Plundering of water

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 am, July 5th, 2017 - 71 comments
Categories: disaster, Environment, sustainability, water - Tags: ,

https://twitter.com/nonplasticmaori/status/881545813469536256

NZ Pure Blue wants to build ‘the largest water bottling plant in the southern hemisphere’ in Putaruru

The same water bottling company that tried to suck Canterbury Plains dry before SumOfUs members stopped it now wants to build ‘the largest production bottling plant in the southern hemisphere’ in Waikato.

This monstrosity will drain Putaruru’s Blue Spring in the Waihou River of a staggering 6.9 million litres a day—more than a billion litres more per year than the Ashburton deal we came together and squashed.

Every drop of this pure, artesian water will be exported for at least 15 years if NZ Pure Blue has its way. Our most precious resource bottled, processed and shipped overseas all in the name of corporate profit.

There’s. No. Way. Tell the Waikato Regional Council to protect Putaruru’s precious Blue Spring.

We don’t even know how much NZ Pure Blue will pay for some of the purest water in the world—but we do know it won’t be anything close to what it’s worth. There aren’t even royalty laws like there are for oil and gas—even gravel—even though water is our most precious and valuable resource.

What we do know is that we can stop it. When NZ Pure Blue tried to drain the drought-prone Canterbury Plains for corporate profit, tens of thousands of NZ SumOfUs members stood up and said no. And we killed it. Now NZ Pure Blue thinks it can just move house and try again. We stopped it in Ashburton, we can stop it in South Waikato too.

Join us and tell the Waikato Regional Council to reject NZ Pure Blue’s application to suck the Waihou River dry.

More information

New Zealand anger as pristine lakes tapped for bottled water market

The Guardian. 27 March 2017.

NZ Pure Blue wants to send millions of litres of Waikato water offshore

NZ Herald. 27 June 2017.

Sign the petition (39,362 signatures so far)

TO: Waikato Regional Council

Reject NZ Pure Blue’s application to suck Putaruru’s Blue Spring dry!

71 comments on “Plundering of water ”

  1. tc 1

    Winnie was front page Waikato times this week about water, farming, land dev etc having a pop at WDC.

    Someone should put the old grandstander on the spot over this to make him take a position pre election.

  2. RedLogix 2

    Bottled water is an environmental crime anyway.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/30/tackling-the-plastic-bottle-crisis-and-our-wider-disregard-for-nature

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/a-million-a-minute-worlds-plastic-bottle-binge-as-dangerous-as-climate-change

    Get that. One million fucking bottles a minute! Staggering folly. Never ever buy water in a plastic bottle.

    Oh and some years back we walked into these springs; a pleasant 90 min walk on open farmland and river banks. The springs really are an deep vivid colour and rather special.

    • Rae 2.1

      I think that side of all of this is the one that really needs working on to wake people up, I 100% agree with you

  3. Pete 3

    We can imagine it now, in the height of summer the Russian Billionaire trucking in 50,000 litres a day to water his Helena Bay lawn.

  4. ianmac 4

    Every little or big protest hopefully has cumulative effect. (Can cold water be a hot potato?)

  5. Wayne 5

    The various campaigns against bottling water are just ridiculous. New Zealand, compared to just about every country in the world, has a vast amount of water.

    The amount of water used for bottled water, relative to the supply, is trivial. Using figures like millions of litres just illustrates how much water there is. For instance a typical swimming pool has millions of litres, but compared to a river, it is nothing.

    “Plunder” might have emotional appeal but it is completely over the top, a modern moral panic with almost no basis in fact. The fact that Moana Maniapoto is on the case illustrates everything that is wrong with the campaign.It is frankly ridiculous to suggest that all bottled water be banned, a typical virtue signalling left response. It is the equivalent of Hollywood stars coming out for Hilliary, which probably helped ensure her electoral loss.

    The Europeans (Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino, Vittel, etc) have been bottling huge quantities of water for decades without any moral panic.

    I have no problem with an appropriate levy, but in reality it could only be 1 to 5 cents per litre. I imagine for the bottler the sale price of litre is around 50c, quite possibly less. At present all of that price is the bottle, overheads, costs of bottling etc. In any event a water charging system can not have too many differential charges for different uses. For instance a 5 c litre charge for irrigation would probably be thousands of dollars a day for a typical diary farm. Mind you for many on the hard left that is exactly what they want, the end of the dairy industry.

