This is what Labour should be doing in the next 3 years.
Only a very small percentage of roofs have solar power (or at least serious solar) in Wanaka yet in South Australia roof solar was able to provide 77% of the state's power on this day and solar farms the other 23%.
It's bizarre beyond belief that NZ hasn't taken up various solar tech. I can only assume it's part of the rort that happens in the building industry. Not sure why governments haven't been keen, although I guess 9 Key years are obvious. That and few want to mess with the electricity industry (god knows why, if anything needed reform its that).
Is the market regulator tilting against feed-ins, or is the regulator abdicating responsibility and failing to regulate, leaving it all up to the retailer's beneficence in offering anything at all for power fed back in from home systems?
The electricity market should be competitive and deliver affordable, clean electricity
And that's the Greens not understanding economics.
Of course, its what everyone else believes as well despite all the evidence showing competition and the profit motive doesn't bring about the desired results of a better society.
Never mind, I guess I’ll have to ask a member of the Greens to confirm your view of them and interpretation of their path to implementation of their policies.
Shareholders of privatised electricity companies now have a vested interest in resisting change. Dealing with them will be a good test of this government's resolve. Or lack of it.
solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds. gov also needs to get serious about tyre recycling. private industry is a bust with that. ltsa needs to mandate a recycled tyre component into new road resealing. leaving things like this up to private industry is a nonsense.
Me too – and what would stop local governments from setting an example?
Wairarapa where I live has four district councils that already work together on some issues. Any region has a community of interests. Every region is concerned about solar power and water use among all the other issues. Let's see regions like mine develop good plans 'pour encourager les autres', which the government is likely to consider supporting.
As our PM has said, leadership is about taking the people with you. If we're to achieve the best of the changes our new world needs, doesn't that responsibility have to work both ways?
to woodart at 3.2 : absolutely agree re solar panels and water reticulation . I with others tried to get compulsory instalment of rain water storage built in to the then beginning explosion of housing around Gulf Harbour instead of bringing piped water along Peninsula.. We had 10.000 gallons under our deck in a modest house.
Big business prevailed even though Rodney and Auckland well aware and concerned about availability of supply.
I also remember discussion probably from a remit at a Labour conference some decades ago in favour of making cheap solar panels available.
Comment starts in the name field and people forget and simply start typing. Once they realise then they switch to the comment field but often forget to fix the name field.
Would probably be best to have it start in the comment field if the plugin supports it.
It's almost beyond depressing the disincentives toward solar and local generation in New Zealand. Most lines companies are reluctant at best, but they have a problem with networks that were designed to deliver in one direction and that can take a bit of changing. There's also systemic / structural difficulties where the electricity system has been turned from an essential social and economic service to a profit generating industry.
There's a couple of significant regions, Gisborne and Queenstown, that have only one feed from the Grid too, a loss of that feed is a big problem. Gisborne was without power for three days when a topdressing plane took out the line and the consequences of a span or pylon coming down on the Queenstown feed don't bear thinking about. Adequate embedded generation capacity is really handy on so many counts.
A program of dealing with the infrastructure and systematic barriers, and providing financial pathways to household solar, preferably with batteries, would have paybacks in so many areas. Unfortunately this could be a bit tricky as will mean a comprehensive reform of the sector.
It wouldn't need a 'big' quake to cause problems on either of those lines. In Gisborne's case they were lucky it was just a span down, if it had taken a pylon as well it would have been a lot longer.
In both situations there's multiple faults that could cause trouble, and quite unstable geology. But the loss of the line for a week would have an impact to a quake, but without the physical damage. We'd still be evacuating a large part of the district.
We haven't got time in between weather and other traumas in the precarious 21st century, to refit all the houses that would have been built to 20th century standards. Get the right practical designs (with good drainage sytems – no mediterranean-styled roofs) and systems, now under Labour before the wicked witch or wizard of the west gets back in power by casting a spell over the country!
As woodart says up near 3 – solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds.
"Solar power in New Zealand is on the rise, but operates in an entirely free market with no form of subsidies or intervention from the New Zealand Government."
Solar is good, but I'm more interested in household wind turbines.
I did a little research and found small turbines, which could be attached to a roof, can generate around 3kw per hour. Living in a windy area that's quite enticing, but there are planning regulations and hoops to jump through, and make it probably not worth the hassle and added costs to the original outlay.
With a smart meter, I see I use on average about 7kw per day, so likely I would not only be energy neutral, but be adding to the national grid. Multiply that by tens of thousands and that's plenty more renewables going in to the system.
What's the deal with being a contributor as far as the power companies are concerned? How much do they still try to milk you for, ie line costs etc…?
Wind mills can be made from smart drive washing machine motors for less than $20.But you will need an electrician to wire it up as it generates 240 volts .
yep…but thought you were talking about ridge line systems…have thought they might be a viable option as standard installation on new builds but havnt come across much about them and thought you may have.
The big commercial wind farms? Not to me. I'd rather see them all over than coal fired power stations belching carbon. When there's a better way of doing it, they can be taken down.
In an urban setting they're no more unsightly than rusting out satellite dishes.
Its not an entirely free-market as the its owned by profiteering schmucks and they pretty much have veto power over it. Considering that having solar power from private residential premises would cut their profits then they do everything they can to prevent people taking up solar up to, and including, blaming solar installations for rising power price for everyone else (yeah, can't find that article now – was from when National were in power).
It's worse than that Draco as solar power from private residential premises exported is sold next door, or wherever it ends up as Electrons go with the flow at full retail.
The solar export residence get's about 20% of retail and the power industry takes profit from infrastructure it neither owns, maintains and spreads BS about it being bad for the network.
An added kicker is when the grid is down the panels shut down as a safety feature so we get screwed over again.
Hydro involves modifying/wrecking the landscape way too much, as does onshore wind-power, though offshore is much better. (A single wind-farm would wreck the unsullied and wonderful 360 degree views in the Maniototo from near Ophir or from the rail-trail.)
Ideally when we have 8 million people in NZ in 2068 (link below) electricity needs will be 100% met from existing hydro, more efficient use of power, solar and, if necessary, additional wind-farms, but offshore only.
That's a very complicated question with a lot of variables for both PV and hydro.
Wikipedia quotes IPCC 2014 for a range (in grams CO2 eq/ kWhr) for PV of 18 to 180, for hydro it's 1.0 to 2200 (compared to coal at 740 to 910). I've seen a lot of stuff indicating producing PV panels has improved dramatically since 2014, so using 2014 figures makes PV look worse than it really is now.
Factors affecting hydro include how much land with vegetation is flooded that then releases methane from the lake, whether the scheme uses a huge dam and stored water or is run of the river through a tunnel or canal, whether dams and canals are concrete or earth construction, how long before reservoirs are silted up, the albedo of the reservoir compared to what was there before (forest, grassland, desert) etc.
Factors affecting PV include how efficient the manufacturing process is, how clean the energy used for production is, the previous albedo of where the PV panels are installed, lifetime of the panels etc.
Big picture takeaway still remains being careful about getting more efficient in necessary uses of energy, and reducing wastage wherever possible is the only emissions-free lunch. Otherwise, all energy supply involves some emissions, it's just a question of how much. In that big picture, for New Zealand, adding PV may well be one of our lower emissions paths.
Personally I'd rather do PV than new hydro, excepting the Onslow-Manorburn proposal which is a storage scheme rather than a new generation scheme.
Beat me to it! Pretty much agree with your above comment here.
The other factor involved in the environmental effects of solar, is the longevity of the technology, and the impacts of the materials used.
IIRC the early PV cells became useless after a few years, but the later silicon cells could last around 25 years. Now the newest technology involves spray on coatings which although cheap and quick to manufacture and replicate are less efficient than the silicon and don't last as long and worse are plastic based.
Unlike silicon solar cells, cells made from plastic require far less energy. However as a material plastic cannot generate electricity as efficiently as silicon. Not only that, solar panels made from silicon have a life expectancy of 25 years. While it’s doubtful that plastic solar cells would ever be able to compete, scientists are claiming that if energy costs can be lowered sufficiently plastic solar cells could potentially become more effective over their life cycle, compared to silicon cells. Scientists are currently working on increasing the energy conversion efficiency and the life cycle of plastic solar cells.
Andre-I notice adverse landscape effects don't figure in your world. Now I can see it wasn’t just the WT that put you off the Greens.
Fortunately we have people like Anton Oliver (ex-AB) in the community who helped to stop a wind-farm monstrosity in Central Otago in 2006.
I have driven several times through Spain over the past few years and seen plenty of landscape massively degraded by wind-farms.
Other energy-related highly invasive landscape effects include proposed small-scale hydro that destroy important wild rivers on the West Coast. From memory I think the coalition quashed one such proposal in the last term (ministers Parker/Sage?).
Gabby's question was specifically about how green, which generally means emissions. Hence my answer was focused on emissions.
If any forms of generation that have visible landscape effects are off the table, what is left? Idiot knee-jerk opposition to changes like that are what has kept a lot of coal and gas burning around the world.
I'll limit my comment about your driving around Spain multiple times recently to noting that behaviour like that is a significant contributor to the climate crisis we're dealing with right now.
None of it is green. Some of it is less impactful than others (which is what I think you were asking), but until we move to steady state (including population) we will continue to be driven by over-extraction and climate disrupting tech.
