Think of all the fertiliser needed(increasingly made from natural gas) for the frankenfoods -'plant based' is just a euphemism for GE plants and industrial level manufacture.
We already have plant based foods – they are called grains, vegetables and fruits
And displaced by dairy. In NZ (a dominant player in sheep until the mid 80s), it was the SMP (supplementary minimum price) scheme that ultimately flooded the market with a colossal oversupply of sheep, and once the SMP was removed, the supply crashed. and all about the same time as good quality synthetic wool substitutes arrived on the scene.
"Wool has been a less important export earner for New Zealand since the 1990s. As a percentage of total exports, wool fell from 26 percent in 1920 to 1.6 percent in 2011. Sheep farmers have switched their focus from wool to sheepmeat as meat prices have risen, relative to total export prices, and wool prices have fallen."
Dairy may well survive just like wool has….but as a substantially reduced importance (and with a shedload of stranded assets) and whats going to purchase all this new high tech thats going to save us all?
Or perhaps people will get serious about learning the GHG footprint of the products they buy, learn that producing 1 kg of wool means emitting about 1kg of sheep-burp methane, and decide that plastic microfibre pollution is the lesser evil.
As with almost everything to do with human activity, there are no good answers, just more or less crap answers. And when it comes to textiles, the least crap answer is to consume less, use what you have until it's genuinely worn out, and dispose of the remains responsibly.
The difference is a sheep burp is part of a cycle. Where as your plastic is dragged up from the deep and released as totally new atmospheric gases and pollutants that will last for ever.
You went on a week or two ago about how the little bit of micro plastic you release isnt a big deal . And It wouldn't be if there wasn't 7 billion others doing it to.
The fact that we hoomans have caused massive amounts of forest land to be changed to grassland grazed by burping ruminants has overwhelmed the cycle that used to exist.
The increased methane in the atmosphere right now (1866 ppb) over pre-industrial times (722 ppb) is all on us, and the vast numbers of burping sheep and cows we have added to our planet is a big part of it. And somewhere around a quarter to a third of the warming we are experiencing is due to increased methane.
Manufacturing plastics releases very little greenhouse gases. The numbers I've seen are of the order of 0.009kg CO2eq to produce 1 kg of plastic fibre for textiles, compared to 25kg CO2 (100yr) or 86kg CO2eq (20yr) for producing 1kg of wool. There's no real way to avoid or mitigate the methane release problem from growing wool.
The problem with plastic is that it's very very slow to properly break down, and that it's harmful to critters that mistake bits of plastic for food. It's possible to minimise this pollution problem by responsible disposal, or even recycling.
That the plastic is made from the same raw material (crude oil) that we use for fossil fuels (that get burned and the hazardous waste dumped in the atmosphere) could easily lead to the mistaken idea that plastics are also a major greenhouse gas problem. But they're not, the carbon that came out of the ground to make the plastic is still locked away out of the atmosphere in the solid plastic.
Chances are eventually some microbes will evolve the ability to metabolise plastics. Indeed, some have already been shown to exist for a few different kinds of plastic. If we're lucky, those microbes will aerobically digest the plastic and emit the carbon as CO2, and each kg of plastic will become roughly 3kg of CO2. If we're unlucky, it'll be anaerobic microbes, and we'll get that plastic back as methane.
"There's no real way to avoid or mitigate the methane release problem from growing wool."
Why not? Natural cycles have methane sinks, we can breed sheep to produce less methane, and we can sequester carbon to reduce GHG effects.
All of that depends on a rapid transition to near zero carbon, but that's necessary anyway (and doesn't include using carbon offsets for non-essential things).
It's true there is a lot of potential from microbes in dealing with all sorts of pollution, (and fungi), but that still happens within the limits of nature. There are still upper limits that nature can manage and given we are in overshoot in so many ways, relying on nature to suck up our excesses is daft.
(I'd like to see a cradle to grave analysis of synthetics fibres, GHG and eco).
All that aside, we waste enormous amounts of all sorts of fibres, looking at that is probably prudent.
a sustainability response to that (rather than a reductionist one).
Limit the amount of wool produced to essentials, and stop being profligate with the resource.
Make full use of each sheep over its lifetime (they're the epitome of sustainability if you do this, including zero waste if managed well)
Use regenerative farming and landcare to mitigate the methane issues. Regenag also makes sheep into contributors to the system beyond the wool and meat produced.
Synthetic fibres create multiple pollutions not just microfibre ones, there's no way we can keep doing this and maintain healthy ecosystems.
The problem isn't that farm animals exist, it's the humans are stupid and greedy and have too many of them and have them in grossly polluting systems. My back of the envelope calculations suggest that NZ could be using 15% of land we currently use for dairy farming, with lower stocking rates, to produce enough dairy for NZers.
The greed/stupid systems issues are solvable, we don't have to choose the lesser of evils.
There's also the ancient history circumstance that the animals we happened to domesticate and genetically modify by selective breeding happened to be ruminants which necessarily produce massive amounts of methane as a part of their digestion.
For instance, if our ancient ancestors had happened to modify equines or camelids into becoming our meat-and-milk animals, we'd now be facing much less of a methane emissions problem now.
Given the the situation we have now, though, what could still change is meat-eaters shifting more towards pork and chicken (or horse) away from beef and lamb.
I don't recall seeing numbers on what would be needed in terms of land, water use etc to stop plastic fibre production and replace that with various plant or animal grown alternatives. Have you? Given the horrible eco-footprint of cotton, I suspect the answer is probably quite unpleasant.
Maybe that will become another synthetic biology application, producing biodegradable synthetic fibres similar to wool. Synthetic spider silk has had a lot of research for quite a long time, it's got quite remarkable properties that would be extremely useful if it could be produced in commercial quantities.
sidetracked reading about camelids now. Was thinking alpacas etc for fibre, but haven’t found any comparison figures yet for methane (only that it’s lower).
Pork and chicken, rabbits too. Feral deer, goats, pigs. Possum when we get desperate 😉
Do you know if NZ’s ag animal emissions are based on burping or do they include manure as well?
“Given the horrible eco-footprint of cotton, I suspect the answer is probably quite unpleasant.”
From a systems view, I’d look first a reducing waste across all fibre uses. Then look at what NZ can grow for itself (hemp, harakeke flax, linen flax, nettle, cotton, wool (sheep, alpaca etc), leather, as well as what we can harvest (possum fur). All of those done regeneratively changes the picture immensely. R and D on new natural fibres. Then we can look at import/export, and synthetics.
In regenag, animals are an integral part of the system. They’re not just end products that use resources. Animals can be used to build soil, which lowers the need for water (also, don’t grow anything in a climate it’s not adapted for). They provide on site manure for free, so no need for expensive artificial fertilisers. They have multiple outputs and benefits so we need to start measuring this rather than linearly.
Can't see that happening. With Sheep, synthetics offered an often far superior product (harder wearing, easier to clean etc). With dairy, synthetics just will not replace the natural food in peoples food preference. In most developed countries, there is a swing away from processed foods in general, so whilst synthetics may well have a place, it wont be a replacement.
Just take a look at any supermarket near where Chinese tourists gather. Their supermarket trolleys are piled high with milk powder, animal based cosmetics, health products, and so on. All to take back to China as a far more healthy alternative than what is on offer at home. The increasingly affluent in the newly growing economies of China and parts of Africa are tired of processed and synthetics. They want natural and healthy. One in twenty people in the world live in mainland China. Huge populations in countries like Angola and other African countries. No shortage of ready consumers to keep the dairy industry alive.
People in China are mainly seeking food that is reliable. Once synthetic diary can offer that, then other factors like climate impact, price, and provenance come into play.
If we're talking about industrial milk powder that is merely an ingredient of some processed food or other product, 'naturalness' is even less significant. As soon as climate impact is priced in, NZ's current focus on exporting powder is a losing bet.
yep…the wool industry analogy a good one. Couple of things to consider…around 50% of our FX is derived from dairy exports and international tourism….IF, and thats a big if the world begins to address CC, what then?
long-answer – we will have to become more inward looking – we have to transition to a self-sustaining (in food) economy..(that much is a given..)
currently much of our fruit/veg is imported – this will change..as transport/climate- costs will become too high/will be unable to be still relied upon..
and of course this is all do-able..
i have no answers to the economic storms from the inevitable shrinking of those two pillars of the nz economy..
"i have no answers to the economic storms from the inevitable shrinking of those two pillars of the nz economy.."
And in that you are not alone, including those charged with such things. Concerningly the dairy industry precariousness remains even without CC mitigation…it took around 15 years of grief to begin to recover from the halving of rural property values last time…and that was in a world still able to 'grow' (whether it was wise to do so is another argument)
I strongly suspect that if you take all the costs into account, including pollution, interest and profit going offshore, job loses in industries we have killed to help "free trade" and all the other costs of agriculture commodity exports, most of our farming is a net cost to New Zealand's real balance of payments.
Whether you think its compelling will likely depend on your life expectations…Id suggest that what I would prioritise (at my stage of life) would be totally unacceptable to wide segments of society and that would apply to everyone….so how are priorities to be determined, and by who?
There is a multitude of items we cannot provide or provide at a cost that can be paid by all the most wealthy among us….the recent outcry about cancer treatments is a case in point….we could survive without exports or with greatly reduced exports but we may need to close the borders to emigration (not to mention capital flight)
I'm sure that is true about expectations, but climate change will change that sooner or later. Having the conversations now may make transition easier for some.
I wasn't think it was about imposing priorities but rather that we convince ourselves to change. It's not like we can't change.
Is the basic idea here that we need exports to great a certain degree of wealth so that we can afford to import things we can't make ourselves? My question was more about what if we produced much of what we need ourselves, is there a reason that this is insufficient to provide the country with a certain standard of living?
Looking at Icebreaker, is there a reason that they *had to go global? Why could they not have stayed as a company selling locally?
(NZ selling merino clothing is probably a good thing, shipping wool to china then the clothes back to NZ is an idiocy).
Yes we could produce far more here (especially if we are prepared to accept the likely increased cost….are we?) and I agree we will be forced to at some point in any case but my concern is to attempt to avoid the grief another hard transition would produce and to achieve that we need more than conversations…we need a detailed plan and that plan needs to be accepted by a broad section of society…and thats the hard part.
Plan + 'conversations' = broad social acceptance. Conversations aren't an only, they're a prerequisite for change.
I think there are plenty of plans, or people wiling and able to step up and create them relatively quickly. I just listened to Marilyn Waring's Chch TED talk, I'm betting she knows exactly what we need to do. Professional people and academics have been talking and writing about steady state economies or powering down or the limits of growth for 50 years. There's issues there (thinking about the problems with Kiwibuild, or fixing the messes that National has made), but I'm not so worried about the planning and implementation even knowing that mistakes will get made.
More of an issue for me are the powermongers at large (eg people like Shane Jones in charge of tree planting, who just don't get it). That's a tough one to solve.
And the public. Who I think will hit a tipping point at some point and we need to be ready with ways of having the conversation fast and probably under difficult circumstances.
My question here, to the people with a better understanding of economics than me, is whether there is a compelling reason to believe that only growth economics can give us a decent standard of living.
Matt suggested to me the other day that moving to a steady state economy would mean the end to investments so I guess the middle classes might experience that as a decline, but the sustainability and resiliency leaders have been saying for a while now to put investment money into land and resiliency, not for a financial return but to provide other kinds of as the world changes. For that to be taken seriously we need to talk about it, a lot. Debate it until the fearful living in a mud hut isn't the only future that people can conceive of without civ.
I agree about the huge value in avoiding a hard transition. Maybe there are lessons to be learned from the 80s about the necessity of kindness and valuing people.
Yes 'conversations' are required to achieve a plan that has wide social acceptance, how much time can we spend now on that?…Id suggest sadly weve wasted the time for that so where to from here? Do we waste more time negotiating wider acceptance or do we outline whats needed and enforce?…time is of the essence but without acceptance it will unwind any plan before it starts……and all of that assumes there is indeed a solution which isnt certain.
And it isnt only the 'middle classes' that will kick back if we are honest
I agree, lots of people will resist, but the value in getting the middle classes on board is immeasurable (assuming they're on board ethically and aren't just going to shit on other people). They also hold a lot of power in various parts of society (management, politics, academia, industry, MSM).
Also agree that so much time has been wasted. I can't see a way yet that NZ could use force. I think once enough people are on board, then restrictions like we've had in wartime would be doable. Ditto legislative changes eg solar on every new build, no more building in low lying areas. I don't think we are too far off law changes like that tbh. Attitudes are changing fast.
More broadly, there's an issue of using force at a time when fascism is on the rise. Force under National would be a terrible thing.
Given what's happening in Brazil, I have been wondering about political and economic sanctions and at what point that becomes a global survival necessity even where it harms local populations. I think we have other choices but are going to be hard up against international agreements and conventions that were designed for a different age.
I suspect we are talking of different things…NZ is a currently a developed economy and all that provides (IMO hanging on by the skin of its teeth) and maintaining that requires a plan to that end..we can do or not do any number of things but most of them will not maintain the benefits of being a developed economy …especially force.
we might be talking about different things. I'm asking if we need t base our economy primarily on exports. Not sure there's been a clear answer yet. Do you think that maintaining a developed economy depends on that?
"'m asking if we need t base our economy primarily on exports. Not sure there's been a clear answer yet. Do you think that maintaining a developed economy depends on that?"
Quite simply yes…the only question is at what level that import/export ratio needs to be and how we determine what those imports/exports are.
Full on autarky wouldnt mean we will all perish but it certainly would provide massive problems, especially as time passed and would IMO require 'force' and be incompatible with democracy…all doable but is that a society we would desire for our children?
I'm not suggesting autarky though. I'm suggesting that for environmental, sustainability, resiliency, and climate mitigation and prep, we look at not being dependent on exporting to maintain a decent standard of living. This doesn't mean we never import or export anything, it means our economy is relatively stable within NZ irrespective of what happens in the rest of the world.
And yes, after that, what do we need to import, and what do we need to export?
I haven't seen a compelling argument for why we have to have an export driven economy (as opposed to having exports/imports for our needs).
If you desire the latter you must have the former…so it becomes a question of requirements and as I find myself repeating ad nauseam that requires a plan…and our plan since the eighties has been to (largely) leave that to market forces…or BAU. That needs to change and fast.
