Got the message of Desmond Tutu's passing on facebook this morning from political activist and leading Ratana leader, Apotoro Takiwā Kereama Pene.
Pene recollects Desmond Tutu's testimony at Hone Harawira's trial for assaulting the Auckland University Engineers racist haka party.
2021 is still not quite finished with us… what a loss to the people of South Africa and the whole World.
The legendary story of Patu Squad 1981 and how the Archbishop over turned the case.
Hone Harawira tells the story and laughs at the memory of the stunned faces of the judge, prosecution and jury as the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in his signature dark suit and purple cleric’s shirt, walked into the courtroom.
“And then I’m thinking, ‘What the fuck, now what do I do?’
“So he takes the stand and I go, ‘Could you please tell the court your name?’ And then I said, ‘Can you please tell the court your address?’ And he gave an address in Soweto. Instantly, if the room wasn’t already charged, everyone was completely wide-eyed now.
“And then I said, ‘Can you please explain to the court what apartheid is?’. And away he went. He must have spoken for 20 minutes. It was absolutely stunning. You could have heard a pin drop.”
He says that after Tutu had finished, neither he nor the prosecution could think of any more questions.
He Tangata Tutu-ru ki te mahi o te Rangimaietanga… I waenganui o Africa ki Te Tonga me Te Ao Katoa.
What a wonderful soul the World has lost. Mangai Ae.
Yes, that story should be better known than it is. As so often, and especially with both Tutu and Mandela, time erodes the memory of who really was on the right side, and who only joined in the praise once the cause had been won.
Another link for the Tutu/Harawira court case, for anyone interested (scroll down to end):
Let us also not forget he was a champion of the working class:
All my experiences with capitalism, I’m afraid, have indicated that it encourages some of the worst features in people. Eat or be eaten. It is underlined by the survival of the fittest. I can’t buy that. I mean, maybe it’s the awful face of capitalism, but I haven’t seen the other face.
…
My political position is really quite simple. My own position is one that is due not to a political ideology. My position is due to my faith, my Christian faith and anything that I believe is inconsistent with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ I will say it is wrong and has to be condemned.
…
Any infringement of human rights anywhere in the world is something that I deplore. All I long for is a society that would be compassionate. A society that would be sharing. A society that would be caring. Now you can say to me, and I will admit it, that we have not seen an incarnation of that kind of society, the kind that you talk about. But we are ministers, we leave it to others to try to put flesh onto the dreams that we try to dream . . .
Perhaps the pro-pla****s are right: the official tolls are wrong.
/
In Cape Girardeau County, the coroner hasn’t pronounced a single person dead of COVID-19 in 2021.
Wavis Jordan, a Republican who was elected last year to serve as coroner of the 80,000-person county, says his office “doesn’t do COVID deaths.” He does not investigate deaths himself, and requires families to provide proof of a positive COVID-19 test before including it on a death certificate.
Meanwhile, deaths at home attributed to conditions with symptoms that look a lot like COVID-19 — heart attacks, Alzheimer’s and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — increased.
“When it comes to COVID, we don’t do a test,” Jordan said, “so we don’t know if someone has COVID or not.”
“When it comes to COVID, we don’t do a test,” Jordan said, “so we don’t know if someone has COVID or not.”
Now why didn't the previous President not come up with that strategy. Instead of 815,000+ deaths from Covid in the US there would've been next to none.
Jordan would seem to have all the credentials to be the first black Republican President. In real life he seems to be an assistant funeral director.
Despite his best efforts his county with a population of nearly 82,000 has still managed 204 covid deaths.
Now why didn't the previous President not come up with that strategy.
He tried.
@realDonaldTrump Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding. With smaller testing we would show fewer cases!
So those among us who staunchly defend our environment from the clutches of 'market forces' do a great job but are always chasing their tail… always waiting until an applicatin is made and then opposing it.
How about front-footing it instead. For the above one, apply for your own resource consent to leave the gravel in the river. Make the application cover the entire river. First-in-first-served and all that (so common in our nation…).
Sure there would be 'technicalities' and things, but fundamentally use the RMA to claim the use of resources for the betterment of society and the environment. Apply to use the gravels by leaving them in the river and letting them pass naturally down the bed for recreational purposes and for gull and tern purposes.
I have had this idea for a couple decades. Have mentioned it to the occasional person (dont mention these things to "yes, but.." types, only to "yes, lets.." types). Applications are cheap. The report would be pretty simple with little 'effect's to include. I imagine 'industry' would be all up in arms. I imagine, if it gained traction that the application would be replicated very quickly around the land. I think it is overdue to attempt. Who's keen?
"Sure there would be 'technicalities' and things, but fundamentally use the RMA to claim the use of resources for the betterment of society and the environment"
.Isnt that effectively what a Regional Council is supposed to be?
Democratic administration of publicly owned assets for the betterment of society?
Id suggest that what is needed is a better understanding (and engagement with) of democratic institutions…..never has the saying 'we get the government (or governance) we deserve' been better displayed.
Can you please point me to the part of 3 Waters that deals with resource allocation reform.
My understanding is that 3 Waters is the amalgamation of District Council water infrastructure provision, not Regional Council resource allocation responsibilities.
3 Waters should be a resource issue, but we're too stupid to understand the water cycle as it passes through humans. That we still think of some water as waste instead of part of the flow of nutrients and energy through natural systems is why we’re in such a mess.
There's a hint in there: neither you nor anyone else has executed your idea in 20 years.
It took the Whanganui people more than that and through multiple different processes, into a global first.
Apart from noise, dust, traffic and vibration, my bet is a Notified process would have all the neighbours agreeing pretty quick. Many of the north Canterbury floods this year were caused by streams and rivers that had built up over time and were now at or above the level of the settlements around them.
Many of the north Canterbury floods this year were caused by streams and rivers that had built up over time and were now at or above the level of the settlements around them.
Can you please explain that a bit more? Built up how and why?
Moraine, boulders and silt building in the river bed of north Canterbury streams for multiple years, not cleared out, fills higher than the surrounding settlements, then a big flood like this year comes and overtops … lots of houses and surrounding farmland taken out.
It is both natural cycle build up of sediment and drought (low flows) and water extraction and abstraction for irrigation. The sediment builds up and has fewer and lesser high and medium flows to wash the sediment downstream.
There is a piece by Andrea Vance that is a good starter – mainly about river ecology of Canterburys braided rivers.
Headline is – This Is How It Ends: ‘We take staggering amounts from our waterways’
Thanks! That would have been my guess. Probably some earthworks and structures to prevent flooding as well, and the inherent conflict between the river needing to flood and the humans building their houses in the way.
A good story about water mismanagement but I don't see anything on gravel extraction.
For what it's worth I'd agree that our current use of irrigated water is very inefficient and I'm not impressed at the encroachment of farmland over obvious braidplains – that's just dumb. Basically water is just too plentiful in NZ and our agriculture industry has not had much incentive to use to more effectively.
Produce created differently using new techniques. Think hydroponics, algae feedstock, bioplastics, desert agriculture and seawater farming.
Using new technologies to bring food production to consumers. Increasing efficiencies in the food chain with vertical and urban farming, genetic modification and cultured meats, and applying 3D printing tech to food.
Incorporating cross-industry technologies and applications. Think drones, the IoT, nanotechnology, AI, food sharing, crowd-farming and blockchain.
Crucially all of these trend toward needing less land for farming as we're already seeing in Europe and North America. And not using the land means it can revert back to the more natural condition we would all wish it to be in.
or, regenerative agriculture and horticulture, relocalise food growing and supply, and adopt known techniques for holding water in the landscape. All of that is already being done in New Zealand, and is by its very nature sustainable (more or less).
The braided rivers of Canterbury have been heavily modified – when a big flood comes, the dead branches of a river get revived – woe betide the human infrastructure built there. Rivers don't forget!
Not to forget stop banks, infrastructure/ activity placed in areas of risk and the expectation that we can control nature…..and that when we fail someone will make good the loses.