All developed nations could now be mandating passive tech in new builds, thus lowering power consumption. High tech, esp large scale power generation shouldn't be the starting point, it should come after we've used passive tech and reduced demand.
those materials have to be extracted from somewhere. Theoretically at some point we might reach some kind of close to equilibrium with recycling and manufacture, but not if we keep perpetual growth as our main driver of economics.
There are printable solar panels/coatings now starting to be produced I believe. I've looked at it quite hard and with interest rates where they are just investing in panels using it to cut the daytime use of power out is starting to look better. Any storage is the expensive bit
It's reaching the point where the cost of the panels is becoming less and less of the cost, while regulatory costs, installation, inverters etc are staying high. Storage costs are coming down too, again it's the other associated bits keeping package costs high.
For me, I've got my electricity cost down to $600 – $700 year, so I really don't see value in adding a PV system. Let alone the overhanging trees regularly dropping stuff big enough to damage panels. If I were doing a new build however, getting a new lines connection is so fkn expensive that going off-grid might be close to the same initial cost.
But going on grid would be more beneficial to society especially if it was well planned and maintained.
In other words, going back to a state monopoly that includes the solar panels on private rooves is the only viable option because it would then remove the individualist decision making that fails to do what's needed for society.
+100 the solution is returning it to the people and running it as a single network not the dysfunctional club it currently is.
Bradfords reforms were all about creating a gravy train for the club members and obfuscation so the average punter gives up before they realise it's a con job.
Yes, returning power generation and supply to full public ownership would clear the way for sustainable electricity that most could afford including solar.
Compensation to the current gougers and their captive artificial market could be made over the next 50 years!
I don't know, but I've noticed that sometimes you can get more energy out of them than you put in, depending on how they're wound up. Could be a profitable line of research for someone. I'd be willing to put myself forward as a research subject if required.
One of the enlightened Stuart M thanks, and one of the Pillar Group who want to enable the country to conserve its good things, and prepare for the future known problems. 2002-2020 have we changed, have we any more agency than earlier, or just to be ignored or teased with schemes to keep us quiet? And our politicians, we must bring in a maximum of three terms or we have fat-necked pussies who 'know better' manipulating their electorate or constituency so they manage to stay and stay with dwindling returns to the citizens.
I'll just shove in here some words from Elton John's Song For You because I think they need to be our nation's theme song going further into the 21st century and spell out the way we all need to try to value each other.
"Your Song"
("Elton John" Version)
It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show
I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song, and this one's for you
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on…
Mmm – I did use to listen to a bit of Elton John back in the day. But when it comes to the political culture of doing nothing, it's maybe more like Warren Zevon:
You're supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things.
Man, that's hard to do. And if you don't, they'll screw you.
And if you do, they'll screw you, too…
MmmmI guess the thing is to enter into politics and planning with goodwill, go on a quest for the most effective and practical outcomes, and get something done as a result of each plan, even something small!
"The second is cost – NZ pays extraordinary prices for everything, and that weighs the cost benefit equation against solar installation."
and that is exactly why I after doing the sums did not go ahead. Also battery storage technology is still evolving and I would not put in a solar power system without the ability to store the surplus. Instead I bought a hybrid car which is saving me a huge % on my annual car runnin costs – and the car's batteries, when they are not effcient enough for the car, can be recycled to be solar storage batteries. But that is years away.
“A $9.5 million house is being built in Christchurch. Shaped like the letter Z, swimming pool and tennis court. When completed, it’s going to be one of the biggest and priciest properties in town. The owner? A director at Foodstuffs South Island and owner of Pak 'n Save Wainoni, one of Christchurch’s poorest areas.”
Everything that is wrong with our economy encapsulated here.
…One property in Havelock has been found using 33,000 litres of water a day, while another is going through 28,000 litres of water a day. The test results from Renwick showed a house leaking 67,200 litres of water a day.
The council notified owners "as a courtesy" when there was evidence of a significant leak, but it was up to property owners to find and repair them, she said. Some of the 62 properties with leaks were zoned commercial….
Under the new system, residents on water meters could be charged a flat fee of $200 for their first 200 cubic metres of water (200,000 litres). After that, Havelock residents could be charged $1.60 per 1000 litres used….
Properties with "large" leaks of more than 72 litres a day would therefore use at least 92 percent of their base water allocation if they continued without fixing the leak. Havelock residents paid an annual $510 fee at present….
Renwick dealt with water restrictions most summers and salt water could get into Havelock's water if demand jumped and water supplies dropped, as it had three years ago. Climate change was expected to put more pressure on the aquifer which supplied its water. A sea level rise could see salt entering Havelock's water more often, and higher temperatures could encourage higher water use…
Meters for commercial properties are fine, but not for dwellings. Because it enables right wing councils to charge for water on a policy change without requiring massive infrastructure investment.
Meters also enable landlords to evade costs by making the water bill the tenants' problem, like power or internet.
Why should domestic water wastrels and those too careless to look after their plumbing get to shift the cost of their profligacy onto all the other ratepayers?
IIRC, the law for costs where there are meters is the landlord pays for the fixed parts of the bill and the tenant pays for the variable usage parts of the bill. Here in Dorkland my bill is a fixed wastewater charge of $18.35/month, and because of the drought I've pared my water use down to somewhere around 30 litres/day (1 unit per month). My variable charge is $1.59/month to supply the water and $2.16/month to take it away again after I've filled it with piss and shit.
But we know there are constant efforts to privatise water supplies and stuff it up as royally as every other monopoly that gets privatised.
If regular flow monitoring shows a block or suburb is disproportionately using water, use the regular leak detection protocols to hone in on the cause. But routine monitoring of each household will result in privatisation of water supply, which means more people with skin infections in poor neighbourhoods, sometimes to the point of hospitalisation.
It has never been closely examined whether what ratepayers save in water gets paid by taxpayers via the health system.
All of Orcland is metered and charged by usage, so usage data should be available for any intrepid researcher that wants it.
Do you know of any studies around skin infections or other health problems in NZ being correlated with people feeling they need to not use water because of its cost? It's not something I can recall even hearing a whisper of.
Hell, even Penny Bright (R.I.P.) didn't try that as one of her arguments, and I was always quite impressed at how inventive she could get.
edit: meanwhile, that Auckland is universally metered is usually credited as one of the reasons Aucklanders are claimed to have the lowest per capita water usage of all population centers in NZ.
Watercare is about to take over the whole of Northland's supply as well.
So, together with the Waikato catchment they already supply, they are heading for about 2/5ths of New Zealand on metered and chlorinated and flourided happiness.
I can't understand why Councils don't look after their own water as part of their services. There should be no separate entity, just a department within the purview of the Council. This splitting up under I suppose neolib disruption just muddies the water, perhaps literally.
The way things are going, it won't be long before Watercare is the water department for all of the north island. Then all of New Zealand. Nationalisation by another route. Bwahahahaha, universal domination.
The best reason for a big organisation like Watercare to do it for the small councils is small councils are often really crap at it. Either they don't spend the money for the equipment and expertise, and produce lousy water quality (for trips around NZ I tend to bring along enough drinking water for my whole trip), or they do spend the money to do it properly and it ends up really expensive because those costs are spread over a small base.
We might speculate about that all day, but lowering flow rates to people who can't afford their bill could have something to do with their access to hygiene. The connection is plausible enough that I don't want to touch it with a bargepole.
All of auckland might be metred, but many other towns aren't, and frankly metering is only a precursor to attempted sell-offs.
Not to mention the concept that water is a right, not a commodity.
There are other ways to find heavy water users, if it's a problem. But metering is simply a way to disguise rate hikes for most people.
Catchment boards soon realised that a whole-farm approach was needed when several methods were in use. The farmer had to adopt a mutually agreed ‘farm plan’ over a set period, normally five years.
A farm plan was based on a land capability survey. This divided farmland into eight classes – four arable (crop-growing) and four non-arable. The surveys were first done in 1952.
Engineers vs conservators
The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 linked erosion with flooding. Catchment board staff were river engineers and soil conservators, who often disagreed on how to control flooding.
Some engineers believed that works such as stop banks and stone gabions (rocks inside wire mesh) would control flooding, whereas soil conservators considered that the upper parts of a river catchment should be the focus. Eventually both viewpoints were included in flood control programmes.
Pat I noticed that the article finished with a query. And this piece I have copied has relevance now as the RMA is under change. I am not sure what the effect of that will be. Do you know? People seem approving but will things be no holds barred? The idea of agencies run on business lines such as Watercare doesn't seem to be an automatic outcome of the previous legislation.
Regional councils as we know them today were established in 1989, under the Local Government Amendment Act. Regional council boundaries approximately followed river catchment boundaries. This legislation rationalised the bodies carrying out functions at a regional and local level – reducing the catchment boards and other government bodies that had proliferated over the last century from more than 800 to 86.
The newly created regional councils inherited a range of resource management responsibilities from the existing boards and councils, including for flood and erosion control functions transferred from the catchment boards and planning functions under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, as well as transport and civil defense functions.
But it was not until 1991, with the enactment of the Resource Management Act, that responsibilities under a cohesive and integrated resource management regime were delegated to regional councils.