Personally, I'd limit air freight to perishable items, and figure out a way to make cruise ships more attractive to be run as liners (while cracking down on working conditions and waste). But trade in itself isn't the issue, so much as plastic shit and our own shit internal transport systems.
Another thing – why aren't cigarette butts biodegradable? They're literally attached to a single-use something that is useless if it comes into contact with water, and yet these bloody things are indestructible?
So theoretically at least, if we manufactured more here, we could import less and still have a decent standard of living?
I can't see any reason to stop all exporting/importing, I just think the reliance on it, and the excess nature of it, is creating huge problems. Loss of fossil fuels will reduce that eventually anyway. Books by sea rather than flown in. I'm old enough to remember when that was true so it doesn't seem a hardship to me, but we were still hugely reliant on exports then and I still don't understand why exactly. I get what happened in the 80s, where we swapped jobs for cheap goods manufactured off shore, so I guess if that were reversed we wouldn't exactly collapse from deprivation.
A high level of international trade enables economies and efficiencies of mega-scale production. From a global perspective, transport included, that might actually be better for the environment than lots of merely large scale facilities each with their own tooling, buildings, and emissions.
I think the toxic bit is the encouraged demand for essentially disposable items or items with designed obsolescence, and the outsourcing of worker exploitation and abuse..
so a high level of international trade brings some benefits (globally and to NZ), but how it's done causes serious problems. Is there a way to prevent the drive for designed obsolescence and worker exploitation and still maintain high level international trade?
My original question is still whether there is any inherent reason that the NZ economy needs to be based on high exporting (as opposed to lower level, more targeted export/import).
Well, there's no inherent reason why trade needs to be at any particular level, from one point of view. But if we're looking at overall efficiency of the supply system, then I suspect with our mid-range population and comparative resource wealth, we'd have a better standard of living and lower environmental impact with wider trade relationships than if we were primarily self sufficient in most things we need.
As for a way to deal with the capitalist mechanisms of encouraging demand and exploitation, maybe regulating advertising in some way? There's not much point in putting up trade barriers to be largely self sufficient if we still purchase massive amounts of crap, regardless of where it's made.
right, but isn't the point that global free market prevents nations from making those kinds of laws.
I'd see a process of encouragement and education for a number of years, eventually backed by legislation that mandates repairable electronics for instance. I can't see how that can be done when we import so much. I guess if enough nation states had domestic laws then pressure could be applied collectively.
I'm not convinced there is any way to make the global economy in any way sustainable from a CC or eco point of view. Less damaging isn't enough in both instances. It's not that importing is bad, it's that sustainable systems design just wouldn't start there, it would start local and then work outwards. So we grow our meat, veg and beans close to where they are eaten, and we get to import coffee and chocolate if that's where we prioritise our carbon budget (I suspect it will be more like we get to import meds and precious metals because we left things too late).
From what I gather, most FTAs prohibit preferential regulation, but allow universal regulation. So maybe something about supply chain pay equity, regardless of source? But even if that were allowed, those nations that currently profit from exploitation would push back.
As for starting locally, how far do you want to go? Local meat, processed at a local abattoir, distributed to local butcheries? Fine for Timaru or Dannevirke I guess, but Counties Manakau or central Auckland? Much of the bread in Dunedin is made (or travels through) ChCh, because of efficiencies of scale. We almost ran out after the quakes. But I don't see many wheatfields around Mosgiel, and I'm not sure there's a good reason for that to change.
working from the local means you design for the local. Solutions for Dndn will be different than for Auckland or Westport.
Lots of meat could be killed on farm and sold locally. Needs good management practice, but can be done. (multiple benefits here, eco, jobs, local economy, low food miles, and better consumer engagement with al of that). Cities can grow a lot of food within the city (probably wouldn’t hurt city folk to see city farms and animals that will be killed for their table), but Auckland really should be preserving its fertile food growing land. What probably shouldn’t be happening is Southland lamb being sold in Auckland suburbs. There’s a kind of craziness in NZ supply lines (lots of back and forth) for all sorts of things, and electric vehicles, while necessary aren’t the main solution to that.
Wheat, sure, grow it in Canterbury and train it along the main trunk like. But better to quake proof that supply line by growing locally too. Plenty of grain growing done in Otago, not sure what the issues with wheat are (probably dairy conversions). CC makes relying on monocropping dodgy, so we should probably look at how to eat other things as staples (variety, including but not so dependent on wheat).
Dunno about the advantages of local killing vs abattoirs, sure there will be more jobs but again jobs aren't a problem if capitalism isn't given free rein. Every onsite facility would require oversight, water, power, waste disposal, etc etc etc. Concentrating all of that in one larger facility might be better from most if not all aspects.
As for FTAs, nothing is forcing people to buy imported stuff. But legislating a restriction in imports in favour of local producers is the antithesis of an FTA.
There are legal, mobile home-kill operations already in NZ. We don’t need a massive freezing works in every area, small scale abbatoirs will work too. There’s a problem in NZ with how abbatoirs tie up and dictate meat supply chains. Talk to organic growers about how hard it is to get their products back to sell, or to keep all the parts of the animal. Efficiencies from size might support aspects of a growth economy, but they’re often failing with regards to local economies and the environment.
There are also issues around miles. A farmer in a rural area wanting to sell her sheep locally, has to live truck the sheep to a freezing works, often many miles, and then freight the meat back. That’s just daft. Trucks on roads, carbon, time, lots of inefficiencies. There’s an animal welfare issue there too.
We're almost three quarters urban. If some niche farmer wants small-scale slaughtering for whatever reason, they can do that. But the objective is to feed cities, and trucking meat to the urban centres after centralised processing has got to be less environmentally damaging and resource-consuming than people from the cities driving out to visit your farmer's gate.
saying we swapped jobs for cheap goods is a little misleading…we swapped loss of control over our currency (and therefore standard of living) for the 'support 'of international traders..we could have done it better but we still had to play the game according to the rules
Nah. Two different subjects entirely. Currency value is like the OCR – adds a certain elasticity to the effects of change within some boundaries, but there's no real "control".
Removing tarriffs and other barriers is fine for peer-relationships. Maybe german companies make better widgets than we ever could, and for cheaper (either tech or established process efficiencies, or they have a better supply of widget ore). But if the comparative advantage is because they pay their children 50c a day to make widgets, then we're outsourcing worker exploitation.
excuse me?….may pay to think a little further. Start thinking capital fight and dearth of investment and then tell me how we have no influence over our currency…..you may also wish to consider what the end result of that looks like and a pathway back and then advise places like zimbabwe or venezuela or even argentina
One is a steering wheel, the other is the person in the passenger seat suggesting "next left".
Sure, a quick scream or blatant misdirection might lead to a wrong turn or a crash, but if the driver expects it there's little effect because the driver has already planned a response.
How are Zimbabwe and Venezuela doing at controlling the value of their currencies? Avoiding inflation on imported goods okay? Stable enough that street traders won't prefer USD?
good grief..quite obviously zimbabwe and venezuela (and argentina, and there are others) lost control ( not influence) of their currencies, unless you wish to suggest they desired the result?….you might now want to consider how that occurred
too binary…when operating within parameters they have influence….outside those parameters they lose control…..as NZ was approaching in the early eighties.
Currency (money)is a confidence trick…remove all confidence and you have no currency.
A government can't control the currency if it can't control the confidence people have in it. And it can't. It can reassure, try to avoid surprises, gently adjust regulations and conditions, but speculative markets are like murmurations of starlings – if they take wing, who knows where they'll end up. And "what can I buy with this intrinsically-valueless piece of paper or this chip card or this app" is pretty much the most speculative market there can be.
WE also fairly easily dropped our border tariffs that prevented cheap things from getting in undercutting our markets, and when the local prices were too high, NZ micro businesses fell.
yep we did all that and tossed the best part of a generation on the scrap heap, the consequences of we are increasingly struggling with and we sold or abandoned a history of institutional knowledge (capacity) which plagues us to this day….all this is known and still we appear incapable of constructing a remedy, or even the attempt.
Hi Phil, perhaps the analogy of 'synthetic wool' is not so flash an example for the demise of traditional vs new food industries.
We are now hearing about these plastic micro fibres ending up in the stomachs of small fish. Fossil fuel based gunk that removes plenty of humans from its manufacture.
Wool products have lots of different skill sets involved in their production.
I sincerely hope to see the demise of theses textiles in my lifetime.
Wool is warm. It's water, rot and fire resistant. Many uses including insulation.
I am in contrast to you in respect floor coverings. We have lived in a 1906 villa without carpet for 20 years. There is now wool carpet and thick underlay in the lounge and a bedroom.
I think carpet should refer only to a wool product and synthetic stuff should have to be named something else. I feel this as strongly as you seem to shun them. (he said on the floor doing snow angels)
I’m curious, do you have any vegany opposition to sheep (wool) farming?
Fanciful thinking. There's no chance everyone will be on a plant based diet to combat climate change, and there's no real reason to try and enforce that.
Supplying only local markets will cut down on emissions in many ways – Smaller herds, less intensive farming methods, freight and shipping costs off shore. That alone negates the need for your constant attempts at shaming of meat eaters into an unnatural human diet.
If, under the current export structure it's seen to been a help to reduce consumption, then so be it, I'm sure people do that already, but using climate change fear mongering as the latest meme to promote veganism is as see through as crisp mountain air. Clearly the meat is murder angle has failed, so let's try your burger and steak are killing the planet. 🙄
Plenty of big atmospheric polluters that can be mitigated or eradicated before we have to tackle with forced veganism.
i don't see 'forced veganism' as being good for anyone…
and those thinking change like this is impossible – could cast their minds back to when everyone smoked cigarettes..
and think how much that has changed – in such a short time..
and really – nobody is being asked to give up anything – you will still have bacon that tastes/smells/chews the same..
the only difference will be that no animal has suffered in the making of etc etc
Killing and eating the animal doesn't bother me, so not really relevant to the discussion from my perspective. And ciggies, that’s a silly analogy, especially when there are still a hard core number of partakers.
As there will be no need to stop all animal husbandry to combat climate change if the biggest contributors are addressed first, it doesn't matter if frankenfoods and fake meat are also on the shelves as alternatives because, as you say, we won't actually have to give up anything.
Just loved the comments from Bill English in the article, way back in 2005. 'Pushed beyond her ability', believed her own bs and media hype and so on. He was bang on the money long before most Kiwis even knew who she was!
I will not be swayed by weak men afraid of strong women so I'm already getting a supply of hand cream in, to keep my hands and fingers nice and supple whilst I turn the pages, and tissues to wipe away the joys of joy I expect to be shedding while reading this tome that will, without doubt, became required reading for anyone wanting to do politics the right way
my attitudes to collins are nothing to do with gender..
it is more for lying tory-ratbag reasons..
and my qualifications around clark are more from my raising a child on a dpb at the time she was having her 'deserving'(read 'working') and 'undeserving families' war-on-the-poor..
as a sole-parent on a dpb – i was in the latter camp..and thus one of her targets..and winz was fucken brutal..bare-knuckled animosity..the hideous fucken freaks i had to deal with there..)
hard to forget all that – and from a(n ostensibly) labour leader/p.m…(!) .(gender irrelevant..)
and i view clark as having just prepared the ground for key – and his works..
and i am a long way from the worship so many left-thinking people have for her..
(and as a reality check – how much did the minimum wage go up under clark..?
to my mind she was a caretaker to/for our high-cost/low-wage economy..and that is not what i see a labour leader being tasked with..)
thatcher..?…need i go on..?..she was reagan in drag…
Robert I wouldn't dream of telling women what a strong women should be, its that kind of unthinking, patriarchal point of view that keep women from reaching their full potential which in turn hurts all of us
You wouldn't be telling "women", Pucky, you'd be telling me and Phillip are; come on, put up! Us "insecure" men need your help here; don't let us down.
You really are a holier-than-thou foreskin of the double standard eh Mr Puck. If you work your way through the above, surely even you can see that it is ye that's pulled the gender card.
Besides which your idol is perfectly capable of sticking up for herself – as if being a current member of the gNat party isn't evidence enough of that. But I guess it's kind of sweet (as well as pathetic) seeing someone (apparently an adult) desperately in lerv with an idol. I'll give you that she's truly iconic – in a desperate sort of way
The good thing is that her rivals a even more ‘desperater’ than She
Ms Collins, along with every other National MP and Party apparatchik are presently engaged in a Trumpesque campaign to win next year’s election. Whether this involves half-truths or shonky data, or outright spread of lies – National will do whatever it takes to win.
QFT. Every day a misrepresentation or blatant lie is fed to the MSM and is rarely challenged by them even though they know the claim(s) to be false and potentially damaging. Rarely too, does the PM or any of her ministers do much to counter these lies and half truths as if by ignoring them they think they will go away.
This is a mistake as we have seen time and again in the past. People will subconsciously assimilate the falsehoods and eventually come to perceive them as the truth.
Judith Collins will thrive in such a political climate. She comes across to me as an updated, female version of Rob Muldoon. Anyone who lived at least part of their adult life through the Muldoon years would know what I mean.
It might make politics interesting but… be scared!
Edit: Oh and btw, Muldoon also wrote a book in the lead up to the 1975 election (I think it was).
more grist for the mill for the left – although crasher has a record of doing nothing, bluster, and hollow words and actions – I suppose on her way out of parliament she may tell some truths – but not about herself I bet.
HENRICO, Va. (CN) – Congressman Devin Nunes resisted an attempt to throw out his defamation case against Twitter, arguing through his lawyer Friday that pervasive parody accounts about Nunes are like a fire next door that is seeping smoke into your house and choking a newborn baby.
Nunes, who did not attend the hearing in Henrico County Circuit Court in person, brought the lawsuit against Twitter this past March. Taking aim at the accounts “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow,” as well as political strategist Liz Mair, the California Republican said the insults against him, in 280 characters or less, caused broad damage to his character and also led him to win re-election by a smaller percentage than usual.
This is true, and you can hear this in the way she talks. Case in point, debate 1 when she talks about medical bankruptcy of people W insurance.
This is why I am more bullish on her "electability" than other analysts (well, that and the fact that I don't still live in the stone https://t.co/4QKN3SDK3F
— Rachel "The Doc" Bitecofer 📈🔭🍌 (@RachelBitecofer) August 24, 2019
age in terms of electoral behavior and what the American electorate can and will tolerate, esp the middle of it, (it tolerated Trump in '16, but won't be doing that twice no matter what).
