Open mike 30/03/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 30th, 2011 - 86 comments
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86 comments on “Open mike 30/03/2011 ”

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  1. PeteG 1
    30 March 2011 at 6:33 am

    Now it looks like Labour have virtually locked in Goff as leader through to the election it will be interesting to see what happens to the shadow cabinet line-up. Hughes is obviously out, unfortunately he was the only fresh new talent, the remaining of the top ten look very much old school, but half are actually relatively recent additions (first year in parliament in brackets):

    Goff (1981)
    King (1984)
    Cunliffe (1999)
    Parker (2002)
    Dyson (1993)
    Cosgrove (1999)
    Street (2005)
    Mallard (1984)
    Horomia (1999)

    While the line simply be shuffle up? Chauvel in at ten would give it only a slight sign of freshness.

    Is the Goff/King leadership combo going to continue on through to the election? Too much same old.

    • Bored 1.1
      30 March 2011 at 7:12 am

      OMG, when you look at the list (a faint yawn escapes) you wonder there is little traction? Goff, King and Mallard are much the same generation as me, in that time I have raised a family, moved jobs, changed careers, owned and sold companies etc etc…bit like the standard NZer. Meanwhile these three have been part of a most malign Labour admin under Douglas (forget Lange, Roger ran it), and part of the Helen management system. What have we to show for their efforts?

      Capcha: reflections

    • Carol 1.2
      30 March 2011 at 7:46 am

      Is the Labour List for 2011 available yet?

      I’m not that knowledgeable about Labour MPs, but there are some not on the list that I have frequently seen making substantial contriubtions to debate in the House. And your list doesn’t include Grant Robertson, one of the main contenders for Leader according to many commentators. Here’s some other Labour MPs who seem to me to be up-coming for the future (hastily put together list):

      Grant Robertson (2008)
      Phil Twyford (2008)
      Charles Chauvel (2005)
      David Shearer (2009)
      Jacinda Ardern (2008)
      Sue Moroney (2005)
      Darien Fenton (2005)
      Carol Beaumont
      Clare Curran
      Kelvin Davis
      Stuart Nash

      And there’s probably other more significant ones I’ve not mentioned

  2. chris73 2
    30 March 2011 at 6:47 am

    As a National voter I hope so

    • ianmac 2.1
      30 March 2011 at 10:04 am

      Haveyou got the Names and dates for the top 9 National MPs?

      • felix 2.1.1
        30 March 2011 at 11:00 am

        Oh very funny ianmac, you know there are only 3 MPs in National’s top 9 MPs.

        Key (Come lately)
        English (Stone)
        Brownlee (Bronze)
        English (Stone)
        Brownlee (Bronze)
        Brownlee (Bronze)
        Key (Come lately)
        English (Stone)
        English (Stone)

        • seeker 2.1.1.1
          30 March 2011 at 6:45 pm

          Great wit and utterly hilarious -thanks felix. Needed this to rebalance my political equilibrium after reading the appalling spin of Murdoch’s press minions this last few days.
          Nothing like a good laugh to ease frustrations and make the world seem a better place for a few seconds.More please.

  3. logie97 3
    30 March 2011 at 7:27 am

    Why didn’t Rodney Hide get the job of fixing Christchurch? He was responsible for
    Auckland. Isn’t he the minister of local government? Do National not expect to see him around much longer?

    captcha : ideals

    • Lanthanide 3.1
      30 March 2011 at 9:44 am

      Rodney was the fall guy.

      Evidently they think Brownlee is going to do a passable job (or they want to get rid of him too, and the only way to do that is to let him hang himself).

    • Anita 3.2
      30 March 2011 at 6:39 pm

      Three reasons other than Hide’s competence:

      1) Brownlee is a Christchurch MP, it will make all the nice Cantabrians happy to have one of their own in charge.

      2) Rebuilding/repairing Christchurch is not just a local government matter.

      • logie97 3.2.1
        30 March 2011 at 7:56 pm

        Rodney Hide makes a lot of the fact that he was born and raised in Rangyorah. A local lad. Hide likes to think that he is an authority on just about any issue – has pretensions of being the country’s leader one day…

        Captcha absence

        • Anne 3.2.1.1
          30 March 2011 at 8:10 pm

          @logie97
          You forgot to emphasise the g and the y

          • logie97 3.2.1.1.1
            30 March 2011 at 10:04 pm

            thanks Anne – I would like to be able to use italics and bold in my comments – assume I need know how to use xhtml???

            • Pascal's bookie 3.2.1.1.1.1
              30 March 2011 at 10:50 pm

              Use ‘lesser than’ and ‘greater than’ symbols in place of the square brackets I use below, (ie use the symbols as ‘triangle brackets’):

              To make ‘bold’ bold type: [b] bold [/b] and it will come out: bold

              replace ‘b’ with ‘i’ to get italics.

              • logie97 …
                31 March 2011 at 7:16 am

                thanks PB
                How’s that!

                captcha approved

                [lprent: fixed it. I need to add a div to the comments in the theme. ]

                • Pascal's bookie …
                  31 March 2011 at 7:32 am

                  You’re welcome

                  and don’t let it stop you, but closing the tags is important. (They are closed with the forward slash.) For some reason known only to wordpress I guess, an unclosed tag will affect comments other than your own, it used to be the case that a later comment could also close the tag, but that doesn’t seem to work anymore.

