Is this a break with the policy of censoring any mention of Climate Change from the Green Party’s official home page?
The blog post by Gareth Hughes relates to Solid Energy’s recent decision to drop their plan to mine lignite in Southland, which Gareth describes as “a win for the climate”.
Can we expect to see other mentions of climate change on the Green Party home page?
Or, will this link only stay up for the length of the current news cycle?
Actually the higher profiled speech by Russel Norman on smart green agriculture, linked on the home page, says a lot more about climate change. It’s also mentioned as a crucial issue in Turei’s 2013 State of the Planet Speech that’s been featured on the GP home page for a while.
I think their way of embedding climate change in wider issues will result in more people paying attention to it than hitting people between the eyes with it at every opportunity – shows how it’s embedded in everything we do.
Greens never stopped talking about climate change.
Actually the higher profiled speech by Russel Norman on smart green agriculture, linked on the home page, says a lot more about climate change. It’s also mentioned as a crucial issue in Turei’s 2013 State of the Planet Speech that’s been featured on the GP home page for a while.
karol
A crucial issue?
Meteiria Turei’s State of the Planet Speech only mentioned climate change briefly in passing, and only mentioned it at all, because it couldn’t be avoided. She also didn’t call for comprehensive measures to cut CO2 emissions.
Russel Norman’s speech on agriculture is good. But I expect that it won’t stay up long. It also didn’t address the issue of coal. The dairy industry as a whole is the number one user of coal in this country. Remember that coal is the number 1 single greatest cause of global warming. Russel Norman makes no demands on the dairy industry to switch from coal to less polluting alternatives. His talk was generally short on advocating any comprehensive action against climate change, concentrating more on economic issues.
The trajectory of the Green Party is quite clear, and points to a monumental sell out on the question of climate change which is the issue of our generation.
As we approach closer to the elections, I imagine that if the Green Party stick to the same trajectory, mentions of climate change will get less and less.
Mark my words Karol, you will be kicking yourself when in the final analyse the Greens run an election campaign which avoids debating the necessary actions over climate change needed to be taken to avoid catastrophe. And then signs up to a government that approves deep sea oil drilling, fracking and the rape of the Denniston Plateau for the coal export market.
Middle class support which is currently flowing from Labour to the Greens, will then collapse back into the Labour Party. And parliamentary business as usual will be resumed.
But no matter, like Joska Fischer of the German Greens, for their treachery, Norman, or Turei, possibly both, will be rewarded with permanent places on the Labour Party list.
However in the real world the climate will not be denied. In the real world the climate will smash into this country as it will all others.
The Green Party if they are remembered at all, will be remembered as a failed experiment in parliament democracy, that strived for little and achieved less.
“Russel Norman makes no demands on the dairy industry to switch from coal to less polluting alternatives.”
Maybe, but the GP policy on farming supports what you want. Go read it.
“And then signs up to a government that approves deep sea oil drilling, fracking and the rape of the Denniston Plateau for the coal export market.”
I actually agree with you that this is a risk. I think it’s a much smaller risk than you do, but it’s there nevertheless. But I don’t see *you* doing anything useful to try and change that. Slagging off the GP every chance you get just makes the situation worse. I’d like to know what you think will happen if people pay attention to you. Do you think they will do anything?
“The Green Party if they are remembered at all, will be remembered as a failed experiment in parliament democracy, that strived for little and achieved less”
If you agree with me. Then I have achieved something already.
To answer your question:
I’d like to know what you think will happen if people pay attention to you. Do you think they will do anything?
I would like to think, that people like yourself would do something.
The first thing of course, would be to convince the Green Party to agree to make Climate Change an electoral issue in 2014.
This is important. If climate change issues are not raised and debated in the elections then the Greens will have no mandate to raise climate change issues in government and will be in a very weak position to oppose government policies that increase the risk.
It probably wouldn’t hurt if people like yourself within the Green Party started agitating to make climate change a Green Party “Priority” rather than just one of the Green Party’s 59 “Other issues”.
Personally I would like to see the Green Party to start agitating within parliament to halt all coal exports and imports. This could be done with a private members bill that would put pressure on the Labour Party to declare where they stand on this issue.
Here is a good backgrounder on the danger of coal exports from Greenpeace, though written by Australia Greenpeace. It could equally apply here.
RNZ- Prof Ewan Mason, Forestry Studies U.C, on the ETS (and related plantings);
NZ now a dumping ground for worthless credits
-unrestricted imports of credits from overseas
-e.g, ex USSR
-exclusion of agriculture a “driver down”
Forestry concerns when harvests mature in 2020 (placed 1990’s on)
-since 2000 decline in plantings (more attractive investment options)
-wood commodities prices have declined over 15-20 years
If the dairy producers came on board emissions regulation it may only affect gross margins 5-6%
Citation needed. Yet again. And no, Jenny, “but they don’t mention climate change as often as I like” is not the same as alleging a specific, deliberate, active policy of censorship.
This is why people don’t rally to your cause. Because you make shit up and can’t even back it up convincingly.
The Government can afford $3.1 million a year to save Wanganui Collegiate against advice and even though there was an abundance of capacity in the Wanganui area yet cannot afford $5 million a year to save our Kauri.
“It seems backwards to close a consistently high performing school that has a new million dollar learning studio, is fully networked and has, up until now, had a stable roll despite the exodus of families in the red zone.
Freeville already educates for the future, and has for years been a model school, showcasing the future of education for other teachers, schools and education professionals. I fail to see how taking us out of our purpose-designed and operated school, and merging us with another school with completely different teaching practices and old classrooms will be better for my children’s education.”
The Alfred E Nuemann of New Zealand television Patrick Gower fronting a poll from Reid Research on behalf of MediaWorks which owns TV3, and that’s in any way believable???,
Considering that that particular poll has for at least the past 2 years polled the National Party as having the % numbers to ‘govern alone’ i would suggest that there is something very wrong with their methodology,
This perceived inaccuracy of course has nothing to do with the fact that the company which pays for this poll, TV3 is owned by MediaWorks which was given a $42 million loan guarantee by Slippery’s National Government,
Neither does the fact that Steven Joyce, the Minister of Fuxit was at one time a highly visible shareholder in MediaWorks effect the poll, how could it, after-all ‘there is no corruption in New Zealand’
i cannot tell at this stage whether Joyce still has a substantial share-holding in MediaWorks or it’s Australian parent company Ironbridge Capital, if He does it is well hidden inside the ‘declared’ blind trust Joyce is a beneficiary of…
and the spin continues, they smothered the electorate in 2011 with the mantra that it’s national again so lots stayed away from the polls thinking their vote was not going to do much….wrong but well done MSM monkeys and mates.
So this is the new mantra now is it, Muppet boy toothing the Gnats can govern alone.
As there will not be any MP/ACT/UF stooges along for the ride they pretty much appear to have set the stall up for this new line, fair enough when you’ve got docile yes men to peddle it why not, goes along nicely with the brighter future, lovin wages dropping, roaring out of recession via a cycleway, let’s be like ireland etc etc
Freeville already educates for the future, and has for years been a model school, showcasing the future of education for other teachers, schools and education professionals. I fail to see how taking us out of our purpose-designed and operated school, and merging us with another school with completely different teaching practices and old classrooms will be better for my children’s education.
It won’t be but it’ll be great for the new private charter school that will get it cheap from the government.
One argument against a negative income tax is that voters will keep voting to raise it,
since 50% of people will be below average income. Of course, this ignores the reality
of our present situation where most people kept voting for more profits from banks
printing private money. Which shows why a negative income tax could not get
out of control since the rich would use their immense power to stop it, but who
stops the richest gaming the system as they have?