But what of the significant challenges that regional councils face, and their ability to fulfill their natural resource management responsibilities in an increasingly challenging environmental landscape? These outstanding questions will be explored in an upcoming post.
"A second irony is evident in the way the Resource Management Bill evolved. The Bill was first developed in the late 1980s under a Labour Government, with Geoffrey Palmer as Minister for the Environment. The Bill was underpinned by the concept of “sustainable development”, based on a concept of balancing economic objectives against environmental objectives (otherwise known as “trade-offs”). However in 1990, before the Bill could be enacted, the Labour government lost power, and a National government took office, with Simon Upton assuming the environmental portfolio. To the surprise of many, Upton decided not to abandon the Bill but instead to review it. As a result of the review, there was a shift from balancing economic and environmental objectives, to that of economic objectives being “constrained” by environmental ones; a shift encompassed in the concept of “sustainable management”, which is fundamental to the purpose of the law (Section 5). As a result, when the Act was passed in 1991, it was, according long-time environmentalist and then-government advisor Guy Salmon, “greener” conceptually than the Bill originally conceived by the more left-leaning Labour government."
And i'm not sure I agree with that assessment….the old catchment boards had a more holistic view and a more environmentally focused response IMO….mind you they operated in a significantly different environment with far less pressure
Why people give any credence toward the USA beats me. What has the US done for the benefit of peace or peaceful co-existence, the only country to unleash a nuclear bomb x 2 murdering millions of civilians.
North Korea, flattened by them in 1950s, did that bring peace?. Vietnam, where the US used chemical weapons manufactured in NZ by Watkins/ Dow and mercenary fighters from around the globe including NZ. Still there are malformed births from Agent Orange. Peace?.
Iraqi, a once A grade country with a stable democracy where people were still alive and had jobs and infrastructure. What a mess. Peace there?. Libya, a democratic country that owed no foreign debt and had a better democracy than most. What another mess. Peace there?.
Left out many other atrocities against other lands by the war-virus that is the USA. a blight on humanity. What has changed, nothing, and nothing will change whilst people give support to this truly evil military regime. Do you?
You've a good example in Iraq, and a lousy one in Korea. Korea asked for US help to avoid the Japanese annexation before 1910, and having been abandoned by the retreating Japanese was only too pleased to resist Stalin's puppet regime. Had the North made a decent country of itself, you'd have a case – but they chose to be despots – deserving even less sympathy than Saddam Hussein. South Korea, in no small part through the sacrifice of Kim Jae-gyu, is a lively independent democracy today.
Brigid I don't know that Stuart was that positive about the USA. Why are you dissing him?
And Stuart – going to the Wikipedia link you put up on Kim Jae-gyu (it is important to get the latter name right! – many Kims), it is a great example of the awful competitive problems all countries can have, with people trying to gain or control power and turn it up or down.
Park was a patriot and a reformer who gradually became a dictator. The man who assassinated him was his old friend, who had no illusions of surviving the act. So Korea survived as neither a US puppet nor a nasty militarized regime – quite an achievement considering the pattern for US-backed strongmen.
Perhaps NZ parliamentarians need to be faced with a sign over the main doors – 'We don't promise you a rose garden'. Or with the malevolent sarcasm of the Nazi use of 'Work will set you free' a notice that 'Serving your country whether in the army or as a politician may cost you your life'.
I don't think that NZ pollies, especially from the right side, expect to front up to such ideological traumas as the South Korean you referred to. Having the ability to change pollies, and their civil service heads, prevents power concreting to the absolute corruption level.
Finding balance is the task it seems, between constant change with no long term responsibility for good planning and decisions, and the ability of the agile villain to appeal long-term to the infantile, lurking dissenter inside many, who will accept corruption as smart organising if the PR is plausible.
Yes, dead right – the abiding virtue of democracy, from a political science point of view, is that is allows peaceful transfers of power.
When democracy becomes as distorted as it has in the US under Trump however, it is no longer certain that this is possible, or that a peaceful process that accommodates Trumpism is preferable to a Heimlich manoeuvre that expels him forcefully from America's political throat.
Assassination has removed much better presidents than Trump.
It was the North that attacked however, first on their own, then, after they were repulsed, with Chinese support. The world is awash in examples of unjustified US interventions – but Korea is not one of them – which is why NZ troops were there to teach the locals this, which they call yeon ga.
One must be extraordinarily undiscriminating to endorse the North Korean regime.
When will you learn to make a compelling argument that goes beyond simple adjectives and mere reckons? None of your comments today contains any original input from you, no thought, no argument, no reason(ing) except for adjectives such as “absurd”, “repulsive”, or “brilliant”. Wow!
What are you going to ‘enlighten’ us with next, a GIF?
I have written on this forum many, many carefully argued critiques of radio dramas, TV shows, films, political speeches, political campaigns, etc. If you think that that extreme right wing racist casino billionaire who funds Trump's campaign is anything other than "repulsive", then you can enlighten us as to exactly why.
Do you think Evo Morales's performance on the Daily Show was not brilliant? Why not? The audience and the host were obviously deeply impressed by him. Was I wrong to point out that extremely rare quality in a political leader?
Your point about my use of the word "absurd" to dismiss Stuart's post is well taken. I apologise to Stuart and everyone else for my lazy and reductive putdown.
A well-written critique is more than a few adjectives leading to a superficial judgement.
When you use certain adjectives to describe your view of people without stating the reason, it becomes a shallow throwaway comment that offers no insight(s) and no point of connection with others who might read your comment. You might as well say that you hated Brussels sprouts when you were young, which may be 100% true, but it does not make for debate because we cannot discuss personal taste; all it does is saying something about you.
I hope you’re getting it because asking me to argue with you why those adjectives may not apply is putting the onus on me and asking me about my taste. For the record, I love Brussels sprouts, but I don’t know why.
Iraqi, a once A grade country with a stable democracy where people were still alive and had jobs and infrastructure.
Apart from those poor sods who were gassed by the dictator who ruled through fear and violence
Libya, a democratic country that owed no foreign debt and had a better democracy than most. What another mess.
Yeah, 'cause the brotherly leader Gadaffy Duck's third international theory wasn't brought down by widespread corruption and unemployment, by the people who were no longer fooled by cults of personality.
Don't know what you're talking about with the 'no' and 'yes' thing – I just pointed out a couple of gaping holes in your claims of Iraqi and Libyan peaceful democracies nonsense, but if you want to attribute something else you think I meant with that correction, so be it.
Libya was the most secular of the arab states…women had full equality of access to the education that was free to post-graduate level… there was universal free healthcare…when couples married they were given a house to live in..and $40,000 u.s. to help them on their way…gaddaffi was wiped out because he was setting up a new pan arab/african bank….this was obamas' war-crime..it is now a fundamentalist hellhole..
I am not saying gaddaffi was perfect…but everything I said about life in Libya for libyans is true..and also the reason for his overthrow…is all true….u CD google that….and life in Libya is better now..is it..?..that was good that obama did..?..was it..?…to give h.clark her due in this..she refused to play along with the charade…
That was how the trams used to be in Auckland. I rode on them when small. There was a narrow island platform which you crossed the road to stand on, they trundled along according to their timetable, you got on and paid the conductor – sitting on simple slat wooden seats. At certain points, the driver had to change his power pole to travel on another line, pulling down against a spring, and swinging it to connect onto the new line. Then off we would go, and at the other end the pole would be pulled down and the one at the other end would drive back retracing the route. (It was probably the same as the Christchurch one reinstalled on the initiative of John Britten.)
Thanks for the memory greywarshark. I remember the trams as a kid too. In the school holidays mums took us kids into Queen St. for a few hours on the roof of Farmers in Albert St., where we were left careering around in toy cars and crashing into one another as often as we could while said mums went off to do their shopping on the lower floors. Then it was sandwiches and cream buns for lunch in the cafetaria and back down to Queen St to catch the tram home. Good days them.
Edit: Maybe that is why we’re such a car obsessed nation. 😉
We'll all get updated once there's a Cabinet meeting with a new Cabinet.
From Twyford's answer to the Stuff article they already have the MoT advice they need and are just waiting for a chance to ratify at Cabinet: "It is our policy to press ahead…"
Very weird that Twyford is being quoted before the new Cabinet positions are set. At minimum it means either PM and Min Finance are totally on board, or the sources in the article are stale.
Or Stuff is being used to apply pressure by other players. The business case will be interesting reading, especially if Twyford has prioritised a fast trip to the airport for politicians and executives over frequent street-level connections and lower cost.
There are interesting anomalies in how women and men get treated FTTT. I hope sex-change aspirants and wannabes understand that. This is a new variant.
Two passengers from QR908 both told the ABC they had no idea what was happening to them when all women on the plane were asked to get off after a three-hour delay on 2 October….
It had been due to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha at 8:30pm local time but was delayed for three hours after a premature baby was found in a bathroom at the terminal – a detail confused passengers said was not communicated to them…
One of the women said all adult females were removed from the plane by authorities and taken to two ambulances waiting outside the airport.
"No-one spoke English or told us what was happening. It was terrifying," she said.
"There were 13 of us and we were all made to leave. A mother near me had left her sleeping children on the plane.
"There was an elderly woman who was vision impaired and she had to go too. I'm pretty sure she was searched."