  4. mickysavage 4
    30 March 2011 at 7:40 am

    Morning astroturfers. Early shift is up and running I see.

  5. Zorr 5
    30 March 2011 at 9:09 am

    Another reminder of why we don’t want to EVER go the way of the US

    http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/25/unpaid-jobs-the-new-normal/

    • Colonial Viper 5.1
      30 March 2011 at 9:22 am

      Sounds like a lovely Righty Aristocratic paradise. I’m on my way.

    • Tigger 5.2
      30 March 2011 at 9:45 am

      “Crystal Green, owner of Tallahassee-based event planning firm Your Social Butterfly, has had mixed results with unpaid staffers who didn’t take their responsibilities seriously. She’s even had to retrace the missteps of unpaid staffers and apologize to alienated business partners.”

      This reads like satire. I thought I was on the Onion. Terrifying.

    • millsy 5.3
      30 March 2011 at 9:54 am

      I think Roger Kerr said something about how workers should offer to work unpaid for the first few months to ‘prove’ themselves.

      Personally I think that if you do work, you should get paid, even if it is minimum wage.

      • Deborah Kean 5.3.1
        30 March 2011 at 6:18 pm

        I’ve had corporate-dressed employment agency consultants suggest I offer my unpaid labour for 6 months or so, to prove my skills…
        The first time, 2005, I had been out of work for a while, but the second time, I had been the victim of the collapse of a company where I had worked for 3 and a quarter years, and that should have been enough proof!
        Vicky

    • Jim Nald 5.4
      30 March 2011 at 10:00 am

      Oh ok, so the US got rid of slavery to bring back a worse form of servitude.

      • rosy 5.4.1
        30 March 2011 at 10:25 am

        Not just the U.S. This has been an issue in the U.K. for some time as well. The main problems are a short internship stretching out to long-term unpaid work, or a series of internships. And this form of job experience excludes the working class students, who don’t have rich families to support them through unpaid internships, especially if they continue long-term.

    • Draco T Bastard 5.5
      30 March 2011 at 1:01 pm

      Already happening. My nephew has been offered “opportunities” where he gets to work for two weeks for nothing to see if he’s suitable for the job. Him and I decided that at the end of the two weeks he probably wouldn’t be found suitable and someone else would be offered the same “opportunity”.

  6. RobC 6
    30 March 2011 at 9:41 am

    Sleepover case seems to be going to the negotiating table instead of the Supreme Court.

    Must admit I’m surprised – had to check today wasn’t April Fool’s Day 😀

  7. Colonial Viper 7
    30 March 2011 at 9:44 am

    EU proposing gradual ban on petrol cars and road freight for long trips; major investment over decades in rail and public transport infrastructure.

    http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21247

  8. ianmac 8
    30 March 2011 at 10:09 am

    One reason for the trouncing of the NSW Labor Government last week, was their determination to privatise Electricity. Really upset the people. And when it is known just how Privatisation plans (oops or Public Private Partnership) are aimed at us in NZ, how will we react?

  9. Pascal's bookie 9
    30 March 2011 at 11:03 am

    Quote of the yesterday:

    “I have two grandchildren: Maggie is 11; Robert is 9,” Gingrich said at Cornerstone Church here. “I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.”

    Catholic convert Newt Gringrich, speaking at radical, anti-papist, end times can’t come soon enough, fundamentalist, reconstructionist, wackadoo preacher John Hagee.

  10. Samuel Hill 10
    30 March 2011 at 11:09 am

    Its unfortunate that we always have to move so far to the right in this country before the left can unify and win an election.

    • Jim Nald 10.1
      30 March 2011 at 11:23 am

      They are not good moves for the country’s economic and social development.
      The script keeps changing and our policies become on-again-off-again.
      How can we be expected to make gains and advance when we swinging from one to the other.
      What needs to happen is for voters to demand that we have a consistent plan and vision over a term period longer than electoral cycle.
      The fine policy detail can be modified but according to the single-minded aim of keeping on course with the plan and vision.
      Leadership for this would be needed, but so should the calls come from voters.

  11. randal 11
    30 March 2011 at 11:19 am

    what surprises me is that no one here has picked up on genesis power racking up the wholesale power price on saturday by 200%.
    this is madness and the sort of behaviour that allowed ENRON to flourish and then go bust.
    there is no room for a power MARKET that these types want to impose.
    this country is too small to have this vitral resource manipulated by a gang of power hungry (excuse the pun) crazies.
    all the dweebs in the national party and the right wing think that if there is a |MARKET for power as they envisage that suddenly a new millenium will appear but in the event all we get is racked up profits and anger from the buyers and eventually the consumer when ever they get the truth about what the idiotes are doing.

    • Lanthanide 11.1
      30 March 2011 at 11:39 am

      Interestingly, listening to what was said on morning report about it, the wholesale rate was $20,000, which is 4 times higher than the wholesale rate per megawatt hour that Huntley normally charges.