We will look back at the last thirty years and wonder why we spent the oil windfall
on yachts and booze rather than securing environmental stability and finding its
replacement. Thatcher will be up there with Hitler for cannibalizing the economy
for narrow short term power grab.
One argument against a negative income tax is that voters will keep voting to raise it…
IMO, only if the capitalists, economists and politicians keep telling them that there’s no limit to the economy. If they’re told what resources we have and where they’re going then I’m sure that those limits will be adhered to.
Less direct benefit to the rch will insure tht any negative income tax would never threaten the public backed slush fund that the rich seem increasingly able to raid. Isn’t that how many get
rich, those who don’t innovate, those who aren’t born rich, or find a new niche, they gets someone elses money and risk that, taxpayers, pensions, or people’s nestegg (or in a ponsi scheme no risk at all to the ponsi fraudster).
The government is still rewarding the Wanganui patriots for saving our civilisation from Te Whiti and his violent terrorist insurgents at Parihaka, and the Royal Navy no longer needs kauri spars. It is even possible that the few remaining kauri are growing on land that could be profitably mined, giving us all a more aspirational future.
So, the reshuffle is apparently out today. Will be a big test of whether David Shearer is going to be a puppet of the status quo or whether he will actually bring some unity to the party. I hope the latter and he uses this as an opportunity to bring the factions together. We need a merit-based senior leadership team in Parliament and our best and our brightest on the front bench. We are missing too many opportunities. Cunliffe has to get some meaty porfolios and a higher ranking. It is pettiness to leave him on the backbench as the NZHerald is predicting. He’s one of the top performers in the House (I see his speech responding to the PMs Speech is only second to Shearer in the number of views and his IMF one is also doing the rounds). Ironically, the NZH is calling King one of our most effective MPs in the House – interestingly her speeches don’t even rate. This is such an opportunity. Let’s hope Shearer doesn’t blow it by being petty and unstrategic.
Frank asks, “How could Solid Energy’s financial position go from a pre-tax profit of $127.5 million (see: Solid Energy shines despite earthquakes) in August 2011 – to a massive $389 million debt this year? Did National gouge one of our cash-state-cows?”
Yes they did, and Labour were just as bad if not worse. The SOEs have been used to hide real Govt debt, borrowing by SOEs doesn’t show as debt in the Crown accounts. The adoption of IFRS by the Govt permitted the beancounters to constantly revalue assets of the SOEs to ‘fair market value’. Those revaluations were mostly upwards which brought paper profits, the SOEs then borrowed against the assets to pay the Govt a dividend.
One of the reasons SolidEnergy are in trouble is because they paid dividends when they were making considerable capital investments, the dividends should have been kept as retained earnings to fund the capital projects. But Bill English wanted cash for his books so he, or his minions, milked the SOEs.
Yep. Was a time when accounting was a proud profession, ‘true and fair view’ meant what it said. Now it’s just a shameful parody that creates facades for crumbling edifices.
One of the ironies about the asset sales business is that both Labour & National have been selling off our assets for decades. They just did it the sly & deceitful way – sold them to bankers & their ilk.
2012 accounts reported interest rate swap contracts of some $200 million. They don’t appear to be contributing to the problem though, from what I can make of the accounts they posted a gain on those in 2012.
The first problem is cashflow, from June accounts;
“Cashflows from operations were $142 million compared to $129 million in 2011, with increased cash receipts from higher prices. Capital investment totalled $162 million”
They invested more than they made in nett earnings yet still paid the Govt a $30million dividend which can only have come from borrowing. Kinda mind boggling really.
Problem today is the debt has gone from $295million in June 2012 to $385million now which is a very big jump. But we don’t know yet what the extra borrowing was for – to cover trading losses or for more investment. Needs to be a bit more clarity on it.
Solid Energy’s 2012 annual report shows total debt of NZ$295 million comprising NZ$225 million of bank debt and NZ$70 million of bonds. It says all bond and loan facilities are unsecured and all the debt was marked as non-current, meaning none of it was due for repayment for at least 12 months. Solid Energy last year made a net loss after tax of NZ$40.2 million and paid the government a NZ$30 million dividend.
To be fair to them they haven’t yet demanded any money. They have warned investors that although they have a profit there will be additional costs next period and they are looking at alternative approaches to keep a lid on the costs.
They certainly may try and demand more money but is pretty unfair to criticize them for it before they have done it.
So, they will have a lower profit next period. This means that there will be less investors and thus they will need more money from the government to do what needs to be done (and what they should have done with the ~$17b in profit that they’ve pulled out over the last 20 years).
I said in my comment that they may go to government. However,there are also other options for funding if they believe it is unlikely the government will give them more money. All I am trying to point out is it is pretty harsh to criticize someone for something they actually haven’t done.
“Education Minister Hekia Parata recommended that Wanganui Collegiate should not be integrated into the state system, but she was rolled by her Cabinet colleagues. ….”
Well, it’s hearsay but apparently Brownlee and Joyce were de facto running the Christchurch School ‘reforms’ and making the decisions.
For example, moving the schools’ merger/closure deadlines forward by one or two years (so that it’s all done by 2014) explicitly reversed one of Parata’s public commitments after the September announcements. I imagine she was over-ruled and that commitment was dumped once the electoral calculations (or some other priorities concerning the ‘rebuild’ process) were put into the mix. The collateral damage was to her reputation.
I get the strong impression that Parata has been repeatedly set up to be the fall ‘guy’ – she does not appear to be taken seriously within Cabinet except as someone to take the flak. But then, if I am correct, she has let this happen and must take some responsibility for that.
Hearing about the Pistorius killing, and then that a brother is charged with a road killing brought Colin Bouwer to mind. He cam to NZ as a psychiatrist, once head of Psychiatry at U.of Otago, and then decided he didn’t want his wife any more and the best and most efficient way to get rid of her was to kill her by extremely devious and cunning means. Then his son (who had been given the same name!) was charged and convicted with murder of his wife, in South Africa.
This thinkpiece by The Guardian talks about the disgraceful way that South Africa is developing. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/22/oscar-pistorius-south-africa-war-women
The sick, wrong-thinking attitudes that grew under aparthheid live on. Notable comments –
* …the patriarchal nature of apartheid ideology created hierarchies based on gender as well as race.
* While the country’s gun culture is by no means comparable to that of the US, paranoia about violent crime in a post-apartheid era has extended the laager mentality that emerged during the rule of the National party.
* …the black South Africans’ experience of violent crime in the township, where the “corrective rape” of lesbians gives new meaning to the cynical term “paper rights” – constitutional rights that mean nothing in practice.
paranoia about violent crime in a post-apartheid era has extended the laager mentality that emerged during the rule of the National party. (The term refers to the defensive circle created by the wagons of colonial-era settlers, effectively creating a mobile fort against attacks by indigenous Africans. Settlers would hide inside these wagon forts with their guns on the ready in the event of an attack.)
Under apartheid, white paranoia about being murdered by vengeful “natives” helped the National party to consolidate its political power, as well as to justify the conscription of white males to defend South Africa’s borders against “communists” – shorthand for the African National Congress’s military wing. Many white South African males were compulsorily drafted, and a large number of young soldiers fought in border wars with Angola and Mozambique. In addition, the patriarchal nature of apartheid ideology created hierarchies based on gender as well as race.