But honestly, I think a lot of opinion elites sit outside of the normal income lines of
America, which even at 100K a year, leave people struggling to fix their cars or AC, pay for a dentist, and send their kids to college. At 50K & below, where 80% of the country lives, its a day to day battle trying to keep the lights on, food on the table, and housing.
This economic insecurity certainly lays conditions for racism/cultural resentment, and sexism to flourish, and the GOP will be able to capitalize on that with their crafty messaging that will redirect some people's insecurity to their neighbors, but for 50% of the country,
conditions are actually pretty good for a populist campaign against the ultra-rich to flourish, ESP if the country goes into recession. And @ewarren has always been shrewd about positioning herself as a capitalist that supports more democratic socialism. That's an imp distinction
The eventual Dem nominee, whoever she may be, will need to deal with the same kinds of false equivalences painted and sniping that Clinton got from the same bunch of hard-core convergence moonbats, second-option-bias fantasists, purity progressives, Jimmy Dore cultists, Bernie bros and other perpetual malcontents.
If it's Warren, it'll be about her genetic heritage and embrace of capitalism, if it's Harris it'll be about her past as a prosecutor and her waffling on healthcare plans.
The question will be, will those smears get the same traction and turnout disengagement this time around that they did against Hillary?
Why is he even entering the political debate on 'anything'. Key and English and others have moved on and dont seem to want to revisit these issues.
Why is Joyce , who was Minister of Transport up to 2011 , even being listened too.
The 'raods' he talks about are very expensive 4 lane state highways, both in Auckland and elsewhere, new builds.
The money has been moved to state highway improvements which improve safety, alignment and pavements but in smaller chunks , so that unsafe surfaces, bottle necks and blackspots can see fairly quick changes.
That budget has seen the money taken away for the RONS. We could see the result where the 2010 Manawatu Gorge deviation was shelved after repeated closures and instead expensive and eventually futile remediation was done in the gorge road itself. Joyce was the Minister responsible for that flip flop.
Second article I've read demanding more road construction projects that I have seen recently .We should remember well that road construction companies are/were MAJOR DONORS to the NATIONAL PARTY.
Glasgow University is to pay £20m in reparations to atone for its historical links to the transatlantic slave trade in what the University of West Indies has described as a “bold, historic” move.
It signed an agreement with the University of the West Indies to fund a joint centre for development research, at a ceremony in Glasgow on Friday morning.
Glasgow University discovered last year it had benefited financially from Scottish slave traders in the 18th and 19th centuries by between £16.7m and £198m in today’s money.
In what is thought to be the first attempt by a British university to set up a programme of restorative justice, it has pledged to raise £20m for the centre, chiefly in research grants and gifts.
National MP Matt King denies man-made climate change in a Facebook article he plagiarised from a US right-wing group.
"King defended his point of view in the comments, saying his views and beliefs are being falsely labelled as alt-right, racist and facist".
"A common techniques of the loopy left. I'm very comfortable with where I sit," he wrote.
"It's a common left wing tactic to link things like the Christchurch massacre, Nazis, racism and terms such as alt-right with people that question the leftie doctrine."
He’s a fine example of a paranoid and deluded National Party nutter.
Very deep is the well of the past. Should we not call it bottomless?” So begins the prelude of Thomas Mann’s “Joseph and his Brothers”, a set of four novels that details the life of Jacob and his son Joseph described in the Book of Genesis. The prelude is pointedly titled “Descent into Hell”.
I have recently started reading the 1,400-page work and the first lines remind me how over the past four years since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president of the United States we have noted each passing depth in the plunge of ignorance, bigotry and megalomania and wondered if surely we have reached the bottom.
And yet if we are honest we can truly only say that so very deep is the well of his ignorance and bigotry that should we not say it is bottomless?
…This of course came after his obligatory suggestion that “I am the least racist person ever to serve in office, OK? I am the least racist person” – a statement so dully idiotic that it now just breezes past the listener with barely a recognition that were any human being to say such a thing they would have lost all credibility.
…The realpolitik of dealing with Trump is to hold your nose and flatter him and get as good a deal that he can be suckered into giving because somewhat unusual for a con artist he is unable to distinguish false flattery from true deference.
But surely at some point we need to take a stand and say no more.
We won’t of course. Scott Morrison will angle for a dinner at the White House, and given their shared lack of care about climate change Morrison is likely to use chances of Trump’s re-election as an excuse to do as little as possible to reduce emissions.
Some uncomfortable truths – and a simplistic answer – or maybe the start of an answer.
While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an "international crisis," they are hardly an accident.
The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country's so-called "beef caucus."
While this may be business as usual for Brazil's beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror.
So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.
It's an idea that Finland has already floated. On Friday, the Nordic country's finance minister called for the European Union to "urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports" over the Amazon fires.
Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) — a figure that could rise in the coming years.
Sounds like the "middleman" needs to be cut out of supplying services if they are not sound, the news this morning said it had been conducted by "an external provider" that did not have the normal protections that are provided(?) The fine is a maximum of $10k the news report also said so it is a crime.
Once again, betcha there was no "hacking" involved – someone will have just published the private info to the world by mistake. That someone will remain forever anonymous and the person with responsibility will not suffer any consequences.
Jacinda will do a frowny face though, which is Labour for "transparency and accountability".
People leaving Gloriavale should probably be treated like refugees and similar supports put in place. These are often people that have been born and raised there and have never lived outside of the cult.
Imagine having to learn how to use a phone or make decisions about what clothes to wear because you've always been told by someone in authority. One escapee said it took him 7 years to adjust to life outside.
A wahine Maori politician links Kellie-Jay Keen, or Posie Parker, and the Labor Party’s upset victory in an Australian by-election. No, not Marama Davidson. We speak of Moira Deeming, who is mentioned in – An article which Posie Parker has written for The Spectator; and Media analyses of the ...
by Mark White Reprinted from the left free speech site Plebity Speech is not violence One of the hallmarks of today’s woke left is to conflate speech with violence. Fearful of the ‘harm’ that might be experienced from hearing certain words, the woke left has become widely confused about the issue of ...
Let’s say it’s the 18th century and let’s say you’re a pirate, and let’s say you’re about to set sail. How do you prepare? Repair to a tavern with many barrels of ale? Find a comely wench? Get on your knees and pray? Maybe all those things. But also there will be ...
On a clear autumn afternoon, at the monolithic MediaWorks office overlooking the city, people are showing their invitations and entering. Finding places to sit at long tables with refreshments, loudly moving chairs across the polished concrete floor.The Minister for Broadcasting, Willie Jackson, a collection of marginal celebrities, and news media, ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 26, 2023 thru Sat, Apr 1, 2023. Story of the Week AI Can Spread Climate Misinformation ‘Much Cheaper and Faster,’ Study WarnsA new study suggests developers of artificial intelligence are failing ...
New Zealand has its general election scheduled this October. This means the various parties are currently selecting their candidates, and as of yesterday, we now know the two major party candidates for the seat where I live (Taieri) – Ingrid Leary (Labour) and Stephen Jack (National). Leary’s ...
..By now, Kelly-Jay Keen-Minshull (aka, Posie Parker) has come and gone. Her mission - to amplify a particularly pernicious form of transphobia (under the cloak of “women’s rights”) - an abject failure. As a marketing exercise to peddle her wares, it went well.A self-style "woman’s rights activist" Keen-Minshull/Parker has strident ...
Buzz from the Beehive We haven’t exhaustively put this proposition to the test, but we suspect there’s just one thing Nanaia Mahuta has mentioned more often than “sanctions” in her press statements. That would be “three waters”. Mahuta has popped up in the latest batch of Beehive press statements to ...
The UK activist has changed the election-year dynamic. Graham Adams writes – Chris Hipkins’ initial success as Labour’s fresh Messiah after Jacinda Ardern’s resignation in January has largely rested on the promise that his party’s focus henceforth would be on “bread-and-butter” issues such as the cost of ...
As the Stuart Nash email brouhaha has unfolded this week, and we’ve learnt more about how an email to donors was withheld from public view, I’ve kept being reminded of the classic example of faulty logic. You know the one: "All dogs have four legs, all dogs are animals, therefore ...
This week Simplicity CEO Sam Stubbs joined us to talk about Simplicity Living’s big house building plans, starting in Auckland, and banks receiving billions of subsidies from the Government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and Aotearoa’s political economy covered on The Kākā for paying ...
The NZ Herald reports: Leaked emails between senior officials at Auckland Light Rail, Waka Kotahi and Auckland Transport have revealed a surprising twist in the long-running saga of the Auckland Light Rail project. A stack of emails between Auckland Light Rail and an unnamed senior official at Waka Kotahi, who ...
Hi,I go between excitement about AI — and absolute terror. I’m terrified it will take our jobs — and also kill us. Not kill us on purpose… more in a gray-goo kinda way.And as I wrote about over two years ago, I’m excited it might be the only thing to ...
Completed reads for March: The Monk, by Matthew Lewis Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis The Golden Ass, by Lucius Apuleius The Castle, by Franz Kafka A Slip of the Tongue in Salutation, by Lucian of Samosata The Necrophiliac, by Gabrielle Wittkop The Song of Hiawatha (poem), ...
Photo by Aziz Acharki on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again 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 with special guests: from ...
Image Credit: Nord Stream operator decries ‘unprecedented’ damage to three pipelines The recent vote on the draft Security Council resolution seeking to establish an independent UN inquiry into the sabotage of the Russian-European-owned natural gas line, Nord Stream I and II, disappointed many observers. ...
Buzz from the Beehive The big bread-and-butter issue of pay packets and weekly incomes was at the core of three ministerial statements since Point of Order’s previous monitoring of the Beehive website. Andrew Little was earning his keep, meanwhile, by delivering a speech in which he discussed co-governance. He was ...
After yesterday's news that Stuart Nash deliberately and knowingly breached the OIA to cover up his corrupt disclosure of Cabinet information to his donors, the media now is focusing on the wider point: Nash's behaviour isn't isolated, but a symptom of the rot which has eaten away at transparency under ...
There was great disappointment following the just released poverty figures for the year ended to June 2022. Whatever your take, we are not facing up to the real child poverty problems.Some say the poverty figures show no significant change, some say there was a small improvement. Some say that the ...
Quiz1. Which is the most pleasing comment so far regarding this man’s indictment?a. He finally won a popular vote! b. “You can’t indicate me, I quit”c. Is this joy? It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything.2. “The boxset scandal that is Stuart Nash.”Who wrote this fine description? a. ...
It’s truly astonishing the way that the Government has been able to suppress evidence of business donors gaining special access to Cabinet information. Now that Stuart Nash has been fired from Cabinet for leaking sensitive information to individuals who funded his election campaign, the focus has shifted to why this ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Have you noticed the media’s propensity to label people and groups in a way that shows negative bias? People speaking up for women’s right to their own spaces and fairness in sport aren’t feminists or women’s rights activists, they’re anti-trans or transphobic. The Taxpayers’ Union is often prefaced with the label right ...
Photo by Magdalena Kula Manchee on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour (I’ll be online for an hour from 12.30 so pile them up), including:The Government’s latest climate back-tracks on diesel cars and ...
All of the Government’s five options for improving Auckland’s links include or prioritise tunnels and bridges for cars, double-cab utes and trucks ahead of walking, cycling and rail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government has brought forward plans to start building and/or drilling a second Waitematā harbour ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes: Green’s co-leader Marama Davidson just keeps digging the hole she is in deeper. First she showed her bitter antipathy towards white CIS (same gender as birth) men. Then she walked it back to all men. On Tuesday night on TV1 News she said, “…overwhelmingly it ...
as Auckland’s cantankerous mayor stumbles from one crisis to the next, the hope is not that Wayne Brown will learn on the job – that’s almost certainly a lost cause – but that Aucklanders will manage to come together and limit the damage that he threatens to inflict on the ...
Wow, it’s the end of March already. Here are a few of the smaller items that caught our attention over the last week. We need better trucks Newsroom reported on a Ministry of Transport report showing just how dirty our current truck fleet is. A heavy diesel truck costs ...
Listening to RNZ yesterday, I heard that the government was making a major announcement about a second crossing of the Waitematā. I was fairly surprised.I’d have thought with it being election year the last thing the government would want to be talking about was a massive Auckland transport project. Especially ...
I cracked open a fortune cookie with a family group after dinner. My loved ones got warm, inspiring messages such as my son’s: ‘You will be successful in business and society’. Nice. I got this one: “Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.” By coincidence, I had already drafted a ...
THOMAS CRANWELL: When ideology turns violent – the political and media backing behind the Posie Parker mob Thomas Cranwell writes – ——————————– Similar to other countries, the transgender movement in New Zealand is not a grassroots organisation but instead is an increasingly ...
It is a lovely autumn morning.The sun is shining. The birds in Kōwhai park are twittering.There is music playing on Today FM.You can hardly tell that the children at Kia Kaha primary school are being greenhouse gassed.It is not just happening at Kia Kaha Primary School.It is happening to all ...
Poor old Mike Hosking! In today’s Herald, such is his visceral antipathy to our current government, that he is reduced to wrestling with himself in trying to understand how it is that despite its many failings – in his eyes at least – the Labour government is somehow ahead in ...
Air pollution kills, and dirty diesel vehicles are a major source of it. Cleaning them up has enormous social benefits in avoided deaths and hospitalisations. How much? Billions of dollars: A report quietly released by the Ministry of Transport in July shows tighter regulation of vehicle imports for air ...
Via one of my lovely Twitter sources, the sardonic and interesting @johubris … the following ‘poll question’ has been recently distributed: “Thinking about your life and your country now, what is the most important issue that you want to see the New Zealand Government addressing?” This qualifies as push-polling, which ...
On Tuesday night, former Forestry Minister Stuart Nash was sacked for corruption, after the Prime Minister discovered he had disclosed confidential cabinet discussions to his donors. Its since emerged that Jacinda Ardern's office knew of this disclosure, but didn't act on the obvious breach of the Cabinet manual, and didn't ...
Buzz from the Beehive Whoa, there – we can’t keep up! Suddenly, the PM’s ministerial team has unleashed a slew of press statements. Sixteen announcements have been posted on the Beehive website since our last check. This burst of activity (we wondered) might be the result of them responding positively ...