      Running Huntley normally costs $5,000 per megawatt hour. That seems expensive.

      • prism 11.1.1
        30 March 2011 at 3:39 pm

        On Radionz an exec was explaining about the elecricity pricing this a.m. Justification for the price came from the cost of maintaining Huntly which doesn’t usually make a profit, but is a required? fall-back and that at least one of the complaining companies was offered power for that period at a forward price very much lower than the later charge but chose not to use it.

        • RedLogix 11.1.1.1
          30 March 2011 at 7:28 pm

          Think of the electricity market as a pack of wild dogs fighting over scraps of rotting flesh.

        • Colonial Viper 11.1.1.2
          30 March 2011 at 7:57 pm

          Justification for the price came from the cost of maintaining Huntly

          Did they mention the dozens of power industry execs on >$150K p.a.?

          • prism 11.1.1.2.1
            30 March 2011 at 8:21 pm

            So that’s what the smell is. And obviously the salary men need to be paid a lot to understand the complicated market system. They’ve got to have the right person for that job. As Groucho Marx said when reading the instructions on a new widget that it can be understood by a child of five “Send someone out for a child of five”. Not much of a witticism in the circs but you have to have a larf sometimes do’ncher.

  12. Carol 12
    30 March 2011 at 12:14 pm

    Just on RNZ midday news:
    Auckland has seen a big increase in use of public transport in recent months. There’s been a bit of the usual increase with students back to study, but there’s still a big increase from other causes. This is put down to rises in fuel costs, and as fuel is expected to continue to be expensive, further increase in use of Auckland’s public transport is expected.

    • Carol 12.1
      30 March 2011 at 7:25 pm

      And here’s the RNZ article on it:

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/71665/auckland-public-transport-use-highest-in-60-years

      The number of people using public transport in Auckland has reached a 60-year high.

      A report to the Auckland Council shows a jump in patronage of more than 8% for the year to February, which is equivalent to about five million extra trips.

      And Campbell Live is focusing most of the show tonight around this. Campbell said the report shows that rail usage is up 18%.

      • Carol 12.1.1
        30 March 2011 at 7:45 pm

        The actual press release is here:
        http://www.aucklandtransport.govt.nz/about-us/News/LatestNews/Pages/media-release-public-transport-figures.aspx

        Highlights include:

        Northern Express bus passenger numbers for February increased 20.7 per cent on February 2010. Total Northern Express for the past 12 months reached 1.97 million passengers

        Total bus patronage exceeded 50 million. An increase of 3.36 million boardings or 7.5 per cent growth

        Rail patronage reached 9.2 million for the past 12 months with passenger numbers for the month of February up 17.9 per cent on February 2010. For the first time one million journeys were reached on rail in one month.

        Rail patronage on the Western Line for the month of February increased 25.6 per cent on February 2010 to reach 305,208.

        Ferry patronage totalled 4.6 million for the 12 months to February, with passenger numbers for the month up 12.6 per cent on February 2010

        Of the 30,002 attending the Super Rugby Blues vs. Crusaders at Eden Park on 19 February 31.9 per cent took special event public transport services.

        Although that release seems to have been posted from the future (31 March 2011)

        • Colonial Viper 12.1.1.1
          30 March 2011 at 7:52 pm

          Although that release seems to have been posted from the future (31 March 2011)

          Then it’s clear that the future for rail and bus service demand is bright 😀

  13. joe90 13
    30 March 2011 at 2:05 pm

    New Scientist: Caesium fallout from Fukushima rivals Chernobyl.

  14. Pascal's bookie 14
    30 March 2011 at 3:55 pm

    Haven’t looked, but I bet the right wing blogs are going absolutely apeshit about the CERA business eh? They’ll be forming ad hoc committees and collecting funds for billboards and taking their Hit1er costumes for a march down Queen st.

    Acquisition of land powers are considered to be necessary in order to facilitate the recovery of Christchurch. It may be necessary for CERA to demolish a building (that is otherwise sound), or rebuild on a site, or otherwise take control of land and use it in a new way (such as to form part of a new commercial centre, or a park, or for remediation).