Black citizens on the other hand experienced the structural violence of apartheid policies, and faced brutal repression in their struggle for civil rights. The landmark murders in Sharpeville and Soweto were the tip of the iceberg – the disappearance of activists and the torture of detainees became a feature of everyday life.…
“The massive problem we need to understand in South Africa is the level of men’s violence against women and against each other,” said Lisa Vetten, a researcher who specialises in domestic abuse. Police statistics on domestic violence are limited. But 15,609 murders and 64,500 reported rapes in 2011-12 suggest massive levels of violence in South African homes.
Household surveys by the MRC have found that 40% of men have hit their partner and one in four men have raped a woman. Three-quarters of men who admit to having raped women say they did so first as teenagers. The MRC found that, while a quarter of women had been raped, just 2% of those raped by a partner reported the incident to police.
Great informative talk on emissions trading in NZ and how it is being rorted – with government assisting all the way – so units are selling now for about $2.40 when they should be $24. At the low price, because of unfettered imports that this mendacious government is encouraging, it is destroying the economy of forest planting that the scheme as originally envisaged would have fostered.
Associate professor at the NZ School of Forestry at Canterbury University Euan Mason on the Emissions Trading Scheme
09:29
Is the Emissions Trading Scheme dead?
With Associate Professor Euan Mason – Professor Mason says NZ is failing to respond to climate change and it’s an international embarassment. (21′52″)
And the value of pinus radiata just left in place fostering native birds who would seed the ground with native plants and trees is one advantage from pinus. Another is to assist sheep farmers to have a better return from their high country and so be less close to non-profit. And he mentioned the big floods in the North Island some time ago with rain and silt washing down from bare hills that should be covered and protected by a mantle of trees.
And which took I think he said, $200 million of mostly taxpayer’s money to clear and restore for farming use. (I may have inadvertently added in some 0’s but that’s what it’s like with government money allocations isn’t it, they wax and wane depending on the recipient and outcome’s value to the particular party.)
It’s a pity that we are reverting in NZ to the more primitive kind of political man. All the way up from slimy centipedes to apes and hominoids and now, not too slowly back.
The fact that UAVs can provide insight into private properties from a perspective that is not readily accessible to ordinary members of the public, and into areas where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy is recognised in Seattle – but not in New Zealand.
But if you think the Seattle police manual provides an adequate level of protections for citizen’s civil rights and reasonable expectations of privacy, the citizens of Seattle do not. This month, Seattle’s mayor Mike McGinn and his police chief John Diaz agreed that it was time to end the city’s UAV programme ”so that SPD can focus its resources on public safety and the community building work that is the department’s priority.”
Seattle’s decision to ground its drones comes as lawmakers in at least 11 other states of the United States are considering plans to restrict the use of UAVS in their skies in response to mounting concern that drone surveillance technology can be exploited to spy and pry into law abiding citizen’s private lives.
Matthew Hooton talking this morning on Radionz in his usual disparaging way about anything leftish. Says Labour encouraged Solid Energy into – trendy and liberal ideas – to expand into.
Sounds as if it’s all Labour’s fault that Solid Energy is in the poo. How much is Labour responsible for in this debacle?
I think that the main problem with Labour is that they were constraining themselves to the “Third Way” approach and concentrating on getting an efficient welfare system and encouraging business to go forth and flourish. And businessmen thought that meant that meant that they could all talk their wages up at the same time as they made big ground-breaking decisions. Unfortunately then they were trumped in ground-breaking by the earthquake, and both brought similar long-term destruction that’s hard to recover from.
It’s what we get for attempting to usurp the role of the big oil companies, the coal to diesel plant in Southland was set to provide some 90 million liters of diesel a year for use within New Zealand,
The tech associated with this coal to diesel plant also included research,(along with the Australians), into carbon sequesture where the ‘plan’ appears to have been to ‘stash’ enough carbon underground so as to negate the amount of carbon produced from the manufacture process involved in coal to diesel,(exactly how close this research was to actually providing a workable means of taking industrial amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere i am as yet not sure about),
Big oil through it’s political functionaries allowed the trashing of a large part of ‘think big’, (specially the bits around using the resource to in part escape our imported oil dependency), and, there was a certain Government subsidy which the Slippery lead National Government scrapped,(sorry i forgot the name of this subsidy), which made the Solid Energy coal to diesel plan uneconomic,
Having scrapped the subsidy National have made the whole coal to diesel scenario uneconomic as the work was completed on the specific understanding of the subsidy being factored into the economics, leaving Solid Energy with the debt of all the research so far undertaken wasted,
A fire-sale of all the 1000’s of Hectares of land in Southland bought by Solid energy so as to give it access to the billions of tonnes of lignite underneath it will now occur…
And I think sale for dairy farms has been mentioned. Of course TINA. And some of those super rich Chinese that I saw on the link from Saturday from Colonial Viper 12.24pm could take it all in one big gulp if they so decided. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3RuvlL19yQ
…let it burn, it will anyway before too long,
Time’s a Revelator
lean’d over to ol’ Matthew Henry the other day behind the armchair Viper;
16: a, luxury. b,covetousness. c,ambition.
-Nativity In Vitae (not the created world or that of people)
luxury doesn’t “pay too well” (too much chocolate, or…steroids…caffeine…maybe Greece)
watched parts of Bad Lieutenant (with a stiff Cage); not a patch on Keitel, yet when the script is seen through a different lense…it ain’t no Piano sonata.
Kaiser Chiefs: Angry Mob
“Be careful how you treat children for their “angel” looks upon the face of God.”
the other day, a Welcome Swallow whirled round and round
next day hand-fed two white baby doves on the ground
today a blackbird pecked around the plantings, very little thrush
ahhh The Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Power (Johnson-“When Heaven Invades Earth”, Mahesh Chavda, John Sandford et al;)
or
for that voodoo you do document patron; “Glimpses of the Devil” : A Psychiatrists’ Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism and Redemption.-M. Scott Peck
BUCK-TOOTH PADDY FALLS HEAD-OVER-HEELS FOR TELETUBBY GARNER.
In tonite’s tree-newz [sic] Paddy Gower, whilst rambling on matters political, made ALL the moves of his predecessor (“Dunk” – otherwise known as the political sage, former closet mentor, lover and leader of a Mihi, and thunderdog, cock-sucker, and persuader of the Houghton Bay harrier, amongst others.) Holding his hands in cupped fashion (desperate to show wedding ring), Paddy delivered his report with the intonation, framing and commitment to journalistic integrity his predecessor and trainer ‘Dunk’ had ingrained.
A replay of Paddy’s delivery in tonight’s ‘Tree Newz’ report that was fed through the latest comparator technology with Duncan Garner’s last 3 News reports showed insignificant differences.
‘Sources’ are understood to be in negotiations with Radio New Zealand’s Nine-to-Noon producer for a spot on Monday’s political commentary, and with with THE ‘every-person’s nicest man on Earth’ Jim Mora to determine whether a 4pm-5pm ‘slot’ might not be appropriate now that Paddy has been able to demonstrate a media profile that equals those of Mike Williams, Jose Pagani and Mathew Hooten in the delivery of ‘expert opinion to the masses’. We were able to catch up with the nicest man on Earth (‘Good-guy Jum’) during a brief lay-by on his next mission to Mars whilst speaking with producers who were anxious to maintain their ‘aura’ of political neutrality.
Buck-Tooth Paddy was unavailable for comment, but [media sauces] said it is unlikely he would be interested in extending his radio commitments since he’d recently purchased a new wardrobe based primarily on a ‘baby-blue’ hue. He was also anxious to display his persona at every opportunity in a bid to convince the wider public that he isn’t the desperate, egotistical little wanker with bleached teeth that audience polling amongst ‘other sauces’ have determined – particularly with the younger demographic.