Big transport news today with the government beginning public engagement on options for the Waitemata Harbour Connections project. This project has had an incredibly long history, with previous versions somehow managing to be incredibly expensive, detrimental to most of the transport outcomes we are trying to achieve in Auckland, and ...
If ever there was an example of complacency about corruption and integrity in New Zealand politics it’s the fact that the Prime Minister’s Office knew back in 2021 that Cabinet Minister Stuart Nash was feeding privileged Cabinet information to business donors but did nothing about it. This is one of ...
Open access notables "Despite the potential for positive methane–climate feedbacks from global wetlands, most Earth System Models (ESMs) and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) that informed the last Assessment Report of the IPCC do not directly incorporate this process."Publishing in Nature Climate Change, Zheng et al. unpack the implications of this ...
Among its ‘go slow’ on climate measures, the Government chose to delay tighter regulation of vehicle imports for air pollution for six years because it would have increased vehicle purchase costs. Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government continues to backtrack on moves to reduce emissions, with three news items ...
Stuart Nash’s downfall appears to have had its beginnings with one of the players from the “Dirty Politics” scandals of 2014. Simon Lusk, a close associate of Cameron “Whaleoil” Slater, one of the key figures in Nicky Hagar’s “Dirty Politics” expose, has been associated with Stuart Nash. Lusk has ...
Worried if this election will be shellacked by “the culture war”? That arrived ages ago. And, one side is definitely in panic mode, even if that’s not being admitted right now. Because of that, they’re reverting yet again to straight up… culture wars. Yes, fellow traveler, the Party who ...
All About Climate is a Youtube channel dedicated to communicating climate science and combating misinformation about global warming. It is run by Roshan Salgado D'Arcy - or 'Rosh' for short. He is a geology graduate with an MSc in climate change and is currently reading for a PhD in the communication of ...
ChatGPT is an interesting little beastie. I have only really started experimenting with it recently – not because I have any interest in using it for my own writing projects, but because I enjoy pushing and prodding the AI in strange directions. I have spent an inordinate amount of ...
The science of climate change is clear: we need to stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and we cannot burn even a fraction of those already discovered. So naturally, Labour is offering oil companies more exploration permits: The Government is offering companies another opportunity to search for ...
There are two keyboards in my office. I hammer at one a lot more than the other.But some days — today, for instance, after a few days of steeping myself in toxicity —that other keyboard can really come into its own.I learned to play the piano as a kid, went ...
Is the government imploding? Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has had to sack one of his more effective (and likeable) ministers, while another (from the Green Party) has insulted many of the adult population. For his part, Hipkins had appeared to be shaping up well since he took over the ...
Mobbed! As Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s (Posie Parker’s) opponents surged forward, her only protecters were a handful of burly security guards who surrounded their client and began forcing a path through what was now a howling mob. At least one video recording shows the diminutive Keen-Minshull, a terrified rag-doll, eyes dulled by ...
Buzz from the Beehive It looks like Marama Davidson must revile white sis males – or some other group of our population – three more times before she gets the heave-ho as one of Chris Hipkins’ ministers. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from the PM’s treatment of Stuart Nash, ...
For a serial offender like Stuart Nash, it was inevitable that another skeleton would emerge from his closet, and end his ministerial career. This one though, was a whopper. Previously, Nash had tried to tell the Police how to do their job. He had also tried to tell the courts ...
Cabinet Minister Stuart Nash was sacked last night for violating Cabinet Collective Responsibility rules, when it was revealed he disclosed sensitive Government information to business supporters who had donated money to him. The breach of the Cabinet Manual was enough to land him in trouble, but the fact that it ...
Some good news last week with the Council confirming that Te Hā Noa – Victoria St Linear Park will go ahead and with construction starting on 11 April – though with a few fishhooks. Te Hā Noa, a renewed Victoria Street, is the next big project in Auckland Council’s Midtown ...
Stuart Nash’s assurances to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins that there were no further examples of him breaching the Cabinet Manual became meaningless with the release of emails from Nash sharing Cabinet discussions with business people. The Prime Minister had no choice but to sack Nash as a Minister with immediate ...
Hi,Just a quick online-only update after yesterday’s newsletter, How Michael Organ Weaponised the Family Court... and Sean Plunket. First up — wow. Thanks for all the support, and to all those who shared their own personal stories in the comments. And welcome to any new Webworm readers.I just wanted ...
Let that sink in for a moment - Christopher Luxon, who has spent the last year demonising Māori, wants Marama Davidson to apologise to white men.You will likely have seen the video, or read about it. Marama Davidson rushing along Princes St on Saturday evening, the road that runs between ...
Stuart Nash, the great-grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Walter Nash, has lost his political career. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Stuart Nash was sacked for telling donors what happened in Cabinet. Wellington’s City and Regional Councils are going cold on light rail plans. Wayne Brown is under ...
NZ First Leader Winston Peters is sympathising with Stuart Nash and defending him but dodging questions on whether he would be welcome in New Zealand First. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins last night sacked Nash from the Cabinet after an email he had sent to two of his campaign donors ...
So, after interfering with the police, and then interfering with immigration decisions, Stuart Nash has finally been sacked: Stuart Nash has been sacked as a minister, after Stuff revealed he had emailed business figures, including donors, detailing private Cabinet discussions. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the people Nash emailed ...
Nearly 25% of mortgages in Auckland are deemed at risk in a 1-in-100 year flood event. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Once a year, every year, from now on, in our not-so-slow-cooking climate crisis, there will be a moment when the most important number in Aotearoa’s own personal, national ...
Item One: About a confected crisis Please bear with me for a moment, readers outside Auckland, I wish to sound the klaxon. Auckland, we have until 11pm today to have our say. About what? About this, as copied and pasted from Pippa Coom’s Facebook page:The "austerity" budget is built on ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet again, the statement we were looking for could not be found on the Beehive website. Nor was it on the Scoop or Green Party websites. But – come to think of it – we are probably wasting our time by searching. Our quest is for the ...
The following is from a speech given by Arundhati Roy at the Swedish Academy on March 22, 2023, at a conference called Thought and Truth Under Pressure and reprinted from Literary Hub. I thank the Swedish Academy for inviting me to speak at this conference and for affording me the privilege ...
After almost two decades of racism, Australia is finally getting off its "stop the boats" bullshit. But don't worry, racists - Michael Wood has your back!The Government wants to increase the time it can detain without a warrant people seeking asylum en masse from four days to 28 ...
Last year, the Education and Workforce Committee recommended that the government legislate for pay transparency to prevent employers from secretly discriminating. This ought to be a bread and butter issue for Labour - discrimination sees women (and particularly Māori and Pasifika women) paid significantly less than men. But since then ...
Thomas Cranmer writes – ———— An unruly mob in Albert Park has catapulted New Zealand into the global headlines with ugly images that may become iconic in the debate about the dangers of transgenderism. ———— Bravo Kellie-Jay Keen. She did the job that needed to be done. For all the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global warming is melting the Arctic ice cap, and that’s having unforeseen effects on the world’s weather — even thousands of miles away from the North Pole. Some climate scientists have begun to link increasingly common heat waves in Europe to what is ...
Hot on the heels of the demotion of former police Minister Stuart Nash for breaching the Cabinet Manual, Radio New Zealand has revealed the close links between lobbyists and politicians- an area of New Zealand politics that is completely unregulated. The evidence in Guyon Espiner’s series Mate, Comrade, Brother, the ...
Over a million New Zealanders will receive a little extra to help with the cost of living as a result of our 1 April changes. Around the world, inflation is causing costs to rise and we’re feeling it here at home. In tough times, we need to support those who ...
With benefit changes coming into effect tomorrow, the Green Party is calling on the Government to lift benefits to liveable levels to make sure everyone has what they need to thrive. ...
Following decades of work by the Green Party alongside the organics sector, people will finally be able to be confident that products labelled organic have met standards. ...
The Green Party supports immediate Government action to close the pay gap as called for in an open letter released today by the Human Rights Commission and 50 other organisations. ...
The Green Party is today welcoming the release of the Government’s waste strategy, but says it has a big gap without action on the container return scheme for beverage containers. ...
The Government’s decision to introduce ‘mass arrivals’ legislation goes against the values we all share of Aotearoa as a place where all people are treated fairly, the Green Party says. ...
MINISTER DAVIDSON MUST RESIGN AFTER 'VIOLENCE' COMMENTS Marama Davidson should stand down as ‘Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence’ for the clear and outrageous statement she made at the Posie Parker protest that ‘white straight men’ are the cause of violence. Her offensive, racist, and sexist remarks ...
In response to Newshub and Amelia Wade’s obvious and ham-fisted attempt at a typical and predicted political hit job. As any politically aware reporter would know, any Cabinet subcommittee has a duty and obligation as a part of any government to respond to any UN declaration, in this case ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and in your busy lives turning up to this meeting. Forty five years ago, in Howick, often described as racist, and where few Maori lived because it had been a ‘Fencible’ settlement at the time of the Anglo-Maori ...
The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying drivers of school performance. ...
“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, departs for Europe today, where she will attend a session of the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels and make a short bilateral visit to Sweden. “NATO is a long-standing and likeminded partner for Aotearoa New Zealand. It is valuable to join a session of ...
A secure facility that will house protected information for a broad range of government agencies is being constructed at RNZAF Base Auckland (Whenuapai), Public Service, Defence and GCSB Minister Andrew Little says. The facility will consolidate and expand the government’s current secure storage capacity and capability for at least another ...
From today, 1.8 million flu vaccines are available to help protect New Zealanders from winter illness, Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall has announced. “Vaccination against flu is safe and will be a first line of defence against severe illness this winter,” Dr Verrall said. “We can all play a part ...
Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Willow-Jean Prime has congratulated Professor Rangi Mātāmua (Ngāi Tūhoe) who was last night named the prestigious Te Pou Whakarae o Aotearoa New Zealander of the Year. Professor Mātāmua, who is the government's Chief Adviser Mātauranga Matariki, was the winner of the New Zealander ...
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta has announced further sanctions on political and military figures from Russia and Belarus as part of the ongoing response to the war in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseevna Lvova-Belova ...
A new public housing development planned for Whangārei will provide 95 warm and dry, modern homes for people in need, Housing Minister Megan Woods says. The Kauika Road development will replace a motel complex in the Avenues with 89 three-level walk up apartments, alongside six homes. “Whangārei has a rapidly ...
New Zealand welcomes the substantial conclusion of negotiations on the United Kingdom’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Continuing to grow our export returns is a priority for the Government and part of our plan to ...
Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown initial Taranaki Maunga collective redress deed Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown have today initialled the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Deed, named Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little says. “I am pleased to be here for this ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Barbara Edmonds has announced the 2023 Pacific Language week series, highlighting the need to revitalise and sustain languages for future generations. “Pacific languages are a cornerstone of our health, wellbeing and identity as Pacific peoples. When our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated, our communities thrive,” ...
880,000 pensioners to get a boost to Super, including 5000 veterans 52,000 students to see a bump in allowance or loan living costs Approximately 223,000 workers to receive a wage rise as a result of the minimum wage increasing to $22.70 8,000 community nurses to receive pay increase of up ...
Over 8000 community nurses will start receiving well-deserved pay rises of up to 15 percent over the next month as a Government initiative worth $200 million a year kicks in, says Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. “The Government is committed to ensuring nurses are paid fairly and will receive ...
Tākiri mai ana te ata Ki runga o ngākau mārohirohi Kōrihi ana te manu kaupapa Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea Tihei mauri ora Let the dawn break On the hearts and minds of those who stand resolute As the bird of action sings, it welcomes the dawn of a ...
The Government is introducing a scheme which will lift incomes for artists, support them beyond the current spike in cost of living and ensure they are properly recognised for their contribution to New Zealand’s economy and culture. “In line with New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreement with the UK, last ...
New Zealand is welcoming a decision by the United Nations General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice to consider countries’ international legal obligations on climate change. The United Nations has voted unanimously to adopt a resolution led by Vanuatu to ask the ICJ for an advisory opinion on ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 59 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. “The graduation for recruit wing 364 was my first since becoming Police Minister last week,” Ginny Andersen said. “It was a real honour. I want to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta met with Vanuatu Foreign Minister Jotham Napat in Port Vila, today, signing a new Statement of Partnership — Aotearoa New Zealand’s first with Vanuatu. “The Mauri Statement of Partnership is a joint expression of the values, priorities and principles that will guide the Aotearoa New Zealand–Vanuatu relationship into ...
The Government has passed new legislation amending the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) levy regime, ensuring the best balance between a fair and cost effective funding model. The Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Levy) Amendment Bill makes changes to the existing law to: charge the levy on contracts of ...
The Government has passed the Organic Products and Production Bill through its third reading today in Parliament helping New Zealand’s organic sector to grow and lift export revenue. “The Organic Products and Production Bill will introduce robust and practical regulation to give businesses the certainty they need to continue to ...
The Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Bill, which will make it easier for New Zealanders to safely prove who they are digitally has passed its third and final reading today. “We know New Zealanders want control over their identity information and how it’s used by the companies and services they ...
The full Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Taskforce has met formally for the first time as work continues to help the regions recover and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle. The Taskforce, which includes representatives from business, local government, iwi and unions, covers all regions affected by the January and February floods and cyclone. ...
Changes have been made to legislation to give subcontractors the confidence they will be paid the retention money they are owed should the head contractor’s business fail, Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods announced today. “These changes passed in the Construction Contracts (Retention Money) Amendment Act safeguard subcontractors who ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has unveiled five scenarios for one of the most significant city-shaping projects for Tāmaki Makaurau in coming decades, the additional Waitematā Harbour crossing. “Aucklanders and businesses have made it clear that the biggest barriers to the success of Auckland is persistent congestion and after years of ...
The Government has passed new legislation that ensures New Zealand’s civil aviation rules are fit for purpose in the 21st century, Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan says. The Civil Aviation Bill repeals and replaces the Civil Aviation Act 1990 and the Airport Authorities Act 1966 with a single modern law ...
A Bill aimed at helping to reduce delays in the coronial jurisdiction passed its third reading today. The Coroners Amendment Bill, amongst other things, will establish new coronial positions, known as Associate Coroners, who will be able to perform most of the functions, powers, and duties of Coroners. The new ...
The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to conduct a review into communications between Stuart Nash and his donors. The review will take place over the next two months. The review will look at whether there have been any other breaches of cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality, or whether ...