    http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1103/QA.pdf

    Via I/S

    • Armchair Critic 14.1
      30 March 2011 at 11:14 pm

      I’m keen to know what the CERA will do before I’m too critical of them. At present they seem to be more of an idea than an entity that will achieve much.
      Stuff says the will have the power to acquire and dispose of (sell?) land. So CERA are land traders?
      Bob Parker says he hopes they will …address the problem of inadequate housing…, so CERA will build houses? Bob also hopes CERA will …give clarity to business owners, which sounds like a fine sentiment, and not much else.
      Gerry Brownlee says an important task will be consultation. Ignoring the fact that National have sucked at consultation thus far, is this another way of saying CERA will be a talk-fest?
      Even the title of the press release from the Beehive is useless. “New Authority Will Deliver for Canterbury”. Deliver what? Sounds like aspirational bullshit to me.
      The Press reports that Bob Parker hopes to have a recovery plan ready in none months. Conveniently, it won’t be ready before the General Election, even if it comes in on time. Meanwhile there are people in broken houses and winter is close. Not good enough, Bob.
      Mr Key is quoted as saying CERA will exist for five years. So four years to actually rebuild once the recovery plan is ready? How does that tie in with the ten years to rebuild Christchurch John Carter was talking about in early March. Sounds like someone’s pulling numbers out of his arse, or that Mr Key intends for CERA to only do half the job (or less). And it seems Mr Key and his Ministers don’t talk to each other.
      Local Government NZ President, Lawrence Yule, voices conditional support for CERA. After describing CERA as …radical change… he says …LGNZ on principle is wary of efforts to impose structures, powers and decisions over communities and their directly elected community representatives. Lawrence is a quite conservative person (or he was when I met him, many years ago), so putting conditions on support is a bold move. Mr Yule also notes that …the devil is in the detail… Never a truer word spoken. Overall, this isn’t even faint praise.
      So at this stage there’s not much to criticise, beyond this. It’s just words around an idea, not even a hint of concrete. I want to know:
      Does CERA do much more than plan?
      How will CERA be involved in the rebuild of the water supply and sewerage? Ordinarily this would be the Council’s responsibility.
      How will CERA be involved in the repairs of the damaged roads? Ordinarily this would be the responsibility of the Council (local roads) and NZTA (motorways and highways).
      How will CERA be involved in the redevelopment of the CBD? A lot of the land and improvements (i.e. buildings) are privately owned, and rebuilding must surely be the owner’s responsibility.
      How will CERA be involved in the rebuilding of private and public housing? The former is the owner’s responsibility, the latter will be both local and central government’s responsibility.
      How will CERA undertake regional planning with the crippling blow delivered to ECan a year or so back?
      In a year or so we may well be looking back and going “maybe that wasn’t such a good idea”. Labour may well have supported CERRA (much to my disgust), let’s hope they provide a bit more rigour to CERA.

  15. William Joyce 15
    30 March 2011 at 4:14 pm

    Farrar & Dimpost slapped with gag-order to stop them mentioning name of complainant in Hughes case. (RNZ – Jim Moira’s show this avo)
    Cheers for the wisdom of the mods of The Standard in not mentioning names and “screw you” to the RWNJs who thought it was only the mod’s showing double standards.
    Sometimse the issues are more complicated than the small, point scoring, primitive brains can understand!

  16. William Joyce 16
    30 March 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Fran O’Sullivan, rightly, questions why an independent authority, answerable to an independent board, was not created for Christchurch – like in Louisiana after Katrina and in Queensland after the hurricane and floods.
    Instead we have a person who is an inexperienced minister (only two years), a political appointee who could be out by the end of the year, whose only experience in this line of work was teaching kids how to make wooden towel rails and who is well recognised as not playing well with grown ups!
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10715777

  17. seeker 17
    30 March 2011 at 7:24 pm

    Is it me or is there something really unbecoming about the photo for this sad article:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10715981

    The image was larger and on the home or national page when I first saw it. It is now smaller but just as distasteful. The whole concept of ‘private’ prisons, especially ones run by Serco with their rep., is horrendous enough, without the minister responsible sitting and looking as happy as if she had bought a new home for herself and was sharing her pleasure with us all. In my opinion she has taken the meaning of ‘minister’ (in its humane, caring context) out of the title of minister. I despair at the short sighted, narrow minded, punitive mindset of this government.

    • Lanthanide 18.1
      30 March 2011 at 9:16 pm

      He always looks so mournful and glum, like he’s about to start crying or something.

    • William Joyce 18.2
      30 March 2011 at 11:13 pm

      “I am disappointed. I went on public record, as I think the Prime Minister did, saying that we hoped all of the games being reallocated from pool matches would be able to be hosted in the South Island,” Mr McCully said.

      *adopting tone of sarcasm*
      Sad Sad Murray. Poor you! Have you finally realised that you are not as important as you think you are. Your “friends” have been using you.

      This is not about friendship, Murray. Nor national pride, nor loyalty to New Zealand – this is about business. Yes, that’s right, big boys business with big boys pants. All those people and institutions that you “bend over and assume the position” for are not interested in what you think or what you and John Key want. It’s about business.

      “Maximising profits for the share holders” does not have respect for ANY OTHER value or ethic. Even stakeholders can get screwed – and that’s you Murray. Didn’t they teach you that at National Party boot camp.

      They just used you Murray. You’re there little goffer.You have done just what they wanted.

      Unless………….you knew this all along? Don’t tell me that you knew this all along, Murray.

      Then why did you say you’re disappointed? Don’t tell me that you’re trying to deceive me Murray? Say it isn’t so Murray! Murray! How could you?!

      Don’t try and fool me with your “OMG – I didn’t know they would do that!” routine, Murray. I know you.

      This is bullshit.

      If it comes to a power differential with the RWC, Murray, you are just oh so “The Lesser Power.”

      In more ways than one – yes, I know, I’ve seen those little diamond-shaped blue pills you keep beside the motel bed.

      It’s time to wipe that brown stuff of your nose – your look ridiculous.