Vanity Fear: Seen on TV1 tonight Slippery the Prime Minister with a fresh dye job on the hair, (including the new bits plucked from between the anal crevice of a blind donkey called Brucie)…
Interesting interview with Jeremy Grantham tonight. Radionz on Nights – Window on the World
Monday 25 February: Jeremy Grantham
Peter Day hears from an investment expert called Jeremy Grantham who has spent decades thinking about some of the big issues that influence our existence and the global economy. He thinks that the assumptions which have powered the industrial revolution for two centuries are looking pretty threadbare. So, how do we manage technological progress in a world of finite resources?
Yep Nose…. sanity and interest prevails on RNZ between 5pm and 9am when the cult of personality takes over briefly with a couple of hosts trying to show just how clever they are
(i.e. the cult of personality reigns between 9am and 5pm). Its a shame that more people haven’t discovered “Nights”. It’s a great alternative to T dot V
Don’t be too tough Tim. Radionz has got to appeal to the greater NZ public if they are to hold their attention for a while from going to the big tongue-flappers, the witty fast boys and girls diverting the pundits with trivia. Then there are the nostalgic music stations, that play plaintive love songs from last century.
The Radionz crowd usually have a good mix of fact, informed opinion, and you can keep up to date with perhaps tv showing the sites and faces, and newspapers physical or internet giving the more detailed stories of the day, and the good ones also useful fact and background.
Grantham speaking on the limitations of capitalism under conditions of resource and environmental constraints. Bear in mind that this man is in charge of roughly US$100B in investment funds.
I know someone who is turning 65 and is blessing reaching this age so she doesn’t have to deal with the WINZ demands and unpleasant people any more. It’s hard when you need an invalid’s benefit. Everything is to be questioned these days.
When Labour talks blithely about the old age pension going up to 70, they are just doing another ideological move away from really useful and pragmatic social policy in a way to equal Roger Douglas.
The Government apparently knew that Solid Energy had ‘diversification plans’ in 2009; refused to provide $1bn in funding for them; learned in 2011 of Solid Energy’s problems in a scoping study for the introduction of the mixed ownership model and yet …
… went to the electorate claiming that it could reap billions from the sales of shares in State owned enterprises (and promised to spend those billions in multiple ways).
In retrospect, it’s a pity someone didn’t ask John Key to ‘Show me the money!’, or at least make an OIA request about any scoping studies of the worth of the SOEs that were on the block.
For some reason, the link I embedded in the words “knew that Solid Energy had ‘diversification’ plans” is there but is in black type on my screen rather than the usual blue.
by the way, your link certainly makes it look like there was ministerial idiocracy involved, as the board seemed to tell them what was going on every step of the way, and it only got picked when another department/minister did the firesale stocktake
High dollar / exchange rate.
Who benefits from it? Apparently the NZ Dlr is viewed as the new gold by the foreign dealers. They have been quoted as saying “Let’s have some fun with it…” Leaving aside the obscenity of that, now, just saying, someone in NZ had a packet of spare foreign currency five to 10 years ago and had bought up large on the Kiwi at its low, they’d now be in a position to see it climbing to an all time high and could at some stage, make a further killing if they were to sell it for a “now lower valued” foreign currency… apart from the banks, who else in NZ might be in a position to take advantage of it? Makes you wonder.
Is the government able to act to change the exchange rate? Just wondering, ’cause someone must be able to influence the exchange rate and lower it if they had the will, or the inclination, to do so.
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Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are weshortchanged democratically by the way ...
RNZ has continued its look at the role of lobbyists by taking a closer look at the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Andrew Kirton. He used to work for liquor companies, opposing (among other things) a container refund scheme which would have required them to take responsibility for their own ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has left for Beijing for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019. Mahuta is to meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang where she might have to call on all the diplomatic skills at her command. Almost certainly she will face questions on what role ...
TL;DR:The Opportunities Party’s Leader Raf Manji is hopeful the party’s new Teal Card, a type of Gold card for under 30s, will be popular with students, and not just in his Ilam electorate where students make up more than a quarter of the voters and where Manji is confident ...
When I was a kid New Zealand was actually pretty green. We didn’t really have plastic. The fruit and veges came in a cardboard box, the meat was wrapped in paper, milk came in a glass bottle, and even rubbish sacks were made of paper. Today if you sit down ...
Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – Syd Holland, Richard Prebble, Juduth Collins, Chris Hipkins – or by far lesser lights like Keith Allen, Frank Gill, Ben Couch, Allen McCready, Clem Simich, ...
Chris Trotter writes – The Crown is a fickle friend. Any political movement deemed to be colourful but inconsequential is generally permitted to go about its business unmolested. The Crown’s media, RNZ and TVNZ, may even “celebrate” its existence (presumably as proof of Democracy’s broad-minded acceptance of diversity). ...
Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who believes vested interests shouldn’t have a place at the centre of decision making. Chris Hipkins’ newly appointed Chief of ...
Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
Buzz from the Beehive New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
Nick Matzke writes – Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
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. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Government continues to invest in New Zealand’s burgeoning space industry, today announcing five scholarships for Kiwi Students to undertake internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash congratulated Michaela Dobson (University of Auckland), Leah Albrow (University of Canterbury) and Jack Naish, Celine Jane ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
Opinion - There's plenty of research supporting lowering the voting age to 16. Public debate and the law just need to catch up, Claire Breen writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team. In this podcast Michelle and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jingdong Yuan, Associate Professor, Asia-Pacific security, University of Sydney Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow this week has been more about reiterating China and Russia’s shared interests, and less about any concrete pathway towards ending the war in Ukraine. While a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney This May, Wiradjuri woman Denni Francisco and her label Ngali will be the first Indigenous designer to have a solo show at Australian Fashion Week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney This May, Wiradjuri woman Denni Francisco and her label Ngali will be the first Indigenous designer to have a solo show at Australian Fashion Week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Robinson, Associate Professor in Housing and Communities, University of Tasmania Shutterstock Thousands of children end up being homeless in Australia without a parent or guardian. In 2021-22, 12,812 children (aged 10-17) were on their own when they sought help ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Robinson, Associate Professor in Housing and Communities, University of Tasmania Shutterstock Thousands of children end up being homeless in Australia without a parent or guardian. In 2021-22, 12,812 children (aged 10-17) were on their own when they sought help ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra There has been a lot of talk about the risk of financial contagion following the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank. Perhaps too much talk. While the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra There has been a lot of talk about the risk of financial contagion following the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank. Perhaps too much talk. While the ...
A Pacific elder and former secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum says Pacific leaders need to sit up and pay closer attention to AUKUS and the Indo-Pacific strategy and China’s response to them. Speaking from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dame Meg Taylor said Pacific leaders were being sidelined ...
The government says it should have details on which weather-hit areas are high risk within three weeks, and can then make decisions about rebuilding. ...
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The government has launched campaign to help young people navigate break-ups with the long-term aim of preventing family violence, believed to be the first of its kind. ...
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Som good news from the Green Party website.
A link to a blogpost by Gareth Hughes that mentions the climate has appeared on the Green Party home page.
http://www.greens.org.nz/
Is this a break with the policy of censoring any mention of Climate Change from the Green Party’s official home page?
The blog post by Gareth Hughes relates to Solid Energy’s recent decision to drop their plan to mine lignite in Southland, which Gareth describes as “a win for the climate”.
Can we expect to see other mentions of climate change on the Green Party home page?
Or, will this link only stay up for the length of the current news cycle?