…"Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing [the airport]."
Qatar Airways have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The mother of the baby has not been located…
…"When I got in there, and there was a lady with a mask on and then the authorities closed the ambulance behind me and locked it," she said.
"They never explained anything.
"She told me to pull my pants down and that I needed to examine my vagina.
"I said 'I'm not doing that' and she did not explain anything to me. She just kept saying, 'we need to see it we need to see it'."
The woman said she took her clothes off and was inspected, and touched, by the female nurse….
Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne confirmed today that the women had contacted the Australian government at the time of the incident and that the government has formally raised concerns with Qatar….
"The advice that has been provided indicates that the treatment of the women concerned was offensive, grossly inappropriate, and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.
"It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context.
A very mild comment from the Australian government when this was an assault on their nationals.
There is the problem in Australia where the uptake on solar is large. It means the costs of maintaining the wider system is borne by a smaller and less moneyed section of the community. As more become self sufficient on energy the more the poorer sections of the community bear the cost of the network.
DanS This should be up with the solar thread, which is about No.7 and pressing a Reply button there would have put it by the other solar comments.
It seems after reading your comment that falling profit and fewer numbers will result in companies selling out, and a monopoly left which would be the opposite to the governments intention to provide competition. The govt will have to buy back the electricity company/ies so government can run them with reasonable charges concentrating on a cost-recovery basis.
Some compromises are needed here I think. The elderly have more time and energy than those working and with family and care responsibilities, to think about and demand what they want and continue in the same vein. We have the same people writing to the paper here for many decades mostly with complaints.
"I make no apologies for being persistent," Millar said, noting he was a marina berth-holder at the time.
He had been emailing the council over a reduction in car parking at the inner harbour, and said he was stopped from further alerting councillors to "pertinent issues".
"This was just a smokescreen to cover the stuff that I had been trying to portray."
89 pages of correspondence
However, GDC internal partnerships director James Baty said it had 89 pages worth of correspondence with Millar about the inner harbour, dating back to 2011, and despite being advised he was an unreasonable complainant on 14 February, and being blocked from the council's Facebook page, Millar continued making contact with elected members and staff for another two months.
"At this point his email address was blocked," Baty said.
Interesting about the USA deporting Marshall Islanders back home and why.
Sounds like Australians deporting NZs home.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/429192/us-deportations-likely-up-in-fy2020 [Marshall Islands Attorney-General] Hickson said US authorities had requested the 33 be given an exemption to return to the Marshalls.
But he said local authorities informed the US that the border remained closed until further notice because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 202 Marshallese were deported from the US during the seven-year period from FY2013 to FY2019, an average of 29 per year. Crimes for which Marshallese are deported include violence such as sexual assault and murder as well as fraud involving money theft or failing to appear for scheduled court hearings.
Suspect Labour will end up closer to 51% than 50% after Specials … acknowledged expert Graeme Edgler guesses 49.9% … I think that’s too low.
(Only proviso … that no-one has mentioned afaik … is the uncertain implications arising from the unique disparity in 2020 between Advanced & Election Day Party Support)
Do you think the disparity between advanced party votes and Election Day party votes is due to the demographic differences? Older more conservative voters with longstanding election habits voting on polling day while other voters were happy to vote early?
.
Possibly … but bear in mind that if that demographic rationale is correct then it should've applied in 2017 too … and yet the Advance vs Election Day differences were minimal in that Election.
Just over 1 million Advanced Votes in 2017 (compared to just under 1.7 m in 2020):
Labour 1.7 points higher in Advance Voting vs Election Day(2017) but a massive 6 points higher in Advance Voting2020.
National 1.1 lower in Advance compared to Election Day(2017) but a significant 5 points down (2020).
The extra 700k Advanced Votes in 2020 can’t account for that massively increased disparity …
Sir Roger Penrose: 'The Big Bang was not the beginning. There was something before, and that something is what we will have in our future'
Isn't that great. The scientists and world-moulders have even more reasons to not look around them. Our planet is so boring, they've seen all they want to they say peevishly and in their blase' way they leave us coping with our own filth and bacteria and fungi which we now find are at the basis of life and death. So let's wallow in earth and leave the elevated minds to destroy themselves in space, as long as they leave our earth to us.
In the year 2525 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic
(The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas. Members of the Odessa Symphony also participated in the recording.
Artists: Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals (It went to No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and they never had another near hit. Outer space man.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_2525
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University A year ago, the AUKUS agreement was formally announced between Australian and UK Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden. The agreement mapped out the “optimal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Helwig, Associate Professor, Electro-Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern Queensland SmartS/Shutterstock Steam locomotives clattering along railway tracks. Paddle steamers churning down the Murray. Dreadnought battleships powered by steam engines. Many of us think the age of steam has ended. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carrie Leonetti, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Victims who experience family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand are treated differently, depending on which part of the justice system they turn to for help. But a new member’s bill ...
Another landslide election victory for the left. British Columbia NDP premier John Hogan has won big after calling a snap election.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-election-results-2020-1.5776058
The Greens got and excellent 15.3% in BC, and got 3 seats.
Your link to the results Scott said it was a bad night for the Greens but they came second in many races.
Under MMP the Greens would have got 13 seats.
Labour Day. Lest we forget.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Duncan_Parnell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
This is what Labour should be doing in the next 3 years.
Only a very small percentage of roofs have solar power (or at least serious solar) in Wanaka yet in South Australia roof solar was able to provide 77% of the state's power on this day and solar farms the other 23%.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-25/all-sa-power-from-solar-for-first-time/12810366
Central government really needs to step up here.
It's bizarre beyond belief that NZ hasn't taken up various solar tech. I can only assume it's part of the rort that happens in the building industry. Not sure why governments haven't been keen, although I guess 9 Key years are obvious. That and few want to mess with the electricity industry (god knows why, if anything needed reform its that).
+100
Market regulator tilts the new home owner against feed-ins.
Is the market regulator tilting against feed-ins, or is the regulator abdicating responsibility and failing to regulate, leaving it all up to the retailer's beneficence in offering anything at all for power fed back in from home systems?
Little difference in practise.
EA has just subbed out the whole idea of sustainable electricity to EECA, and buried it.
It's just on no policy radar anywhere so far as I can tell.
https://www.greens.org.nz/energy_policy
And that's the Greens not understanding economics.
Of course, its what everyone else believes as well despite all the evidence showing competition and the profit motive doesn't bring about the desired results of a better society.
Are you saying that the Greens believe that the path to and for progress and transformation is through market competition?
That does seem to be what they've stated – on many occasions IIRC.
Never mind, I guess I’ll have to ask a member of the Greens to confirm your view of them and interpretation of their path to implementation of their policies.
The whole electricity structure is weighted towards the corporate generators and transmitters.
With the transmitters,the bias is against both small generators (including households) and local generation.
Its a big f/up.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2009/S00254/labours-clean-energy-policy-promotes-predatory-investment.htm
Shareholders of privatised electricity companies now have a vested interest in resisting change. Dealing with them will be a good test of this government's resolve. Or lack of it.
solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds. gov also needs to get serious about tyre recycling. private industry is a bust with that. ltsa needs to mandate a recycled tyre component into new road resealing. leaving things like this up to private industry is a nonsense.
Weka and Woodart…..couldn't agree more.
Me too – and what would stop local governments from setting an example?
Wairarapa where I live has four district councils that already work together on some issues. Any region has a community of interests. Every region is concerned about solar power and water use among all the other issues. Let's see regions like mine develop good plans 'pour encourager les autres', which the government is likely to consider supporting.
As our PM has said, leadership is about taking the people with you. If we're to achieve the best of the changes our new world needs, doesn't that responsibility have to work both ways?
to woodart at 3.2 : absolutely agree re solar panels and water reticulation . I with others tried to get compulsory instalment of rain water storage built in to the then beginning explosion of housing around Gulf Harbour instead of bringing piped water along Peninsula.. We had 10.000 gallons under our deck in a modest house.
Big business prevailed even though Rodney and Auckland well aware and concerned about availability of supply.
I also remember discussion probably from a remit at a Labour conference some decades ago in favour of making cheap solar panels available.
please fix your user name on next comment.
Is that comment form field focus problem still not fixed?
Comment starts in the name field and people forget and simply start typing. Once they realise then they switch to the comment field but often forget to fix the name field.
Would probably be best to have it start in the comment field if the plugin supports it.
it used to do that but changed sometime this year I think.
It is standard for WordPress sites to focus on the comment field. No idea why it was changed here.
apparently not, although we seem to go through spates of name typos and then not as many.
It's almost beyond depressing the disincentives toward solar and local generation in New Zealand. Most lines companies are reluctant at best, but they have a problem with networks that were designed to deliver in one direction and that can take a bit of changing. There's also systemic / structural difficulties where the electricity system has been turned from an essential social and economic service to a profit generating industry.
There's a couple of significant regions, Gisborne and Queenstown, that have only one feed from the Grid too, a loss of that feed is a big problem. Gisborne was without power for three days when a topdressing plane took out the line and the consequences of a span or pylon coming down on the Queenstown feed don't bear thinking about. Adequate embedded generation capacity is really handy on so many counts.
