Some personal reflections on the quake

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, February 28th, 2011 - 57 comments
Categories: broadcasting, disaster, public services - Tags: , ,

Greetings all, especially any readers in Christchurch and surrounds (though I know that you have better things to do right now than read a blog).

There’s been lots of good stuff written on the quake. I’m not going to try to add to it in any systematic way. These are just a few random personal reflections, big picture and small, all that I can put my head around writing tonight.

• Get used to it. It won’t usually be earthquakes (I hope), but extreme weather events are going to be increasing in frequency, and challenging us in similar ways. So be personally prepared with your physical resources and your skills. And support the country’s attempts to prepare and respond in whatever way you can.

• A general tax to rebuild Christchurch? Good idea.

• Just because it’s a platitude doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Health is everything. In this kind of event the elderly and infirm are incredibly vulnerable. All that material “wealth” around you? 90% of it is junk that you can do without. Health is the thing to have.

• Bloody olive oil. Once it’s fallen from a high shelf into an open draw full of pyrex and exploded onto the remains of a pantry, it’s a real pain in the arse. You try cleaning a litre of olive oil mixed with shards of glass out of the remains of a kitchen, with no water or power, you’ll see what I mean.

• Thank goodness for Radio NZ. When the power goes off, when the phones are down, when the shit hits the fan, there’s RNZ. I’ve recently been able to look at some of the great stuff that is available on the web, and I’m sure that was useful to those with access, but for many of us, radio was the lifeline.

• Thank you guy with a wheelbarrow. Wandering around the neighbourhood with a well used barrow, a shovel, and a big smile, you were out there looking for liquefaction to shift and people to help. Thank you to all of the volunteers and helpers, the professionals working huge hours, and the folk who just checked on their neighbours. Thank you all.

• The emergency response in the first few days was bloody brilliant. I don’t know who to thank here (I haven’t been paying much attention to abstractions). All I do know, from ground level, is that the right stuff happened, fast. Cordon’s up. Water distribution. Portaloos. Good advice on the radio. We had EQC people in the street looking at damage. Orion not only picked up the phone but they acted on the information. People and companies donated food and resources from far and wide. Brilliant.

• Let’s hear it for Big Government. Regulation regulation regulation – I heard one estimate (sorry forget where) that the building regulations, sensibly designed and honestly enforced, just saved 50,000 lives in Christchurch. Planning planning planning – whomever set up the EQC deserves a bloody medal. How would we ever cope without it?

• We were lucky with the season. This would have gone much harder in Winter.

• That amazing community feeling born of shared experience and shared challenge is very real and very uplifting. Will it also be enduring? For most (I am no longer in Chch) this is going to go on and on for days and weeks. Rebuilding will take months and years. From what I have recently seen of media coverage of damage to the city, my gut estimate is 10 years to rebuild. It’s going to be tough.

• Let’s try and see past the disaster for Christchurch, and forward to the opportunity. A chance to re-imagine the city. My vote – a proper light rail transit system, free bicycles and a car-free CBD. Plan now for a post-oil city, a chance to do it right.

That’ll do for tonight. Keep safe, wherever you are, and spare a thought for those in Christchurch. Even better, find some way to help out, if you can.

57 comments on “Some personal reflections on the quake ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. lprent 1
    28 February 2011 at 8:00 am

    Good to see that you survived it. Time to see where the oil and other liquids live… As you say this stuff is bad enough to clean up with such luxuries as hot water.

    • r0b 1.1
      28 February 2011 at 8:42 am

      I managed to miss the quake itself this time, so survival wasn’t an issue for me – I’m one of the lucky ones. Also meant I had a chance to fill the car with fresh water before I hit town the next day, which came in very handy.

  2. the sprout 2
    28 February 2011 at 8:35 am

    Thanks r0b. I hope the distress is easing.

    • r0b 2.1
      28 February 2011 at 8:44 am

      G’day sprout. As above I didn’t have the trauma of the quake itself this time. Too busy in the aftermath to feel much distress, and I haven’t seen much of the city myself yet. I suspect it will hit hardest the first time I get back to the central regions and see the damage up close. Not looking forward to that…

  3. mickysavage 3
    28 February 2011 at 8:50 am

    All the best r0b. Trust things are on the improve.