Actually the higher profiled speech by Russel Norman on smart green agriculture, linked on the home page, says a lot more about climate change. It’s also mentioned as a crucial issue in Turei’s 2013 State of the Planet Speech that’s been featured on the GP home page for a while.
I think their way of embedding climate change in wider issues will result in more people paying attention to it than hitting people between the eyes with it at every opportunity – shows how it’s embedded in everything we do.
Greens never stopped talking about climate change.
Yes Karol, I reckon Norman’s speech on Agriculture is spot on the mark, exactly what Farming needs in New Zealand.
Agreed Karol, and it will reach the people who won’t follow an obvious CC link.
A crucial issue?
Meteiria Turei’s State of the Planet Speech only mentioned climate change briefly in passing, and only mentioned it at all, because it couldn’t be avoided. She also didn’t call for comprehensive measures to cut CO2 emissions.
Russel Norman’s speech on agriculture is good. But I expect that it won’t stay up long. It also didn’t address the issue of coal. The dairy industry as a whole is the number one user of coal in this country. Remember that coal is the number 1 single greatest cause of global warming. Russel Norman makes no demands on the dairy industry to switch from coal to less polluting alternatives. His talk was generally short on advocating any comprehensive action against climate change, concentrating more on economic issues.
The trajectory of the Green Party is quite clear, and points to a monumental sell out on the question of climate change which is the issue of our generation.
As we approach closer to the elections, I imagine that if the Green Party stick to the same trajectory, mentions of climate change will get less and less.
Mark my words Karol, you will be kicking yourself when in the final analyse the Greens run an election campaign which avoids debating the necessary actions over climate change needed to be taken to avoid catastrophe. And then signs up to a government that approves deep sea oil drilling, fracking and the rape of the Denniston Plateau for the coal export market.
Middle class support which is currently flowing from Labour to the Greens, will then collapse back into the Labour Party. And parliamentary business as usual will be resumed.
But no matter, like Joska Fischer of the German Greens, for their treachery, Norman, or Turei, possibly both, will be rewarded with permanent places on the Labour Party list.
However in the real world the climate will not be denied. In the real world the climate will smash into this country as it will all others.
The Green Party if they are remembered at all, will be remembered as a failed experiment in parliament democracy, that strived for little and achieved less.
“Russel Norman makes no demands on the dairy industry to switch from coal to less polluting alternatives.”
Maybe, but the GP policy on farming supports what you want. Go read it.
“And then signs up to a government that approves deep sea oil drilling, fracking and the rape of the Denniston Plateau for the coal export market.”
I actually agree with you that this is a risk. I think it’s a much smaller risk than you do, but it’s there nevertheless. But I don’t see *you* doing anything useful to try and change that. Slagging off the GP every chance you get just makes the situation worse. I’d like to know what you think will happen if people pay attention to you. Do you think they will do anything?
“The Green Party if they are remembered at all, will be remembered as a failed experiment in parliament democracy, that strived for little and achieved less”
You don’t have to sound so hopeful Jenny.
If you agree with me. Then I have achieved something already.
To answer your question:
I’d like to know what you think will happen if people pay attention to you. Do you think they will do anything?
I would like to think, that people like yourself would do something.
The first thing of course, would be to convince the Green Party to agree to make Climate Change an electoral issue in 2014.
This is important. If climate change issues are not raised and debated in the elections then the Greens will have no mandate to raise climate change issues in government and will be in a very weak position to oppose government policies that increase the risk.
It probably wouldn’t hurt if people like yourself within the Green Party started agitating to make climate change a Green Party “Priority” rather than just one of the Green Party’s 59 “Other issues”.
Personally I would like to see the Green Party to start agitating within parliament to halt all coal exports and imports. This could be done with a private members bill that would put pressure on the Labour Party to declare where they stand on this issue.
Here is a good backgrounder on the danger of coal exports from Greenpeace, though written by Australia Greenpeace. It could equally apply here.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/greenpeace-nz-news/~3/wbzjrOuoM68/
It also wouldn’t hurt if the Green Party would give climate change a mention on their home page.
Maybe the Green Party might like to link to Naomi Klein’s “Fight like hell” interview.
Government declares drought in Northland
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1302/S00431/government-declares-drought-in-northland.htm
Should the Green Party call for a high profile parliamentary inquiry into the crisis in the climate. Just as they did for the crisis in manufacturing?
For an environmental party they seem to have very odd priorities.
Maybe a parliamentary enquiry is something else they could do, if the GP began to take climate change seriously?
Will they do it?
Or will they keep ignoring climate change on their way to political oblivion.
RNZ- Prof Ewan Mason, Forestry Studies U.C, on the ETS (and related plantings);
NZ now a dumping ground for worthless credits
-unrestricted imports of credits from overseas
-e.g, ex USSR
-exclusion of agriculture a “driver down”
Forestry concerns when harvests mature in 2020 (placed 1990’s on)
-since 2000 decline in plantings (more attractive investment options)
-wood commodities prices have declined over 15-20 years
If the dairy producers came on board emissions regulation it may only affect gross margins 5-6%
Eats, shoots and leaves,
http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Growing-Gardens-for-Free-Geoff-Bryant/9781869534929
the policy of censoring any mention
Citation needed. Yet again. And no, Jenny, “but they don’t mention climate change as often as I like” is not the same as alleging a specific, deliberate, active policy of censorship.
This is why people don’t rally to your cause. Because you make shit up and can’t even back it up convincingly.
The Government can afford $3.1 million a year to save Wanganui Collegiate against advice and even though there was an abundance of capacity in the Wanganui area yet cannot afford $5 million a year to save our Kauri.
It has a strange sense of priorities.
And here’s more stupid from stupid … and all this on a day when Herald announces Gnats have enough votes in a poll to govern alone … oh, my !!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/8328016/Chch-Govt-destroying-our-communities
“It seems backwards to close a consistently high performing school that has a new million dollar learning studio, is fully networked and has, up until now, had a stable roll despite the exodus of families in the red zone.
Freeville already educates for the future, and has for years been a model school, showcasing the future of education for other teachers, schools and education professionals. I fail to see how taking us out of our purpose-designed and operated school, and merging us with another school with completely different teaching practices and old classrooms will be better for my children’s education.”
Pfffft…poll dancing!!!
*yawn* zzzzzzzzzzz….Nexxxt
an empty fridge from the ‘Comment Crew”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/world/asia/us-confronts-cyber-cold-war-with-china.html?_r=0
Game On!
The Alfred E Nuemann of New Zealand television Patrick Gower fronting a poll from Reid Research on behalf of MediaWorks which owns TV3, and that’s in any way believable???,
Considering that that particular poll has for at least the past 2 years polled the National Party as having the % numbers to ‘govern alone’ i would suggest that there is something very wrong with their methodology,
This perceived inaccuracy of course has nothing to do with the fact that the company which pays for this poll, TV3 is owned by MediaWorks which was given a $42 million loan guarantee by Slippery’s National Government,
Neither does the fact that Steven Joyce, the Minister of Fuxit was at one time a highly visible shareholder in MediaWorks effect the poll, how could it, after-all ‘there is no corruption in New Zealand’
i cannot tell at this stage whether Joyce still has a substantial share-holding in MediaWorks or it’s Australian parent company Ironbridge Capital, if He does it is well hidden inside the ‘declared’ blind trust Joyce is a beneficiary of…
and the spin continues, they smothered the electorate in 2011 with the mantra that it’s national again so lots stayed away from the polls thinking their vote was not going to do much….wrong but well done MSM monkeys and mates.