“The conventional wisdom is that you harvest flood water in the winter and store it until it’s needed in the summer. However, floods are required to carry gravels to the coastal zone and if there’s not enough gravel, the waves get hungry and start eroding the land.” – Dr Scott Lanard, NIWA
Most of this sediment was once spread across coastal deltas, building the coastline outward. However, the rivers have now been confined by stop banks and levees. While this prevents them from flooding, it also stops them from wandering over the coastal lands and adding thousands of tonnes of sediment as they go. Now, instead of building up our coast, most of this gravel and sediment is carried out to sea. Except in Kaikoura where earthquakes have lifted the coastline in places, the Canterbury coastline is now eroding. Soon, long stretches of it will be inundated by rising sea levels.
I also understand the boundary where the seawater meets the underground fresh water water table in parts of Canterbury is moving inland. Related to irrigation take I think, but I wonder if the geology is part of it.
Apparently damming the Clutha River is part of why there are erosion problems with the Dunedin beaches. Might be issues with rivers closer to home too.
Apologoes for not being around to respopnd yesterday – the day went sideways…
All rivers need to spread across plains to spread the gravel load. Since about 100 years ago we have confined them to a single bed due to bridges mostly – bridges which were mostly built where the river;s leave the hills. As such, the gravel builds up and up and up until the bed is higher than the surrounding land.
Then it finally spills over and covers the plains again. This is such an obvious thing when seen, which is everywhere on the west coast where this process moves at speed in light of the rainfall and erosion. Check the Waiho in Franz – go to the bridge and look down river, the bed is way higher than the town and the farmland each side, contained within the stopbanks. Just last month it was finally acknowledged by those who seem to think a bulldozerer can do anything that it has reached its end-point. The suyrrounding land is doomed completely. Check it out. Then see it in every part of NZ. Every part. Particularly the gravel braided types. Same in the slow meandering mud rivers, but much slower.
Check how high every riverbed is when you drive over it this summer.
Relative to what it used to be… which is difficult to nut out of course…
but one way it to try and suss by checking the piles and supports… they were generally built with deep straight piles on the bottom part and then a bracing (criss-cross, or beefier straight) structure on the top part. That top part was generally built quite a chunk above the original gravel bed… if you can't see the deep straight piles and the criss-cross part is already getting covered by gravels then it is over-full and in trouble.
also sussable by the banks… most old riverbeds have a bank down to the bed.. but nowadays most of the old banks are non-existent as the bed has filled up… if there is no deep bank down to the bed then it is getting really full of gravel…
this is happening everywhere
in the same way slips and landslides are affecting roads everywhere…. all our civil works at 50-100 years old are at the end of their time… nature has caught us up
this is a brilliant idea vto. I would say that the resource consent could be made for the river itself, as well as the local natural and human communities. The river is part of the water cycle and the recharge of both the aquifer and the surrounding land. Then the ecosystem, then specific species like the gulls. Then recreation and other ways that humans interact.
Resource, as re-source. Make the case for sustainability, actual sustainability.
I don't know the RMA so don't know if this would be possible, but either it is and it's a precedent setting process, or it isn't and it's an excellent piece of activism to wake people up.
Getting local buy in would be good, and having an established organisation that does activism to back it or run it. Forest and Bird? Or one of the scrappier ones who can go out on a limb.
Or just do it as an couple of individuals who can run the thing and see it through.
it's not sustainable. We're taking gravel out faster than it's being created.
it destroys habitat for living species (water, bank, plant communities)
it messes with the mauri of the river
Some of that is about how stone is extracted (so theoretically at least, it's not a blanket no). But we're such a long way from being able to take small amounts respectfully with regards to the river itself and the other life that has needs and relationships with the river.
I would hazard a guess that it affects the local water cycles and flows as well, but don't know the rivers in question.
We need to look at extraction of stone in the whole system too. How much water is being extracted, how much deforestation, how much mitigation to prevent flooding of human spaces, how much pollution from farming are some of the pieces.
you also need to look at each river individually. for instance, rangitikei river rock is volcanic, very hard, much sought after for road building. much of the rock used in the new transmission gulley road was actually rafted over from nelson area. farms around the centre of the island are having huge rocks bought and trucked to the end of the welly airport runway. huge volcanic boulders(over two tonnes each, get two on large dumper) are worth their weight in ??? as longterm seawall foundations. most river rock is not particulaly sought after for serious rd work, its mostly taken for flood prevention. when I was involved with large scale river extraction we couldnt go below normal river height to extract and also couldnt change the course of the river. a large flood did more change(damage? you decide) than any manmade works.
I did. I disagree that floods cause more damage. It's not that humans can't make changes to rivers, but these rivers flood, that's how they have evolved. It's a cycle that's been going for long history, and the geology an living systems are adapted to that. How humans can fit into that sustainably is still to be determined.
the depressing bit is moving such materials over distances without thought for the whole systems.
if you can find a better, cheaper, longer lasting solution to seawall building, road building, general construction, etc, Im sure every civil engineer on the planet will be eager to hear from you. no engineer from pyramid builders, stonehenge builders up to anybody working today WANTS to haul construction materials any distance. but as the chinese found out, if you use any old rubbish sourced locally, your wall suffers…..as for you disagreement that floods cause less damage than metal extraction, I say (with years of actually doing it, not just being a keyboard expert)baloney. since NZ civil engineering began , there would be less material extracted from rivers than what cyclone bola washed out to sea in a week. since volcanic rock comes from only two or three rivers,(and ,as I said, is preferred for roading, seawalls etc) more is actualy being dug out of quarrys away from waterways, as local river authorities are well aware of its value and keep a close eye on river extraction. play fast and lose with your permitted take and you lose the entire extraction permit, and nobody with a gravel extraction permit wants to do that.
Extracting to protect current infrastructure makes some kind of sense. Extracting to build new roads doesn't. And maintaining seawalls needs urgent analysis in the context of climate change (everything does in fact). At what point do we look at managed retreat? Doesn't have to be now, but we should be thinking about it.
What's the damage done by rock being washed to the sea? When they dammed the Clutha, they changed not just the flow of the river, but also the flow of the ocean along the south coast westwards, which has impacted the Dunedin beaches.
And how much of the rock going out to sea now is due to deforestation and other land changes?
I'm arguing here to look at the whole system. Obviously floods do a lot of damage to human infrastructure, but how much of that is due to us ignoring how rivers actually work and working with them?
Are you sure of this? Having spent a fair amount of my earlier life scrambling over the scree fields of the Southern Alps and seen just how much material is moved downstream during a massive flood event – I'm a tad skeptical that there is any shortage of gravel.
2. Flood events have a massive impact on the riverbeds, orders of magnitude greater than any extraction humans might achieve. And our impact would be purely local to the operation, while a flood hits the entire watershed.
3. Can you be more specific on what 'messing with the mauri of the river' actually means in pragmatic terms here?
Are you sure of this? Having spent a fair amount of my earlier life scrambling over the scree fields of the Southern Alps and seen just how much material is moved downstream during a massive flood event – I'm a tad skeptical that there is any shortage of gravel.
Not sure, making an educated guess. Have also spent a fair amount of time in the mountains but in intact ecosystems, not ones like the Canterbury Plains rivers, which have been hugely altered by humans. In terms of sustainability, it's not just the x volume of rock relative to time and weather, it's about the whole system. If we just measure the one thing, we're missing the point.
However, you are the engineering and science person 🙂 so perhaps you can more easily find the research on the rock to time/weather ration?
2. Flood events have a massive impact on the riverbeds, orders of magnitude greater than any extraction humans might achieve. And our impact would be purely local to the operation, while a flood hits the entire watershed.
Local extraction wrecks local ecosystems. Nature has a process evolved over very long time that humans can't even fully comprehend or study. How would we know what the impacts are? I trust nature, because the regenerative essence is observable. I'm not seeing any regenerative essence in our extractive industries but I live in hope.
3. Can you be more specific on what 'messing with the mauri of the river' actually means in pragmatic terms here?
Think about the river places you love the most and imagine them being straightened and flattened and the banks planted in pine trees. The water still runs, there are trees on the bank, and birds in the trees. What's changed apart from the various individual elements? Do you think it's only how you feel about it that has changed, or was there something instrinsic to the place that exists whether you know about it or not?
Pragmatically, humans are part of nature and we harm ourselves when we intervene in landscapes that mess with the mauri. This is the underlying principle of why we are hurtling ourselves toward climate and ecological catastrophe.
Canterbury Regional River Gravel Management Strategy October 2012 has a summary on the adverse effects effects of gravel extraction around page 8.