The new Recovery Visa to help bring in additional migrant workers to support cyclone and flooding recovery has attracted over 600 successful applicants within its first month. “The Government is moving quickly to support businesses bring in the workers needed to recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods,” Michael ...
Bills to ensure non-teaching employees and contractors at schools, and unlicensed childcare services like mall crèches are vetted by police, and provide safeguards for school board appointments have passed their first reading today. The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No. 3) and the Regulatory Systems (Education) Amendment Bill have now ...
Wānanga will gain increased flexibility and autonomy that recognises the unique role they fill in the tertiary education sector, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced. The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No.3), that had its first reading today, proposes a new Wānanga enabling framework for the three current ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Vanuatu today, announcing that Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further relief and recovery assistance there, following the recent destruction caused by Cyclones Judy and Kevin. While in Vanuatu, Minister Mahuta will meet with Vanuatu Acting Prime Minister Sato Kilman, Foreign Minister Jotham ...
The Government is backing Police and making communities safer with the roll-out of state-of-the-art tools and training to frontline staff, Police Minister Ginny Andersen said today. “Frontline staff face high-risk situations daily as they increasingly respond to sophisticated organised crime, gang-violence and the availability of illegal firearms,” Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government has provided Police with more tools to crack down on gang offending with the passing of new legislation today which will further improve public safety, Justice Minister Kiri Allan says. The Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill amends existing law to: create new targeted warrant and additional search powers ...
The Government today announced far-reaching changes to the way we make, use, recycle and dispose of waste, ushering in a new era for New Zealand’s waste system. The changes will ensure that where waste is recycled, for instance by households at the kerbside, it is less likely to be contaminated ...
New legislation passed by the Government today will make it harder for gangs and their leaders to benefit financially from crime that causes considerable harm in our communities, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan says. Since the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 came into effect police have been highly successful in ...
This evening I have advised the Governor-General to dismiss Stuart Nash from all his ministerial portfolios. Late this afternoon I was made aware by a news outlet of an email Stuart Nash sent in March 2020 to two contacts regarding a commercial rent relief package that Cabinet had considered. In ...
Legislation to enable more build-to-rent developments has passed its third reading in Parliament, so this type of rental will be able to claim interest deductibility in perpetuity where it meets the requirements. Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods, says the changes will help unlock the potential of the build-to-rent sector and ...
A law passed by Parliament today exempts employers from paying fringe benefit tax on certain low emission commuting options they provide or subsidise for their staff. “Many employers already subsidise the commuting costs of their staff, for instance by providing car parks,” Environment Minister David Parker said. “This move supports ...
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations (CER), our gold standard free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia. “CER was a world-leading agreement in 1983, is still world-renowned today and is emblematic of both our countries’ commitment to free trade. The WTO has called it the world’s ...
The Government is making procedural changes to the Immigration Act to ensure that 2013 amendments operate as Parliament intended. The Government is also introducing a new community management approach for asylum seekers. “While it’s unlikely we’ll experience a mass arrival due to our remote positioning, there is no doubt New ...
The Government welcomes progress on public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) agreements, and the release of the updated public service pay guidance by the Public Service Commission today, Minister for the Public Service Andrew Little says. “More than a dozen collective agreements are now settled in the public service, Crown Agents, ...
The Government has introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill to further support the recovery and rebuild from the recent severe weather events in the North Island. “We know from our experiences following the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes that it will take some time before we completely understand the ...
Tea drinkers of Aotearoa, your new favourite dunking bikkie is here. There are several things I love about this recipe. The first is that they make a delicious dunking biscuit, the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea shared with friends. The second is that the recipe is ...
Part two of writer Marty Smith’s reporting from her flood-damaged home.Read part one here. Sunday 12 March, 21 days after the floods.Google Maps shows a pale blue line for the flat-lined bridge between Taradale and Waiohiki and sends you instead over the Expressway to Merge Like A Zip, ...
Bard Billot on the booted out broadcasterSpartans, prepare for glory! The hardy army of Today FM Spartans Camps out on the harsh lands of talk radio. The long months of the campaign Have worn down their resolve, For though they have loyally broadcast Their snappy banter and hot ...
The danger of National's policy is that it undoes much of an informal pact with Labour to depoliticise education at a time of real struggleOpinion: The National Party’s recently released education policy narrowly channels nearly every tired and cliched right-wing approach to schooling. If you have been in education for ...
A refurbished, expanded and more earthquake-proof building is a still few years away. Can it live up to the impeccable postmodernist vibes of its predecessor?A long time ago, my non-Wellington then-boyfriend was visiting the windy city and asked the barber what he recommended in town. “Dunno mate,” the barber ...
Doing the cryptic crossword isn’t simply a hobby. It’s a way of life, a love affair – even a full-blown obsession. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Illustrations by Asia Martusia King. Clue: Mafia boss consumed first dish free of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The rout of the Liberals in Aston is a disaster for Peter Dutton. The party has defied history – in the worst possible way. This is the first time in more than a century ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Morgan Hancock/AAP With 44% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Aston federal byelection, the ABC has Labor expected to win ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Morgan Hancock/AAP With 44% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Aston federal byelection, the ABC has Labor expected to win ...
Analysis - When is a cabinet minister not a cabinet minister? The faulty logic of Stuart Nash has landed him and Labour in a heap of trouble but opened the door to serious reform of the Official Information Act, Tim Watkin writes. ...
Jubi News in Jayapura Indonesia’s Papua police chief Inspector-General Mathius D Fakhiri has called for action to ensure that “security disturbances” in the Puncak Jaya highlands do not widen in the face of escalating attacks by pro-independence militants. “For Puncak, we will take immediate action,” he said. According to General ...
What are you going to be watching this month? We round up everything coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ+. The biggies Party Down (all seasons on TVNZ+ from April 1) Thirteen years is a long time between drinks and ...
Ginny Andersen has landed a hot-potato portfolio and has been in Cabinet less than two months - the opposition will be eager to test her mettle this election year. ...
The executive producer of Modern Family has issued an incendiary claim about New Zealanders cheering and clapping in public. Hayden Donnell gets to the bottom of things.The sitcom Modern Family is remembered as a “warm-hearted story about the unbreakable bonds of family”; a tale of radically different people overcoming ...
As rain kept falling across January, February and into March, all band members cold do was sit at home cancelling festivals and posting sad Facebook messages to fans. The first post landed on January 3. As wild weather began hitting the country, campers around Northland packed up their tents ...
This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend. This week, it's Jungle Warfare, written by Ellen Rykers and published in New Zealand Geographic's March/April 2023 edition. You can find the full article, with photos by Adrian Malloch, here. Hundreds of pest plant species—many of them garden escapees—run rampant in ...
Because pro-social behaviour emerges so often after disaster, community empowerment should be central to disaster mitigation and recoveryOpinion: Cyclone Gabrielle caused major damage across the North Island. This unprecedented climate event created great uncertainty. People are wondering if, or when, they can return to their homes, the extent to ...
"We, women, loving you; you, men, finding new women to love": a Francophile love story in NZ Louis woke up and found out Marine was not lying next to him in bed. He checked his phone – 5:30am. The aurora shone a bright gold on the windows of the detached ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, we looked at how co-governance really works, Labour's record on climate action, what the new AUKUS nuclear submarine deal means for New Zealand, Posie Parker's visit to Auckland and the free speech debate, and the damage processed foods are ...
The radio workers were caught by the unexpected speed of the decline of NZ's consumer economy, since Christmas – and they won't be the last. Jonathan Milne reports. When broadcaster Tova O’Brien uttered the resounding words, "they’ve f***ed us", they resonated beyond the 1 percent audience share of a small talk radio operation ...
A New Zealand Battery Project centred on Lake Onslow in Central Otago is up against a cheaper North Island alternative Studies into whether a massive pumped-hydro scheme at Lake Onslow is New Zealand’s best bet for a secure energy future may have only four more months to run. While the ...
The Red, White & Brass star talks spectacle, honouring family sacrifices and his debut lead role over a Tongan lunch in Otāhuhu.Name a creative pursuit and 28-year-old Tongan New Zealander John-Paul Foliaki will give it a go. That is, if he hasn’t already. Foliaki plays the lead role, Maka, ...
To mark 100 years since the great short story writer’s death, books editor Claire Mabey marathonned her collected works – these are the top 20.Reader, I did it. I read all of Katherine Mansfield’s short stories. Confession: I haven’t always been a fan. I have tedious memories of ...
In her first season as an ANZ Premiership captain, Ameliaranne Ekenasio was nervous about filling the shoes of the legendary Magic captains before her. But, as Merryn Anderson writes, the quiet leader has the full respect of the side who voted her in. When the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic created history ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Ordway, Associate Professor Sport Management and Sport Integrity Lead, University of Canberra Lawyers for Australian 800-metre star Peter Bol say allegations the runner engaged in doping should be dropped after two independent labs found no evidence he used a banned substance. ...
Vanuatu’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Trading Post Ltd, the owner of the VanuatuDaily Post newspaper, BUZZ FM96 and other media outlets, in a case against the government’s refusal to renew the company’s former media director’s work permit. Dan McGarry, who served as a director of the ...
Balclutha-based farmer Stephen Jack has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in Taieri for the 2023 General Election. “Taieri is my home and I’m incredibly excited to have the opportunity to campaign for a National Government ...
Analysis - The Stuart Nash scandal has the potential to damage Labour's election chances, Marama Davidson creates controversy and Auckland's second harbour crossing to be built earlier than expected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare JM Burns, Assistant Professor and Non-executive Director, Bond University Shutterstock The story of the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, whose name and marketing misled thousands of customers into believing it was Indigenous owned and run, is a stark example of ...
It’s the biannual reminder to tamper with that pesky analogue clock you still have in your kitchen for some reason (or at the least your microwave/car stereo). This Sunday at 3am, we will all gain an hour of sleep as the clocks roll back ahead of winter. Get ready for ...
The chief ombudsman has elected to reopen his investigation into an email from former minister Stuart Nash to a pair of donors back in 2020. The email, which only came to light this week, quickly triggered Nash’s dismissal from cabinet. But in bad news for the prime minister Chris Hipkins, ...
Last week we celebrated The Bulletin’s fifth birthday with Spinoff members and staff at The Spinoff’s offices in Auckland. The Bulletin launched in March 2018 seeking to curate news and great journalism and email that to people for free each weekday morning. That hasn’t changed and it’s still going strong. ...
The biggest increase in the history of the minimum wage will have a huge impact for workers on low wages, says the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. From tomorrow, the minimum wage will rise to $22.70, up from $21.20. This increase will benefit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Siemens, Co-Director, Professor, Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia agsandrew/Shutterstock Recent public interest in tools like ChatGPT has raised an old question in the artificial intelligence community: is artificial general intelligence (in this case, ...
Auckland’s wet summer is delivering one final blow just in time for the weekend. The Synthony festival, due to be held on Saturday at Auckland Domain and featuring performances by Shapeshifter, Dave Dobbyn and Kimbra, has been postponed following predictions of heavy rainfall across the day. More than 20,000 people ...
We would like to see a temporary by-pass of the major slip on State Highway 25A built to alleviate the concerns of the residents of the Eastern Side of Coromandel. Cyclone Gabrielle inflicted substantial damage to roading on the Coromandel Peninsula. ...
Alex Casey watches Wellmania, the new Netflix comedy starring Instagram sensation Celeste Barber. The lowdownBased on the book by journalist Brigid Delaney, Netflix comedy Wellmania follows successful yet shambolic Australian food writer Liv Bealey (Celeste Barber) as she embarks on a quest to get well as quickly as possible. ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says he has reopened his investigation into an Official Information Act complaint about a decision by former Minister Stuart Nash. "The original enquiry was discontinued in May last year in discussion with the ...
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has welcomed this morning’s Government announcement to address pay disparities in the nursing and kaiāwhina workforces from 1 April. NZNO Chief Executive Paul ...
Don’t let broccoli’s virtuous goody two-shoes reputation put you off – these verdant and versatile florets make the perfect addition to tray bakes, salads, soups and more.I reckon broccoli’s “superfood” status has given it a bit of a bad reputation. Because it’s so healthy (and reasonably inoffensive), its nutrients ...
A poem from Michele Leggott’s forthcoming book Face to the Sky. escher x nendo I hear you Eddie Woo coming clear across the galleries of intercochlear space you have the measure of these galaxies earthmeasure you have the measure of their difference earthmisia you translate one world artemisia and here ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Doubleday, $26) The new, smaller format of Bonnie Garmus’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Blunden, Professor and Head of Paediatric Sleep Research, CQUniversity Australia ShutterstockWhat would happen to a person if they didn’t get the sleep they needed? Hedya, age 11, Australia This is a really good question Heyda, because it ...
Within hours of Duncan Garner telling listeners ‘It looks like the end of us’, the station’s website, social media and archives had been scrubbed from the internet.Right now across Auckland you can still see ads for Leo Molloy’s doomed mayoral campaign and electorate offices adorned with a smiling Jacinda ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has spoken more about the Stuart Nash email scandal at a media conference at the Manurewa RSA today, saying Nash has been "ultimately held accountable". ...
By Barbara Dreaver in Port Vila Vanuatu is in celebration mode after winning a significant battle on the world stage over climate change. In a United Nations resolution spearheaded by Vanuatu, the world’s top court will now advise on countries’ legal obligations to fight climate change. It also means the ...
By Jan Kohout, RNZ Pacific journalist New Caledonia’s Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) say they will tell the French Prime Minister of the Kanak people’s “sense of humiliation” over the last independence referendum. The pro-independence alliance is set to talk to the French state from April 7-15. The ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is visiting the Manurewa RSA meeting veterans who are among hundreds of thousands to receive higher payments from tomorrow. ...
This is an excerpt from The Spinoff’s pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up to have it delivered to your inbox every Friday here. If you want a middle-aged white man to play a disappointed-with-the-state-of-their-life middle-aged-white-man, you have two options: Jason Segel or Chris O’Dowd. Clearly, Segel was already busy ...
Over four million people have returned their Individual Forms for the 2023 Census, Stats NZ said today. “This is a great milestone. We didn’t hit this milestone until 30 April in the 2018 Census. I would like to thank everybody who has been counted ...