So this is the new mantra now is it, Muppet boy toothing the Gnats can govern alone.
As there will not be any MP/ACT/UF stooges along for the ride they pretty much appear to have set the stall up for this new line, fair enough when you’ve got docile yes men to peddle it why not, goes along nicely with the brighter future, lovin wages dropping, roaring out of recession via a cycleway, let’s be like ireland etc etc
It won’t be but it’ll be great for the new private charter school that will get it cheap from the government.
.
money for rich schools
money for rich taxpayers
money for rich farmers
money for rich finance company investors
money for the rich! that is this government’s record
+1
One argument against a negative income tax is that voters will keep voting to raise it,
since 50% of people will be below average income. Of course, this ignores the reality
of our present situation where most people kept voting for more profits from banks
printing private money. Which shows why a negative income tax could not get
out of control since the rich would use their immense power to stop it, but who
stops the richest gaming the system as they have?
We will look back at the last thirty years and wonder why we spent the oil windfall
on yachts and booze rather than securing environmental stability and finding its
replacement. Thatcher will be up there with Hitler for cannibalizing the economy
for narrow short term power grab.
Fair Warning
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/23/korea-us-pyongyang-military/1940801/
Drill On
IMO, only if the capitalists, economists and politicians keep telling them that there’s no limit to the economy. If they’re told what resources we have and where they’re going then I’m sure that those limits will be adhered to.
Less direct benefit to the rch will insure tht any negative income tax would never threaten the public backed slush fund that the rich seem increasingly able to raid. Isn’t that how many get
rich, those who don’t innovate, those who aren’t born rich, or find a new niche, they gets someone elses money and risk that, taxpayers, pensions, or people’s nestegg (or in a ponsi scheme no risk at all to the ponsi fraudster).
National fund failed private schools as they close CHCH schools…Homebrew called this out a few years ago – “socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor” …”what they know about missing the bus, they keep the bread and they give us the crust”
NACTs – strange full stop.
against treasury, ministry and ministerial advice (why bother asking)
The government is still rewarding the Wanganui patriots for saving our civilisation from Te Whiti and his violent terrorist insurgents at Parihaka, and the Royal Navy no longer needs kauri spars. It is even possible that the few remaining kauri are growing on land that could be profitably mined, giving us all a more aspirational future.
Someone please send this to Gareth Morgan …
Lolz and adorbz yeshe. Love the commentary.
Hoots. Ha yeshe! Either a cat or a pigeon has their own identity crisis. 🙂
So, the reshuffle is apparently out today. Will be a big test of whether David Shearer is going to be a puppet of the status quo or whether he will actually bring some unity to the party. I hope the latter and he uses this as an opportunity to bring the factions together. We need a merit-based senior leadership team in Parliament and our best and our brightest on the front bench. We are missing too many opportunities. Cunliffe has to get some meaty porfolios and a higher ranking. It is pettiness to leave him on the backbench as the NZHerald is predicting. He’s one of the top performers in the House (I see his speech responding to the PMs Speech is only second to Shearer in the number of views and his IMF one is also doing the rounds). Ironically, the NZH is calling King one of our most effective MPs in the House – interestingly her speeches don’t even rate. This is such an opportunity. Let’s hope Shearer doesn’t blow it by being petty and unstrategic.
Frank asks, “How could Solid Energy’s financial position go from a pre-tax profit of $127.5 million (see: Solid Energy shines despite earthquakes) in August 2011 – to a massive $389 million debt this year? Did National gouge one of our cash-state-cows?”
http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/that-was-then-this-is-now-18-solid-energy/
“Did National gouge one of our cash-state-cows?:
Yes they did, and Labour were just as bad if not worse. The SOEs have been used to hide real Govt debt, borrowing by SOEs doesn’t show as debt in the Crown accounts. The adoption of IFRS by the Govt permitted the beancounters to constantly revalue assets of the SOEs to ‘fair market value’. Those revaluations were mostly upwards which brought paper profits, the SOEs then borrowed against the assets to pay the Govt a dividend.
One of the reasons SolidEnergy are in trouble is because they paid dividends when they were making considerable capital investments, the dividends should have been kept as retained earnings to fund the capital projects. But Bill English wanted cash for his books so he, or his minions, milked the SOEs.
Add the milking of the power sector to this and consider what happens after floating of the generators and your power bill.
Yep. Was a time when accounting was a proud profession, ‘true and fair view’ meant what it said. Now it’s just a shameful parody that creates facades for crumbling edifices.
One of the ironies about the asset sales business is that both Labour & National have been selling off our assets for decades. They just did it the sly & deceitful way – sold them to bankers & their ilk.
Anyone find a trace of derivatives in the accounts?
They haven’t released the accounts yet as far as I know but there were $30m or so in 2011.
Also in reponse to the original post comparing profit in 2011 to debt in 2012 is ridiculous. The opposite of profit is not debt.
Far more useful to compare debt in 2011 with debt in 2012 (gone from $220m to $386m) still shows a bad picture but actually makes sense.
2012 accounts reported interest rate swap contracts of some $200 million. They don’t appear to be contributing to the problem though, from what I can make of the accounts they posted a gain on those in 2012.
The first problem is cashflow, from June accounts;
“Cashflows from operations were $142 million compared to $129 million in 2011, with increased cash receipts from higher prices. Capital investment totalled $162 million”
They invested more than they made in nett earnings yet still paid the Govt a $30million dividend which can only have come from borrowing. Kinda mind boggling really.
Problem today is the debt has gone from $295million in June 2012 to $385million now which is a very big jump. But we don’t know yet what the extra borrowing was for – to cover trading losses or for more investment. Needs to be a bit more clarity on it.
http://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/63240/solid-energy-nz389-mln-debt-and-poor-financial-results-coming-talks-banks-over-restructu
Does this mean Chorus is changing the goalposts after getting the contract?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/financial-results/8347193/Chorus-warns-of-UFB-network-cost-blowout
Yep. Typical of private businesses who get government contracts – under quote and then, because it can’t be allowed to fail, demand more money.
To be fair to them they haven’t yet demanded any money. They have warned investors that although they have a profit there will be additional costs next period and they are looking at alternative approaches to keep a lid on the costs.
They certainly may try and demand more money but is pretty unfair to criticize them for it before they have done it.
So, they will have a lower profit next period. This means that there will be less investors and thus they will need more money from the government to do what needs to be done (and what they should have done with the ~$17b in profit that they’ve pulled out over the last 20 years).
I said in my comment that they may go to government. However,there are also other options for funding if they believe it is unlikely the government will give them more money. All I am trying to point out is it is pretty harsh to criticize someone for something they actually haven’t done.
And I’m just pointing out history and that it’s likely to repeat.
“Education Minister Hekia Parata recommended that Wanganui Collegiate should not be integrated into the state system, but she was rolled by her Cabinet colleagues. ….”
Well who is running the Ministry of Ed? The Minister is supposed to have sole decision…. unless it is the National Government.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/8345722/Parata-overruled-on-Collegiate-integration
Well, it’s hearsay but apparently Brownlee and Joyce were de facto running the Christchurch School ‘reforms’ and making the decisions.
For example, moving the schools’ merger/closure deadlines forward by one or two years (so that it’s all done by 2014) explicitly reversed one of Parata’s public commitments after the September announcements. I imagine she was over-ruled and that commitment was dumped once the electoral calculations (or some other priorities concerning the ‘rebuild’ process) were put into the mix. The collateral damage was to her reputation.
