The only way to hit net zero by 2050 is to stop flying
Dreaming of electric planes and planting trees will not save our planet
…..the commitment to net zero aviation by 2050 is really a commitment to zero aviation. Rather than hope new technology will magically rescue us, we should stop planning to increase fossil-fuel flights and commit to halving them within 10 years with an eye toward phasing them out entirely by 2050.
You're happy to prevent anyone here being visited from overseas, any UN refugees to arrive, any workers or skilled specialists to come here at all, any tourists whatsoever to arrive here, and of course quite happy to prevent post-quarantine returnees and their children and grandchildren to arrive either.
My Mother and her best friend cross the Tasman Sea aboard the passenger liner the Wanganella to atttend the 1956 Australian Olympic Games. As she related it to me, the experience was one of the high-lights of her life.
In the 50's and even into the 60's flying wasn't a thing.
The Wanganella became a hostel ship for the construction workers and tunnelers for the Manapouri power station, The Wanganella was replaced by the legendary Oriana, which was destined to became the last passenger liner on the Tasman run. By1966 mass passenger air travel had made passenger liners uncompetitive.
In 1973 the Oriana was recommissioned as a holiday cruise liner and later a floating hotel and tourist attraction in Japan and then China. Damaged in a severe storm in the Chinese port of Dalien in 2004, the Oriana was scrapped in 2005.
The steam powered Wanganela and Oriana took 56 to 53 hours to cross the Tasman.
Fast forward again into the 21st Century:
A modern high speed gas turbine ferriy carrying over 800 passengers and cars and trucks can cross the Tasman in 24 hours. In Argentina such a service has been proved to be competitive with airlines.
"You're happy to prevent anyone…." Ad
Hi Ad, I am not happy to prevent anyone, doing anything. I just think that the airline industry instead of being propped up by government subsidies and loans should be left to die a natural death.
How about this; Instead of propping up a dying industry with a $1 billion credit line, the government invest in buying Tasmanian built ocean going ferries to cross the Tasman.
I am not forcing or preventing anyone from doing anything.
As a way to hasten the comercial airline industry into i’s inevitable retirement, I am asking people of good will to do as I, and many other people of good will concerned about the climate to forego flying as a personal choice.
So Jenny, you would be happy for our time sensitive exports to cease (as they are air dependent)? Time sensitive freight world wide is a huge part of the air industry.
And these ferries, nasty old fossil fuelled diesel powered? To fill the gap left by air, would they not contribute just as much in the way of emissions?
And air is a 'dying industry? No. It was hit by a once in a century pandemic and like many industries as a result of Covid, needed short term propping up.
Your whole thesis is just unrealistic. What happened in 1944 or 1956 or whenever was appropriate to those times. The world has moved on and continues to evolve. Uninventing inventions is not an option. Mitigation and further development is.
So Jenny, you would be happy for our time sensitive exports to cease (as they are air dependent)? Time sensitive freight world wide is a huge part of the air industry….
Air dependent time sensitive foods are the epitome of bad food miles.
Time sensitive air dependent exports, such as the live grayfish and oyster and Paua trade, out of season fresh berry trade, flown around the globe to supply high end restaurants in Tokyo, New York, London, Monaco, or to the kitchens and mansions and villas of the 1%. or to supply the busisness buffets of the big corporate board rooms.
Talk about conspicous consumption.
That this time sensitive luxury food trade 'is a huge part of the air industry' is why it's got to go.
The world (and the climate) is best rid of it.
Maybe if we took this food out of the mouths of the One Percenters New Zealanders might able to afford to buy it occasionally.
1% of people cause half of global aviation emissions – study
Researchers say Covid-19 hiatus is moment to tackle elite ‘super emitters’
…..“The benefits of aviation are more inequitably shared across the world than probably any other major emission source,” he said. “So there’s a clear risk that the special treatment enjoyed by airlines just protects the economic interests of the globally wealthy.”
Everything you thought about the carbon footprint of imported food is wrong, says top professor
Bananas from Dominican Republic and apples from New Zealand are among the most carbon-friendly foods
Phobe Weston Science Correspondent
Bananas imported from the Dominican Republic, apples from New Zealand and oranges from Brazil are among the most carbon-friendly foods UK consumers can buy, according to Professor David Reay, a climate scientist from the University of Edinburgh….
But food miles do matter if the product has been transported by air. For this reason, Professor Reay says consumers should avoid eating out-of-season soft fruit such as raspberries and blueberries.
A 100g box of blueberries grown locally or imported via ship will produce around 100g of carbon dioxide. If it’s flown in, that increases by ten times, pushing its carbon footprint up to more like 1kg.