It includes effects on river ecology (disturbance of river bed, water quality, pool and riffle sequences, breeding places for fish and birds etc), coastal processes (deposits of sediment/erosion) and also impacts on human health.
Yes I do understand that gravel extraction has a big impact locally as does any human activity. (Even the house you are living in as you type right now, has impacted the prior local ecology; everything humans do has an impact of some sort.)
But the localised impact of gravel extraction needs to be understood in the context of the entire river ecology over time – and that's the case that needs to be made.
yes, but that doesn't mean that if the river can replace the gravel every 200 hundred years that local extraction that has negative impacts will be ok. Which is the general mindset behind extractive industries if they are even thinking about such things.
That's a creek that's had its natural ecosystem very disrupted by humans. See how the creek sits within cleared land/pastoral farm? The original landscape would have been forest, scrubland, some wetland and the perpetual regenerative river edge ecologies that are a feature of mountain rivers.
Up catchment, there should be bush on all those hills and when it rained, that bush would have both slowed the water running into the creek, and would have sequestered water into the land itself. With deforestation you basically create a fast track of rain water into creeks.
If you look at the googlemaps on satellite you can see it's big catchment and it's pretty much all deforested. You can also see the amount of erosion happening on those hills.
I'm guessing, because I don't know that rohe. But this is a very common pattern in NZ. One could say that conventional sheep farming there is also a gravel factory. But that doesn't mean it's a good thing.
I don't know the Canterbury Plains very well, but elsewhere in the South Island, when floods move rock like that, it stops at some point and becomes the next round of the cycle as the first colonising plants come in that are then followed in succession. That's habitat for insects, skinks, birds. If the river shifts, eventually trees will grow.
Taking all or a lot of that gravel out changes the river. Changes its mauri, it's physical structure, its ecology.
This is the industrial mindset. Gravel is just physical stuff lying around that humans can use.
Whereas what's really going on is a set of complex and intricate relationships between all the things (many of which we don't know about), and which as a whole are more than the sum of the parts.
Once we step into that mindset (the interconnected nature of all the things) how we relate with all the things changes. We can still do human building things, but how we do it becomes sustainable rather than primarily extractive. This is the core of sustainability principles and it's why almost nothing we are doing currently is actually sustainable. It could be, but it requires a different kind of thinking.
Up catchment, there should be bush on all those hills and when it rained, that bush would have both slowed the water running into the creek, and would have sequestered water into the land itself.
I'm not sure if you've looked at the eastern side of the Southern Alps – in it's natural form there are scree slopes and gullies just like this creek everywhere. I've spent whole days of my life trudging over them.
The main part of the Alps is a sedimentary schist that both uplifts via the tectonic plate movement very rapidly – and erodes very rapidly. It's been doing this for millions of years – long before humans were even thought of. It was never 'stable'.
All we're doing here is tapping into a tiny fraction of a massive cycle.
those hills in the google maps aren't the high central mountains in the alps. They should have subapline then bush on them.
If you look at the mountains on the west of the divide where there's been no farming it's more obvious. Yes, scree slopes are a feature, but so are plant ecologies.
The main part of the Alps is a sedimentary schist that both uplifts via the tectonic plate movement very rapidly – and erodes very rapidly. It's been doing this for millions of years – long before humans were even thought of. It was never 'stable'.
I didn't say it was stable. I'm saying that it's in constant change, and the ecologies have adapted around that. The whole system is a regenerative system.
All we're doing here is tapping into a tiny fraction of a massive cycle.
This is like saying the water cycle is massive and irrigation take is a tiny fraction of it. Still not sustainable.
Or the carbon cycle is massive and our wee bits of coal are a tiny fraction of it.
Or the carbon cycle is massive and our wee bits of coal are a tiny fraction of it.
Not a very compelling analogy. All we're doing is shifting a tiny fraction of the gravel from one place – where it is rapidly replenished – and putting it somewhere else for a useful purpose. There is no meaningful impact comparable to climate change involved.
Yes we do run into resource constraints – and invariably what successful societies do is innovate our way around them. This idea that humans must never do anything 'extractive' is both arbitrary and self-defeating. If we had applied this rule for the whole of our evolution, you and I would not be here having this conversation.
reread my comments RL. I repeatedly said that we can still make use of resources.
If you want to know why I stop talking to you, it's exactly this. I'm making a clear and coherent argument and you just pick out sound bites and respond to them out of context and end up misrepresenting what I am saying.
It's pretty clear you don't understand what I am talking about. That's ok, but I won't have it misrepresented.
There are myriad reasons that relate to that particular application. But I didn't object to it Red, I pointed a different approach out to those who object to it.
Most rivers are clogging up with gravel due to our confinement of rivers by bridge and farm and need gravel to be pulled out to prevent man-induced 'flooding'…
… think about it though… pull all gravel out of a braided river where it leaves the hills and where do you put it? Nature naturally spreads it evenly over the plains steadily raising them. Man would put such quantities where? In one big hill? haha.
This is one of those logic things which requires thinking through to logical conclusions redlogix. One logic conclusion is that it is impossible to confine such rivers and they must be left to swing across plains, devastating farms every millenium or so…
Most rivers are clogging up with gravel due to our confinement of rivers by bridge and farm and need gravel to be pulled out to prevent man-induced 'flooding'…
Agreed. This is a common problem in many places – in some infamous instances the riverbed is often metres higher than the surrounding plains. This is an ancient trade-off riverine based agricultural societies have faced for millennia.
In the case of Cantebury it's not reasonable to demand the rivers should run unconstrained wherever they will, nor that we can control forever the immense amounts of sediment involved – over 400 million tonnes per annum. We have to pick a path in between.
No discussion of how a re-introduction of a registry of guns, like our vehicle registration system, would make the tracing of the origin of these illegally-obtained weapons easier, while also allowing another avenue of prosecution for the criminal use/distribution of firearms.
Meanwhile, the public of most commonwealth countries have been stripped of their right to bear arms for self defence because we have no Second Amendment like legislation to protect our lives. Even our police are denied the right to carry a side arm as standard kit. That has cost some policemen and members of the public their lives.
Next time you are at a boring dinner party, liven things up by saying you support the right to bear arms for self defence. The incredulous looks you receive will be a sight to behold. That's how brainwashed society has become.
You'd get incredulous looks because it's a fucking stupid idea , register every gun to the owner, absolutely nail anyone with illegal firearms to the wall,
I own a couple of rifles just incase your wondering.
"…..support the right to bear arms for self defense "
Yeah wouldn't that be just wonderful. Best everyone carry arms 24/7 because one never knows where the next threat is coming from. What could possibly go wrong with that eh
The American second amendment thing was originally meant for protection in the case of an invading country, not for Rambo wannabes to strut around imitating special forces.
The Second Amendment’s primary justification was to prevent the United States from needing a standing army.
Preventing the United States from starting a professional army, in fact, was the single most important goal of the Second Amendment. It is hard to recapture this fear today, but during the 18th century few boogeymen were as scary as the standing army — an army made up of professional, full-time soldiers.
By the logic of the 18th century, any society with a professional army could never be truly free. The men in charge of that army could order it to attack the citizens themselves, who, unarmed and unorganized, would be unable to fight back. This was why a well-regulated militia was necessary to the security of a free state: To be secure, a society needed to be able to defend itself; to be free, it could not exist merely at the whim of a standing army and its generals.
Interesting, thanks. So with the situation being much different today, there's no longer a need for citizens to stockpile the arsenal that many in the US have. Having said that I'm sure there must be some nutters over there who believe they need nukes at home just in case their military plan to use them on the people!
Well, in the minds of the gun nuts, the survivalists, the multiple-conspiracy freaks, the Deep State intending “resisters”, the OTT Democrat haters, & the New Conferderacy separatist adherents they need their guns because their “tyrannical government” is either already here , or it’s coming to get them very soon.
The gun lobby, gun manufacturers & gun retailers, & bent broadcasters like Alex Jones feed these kinds of folk a constant load of BS mixed with truth to keep them fearful, hate-filled, & armed up to the eyeball.
Gun control in the USA is a lost cause. Too many politicians in both parties are compromised by gun lobby donations & there are now so many guns out there in the community that people who wouldn’t a few years ago are now buying guns to protect themselves from armed burglars, nutters, angry neighbours, & rogue Rambo militia types, just in case.