The government's recent announcement of five high carbon options for the next harbour crossing has disappointed those concerned about climate change. TRAC, a rail advocacy collective, opposes the short-sighted decision, citing the urgent need to reduce ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Guzyal Hill, Senior Lecturer, Charles Darwin University Shutterstock Sunday will mark the end of the Daylight Saving Time (DST) in eastern Australia, but there are many who would like to see it last longer or permanently. Twice a year, New ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has launched a call for evidence to support its work on Aotearoa New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets and emissions budgets. This call for evidence is an opportunity for anyone to share information, data and ...
As the move to digital commerce continues, fraudsters are counting on consumers to let their guard down and to supply personal information. And according to new research released today by global payments technology company Visa (NYSE: V), which ...
On the other side to Sir Ed is the scene of one of our greatest conservation triumphs. Allison Hess explains.Stuffed into your wallet or passed across the till, the New Zealand $5 note circulates largely unobserved. But if you were to take a closer look at the ubiquitous burnt ...
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is asking for views on which overseas regulators it will draw on for some hazardous substance assessments and reassessments. The recognised international regulators must regulate hazardous substances in a similar ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Shortis, Lecturer, RMIT University Alex Brandon/AP Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former US President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the ...
Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union is ready to fight for every job at Te Pūkenga, as members digest a series of shocking statements from their Chief Executive on RNZ’s Nine To Noon programme today. Peter Winder stated, amongst other things, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology Media Whale Stock/Shutterstock What would you do to get more likes or shares on your favourite social media platform this April Fool’s Day? Would you blast an airhorn ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tara McAllister, Research Fellow, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Shutterstock/Guy Hasler As global environmental challenges grow, people and societies are increasingly looking to Indigenous knowledge for solutions. Indigenous knowledge is particularly appealing for addressing climate change because ...
Tommy de Silva explains an interesting new legal shift:Māori can now switch between the Māori and general electoral rolls more easily thanks to a law change. These new rules allow anyone of Māori descent to switch between the rolls whenever they please until three months before an election. That ...
The rules for overseas voting are changing from today for this year’s General Election to recognise the effect the pandemic has had on international travel. ‘This is a temporary change made by Parliament for New Zealanders living overseas who have ...
It’s a headline I never quite expected to write but in recent days have been wondering if I would have to. Former US president Donald Trump will be arrested after a New York grand jury voted to indict him over alleged hush money paid to former adult film star Stormy ...
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Auckland Council has proposed significant budget cuts without assessing the potential impacts on the region’s environment and climate change efforts, an official response reveals. No assessment was made as Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown never asked for one, ...
Greenpeace is welcoming the National Party’s new renewable energy policy - ‘Electrify NZ’ - with its focus on increasing renewable electricity generation to replace coal, gas and petrol-fuelled transport. But the organisation is calling on National ...
The National Party has pledged to “cut red tape” in the electricity sector through a new policy that it claims will double New Zealand’s supply of renewable energy. Dubbed “Electrify NZ”, the policy was unveiled this morning by party leader Christopher Luxon. “National wants a future where buses and trains ...
By Tom Peters, Socialist Equality Group 30 March 2023 Original url: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/03/30/jspf-m30.html About 20,000 secondary teachers at public schools in New Zealand held a nationwide strike on March 29. It followed a much larger one-day strike on March 16 involving ...
In his first two months as Prime Minister Chris Hipkins impressed for his directness, clarity and determination, and the assured way in which he transitioned into his new role. His everyman style, from the hoodie to the more than occasional meat pie, ...
an interesting quiz – ranking the most effective ways to tackle climate-change..
(using the numbers of cars taken off the road as the marker..)
example being: if everyone composts = 16 million cars taken off road..
everyone on plant-based diet = over 400 million cars taken off road..
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/04/specials/climate-change-solutions-quiz/
Gee we could cut out the middle man and just take the cars off the the road!!!
But think of all the manure.
Think of all the fertiliser needed(increasingly made from natural gas) for the frankenfoods -'plant based' is just a euphemism for GE plants and industrial level manufacture.
We already have plant based foods – they are called grains, vegetables and fruits
I'm betting that if each and every human to committed to tackling climate change, we'd do it.
are there any radio new zealand listeners on here..?
did you hear the insight doco on the dairy industry..?
yr thoughts..?
i found the comparisons with the once omnipotent wool industry (also killed by the rise of synthetics..)….particularly telling..
Link: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/2018709853/milk-shake-why-the-future-of-dairy-looks-scary
Ummm, the wool industry was never "killed". Bashed badly maybe.
i thought it was still doing thru its' death-rattle/paroxysms..
a very pale shadow of its' former self..?
And displaced by dairy. In NZ (a dominant player in sheep until the mid 80s), it was the SMP (supplementary minimum price) scheme that ultimately flooded the market with a colossal oversupply of sheep, and once the SMP was removed, the supply crashed. and all about the same time as good quality synthetic wool substitutes arrived on the scene.
Synthetics in clothing have replaced wool and Cotton for some time.
A major market for the type of crossbreed wool grown in NZ was carpets.
A major shift in tastes in home decoration moved away from all carpets to a wood or laminates /carpet mix.
Very badly bashed
"Wool has been a less important export earner for New Zealand since the 1990s. As a percentage of total exports, wool fell from 26 percent in 1920 to 1.6 percent in 2011. Sheep farmers have switched their focus from wool to sheepmeat as meat prices have risen, relative to total export prices, and wool prices have fallen."
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/prices_indexes/historical-wool-export-prices-volumes-2011.aspx
Dairy may well survive just like wool has….but as a substantially reduced importance (and with a shedload of stranded assets) and whats going to purchase all this new high tech thats going to save us all?
As people get on board with plastic and microfibre pollution, wool may become a core material again. Hemp too, lots of NZ farms could be growing that.
Id suggest that with the deflationary pressures occurring around the world NZ is struggling with price competitiveness for commodity exports a it is.
Are companies like Icebreaker still going strong? i.e. is it a commodity vs useful product issue?
Marine wool is booming . $20 plus a kg . It's a shame they only suit the harsh high country farms
Or perhaps people will get serious about learning the GHG footprint of the products they buy, learn that producing 1 kg of wool means emitting about 1kg of sheep-burp methane, and decide that plastic microfibre pollution is the lesser evil.
As with almost everything to do with human activity, there are no good answers, just more or less crap answers. And when it comes to textiles, the least crap answer is to consume less, use what you have until it's genuinely worn out, and dispose of the remains responsibly.
The difference is a sheep burp is part of a cycle. Where as your plastic is dragged up from the deep and released as totally new atmospheric gases and pollutants that will last for ever.
You went on a week or two ago about how the little bit of micro plastic you release isnt a big deal . And It wouldn't be if there wasn't 7 billion others doing it to.
The fact that we hoomans have caused massive amounts of forest land to be changed to grassland grazed by burping ruminants has overwhelmed the cycle that used to exist.
The increased methane in the atmosphere right now (1866 ppb) over pre-industrial times (722 ppb) is all on us, and the vast numbers of burping sheep and cows we have added to our planet is a big part of it. And somewhere around a quarter to a third of the warming we are experiencing is due to increased methane.
I'll agree to a point but making it worse by adding carbon that was and is truly locked away safely is just plane dumb.
Btw nzs sheep flock has halved since 91 . Some but not all has been replaced by farting cows . But alot have been replaced by trees.
Manufacturing plastics releases very little greenhouse gases. The numbers I've seen are of the order of 0.009kg CO2eq to produce 1 kg of plastic fibre for textiles, compared to 25kg CO2 (100yr) or 86kg CO2eq (20yr) for producing 1kg of wool. There's no real way to avoid or mitigate the methane release problem from growing wool.
The problem with plastic is that it's very very slow to properly break down, and that it's harmful to critters that mistake bits of plastic for food. It's possible to minimise this pollution problem by responsible disposal, or even recycling.
That the plastic is made from the same raw material (crude oil) that we use for fossil fuels (that get burned and the hazardous waste dumped in the atmosphere) could easily lead to the mistaken idea that plastics are also a major greenhouse gas problem. But they're not, the carbon that came out of the ground to make the plastic is still locked away out of the atmosphere in the solid plastic.
Chances are eventually some microbes will evolve the ability to metabolise plastics. Indeed, some have already been shown to exist for a few different kinds of plastic. If we're lucky, those microbes will aerobically digest the plastic and emit the carbon as CO2, and each kg of plastic will become roughly 3kg of CO2. If we're unlucky, it'll be anaerobic microbes, and we'll get that plastic back as methane.
"There's no real way to avoid or mitigate the methane release problem from growing wool."
Why not? Natural cycles have methane sinks, we can breed sheep to produce less methane, and we can sequester carbon to reduce GHG effects.
All of that depends on a rapid transition to near zero carbon, but that's necessary anyway (and doesn't include using carbon offsets for non-essential things).
It's true there is a lot of potential from microbes in dealing with all sorts of pollution, (and fungi), but that still happens within the limits of nature. There are still upper limits that nature can manage and given we are in overshoot in so many ways, relying on nature to suck up our excesses is daft.
(I'd like to see a cradle to grave analysis of synthetics fibres, GHG and eco).
All that aside, we waste enormous amounts of all sorts of fibres, looking at that is probably prudent.
a sustainability response to that (rather than a reductionist one).
Limit the amount of wool produced to essentials, and stop being profligate with the resource.
Make full use of each sheep over its lifetime (they're the epitome of sustainability if you do this, including zero waste if managed well)
Use regenerative farming and landcare to mitigate the methane issues. Regenag also makes sheep into contributors to the system beyond the wool and meat produced.
Synthetic fibres create multiple pollutions not just microfibre ones, there's no way we can keep doing this and maintain healthy ecosystems.
The problem isn't that farm animals exist, it's the humans are stupid and greedy and have too many of them and have them in grossly polluting systems. My back of the envelope calculations suggest that NZ could be using 15% of land we currently use for dairy farming, with lower stocking rates, to produce enough dairy for NZers.
The greed/stupid systems issues are solvable, we don't have to choose the lesser of evils.
There's also the ancient history circumstance that the animals we happened to domesticate and genetically modify by selective breeding happened to be ruminants which necessarily produce massive amounts of methane as a part of their digestion.
For instance, if our ancient ancestors had happened to modify equines or camelids into becoming our meat-and-milk animals, we'd now be facing much less of a methane emissions problem now.
Given the the situation we have now, though, what could still change is meat-eaters shifting more towards pork and chicken (or horse) away from beef and lamb.
I don't recall seeing numbers on what would be needed in terms of land, water use etc to stop plastic fibre production and replace that with various plant or animal grown alternatives. Have you? Given the horrible eco-footprint of cotton, I suspect the answer is probably quite unpleasant.
Maybe that will become another synthetic biology application, producing biodegradable synthetic fibres similar to wool. Synthetic spider silk has had a lot of research for quite a long time, it's got quite remarkable properties that would be extremely useful if it could be produced in commercial quantities.
sidetracked reading about camelids now. Was thinking alpacas etc for fibre, but haven’t found any comparison figures yet for methane (only that it’s lower).
Pork and chicken, rabbits too. Feral deer, goats, pigs. Possum when we get desperate 😉
Do you know if NZ’s ag animal emissions are based on burping or do they include manure as well?
“Given the horrible eco-footprint of cotton, I suspect the answer is probably quite unpleasant.”
From a systems view, I’d look first a reducing waste across all fibre uses. Then look at what NZ can grow for itself (hemp, harakeke flax, linen flax, nettle, cotton, wool (sheep, alpaca etc), leather, as well as what we can harvest (possum fur). All of those done regeneratively changes the picture immensely. R and D on new natural fibres. Then we can look at import/export, and synthetics.
In regenag, animals are an integral part of the system. They’re not just end products that use resources. Animals can be used to build soil, which lowers the need for water (also, don’t grow anything in a climate it’s not adapted for). They provide on site manure for free, so no need for expensive artificial fertilisers. They have multiple outputs and benefits so we need to start measuring this rather than linearly.
If you're reading up about camelids, definitely check out info about vicuna. It's a fascinating intersection of culture, conservation etc.
Can't see that happening. With Sheep, synthetics offered an often far superior product (harder wearing, easier to clean etc). With dairy, synthetics just will not replace the natural food in peoples food preference. In most developed countries, there is a swing away from processed foods in general, so whilst synthetics may well have a place, it wont be a replacement.
Just take a look at any supermarket near where Chinese tourists gather. Their supermarket trolleys are piled high with milk powder, animal based cosmetics, health products, and so on. All to take back to China as a far more healthy alternative than what is on offer at home. The increasingly affluent in the newly growing economies of China and parts of Africa are tired of processed and synthetics. They want natural and healthy. One in twenty people in the world live in mainland China. Huge populations in countries like Angola and other African countries. No shortage of ready consumers to keep the dairy industry alive.
did you listen to the doco peter..?
'cos much of what you raise is addressed/answered in it..
No, did read RNZ article though. Disagree with there views. But will listen to doco!
People in China are mainly seeking food that is reliable. Once synthetic diary can offer that, then other factors like climate impact, price, and provenance come into play.
If we're talking about industrial milk powder that is merely an ingredient of some processed food or other product, 'naturalness' is even less significant. As soon as climate impact is priced in, NZ's current focus on exporting powder is a losing bet.
yep…the wool industry analogy a good one. Couple of things to consider…around 50% of our FX is derived from dairy exports and international tourism….IF, and thats a big if the world begins to address CC, what then?
@ pat..
short-answer – we're fucked..
long-answer – we will have to become more inward looking – we have to transition to a self-sustaining (in food) economy..(that much is a given..)
currently much of our fruit/veg is imported – this will change..as transport/climate- costs will become too high/will be unable to be still relied upon..
and of course this is all do-able..
i have no answers to the economic storms from the inevitable shrinking of those two pillars of the nz economy..
"i have no answers to the economic storms from the inevitable shrinking of those two pillars of the nz economy.."
And in that you are not alone, including those charged with such things. Concerningly the dairy industry precariousness remains even without CC mitigation…it took around 15 years of grief to begin to recover from the halving of rural property values last time…and that was in a world still able to 'grow' (whether it was wise to do so is another argument)
Knowledge economy for exporting?
Beyond that, is there a compelling reason we need to be exporting so much?
I strongly suspect that if you take all the costs into account, including pollution, interest and profit going offshore, job loses in industries we have killed to help "free trade" and all the other costs of agriculture commodity exports, most of our farming is a net cost to New Zealand's real balance of payments.