“If you want to go into the high carbon footprint foods then once it’s been air freighted you’re in real trouble. That’s when the food miles absolutely soar in terms of emissions. We should have a blanket ban on air freight,” said Professor Reay.
Yeah I'm with you on this – the Busan Shimonoseki ferries leave flying for dead in price and comfort – a trans-Tasman run would be a good first step to the post mass air travel future.
Don't expect much support however – official policy is that NZ should be the last dinosaur hunters, not the first adopters of any rational change. It's expensive and stupid, but that reflects the quality of our political decision making.
Passenger traffic fell by two thirds in 2020, and full recovery isn't expected before 2023.
For air travel as for many parts of society, Covid19 is the structural adjustment for climate effects that public policy settings were too afraid to do.
What is noteworthy is the residual customer demand: unlike the airline collapses after 9/11, there are very few 2020/21 bankruptcies because airlines know the latent demand remains.
But your projections about the inevitable decline of aircraft flights are not and will never be in the interests of New Zealand.
But your projections about the inevitable decline of aircraft flights are not and will never be in the interests of New Zealand.
Only two things need to happen to allow the end of flights to benefit NZ.
Better preservation systems for currently perishable items. We have some history pioneering frozen meat. Better live shipping modules would allow live seafreight to most of Asia – a technology that, when developed, will access the vast demand for fresh mussels instead of the horrid flavourless cooked and frozen halfshell that satisfies the substantially non-seafood eating US. Mind, with NZ people eating commercially caught fish once per month or less, as compared to Japan's 3-5 times a week, the local market could absorb most of our production if it got the chance.
A move away from tourism as a major sector of the economy. This has become obligate during Covid to some degree in any case, but tourism is a stop gap for developing economies, not a long term industry that will provide a good standard of living. Government should be developing the industries that will.
The interests of NZ rarely influence policy making – or neoliberalism, asset thefts, the QMS, mass low-wage immigration, and the housing crisis would never have been allowed to develop. You need a better rational for subsidizing contemporary aviation than that.
I think to stop flying entirely would be impractical and extreme.
To cut flights by 50% and force the use of low carbon generating planes would be an aim that might be achievable (probably by heavily taxing aviation fuel and airports) if governments across the world could be brought on side, which will be a Herculean task.
Measures such as these would greatly increase the price of flights. But people love those Easyjet stag weekends in Prague.
…..To cut flights by 50% and force the use of low carbon generating planes would be an aim that might be achievable (probably by heavily taxing aviation fuel and airports)…
I agree.
If airlines were taxed at the rate of climate damage they cause, they would be forced to use low carbon generating planes. That is if they wanted to stay in business.
Alternatively surface travel would become competitive again….
P.S. We could probably achieve much the same effect by withdrawing government support every time the airline industry gets in to trouble and has to be bailed out by the taxpayer. This is not the first time.
From Wikipedia:
……in 2001 the New Zealand Government took up 80% ownership in return for injecting $885 million after the airline ran into financial difficulty….
In early 2002 Ralph Norris, formerly head of ASB Bank, one of New Zealand's main banks, was announced as the new CEO of Air New Zealand, and commenced the difficult task of pulling the airline back from near-death…..
Without tax payer subsidies Air NZ would collapse quicker than a house of cards, a carbon tax on aviation fuel would put Air NZ out of business even quicker. The same probably goes for most airlines, one of the reasons that around the globe, Air lines are spared carbon charges.
Carbon emissions commerical airline industry may be 5% now, but they are increasing rapidly, and this increase is making no sign of slowing down. (especially with all the tax-payers subsidies being thrown at it.)
Airlines' CO2 emissions rising up to 70% faster than predicted
Carbon dioxide emitted by commercial flights rose by 32% from 2013 to 2018, study shows
….The total increase over the past five years was equivalent to building about 50 coal-fired power plants, the ICCT calculated.
Carbon dioxide emissions from air travel are not the full story.
What's an 'aviation multiplier'?
The impact of planes on the climate is complicated and not perfectly understood. The CO2 emissions are straightforward enough, but plane engines also generate a host of other "outputs", including nitrous oxide, water vapour and soot……
…….Today, most experts favour an aviation "multiplier" of around two. In other words, they believe that the total impact of a plane is approximately twice as high as its CO2 emissions. The exact multiplier, however, will always depend on the individual plane, the local climate and the time of day.
Add the above two things together and you can begin to see the threat that the commercial airline industry poses to the climate, and especially any chance of reaching net zero by 2050.
With half our emissions from farming, let's focus efforts there rather than getting distracted by fights with the richest most influential NZers. If you are serious about climate action..
Jenny, Internet use (much of it on frivolous blogs and social media) tributes almost as much to global warming as all air travel combined (around 4% compared to 5% for air travel).