    Your comments are very unassuming and unpolitical yet at the same time deeply political. I must say that politics becomes so much more interesting when the personalities are avoided and people talk about the things that matter.

  4. todd 4
    28 February 2011 at 8:56 am

    What’s in your Survival Kit?

    http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/02/whats-in-your-survival-kit.html

    So you might be thinking that it’s never going to happen to you and you wont ever need to leave your home for an extended period of time and survive on your own.

  5. oscar 5
    28 February 2011 at 9:33 am

    Thanks Rob, well written.

    Just on a similar vein to the rebuild tax, EQC levy. Given that the EQC is very much ‘disaster insurance’ and should be used to cover all NZers, does it not make more sense for every Kiwi to pay this via their income?
    The levy is no doubt going to have to increase, and given the relatively few people that bother insuring, if they can get away with it, why not spread EQC levies amongst the population?
    That way, we can look at covering say 10K for contents, 100K for house. Keep contents deliberately low so people have to have private coverage too. No change to the value of house coverage, but again, people will require private coverage to top it up.
    In situations such as this when Eqc is cleaned out, makes sense to build the kitty from all kiwis, for all kiwis.

    • ianmac 5.1
      28 February 2011 at 10:05 am

      A figure was mentioned on Nat Radio this morning for EQC levy to increase from about $70 to about $120-170 per house.

    • lprent 5.2
      28 February 2011 at 10:15 am

      It is specific to the basic building insurances, eg fire insurance because that is where most of the destroyed value is. I find it rather hard to think that people don’t cover that. Apart from anything else, if you have a mortgage it is usually required along with some life cover.

      Since all buildings should be covered (unless you’re crazy) and everyone has to live somewhere, it seems to me that keeping it on insurance premiums is adequete.

      The EQC actually isn’t “disaster insurance”. It is insurance for specific types of disasters. For instance (taking just one odd disaster type) it doesn’t cover you for meteorite impacts.

      • Sanctuary 5.2.1
        28 February 2011 at 10:52 am

        To which the grimly predictable response of the odious Peter Creswell is the hysterically claim that the government is stealing money from your pocket. Perhaps now would be a good time to ask the ACT party and libertarians what their attitude to a EQC would if one did not exist and the government proposed to create it..

        Although I think we all know what their view will be without having to ask.

        Maybe if some good thing does come out of the Christchurch earthquakes it is going to be the exposure of the utter bankruptcy of spirit that lies at the heart of libertarianism and the whole damned neo-liberal project.

        • dave brown 5.2.1.1
          28 February 2011 at 12:06 pm

          The neoliberal project is not a ‘project’ but a move globally to grap resources cheaply to counter falling profits. The govts that imposed neoliberal policies were responding to falling profits not pure greed.

          The problem is capitalism not some aberration caused by elite greed. NZ has moved in this direction since 1984. The NACTs represent a new gentry of landowners, speculators and banksters – all parasites on the backs of the working class trying to monopolise land, water and cheap labour. Disaster capitalism is the new mode that the parasitic ruling class uses to con us all into letting them grap what is left of nature while we are supposed to feel good about it.

          The quake needs to be seen in this context. Calling it a ‘national emergency’ and saying we are all in it together is cynically exploiting peoples humanity so that the poor pay for this disaster. Of course people want to help, it is instinctive to pull together in an emergency as a matter of self-preservation. But this becomes exploited as free labour in the re-capitalising of ChCh to favour the rich. Taxing everyone does the same thing – a regressive move to get us all to pay for this and the other coming disasters that are caused by capitalism’s drive to exploit nature.

          The quake compounds this process, as the rich will benefit from the rebuilding of ChCh, “support rebuilding ChCh business campaign”, while the poor will suffer big losses in living standards, jobs, education, and be hounded by WINZ to get into low paid shitty jobs or be judged as welfare scroungers.