A program of dealing with the infrastructure and systematic barriers, and providing financial pathways to household solar, preferably with batteries, would have paybacks in so many areas. Unfortunately this could be a bit tricky as will mean a comprehensive reform of the sector.
Depressing but not surprising. People generating their own power would cut the profits of the shareholders.
Yet another proof that the profit motive brings about the worst possible result as far as society is concerned.
we really should be designing systems with a big quake in mind too.
It wouldn't need a 'big' quake to cause problems on either of those lines. In Gisborne's case they were lucky it was just a span down, if it had taken a pylon as well it would have been a lot longer.
In both situations there's multiple faults that could cause trouble, and quite unstable geology. But the loss of the line for a week would have an impact to a quake, but without the physical damage. We'd still be evacuating a large part of the district.
Yep.
Start off with installing on state housing and then on to those most in need. If those most in need are renting then buy the bloody house.
But can you imagine the complaints from the new private owners of our power grid as their profits go down?
South Australia has much more sunlight than Wanaka.
True-according to the net, which is never wrong, Adelaide has 2774 hours per year compared with Wanaka 2100. But London has only about 1500.
2100 is masses of hours, and solar power is generated even when it is cloudy.
The Labour government needs to make sure first that people actually have roofs over their heads. Solar on the roof is a luxury.
We haven't got time in between weather and other traumas in the precarious 21st century, to refit all the houses that would have been built to 20th century standards. Get the right practical designs (with good drainage sytems – no mediterranean-styled roofs) and systems, now under Labour before the wicked witch or wizard of the west gets back in power by casting a spell over the country!
As woodart says up near 3 – solar panels and rain water collection should be mandatory for new home builds.
I've linked this before…
"Solar power in New Zealand is on the rise, but operates in an entirely free market with no form of subsidies or intervention from the New Zealand Government."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_New_Zealand
"Entirely free market" …that should end.
We should start (as i've said before) Solar Panel Factories…and train Tradies/Apprentices to fit Solar. NOW
Solar is good, but I'm more interested in household wind turbines.
I did a little research and found small turbines, which could be attached to a roof, can generate around 3kw per hour. Living in a windy area that's quite enticing, but there are planning regulations and hoops to jump through, and make it probably not worth the hassle and added costs to the original outlay.
With a smart meter, I see I use on average about 7kw per day, so likely I would not only be energy neutral, but be adding to the national grid. Multiply that by tens of thousands and that's plenty more renewables going in to the system.
What's the deal with being a contributor as far as the power companies are concerned? How much do they still try to milk you for, ie line costs etc…?
got any links for those micro turbines?
Good info page about home wind power, with faq down page
https://www.smarterhomes.org.nz/smart-guides/power-lighting-and-energy-saving/wind-power/
A couple of links
https://www.futureenergy.nz/products/wind_turbines_tecnico.htm
https://www.powerhousewind.co.nz/residential-wind-turbines-off-grid-homes/
Wind mills can be made from smart drive washing machine motors for less than $20.But you will need an electrician to wire it up as it generates 240 volts .
yep…but thought you were talking about ridge line systems…have thought they might be a viable option as standard installation on new builds but havnt come across much about them and thought you may have.
Does the engine have a built in windmill thing..?….I live off-grid so could use one…
Aren't they noisy and a blot on the landscape Al1en?
The big commercial wind farms? Not to me. I'd rather see them all over than coal fired power stations belching carbon. When there's a better way of doing it, they can be taken down.
In an urban setting they're no more unsightly than rusting out satellite dishes.
Its not an entirely free-market as the its owned by profiteering schmucks and they pretty much have veto power over it. Considering that having solar power from private residential premises would cut their profits then they do everything they can to prevent people taking up solar up to, and including, blaming solar installations for rising power price for everyone else (yeah, can't find that article now – was from when National were in power).
It's worse than that Draco as solar power from private residential premises exported is sold next door, or wherever it ends up as Electrons go with the flow at full retail.
The solar export residence get's about 20% of retail and the power industry takes profit from infrastructure it neither owns, maintains and spreads BS about it being bad for the network.
An added kicker is when the grid is down the panels shut down as a safety feature so we get screwed over again.
Not if you run a 12 volt system .
Here are some pics and advice on what is good/bad. From Canada or the USA.
https://greensunnj.com/solar-hall-of-shame/
google keywords that bring up numbers of entries – solar ridge line roof power systems
Which bit?
How green are solar panels over their usable lifetime, compared with hydro?
Hydro involves modifying/wrecking the landscape way too much, as does onshore wind-power, though offshore is much better. (A single wind-farm would wreck the unsullied and wonderful 360 degree views in the Maniototo from near Ophir or from the rail-trail.)
Ideally when we have 8 million people in NZ in 2068 (link below) electricity needs will be 100% met from existing hydro, more efficient use of power, solar and, if necessary, additional wind-farms, but offshore only.
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/NationalPopulationProjections_MR2016.aspx#gsc.tab=0
That's a very complicated question with a lot of variables for both PV and hydro.
Wikipedia quotes IPCC 2014 for a range (in grams CO2 eq/ kWhr) for PV of 18 to 180, for hydro it's 1.0 to 2200 (compared to coal at 740 to 910). I've seen a lot of stuff indicating producing PV panels has improved dramatically since 2014, so using 2014 figures makes PV look worse than it really is now.
Factors affecting hydro include how much land with vegetation is flooded that then releases methane from the lake, whether the scheme uses a huge dam and stored water or is run of the river through a tunnel or canal, whether dams and canals are concrete or earth construction, how long before reservoirs are silted up, the albedo of the reservoir compared to what was there before (forest, grassland, desert) etc.
Factors affecting PV include how efficient the manufacturing process is, how clean the energy used for production is, the previous albedo of where the PV panels are installed, lifetime of the panels etc.
Big picture takeaway still remains being careful about getting more efficient in necessary uses of energy, and reducing wastage wherever possible is the only emissions-free lunch. Otherwise, all energy supply involves some emissions, it's just a question of how much. In that big picture, for New Zealand, adding PV may well be one of our lower emissions paths.
Personally I'd rather do PV than new hydro, excepting the Onslow-Manorburn proposal which is a storage scheme rather than a new generation scheme.
Beat me to it! Pretty much agree with your above comment here.
The other factor involved in the environmental effects of solar, is the longevity of the technology, and the impacts of the materials used.
IIRC the early PV cells became useless after a few years, but the later silicon cells could last around 25 years. Now the newest technology involves spray on coatings which although cheap and quick to manufacture and replicate are less efficient than the silicon and don't last as long and worse are plastic based.
https://www.solarguide.co.uk/latest-developments-in-solar-photovoltaics#/
Andre-I notice adverse landscape effects don't figure in your world. Now I can see it wasn’t just the WT that put you off the Greens.
Fortunately we have people like Anton Oliver (ex-AB) in the community who helped to stop a wind-farm monstrosity in Central Otago in 2006.
I have driven several times through Spain over the past few years and seen plenty of landscape massively degraded by wind-farms.
Other energy-related highly invasive landscape effects include proposed small-scale hydro that destroy important wild rivers on the West Coast. From memory I think the coalition quashed one such proposal in the last term (ministers Parker/Sage?).
Idiot.
Gabby's question was specifically about how green, which generally means emissions. Hence my answer was focused on emissions.
If any forms of generation that have visible landscape effects are off the table, what is left? Idiot knee-jerk opposition to changes like that are what has kept a lot of coal and gas burning around the world.
I'll limit my comment about your driving around Spain multiple times recently to noting that behaviour like that is a significant contributor to the climate crisis we're dealing with right now.
None of it is green. Some of it is less impactful than others (which is what I think you were asking), but until we move to steady state (including population) we will continue to be driven by over-extraction and climate disrupting tech.
All developed nations could now be mandating passive tech in new builds, thus lowering power consumption. High tech, esp large scale power generation shouldn't be the starting point, it should come after we've used passive tech and reduced demand.
solar panels mostly made up from aluminium and glass, two easily recyclable materials. bloody site greener than flooding land forever.
those materials have to be extracted from somewhere. Theoretically at some point we might reach some kind of close to equilibrium with recycling and manufacture, but not if we keep perpetual growth as our main driver of economics.
Hydro is getting more and more expensive while Wind and Solar are getting cheaper.
There are printable solar panels/coatings now starting to be produced I believe. I've looked at it quite hard and with interest rates where they are just investing in panels using it to cut the daytime use of power out is starting to look better. Any storage is the expensive bit
It's reaching the point where the cost of the panels is becoming less and less of the cost, while regulatory costs, installation, inverters etc are staying high. Storage costs are coming down too, again it's the other associated bits keeping package costs high.
For me, I've got my electricity cost down to $600 – $700 year, so I really don't see value in adding a PV system. Let alone the overhanging trees regularly dropping stuff big enough to damage panels. If I were doing a new build however, getting a new lines connection is so fkn expensive that going off-grid might be close to the same initial cost.
But going on grid would be more beneficial to society especially if it was well planned and maintained.
In other words, going back to a state monopoly that includes the solar panels on private rooves is the only viable option because it would then remove the individualist decision making that fails to do what's needed for society.
+100 the solution is returning it to the people and running it as a single network not the dysfunctional club it currently is.
Bradfords reforms were all about creating a gravy train for the club members and obfuscation so the average punter gives up before they realise it's a con job.