Or more fast rail (France has banned internal air travel on flights where a train could make the same journey in sub 2.5 hours) (sadly not an option here).
Or maybe China should actually become a member of the global community and take action. Almost all of the coal from NZ and Australia goes to China, who once again are trying to get a free ride by claiming they are still a developing economy and deserve special exemptions.
According to this rather interesting and well referenced article your criticism of China is unjustified.
"In December 2016, the Center for American Progress brought a group of energy experts to China to find out what is really happening. We visited multiple coal facilities—including a coal-to-liquids plant—and went nearly 200 meters down one of China’s largest coal mines to interview engineers, plant managers, and local government officials working at the front lines of coal in China.
We found that the nation’s coal sector is undergoing a massive transformation that extends from the mines to the power plants, from Ordos to Shanghai. China is indeed going green. The nation is on track to overdeliver on the emissions reduction commitments it put forward under the Paris climate agreement, and making coal cleaner is an integral part of the process."
The tables in this article on the technical makeup of each nation's (China and US) most efficient plants show that 90% of China's plants are ultra-supercritical while 1% America's is ultra-supercritical.
Comparing China with US and Europe shows conventional air pollution standards are highest in China. e.g. allowable Nitrogen Oxide emissions for new plants in China is 50mg/cuM while in Europe's it's 150mg/cuM.
China's top 100 most efficient coal-fired power units have a coal consumption rate (gce/kWh) of between 271.56 and 294.88 while Us's is between 335.10 and 397.13.
Comparing emissions and efficiency China out performs US.
"Or more fast rail (France has banned internal air travel on flights where a train could make the same journey in sub 2.5 hours) (sadly not an option here)."
Peter chch
High speed trains are sadly not an option here, for two main reasons.
1. The huge expense. (The cost of building a high speed rail network is probably only possible for powerful economies like Japan, or France, or England and China).
2. Our very hilly and torturous terrain.
As I have written above, mass air travel is only a recent innovation.
For more than a century of European settlement, to travel along this ribbon like mountainous archipelago seperated into two main islands, the coasts were our highways. And for even longer if you consider Maori transportation.
At this time in our history, unsustainable, evironmentally destructive, and profligately wasteful, would be my depiction of air travel.
Sooner or later it will have to be curtailed.
Better sooner than later.
What if the $1.5 billion in financial support made available to Air New Zealand to save their polluting industry was instead made available for a Trans-Tasman and coastal passenger ferry service to directly compete with the air lines, to end their monopoly, and to continue the job of grounding the airlines that the pandemic began…..
The aviation industry needs a big rethink when it comes to reducing flights and other means of transportation (train, cruise ships). I would diversify and offer all 3 on the same ticket.
Spending money and holidaying in ones country is good for the economy. Families may choose to live in the same country. Some creative spark could do low and high end ethnic restaurants and have Las Vegas style shows.
NZ is a bit bland and boring when it comes to an exciting evening out, dinner and a show package.
There is nothing on free to air TV to watch any more.
You should be pretty happy at the moment then, as Covid has effectively reduced flights considerably. There must be a lot less aviation pollution over the last year.
Only a matter of time before we get slammed, hard. On my travels I see no-one scanning, no masks, and no distancing. Going into small spaces with lots of public is a minefield.
I feel like we've got complacent and switched off which is probably a function of doing it right and getting back to normal.
The right wing has won with the travel bubble but I really am worried we're going to get a breach from Australia this winter and have to enter an extended lockdown.
New Zealand has “several ingredients” for a similiar large outbreak, University of Otago epidemiologist Amanda Kvalsvig said.
These included a low proportion of the population being vaccinated, extremely transmissible variants circulating, the travel bubble with Australia offering more opportunity for the population mixing, and the looming winter season
“And we don’t have good ventilation in indoor spaces in New Zealand,” Kvalsvig said.
Just headlined on RNZ…paraphrasing…there could be many more cases associated with the cluster in Melbourne of, so far, 9 cases. One infectious person attended an Aussie Rules game where 23,000 were present.
Our Eds are so stretched with high load and admissions. Covid would be such an unwelcome bastard, it is best to be overly cautious than to be gullible.
What I like about that story is his strong sense of community connection and social responsibility. A decades long Labour activist, parish councillor, school governor, with a sense of mischief. Good man.
"Should’ve eschewed any notion of an Oz travel bubble".
I really don't want to see any bubble until everybody in New Zealand who wants to be vaccinated has the chance to do so. We continue to get talk about Group 3 going ahead from May, but it almost the end of the month and there still doesn't seem to be any plan to get on with it. The waffle from the DHB only talks about doing it over the next few months.