          To pay for this disaster we have to kick out the NACTs, take back the tax cuts to the rich, imposed a capital gains tax on all the speculators, and borrow to compensate the victims of the quake fully, set in motion a public works building program to rebuild ChCh around the needs of its working class community, in particular its health and safety, and not the interests of the capitalist class. The ChCh working class needs to organise around its union base to build its own response to the quake and challenge the top-down ruling class management of this disaster. Maybe that way there will be a groundswell of a different sort that builds a social movement capable of ending NZs capitalist disaster story and putting working people in power.

          • magic 5.2.1.1.1
            2 March 2011 at 12:39 am

            Can you insure against an investment loss? NO. Get a grip on reality and economics my friend. Without organisations who are prepared to evaluate proposed risk, you would not have the funds for the rebuild. Private sector organisations have donated in excess of $5m so far. Its the intention of investment and application that counts. The families who have lost more than can be calculated may find some hope for the future through financial aid…

            It was the vision of those who built CHCH to invest for the future…and they did that so well. I was in CHCH 1 week prior to this disaster and I have never been to a better city. The people of CHCH are an example of my neighbour is my friend. They worked together when building the city; investing time and effort for the good of everyone. The finacial institutions will now have to pay back..and rightly so, as is only fair in economic terms.

            The only true loss is that which is personal and forever…..that is the only tax you face in life. Think on numpty.

    • Lanthanide 5.3
      28 February 2011 at 10:18 am

      They were saying on the radio this morning that NZ is actually very highly insured, and that also in other countries it is nigh-impossible to get earthquake insurance, whereas you can here. Those two factors go towards making this probably the largest insurance claim internationally this year.

      Also the way that EQC cover works (which John Key worryingly got completely 100% wrong) is that the fund covers the first $1.5B for a disaster, then overseas re-insurers cover the next $2.5B, and the rest is left to private insurance or the government. There was $6.4B in the kitty prior to September, which will eat up $1.5B, and this quake will eat up $1.5B, so there is $3.4B left, enough to cover 2 more earthquakes with significant damage. This is why it was important that this new quake be considered a separate event for insurance purposes (which it is), because that allows the $4B to come from EQC and re-insurers; otherwise that would’ve been lumped onto private insurers and the government.

      • Colonial Viper 5.3.1
        28 February 2011 at 10:25 am

        I hope the insurance industry continues to give earthquake cover to Canterbury. Your comment that its impossible to get earthquake cover in many countries is worrying.

        • Rich 5.3.1.1
          28 February 2011 at 10:44 am

          Thats what’s really going to stuff things. If you can’t insure a property, you can’t get a mortgage. That’ll mean that while people will probably be able to stay in their existing houses (the banks could theoretically foreclose on them for not having insurance, but they won’t because of the bad debts), they won’t be able to move unless they can find a cash buyer (and don’t need a mortgage on a new property).

          Which means the government is going to have to intervene somehow and sort this out.

          • Rich 5.3.1.1.1
            28 February 2011 at 10:45 am

            Also, does anyone know what happens if one is a tenant on a fixed term and the basic services like water and sewerage have failed. Are you entitled to walk out early?

            • Lanthanide 5.3.1.1.1.1
              28 February 2011 at 10:55 am

              If the house is uninhabitable, they can give 48 hours notice and then cease to pay rent.

              The problem arises when the landlord thinks a house is habitable but the tenants don’t. In those cases you need to go through the normal tenancy disputes process.

              The ideal outcome is that both parties agree, or if the house is marginal the tenants may be willing to pay reduced rent.

              • prism …
                28 February 2011 at 11:07 am

                Rich – some info from google. All the best for solving your problem.