  19. ianmac 19
    30 March 2011 at 11:01 pm

    Stuff: “Dairy cooperative Fonterra says it sees no need for a Commerce Commission probe of New Zealand milk prices. “
    Funny that. Anything to hide? But if there was an enquiry, it would take 3-4 years. Oh. That’s Ok then.

  20. Roger 20
    31 March 2011 at 1:12 am

    Middle class NZ now has to pay a new sports tax to watch our ‘national’ sports.

    The lower classes don’t pay the tax, and don’t get to watch our national teams or they do and get pilloried for the choices they have made by those at the top.

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    Home, home again to a long warm embrace. Plenty of reasons to be glad to be back.But also, reasons for dejection.You, yes you, Simeon Brown, you odious little oik, you bible thumping petrol-pandering ratfucker weasel. You would be Reason Number One. Well, maybe first among equals with Seymour and Of-Seymour ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • A missed opportunity

    The government introduced a pretty big piece of constitutional legislation today: the Parliament Bill. But rather than the contentious constitutional change (four year terms) pushed by Labour, this merely consolidates the existing legislation covering Parliament - currently scattered across four different Acts - into one piece of legislation. While I ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Nicola Willis Seeks New Sidekick To Help Fix NZ’s Economy

    Synopsis:Nicola Willis is seeking a new Treasury Boss after Dr Caralee McLiesh’s tenure ends this month. She didn’t listen to McLiesh. Will she listen to the new one?And why is Atlas Network’s Taxpayers Union chiming in?Please consider subscribing or supporting my work. Thanks, Tui.About CaraleeAt the beginning of July, Newsroom ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Inflation alive and kicking in our land of the long white monopolies

    The golden days of profit continue for the the Foodstuffs (Pak’n’Save and New World) and Woolworths supermarket duopoly. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 5:The Groceries Commissioner has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • The thermodynamics of electric vs. internal combustion cars

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler I love thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is like your mom: it may not tell you what you can do, but it damn well tells you what you can’t do. I’ve written a few previous posts that include thermodynamics, like one on air capture of ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.

    The notion of geopolitical  “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    3 days ago
  • Venus Hum

    Fill me up with soundThe world sings with me a million smiles an hourI can see me dancing on my radioI can hear you singing in the blades of grassYellow dandelions on my way to schoolBig Beautiful Sky!Song: Venus Hum.Good morning, all you lovely people, and welcome to the 700th ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • I Went to a Creed Concert

    Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses

    The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A Time For Unity.

    Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again

    National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.

    A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Nicola Willis’s Very Unserious Bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander Cancellation

    Open to all with kind thanks to all subscribers and supporters.Today, RNZ revealed that despite MFAT advice to Nicola Willis to be very “careful and deliberate” in her communications with the South Korean government, prior to any public announcement on cancelling Kiwirail’s i-Rex, Willis instead told South Korea 26 minutes ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Satisfying the Minister’s Speed Obsession

    The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago
  • What if we freed up our streets, again?

    This guest post is by Tommy de Silva, a local rangatahi and freelance writer who is passionate about making the urban fabric of Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland more people-focused and sustainable. New Zealand’s March-April 2020 Level 4 Covid response (aka “lockdown”) was somehow both the best and worst six weeks of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    4 days ago
  • No Alarms And No Surprises

    A heart that's full up like a landfillA job that slowly kills youBruises that won't healYou look so tired, unhappyBring down the governmentThey don't, they don't speak for usI'll take a quiet lifeA handshake of carbon monoxideAnd no alarms and no surprisesThe fabulous English comedian Stewart Lee once wrote a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Five ingenious ways people could beat the heat without cranking the AC

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Every summer brings a new spate of headlines about record-breaking heat – for good reason: 2023 was the hottest year on record, in keeping with the upward trend scientists have been clocking for decades. With climate forecasts suggesting that heat waves ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • No new funding for cycling & walking

    Studies show each $1 of spending on walking and cycling infrastructure produces $13 to $35 of economic benefits from higher productivity, lower healthcare costs, less congestion, lower emissions and lower fossil fuel import costs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • 99

    Dad turned 99 today.Hell of a lot of candles, eh?He won't be alone for his birthday. He will have the warm attention of my brother, and my sister, and everyone at the rest home, the most thoughtful attentive and considerate people you could ever know. On Saturday there will be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Open Government: National reneges on beneficial ownership

    One of the achievements of the New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership Fourth National Action Plan was a formal commitment from the government to establish a public beneficial ownership register. Such a register would allow the ultimate owners of companies to be identified - a vital measure in preventing corruption, money ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt One.