''Yeah wouldn't that be just wonderful. Best everyone carry arms 24/7 because one never knows where the next threat is coming from. What could possibly go wrong with that eh.''
Hyperbole, and you know it. Given the reaction on this blog, how many would take the option up?
That's a knee jerk reaction – one I'm familiar with. But it's a shallow argument. For starters the size of our countries are different. The lax control of guns in the US is a problem. New Zealand would have a far different right to bear arms protocol. Police in the States are among the worst trained in the world.
Find the Wiki page showing genocide in countries stripped of their rights to bear arms – if I remember correctly it was well over 100 million.
Look, I have no problem with you or your loved ones accepting your fate at the hands of thugs. But I would prefer the right to shoot someone trying to take the most precious thing in my life – my life!
Here's an educated guess – 3 police officers to die in 2022… followed by the arming of all police officers as a matter of course. Everyone seems quiet on the arming of police officers.
"Everyone seems quiet on the arming of police officers".
Maybe in your circles!
Plenty of us don't want a US style arms race between cops and criminals, where to quote a former police union official. "The public will just have to get used to more people being shot by police".
Where police carry guns, and civilians "arm themselves for self defense" the number of violent incidents, injures and deaths increase markedly.
Fortunately the delusional idea that you need weapons for "self defense" has never caught on in NZ.
''Plenty of us don't want a US style arms race between cops and criminals,''
I agree. I think it will be a VERY sad day when our cops become armed. No doubt public interactions with police may change.
'Where police carry guns, and civilians "arm themselves for self defense" the number of violent incidents, injures and deaths increase markedly.''
I assume you are using the USA as an example to back your claim? If so, as I have stated above, NZ would never have to follow that example when implementing guns as a legal form of defence.
''Fortunately the delusional idea that you need weapons for "self defense" has never caught on in NZ.''
That's true. And there's a reason for that – there was never a need to have weapons for self defence in NZ. Our culture, for all its bloodshed, evolved in a different manner to the States.
However, times have changed. And when you tackle a problem to fit with your personal views and ideology, while refusing to take a rational and tactical approach to a situation that's costing lives… then ''delusion fool'' is a moniker that fits well.
Let's explore this issue further when the next batch of victims to gun violence happens.
No genocide in the States ( apart from native Americans). Have a look at all those countries that removed the right to owns guns. and what followed. While it is fair to call America a police state, their government would never dare cross a certain threshold. They know if that line was crossed, everyone from a Wall Street huckster to a toothless hillbilly would fight back. We have no such protection in New Zealand. We are sitting ducks if anarchy breaks out.
Incidentally, across the States, they have interment camps ready to be used.
Three police officers killed in the line of duty in one year (2022) would be an aberration, although there were four tragic deaths in 1963, and one death (Constable Matthew Hunt; 2020) in the last 10 years. Time will tell.
To me it's really frightening that there's so many flash points in society at the moment.
Sorry to read that, Blade. Yes, we face many challenges, and there's plenty for some to be fearful of – just not convinced that taking out the 'trash' is the best long-term path to making society safer.
We (society) are either all in this together, or we're not.
Tasman deathtrap: the brutal toll of Australia’s deportation policy [15 October 2018]
In the past three years, at least four New Zealand citizens have died in Australian custody or immediately following deportation, and researchers believe there are almost certainly more. The New Zealand government has no estimate of the total number of deaths, and Minister of Justice Andrew Little says his office is powerless to force a change in Australian law. “We don’t have any control over what the Australians do. We don’t have a great deal of leverage.”
Gang Intelligence Centre (GIC) The Gang Intelligence Centre (GIC) is a multi-agency unit supporting the Government’s strategic response to the harm caused by Organised Crime in New Zealand Communities with a specific focus on New Zealand Adult Gangs (NZAG).
The purpose of the Gang Intelligence Centre is to provide a holistic understanding of the harm being caused by, to, and within our New Zealand Adult Gang community, with a particular focus on the social structures and behaviours that underpin this harmful behaviour. A holistic understanding enables the identification of prevention and intervention opportunities which will enable these communities to achieve better outcomes and reduce harm.
Tis the season where crime and gun headlines get louder as people head for the beach, and with a resourced movement involved again this time. Facts merely whisper in the shade.
I’m listening. And probably so are people who watched 1ewes at 6 last night:
Detective Superintendent Greg Willams runs the National Organised Crime Group. He agreed to sit down with 1News for an extended interview on the state of the city.
… “It’s a challenging environment out there, there is no doubt about it,” he said, adding that untangling the current situation in the city was complicated, with many elements in play.
“You’ve seen a revamping of the Rebels, an expansion of the Comancheros, you’ve got existing gangs like the Head Hunters here, you’ve seen an expansion of [King Cobras]… you’re seeing that expansion and with that you’re seeing tension.”
… The attraction for many was methamphetamine, he said, with New Zealanders still paying some of the highest prices in the world for the drug, which was getting cheaper for gangs to buy at a wholesale price.
It was the prevalent drug in New Zealand, according to wastewater testing.
“A lot of the violence you are seeing here is about market control.”
Williams also spoke about Australia’s 501s deportation policy.
“The percentage of gang members that are actually coming out of that number are not massive, but they are influential, they were leaders in Australia, and they’ve really changed the whole gang scene here,” he said.
“We would [not] have seen gangs like the Comancheros if not for that process.”
He said the traditional New Zealand gangs would often resolve violence before it escalated. But, with the new players, that was not always the case anymore. “You do something, I do something bigger, you do something,” he said. “You are consequently seeing stuff here that you have never seen before.
“The firing of multiple shots into a family home, even the firepower we are seeing now is concerning. AR-15s, AK-47s, we have even seen seizure of 50 calibre machine guns… so that’s naturally concerning to us.”
Also this, in yesterday’s Herald, mentions the 501 gang deportees’ influence in organised crime & the proliferation of gun crime that is deeply concerning police AND ordinary citizens.
I had siblings come & stay for Xmas, & other rellies dropped by & visited us all here at Pookden Manor on Boxing Day. This topic came up in the conversations. Everybody was concerned about the number of shootings we hear about every week nowadays, about the number of armed offenders who’ve started shooting at police, & about the now well-reported influence of Aussie 501 deportees on escalating gang violence & firearms use by gang members in Kiwiland.
Had an xmas call from my ex-partner (now aged 70), mentioned her sister (aged 68) gave her a xmas gift that morning. A mask-wearing exemption certificate, with my ex's name on it. Since my ex has happily worn a mask the past couple of years, and sis has been a fervent Trump supporter for twice as long, ex told sis about seeing on tv news Trump informing his rally crowd that he'd just had his booster shot, and getting booed. "Ah, so that explains it! Trump must be the Antichrist!" said sis excitedly. Only extremely mentally-agile people can spin on a dime like that. My ex was vastly amused.
Needless to say, she won't be using the cert. However sis is compulsive in denial. Ex told me that blocking her sister's emails a year ago had no psychological impact whatsoever. She still gets conspiracy theories from the true believer every phone call & visit despite years of disconnecting & telling sis she's not interested.
Both women became spectacularly successful in business in the 1970s as designers & owners. Both now live mortgage-free in their own homes. Their family dynamic is friendly & enterprising. The psycho thing is regarded as eccentricity…
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
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Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
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The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
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Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
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Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
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Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
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A big thank you to all who run the site. much appreciated.
And ditto from me
☘❤️🐧
Desmond Tutu, now there's a life lived for good to the full.
Anti-apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu dies aged 90 | Desmond Tutu | The Guardian
Got the message of Desmond Tutu's passing on facebook this morning from political activist and leading Ratana leader, Apotoro Takiwā Kereama Pene.
Pene recollects Desmond Tutu's testimony at Hone Harawira's trial for assaulting the Auckland University Engineers racist haka party.
An activist of great strength indeed.
Yes, that story should be better known than it is. As so often, and especially with both Tutu and Mandela, time erodes the memory of who really was on the right side, and who only joined in the praise once the cause had been won.