    • Ah yes, Wayne, “the amount of water used for bottled water, relative to the supply, is trivial”. Quite right, but that’s not the real issue, though it’ll suit you to frame “ridiculous” campaigns against selling water through that narrow aspect.
      Are you completely unaware of why those campaigners are hot under the collar around this issue? I suspect you know full well, yet have chosen to try to set the scene for discussion, excluding the real focus of public anger, for your own ends.
      The water-for-sale issue reeks of the same thinking and behaviour that brought us the “swamp kauri” outrage; people sense they are being lied-to, mislead and shafted by “clever-dicks” with money and the support of the National Government. Calling them “ridiculous” is arrogant.

      • JamieB 5.1.1

        ” why those campaigners are hot under the collar around this issue?”

        Because they enjoy a perpetual state of complaining and campaigning? Once this dies down they’ll quickly move onto the next thing to remain hot under their collars.

        • left_forward 5.1.1.1

          You look to be a long way from understanding the motives of people who campaign to improve environment and society.

        • Robert Guyton 5.1.1.2

          JamieB – you had a go at explaining the behaviour and motivations of those people who are opposing the water-for-sale issue, but missed the mark by a country mile. Have you no experience at all of standing up for something important? Are you a stranger to the meaning of the word “heartfelt”? Are you Mike Hoskings? Do you at least believe yourself to be cloned from his rib?

      • Ian 5.1.2

        This is more like the clever dicks with limited resources getting upset because they didn’t think of it. The public anger is a media beat up fired by politicians on the left,like yourself Robert.
        Wayne talks a lot of sense.

    • “Mind you for many on the hard left that is exactly what they want, the end of the dairy industry.”

      Mind you for many on the hard right what they want is an exponential increase of the dairy herd in every possible part of the country, until the whole place stinks of cow shit and money.
      Just thought I’d post the balancing statement to your snarky claim.

    • Panic gnat 101

      Moana is a stronger person than you’ll ever be – you exude weakness like sweat from your pores – hey wayne maybe we can sell THAT shit.

    • Andre 5.4

      A while back I was arguing here in support of the bottled water industry, provided it was taken from places where the effect was negligible (with the feedback I’m sure you can imagine).

      But I strongly oppose this particular proposal. Because the Te Waihou springs really is an environmental treasure, so it deserves extra protection. However, the resource is already heavily drawn on.

      As I understand, the total springs flow is 42 million litres per day. 5.3 million litres per day is already allocated. If another 6.9 million per day gets drawn, that’s nearly a third of the flow gone. That’s way way way too much load on a treasure like that. At any price.

      • marty mars 5.4.1

        The problem with your argument is who decides if it is negligible – government and local bodies cannot be trusted to get it right as the post here and recent efforts at Te Waikoropupu shows. Tangata whenua are the best bet for sanity on this issue.

    • tc 5.5

      Yes dear. Try harder wayne your argument is as transparent as the natural resource you want to give away.

      You guys arent satisfied with just ruining our waterways are you.

    • McFlock 5.6

      “virtue signalling”?
      Wayne, I frequently disagree with you, but I thought you were better than spouting 4chan space-fillers.

    • left_forward 5.7

      Kia ora Wayne,

      What is wrong with the idea of ending the dairy industry? – all that cruelty, death, environmental damage, and unsaturated fats. We have viable, alternative plant based milks which allow us to avoid all of that.

      This is a simple switch to sustainable and healthy farming – surely I didn’t need to be a ‘hard’ lefty to think about that!

    • Then Wayne perhaps you can tell me why water metres are being placed all over Aotearoa . One reason privatization of water. The corporate s will have taken over the “special” springs as a health source separate to the large corporate that will take over our water.
      Tories will deny it but just watch this space. I bet the first to Privatize
      will be Waipa District Council ,once again just watch this space.

    • Sacha 5.9

      As a proportion of *potable* water, not all of our polluted waterways.

    • Keepcalmcarryon 5.10

      Fuck off wayne, get your corrupt greedy national party mitts off what belongs to us all. You don’t have my permission to sell off my country.