Yes, returning power generation and supply to full public ownership would clear the way for sustainable electricity that most could afford including solar.
Compensation to the current gougers and their captive artificial market could be made over the next 50 years!
storage of energy has always been the $$$ bit. maybe store energy in whingers, always plenty of them!
lol
How would that work?
I don't know, but I've noticed that sometimes you can get more energy out of them than you put in, depending on how they're wound up. Could be a profitable line of research for someone. I'd be willing to put myself forward as a research subject if required.
On AC-DC or something like that.
There are two principle barriers to solar uptake.
The biggest is the housing crisis. Tenants aren't about to put panels on the landlord's house.
The second is cost – NZ pays extraordinary prices for everything, and that weighs the cost benefit equation against solar installation.
I was writing to Pete Hodgson about strategies to lower the entry cost back in 2002 – but he of course thought he knew much better.
One of the enlightened Stuart M thanks, and one of the Pillar Group who want to enable the country to conserve its good things, and prepare for the future known problems. 2002-2020 have we changed, have we any more agency than earlier, or just to be ignored or teased with schemes to keep us quiet? And our politicians, we must bring in a maximum of three terms or we have fat-necked pussies who 'know better' manipulating their electorate or constituency so they manage to stay and stay with dwindling returns to the citizens.
I'll just shove in here some words from Elton John's Song For You because I think they need to be our nation's theme song going further into the 21st century and spell out the way we all need to try to value each other.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSLQnBbA3k0
Mmm – I did use to listen to a bit of Elton John back in the day. But when it comes to the political culture of doing nothing, it's maybe more like Warren Zevon:
You're supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things.
Man, that's hard to do. And if you don't, they'll screw you.
And if you do, they'll screw you, too…
MmmmI guess the thing is to enter into politics and planning with goodwill, go on a quest for the most effective and practical outcomes, and get something done as a result of each plan, even something small!
"The second is cost – NZ pays extraordinary prices for everything, and that weighs the cost benefit equation against solar installation."
and that is exactly why I after doing the sums did not go ahead. Also battery storage technology is still evolving and I would not put in a solar power system without the ability to store the surplus. Instead I bought a hybrid car which is saving me a huge % on my annual car runnin costs – and the car's batteries, when they are not effcient enough for the car, can be recycled to be solar storage batteries. But that is years away.
From, https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/123193640/govt-needs-to-target-our-soaring-cost-of-living
“A $9.5 million house is being built in Christchurch. Shaped like the letter Z, swimming pool and tennis court. When completed, it’s going to be one of the biggest and priciest properties in town. The owner? A director at Foodstuffs South Island and owner of Pak 'n Save Wainoni, one of Christchurch’s poorest areas.”
Everything that is wrong with our economy encapsulated here.
Boris given the Spitting Image treatment.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDmaWP1tEg
Water meters are good provided that water rates are kept reasonable.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429175/water-meter-test-runs-in-marlborough-continue-to-throw-up-eye-watering-results
…One property in Havelock has been found using 33,000 litres of water a day, while another is going through 28,000 litres of water a day.
The test results from Renwick showed a house leaking 67,200 litres of water a day.
The council notified owners "as a courtesy" when there was evidence of a significant leak, but it was up to property owners to find and repair them, she said. Some of the 62 properties with leaks were zoned commercial….
Under the new system, residents on water meters could be charged a flat fee of $200 for their first 200 cubic metres of water (200,000 litres). After that, Havelock residents could be charged $1.60 per 1000 litres used….
Properties with "large" leaks of more than 72 litres a day would therefore use at least 92 percent of their base water allocation if they continued without fixing the leak. Havelock residents paid an annual $510 fee at present….
Renwick dealt with water restrictions most summers and salt water could get into Havelock's water if demand jumped and water supplies dropped, as it had three years ago.
Climate change was expected to put more pressure on the aquifer which supplied its water. A sea level rise could see salt entering Havelock's water more often, and higher temperatures could encourage higher water use…
Meters for commercial properties are fine, but not for dwellings. Because it enables right wing councils to charge for water on a policy change without requiring massive infrastructure investment.
Meters also enable landlords to evade costs by making the water bill the tenants' problem, like power or internet.
Why should domestic water wastrels and those too careless to look after their plumbing get to shift the cost of their profligacy onto all the other ratepayers?
IIRC, the law for costs where there are meters is the landlord pays for the fixed parts of the bill and the tenant pays for the variable usage parts of the bill. Here in Dorkland my bill is a fixed wastewater charge of $18.35/month, and because of the drought I've pared my water use down to somewhere around 30 litres/day (1 unit per month). My variable charge is $1.59/month to supply the water and $2.16/month to take it away again after I've filled it with piss and shit.
But we know there are constant efforts to privatise water supplies and stuff it up as royally as every other monopoly that gets privatised.
If regular flow monitoring shows a block or suburb is disproportionately using water, use the regular leak detection protocols to hone in on the cause. But routine monitoring of each household will result in privatisation of water supply, which means more people with skin infections in poor neighbourhoods, sometimes to the point of hospitalisation.
It has never been closely examined whether what ratepayers save in water gets paid by taxpayers via the health system.
All of Orcland is metered and charged by usage, so usage data should be available for any intrepid researcher that wants it.
Do you know of any studies around skin infections or other health problems in NZ being correlated with people feeling they need to not use water because of its cost? It's not something I can recall even hearing a whisper of.
Hell, even Penny Bright (R.I.P.) didn't try that as one of her arguments, and I was always quite impressed at how inventive she could get.
edit: meanwhile, that Auckland is universally metered is usually credited as one of the reasons Aucklanders are claimed to have the lowest per capita water usage of all population centers in NZ.
Watercare is about to take over the whole of Northland's supply as well.
So, together with the Waikato catchment they already supply, they are heading for about 2/5ths of New Zealand on metered and chlorinated and flourided happiness.
Interesting. Do you have any links about that.
You'll have to wait.
But not too long into 2021.
I can't understand why Councils don't look after their own water as part of their services. There should be no separate entity, just a department within the purview of the Council. This splitting up under I suppose neolib disruption just muddies the water, perhaps literally.
The way things are going, it won't be long before Watercare is the water department for all of the north island. Then all of New Zealand. Nationalisation by another route. Bwahahahaha, universal domination.
The best reason for a big organisation like Watercare to do it for the small councils is small councils are often really crap at it. Either they don't spend the money for the equipment and expertise, and produce lousy water quality (for trips around NZ I tend to bring along enough drinking water for my whole trip), or they do spend the money to do it properly and it ends up really expensive because those costs are spread over a small base.
This is back-door way Labour crushes Federated Farmers and Fonterra.
Plenty of public health reasons officially.
But no more fucking around with those morons.
The target is clear.
We are already metered in Whangarei but at 40% more cost than Auckland last time i compared. Hopefully they can pull the price down.
Skin infections are definitely correlated to deprivation index.
We might speculate about that all day, but lowering flow rates to people who can't afford their bill could have something to do with their access to hygiene. The connection is plausible enough that I don't want to touch it with a bargepole.
All of auckland might be metred, but many other towns aren't, and frankly metering is only a precursor to attempted sell-offs.
Not to mention the concept that water is a right, not a commodity.
There are other ways to find heavy water users, if it's a problem. But metering is simply a way to disguise rate hikes for most people.
Mahuta has made a guarantee that there will be no public water privatisation under the reforms.
I think she's trustworthy.
She's also very clear that there aren't many good water providers, so many of them will be amalgamated.
I wrote on this a while back.
Water reforms of all kinds are really kicking off in this new term.
She might be trustworthy, but the next lot? Metering makes it easier for them.
Metering makes sure our common water isn't wasted.
No, it just enables the rich to waste it. Because they can pay for it.
If you want to detect water wastage on the house side of the tap, follow the same procedures for if the pipe leaks on the street side of the tap.
https://envirohistorynz.com/2010/04/17/a-short-history-of-regional-government-in-nz/#more-2188
Whole-farm plans
Catchment boards soon realised that a whole-farm approach was needed when several methods were in use. The farmer had to adopt a mutually agreed ‘farm plan’ over a set period, normally five years.
A farm plan was based on a land capability survey. This divided farmland into eight classes – four arable (crop-growing) and four non-arable. The surveys were first done in 1952.
Engineers vs conservators
The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 linked erosion with flooding. Catchment board staff were river engineers and soil conservators, who often disagreed on how to control flooding.
Some engineers believed that works such as stop banks and stone gabions (rocks inside wire mesh) would control flooding, whereas soil conservators considered that the upper parts of a river catchment should be the focus. Eventually both viewpoints were included in flood control programmes.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/soil-erosion-and-conservation/page-5
Germany continues to be a hostile environment for humane and considerate Jewish people
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/berlin-art-college-withdraws-funding-to-israelis-seeking-to-unlearn-zionism/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-on-the-jvl-blog-newsletter-total-articles-for-you_1
Pat I noticed that the article finished with a query. And this piece I have copied has relevance now as the RMA is under change. I am not sure what the effect of that will be. Do you know? People seem approving but will things be no holds barred? The idea of agencies run on business lines such as Watercare doesn't seem to be an automatic outcome of the previous legislation.