I tried talking to my DHB yesterday. The best I could get out of them was that they couldn't give any indication of a date as they didn't know when they would get vaccines. I was quite tempted to ask whether it would make any difference if I was Maori or Pasifika. The Medical Centre I go to don't know anything more either.
Until I have had a least the chance of being vaccinated I don't want to see any people coming in without going through quarantine. Selfish? Perhaps but I don't think I am unusual, or unreasonable.
Would you ban me from entering any shops then? I don't have a smart phone and I really don't see why I should waste a lot of money buying one. Do you suggest these should be supplied free?
Alternatively why didn't they use a service like the one proposed by Sam Morgan. That would have been a great deal more effective from what I read about it. The user wouldn't have to do anything from what was said.
Yes. Almost everywhere has the Covid 19 QR codes up but anywhere to sign in has become very rare, except in the biggest stores. The handwash bottles are also vanishing from most stores.
I’ll keep saying it: in places where there’s been no community transmission for a long time, it’s not reasonable to expect people to keep up with behaviours that are onerous when perception Bis that risk is very low. We need new strategies.
Seems like lots of people assume this is going to be over soon. Maybe it will but it might not, so we need long term strategies now
We might have a bubble case come in. In an infinite time period, that's guaranteed.
But the vulnerable period isn't infinite. My DHB has announced group three vaccinations starting this week, for example. We have a vulnerability period measured in months.
So this bubble case comes in, gets detected in a couple of weeks as their NZ family and some hospo staff get sick and diagnosed (assuming the bubble case is a carrier with no strong symptoms of their own). Maybe a couple of dozen cases, maybe a localised lockdown. Everyone shits a brick, masks and scanning spike up again, we quickly know the extent of the community outbreak and it's crunched again.
Compared with the rest of the world, we still have it light.
Here's a withering takedown of Boris Johnson by Ash Sarkar. It is alleged that Johnson missed five emergency COBRA meetings at the start of the pandemic in 2020, in order to work on a biography of Shakespeare.
The link should start at 26:00 mins. Ash's rant from about 27:00 mins notes, among other things, that we don't need another biography of Shakespeare, especially one by a "dilettante posho who knows some florid words, but has no critical thinking skills whatsoever".
Congrats to NZ's collaborative applied research team that has delivered the COVID-19 genome sequencing programme here. Only possible because of our relatively low number of cases – long may that continue.
Real-time genomics to track COVID-19 post-elimination border incursions in Aotearoa New Zealand There have been thirteen known COVID-19 community outbreaks in Aotearoa New Zealand since the virus was first eliminated in May 2020, two of which led to stay-at-home orders being issued by health officials. These outbreaks originated at the border; via isolating returnees, airline workers, and cargo vessels. With a public health system informed by real-time viral genomic sequencing which typically had complete genomes within 12 hours after a community-based positive COVID-19 test, every outbreak was well-contained with a total of 225 community cases, resulting in three deaths. Real-time genomics were essential for establishing links between cases when epidemiological data could not, and for identifying when concurrent outbreaks had different origins. By reconstructing the viral transmission history from genomic sequences, here we recount all thirteen community outbreaks and demonstrate how genomics played a vital role in containing them.
Having a trans Tasman and Cook Island bubble is a different ball game to just managing NZ. Bloomberg did well, in saying this he has uncertainty to contend with due to the Melbourne outbreak which is unpredictable.
They might have fares on the market, but are they getting any punters?
You’d be rather brave handing over cash today to an airline for travel in 8-12 months time. There’s a good chance that airline won’t exist then.
Most international airlines are surviving on government subsidies to keep airfreight going. Those subsidies will wind down as freight only operators expand. Going to be very interesting times in the airline industry around the end if the year. Also from that point it will get very hard, and expensive to bring airframes out of storage, there’s a lot of A380s and 777s that will never fly again, some with silver ferns on their tails
Air New Zealand lost $454 million last year, Qantas 2 billion. The Qantas link is very revealing of the scale of the industry's problem. Both airlines had about half of their domestic revenue which just wan't enough to pay the way. The Australian government provided over 1 billion in subsidies for domestic leisure airfares to try and prop up their domestic airlines and tourism industry, people don't really want to fly right now.
In Australia, they'll probably end up with a much smaller, nationalised Qantas and maybe some regionals, with Virgin going tits up, again.
Here, I'd say Air New Zealand will be in virtually 100% government ownership and much smaller.
Having borders opening early next year is predicted on vaccine rollout and covid proceeding to plan and nothing popping out, we'll see. Early next year is also about when the shit will hit the fan in the airlines too, so we might be seeing a bit of wishful thinking with this announcement. Air Canada is also in a bad way, burning CAD$13-15 million / day, and surviving on government subsidies, no way I'd be giving them my cash to maybe fly in a years time.