    This project analyzes security politics in three peripheral democracies (Chile, New Zealand, Portugal) during the 30 years after the end of the Cold War. It argues that changes in the geopolitical landscape and geo-strategic context are interpreted differently by small … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Tea and Toast

    When the skies are looking bad my dearAnd your heart's lost all its hopeAfter dawn there will be sunshineAnd all the dust will goThe skies will clear my darlingNow it's time for you to let goOur girl will wake you up in the mornin'With some tea and toastLyrics: Lucy Spraggan.Good ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • NLTP 2024 released – destroying pipeline of shovel ready local projects

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Waka Kotahi yesterday released the latest National Land Transport Plan (NLTP) for 2024-27. The NLTP sets out what transport projects will be funded for the next three years, including both central and local government projects. As expected given the government’s extremely ideological transport policy, it’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago
  • Can Brown deliver his roads

    The Government’s unveiling of its road-building programme yesterday was ambitious and, many would say, long overdue. But the question will be whether it is too ambitious, whether it is affordable, and, if not, what might be dropped. The big ticket items will be the 17 so-called Roads of National Significance. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • New paper about detecting climate misinformation on Twitter/X

    Together with Cristian Rojas, Frank Algra-Maschio, Mark Andrejevic, Travis Coan, and Yuan-Fang Li, I just published a paper in Nature Communications Earth & Environment where we use the Computer Assisted Recognition of Denial and Skepticism (CARDS) machine learning model to detect climate misinformation in 5 million climate tweets. We find over half ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago
  • Excerpting “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies.”

    In the late 2000s-early 2010s I was researching and writing a book titled “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Chile, New Zealand and Portugal.” The book was a cross-regional Small-N qualitative comparison of the security strategies and postures of three small … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Hating for the Wrong Reasons: Of Rings of Power, Orcs and Evil

    A few months ago, my fellow countryman, HelloFutureMe, put out a giant YouTube video, dissecting what went wrong with the first season of Rings of Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ6FRUO0ui0&t=8376s). It’s an exceptionally good video, and though it spans some two and a half hours, it is well worth your time. But ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: “Least cost” to who?

    On Friday the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released their submission on National's second Emissions Reduction Plan, ripping the shit out of it as a massive gamble based on wishful thinking. One of the specific issues he focused on was National's idea of "least cost" emissions reduction, pointing out that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Israeli Lives Matter

    There is no monopoly on common senseOn either side of the political fenceWe share the same biology, regardless of ideologyBelieve me when I say to youI hope the Russians love their children tooLyrics: Sting. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Luxon Cries

    Over the weekend, I found myself rather irritably reading up about the Treaty of Waitangi. “Do I need to do this?” It’s not my jurisdiction. In any other world, would this be something I choose to do?My answer - no.The Waitangi Tribunal, headed by some of our best legal minds, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Just one Wellington home being consented for every 10 in Auckland

    A decade of under-building is coming home to roost in Wellington. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday September 2:Wellington’s leaders are wringing their hands over an exodus of skilled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Container trucks on local streets: why take the risk?

    This is a guest post by Charmaine Vaughan, who came to transport advocacy via her local Residents Association and a comms role at Bike Auckland. Her enthusiasm to make local streets safer for all is shared by her son Dylan Vaughan, a budding “urban nerd” who provided much of the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #35

    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 25, 2024 thru Sat, August 31, 2024. Story of the week After another crammed week of climate news including updates on climate tipping points, increasing threats from rising ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • An Uncanny Valley of Improvement: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episodes 1-3 (Season ...

    And thus we come to the second instalment of Amazon’s Rings of Power. The first season, in 2022, was underwhelming, even for someone like myself, who is by nature inclined to approach Tolkien adaptations with charity. The writing was poor, the plot made no sense on its own terms, and ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago
  • Alcohol debris and Crocodile Tears

    I write to you this morning from scenes of carnage. Around the floor lie young men who only hours earlier were full of life, and cocktails, and now lie silent. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • When Do We Look Away?

    Hi,The first time I saw something that made me recoil on the internet was a visit to Rotten.com. The clue was in the name — but the internet was a new thing to me in the 90s, and no-one really knew what the hell was going on. But somehow I ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • The decades just fly by

    You turn your back for a moment and a city can completely transform itself. It was, oh, just the other day I was tripping up to Kuala Lumpur every few months to teach workshops and luxuriate in the tropical warmth and fill my face with Char Kway Teow.It has to ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • 2024 Reading Summary: August

    Completed reads for August: Aesop’s Fables (collection), by Aesop Berserk: Volume XXV (manga), by Kentaro Miura Benighted, by J.B. Priestly Berserk: Volume XXVI (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXVII (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXVIII (manga), by Kentaro Miura Berserk: Volume XXIX (manga), by Kentaro Miura ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Is recent global warming part of a natural cycle?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is recent global warming part ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • White Noise

    Now here we standWith our hearts in our handsSqueezing out the liesAll that I hearIs a message, unclearWhat else is there to decide?All that I'm hearing from youIs White NoiseLyrics: Christopher John CheneyIs the tide turning?Have we reached the high point of the racist hate and lies from Hobson’s Pledge, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • The Death Of “Big Norm” – Exactly 50 Years Ago Today.

    Norman KirkPrime Minister of New Zealand 1972-1974Born: 6 January 1923 - Died: 31 August 1974Of the working-class, by the working-class, for the working-class.Video courtesy of YouTubeThese elements were posted on Bowalley Road on Saturday, 31 August 2024. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • Claims and Counter-Claims.