Regional councils as we know them today were established in 1989, under the Local Government Amendment Act. Regional council boundaries approximately followed river catchment boundaries. This legislation rationalised the bodies carrying out functions at a regional and local level – reducing the catchment boards and other government bodies that had proliferated over the last century from more than 800 to 86.
The newly created regional councils inherited a range of resource management responsibilities from the existing boards and councils, including for flood and erosion control functions transferred from the catchment boards and planning functions under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, as well as transport and civil defense functions.
But it was not until 1991, with the enactment of the Resource Management Act, that responsibilities under a cohesive and integrated resource management regime were delegated to regional councils.
But what of the significant challenges that regional councils face, and their ability to fulfill their natural resource management responsibilities in an increasingly challenging environmental landscape? These outstanding questions will be explored in an upcoming post.
"A second irony is evident in the way the Resource Management Bill evolved. The Bill was first developed in the late 1980s under a Labour Government, with Geoffrey Palmer as Minister for the Environment. The Bill was underpinned by the concept of “sustainable development”, based on a concept of balancing economic objectives against environmental objectives (otherwise known as “trade-offs”). However in 1990, before the Bill could be enacted, the Labour government lost power, and a National government took office, with Simon Upton assuming the environmental portfolio. To the surprise of many, Upton decided not to abandon the Bill but instead to review it. As a result of the review, there was a shift from balancing economic and environmental objectives, to that of economic objectives being “constrained” by environmental ones; a shift encompassed in the concept of “sustainable management”, which is fundamental to the purpose of the law (Section 5). As a result, when the Act was passed in 1991, it was, according long-time environmentalist and then-government advisor Guy Salmon, “greener” conceptually than the Bill originally conceived by the more left-leaning Labour government."
https://envirohistorynz.com/2010/03/20/resource-management-law-in-nz-a-potted-history/
And i'm not sure I agree with that assessment….the old catchment boards had a more holistic view and a more environmentally focused response IMO….mind you they operated in a significantly different environment with far less pressure
Why people give any credence toward the USA beats me. What has the US done for the benefit of peace or peaceful co-existence, the only country to unleash a nuclear bomb x 2 murdering millions of civilians.
North Korea, flattened by them in 1950s, did that bring peace?. Vietnam, where the US used chemical weapons manufactured in NZ by Watkins/ Dow and mercenary fighters from around the globe including NZ. Still there are malformed births from Agent Orange. Peace?.
Iraqi, a once A grade country with a stable democracy where people were still alive and had jobs and infrastructure. What a mess. Peace there?. Libya, a democratic country that owed no foreign debt and had a better democracy than most. What another mess. Peace there?.
Left out many other atrocities against other lands by the war-virus that is the USA. a blight on humanity. What has changed, nothing, and nothing will change whilst people give support to this truly evil military regime. Do you?
You've a good example in Iraq, and a lousy one in Korea. Korea asked for US help to avoid the Japanese annexation before 1910, and having been abandoned by the retreating Japanese was only too pleased to resist Stalin's puppet regime. Had the North made a decent country of itself, you'd have a case – but they chose to be despots – deserving even less sympathy than Saddam Hussein. South Korea, in no small part through the sacrifice of Kim Jae-gyu, is a lively independent democracy today.
That's a No then.
You've missed the bit between 1910 and when South Korea was declared a 'lively independent democracy'.
You know the period when more bombs were dropped on North Korea by the US than during the entire World War II Pacific campaign.
For those who are interested in the facts Stuart has conveniently omitted read this.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/06/us-destruction-of-north-korea-must-not-be-forgotten/
Yes, true. First time ever Korea has not been as one.
Brigid I don't know that Stuart was that positive about the USA. Why are you dissing him?
And Stuart – going to the Wikipedia link you put up on Kim Jae-gyu (it is important to get the latter name right! – many Kims), it is a great example of the awful competitive problems all countries can have, with people trying to gain or control power and turn it up or down.
Park was a patriot and a reformer who gradually became a dictator. The man who assassinated him was his old friend, who had no illusions of surviving the act. So Korea survived as neither a US puppet nor a nasty militarized regime – quite an achievement considering the pattern for US-backed strongmen.
Perhaps NZ parliamentarians need to be faced with a sign over the main doors – 'We don't promise you a rose garden'. Or with the malevolent sarcasm of the Nazi use of 'Work will set you free' a notice that 'Serving your country whether in the army or as a politician may cost you your life'.
I don't think that NZ pollies, especially from the right side, expect to front up to such ideological traumas as the South Korean you referred to. Having the ability to change pollies, and their civil service heads, prevents power concreting to the absolute corruption level.
Finding balance is the task it seems, between constant change with no long term responsibility for good planning and decisions, and the ability of the agile villain to appeal long-term to the infantile, lurking dissenter inside many, who will accept corruption as smart organising if the PR is plausible.
Yes, dead right – the abiding virtue of democracy, from a political science point of view, is that is allows peaceful transfers of power.
When democracy becomes as distorted as it has in the US under Trump however, it is no longer certain that this is possible, or that a peaceful process that accommodates Trumpism is preferable to a Heimlich manoeuvre that expels him forcefully from America's political throat.
Assassination has removed much better presidents than Trump.
Greywarshark please pull your head in. Your attempts at peace keeper are uninvited and arrogant.
Oh dear did I step on your toes. I don't want to see things misrepresented by people with a bias and quick fingers on the keys.
Yes, a lot of bombs were dropped.
It was the North that attacked however, first on their own, then, after they were repulsed, with Chinese support. The world is awash in examples of unjustified US interventions – but Korea is not one of them – which is why NZ troops were there to teach the locals this, which they call yeon ga.
One must be extraordinarily undiscriminating to endorse the North Korean regime.
The world is awash in examples of unjustified US interventions – but Korea is not one of them
???
That is an absurd statement.
Because …?
When will you learn to make a compelling argument that goes beyond simple adjectives and mere reckons? None of your comments today contains any original input from you, no thought, no argument, no reason(ing) except for adjectives such as “absurd”, “repulsive”, or “brilliant”. Wow!
What are you going to ‘enlighten’ us with next, a GIF?
I have written on this forum many, many carefully argued critiques of radio dramas, TV shows, films, political speeches, political campaigns, etc. If you think that that extreme right wing racist casino billionaire who funds Trump's campaign is anything other than "repulsive", then you can enlighten us as to exactly why.
Do you think Evo Morales's performance on the Daily Show was not brilliant? Why not? The audience and the host were obviously deeply impressed by him. Was I wrong to point out that extremely rare quality in a political leader?
Your point about my use of the word "absurd" to dismiss Stuart's post is well taken. I apologise to Stuart and everyone else for my lazy and reductive putdown.
A well-written critique is more than a few adjectives leading to a superficial judgement.
When you use certain adjectives to describe your view of people without stating the reason, it becomes a shallow throwaway comment that offers no insight(s) and no point of connection with others who might read your comment. You might as well say that you hated Brussels sprouts when you were young, which may be 100% true, but it does not make for debate because we cannot discuss personal taste; all it does is saying something about you.
I hope you’re getting it because asking me to argue with you why those adjectives may not apply is putting the onus on me and asking me about my taste. For the record, I love Brussels sprouts, but I don’t know why.
Well said. A palpable hit, sir!
It wasn’t a hit, it was a challenge to you to lift your game here. Why do you act like a recalcitrant and petulant child?
Apart from those poor sods who were gassed by the dictator who ruled through fear and violence
Yeah, 'cause the brotherly leader Gadaffy Duck's third international theory wasn't brought down by widespread corruption and unemployment, by the people who were no longer fooled by cults of personality.
That's a No then.
Of course, I meant a Yes then.
Don't know what you're talking about with the 'no' and 'yes' thing – I just pointed out a couple of gaping holes in your claims of Iraqi and Libyan peaceful democracies nonsense, but if you want to attribute something else you think I meant with that correction, so be it.
Libya was the most secular of the arab states…women had full equality of access to the education that was free to post-graduate level… there was universal free healthcare…when couples married they were given a house to live in..and $40,000 u.s. to help them on their way…gaddaffi was wiped out because he was setting up a new pan arab/african bank….this was obamas' war-crime..it is now a fundamentalist hellhole..
I'm guessing you know what democracy means, so you'll also know that
Political parties were banned in Libya from 1972 until the removal of Gaddafi's government, and all elections were nonpartisan under law
doesn't really fit in to any definition of the word.
It's a simple google search for Libyan democracy and located in the first hit. Basic stuff really.
I am not saying gaddaffi was perfect…but everything I said about life in Libya for libyans is true..and also the reason for his overthrow…is all true….u CD google that….and life in Libya is better now..is it..?..that was good that obama did..?..was it..?…to give h.clark her due in this..she refused to play along with the charade…
It is hard to know what you are saying when having to guess the bits you have cut out of your reply.
Whether you're right, or not, about life in the jamahiriya is up for debate, but fair democracy happening in Libya under Gaddafi's just isn't.
Latest Pie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Rzyql7IYU
Where is that rail link when you want it?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429166/project-forces-main-road-to-auckland-airport-to-temporarily-shut
The main road to Auckland Airport will be shut for five consecutive nights this week, from Tuesday to Sunday.
Right down the middle of that road if there was any justice.