Another link for the Tutu/Harawira court case, for anyone interested (scroll down to end):
https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/22-07-2021/three-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-1981-springboks-tour
Worth a read. Probably no NZer was closer and more attuned to the morality of Desmond Tutu than John Minto.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/12/27/archbishop-desmond-tutu-friend-of-aotearoa-new-zealand-and-champion-of-palestinian-human-rights-dies-aged-90/
Let us also not forget he was a champion of the working class:
Washington Post, 1986
Perhaps the pro-pla****s are right: the official tolls are wrong.
/
In Cape Girardeau County, the coroner hasn’t pronounced a single person dead of COVID-19 in 2021.
Wavis Jordan, a Republican who was elected last year to serve as coroner of the 80,000-person county, says his office “doesn’t do COVID deaths.” He does not investigate deaths himself, and requires families to provide proof of a positive COVID-19 test before including it on a death certificate.
Meanwhile, deaths at home attributed to conditions with symptoms that look a lot like COVID-19 — heart attacks, Alzheimer’s and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — increased.
“When it comes to COVID, we don’t do a test,” Jordan said, “so we don’t know if someone has COVID or not.”
https://missouriindependent.com/2021/12/22/uncounted-inaccurate-death-certificates-across-the-country-hide-the-true-toll-of-covid-19/
“When it comes to COVID, we don’t do a test,” Jordan said, “so we don’t know if someone has COVID or not.”
Now why didn't the previous President not come up with that strategy. Instead of 815,000+ deaths from Covid in the US there would've been next to none.
Jordan would seem to have all the credentials to be the first black Republican President. In real life he seems to be an assistant funeral director.
Despite his best efforts his county with a population of nearly 82,000 has still managed 204 covid deaths.
https://www.thecash-book.com/news/features/hometown-pride-wavis-jordan/
He tried.
@realDonaldTrump Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever expanding. With smaller testing we would show fewer cases!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-26/donald-trump-tweet/12391270?nw=0
So those among us who staunchly defend our environment from the clutches of 'market forces' do a great job but are always chasing their tail… always waiting until an applicatin is made and then opposing it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/127357334/quarry-company-wants-to-extract-thousands-of-tonnes-of-gravel-from-canterbury-riverbed
How about front-footing it instead. For the above one, apply for your own resource consent to leave the gravel in the river. Make the application cover the entire river. First-in-first-served and all that (so common in our nation…).
Sure there would be 'technicalities' and things, but fundamentally use the RMA to claim the use of resources for the betterment of society and the environment. Apply to use the gravels by leaving them in the river and letting them pass naturally down the bed for recreational purposes and for gull and tern purposes.
I have had this idea for a couple decades. Have mentioned it to the occasional person (dont mention these things to "yes, but.." types, only to "yes, lets.." types). Applications are cheap. The report would be pretty simple with little 'effect's to include. I imagine 'industry' would be all up in arms. I imagine, if it gained traction that the application would be replicated very quickly around the land. I think it is overdue to attempt. Who's keen?
"Sure there would be 'technicalities' and things, but fundamentally use the RMA to claim the use of resources for the betterment of society and the environment"
.Isnt that effectively what a Regional Council is supposed to be?
Democratic administration of publicly owned assets for the betterment of society?
Which is why the need for three waters and other reforms.
Though I think the model proposed could be improved.
Id suggest that what is needed is a better understanding (and engagement with) of democratic institutions…..never has the saying 'we get the government (or governance) we deserve' been better displayed.
You are assuming councils are "democratic organisations" rather than self perpetuating old boys clubs
Councils are democratic organisations in that their members (and their actions) can be endorsed or rejected by popular vote.
ECan
Yes….and who did Cantabrians elect in the following general elections?
Not the brightest
In your opinion…..however we have a social contract that says we accept majority decision making.
Can you please point me to the part of 3 Waters that deals with resource allocation reform.
My understanding is that 3 Waters is the amalgamation of District Council water infrastructure provision, not Regional Council resource allocation responsibilities.
Water supplies and where it drains to, are resource management issues, are they not.
3 Waters should be a resource issue, but we're too stupid to understand the water cycle as it passes through humans. That we still think of some water as waste instead of part of the flow of nutrients and energy through natural systems is why we’re in such a mess.
You mean RMA reform.
3 Waters is a governance shift and asset management plan tilt.
There's a hint in there: neither you nor anyone else has executed your idea in 20 years.
It took the Whanganui people more than that and through multiple different processes, into a global first.
Apart from noise, dust, traffic and vibration, my bet is a Notified process would have all the neighbours agreeing pretty quick. Many of the north Canterbury floods this year were caused by streams and rivers that had built up over time and were now at or above the level of the settlements around them.
Technicalities. OMG.
Can you please explain that a bit more? Built up how and why?
Moraine, boulders and silt building in the river bed of north Canterbury streams for multiple years, not cleared out, fills higher than the surrounding settlements, then a big flood like this year comes and overtops … lots of houses and surrounding farmland taken out.
natural cycle build up? Lower water flows due to less rain or irrigation take?
It is both natural cycle build up of sediment and drought (low flows) and water extraction and abstraction for irrigation. The sediment builds up and has fewer and lesser high and medium flows to wash the sediment downstream.
There is a piece by Andrea Vance that is a good starter – mainly about river ecology of Canterburys braided rivers.
Headline is – This Is How It Ends: ‘We take staggering amounts from our waterways’
Thanks! That would have been my guess. Probably some earthworks and structures to prevent flooding as well, and the inherent conflict between the river needing to flood and the humans building their houses in the way.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300422378/this-is-how-it-ends-we-take-staggering-amounts-from-our-waterways
A good story about water mismanagement but I don't see anything on gravel extraction.
For what it's worth I'd agree that our current use of irrigated water is very inefficient and I'm not impressed at the encroachment of farmland over obvious braidplains – that's just dumb. Basically water is just too plentiful in NZ and our agriculture industry has not had much incentive to use to more effectively.
The logical path forward is to follow much of the next gen agricultural technology that Australia is starting to adopt.g, that is moving operations away from large tracts of crude irrigation, to much more sophisticated, intensive and more compact operations.
Crucially all of these trend toward needing less land for farming as we're already seeing in Europe and North America. And not using the land means it can revert back to the more natural condition we would all wish it to be in.
or, regenerative agriculture and horticulture, relocalise food growing and supply, and adopt known techniques for holding water in the landscape. All of that is already being done in New Zealand, and is by its very nature sustainable (more or less).
What you are suggesting isn't.
The braided rivers of Canterbury have been heavily modified – when a big flood comes, the dead branches of a river get revived – woe betide the human infrastructure built there. Rivers don't forget!
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2021/06/rewilding-project-nz-braided-rivers/
Best times in my life have been living on the banks of rivers. Seen some impressive floods, and how nature manages that. Huge respect.
Not to forget stop banks, infrastructure/ activity placed in areas of risk and the expectation that we can control nature…..and that when we fail someone will make good the loses.
https://braidedrivers.org/rivers/
which bit explains what Ad is talking about?
very cool website though.
The consequences of human activities.
Losing coastal lands
“The conventional wisdom is that you harvest flood water in the winter and store it until it’s needed in the summer. However, floods are required to carry gravels to the coastal zone and if there’s not enough gravel, the waves get hungry and start eroding the land.” – Dr Scott Lanard, NIWA
Most of this sediment was once spread across coastal deltas, building the coastline outward. However, the rivers have now been confined by stop banks and levees. While this prevents them from flooding, it also stops them from wandering over the coastal lands and adding thousands of tonnes of sediment as they go. Now, instead of building up our coast, most of this gravel and sediment is carried out to sea. Except in Kaikoura where earthquakes have lifted the coastline in places, the Canterbury coastline is now eroding. Soon, long stretches of it will be inundated by rising sea levels.
https://braidedrivers.org/rivers/
Those sediments are also, topsoil!
thanks Joe.
I also understand the boundary where the seawater meets the underground fresh water water table in parts of Canterbury is moving inland. Related to irrigation take I think, but I wonder if the geology is part of it.
Apparently damming the Clutha River is part of why there are erosion problems with the Dunedin beaches. Might be issues with rivers closer to home too.
Apologoes for not being around to respopnd yesterday – the day went sideways…
All rivers need to spread across plains to spread the gravel load. Since about 100 years ago we have confined them to a single bed due to bridges mostly – bridges which were mostly built where the river;s leave the hills. As such, the gravel builds up and up and up until the bed is higher than the surrounding land.