The flights are timed to coincide with the tail end of New Zealand’s planned vaccination roll-out and align with Treasury’s assumption of a significant re-opening of the border from January.
Treasury assumes bau,as a survival strategy following a vaccination plan completion.
Coronavirus follows the law of chance and success as a survival strategy,Rna evolutionary arms race being the nuclear issue of our time.
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Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
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Don't Fly!
You know it makes sense.
You're happy to prevent anyone here being visited from overseas, any UN refugees to arrive, any workers or skilled specialists to come here at all, any tourists whatsoever to arrive here, and of course quite happy to prevent post-quarantine returnees and their children and grandchildren to arrive either.
No, of course not.
Fast forward ten years:
My Mother and her best friend cross the Tasman Sea aboard the passenger liner the Wanganella to atttend the 1956 Australian Olympic Games. As she related it to me, the experience was one of the high-lights of her life.
In the 50's and even into the 60's flying wasn't a thing.
The Wanganella became a hostel ship for the construction workers and tunnelers for the Manapouri power station, The Wanganella was replaced by the legendary Oriana, which was destined to became the last passenger liner on the Tasman run. By1966 mass passenger air travel had made passenger liners uncompetitive.
In 1973 the Oriana was recommissioned as a holiday cruise liner and later a floating hotel and tourist attraction in Japan and then China. Damaged in a severe storm in the Chinese port of Dalien in 2004, the Oriana was scrapped in 2005.
The steam powered Wanganela and Oriana took 56 to 53 hours to cross the Tasman.
Fast forward again into the 21st Century:
A modern high speed gas turbine ferriy carrying over 800 passengers and cars and trucks can cross the Tasman in 24 hours. In Argentina such a service has been proved to be competitive with airlines.
"You're happy to prevent anyone…."
Ad
Hi Ad, I am not happy to prevent anyone, doing anything. I just think that the airline industry instead of being propped up by government subsidies and loans should be left to die a natural death.
How about this; Instead of propping up a dying industry with a $1 billion credit line, the government invest in buying Tasmanian built ocean going ferries to cross the Tasman.
I am not forcing or preventing anyone from doing anything.
As a way to hasten the comercial airline industry into i’s inevitable retirement, I am asking people of good will to do as I, and many other people of good will concerned about the climate to forego flying as a personal choice.
https://www.ft.com/content/e00819ba-4814-11ea-aee2-9ddbdc86190d?
My mother and uncle were two of those Polish children who disembarked the General Randall on 1 November 1944.
So Jenny, you would be happy for our time sensitive exports to cease (as they are air dependent)? Time sensitive freight world wide is a huge part of the air industry.
And these ferries, nasty old fossil fuelled diesel powered? To fill the gap left by air, would they not contribute just as much in the way of emissions?
And air is a 'dying industry? No. It was hit by a once in a century pandemic and like many industries as a result of Covid, needed short term propping up.
Your whole thesis is just unrealistic. What happened in 1944 or 1956 or whenever was appropriate to those times. The world has moved on and continues to evolve. Uninventing inventions is not an option. Mitigation and further development is.
Air dependent time sensitive foods are the epitome of bad food miles.
Time sensitive air dependent exports, such as the live grayfish and oyster and Paua trade, out of season fresh berry trade, flown around the globe to supply high end restaurants in Tokyo, New York, London, Monaco, or to the kitchens and mansions and villas of the 1%. or to supply the busisness buffets of the big corporate board rooms.
Talk about conspicous consumption.
That this time sensitive luxury food trade 'is a huge part of the air industry' is why it's got to go.
The world (and the climate) is best rid of it.
Maybe if we took this food out of the mouths of the One Percenters New Zealanders might able to afford to buy it occasionally.
Do you eat Covid-19 vaccines for breakfast? How many in one session?
Qué?
It is very simple. You went from “[t]me sensitive [air] freight” to “[a]ir dependent time sensitive foods” and then went on a rant.
My question was a logical extension of your rant.
Capisce?
Yeah I'm with you on this – the Busan Shimonoseki ferries leave flying for dead in price and comfort – a trans-Tasman run would be a good first step to the post mass air travel future.
Don't expect much support however – official policy is that NZ should be the last dinosaur hunters, not the first adopters of any rational change. It's expensive and stupid, but that reflects the quality of our political decision making.
Passenger traffic fell by two thirds in 2020, and full recovery isn't expected before 2023.
For air travel as for many parts of society, Covid19 is the structural adjustment for climate effects that public policy settings were too afraid to do.
What is noteworthy is the residual customer demand: unlike the airline collapses after 9/11, there are very few 2020/21 bankruptcies because airlines know the latent demand remains.
But your projections about the inevitable decline of aircraft flights are not and will never be in the interests of New Zealand.