                Residential Tenancies (from lawyers site)
                In the event of a natural disaster, the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 allows both the landlord and tenant to terminate the tenancy. Where a home has been damaged to the extent that it is uninhabitable, no rent shall be payable until the home is reinstated so that the tenant can re-occupy. Alternatively, the landlord or tenant may wish to terminate the tenancy. If a tenant wishes to terminate the tenancy, the landlord must be given at least two days notice. Where a landlord wishes to terminate the tenancy, the tenant must be given at least seven days notice. In situations where the home is partially damaged, the rent may be proportionately reduced or either party may apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for an order terminating the tenancy.

                http://www.saunders.co.nz/when-a-disaster-strikes-know-your-rights/

                Also Citizens Advice Bureau CAB 0800367222 or 0800 FOR CAB
                http://www.cab.org.nz/vat/hle/rt/Pages/Rightsobligationsoftenantslandlords.aspx
                or by landline – CAB Bishopdale contact 03-359 8090
                Hereford St 03-366 6490 – Hornby 03-349 5236 – Rangiora 03-313 8822

                Or – contact Tenancy Services on. 0800 83 62 62

                • weka …
                  28 February 2011 at 11:10 am

                  Yes, but that’s for houses that have been damaged. Houses that haven’t been damaged but don’t have water, power, sewerage currently because of problems outside the property are still apparently deemed habitable.

                  • Lanthanide …
                    28 February 2011 at 11:13 am

                    If you have sewerage coming up on the property, that would probably count as a health hazard.

                    • weka …
                      28 February 2011 at 11:27 am

                      Yes, I think they were meaning houses that were habitable to the property boundary.

                      But if there is sewerage in the property, or there is silt in the road so you can’t drive onto the property etc, those things are fixable. I’m not sure you could get out of a fixed term lease on the basis of one of those. I don’t know what would be considered a reasonable amount of time to fix things though.

                • Rich …
                  28 February 2011 at 7:00 pm

                  I should add that I fortunately don’t have this issue, but was wondering what would happen if large numbers of people up and leave.

              • weka …
                28 February 2011 at 11:07 am

                A friend’s son, whose house is fine apart from no services, has been told by Tenancy that they can’t get out of their fixed term lease just because there are no utilities (the son is moving out). Apparently the utilities aren’t the responsibility of the landlord. I’ve also heard this from another friend who works in the housing sector. She said it probably wouldn’t be a problem because the landlord will easily find other tenants and has a duty to do so.

                • Lanthanide …
                  28 February 2011 at 11:12 am

                  Easily find other tenants, without utilities? Don’t think so. The only real candidates to go into that sort of rental would be those who were renting a house that is now completely uninhabitable. Anyone else who owned property that is now uninhabitable (that they still have to pay a mortgage on) is unlikely to want to move into a house that has no utilities and pay rent on it.

                  • weka …
                    28 February 2011 at 11:24 am

                    True, but there is going to be a shortage of rental houses. There were people still living in substandard houses after Sept, it’s going to be worse this time. Unless there are alot of people leaving town, some people are going to have to live in houses without utilities for a period of time. This is doable in the short term (people are already doing it).

                    My friend’s son is at polytech and Otago have said they will take some of those students so they can keep on with their courses. So he’s gone to Dunedin. His otherwise intact is house is habitable, and legally the landlord has to find other tenants if they can. The son may have to pay rent for a few weeks to cover the interim. Once the power etc is back on, it will be easy to find tenants. That was my point, there is a way out of the fixed term leases.

                    I think sewerage will be the biggest issue, it may take a long time to sort that, and some people won’t want to make do with interim solutions.

                • prism …
                  28 February 2011 at 11:29 am

                  Rich – article today on your problem.

                  The temptation for many renters will be to up sticks and go, claiming the homes they rented are now uninhabitable, but Tenancy Services told the Star-Times the earthquake had not given tenants an automatic right to stop paying rent.
                  Around 80% of Christchurch is without power and water. In that context it would not be possible to claim a property was uninhabitable for those reasons alone, a Tenancy Services call centre staffer said.
                  “If a property is uninhabitable, the tenant can give two days’ notice if it is a periodic or fixed tenancy,” Tenancy Services said. “But if it was [later] judged habitable then the landlord could take action to seek the rent back.”

                  http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/4711768/Tenants-still-have-to-pay-service

                  • ianmac …
                    28 February 2011 at 1:32 pm

                    My son’s flat is part of a set of flats not far from Victoria Square and inside the restricted area. They have all been red stickered. He has contents insurance but is not allowed in to get his passport or his precious laptop. His advice from Tenancy Services is that his rent can stop and it has. My worry for him is where can he find permanent accommodation.