That was how the trams used to be in Auckland. I rode on them when small. There was a narrow island platform which you crossed the road to stand on, they trundled along according to their timetable, you got on and paid the conductor – sitting on simple slat wooden seats. At certain points, the driver had to change his power pole to travel on another line, pulling down against a spring, and swinging it to connect onto the new line. Then off we would go, and at the other end the pole would be pulled down and the one at the other end would drive back retracing the route. (It was probably the same as the Christchurch one reinstalled on the initiative of John Britten.)
Indeedly. Auckland is still not back up to the number of public transit trips per year before the trams were ripped out. https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2015/06/01/aucklands-old-tram-maps-modernised/
Thanks for the memory greywarshark. I remember the trams as a kid too. In the school holidays mums took us kids into Queen St. for a few hours on the roof of Farmers in Albert St., where we were left careering around in toy cars and crashing into one another as often as we could while said mums went off to do their shopping on the lower floors. Then it was sandwiches and cream buns for lunch in the cafetaria and back down to Queen St to catch the tram home. Good days them.
Edit: Maybe that is why we’re such a car obsessed nation. 😉
And Hector. 🙂
Oh yes, beloved Hector the parrot. When one carked it, they would replace with another that looked the same. We kids were none the wiser.
That sounds lovely Anne. I went up to the glassed in? Farmers top lounge or whatever too. And rode in the Farmers bus.
Nostalgic childhood events. You might like this.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN3QPt0eMVc
Twyford in Stuff says NZInfra decision immanent.
Though I suspect we should wait until an actual government is formed again.
Link please. There was a premature article about that last week.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/300139063/twyford-denies-claims-government-is-backing-nz-infras-light-rail-proposal
That is the follow-up article the day after Stuff's initial one, yes. Both many days ago now.
Interested to hear which one Ad was referring to.
Ad is well connected; it might not be in MSM yet.
That link is only 5 days old.
When I see someone write "Twyford in Stuff says" I expect it means in that publication – and today, not 5 or 6 days ago.
Here is the initial article, for completeness: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300137382/election-2020-nz-super-fund-closes-in-on-billiondollar-auckland-light-rail-deal
And Twyford's response:
https://twitter.com/PhilTwyford/status/1318346951880892416
If Ad is well-connected, then no doubt we will hear an update.
We'll all get updated once there's a Cabinet meeting with a new Cabinet.
From Twyford's answer to the Stuff article they already have the MoT advice they need and are just waiting for a chance to ratify at Cabinet: "It is our policy to press ahead…"
Note the commentary from NZTA's CE that their head of light rail has left.
https://eminetra.co.nz/2020-elections-nz-super-fund-closes-to-1-billion-auckland-light-rail-contract/52242/
Very weird that Twyford is being quoted before the new Cabinet positions are set. At minimum it means either PM and Min Finance are totally on board, or the sources in the article are stale.
Latter is v unlikely.
Or Stuff is being used to apply pressure by other players. The business case will be interesting reading, especially if Twyford has prioritised a fast trip to the airport for politicians and executives over frequent street-level connections and lower cost.
No other players are being invited.
And given this procurement is such a mess, no others would want to.
Players within agencies, or parties.
There are interesting anomalies in how women and men get treated FTTT. I hope sex-change aspirants and wannabes understand that. This is a new variant.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/429187/australia-demands-answers-after-passengers-strip-searched-at-doha-airport
Two passengers from QR908 both told the ABC they had no idea what was happening to them when all women on the plane were asked to get off after a three-hour delay on 2 October….
It had been due to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha at 8:30pm local time but was delayed for three hours after a premature baby was found in a bathroom at the terminal – a detail confused passengers said was not communicated to them…
One of the women said all adult females were removed from the plane by authorities and taken to two ambulances waiting outside the airport.
"No-one spoke English or told us what was happening. It was terrifying," she said.
"There were 13 of us and we were all made to leave. A mother near me had left her sleeping children on the plane.
"There was an elderly woman who was vision impaired and she had to go too. I'm pretty sure she was searched."
…"Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing [the airport]."
Qatar Airways have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The mother of the baby has not been located…
…"When I got in there, and there was a lady with a mask on and then the authorities closed the ambulance behind me and locked it," she said.
"They never explained anything.
"She told me to pull my pants down and that I needed to examine my vagina.
"I said 'I'm not doing that' and she did not explain anything to me. She just kept saying, 'we need to see it we need to see it'."
The woman said she took her clothes off and was inspected, and touched, by the female nurse….
Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne confirmed today that the women had contacted the Australian government at the time of the incident and that the government has formally raised concerns with Qatar….
"The advice that has been provided indicates that the treatment of the women concerned was offensive, grossly inappropriate, and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.
"It is not something I have ever heard of occurring in my life, in any context.
A very mild comment from the Australian government when this was an assault on their nationals.
There is the problem in Australia where the uptake on solar is large. It means the costs of maintaining the wider system is borne by a smaller and less moneyed section of the community. As more become self sufficient on energy the more the poorer sections of the community bear the cost of the network.
DanS This should be up with the solar thread, which is about No.7 and pressing a Reply button there would have put it by the other solar comments.
It seems after reading your comment that falling profit and fewer numbers will result in companies selling out, and a monopoly left which would be the opposite to the governments intention to provide competition. The govt will have to buy back the electricity company/ies so government can run them with reasonable charges concentrating on a cost-recovery basis.
Some compromises are needed here I think. The elderly have more time and energy than those working and with family and care responsibilities, to think about and demand what they want and continue in the same vein. We have the same people writing to the paper here for many decades mostly with complaints.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/429190/gisborne-district-council-lifts-block-on-prolific-writer-of-emails
"I make no apologies for being persistent," Millar said, noting he was a marina berth-holder at the time.
He had been emailing the council over a reduction in car parking at the inner harbour, and said he was stopped from further alerting councillors to "pertinent issues".
"This was just a smokescreen to cover the stuff that I had been trying to portray."
89 pages of correspondence
However, GDC internal partnerships director James Baty said it had 89 pages worth of correspondence with Millar about the inner harbour, dating back to 2011, and despite being advised he was an unreasonable complainant on 14 February, and being blocked from the council's Facebook page, Millar continued making contact with elected members and staff for another two months.
"At this point his email address was blocked," Baty said.
Interesting about the USA deporting Marshall Islanders back home and why.
Sounds like Australians deporting NZs home.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/429192/us-deportations-likely-up-in-fy2020
[Marshall Islands Attorney-General] Hickson said US authorities had requested the 33 be given an exemption to return to the Marshalls.
But he said local authorities informed the US that the border remained closed until further notice because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A total of 202 Marshallese were deported from the US during the seven-year period from FY2013 to FY2019, an average of 29 per year.
Crimes for which Marshallese are deported include violence such as sexual assault and murder as well as fraud involving money theft or failing to appear for scheduled court hearings.
About the Islands:
There is a population of around 50,000.
The Compact of Free Association allows them to freely relocate to the United States and obtain work there. A large concentration of about 4,300 Marshall Islanders have relocated to Springdale, Arkansas,.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands#Demographics
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is now a sovereign state in free association with the United States….
During World War II, the United States took control of the islands from Japan (which governed them as part of the South Pacific Mandate) in the 1944 Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. The US military conducted nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll in 1946 through 1958.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands%E2%80%93United_States_relations
Chileans gone cool on their constitution.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/429195/chileans-vote-to-tear-up-constitution
Proper rejection of neoliberalism at last.
Suspect Labour will end up closer to 51% than 50% after Specials … acknowledged expert Graeme Edgler guesses 49.9% … I think that’s too low.
(Only proviso … that no-one has mentioned afaik … is the uncertain implications arising from the unique disparity in 2020 between Advanced & Election Day Party Support)
Graeme Edgeler put some meat on the bone for us to chew on.
https://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/election-20-the-special-votes/
@swordfish 20
Do you think the disparity between advanced party votes and Election Day party votes is due to the demographic differences? Older more conservative voters with longstanding election habits voting on polling day while other voters were happy to vote early?
.
Possibly … but bear in mind that if that demographic rationale is correct then it should've applied in 2017 too … and yet the Advance vs Election Day differences were minimal in that Election.
Just over 1 million Advanced Votes in 2017 (compared to just under 1.7 m in 2020):
Labour 1.7 points higher in Advance Voting vs Election Day (2017) but a massive 6 points higher in Advance Voting 2020.
National 1.1 lower in Advance compared to Election Day (2017) but a significant 5 points down (2020).
The extra 700k Advanced Votes in 2020 can’t account for that massively increased disparity …
So, there's probably something else going on.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/06/earlier-universe-existed-big-bang-can-observed-today/An earlier universe existed before the Big Bang, and can still be observed today, says Nobel winner
Sir Roger Penrose: 'The Big Bang was not the beginning. There was something before, and that something is what we will have in our future'
Isn't that great. The scientists and world-moulders have even more reasons to not look around them. Our planet is so boring, they've seen all they want to they say peevishly and in their blase' way they leave us coping with our own filth and bacteria and fungi which we now find are at the basis of life and death. So let's wallow in earth and leave the elevated minds to destroy themselves in space, as long as they leave our earth to us.
In the year 2525 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic
(The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas. Members of the Odessa Symphony also participated in the recording.
Artists: Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals (It went to No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and they never had another near hit. Outer space man.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_2525