
“Since last night, I have been informed it was designed by a Māori artist, and had input from Māori marketing specialists and it had gone through an approval process, including consultation with some local iwi,” she said.
Ah. Thanks for that factual piece of info with links Robbie Wgtn.
Also on sensitive topics – women's prison study.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/re_covering/story/2018804704/03-guyon-espiner-auckland-women-s-prison
I guess that is what you call and own goal! What a waste of money. So Maori are being racist and offending themselves?
to be fair, in the article it seems that no one asked the people involved in the design what they thought.
maybe that will be in another article?
My god where reaching peak offence stipidity at any moment, people's heads are actually going to start popping soon.
bw How will we tell what the signs are?
Bulging eyes and head jerking?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/447445/how-ordinary-kiwi-cyclists-started-being-seen-as-elitist
I notice that many males ride on bikes in a way similar to how they would drive. Then there are ones in the twilight and dark all dressed in black, no brightness to show up, and they possibly won't have a light either. They don't indicate and they go through red lights relying on being nippy and thinking that cars can see them. They don't realise if they are in front of headlights that they are invisible.
Drivers have to wait at busy inter-sections longer because in the middle of the only space for half a minute is a cyclist, slower, vulnerable and defenceless. Then when they choose to ride on the footpath they can woosh by and then the pedestrian gets stressed out. It's mostly males, used to getting what they want, who have started the footpath stunt for adults, okay for children though they can be fast. Because it is males who are most vociferous, they are catered to without spending on a needed division on the footpath so both wheels and feet have their own space. Happy people intermingling on coloured mock-ups for council publicity mock reality about safety and ease for walkers.
I've not noticed this. Where is it happening? Ninja cyclists will very quickly become ex ninja ex cyclists.
Remember when when we thought the internet would help the world become a smarter, more informed place. Unfortunately, we got morons by the gross.
https://twitter.com/vanbadham/status/1418795177217568769
What's even scarier is that people like that are allowed to vote. !!