Rewinding Fast Forward

Written By: - Date published: 3:32 pm, October 13th, 2009 - 2 comments
Categories: Environment, science - Tags:

One of the snippets announced while John Key was over performing for Letterman recently was a call for action on research into emissions:

NZ pushes for Global Alliance on agricultural emissions

Prime Minister John Key says the New Zealand Government is pushing for a Global Alliance to research how to cut world-wide greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Mr Key has been participating with other world leaders at the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Change Summit in New York today.

What a great idea! And what astoundingly hypocritical posturing given that National stupidly ignored advice and axed what should have been the backbone of New Zealand’s contribution to such research, the NZ Fast Forward fund (and the research tax credits):

Fast Forward was designed and funded to be very strategic. It was a true government-business partnership that would have channelled up to $2b over 15 years into science, research, product development and business capability building. If its principles were applied, the dairy and fishery strategies might have looked exciting and credible. But, without such a framework, the government is making piecemeal decisions on funding primary sector research, leading to varying degrees of chaos.

“Varying degrees of chaos” indeed. National should Rewind and reinstate Fast Forward. Then perhaps we could call for a Global Alliance with some kind of credibility.

2 comments on “Rewinding Fast Forward ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Ianmac 1
    13 October 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Remember the vigourous Fart Tax programme? It worked too even if now would Natact promote it?

  2. Rex Widerstrom 2
    13 October 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Even Kevin “throw the surplus at the bogans” Rudd — hardly the epitome of clever economic management — not only retained the tax breaks and incentives for R&D but threw a bit of money at the productive sector inm the form of export development grants aimed at readying technology for overseas sale.

    I’d rather trust Oprah with a book of McDonalds vouchers than Rudd with my taxes, so the level of my despair at National’s short-sightedness on this issue ccan hardly be measured.

    One of the few times they could give money to the business sector and have most people – even on the left – suppportive, and they blow it 8-/

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