Then it finally spills over and covers the plains again. This is such an obvious thing when seen, which is everywhere on the west coast where this process moves at speed in light of the rainfall and erosion. Check the Waiho in Franz – go to the bridge and look down river, the bed is way higher than the town and the farmland each side, contained within the stopbanks. Just last month it was finally acknowledged by those who seem to think a bulldozerer can do anything that it has reached its end-point. The suyrrounding land is doomed completely. Check it out. Then see it in every part of NZ. Every part. Particularly the gravel braided types. Same in the slow meandering mud rivers, but much slower.
Check how high every riverbed is when you drive over it this summer.
Thanks for the explanation vto. Will keep this in mind next time I'm driving through the east draining river country.
High relative to what? The surrounding land? The bridge?
Relative to what it used to be… which is difficult to nut out of course…
but one way it to try and suss by checking the piles and supports… they were generally built with deep straight piles on the bottom part and then a bracing (criss-cross, or beefier straight) structure on the top part. That top part was generally built quite a chunk above the original gravel bed… if you can't see the deep straight piles and the criss-cross part is already getting covered by gravels then it is over-full and in trouble.
also sussable by the banks… most old riverbeds have a bank down to the bed.. but nowadays most of the old banks are non-existent as the bed has filled up… if there is no deep bank down to the bed then it is getting really full of gravel…
this is happening everywhere
in the same way slips and landslides are affecting roads everywhere…. all our civil works at 50-100 years old are at the end of their time… nature has caught us up
this is a brilliant idea vto. I would say that the resource consent could be made for the river itself, as well as the local natural and human communities. The river is part of the water cycle and the recharge of both the aquifer and the surrounding land. Then the ecosystem, then specific species like the gulls. Then recreation and other ways that humans interact.
Resource, as re-source. Make the case for sustainability, actual sustainability.
I don't know the RMA so don't know if this would be possible, but either it is and it's a precedent setting process, or it isn't and it's an excellent piece of activism to wake people up.
Getting local buy in would be good, and having an established organisation that does activism to back it or run it. Forest and Bird? Or one of the scrappier ones who can go out on a limb.
Or just do it as an couple of individuals who can run the thing and see it through.
I'd be into putting a post up about this.
Thanks weka, it has been on ,my mind for years and I might just take it up as some time has freed up this next period…
would love to hear how you get on.
Exactly why are we objecting to the removal of gravel from a riverbed?
Some of that is about how stone is extracted (so theoretically at least, it's not a blanket no). But we're such a long way from being able to take small amounts respectfully with regards to the river itself and the other life that has needs and relationships with the river.
I would hazard a guess that it affects the local water cycles and flows as well, but don't know the rivers in question.
We need to look at extraction of stone in the whole system too. How much water is being extracted, how much deforestation, how much mitigation to prevent flooding of human spaces, how much pollution from farming are some of the pieces.
you also need to look at each river individually. for instance, rangitikei river rock is volcanic, very hard, much sought after for road building. much of the rock used in the new transmission gulley road was actually rafted over from nelson area. farms around the centre of the island are having huge rocks bought and trucked to the end of the welly airport runway. huge volcanic boulders(over two tonnes each, get two on large dumper) are worth their weight in ??? as longterm seawall foundations. most river rock is not particulaly sought after for serious rd work, its mostly taken for flood prevention. when I was involved with large scale river extraction we couldnt go below normal river height to extract and also couldnt change the course of the river. a large flood did more change(damage? you decide) than any manmade works.
fuck, that's depressing. Thanks though, I can feel a post coming on.
perhaps you should read the last sentence a few times…..
I did. I disagree that floods cause more damage. It's not that humans can't make changes to rivers, but these rivers flood, that's how they have evolved. It's a cycle that's been going for long history, and the geology an living systems are adapted to that. How humans can fit into that sustainably is still to be determined.
the depressing bit is moving such materials over distances without thought for the whole systems.
if you can find a better, cheaper, longer lasting solution to seawall building, road building, general construction, etc, Im sure every civil engineer on the planet will be eager to hear from you. no engineer from pyramid builders, stonehenge builders up to anybody working today WANTS to haul construction materials any distance. but as the chinese found out, if you use any old rubbish sourced locally, your wall suffers…..as for you disagreement that floods cause less damage than metal extraction, I say (with years of actually doing it, not just being a keyboard expert)baloney. since NZ civil engineering began , there would be less material extracted from rivers than what cyclone bola washed out to sea in a week. since volcanic rock comes from only two or three rivers,(and ,as I said, is preferred for roading, seawalls etc) more is actualy being dug out of quarrys away from waterways, as local river authorities are well aware of its value and keep a close eye on river extraction. play fast and lose with your permitted take and you lose the entire extraction permit, and nobody with a gravel extraction permit wants to do that.
Extracting to protect current infrastructure makes some kind of sense. Extracting to build new roads doesn't. And maintaining seawalls needs urgent analysis in the context of climate change (everything does in fact). At what point do we look at managed retreat? Doesn't have to be now, but we should be thinking about it.
What's the damage done by rock being washed to the sea? When they dammed the Clutha, they changed not just the flow of the river, but also the flow of the ocean along the south coast westwards, which has impacted the Dunedin beaches.
And how much of the rock going out to sea now is due to deforestation and other land changes?
I'm arguing here to look at the whole system. Obviously floods do a lot of damage to human infrastructure, but how much of that is due to us ignoring how rivers actually work and working with them?
And now there's a five hectare yards worth all the way from Ruatiti.
https://twitter.com/HorizonsRC/status/1459021393887178754
Pretty sure them rocks are coming from under the mountain by ohakune, not down the ruatiti,
Yeah.
Near the viaduct on Old Coach road?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/company-chosen-to-supply-rock-for-whanganui-river-mole-repairs/74K6KO6BC2XUF7DX3IB6R67EDA/
2. Flood events have a massive impact on the riverbeds, orders of magnitude greater than any extraction humans might achieve. And our impact would be purely local to the operation, while a flood hits the entire watershed.
3. Can you be more specific on what 'messing with the mauri of the river' actually means in pragmatic terms here?
Not sure, making an educated guess. Have also spent a fair amount of time in the mountains but in intact ecosystems, not ones like the Canterbury Plains rivers, which have been hugely altered by humans. In terms of sustainability, it's not just the x volume of rock relative to time and weather, it's about the whole system. If we just measure the one thing, we're missing the point.
However, you are the engineering and science person 🙂 so perhaps you can more easily find the research on the rock to time/weather ration?
Local extraction wrecks local ecosystems. Nature has a process evolved over very long time that humans can't even fully comprehend or study. How would we know what the impacts are? I trust nature, because the regenerative essence is observable. I'm not seeing any regenerative essence in our extractive industries but I live in hope.
Think about the river places you love the most and imagine them being straightened and flattened and the banks planted in pine trees. The water still runs, there are trees on the bank, and birds in the trees. What's changed apart from the various individual elements? Do you think it's only how you feel about it that has changed, or was there something instrinsic to the place that exists whether you know about it or not?
Pragmatically, humans are part of nature and we harm ourselves when we intervene in landscapes that mess with the mauri. This is the underlying principle of why we are hurtling ourselves toward climate and ecological catastrophe.
Canterbury Regional River Gravel Management Strategy October 2012 has a summary on the adverse effects effects of gravel extraction around page 8.
It includes effects on river ecology (disturbance of river bed, water quality, pool and riffle sequences, breeding places for fish and birds etc), coastal processes (deposits of sediment/erosion) and also impacts on human health.
There are pluses too of course.
Yes I do understand that gravel extraction has a big impact locally as does any human activity. (Even the house you are living in as you type right now, has impacted the prior local ecology; everything humans do has an impact of some sort.)
But the localised impact of gravel extraction needs to be understood in the context of the entire river ecology over time – and that's the case that needs to be made.
yes, but that doesn't mean that if the river can replace the gravel every 200 hundred years that local extraction that has negative impacts will be ok. Which is the general mindset behind extractive industries if they are even thinking about such things.
Cool video.
That's a creek that's had its natural ecosystem very disrupted by humans. See how the creek sits within cleared land/pastoral farm? The original landscape would have been forest, scrubland, some wetland and the perpetual regenerative river edge ecologies that are a feature of mountain rivers.