    • Rae 5.11

      Am I to assume that the percentage of water you speak of is a percentage of the pure water, the kind that is sought by these bottlers and not a percentage of all fresh water in the country. Better be.
      And even a far right winger must be able to understand even the tiniest little bit that we have got to stop this business of single use plastic bottles, not just here, but everywhere

  6. Only the desperate, the depraved and dispicable want to bottle water and then sell it for profit.

    NO! Let’s stop these scum, let’s show them the truth about water and the truth about their sick creepy agenda to sell evrything. They’d sell you too if they could get away with it – don’t think that they wouldn’t.

    • In Vino 6.1

      Good one Marty. But these people call themselves ‘entrepreneurs’ (a French word) as if it were something good. They need to be called what they are: Profit-Gougers.

      • Red 6.1.1

        This topic really brings out the LWNJ, water bottlers are obviously meeting a need or would not be around, the water they take is not an issue on any criteria barring the rent a mob flavour Of the month,as favoured topics like alk house prices are no longer rising, peak oil has not happened, the dairy price crash was not the end of nz fsrming sector , peak Todd Barclay has past but a rest assured s new peak crisis is always around the corner for these wombats

  7. ianmac 7

    For one million litres, 1 cent per litre is $10,000 isn’t it?
    If that money went back into the local environment wouldn’t that be a big win!

    • It is a barbed hook imo. Can only get bigger, take more they will NEVER reduce it later only increase. Therefore that is another reason to oppose.

      Lotto putting money into fighting problem gambling – doesn’t add up to me. Bottle water capitalists putting money into protecting waterways? It is just so that they can make more money and frankly I’m not supporting that.

    • Red 7.2

      About 6k net once flushed though government departments

  8. Ad 8

    So if we added food colouring and alcohol, and put it in a glass bottle, we would be OK with it?

    • weka 8.1

      I’d be more ok with glass for sure. But there’s still the problem of the carbon miles. I’m good with not exporting alcohol too.

      • Ad 8.1.1

        So that means no export from New Zealand that involves a water-based fluid.
        Unless you start making some sensible policy distinctions other than banning water, the people who work in the following work areas will be quickly unemployed:

        – Wine industry
        – Beer industry
        – Juice industry
        – Milk industry
        – Sports drink industry
        – Honey industry
        – Meat industry
        – Fruit industry

        Which I am sure would be so fun to just ban everything that moves.
        Very satisfying.

        You need better policy distinctions.

        • weka 8.1.1.1

          Banning new bottled water is an easy one, why not start there? No job losses, protects the environment, puts a line in the sand around treating water as a common good rather than a commodity.

          And irrigation of course.

          These are not difficult things to do expect that there are still a lot of greedy people around, and another lot of people who think that the only way to make a living is via extractive industry. There are a whole bunch of other people with actual ideas on how to create meaningful employment that doesn’t trash the environment, we even have a political party based on that. Why not look at their work?

          The whole environment vs jobs thing is so 90s. We’re well past that now.

          And yes, ultimately exports need to account for carbon emissions or we need to do things differently. That too isn’t that hard to imagine without resorting to banning everything this week.

        • Robert Guyton 8.1.1.2

          Drink reductio ad absurdum – bottled taste sensation!

          • weka 8.1.1.2.1

            eau de reductio ad absurdum. Wouldn’t fit easily on the bottle though.

            • In Vino 8.1.1.2.1.1

              ‘Appellation Controllée + repeat of name should go on the label too.
              A big ask, sadly.

    • McFlock 8.2

      Well, here’s the thing:

      Unlike a few people here, I’m not opposed to water exports as such.

      I am opposed to exporting water from over-exploited canterbury.
      I am opposed to incrementally damaging some of our most beautiful places by taking water from them at source.
      I’m opposed to the idea that water running into the sea is wasted – it’s an integral part of some of our most valuable ecosystems.
      I’m opposed to the idea that our tourism industry and environmental record should be sold piecemeal. We can be “100% pure” or be responsible for millions of plastic water bottles being thrown away daily, not both.

      But there’s also a value-added issue that you raise: exporting water is like exporting kauri logs or wood chips. Exporting wine is like exporting fabricated furniture. Even if we could take a quarter of the daily inflow of these springs without harming them, the environment, or our reputation, why the hell would we lock ourselves in for fifteen years of lowest possible product?