That's probably true of other industries too. Maybe our economy is a pyramid scheme waiting to fall over.
yep..!..continuing on our current path/certainties – it's hard not to see it as that…
The GFC showed how that description applies to the whole financialised world economy – and that was only a partial correction.
Whether you think its compelling will likely depend on your life expectations…Id suggest that what I would prioritise (at my stage of life) would be totally unacceptable to wide segments of society and that would apply to everyone….so how are priorities to be determined, and by who?
There is a multitude of items we cannot provide or provide at a cost that can be paid by all the most wealthy among us….the recent outcry about cancer treatments is a case in point….we could survive without exports or with greatly reduced exports but we may need to close the borders to emigration (not to mention capital flight)
I'm sure that is true about expectations, but climate change will change that sooner or later. Having the conversations now may make transition easier for some.
I wasn't think it was about imposing priorities but rather that we convince ourselves to change. It's not like we can't change.
Is the basic idea here that we need exports to great a certain degree of wealth so that we can afford to import things we can't make ourselves? My question was more about what if we produced much of what we need ourselves, is there a reason that this is insufficient to provide the country with a certain standard of living?
Looking at Icebreaker, is there a reason that they *had to go global? Why could they not have stayed as a company selling locally?
(NZ selling merino clothing is probably a good thing, shipping wool to china then the clothes back to NZ is an idiocy).
Yes we could produce far more here (especially if we are prepared to accept the likely increased cost….are we?) and I agree we will be forced to at some point in any case but my concern is to attempt to avoid the grief another hard transition would produce and to achieve that we need more than conversations…we need a detailed plan and that plan needs to be accepted by a broad section of society…and thats the hard part.
Without such we will continue BAU until we cannot
Plan + 'conversations' = broad social acceptance. Conversations aren't an only, they're a prerequisite for change.
I think there are plenty of plans, or people wiling and able to step up and create them relatively quickly. I just listened to Marilyn Waring's Chch TED talk, I'm betting she knows exactly what we need to do. Professional people and academics have been talking and writing about steady state economies or powering down or the limits of growth for 50 years. There's issues there (thinking about the problems with Kiwibuild, or fixing the messes that National has made), but I'm not so worried about the planning and implementation even knowing that mistakes will get made.
More of an issue for me are the powermongers at large (eg people like Shane Jones in charge of tree planting, who just don't get it). That's a tough one to solve.
And the public. Who I think will hit a tipping point at some point and we need to be ready with ways of having the conversation fast and probably under difficult circumstances.
My question here, to the people with a better understanding of economics than me, is whether there is a compelling reason to believe that only growth economics can give us a decent standard of living.
Matt suggested to me the other day that moving to a steady state economy would mean the end to investments so I guess the middle classes might experience that as a decline, but the sustainability and resiliency leaders have been saying for a while now to put investment money into land and resiliency, not for a financial return but to provide other kinds of as the world changes. For that to be taken seriously we need to talk about it, a lot. Debate it until the fearful living in a mud hut isn't the only future that people can conceive of without civ.
I agree about the huge value in avoiding a hard transition. Maybe there are lessons to be learned from the 80s about the necessity of kindness and valuing people.
Yes 'conversations' are required to achieve a plan that has wide social acceptance, how much time can we spend now on that?…Id suggest sadly weve wasted the time for that so where to from here? Do we waste more time negotiating wider acceptance or do we outline whats needed and enforce?…time is of the essence but without acceptance it will unwind any plan before it starts……and all of that assumes there is indeed a solution which isnt certain.
And it isnt only the 'middle classes' that will kick back if we are honest
I agree, lots of people will resist, but the value in getting the middle classes on board is immeasurable (assuming they're on board ethically and aren't just going to shit on other people). They also hold a lot of power in various parts of society (management, politics, academia, industry, MSM).
Also agree that so much time has been wasted. I can't see a way yet that NZ could use force. I think once enough people are on board, then restrictions like we've had in wartime would be doable. Ditto legislative changes eg solar on every new build, no more building in low lying areas. I don't think we are too far off law changes like that tbh. Attitudes are changing fast.
More broadly, there's an issue of using force at a time when fascism is on the rise. Force under National would be a terrible thing.
Given what's happening in Brazil, I have been wondering about political and economic sanctions and at what point that becomes a global survival necessity even where it harms local populations. I think we have other choices but are going to be hard up against international agreements and conventions that were designed for a different age.
I suspect we are talking of different things…NZ is a currently a developed economy and all that provides (IMO hanging on by the skin of its teeth) and maintaining that requires a plan to that end..we can do or not do any number of things but most of them will not maintain the benefits of being a developed economy …especially force.
we might be talking about different things. I'm asking if we need t base our economy primarily on exports. Not sure there's been a clear answer yet. Do you think that maintaining a developed economy depends on that?
"'m asking if we need t base our economy primarily on exports. Not sure there's been a clear answer yet. Do you think that maintaining a developed economy depends on that?"
Quite simply yes…the only question is at what level that import/export ratio needs to be and how we determine what those imports/exports are.
Full on autarky wouldnt mean we will all perish but it certainly would provide massive problems, especially as time passed and would IMO require 'force' and be incompatible with democracy…all doable but is that a society we would desire for our children?
I'm not suggesting autarky though. I'm suggesting that for environmental, sustainability, resiliency, and climate mitigation and prep, we look at not being dependent on exporting to maintain a decent standard of living. This doesn't mean we never import or export anything, it means our economy is relatively stable within NZ irrespective of what happens in the rest of the world.
And yes, after that, what do we need to import, and what do we need to export?
I haven't seen a compelling argument for why we have to have an export driven economy (as opposed to having exports/imports for our needs).
If you desire the latter you must have the former…so it becomes a question of requirements and as I find myself repeating ad nauseam that requires a plan…and our plan since the eighties has been to (largely) leave that to market forces…or BAU. That needs to change and fast.
Where is the alternative plan?
To pay off what we import.
Personally, I'd limit air freight to perishable items, and figure out a way to make cruise ships more attractive to be run as liners (while cracking down on working conditions and waste). But trade in itself isn't the issue, so much as plastic shit and our own shit internal transport systems.
Another thing – why aren't cigarette butts biodegradable? They're literally attached to a single-use something that is useless if it comes into contact with water, and yet these bloody things are indestructible?
"To pay off what we import."
So theoretically at least, if we manufactured more here, we could import less and still have a decent standard of living?
I can't see any reason to stop all exporting/importing, I just think the reliance on it, and the excess nature of it, is creating huge problems. Loss of fossil fuels will reduce that eventually anyway. Books by sea rather than flown in. I'm old enough to remember when that was true so it doesn't seem a hardship to me, but we were still hugely reliant on exports then and I still don't understand why exactly. I get what happened in the 80s, where we swapped jobs for cheap goods manufactured off shore, so I guess if that were reversed we wouldn't exactly collapse from deprivation.
A high level of international trade enables economies and efficiencies of mega-scale production. From a global perspective, transport included, that might actually be better for the environment than lots of merely large scale facilities each with their own tooling, buildings, and emissions.
I think the toxic bit is the encouraged demand for essentially disposable items or items with designed obsolescence, and the outsourcing of worker exploitation and abuse..
so a high level of international trade brings some benefits (globally and to NZ), but how it's done causes serious problems. Is there a way to prevent the drive for designed obsolescence and worker exploitation and still maintain high level international trade?
My original question is still whether there is any inherent reason that the NZ economy needs to be based on high exporting (as opposed to lower level, more targeted export/import).
Well, there's no inherent reason why trade needs to be at any particular level, from one point of view. But if we're looking at overall efficiency of the supply system, then I suspect with our mid-range population and comparative resource wealth, we'd have a better standard of living and lower environmental impact with wider trade relationships than if we were primarily self sufficient in most things we need.
As for a way to deal with the capitalist mechanisms of encouraging demand and exploitation, maybe regulating advertising in some way? There's not much point in putting up trade barriers to be largely self sufficient if we still purchase massive amounts of crap, regardless of where it's made.
right, but isn't the point that global free market prevents nations from making those kinds of laws.
I'd see a process of encouragement and education for a number of years, eventually backed by legislation that mandates repairable electronics for instance. I can't see how that can be done when we import so much. I guess if enough nation states had domestic laws then pressure could be applied collectively.
I'm not convinced there is any way to make the global economy in any way sustainable from a CC or eco point of view. Less damaging isn't enough in both instances. It's not that importing is bad, it's that sustainable systems design just wouldn't start there, it would start local and then work outwards. So we grow our meat, veg and beans close to where they are eaten, and we get to import coffee and chocolate if that's where we prioritise our carbon budget (I suspect it will be more like we get to import meds and precious metals because we left things too late).
From what I gather, most FTAs prohibit preferential regulation, but allow universal regulation. So maybe something about supply chain pay equity, regardless of source? But even if that were allowed, those nations that currently profit from exploitation would push back.
As for starting locally, how far do you want to go? Local meat, processed at a local abattoir, distributed to local butcheries? Fine for Timaru or Dannevirke I guess, but Counties Manakau or central Auckland? Much of the bread in Dunedin is made (or travels through) ChCh, because of efficiencies of scale. We almost ran out after the quakes. But I don't see many wheatfields around Mosgiel, and I'm not sure there's a good reason for that to change.
working from the local means you design for the local. Solutions for Dndn will be different than for Auckland or Westport.
Lots of meat could be killed on farm and sold locally. Needs good management practice, but can be done. (multiple benefits here, eco, jobs, local economy, low food miles, and better consumer engagement with al of that). Cities can grow a lot of food within the city (probably wouldn’t hurt city folk to see city farms and animals that will be killed for their table), but Auckland really should be preserving its fertile food growing land. What probably shouldn’t be happening is Southland lamb being sold in Auckland suburbs. There’s a kind of craziness in NZ supply lines (lots of back and forth) for all sorts of things, and electric vehicles, while necessary aren’t the main solution to that.
Wheat, sure, grow it in Canterbury and train it along the main trunk like. But better to quake proof that supply line by growing locally too. Plenty of grain growing done in Otago, not sure what the issues with wheat are (probably dairy conversions). CC makes relying on monocropping dodgy, so we should probably look at how to eat other things as staples (variety, including but not so dependent on wheat).
Re the FTAs, is there anything there stopping NZ from not exporting/importing so much?
Dunno about the advantages of local killing vs abattoirs, sure there will be more jobs but again jobs aren't a problem if capitalism isn't given free rein. Every onsite facility would require oversight, water, power, waste disposal, etc etc etc. Concentrating all of that in one larger facility might be better from most if not all aspects.
As for FTAs, nothing is forcing people to buy imported stuff. But legislating a restriction in imports in favour of local producers is the antithesis of an FTA.
There are legal, mobile home-kill operations already in NZ. We don’t need a massive freezing works in every area, small scale abbatoirs will work too. There’s a problem in NZ with how abbatoirs tie up and dictate meat supply chains. Talk to organic growers about how hard it is to get their products back to sell, or to keep all the parts of the animal. Efficiencies from size might support aspects of a growth economy, but they’re often failing with regards to local economies and the environment.
There are also issues around miles. A farmer in a rural area wanting to sell her sheep locally, has to live truck the sheep to a freezing works, often many miles, and then freight the meat back. That’s just daft. Trucks on roads, carbon, time, lots of inefficiencies. There’s an animal welfare issue there too.
We're almost three quarters urban. If some niche farmer wants small-scale slaughtering for whatever reason, they can do that. But the objective is to feed cities, and trucking meat to the urban centres after centralised processing has got to be less environmentally damaging and resource-consuming than people from the cities driving out to visit your farmer's gate.
saying we swapped jobs for cheap goods is a little misleading…we swapped loss of control over our currency (and therefore standard of living) for the 'support 'of international traders..we could have done it better but we still had to play the game according to the rules
Nah. Two different subjects entirely. Currency value is like the OCR – adds a certain elasticity to the effects of change within some boundaries, but there's no real "control".
Removing tarriffs and other barriers is fine for peer-relationships. Maybe german companies make better widgets than we ever could, and for cheaper (either tech or established process efficiencies, or they have a better supply of widget ore). But if the comparative advantage is because they pay their children 50c a day to make widgets, then we're outsourcing worker exploitation.
excuse me?….may pay to think a little further. Start thinking capital fight and dearth of investment and then tell me how we have no influence over our currency…..you may also wish to consider what the end result of that looks like and a pathway back and then advise places like zimbabwe or venezuela or even argentina
control vs influence.
One is a steering wheel, the other is the person in the passenger seat suggesting "next left".
Sure, a quick scream or blatant misdirection might lead to a wrong turn or a crash, but if the driver expects it there's little effect because the driver has already planned a response.
How are Zimbabwe and Venezuela doing at controlling the value of their currencies? Avoiding inflation on imported goods okay? Stable enough that street traders won't prefer USD?
good grief..quite obviously zimbabwe and venezuela (and argentina, and there are others) lost control ( not influence) of their currencies, unless you wish to suggest they desired the result?….you might now want to consider how that occurred
lol
So when things are going well countries control their currency values, but when the currencies tank they've lost control.
Or maybe the "control" was largely an illusion all along…
too binary…when operating within parameters they have influence….outside those parameters they lose control…..as NZ was approaching in the early eighties.
Currency (money)is a confidence trick…remove all confidence and you have no currency.
Calling it a confidence trick isn't doing the cause of "control" any favours.
I didnt make the rules…calling it a confidence trick is my disparaging opinion and it dosnt change the reality
It's an accurate enough portrayal of reality.
A government can't control the currency if it can't control the confidence people have in it. And it can't. It can reassure, try to avoid surprises, gently adjust regulations and conditions, but speculative markets are like murmurations of starlings – if they take wing, who knows where they'll end up. And "what can I buy with this intrinsically-valueless piece of paper or this chip card or this app" is pretty much the most speculative market there can be.
WE also fairly easily dropped our border tariffs that prevented cheap things from getting in undercutting our markets, and when the local prices were too high, NZ micro businesses fell.
yep we did all that and tossed the best part of a generation on the scrap heap, the consequences of we are increasingly struggling with and we sold or abandoned a history of institutional knowledge (capacity) which plagues us to this day….all this is known and still we appear incapable of constructing a remedy, or even the attempt.
And then theres CC.
Hi Phil, perhaps the analogy of 'synthetic wool' is not so flash an example for the demise of traditional vs new food industries.