But your projections about the inevitable decline of aircraft flights are not and will never be in the interests of New Zealand.
Only two things need to happen to allow the end of flights to benefit NZ.
The interests of NZ rarely influence policy making – or neoliberalism, asset thefts, the QMS, mass low-wage immigration, and the housing crisis would never have been allowed to develop. You need a better rational for subsidizing contemporary aviation than that.
I think to stop flying entirely would be impractical and extreme.
To cut flights by 50% and force the use of low carbon generating planes would be an aim that might be achievable (probably by heavily taxing aviation fuel and airports) if governments across the world could be brought on side, which will be a Herculean task.
Measures such as these would greatly increase the price of flights. But people love those Easyjet stag weekends in Prague.
I agree.
If airlines were taxed at the rate of climate damage they cause, they would be forced to use low carbon generating planes. That is if they wanted to stay in business.
Alternatively surface travel would become competitive again….
P.S. We could probably achieve much the same effect by withdrawing government support every time the airline industry gets in to trouble and has to be bailed out by the taxpayer. This is not the first time.
From Wikipedia:
History of Air New Zealand – Wikipedia
Without tax payer subsidies Air NZ would collapse quicker than a house of cards, a carbon tax on aviation fuel would put Air NZ out of business even quicker. The same probably goes for most airlines, one of the reasons that around the globe, Air lines are spared carbon charges.
You arent going to get to net zero if you concentrate on the sector that contributes 5% of emissions.
GHGs associated with flying are way more than what happens on the flight.
Carbon emissions commerical airline industry may be 5% now, but they are increasing rapidly, and this increase is making no sign of slowing down. (especially with all the tax-payers subsidies being thrown at it.)
Carbon dioxide emissions from air travel are not the full story.
Add the above two things together and you can begin to see the threat that the commercial airline industry poses to the climate, and especially any chance of reaching net zero by 2050.
With half our emissions from farming, let's focus efforts there rather than getting distracted by fights with the richest most influential NZers. If you are serious about climate action..
Jenny, Internet use (much of it on frivolous blogs and social media) tributes almost as much to global warming as all air travel combined (around 4% compared to 5% for air travel).
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think
Be far more effective to have crypto currency banned. Bitcoin related emissions alone contribute more emissions annually than all of NZ emissions.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/business/dealbook/bitcoin-climate-change.amp.html%3f0p19G=0232
Or more fast rail (France has banned internal air travel on flights where a train could make the same journey in sub 2.5 hours) (sadly not an option here).
Or maybe China should actually become a member of the global community and take action. Almost all of the coal from NZ and Australia goes to China, who once again are trying to get a free ride by claiming they are still a developing economy and deserve special exemptions.
According to this rather interesting and well referenced article your criticism of China is unjustified.
"In December 2016, the Center for American Progress brought a group of energy experts to China to find out what is really happening. We visited multiple coal facilities—including a coal-to-liquids plant—and went nearly 200 meters down one of China’s largest coal mines to interview engineers, plant managers, and local government officials working at the front lines of coal in China.
We found that the nation’s coal sector is undergoing a massive transformation that extends from the mines to the power plants, from Ordos to Shanghai. China is indeed going green. The nation is on track to overdeliver on the emissions reduction commitments it put forward under the Paris climate agreement, and making coal cleaner is an integral part of the process."
The tables in this article on the technical makeup of each nation's (China and US) most efficient plants show that 90% of China's plants are ultra-supercritical while 1% America's is ultra-supercritical.
Comparing China with US and Europe shows conventional air pollution standards are highest in China. e.g. allowable Nitrogen Oxide emissions for new plants in China is 50mg/cuM while in Europe's it's 150mg/cuM.
China's top 100 most efficient coal-fired power units have a coal consumption rate (gce/kWh) of between 271.56 and 294.88 while Us's is between 335.10 and 397.13.
Comparing emissions and efficiency China out performs US.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2017/05/15/432141/everything-think-know-coal-china-wrong/
The French government are passing legislation to restrict air travel.
The New Zealand government are spending tens of $millions to subsidise air travel.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/france-domestic-flight-ban-emissions-scli-intl/index.htm
"Or more fast rail (France has banned internal air travel on flights where a train could make the same journey in sub 2.5 hours) (sadly not an option here)."
Peter chch
High speed trains are sadly not an option here, for two main reasons.
1. The huge expense. (The cost of building a high speed rail network is probably only possible for powerful economies like Japan, or France, or England and China).
2. Our very hilly and torturous terrain.
As I have written above, mass air travel is only a recent innovation.
For more than a century of European settlement, to travel along this ribbon like mountainous archipelago seperated into two main islands, the coasts were our highways. And for even longer if you consider Maori transportation.