Up catchment, there should be bush on all those hills and when it rained, that bush would have both slowed the water running into the creek, and would have sequestered water into the land itself. With deforestation you basically create a fast track of rain water into creeks.
If you look at the googlemaps on satellite you can see it's big catchment and it's pretty much all deforested. You can also see the amount of erosion happening on those hills.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Glenfalloch+Station+Todhunter/@-43.3207149,171.2261542,2389m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!3m7!1s0x0:0xc61fb1613df19d9d!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d-43.3057886!4d171.2191594?hl=en
I'm guessing, because I don't know that rohe. But this is a very common pattern in NZ. One could say that conventional sheep farming there is also a gravel factory. But that doesn't mean it's a good thing.
I don't know the Canterbury Plains very well, but elsewhere in the South Island, when floods move rock like that, it stops at some point and becomes the next round of the cycle as the first colonising plants come in that are then followed in succession. That's habitat for insects, skinks, birds. If the river shifts, eventually trees will grow.
Taking all or a lot of that gravel out changes the river. Changes its mauri, it's physical structure, its ecology.
This is the industrial mindset. Gravel is just physical stuff lying around that humans can use.
Whereas what's really going on is a set of complex and intricate relationships between all the things (many of which we don't know about), and which as a whole are more than the sum of the parts.
Once we step into that mindset (the interconnected nature of all the things) how we relate with all the things changes. We can still do human building things, but how we do it becomes sustainable rather than primarily extractive. This is the core of sustainability principles and it's why almost nothing we are doing currently is actually sustainable. It could be, but it requires a different kind of thinking.
Up catchment, there should be bush on all those hills and when it rained, that bush would have both slowed the water running into the creek, and would have sequestered water into the land itself.
I'm not sure if you've looked at the eastern side of the Southern Alps – in it's natural form there are scree slopes and gullies just like this creek everywhere. I've spent whole days of my life trudging over them.
The main part of the Alps is a sedimentary schist that both uplifts via the tectonic plate movement very rapidly – and erodes very rapidly. It's been doing this for millions of years – long before humans were even thought of. It was never 'stable'.
All we're doing here is tapping into a tiny fraction of a massive cycle.
those hills in the google maps aren't the high central mountains in the alps. They should have subapline then bush on them.
If you look at the mountains on the west of the divide where there's been no farming it's more obvious. Yes, scree slopes are a feature, but so are plant ecologies.
I didn't say it was stable. I'm saying that it's in constant change, and the ecologies have adapted around that. The whole system is a regenerative system.
This is like saying the water cycle is massive and irrigation take is a tiny fraction of it. Still not sustainable.
Or the carbon cycle is massive and our wee bits of coal are a tiny fraction of it.
Or the carbon cycle is massive and our wee bits of coal are a tiny fraction of it.
Not a very compelling analogy. All we're doing is shifting a tiny fraction of the gravel from one place – where it is rapidly replenished – and putting it somewhere else for a useful purpose. There is no meaningful impact comparable to climate change involved.
Yes we do run into resource constraints – and invariably what successful societies do is innovate our way around them. This idea that humans must never do anything 'extractive' is both arbitrary and self-defeating. If we had applied this rule for the whole of our evolution, you and I would not be here having this conversation.
reread my comments RL. I repeatedly said that we can still make use of resources.
If you want to know why I stop talking to you, it's exactly this. I'm making a clear and coherent argument and you just pick out sound bites and respond to them out of context and end up misrepresenting what I am saying.
It's pretty clear you don't understand what I am talking about. That's ok, but I won't have it misrepresented.
There are myriad reasons that relate to that particular application. But I didn't object to it Red, I pointed a different approach out to those who object to it.
Most rivers are clogging up with gravel due to our confinement of rivers by bridge and farm and need gravel to be pulled out to prevent man-induced 'flooding'…
… think about it though… pull all gravel out of a braided river where it leaves the hills and where do you put it? Nature naturally spreads it evenly over the plains steadily raising them. Man would put such quantities where? In one big hill? haha.
This is one of those logic things which requires thinking through to logical conclusions redlogix. One logic conclusion is that it is impossible to confine such rivers and they must be left to swing across plains, devastating farms every millenium or so…
Most rivers are clogging up with gravel due to our confinement of rivers by bridge and farm and need gravel to be pulled out to prevent man-induced 'flooding'…
Agreed. This is a common problem in many places – in some infamous instances the riverbed is often metres higher than the surrounding plains. This is an ancient trade-off riverine based agricultural societies have faced for millennia.
In the case of Cantebury it's not reasonable to demand the rivers should run unconstrained wherever they will, nor that we can control forever the immense amounts of sediment involved – over 400 million tonnes per annum. We have to pick a path in between.
Present for Robert G.
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09m0v4x/extinct-tree-from-the-time-of-jesus-rises-from-the-dead
very cool, thanks.
Thanks for that short video, HS. Really interesting.
What an absolutely stunning achievement❗️
Well done, Dr. Sarah Sallon and Dr. Elaine Solowey!
More info:
https://rootandvinenews.com/from-extinction-to-resurrection-the-judean-date-palm-tree/
Thank you, HS – that's very encouraging!
Shared that with family. A real Christmas tree. Life is tenacious.
RNZ
No discussion of how a re-introduction of a registry of guns, like our vehicle registration system, would make the tracing of the origin of these illegally-obtained weapons easier, while also allowing another avenue of prosecution for the criminal use/distribution of firearms.
Meanwhile, the public of most commonwealth countries have been stripped of their right to bear arms for self defence because we have no Second Amendment like legislation to protect our lives. Even our police are denied the right to carry a side arm as standard kit. That has cost some policemen and members of the public their lives.
Next time you are at a boring dinner party, liven things up by saying you support the right to bear arms for self defence. The incredulous looks you receive will be a sight to behold. That's how brainwashed society has become.
You'd get incredulous looks because it's a fucking stupid idea , register every gun to the owner, absolutely nail anyone with illegal firearms to the wall,
I own a couple of rifles just incase your wondering.
Yes.
"…..support the right to bear arms for self defense "
Yeah wouldn't that be just wonderful. Best everyone carry arms 24/7 because one never knows where the next threat is coming from. What could possibly go wrong with that eh
The American second amendment thing was originally meant for protection in the case of an invading country, not for Rambo wannabes to strut around imitating special forces.
Last sentence not quite correct.
The Second Amendment’s primary justification was to prevent the United States from needing a standing army.
Preventing the United States from starting a professional army, in fact, was the single most important goal of the Second Amendment. It is hard to recapture this fear today, but during the 18th century few boogeymen were as scary as the standing army — an army made up of professional, full-time soldiers.
By the logic of the 18th century, any society with a professional army could never be truly free. The men in charge of that army could order it to attack the citizens themselves, who, unarmed and unorganized, would be unable to fight back. This was why a well-regulated militia was necessary to the security of a free state: To be secure, a society needed to be able to defend itself; to be free, it could not exist merely at the whim of a standing army and its generals.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/02/22/what-the-second-amendment-really-meant-to-the-founders/
Interesting, thanks. So with the situation being much different today, there's no longer a need for citizens to stockpile the arsenal that many in the US have. Having said that I'm sure there must be some nutters over there who believe they need nukes at home just in case their military plan to use them on the people!
Well, in the minds of the gun nuts, the survivalists, the multiple-conspiracy freaks, the Deep State intending “resisters”, the OTT Democrat haters, & the New Conferderacy separatist adherents they need their guns because their “tyrannical government” is either already here , or it’s coming to get them very soon.
The gun lobby, gun manufacturers & gun retailers, & bent broadcasters like Alex Jones feed these kinds of folk a constant load of BS mixed with truth to keep them fearful, hate-filled, & armed up to the eyeball.
Gun control in the USA is a lost cause. Too many politicians in both parties are compromised by gun lobby donations & there are now so many guns out there in the community that people who wouldn’t a few years ago are now buying guns to protect themselves from armed burglars, nutters, angry neighbours, & rogue Rambo militia types, just in case.
Exactly Gezza. But you try to convince the NRA and the 1m odd gun nuts in the US of this reality. 🙁
The 2nd Amendment is perhaps the most misunderstood and most abused amendment in the whole US constitution. The 5th comes a close second IMHO.
Happy new year to you to, Gezza.