                    • prism …
                      28 February 2011 at 7:38 pm

                      Does red stickered mean that something is likely to fall on you or a hole open up on the property, or is it that you just can’t live in it because it is too munted – holes in roof, doors on angle, windows out etc. Could some people be able to go to collect stuff from their places if under controlled access in and out? Some responsible people could be in charge and work through areas. People’s precious items will be hard to replace, I wonder if there is a blanket ban applied that is too rigid.

        • Lanthanide 5.3.1.2
          28 February 2011 at 10:57 am

          I should also add that the guy (chairman of Canterbury earthquake recovery commission – expecting his powers to be significantly broadened shortly) said that as far as he is aware, EQC is unique internationally. He said a few other countries have schemes that go part of the way, but no one else has anything the same.

      • prism 5.3.2
        28 February 2011 at 10:36 am

        Thanks for explanation Lanthanide.

        spambash – misunderstanding – John Key’s apparently. Does he only know how to play with money for gain, not how it is used when doing its real work.

  6. higherstandard 6
    28 February 2011 at 9:52 am

    Glad to hear you’re OK rob, unlike you I was in CCH for a conference on the day the earthquake struck.

    Although I’ve been in little tremors before I’ve never experienced anything like that before and hope not to ever again.

    I also can’t speak highly enough of the rescue and support services that sprang into action as well as the rapid offers of help and assistance that have come in from overseas, you certainly know who your friends are both locally and internationally when disasters like this happen.

    • r0b 6.1
      28 February 2011 at 12:34 pm

      Cheers HS – glad you made it through. I think I know the very conference. Lucky in some ways that so many extra doctors were in town!

  7. ianmac 7
    28 February 2011 at 10:14 am

    Cheers Rob.
    Straight after the shock, News clips showed that the people moving along streets were distressed but not wildly panicking or screaming or scrabbling at each other to escape. Instead there were apparent strangers helping each other. People are pretty good when the chips are down. (Disaster movie makers take note!)

    • Lanthanide 7.1
      28 February 2011 at 10:22 am

      I’m sure if there were more continuing shocks coming at close intervals, there would’ve been a lot more panic.

  8. Lanthanide 8
    28 February 2011 at 10:16 am

    Car-free CBD is not going to work if you except to have any sort of commercial aspect there – people need cars to transport their shopping home.

    Light rail is also unlikely due to population density, but we could have a line going from Lyttleton to the CBD and through to the airport, for tourism purposes.

    We will be able to have a first-class bus terminal and potentially dedicated bus-lanes through much of the city. They were wanting to expand the bus terminal but had no room or other potential locations in the CBD, and so were considering 3 smaller hubs in the suburbs instead. Now they’ll be able to build what they wanted to, somewhere in the CBD.

  9. Colonial Viper 9
    28 February 2011 at 10:22 am

    Car-free CBD is not going to work if you except to have any sort of commercial aspect there – people need cars to transport their shopping home.

    Hmmmmm gotta disagree with you there. Many cities have moved their thinking on from that. Hong Kong and Singapore are shopping havens, but everyone uses public transport to take their shopping home. Further, office workers only have briefcases and laptops to transport. Many CBDs do not have large retail malls (which are more in the suburbs), focussing more on commercial office space.

    Sydney is also seriously reconsidering cutting out almost all traffic out of parts of its CBD.