At this time in our history, unsustainable, evironmentally destructive, and profligately wasteful, would be my depiction of air travel.
Sooner or later it will have to be curtailed.
Better sooner than later.
What if the $1.5 billion in financial support made available to Air New Zealand to save their polluting industry was instead made available for a Trans-Tasman and coastal passenger ferry service to directly compete with the air lines, to end their monopoly, and to continue the job of grounding the airlines that the pandemic began…..
…..and climate change will finish:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/19/climate-change-spells-turbulent-times-ahead-for-air-travel
There is zero point comparing New Zealand to France.
Ad, I am not intending to. Just illustrating that some creative and bold strategies are needed. And sometimes they are not painful either.
The aviation industry needs a big rethink when it comes to reducing flights and other means of transportation (train, cruise ships). I would diversify and offer all 3 on the same ticket.
Spending money and holidaying in ones country is good for the economy. Families may choose to live in the same country. Some creative spark could do low and high end ethnic restaurants and have Las Vegas style shows.
NZ is a bit bland and boring when it comes to an exciting evening out, dinner and a show package.
There is nothing on free to air TV to watch any more.
You should be pretty happy at the moment then, as Covid has effectively reduced flights considerably. There must be a lot less aviation pollution over the last year.
Only a matter of time before we get slammed, hard. On my travels I see no-one scanning, no masks, and no distancing. Going into small spaces with lots of public is a minefield.
I feel like we've got complacent and switched off which is probably a function of doing it right and getting back to normal.
The right wing has won with the travel bubble but I really am worried we're going to get a breach from Australia this winter and have to enter an extended lockdown.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125240020/covid19-new-zealand-highly-vulnerable-to-a-large-outbreak–experts
It would be a shame to have all our good work undone at this stage.
Just headlined on RNZ…paraphrasing…there could be many more cases associated with the cluster in Melbourne of, so far, 9 cases. One infectious person attended an Aussie Rules game where 23,000 were present.
Watch this space.
Yeah, one Covid carrier wipes his nose then touches 12 door handles and 4 taps…carnage.
Lordy! Wash your face masks, get your house in order (literally) and stock up on cat food and loo rolls.
And step up the vaccine rollout!
Yep, we know from 2021 worldwide that toilet paper is the single answer to Covid 🤣
.
Yep … and relatively few high-risk over-80s vaccinated … (what’s more, less than 20% of the very highest-risk 90+ with serious medical conditions).
Should’ve eschewed any notion of an Oz travel bubble until much wider vaccination coverage. Indian variant is a bastard that you don’t toy with.
Our Eds are so stretched with high load and admissions. Covid would be such an unwelcome bastard, it is best to be overly cautious than to be gullible.
Heard on the news, poor old William Shakespeare died at 81 (unrelated to getting vaccinated).
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-57234741
What I like about that story is his strong sense of community connection and social responsibility. A decades long Labour activist, parish councillor, school governor, with a sense of mischief. Good man.
"Should’ve eschewed any notion of an Oz travel bubble".
I really don't want to see any bubble until everybody in New Zealand who wants to be vaccinated has the chance to do so. We continue to get talk about Group 3 going ahead from May, but it almost the end of the month and there still doesn't seem to be any plan to get on with it. The waffle from the DHB only talks about doing it over the next few months.
I tried talking to my DHB yesterday. The best I could get out of them was that they couldn't give any indication of a date as they didn't know when they would get vaccines. I was quite tempted to ask whether it would make any difference if I was Maori or Pasifika. The Medical Centre I go to don't know anything more either.
Until I have had a least the chance of being vaccinated I don't want to see any people coming in without going through quarantine. Selfish? Perhaps but I don't think I am unusual, or unreasonable.
My attitude is while theres none I'm pretty chilled about scanning etc, as soon as there a case I'm back on it hard, .
In saying that I would have no problem with every shop having a bluetooth tracker picking up my ph as I go in.
FWIW, I scan in around 80% of the time.
Unpopular as it us, my reckons have the responsibility fall on business owners to have scanning as a right of entry.
Would you ban me from entering any shops then? I don't have a smart phone and I really don't see why I should waste a lot of money buying one. Do you suggest these should be supplied free?
Alternatively why didn't they use a service like the one proposed by Sam Morgan. That would have been a great deal more effective from what I read about it. The user wouldn't have to do anything from what was said.
You don't need a cell phone to write down your name, number and address.
Yeah, it's interesting how few places have a sign in sheet (or sign about where to find it)
Yes. Almost everywhere has the Covid 19 QR codes up but anywhere to sign in has become very rare, except in the biggest stores. The handwash bottles are also vanishing from most stores.
I follow daily mail Australia to get the heads up and the restrictions which Australian states put in place for Australian citizens.