      • Andre 8.2.1

        Thing is, people are willing to pay bizarrely irrational high prices for the water before any real value gets added to it. It’s like someone being willing to pay a lot more for a raw log than they are for all the furniture that could be made from it. Bottled water retails at very roughly the same price as milk, but to produce a litre of milk in Canterbury requires around 250 litres of aquifer water (which has a couple hundred times the retail price of that litre of milk), which gets run through a cow to get loaded up with nitrates and coliforms then dumped back on the ground to pollute rivers and aquifers.

        Normally I’ve got a moral problem with taking financial advantage of the mentally deficient, but I’m happy to make an exception for selling water. Because for all the problems it creates, it’s still a much higher value and less environmentally damaging use of it than giving it away to big ag (which is what happens now). Provided a royalty gets paid.

        • garibaldi 8.2.1.1

          Water is the new oil and we are fools to give it away in long term contracts.
          Wars are going to be fought over water.
          Our water is a fantastic resource and our “leaders” are short sighted dumbarses for not highly prizing it, let alone not even pricing it.
          Where are the opposition parties on this? It’s a huge opportunity to crucify this govt. Come on Greens, make a noise !

          • Halfcrown 8.2.1.1.1

            “Water is the new oil ”

            You are right garibaldi, I remember when we had the first oil crises way back in 76/77 a certain National party man who I had one hell of a lot of time for said to me, ” future crises will be over water, not oil”. At the time I thought he’s lost his marbles, but he was right. I understand and I am really not sure, that the Syrian refugee crises was started by a severe drought caused by global warming. Also, big money is gearing up to control “own” the water as much as possible throughout the world.

        • marty mars 8.2.1.2

          You’re taking advantage of the desperate – wait a bit for a few to die then put the price up – nice big profit for you then yay

          • Andre 8.2.1.2.1

            Nobody who pays premium dollar for a small quantity of water shipped from somewhere remote like New Zealand is desperate. Because there will always be perfectly good locally produced water available at a lower price. Unless you meant desperately stupid and it somehow got truncated.

            • marty mars 8.2.1.2.1.1

              Yeah you’re not desperate therefore no one is. Water wars have started already – this is a problem for us all. Unless you sell water or guns then its profit city.

              • Andre

                Are you suggesting the tiny volumes of water in the premium bottled drinking water segment are somehow relevant to the widespread water shortages that cause agriculture failures and famine in places like Syria or the Horn of Africa?

                • Water wars have started.

                  Wars around the scarcity of water.

                  Whilst bottled water from here is tiny in volume that does not make it irrelevant, it makes it relevant and is ANOTHER reason to forego profits for some corporations over the common wealth of water to all citizens.

                  • Andre

                    On a worldwide scale, bottled water isn’t even visible as a hair-thin line on the chart of water use.

                    In 2017, worldwide bottled water was around 390 million cubic metres. In 2010, total anthropogenic water withdrawals from from rivers aquifers etc was around 4000 billion cubic metres, 10 000 times more than bottled water use. Even just evaporation from reservoirs was around 400 billion cubic metres, 1000 times more than bottled water use.

                    Bottled water is utterly irrelevant to the problems causing water wars, because it’s such a tiny tiny portion of water use.

                    http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/water_use/index.stm

                    https://www.statista.com/statistics/387255/global-bottled-water-consumption/

                    • The numbers aren’t the point for me but I suspect you already know that.

                    • In Vino

                      But bottled water is an unnecessary bourgeois pox upon the face modern consumerism. And the plastic bottle waste is an environmental crime.

                    • Andre

                      “bottled water is an unnecessary bourgeois pox upon the face modern consumerism”

                      I totally agree, with the caveat that there are still some developed world places (think Flint) and a lot of the Third World that doesn’t have safe high quality water. In Wisconsin the tap water was so vile I used bottled water for drinking and cooking. But in general, as far as I’m concerned, buyers of the stuff are morons with too much money. But if we’re in a position to satisfy those bizarre desires without harming our own commons, we may as well let that cash flow our way

                      If we want to enjoy the nice things about modern life, including using this utterly fantastic interwebby thingy to argue with strangers, we need to earn our way in the world so they keep sending us nice stuff in return. In the broad spectrum of unnecessary bourgeois poxy things we modern humans do, bottled water is lowish on the harm scale, especially compared to a lot of the other things we do to earn our way.