I get the strong impression that Parata has been repeatedly set up to be the fall ‘guy’ – she does not appear to be taken seriously within Cabinet except as someone to take the flak. But then, if I am correct, she has let this happen and must take some responsibility for that.
Hearing about the Pistorius killing, and then that a brother is charged with a road killing brought Colin Bouwer to mind. He cam to NZ as a psychiatrist, once head of Psychiatry at U.of Otago, and then decided he didn’t want his wife any more and the best and most efficient way to get rid of her was to kill her by extremely devious and cunning means. Then his son (who had been given the same name!) was charged and convicted with murder of his wife, in South Africa.
This thinkpiece by The Guardian talks about the disgraceful way that South Africa is developing. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/22/oscar-pistorius-south-africa-war-women
The sick, wrong-thinking attitudes that grew under aparthheid live on. Notable comments –
* …the patriarchal nature of apartheid ideology created hierarchies based on gender as well as race.
* While the country’s gun culture is by no means comparable to that of the US, paranoia about violent crime in a post-apartheid era has extended the laager mentality that emerged during the rule of the National party.
* …the black South Africans’ experience of violent crime in the township, where the “corrective rape” of lesbians gives new meaning to the cynical term “paper rights” – constitutional rights that mean nothing in practice.
paranoia about violent crime in a post-apartheid era has extended the laager mentality that emerged during the rule of the National party. (The term refers to the defensive circle created by the wagons of colonial-era settlers, effectively creating a mobile fort against attacks by indigenous Africans. Settlers would hide inside these wagon forts with their guns on the ready in the event of an attack.)
Under apartheid, white paranoia about being murdered by vengeful “natives” helped the National party to consolidate its political power, as well as to justify the conscription of white males to defend South Africa’s borders against “communists” – shorthand for the African National Congress’s military wing. Many white South African males were compulsorily drafted, and a large number of young soldiers fought in border wars with Angola and Mozambique. In addition, the patriarchal nature of apartheid ideology created hierarchies based on gender as well as race.
Black citizens on the other hand experienced the structural violence of apartheid policies, and faced brutal repression in their struggle for civil rights. The landmark murders in Sharpeville and Soweto were the tip of the iceberg – the disappearance of activists and the torture of detainees became a feature of everyday life.…
In 2002 the SAPS recorded 21,738 murders compared to 299,411 attempted murders and serious assaults in the country.
http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/CrimeQ/No.7/Thomson.htm
More from the Guardian – http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/17/south-africa-macho-society-oscar-pistorious
the Black Friday Campaign for Rape Awareness in honour of Anene Booysen. The 17-year-old died after her ex-boyfriend and others allegedly gang raped and disembowelled her on 2 February 2013.
(Note – very soon after the New Delhi woman Jyoti Singh Pandey.was also raped, killed and dealt with in the same way. – http://mg.co.za/article/2013-02-15-00-will-anene-booysens-brutal-rape-and-murder-shake-the-nation-into-action)
“The massive problem we need to understand in South Africa is the level of men’s violence against women and against each other,” said Lisa Vetten, a researcher who specialises in domestic abuse. Police statistics on domestic violence are limited. But 15,609 murders and 64,500 reported rapes in 2011-12 suggest massive levels of violence in South African homes.
Household surveys by the MRC have found that 40% of men have hit their partner and one in four men have raped a woman. Three-quarters of men who admit to having raped women say they did so first as teenagers. The MRC found that, while a quarter of women had been raped, just 2% of those raped by a partner reported the incident to police.
South Africa certainly has a checkered history (the boer’s) and the many challenges it faces today.
Sitting on the problem…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10867445
as long as your bum points to the ground!
Great informative talk on emissions trading in NZ and how it is being rorted – with government assisting all the way – so units are selling now for about $2.40 when they should be $24. At the low price, because of unfettered imports that this mendacious government is encouraging, it is destroying the economy of forest planting that the scheme as originally envisaged would have fostered.
Associate professor at the NZ School of Forestry at Canterbury University Euan Mason on the Emissions Trading Scheme
09:29
Is the Emissions Trading Scheme dead?
With Associate Professor Euan Mason – Professor Mason says NZ is failing to respond to climate change and it’s an international embarassment. (21′52″)
And the value of pinus radiata just left in place fostering native birds who would seed the ground with native plants and trees is one advantage from pinus. Another is to assist sheep farmers to have a better return from their high country and so be less close to non-profit. And he mentioned the big floods in the North Island some time ago with rain and silt washing down from bare hills that should be covered and protected by a mantle of trees.
And which took I think he said, $200 million of mostly taxpayer’s money to clear and restore for farming use. (I may have inadvertently added in some 0’s but that’s what it’s like with government money allocations isn’t it, they wax and wane depending on the recipient and outcome’s value to the particular party.)
It’s a pity that we are reverting in NZ to the more primitive kind of political man. All the way up from slimy centipedes to apes and hominoids and now, not too slowly back.
snap
http://pundit.co.nz/content/no-rules-for-nz-police-surveillance-drones
gracias amigo (persistence with moderate amounts of salsa)
hahahaha
Matthew Hooton thinks backroom corruption deals a la skycity convention centre is ‘hands-on’ government….what a dropkick.
And Mike Williams didn’t say ‘I agree with Matthew’ even once!
Yeah the ‘i agree show’ has turned into something else , the usual sounds of ‘sucking’ have stopped emanating from my radio…
Matthew Hooton talking this morning on Radionz in his usual disparaging way about anything leftish. Says Labour encouraged Solid Energy into – trendy and liberal ideas – to expand into.
Sounds as if it’s all Labour’s fault that Solid Energy is in the poo. How much is Labour responsible for in this debacle?
I think that the main problem with Labour is that they were constraining themselves to the “Third Way” approach and concentrating on getting an efficient welfare system and encouraging business to go forth and flourish. And businessmen thought that meant that meant that they could all talk their wages up at the same time as they made big ground-breaking decisions. Unfortunately then they were trumped in ground-breaking by the earthquake, and both brought similar long-term destruction that’s hard to recover from.
It’s what we get for attempting to usurp the role of the big oil companies, the coal to diesel plant in Southland was set to provide some 90 million liters of diesel a year for use within New Zealand,
The tech associated with this coal to diesel plant also included research,(along with the Australians), into carbon sequesture where the ‘plan’ appears to have been to ‘stash’ enough carbon underground so as to negate the amount of carbon produced from the manufacture process involved in coal to diesel,(exactly how close this research was to actually providing a workable means of taking industrial amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere i am as yet not sure about),
Big oil through it’s political functionaries allowed the trashing of a large part of ‘think big’, (specially the bits around using the resource to in part escape our imported oil dependency), and, there was a certain Government subsidy which the Slippery lead National Government scrapped,(sorry i forgot the name of this subsidy), which made the Solid Energy coal to diesel plan uneconomic,
Having scrapped the subsidy National have made the whole coal to diesel scenario uneconomic as the work was completed on the specific understanding of the subsidy being factored into the economics, leaving Solid Energy with the debt of all the research so far undertaken wasted,
A fire-sale of all the 1000’s of Hectares of land in Southland bought by Solid energy so as to give it access to the billions of tonnes of lignite underneath it will now occur…
And I think sale for dairy farms has been mentioned. Of course TINA. And some of those super rich Chinese that I saw on the link from Saturday from Colonial Viper 12.24pm could take it all in one big gulp if they so decided.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3RuvlL19yQ
…let it burn, it will anyway before too long,
Time’s a Revelator
lean’d over to ol’ Matthew Henry the other day behind the armchair Viper;
16: a, luxury. b,covetousness. c,ambition.