We are now hearing about these plastic micro fibres ending up in the stomachs of small fish. Fossil fuel based gunk that removes plenty of humans from its manufacture.
Wool products have lots of different skill sets involved in their production.
I sincerely hope to see the demise of theses textiles in my lifetime.
Wool is warm. It's water, rot and fire resistant. Many uses including insulation.
hi gsays…
i think the comparison was more with something else that was once huge here..
(and equally unthinkable as being able to be so disrupted..)
and my comparison was in no way an endorsement of synthetic carpets..
i'm a minimalist – me…see carpet as too busy/fussy…wool or synthetic..
a pox on all of them..(it may even tip over into carpet-claustrophobia – i dislike it so much..heh..!..)
bare floors with rugs'll do just fine…
and yes – wool has those qualities..maybe it will come back into fashion – as a reaction against plastic pollution..
(that could be a good angle for the wool-peddlers to take..)
Chur phil.
I get ya point now.
I am in contrast to you in respect floor coverings. We have lived in a 1906 villa without carpet for 20 years. There is now wool carpet and thick underlay in the lounge and a bedroom.
I think carpet should refer only to a wool product and synthetic stuff should have to be named something else. I feel this as strongly as you seem to shun them. (he said on the floor doing snow angels)
I’m curious, do you have any vegany opposition to sheep (wool) farming?
'(he said on the floor doing snow angels)' – heh..!
re 'vegany opposition' –
a pet sheep – living its' natural life-span – and the wool used for whatever – fine..
but as wool is almost worthless – sheep-farming is done now for the meat..
so..yeah…then there are the lambs – with the same slaughterhouse destination..
and the chopping off of those lambs' tails – that's pretty gruesome…
Fanciful thinking. There's no chance everyone will be on a plant based diet to combat climate change, and there's no real reason to try and enforce that.
Supplying only local markets will cut down on emissions in many ways – Smaller herds, less intensive farming methods, freight and shipping costs off shore. That alone negates the need for your constant attempts at shaming of meat eaters into an unnatural human diet.
If, under the current export structure it's seen to been a help to reduce consumption, then so be it, I'm sure people do that already, but using climate change fear mongering as the latest meme to promote veganism is as see through as crisp mountain air. Clearly the meat is murder angle has failed, so let's try your burger and steak are killing the planet. 🙄
Plenty of big atmospheric polluters that can be mitigated or eradicated before we have to tackle with forced veganism.
'forced veganism' – heh..!..that's funny..!
So you don't want to force meat eaters to switch to a total 100% plant based diet?
That's alright then.
changes like that will be of their own accord..
people will make up their own minds…
i don't see 'forced veganism' as being good for anyone…
and those thinking change like this is impossible – could cast their minds back to when everyone smoked cigarettes..
and think how much that has changed – in such a short time..
and really – nobody is being asked to give up anything – you will still have bacon that tastes/smells/chews the same..
the only difference will be that no animal has suffered in the making of etc etc
Killing and eating the animal doesn't bother me, so not really relevant to the discussion from my perspective. And ciggies, that’s a silly analogy, especially when there are still a hard core number of partakers.
As there will be no need to stop all animal husbandry to combat climate change if the biggest contributors are addressed first, it doesn't matter if frankenfoods and fake meat are also on the shelves as alternatives because, as you say, we won't actually have to give up anything.
Andrea Vance previews the likely nastiness of Judith Collins' forthcoming book: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/115236521/jucos-revenge-book-why-some-big-names-should-be-worried
Just loved the comments from Bill English in the article, way back in 2005. 'Pushed beyond her ability', believed her own bs and media hype and so on. He was bang on the money long before most Kiwis even knew who she was!
She really did not like having her ex-boss Chauvel in parliament with her some years back either. Someone who already knew her bullshittery.
Frank Macskasy does a number on her as well:
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2019/08/24/judith-collins-foot-in-mouth-award-or-something-more-sinister/
I will not be swayed by weak men afraid of strong women so I'm already getting a supply of hand cream in, to keep my hands and fingers nice and supple whilst I turn the pages, and tissues to wipe away the joys of joy I expect to be shedding while reading this tome that will, without doubt, became required reading for anyone wanting to do politics the right way
Hand cream and tissues – ewww!
Mind out of the gutter please
Genuinely strong women don't need to be nasty. Way more attractive than fragile bullies.
Genuinely strong women always seem to have the most venom directed towards them, Helen Clark, Margret Thatcher, Judith Collins etc etc
Its sad how many insecure men are out there
my attitudes to collins are nothing to do with gender..
it is more for lying tory-ratbag reasons..
and my qualifications around clark are more from my raising a child on a dpb at the time she was having her 'deserving'(read 'working') and 'undeserving families' war-on-the-poor..
as a sole-parent on a dpb – i was in the latter camp..and thus one of her targets..and winz was fucken brutal..bare-knuckled animosity..the hideous fucken freaks i had to deal with there..)
hard to forget all that – and from a(n ostensibly) labour leader/p.m…(!) .(gender irrelevant..)
and i view clark as having just prepared the ground for key – and his works..
and i am a long way from the worship so many left-thinking people have for her..
(and as a reality check – how much did the minimum wage go up under clark..?
to my mind she was a caretaker to/for our high-cost/low-wage economy..and that is not what i see a labour leader being tasked with..)
thatcher..?…need i go on..?..she was reagan in drag…
So what you're saying is if a female politicians makes the hard decisions then she deserves to be vilified
if by 'hard decisions' you mean fucking over the poorest/weakest – as collins is jonesing to do – and clark/thatcher did….
well..yes…they do deserve having that pointed out..(once again – gender irrelevant..)
So basically you don't like strong women unless they conform to your out-dated notions of what a strong woman should be
Come on, Pucky; tell us what your up-to-date notion of a strong woman is and we'll see if that matches what we know of Judith Collins.
@ p.r..
whew..!..that's a groin-stretcher..!
you ok..?
Robert I wouldn't dream of telling women what a strong women should be, its that kind of unthinking, patriarchal point of view that keep women from reaching their full potential which in turn hurts all of us
You wouldn't be telling "women", Pucky, you'd be telling me and Phillip are; come on, put up! Us "insecure" men need your help here; don't let us down.
Just for you Robert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-mju_gW3c8
So you won't up-date Phil's "outdated notions" of strong women for us, despite alluding to having that knowledge, Pucky?
Are you afraid there'll be a mismatch between your definition…and Jude?
Or that your version of a "strong woman" will be revealed as something quite different altogether from what the rest of the world thinks?
You really are a holier-than-thou foreskin of the double standard eh Mr Puck. If you work your way through the above, surely even you can see that it is ye that's pulled the gender card.
Besides which your idol is perfectly capable of sticking up for herself – as if being a current member of the gNat party isn't evidence enough of that. But I guess it's kind of sweet (as well as pathetic) seeing someone (apparently an adult) desperately in lerv with an idol. I'll give you that she's truly iconic – in a desperate sort of way
The good thing is that her rivals a even more ‘desperater’ than She
Excerpt from Frank Macskasy post:
QFT. Every day a misrepresentation or blatant lie is fed to the MSM and is rarely challenged by them even though they know the claim(s) to be false and potentially damaging. Rarely too, does the PM or any of her ministers do much to counter these lies and half truths as if by ignoring them they think they will go away.
This is a mistake as we have seen time and again in the past. People will subconsciously assimilate the falsehoods and eventually come to perceive them as the truth.
Judith Collins will thrive in such a political climate. She comes across to me as an updated, female version of Rob Muldoon. Anyone who lived at least part of their adult life through the Muldoon years would know what I mean.
It might make politics interesting but… be scared!
Edit: Oh and btw, Muldoon also wrote a book in the lead up to the 1975 election (I think it was).
more grist for the mill for the left – although crasher has a record of doing nothing, bluster, and hollow words and actions – I suppose on her way out of parliament she may tell some truths – but not about herself I bet.
That's what has surprised me – does publishing this mean she is resigning?
hard to say – she's not the brightest brain that's for sure. edited
Well, it's certainly the long awaited declaration of civil war within the National Party.
Or a managed departure to set up a sock puppet party. We'll see how that goes, she's not Winston Peters
There certainly is a baby involved.
HENRICO, Va. (CN) – Congressman Devin Nunes resisted an attempt to throw out his defamation case against Twitter, arguing through his lawyer Friday that pervasive parody accounts about Nunes are like a fire next door that is seeping smoke into your house and choking a newborn baby.
Nunes, who did not attend the hearing in Henrico County Circuit Court in person, brought the lawsuit against Twitter this past March. Taking aim at the accounts “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow,” as well as political strategist Liz Mair, the California Republican said the insults against him, in 280 characters or less, caused broad damage to his character and also led him to win re-election by a smaller percentage than usual.
https://www.courthousenews.com/twitter-defends-nunes-parody-accounts-from-defamation-suit/
Ms Bitecofer has form.
age in terms of electoral behavior and what the American electorate can and will tolerate, esp the middle of it, (it tolerated Trump in '16, but won't be doing that twice no matter what).
But honestly, I think a lot of opinion elites sit outside of the normal income lines of
America, which even at 100K a year, leave people struggling to fix their cars or AC, pay for a dentist, and send their kids to college. At 50K & below, where 80% of the country lives, its a day to day battle trying to keep the lights on, food on the table, and housing.
This economic insecurity certainly lays conditions for racism/cultural resentment, and sexism to flourish, and the GOP will be able to capitalize on that with their crafty messaging that will redirect some people's insecurity to their neighbors, but for 50% of the country,
conditions are actually pretty good for a populist campaign against the ultra-rich to flourish, ESP if the country goes into recession. And @ewarren has always been shrewd about positioning herself as a capitalist that supports more democratic socialism. That's an imp distinction
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1165211906275254273.html?
https://www.salon.com/2019/08/17/this-political-scientist-completely-nailed-the-2018-blue-wave-heres-her-2020-forecast/
The eventual Dem nominee, whoever she may be, will need to deal with the same kinds of false equivalences painted and sniping that Clinton got from the same bunch of hard-core convergence moonbats, second-option-bias fantasists, purity progressives, Jimmy Dore cultists, Bernie bros and other perpetual malcontents.
If it's Warren, it'll be about her genetic heritage and embrace of capitalism, if it's Harris it'll be about her past as a prosecutor and her waffling on healthcare plans.
The question will be, will those smears get the same traction and turnout disengagement this time around that they did against Hillary?
oh dear
https://archive.li/YJR20/73525ed00b2905ba24a89253240564549ce979af/scr.png
Yesty I treated myself to a coupla tickets to the Film Festival.
Films about two of my heroes: Helen Kelly doco and a film made while PJ Harvey recorded her album Hope six demolition project.
Govt should build moar highways says ex-Minister of them (while misrepresenting the amount still budgeted for roads, naturally): https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/115253220/steven-joyce-heres-why-the-government-needs-to-spend-more-now
The chump is still ignorant about climate change.
As well as a failure in primary school arithmetic.
Why is he even entering the political debate on 'anything'. Key and English and others have moved on and dont seem to want to revisit these issues.
Why is Joyce , who was Minister of Transport up to 2011 , even being listened too.
The 'raods' he talks about are very expensive 4 lane state highways, both in Auckland and elsewhere, new builds.
The money has been moved to state highway improvements which improve safety, alignment and pavements but in smaller chunks , so that unsafe surfaces, bottle necks and blackspots can see fairly quick changes.
That budget has seen the money taken away for the RONS. We could see the result where the 2010 Manawatu Gorge deviation was shelved after repeated closures and instead expensive and eventually futile remediation was done in the gorge road itself. Joyce was the Minister responsible for that flip flop.
Second article I've read demanding more road construction projects that I have seen recently .We should remember well that road construction companies are/were MAJOR DONORS to the NATIONAL PARTY.
Almost expecting news that Joyce has been appointed to one of their boards or something. He has certainly done the yards for them, as it were.
Nice – not enough, but a nice gesture. onya
cool..!..more of it..!
National MP Matt King denies man-made climate change in a Facebook article he plagiarised from a US right-wing group.
"King defended his point of view in the comments, saying his views and beliefs are being falsely labelled as alt-right, racist and facist".
"A common techniques of the loopy left. I'm very comfortable with where I sit," he wrote.
"It's a common left wing tactic to link things like the Christchurch massacre, Nazis, racism and terms such as alt-right with people that question the leftie doctrine."
He’s a fine example of a paranoid and deluded National Party nutter.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/national-mp-argues-climate-change-is-natural-in-facebook-rant-taken-from-us-right-wing-source.html
+ 1 yep a total knob – well suited to the gnats – leadership potential there
Funny article and prescience abundant
Bullshit.
https://www.twitter.com/NZNationalParty/status/1165469888095244290
Some uncomfortable truths – and a simplistic answer – or maybe the start of an answer.
Certainly don't buy Brazilian beef.
how would you know?
The way it shimmies on the grill. 🙂
Char char char!
seems to be mainly going to Asia but 20% of world exports is pretty big bikkies
apparently the US banned beef from Brazil in 2017, due to food safety issues. And Trump tried to reinstate it but failed.
Illegal logging is an issue too, but I haven't dug deep enough yet to see how much of an issue and where the logs are going.
Can’t wait to see who isn’t held responsible for this latest government IT fiasco
Probably the National Party again. Simon Bridges said this kind of thing is "entirely appropriate."
Sounds like the "middleman" needs to be cut out of supplying services if they are not sound, the news this morning said it had been conducted by "an external provider" that did not have the normal protections that are provided(?) The fine is a maximum of $10k the news report also said so it is a crime.
Reality is kicking in now that all these electronic digital cmmunication systems are so prone to hackinng now.
What does this mean for the next election?
If we go fully digital will our election results and false voting change in those counting results then also will be hacked?
Once again, betcha there was no "hacking" involved – someone will have just published the private info to the world by mistake. That someone will remain forever anonymous and the person with responsibility will not suffer any consequences.
Jacinda will do a frowny face though, which is Labour for "transparency and accountability".
People leaving Gloriavale should probably be treated like refugees and similar supports put in place. These are often people that have been born and raised there and have never lived outside of the cult.
Imagine having to learn how to use a phone or make decisions about what clothes to wear because you've always been told by someone in authority. One escapee said it took him 7 years to adjust to life outside.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/397474/family-who-fled-gloriavale-desperate-for-work-and-place-to-live