        • McFlock 8.2.1.3

          Or we could use the purity of the water as a wedge for high-end spirits.

          Intensive dairying is shit, yes. This is not a reason to sell our cleanest water, it is a reason to either lower the intensity of dary farming or make them clean up their act.

      • Ad 8.2.2

        So if the water was drawn from Putaruru, and put into glass bottles, your opposition would evaporate.

        The post is about water taken from Putaruru.

        The really high premium Antipodes water, among others, is exported in glass.

        • Johan 8.2.2.1

          Coming up with logical statements doesn’t seem to be your strength Ad.

        • McFlock 8.2.2.2

          Is Putaruru not beautiful?
          Does the water not flow into the sea?

          • Andre 8.2.2.2.1

            Putaruru is not beautiful. Trust me on this. It doesn’t even have the tacky pseudo-charm of Tirau. It has a food court that’s not bad, all things considered, but that’s the sum of positive things I can say about it.

            Te Waihou springs, on the other hand, is an outstandingly beautiful little patch of Aotearoa. Worthy of all the protection we can give it. Sadly, it loses its extraordinary attractiveness just a few short kilometres from the source as it flows through farmland. It probably loses its water quality at about the same place.

            • McFlock 8.2.2.2.1.1

              Well, there’s the solution then.

              Don’t bottle it, make the farmers clean their shit up up.

  9. Ad 9

    The owners of NZBlue are New Zealanders:
    Mr John Paynter and Mr Royden Hartnett.

    http://www.coys.co.nz/company/?no=5745878-NZ+PURE+BLUE+LIMITED

  10. Glenn 10

    Fiji is doing well with the bottled water industry there apparently because they have a government who is prepared to enforce an acceptable return for it’s resources.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_Water
    “In November 2010, Fiji deported Fiji Water director of external affairs, David Roth, for “interfering in Fiji’s domestic affairs,” leading to the resignation of interim defence and immigration minister, Ratu Epeli Ganilau. Shortly afterwards, an increase in the tax from one-third of a Fiji cent per liter to 15 cents per liter for producers over 15 million liters/month which at that point in time applied only to Fiji Water, led the company to shut down its Fiji Island offices on November 29, 2010. This raise was to raise Fiji Water’s tax contribution on to the Fiji Government on the F$150 million (AUD 82 million) they exported each year from F$500,000 to F$22.6 million. The next step for the brand was thought to be a move to New Zealand. However, after threats from the government to give the well to another company,[ Fiji Water announced its intent to resume operations and accept the new tax levy.

    In December 2010, Fiji Water’s Fiji plant had 400 employees.[23] Fiji Water has also established a foundation to provide water filters to rural Fiji communities, many of which lack access to clean water”

    Even then the percentage Fiji is getting is not huge…but huge in comparison to NZ.
    NZ is being run by carpetbaggers.

    • Ad 10.1

      +100 good comparison

    • Andre 10.2

      There’s a lot of values and principles worthy of debate in that charge to Fiji’s water bottlers.

      15 cents per litre is an enormous charge on unprocessed water. Watercare in Auckland charges 0.15 cents per litre to supply treated water, and another 0.3 cents or so to take away 80% of it away again. 15 cents per litre would immediately stop all irrigation and almost all industrial use of water, and domestic would cut way way back to not much more than drinking and cooking, with showers once every couple of weeks.

      On the other hand, if the water supply isn’t absolutely premium quality from a natural source, its value as bottled water is bugger-all. Keeping the natural water quality high absolutely depends on looking after the commons. So since the water’s commercial value derives from keeping the commons in good condition, surely it’s fair to expect the bottlers to pay a hefty charge that at least partly goes back to maintaining the commons.

  11. RedLogix 11

    The core problem with bottled water is the entirely shitty business model. It utterly depends on the failure in many countries to provide public drinking water supplies that people trust.

    The typical Grade A municipal water supply in NZ is every bit as safe as anything that comes in a bottle. At a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost.

    The problem is huge nations, especially in Asia, don’t have water they trust. A lack of trust in public institutions is deeply endemic and a now wealthy middle class is growing an unprecedented demand for water they think they is safe.

    Three problems:

    1. The potential global demand in unknown and could easily exceed our ability to supply, No-one really understands where this industry could go to.