    Whose Foreshore? Whose Seabed? When the Marine and Coastal Area Act was originally passed back in 2011, fears about the coastline becoming off-limits to Pakeha were routinely allayed by National Party politicians pointing out that the tests imposed were so stringent  that only a modest percentage of claims (the then treaty ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand Honours Maori King ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • The Principles of the Treaty

    Hardly anyone says what are ‘the principles of the treaty’. The courts’ interpretation restrain the New Zealand Government. While they about protecting a particular community, those restraints apply equally to all community in a liberal democracy – including a single person.Treaty principles were introduced into the governance of New Zealand ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • The Only Other Reliable Vehicle.

    An Elite Leader Awaiting Rotation? Hipkins’ give-National-nothing-to-aim-at strategy will only succeed if the Coalition becomes as unpopular in three years as the British Tories became in fourteen.THE SHAPE OF CHRIS HIPKINS’ THINKING on Labour’s optimum pathway to re-election is emerging steadily. At the core of his strategy is Hipkins’ view ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • A Big F U to this Right Wing Government

    Open to all - deep thanks to those who support and subscribe.One of the things that has got me interested recently is updates about Māori wards.In April, Stuff’s Karanama Ruru reported that ~ 2/3 of our 78 councils had adopted Māori wards in NZ.That meant that under the Coalition repeal ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: James Shaw’s legacy keeps paying off

    One of the central planks of the previous Labour-Green government's emissions reduction policy was GIDI (Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry). This was basically using ETS revenue to pay polluters to clean up production, reducing emissions while protecting jobs. Corporate welfare, but it got the job done, and was often a ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Gravity

    Oh twice as much ain't twice as goodAnd can't sustain like one half couldIt's wanting moreThat's gonna send me to my kneesSong: John MayerSome ups and downs from the last week of August ‘24. The good and bad, happy and sad, funny and mad, heroes and cads. The week that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Ditch the climate double speak and get real

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The Government announced changes to the Fast-Track Approvals Bill on Sunday, backing off from the contentious proposal to give ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to August 30

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest science of changing sea temperatures and which emissions policies actually work; on the latest from Ukraine, Gaza and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • This Govt’s infrastructure strategy depends on capital gains taxes & new road taxes

    Billions of dollars in value uplift was identified around the Transmission Gully project, but that was captured 100% by landowners and not shared to pay for the project. Now National is saying value capture should be used for similar projects. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/ Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 30-August-2024

    Kia ora and welcome to the end of another week. Here’s our regular Friday roundup of things that caught our eye, in the realm of cities and transport. If you enjoy these roundups, feel free to join our growing ranks of supporters by making a recurring donation to keep the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Table Talk: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.

    “That’s the sort of constitutional reform he favours: conceived in secret; revolutionary in intent; implemented incrementally without fanfare; and under no circumstances to be placed before the electorate for democratic ratification.”TO SAY IT WAS RAINING would have understated seriously the meteorological conditions. Simply put, it was pissing down. One of ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • Big Norm and Chris Hipkins

    It’s 50 years ago today that “Big Norm” Kirk died of a heart attack in Wellington’s Home of Compassion. Home of Compassion. Although he was Prime Minister for only 623 days, he has an iconic place in New Zealand history, particularly Labour history. When Labour leaders like Jacinda Ardern recite ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #35 2024

    Open access notables Arctic glacier snowline altitudes rise 150 m over the last 4 decades, Larocca et al., The Cryosphere: We mapped the snowline (SL) on a subset of 269 land-terminating glaciers above 60° N latitude in the latest available summer, clear-sky Landsat satellite image between 1984 and 2022. The mean SLA was extracted ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • Unravelling the String of State: New Zealand Sovereignty and the Treaty of Waitangi

    Oh dear. Sometimes people just need to prod the sleeping dog. We currently have a parliamentary dispute over the nature of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, as signed between the British Crown and New Zealand Maori: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/526451/sovereignty-debate-split-on-party-lines Specifically, the National Government takes the traditional view that Maori ceded sovereignty ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • Rigour, PLEASE

    You may have noticed I have been taking my time getting home. You may have wondered if that might have anything to do with our brave little nation being constitutionally and morally abused by this woeful excuse for a government. It does. I have enjoyed being able to turn the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Making A Difference.

    The Jacinda and Ashley Show: Before the neoliberals could come up with a plausible reason for letting thousands of their fellow citizens perish, the Ardern-led government, backed by the almost forgotten power of an unapologetically interventionist state, was producing changes in the real world – changes that were, very obviously, saving ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • Government progresses response to Abuse in Care recommendations

    A Crown Response Office is being established within the Public Service Commission to drive the Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. “The creation of an Office within a central Government agency was a key recommendation by the Royal Commission’s final report.  “It will have the mandate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Passport wait times back on-track

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says passport processing has returned to normal, and the Department of Internal Affairs [Department] is now advising customers to allow up to two weeks to receive their passport. “I am pleased that passport processing is back at target service levels and the Department ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • New appointments to the FMA board

    Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister has today announced three new appointments and one reappointment to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) board. Tracey Berry, Nicholas Hegan and Mariette van Ryn have been appointed for a five-year term ending in August 2029, while Chris Swasbrook, who has served as a board member ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • District Court judges appointed