    Reviving Ms Moore’s long-held goal of making Sydney more pedestrian-friendly, the plan calls for cars to be blocked from stretches of George Street, although buses and taxis would be allowed access. Traffic at Liverpool and King Streets would be redirected to Kent and Castlereagh Streets.

    http://www.themotorreport.com.au/50284/sydney-cbd-could-cut-out-traffic-completely-in-premiers-secret-plan

    • Lanthanide 9.1
      28 February 2011 at 10:25 am

      Hong Kong and Singapore also have significantly denser population, so can support really good public transport. I seriously doubt that CHCH has the density, especially as there is already an extensive road network in place in the suburbs and we generally have only mild road congestion (when was the last time Christchurch was mentioned on the national radio ‘traffic update’ in the mornings?).

      Sydney cutting a couple of streets to car access doesn’t really rebut my point at all – you can still take your car into the CBD and park it somewhere and walk, much as we already do in CHCH (with car-parking buildings).

      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1
        28 February 2011 at 10:27 am

        Perhaps a mixed solution then.

        We should plan for $4/L petrol happening within the next 3 years.

        • Lanthanide 9.1.1.1
          28 February 2011 at 10:48 am

          Yes, definitely agree. Electric busses as per Wellington would be a possibility, but having a CBD and public transport based around regular busses is a good option. We already had busses that ran on LPG in the centre of the city (the free yellow Shuttle service) and standard bus diesel engines can be made to run on all sorts of fuels, including biofuels.

          Our bus system was already pretty world-class, with the panels at most bus stops indicating the interval till the next arrival, and online trip planner that would show you the best routes to take and compare the travel time with other transport such as walking, biking or driving and the RFID metro card introduced in CHCH years before similar services in Auckland or Wellington.

  10. prism 10
    28 February 2011 at 10:30 am

    I wasn’t in Christchurch this time but feel personally involved, not just because I have family there. Listening to Radio NZ’s helpful coverage – reporting, questioning, informing of facilities, phone numbers, I can only praise them to the highest. I have family in Chch and got their Tuesday evening text message at 4.35 am Wednesday so the phone system was a great help. Nokia I think were offering car battery chargers for cellphones. A must addition to the emergency kit.

    Doing helping things, money donated, sleeping bags donated, and learning things for likely future disasters. I must remember to ensure radio has spare batteries galore – so many Chch people didn’t know the situation, water availability or portaloos. Son wants my spare landline phone. Had bought battery powered radio after last quake. Lesson from Rob’s experience – store oil on bottom shelf.

    People are summoning up incredible reserves of energy and determination to manage now and plan for a different future. The privations are ongoing for many, and lost for many are the memories of the past, the family photos of the dead, the CDs or hard drives wrecked or unreachable. These are the losses that will live on when housing and services are available once more.

  11. Lanthanide 11
    28 February 2011 at 10:51 am

    Here’s another tip that everyone here should take heed of – you might already have emergency supplies, gas cookers, water etc, but you might have them stored in your garage.

    This is of very little use if the only access to your garage requires electricity to be working, or alternative access doors to get inside is blocked by fallen objects and you can’t get in.

    Make sure you keep your emergency supplies inside your house.

    captcha: universal

    • weka 11.1
      28 February 2011 at 11:17 am

      Or spread them out, depending on the construction of your house. Keep main supplies in the house (or best available building, it might still be the garage depending on your setup – my parents garage would be easier to access than the house if the buildings partially collapsed), and keep the pack that you would have to leave with somewhere else. Hard core survivalists suggest burying it somewhere away from the buildings, but I think that’s OTT for most people. I’m going to put some basics in my car because it’s least like to get anything falling on it.

      • Lanthanide 11.1.1
        28 February 2011 at 11:31 am

        Very few houses actually collapsed to the point of being unsafe to be inside. Lots of them are red-strickered with broken foundations or holes in the roof, such that you wouldn’t want to live in them, but general access has been maintained for the vast majority of them.

        Compared to the number of houses that didn’t have electricity immediately after the quakes, for example.

        Sure, spreading your stuff around is definitely the optimal choice, but mainly the idea is not to put all your eggs in one basket, especially if the basket is highly likely to be inaccessible.

  12. DS 12
    28 February 2011 at 11:24 am

    The best advice I can have is to never let your car have less than half a tank of gas. I normally run on empty but had fortunately had filled up the week before so could get out of town. If petrol stations are closed then you’re stuck in dodge.