-Nativity In Vitae (not the created world or that of people)
luxury doesn’t “pay too well” (too much chocolate, or…steroids…caffeine…maybe Greece)
watched parts of Bad Lieutenant (with a stiff Cage); not a patch on Keitel, yet when the script is seen through a different lense…it ain’t no Piano sonata.
Kaiser Chiefs: Angry Mob
“Be careful how you treat children for their “angel” looks upon the face of God.”
the other day, a Welcome Swallow whirled round and round
next day hand-fed two white baby doves on the ground
today a blackbird pecked around the plantings, very little thrush
ahhh The Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Power (Johnson-“When Heaven Invades Earth”, Mahesh Chavda, John Sandford et al;)
or
for that voodoo you do document patron; “Glimpses of the Devil” : A Psychiatrists’ Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism and Redemption.-M. Scott Peck
Zebedee do dah, Zebedee Day.
ready for a Round Table progressive dinner…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/international-politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503226&objectid=10867490
apparently not (patient may be a little feverish)
don’t forget the “leftovers”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2013/feb/24/leftovers-unmarried-chinese-women-25
(cold sweet and sour, yummy)
Leftovers always tastier the next day
BREAKING NEWS!
BUCK-TOOTH PADDY FALLS HEAD-OVER-HEELS FOR TELETUBBY GARNER.
In tonite’s tree-newz [sic] Paddy Gower, whilst rambling on matters political, made ALL the moves of his predecessor (“Dunk” – otherwise known as the political sage, former closet mentor, lover and leader of a Mihi, and thunderdog, cock-sucker, and persuader of the Houghton Bay harrier, amongst others.) Holding his hands in cupped fashion (desperate to show wedding ring), Paddy delivered his report with the intonation, framing and commitment to journalistic integrity his predecessor and trainer ‘Dunk’ had ingrained.
A replay of Paddy’s delivery in tonight’s ‘Tree Newz’ report that was fed through the latest comparator technology with Duncan Garner’s last 3 News reports showed insignificant differences.
‘Sources’ are understood to be in negotiations with Radio New Zealand’s Nine-to-Noon producer for a spot on Monday’s political commentary, and with with THE ‘every-person’s nicest man on Earth’ Jim Mora to determine whether a 4pm-5pm ‘slot’ might not be appropriate now that Paddy has been able to demonstrate a media profile that equals those of Mike Williams, Jose Pagani and Mathew Hooten in the delivery of ‘expert opinion to the masses’. We were able to catch up with the nicest man on Earth (‘Good-guy Jum’) during a brief lay-by on his next mission to Mars whilst speaking with producers who were anxious to maintain their ‘aura’ of political neutrality.
Buck-Tooth Paddy was unavailable for comment, but [media sauces] said it is unlikely he would be interested in extending his radio commitments since he’d recently purchased a new wardrobe based primarily on a ‘baby-blue’ hue. He was also anxious to display his persona at every opportunity in a bid to convince the wider public that he isn’t the desperate, egotistical little wanker with bleached teeth that audience polling amongst ‘other sauces’ have determined – particularly with the younger demographic.
Vanity Fear: Seen on TV1 tonight Slippery the Prime Minister with a fresh dye job on the hair, (including the new bits plucked from between the anal crevice of a blind donkey called Brucie)…
Interesting interview with Jeremy Grantham tonight. Radionz on Nights – Window on the World
Monday 25 February: Jeremy Grantham
Peter Day hears from an investment expert called Jeremy Grantham who has spent decades thinking about some of the big issues that influence our existence and the global economy. He thinks that the assumptions which have powered the industrial revolution for two centuries are looking pretty threadbare. So, how do we manage technological progress in a world of finite resources?
Yep Nose…. sanity and interest prevails on RNZ between 5pm and 9am when the cult of personality takes over briefly with a couple of hosts trying to show just how clever they are
(i.e. the cult of personality reigns between 9am and 5pm). Its a shame that more people haven’t discovered “Nights”. It’s a great alternative to T dot V
Don’t be too tough Tim. Radionz has got to appeal to the greater NZ public if they are to hold their attention for a while from going to the big tongue-flappers, the witty fast boys and girls diverting the pundits with trivia. Then there are the nostalgic music stations, that play plaintive love songs from last century.
The Radionz crowd usually have a good mix of fact, informed opinion, and you can keep up to date with perhaps tv showing the sites and faces, and newspapers physical or internet giving the more detailed stories of the day, and the good ones also useful fact and background.
Jeremy Grantham July 2012 investment news letter
http://iroquoisvalleyfarms.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Jeremy-Grantham-GMO-Qtrly-July-2012.pdf
and
Grantham speaking on the limitations of capitalism under conditions of resource and environmental constraints. Bear in mind that this man is in charge of roughly US$100B in investment funds.
I know someone who is turning 65 and is blessing reaching this age so she doesn’t have to deal with the WINZ demands and unpleasant people any more. It’s hard when you need an invalid’s benefit. Everything is to be questioned these days.
When Labour talks blithely about the old age pension going up to 70, they are just doing another ideological move away from really useful and pragmatic social policy in a way to equal Roger Douglas.
The Government apparently knew that Solid Energy had ‘diversification plans’ in 2009; refused to provide $1bn in funding for them; learned in 2011 of Solid Energy’s problems in a scoping study for the introduction of the mixed ownership model and yet …
… went to the electorate claiming that it could reap billions from the sales of shares in State owned enterprises (and promised to spend those billions in multiple ways).
In retrospect, it’s a pity someone didn’t ask John Key to ‘Show me the money!’, or at least make an OIA request about any scoping studies of the worth of the SOEs that were on the block.
For some reason, the link I embedded in the words “knew that Solid Energy had ‘diversification’ plans” is there but is in black type on my screen rather than the usual blue.
But the link doesn’t work.
Here it is: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8349261/Govt-knew-of-Solid-Energy-plans-PM
I give up. Still doesn’t work.
Govt knew of Solid Energy plans – PM
test 1
test 2
test 3
test 1
test 2
test 3
okay, puddleglum, one the rough assumption that what comes out is related to what comes in, it might be syntax of your anchor tags.
Should look somethin like (with the “anglebracket” stannding in for the tag containers): ><
openanglebracket a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/8349261/Govt-knew-of-Solid-Energy-plans-PM" closeanglebracket test 3 openanglebracket /a closeanglebracket
note the lowercase href and the double quotes around the web address you want to link to, front and back.
Hope this helps
by the way, your link certainly makes it look like there was ministerial idiocracy involved, as the board seemed to tell them what was going on every step of the way, and it only got picked when another department/minister did the firesale stocktake
Plans developed during the last part of the Labour government?
High dollar / exchange rate.
Who benefits from it? Apparently the NZ Dlr is viewed as the new gold by the foreign dealers. They have been quoted as saying “Let’s have some fun with it…” Leaving aside the obscenity of that, now, just saying, someone in NZ had a packet of spare foreign currency five to 10 years ago and had bought up large on the Kiwi at its low, they’d now be in a position to see it climbing to an all time high and could at some stage, make a further killing if they were to sell it for a “now lower valued” foreign currency… apart from the banks, who else in NZ might be in a position to take advantage of it? Makes you wonder.
Is the government able to act to change the exchange rate? Just wondering, ’cause someone must be able to influence the exchange rate and lower it if they had the will, or the inclination, to do so.
Exactly logie. It’s very lazy of our media to refer to the PM as a former currency trader when none of them have asked when he quit.
logie 97
See piece I copied from JB Were report in ‘Key shoots backwards’ today about 11am.