    Attorney-General Hon Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new District Court judges. The appointees, who will take up their roles at the Manukau Court and the Auckland Court in the Accident Compensation Appeal Jurisdiction, are: Jacqui Clark Judge Clark was admitted to the bar in 1988 after graduating ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government makes it faster and easier to invest in New Zealand

    Associate Minister of Finance David Seymour is encouraged by significant improvements to overseas investment decision timeframes, and the enhanced interest from investors as the Government continues to reform overseas investment. “There were about as many foreign direct investment applications in July and August as there was across the six months ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New Zealand to join Operation Olympic Defender

    New Zealand has accepted an invitation to join US-led multi-national space initiative Operation Olympic Defender, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. Operation Olympic Defender is designed to coordinate the space capabilities of member nations, enhance the resilience of space-based systems, deter hostile actions in space and reduce the spread of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government commits to ‘stamping out’ foot and mouth disease

    Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says that a new economic impact analysis report reinforces this government’s commitment to ‘stamp out’ any New Zealand foot and mouth disease incursion. “The new analysis, produced by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, shows an incursion of the disease in New Zealand would have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Improving access to finance for Kiwis

    5 September 2024  The Government is progressing further reforms to financial services to make it easier for Kiwis to access finance when they need it, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.  “Financial services are foundational for economic success and are woven throughout our lives. Without access to finance our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Prime Minister pays tribute to Kiingi Tuheitia

    As Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII is laid to rest today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has paid tribute to a leader whose commitment to Kotahitanga will have a lasting impact on our country. “Kiingi Tuheitia was a humble leader who served his people with wisdom, mana and an unwavering ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Resource Management reform to make forestry rules clearer

    Forestry Minister Todd McClay today announced proposals to reform the resource management system that will provide greater certainty for the forestry sector and help them meet environmental obligations.   “The Government has committed to restoring confidence and certainty across the sector by removing unworkable regulatory burden created by the previous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • More choice and competition in building products

    A major shake-up of building products which will make it easier and more affordable to build is on the way, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Today we have introduced legislation that will improve access to a wider variety of quality building products from overseas, giving Kiwis more choice and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Joint Statement between the Republic of Korea and New Zealand 4 September 2024, Seoul

    On the occasion of the official visit by the Right Honourable Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand to the Republic of Korea from 4 to 5 September 2024, a summit meeting was held between His Excellency President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the goal for New Zealand and Korea

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol. “Korea and New Zealand are likeminded democracies and natural partners in the Indo Pacific. As such, we have decided to advance discussions on elevating the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • International tourism continuing to bounce back

    Results released today from the International Visitor Survey (IVS) confirm international tourism is continuing to bounce back, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey says. The IVS results show that in the June quarter, international tourism contributed $2.6 billion to New Zealand’s economy, an increase of 17 per cent on last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government confirms RMA reforms to drive primary sector efficiency

    The Government is moving to review and update national level policy directives that impact the primary sector, as part of its work to get Wellington out of farming. “The primary sector has been weighed down by unworkable and costly regulation for too long,” Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.  “That is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Weak grocery competition underscores importance of cutting red tape

    The first annual grocery report underscores the need for reforms to cut red tape and promote competition, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “The report paints a concerning picture of the $25 billion grocery sector and reinforces the need for stronger regulatory action, coupled with an ambitious, economy-wide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government moves to lessen burden of reliever costs on ECE services

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the Government has listened to the early childhood education sector’s calls to simplify paying ECE relief teachers. Today two simple changes that will reduce red tape for ECEs are being announced, in the run-up to larger changes that will come in time from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Over 2,320 people engage with first sector regulatory review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says there has been a strong response to the Ministry for Regulation’s public consultation on the early childhood education regulatory review, affirming the need for action in reducing regulatory burden. “Over 2,320 submissions have been received from parents, teachers, centre owners, child advocacy groups, unions, research ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government backs women in horticulture

    “The Government is empowering women in the horticulture industry by funding an initiative that will support networking and career progression,” Associate Minister of Agriculture, Nicola Grigg says.  “Women currently make up around half of the horticulture workforce, but only 20 per cent of leadership roles which is why initiatives like this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government to pause freshwater farm plan rollout

    The Government will pause the rollout of freshwater farm plans until system improvements are finalised, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard announced today. “Improving the freshwater farm plan system to make it more cost-effective and practical for farmers is a priority for this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Milestone reached for fixing the Holidays Act 2003

    Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden says yesterday Cabinet reached another milestone on fixing the Holidays Act with approval of the consultation exposure draft of the Bill ready for release next week to participants.  “This Government will improve the Holidays Act with the help of businesses, workers, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • New priorities to protect future of conservation

    Toitū te marae a Tāne Mahuta me Hineahuone, toitū te marae a Tangaroa me Hinemoana, toitū te taiao, toitū te tangata. The Government has introduced clear priorities to modernise Te Papa Atawhai - The Department of Conservation’s protection of our natural taonga. “Te Papa Atawhai manages nearly a third of our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Faster 110km/h speed limit to accelerate Kāpiti

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