I would not exclude a case in NZ appearing due to the Melbourne outbreak.
I’ll keep saying it: in places where there’s been no community transmission for a long time, it’s not reasonable to expect people to keep up with behaviours that are onerous when perception Bis that risk is very low. We need new strategies.
Seems like lots of people assume this is going to be over soon. Maybe it will but it might not, so we need long term strategies now
what do you mean by "slammed, hard"?
We might have a bubble case come in. In an infinite time period, that's guaranteed.
But the vulnerable period isn't infinite. My DHB has announced group three vaccinations starting this week, for example. We have a vulnerability period measured in months.
So this bubble case comes in, gets detected in a couple of weeks as their NZ family and some hospo staff get sick and diagnosed (assuming the bubble case is a carrier with no strong symptoms of their own). Maybe a couple of dozen cases, maybe a localised lockdown. Everyone shits a brick, masks and scanning spike up again, we quickly know the extent of the community outbreak and it's crunched again.
Compared with the rest of the world, we still have it light.
Everyone shits a brick
Is that why people need to stock up on so much toilet paper?
Either that or because they knew they'd be panic-buying baked beans a day ot two later…
Here's a withering takedown of Boris Johnson by Ash Sarkar. It is alleged that Johnson missed five emergency COBRA meetings at the start of the pandemic in 2020, in order to work on a biography of Shakespeare.
The link should start at 26:00 mins. Ash's rant from about 27:00 mins notes, among other things, that we don't need another biography of Shakespeare, especially one by a "dilettante posho who knows some florid words, but has no critical thinking skills whatsoever".
New Zealand reclaims the top spot in Bloomberg's Covid-19 resilience ranking.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/
Congrats to NZ's collaborative applied research team that has delivered the COVID-19 genome sequencing programme here. Only possible because of our relatively low number of cases – long may that continue.
Having a trans Tasman and Cook Island bubble is a different ball game to just managing NZ. Bloomberg did well, in saying this he has uncertainty to contend with due to the Melbourne outbreak which is unpredictable.
Bloomfield not
Bloomberg.So are we going to get a tourist reset or not?Or are the overseas owned airlines going to set the policy for us?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/125238153/major-airlines-selling-fares-to-nz-shows-growing-confidence-borders-will-open-early-2022-airline-groups-says
They might have fares on the market, but are they getting any punters?
You’d be rather brave handing over cash today to an airline for travel in 8-12 months time. There’s a good chance that airline won’t exist then.
Most international airlines are surviving on government subsidies to keep airfreight going. Those subsidies will wind down as freight only operators expand. Going to be very interesting times in the airline industry around the end if the year. Also from that point it will get very hard, and expensive to bring airframes out of storage, there’s a lot of A380s and 777s that will never fly again, some with silver ferns on their tails
How will that affect airlines doing domestic, Pacific and trans Tasman flights?
Air New Zealand lost $454 million last year, Qantas 2 billion. The Qantas link is very revealing of the scale of the industry's problem. Both airlines had about half of their domestic revenue which just wan't enough to pay the way. The Australian government provided over 1 billion in subsidies for domestic leisure airfares to try and prop up their domestic airlines and tourism industry, people don't really want to fly right now.
In Australia, they'll probably end up with a much smaller, nationalised Qantas and maybe some regionals, with Virgin going tits up, again.
Here, I'd say Air New Zealand will be in virtually 100% government ownership and much smaller.
Having borders opening early next year is predicted on vaccine rollout and covid proceeding to plan and nothing popping out, we'll see. Early next year is also about when the shit will hit the fan in the airlines too, so we might be seeing a bit of wishful thinking with this announcement. Air Canada is also in a bad way, burning CAD$13-15 million / day, and surviving on government subsidies, no way I'd be giving them my cash to maybe fly in a years time.
The flights are timed to coincide with the tail end of New Zealand’s planned vaccination roll-out and align with Treasury’s assumption of a significant re-opening of the border from January.
Treasury assumes bau,as a survival strategy following a vaccination plan completion.
Coronavirus follows the law of chance and success as a survival strategy,Rna evolutionary arms race being the nuclear issue of our time.
https://twitter.com/GabrielScally/status/1395697659953008643
or for real world data a decrease in efficacy.
https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/1396438472118849540
Reply to RedBaronCV @5
Can the government afford another level 4 lockdown or will they throw the towel in?
The workers insurance for loss of job due to Covid would be useless.
See Collins thinks cancer patients from the Waikato could go to Australia for treatment, on RNZ news.
Non isolated tourists increase the risk of an outbreak. Covid mutations are getting meaner and vaccinations would need to be effective.
Answer to your questions is only if the government throws the towel in.
Why would tourists want to come to a NZ with Covid?