''Yeah wouldn't that be just wonderful. Best everyone carry arms 24/7 because one never knows where the next threat is coming from. What could possibly go wrong with that eh.''
Hyperbole, and you know it. Given the reaction on this blog, how many would take the option up?
"right to bear arms in self defense"?
FFS this is American BS. We do not need it here. If we want to go hunting we get a hunting licence for hunting weapons. NOBODY needs anything else.
I have been resisting the tempation to point out all men/women have the right to 2 arms!!
But i won't.
Would you roll with grizzly or panda?
Im not going to panda to that!!!
It's outrageous how ancient rights like beating your slaves have been taken away from us. Snowflakes will get us all killed.
@ Blade
1. Happy Christmas. Hope you have a great 2022.
2. Still the best ever commentary on US citizens' 2nd Amendment right to bear arms…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0rR9IaXH1M0
And Part 2
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a9UFyNy-rw4
Where police are routinely armed.
A lot more police and innocent civilians get killed.
"Arms" for "self defense" is a daft idea. As the USA so graphically illustrates.
That's a knee jerk reaction – one I'm familiar with. But it's a shallow argument. For starters the size of our countries are different. The lax control of guns in the US is a problem. New Zealand would have a far different right to bear arms protocol. Police in the States are among the worst trained in the world.
Find the Wiki page showing genocide in countries stripped of their rights to bear arms – if I remember correctly it was well over 100 million.
Look, I have no problem with you or your loved ones accepting your fate at the hands of thugs. But I would prefer the right to shoot someone trying to take the most precious thing in my life – my life!
One based on facts.
Not your reckons.
Exactly.
Here's an educated guess – 3 police officers to die in 2022… followed by the arming of all police officers as a matter of course. Everyone seems quiet on the arming of police officers.
"Everyone seems quiet on the arming of police officers".
Maybe in your circles!
Plenty of us don't want a US style arms race between cops and criminals, where to quote a former police union official. "The public will just have to get used to more people being shot by police".
Where police carry guns, and civilians "arm themselves for self defense" the number of violent incidents, injures and deaths increase markedly.
Fortunately the delusional idea that you need weapons for "self defense" has never caught on in NZ.
Apart from a few delusional fools!
''Plenty of us don't want a US style arms race between cops and criminals,''
I agree. I think it will be a VERY sad day when our cops become armed. No doubt public interactions with police may change.
'Where police carry guns, and civilians "arm themselves for self defense" the number of violent incidents, injures and deaths increase markedly.''
I assume you are using the USA as an example to back your claim? If so, as I have stated above, NZ would never have to follow that example when implementing guns as a legal form of defence.
''Fortunately the delusional idea that you need weapons for "self defense" has never caught on in NZ.''
That's true. And there's a reason for that – there was never a need to have weapons for self defence in NZ. Our culture, for all its bloodshed, evolved in a different manner to the States.
However, times have changed. And when you tackle a problem to fit with your personal views and ideology, while refusing to take a rational and tactical approach to a situation that's costing lives… then ''delusion fool'' is a moniker that fits well.
Let's explore this issue further when the next batch of victims to gun violence happens.
The fallacy that you need "weapons for self defense" in the USA, is the reason why they have such a huge gun problem.
No genocide in the States ( apart from native Americans). Have a look at all those countries that removed the right to owns guns. and what followed. While it is fair to call America a police state, their government would never dare cross a certain threshold. They know if that line was crossed, everyone from a Wall Street huckster to a toothless hillbilly would fight back. We have no such protection in New Zealand. We are sitting ducks if anarchy breaks out.
Incidentally, across the States, they have interment camps ready to be used.
Three police officers killed in the line of duty in one year (2022) would be an aberration, although there were four tragic deaths in 1963, and one death (Constable Matthew Hunt; 2020) in the last 10 years. Time will tell.
Yes, its a big call DMK. It's predicated on the following.
1- The P trade exploding as more people turn to drugs as the hopelessness of our countries predicament becomes apparent to many Kiwis.
2-Gang numbers continue to increase markedly.
3- The breakdown of social order as NZ becomes fractionalised.
4- The lost generation of school kids not going to school.
5- Unending economic pressure on the middleclass.
6- Maori using Covid as an excuse to implement exclusion zones.
7- The break down of our health system.
8- Police losing respect for their job.
To me it's really frightening that there's so many flash points in society at the moment.
Sorry to read that, Blade. Yes, we face many challenges, and there's plenty for some to be fearful of – just not convinced that taking out the 'trash' is the best long-term path to making society safer.
We (society) are either all in this together, or we're not.
If you choose to ignore the fact that violent crime is not rising…..
Just the publicity around it.
Tis the season where crime and gun headlines get louder as people head for the beach, and with a resourced movement involved again this time. Facts merely whisper in the shade.
(click on table in tweet to expand)
https://twitter.com/pattisonian_nz/status/1475205249337942017
One whisper gets louder… 501, 501, 501!
You're onto it mate, problem is most people on this site won't listen to reason on this subject
I’m listening. And probably so are people who watched 1ewes at 6 last night:
Detective Superintendent Greg Willams runs the National Organised Crime Group. He agreed to sit down with 1News for an extended interview on the state of the city.
…
“It’s a challenging environment out there, there is no doubt about it,” he said, adding that untangling the current situation in the city was complicated, with many elements in play.
“You’ve seen a revamping of the Rebels, an expansion of the Comancheros, you’ve got existing gangs like the Head Hunters here, you’ve seen an expansion of [King Cobras]… you’re seeing that expansion and with that you’re seeing tension.”
…
The attraction for many was methamphetamine, he said, with New Zealanders still paying some of the highest prices in the world for the drug, which was getting cheaper for gangs to buy at a wholesale price.
It was the prevalent drug in New Zealand, according to wastewater testing.
“A lot of the violence you are seeing here is about market control.”
Williams also spoke about Australia’s 501s deportation policy.
“The percentage of gang members that are actually coming out of that number are not massive, but they are influential, they were leaders in Australia, and they’ve really changed the whole gang scene here,” he said.
“We would [not] have seen gangs like the Comancheros if not for that process.”
He said the traditional New Zealand gangs would often resolve violence before it escalated. But, with the new players, that was not always the case anymore. “You do something, I do something bigger, you do something,” he said. “You are consequently seeing stuff here that you have never seen before.
“The firing of multiple shots into a family home, even the firepower we are seeing now is concerning. AR-15s, AK-47s, we have even seen seizure of 50 calibre machine guns… so that’s naturally concerning to us.”
https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/12/26/gangs-and-guns-seeing-stuff-here-that-you-have-never-seen-before/
Also this, in yesterday’s Herald, mentions the 501 gang deportees’ influence in organised crime & the proliferation of gun crime that is deeply concerning police AND ordinary citizens.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/auckland-shootings-australian-501-policy-blamed-for-rise-in-gang-violence/EQ26GY2ZJDUPGPUHVLD4HL2YM4/
I had siblings come & stay for Xmas, & other rellies dropped by & visited us all here at Pookden Manor on Boxing Day. This topic came up in the conversations. Everybody was concerned about the number of shootings we hear about every week nowadays, about the number of armed offenders who’ve started shooting at police, & about the now well-reported influence of Aussie 501 deportees on escalating gang violence & firearms use by gang members in Kiwiland.
Most people on this site like evidence.
Not Gossip!
What about Hot Gossip?
Had an xmas call from my ex-partner (now aged 70), mentioned her sister (aged 68) gave her a xmas gift that morning. A mask-wearing exemption certificate, with my ex's name on it. Since my ex has happily worn a mask the past couple of years, and sis has been a fervent Trump supporter for twice as long, ex told sis about seeing on tv news Trump informing his rally crowd that he'd just had his booster shot, and getting booed. "Ah, so that explains it! Trump must be the Antichrist!" said sis excitedly. Only extremely mentally-agile people can spin on a dime like that. My ex was vastly amused.
Needless to say, she won't be using the cert. However sis is compulsive in denial. Ex told me that blocking her sister's emails a year ago had no psychological impact whatsoever. She still gets conspiracy theories from the true believer every phone call & visit despite years of disconnecting & telling sis she's not interested.
Both women became spectacularly successful in business in the 1970s as designers & owners. Both now live mortgage-free in their own homes. Their family dynamic is friendly & enterprising. The psycho thing is regarded as eccentricity…