    2. The sheer volume of waste plastic is even more alarming. Put simply we need global agreements in place that require end-to-end life cycle management and of ALL manufactured products. The Europeans have made useful progress regionally, now it needs rolling out globally.

    The big cost in bottled water is distribution; if the same chain had to handle the waste bottle … the business model might look a lot less attractive.

    3. The big hot spud; no-one wants to touch the question of pricing water, because guess who will put their hands up and say they own it all? Not this close to an election.

    • Andre 11.1

      That doesn’t explain the popularity of bottled water in places with very high quality public water supplies, like most of New Zealand or, say, New York.

      Dunno about Asia, but most places I paid attention to the bottled water in Africa, there would be an expensive non-local choice, and a local product a lot cheaper. The empty bottles also seemed to be a valuable commodity.

      • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1

        That doesn’t explain the popularity of bottled water in places with very high quality public water supplies, like most of New Zealand or, say, New York.

        That’s advertising that persuades people that bottled water is better for them. This is, of course, a lie and so the advertising is nothing more than psychopathic manipulation of the populace.

  12. greywarshark 12

    The core problem with taking water from its area is that the world is going to be short of water and it is a resource that we also need. The gummint central and local who want to do this are dinosaurs who should be gently killed and then stuffed and mounted so they can be kept for posterity in a museum.

    Plus all the other dills who think that water grows on trees. Trees can’t even grow without water. There seems to be a circular argument here. Better stop exporting and have a fistfight about it instead of letting the pickpockets and asset strippers sell off our goodies while we don’t understand they are priceless.

  13. Well Wayne if you believe we have water to spare perhaps you will explain why water metres are being installed throughout the country.
    No doubt to privatize the water system .Blue spring will be sold as “special water’ but will still be part of a privatized water system.
    Tories will of course deny this but just watch this space and I bet one off the first to privatize their water will be the Wiapa District Council .
    Just watch this space.

  14. Ad 14

    If NZFirst gets in for 2017 – which it will either way- we are going to start needing a “national interest test” for stuff being exported: is it critical for our security?

    President Trump is planning to make a decision on whether to declare steel critical to national security under the rarely-used trade rule Section 232. The suggestion to even launch a Section 232 investigation was dismissed out of hand under President Bill Clinton because – in the words of Robert Lawrence a member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors – “it didn’t pass the laugh test”. Only 3 per cent of the steel produced in the United States went for defence purposes.

    That would also make it eligible for protection from imports.

    Worth applying that kind of logic to water if we are expecting a government to start really regulating this kind of export, and gives a sense of the scale of the decision both to the government and to the economy.

  15. Rae 15

    If water is to be extracted, bottled and exported then it should be done as an NZ venture, no foreign companies, no private interests. Reason for this, is that sometime down the track, the consent may have to change (reduce) or be stopped altogether. We should not allow these resources to be tied up for decades when the possibility that we may need that water for ourselves at some time in the future, exists.
    But then there is the matter of those single use plastic bottles, seriously the whole world, the whole human race has to accept we cannot keep doing this.

    • Ad 15.1

      If you seriously want to nationalize all water, then you better get ready to spend the next decade in the Waitangi Tribunal, Appeals Court, and Supreme Court.

      • Rae 15.1.1

        No reason to fear that. One thing is for certain it should not fall into the ownership or control of foreigners and that is precisely what is happening with these consents.Much rather Maori had that if anyone is to have it, frankly.

  16. Philj 16

    Simply brilliant Wayne,
    Despoil their water supply and then sell them clean bottled water! Genius.

  17. Incognito 17

    This monstrosity will drain Putaruru’s Blue Spring in the Waihou River of a staggering 6.9 million litres a day.

    Hmmm, that must be getting close to or even exceed the total daily water consumption of the whole New Zealand population, not counting the tourists, of course.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Surely it won't happen
    I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    8 hours ago
  • Let Them Eat Sausage Rolls: Hipkins Tries to Kill Labour Again
    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    17 hours ago
  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    22 hours ago
  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    2 days ago
  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    2 days ago
  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    2 days ago
  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    3 days ago
  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    3 days ago
  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    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). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    4 days ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    4 days ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    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 ...
    5 days ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    5 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    6 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    6 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    6 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    6 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    6 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    1 week ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    1 week ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    1 week ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-10T00:34:12+00:00