    Back now in Chch. It’s insane. The aftershocks are decreasing in size and frequency but they remind you of those horrible moments on Tuesday. Which is something I wish I could forget. But whenever I close my eyes I see my desk jumping up toward my head, and the blood pouring out of the head of one of guys sitting outside work (non-fatal).

    Stupid earthquake.

  13. Nate 13
    28 February 2011 at 12:30 pm

    I was in the CBD on Tuesday. Somehow managed to walk/run down Manchester St to get to my wife at the other end, then hitch home for the kids. I do wish more people had left their cars and walked – it would have been easier for everyone than hundreds of 1-person cars blocking up all the streets.

    I totally agree for the forward-thinking of some people. We need decent developments that work for the climate and new landscape – not more shoeboxes that are under-insulated and sub-standard…

    • r0b 13.1
      28 February 2011 at 12:41 pm

      Manchester St must have been one of the most dangerous places in the city. Glad you both made it OK.

      On the cars – oh yes. An elderly relative being rushed to the Central Hospital an hour after the event got gridlocked about 2km away. Thank goodness for a passing nurse (on foot).

      Stay out of the cars if you can. Leave the roads for emergencies and emergency services.

  14. RedLogix 14
    28 February 2011 at 1:27 pm

    A fine and perceptive article Rob. In reading it my heart was lifted…. for we are in essence a cooperative species. Events like this have a way of demolishing not only buildings, but our delusions as well, leaving visible the reality underlying our existence…. that our relationships and depth of social connectedness is all that really matters.

    Neo-liberal greed can go fuck itself.

    • Bored 14.1
      28 February 2011 at 2:21 pm

      The co-operation was a joy to behold, certainly showed a more positive side to people than the base greed that is the basis of market ideology. We are all (wel the vast majority of us) generous and caring toward our fellow people, strangers or known. Touche, neo lib greed trumped, and fucked over.

      Practical things….
      Drinking water
      Washing water
      Disinfectant
      Wet wipes
      Hand cleaning gel
      Heavy gloves
      Battery radio and torch
      Documents and a bag of essentials ready to go if you are evacuated.

    • Armchair Critic 14.2
      28 February 2011 at 10:23 pm

      Neo-liberal greed can go fuck itself.
      +1

  15. Bored 15
    28 February 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Bicycles….saw cyclists being very mobile where cars were not.

  16. chris73 16
    28 February 2011 at 7:36 pm

    To be honest its good to have the distraction of blogs to take my mind off things

    • r0b 16.1
      28 February 2011 at 10:12 pm

      Well then we’re glad that you can be here to keep telling us the error of our ways. All the best for the hard yards ahead.

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  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 hours ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 hours ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    10 hours ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    11 hours ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    12 hours ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    15 hours ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 day ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    1 day ago

  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago

  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    2 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 23-November-2023
    It’s Friday again! Maybe today we’ll finally have a government again. Roll into the weekend with some of the articles that caught our attention this week. And as always, feel free to add your links and observations in the comments. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s strategy for COP28 in Dubai
    The COP28 countdown is on. Over 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts next Thursday. Among the VIPs confirmed for the Dubai summit are the UK’s Rishi Sunak and Brazil’s Lula da Silva – along ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    7 days ago

  • Coalition talks: a timeline
    Media demand to know why a coalition government has yet to be formed. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    7 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Nov 24
    Luxon was no doubt relieved to be able to announce a coalition agreement has been reached, but we still have to wait to hear the detail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Passing Things Down.
    Keeping The Past Alive: The durability of Commando comics testifies to the extended nature of the generational passing down of the images, music, and ideology of the Second World War. It has remained fixed in the Baby Boomers’ consciousness as “The Good War”: the conflict in which, to a far ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2023
    Open access notables How warped are we by fossil fuel dependency? Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35-40 million cubic meters per day of Russian natural gas are piped across Ukraine for European consumption every single day, right now. In order to secure European cooperation against Russian aggression, Ukraine must help to ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days 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
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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