Posts Tagged ‘tim groser’

John Key is relaxed about COP21

Written By: - Date published: 3:09 pm, December 14th, 2015 - 34 comments

The Government has responded to the COP21 convention agreement with the suggestion that little will need to change. And John Key has put the likely annual cost of fulfilling our pledge at less than a tenth of the figure that Tim Groser has used.

Sua William Sio: COP21 and the Pacific Islands

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 12th, 2015 - 25 comments

Labour MP and associate spokesperson for Foreign Affairs (Pacific Climate Change) Sua William Sio describes the repercussions of a COP21 conference that does not agree to limiting global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees.

New Zealand wins fossil of the day award – again

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, December 11th, 2015 - 43 comments

For a small country New Zealand is certainly punching above its weight.  It has been awarded a second fossil of the day award by the Climate Action Network.

Court’s decision on TPP OIA has both Nats and Ombudsman squirming

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, October 15th, 2015 - 23 comments

The High Court recently found that Government and Tim Groser improperly considered Prof. Jane Kelsey’s application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations. The Nats aren’t happy. The Ombudsman isn’t happy. Tough.

Congratulations Jane Kelsey

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, October 13th, 2015 - 61 comments

The High Court has upheld Jane Kelsey’s application for a declaration that the Government and Tim Groser improperly considered her application for information concerning the TPPA negotiations.

Let’s send Renée Rose Annan to Paris to counter Tim Groser

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, October 8th, 2015 - 25 comments

A young Auckland Green, Renée Rose Annan is fundraising to travel to the Paris Conference on climate change.

As expected, TPPA gives a peanut return

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, October 6th, 2015 - 177 comments

In 15 to 25 years, long long after I have retired,  and the TPPA is fully realised. It may be worth an extra $260 million per year in possible tariff benefits. By contrast, the China Free Trade Agreement within 5 years was increasing our exports each year by an extra $350 million. But the costs for the TPPA start as soon as it is signed. We may make a profit off it in 10 years. This is not a good deal.

TPPA agreement reached

Written By: - Date published: 7:28 am, October 6th, 2015 - 163 comments

The TPPA has been agreed to. Dairy access improvement is minimal, there will be a cost hit on Pharmac and every industry but Tobacco will be able to access the investor state dispute resolution procedure.

What other countries are doing about climate change

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, September 29th, 2015 - 27 comments

There is hope that the cumulative effect of all the international pledges for the Paris climate change conference may buy the world some time to prevent runaway global warming.  Some countries are pledging to becoming carbon neutral.  New Zealand’s pledge is pathetically weak in comparison.

Groser don’t go

Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, September 28th, 2015 - 5 comments

Greenpeace, 350 Aotearoa and the Coal Action Network have jointly urged John Key not to send Tim Groser to Paris for the climate change talks because the Government’s policies and proposed response will embarrass New Zealand and damage its international reputation.

Groser: an arrogant git with a tin ear

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, August 15th, 2015 - 36 comments

I’m amazed about how ignorant Tim Groser is in his costly pursuit of the TTP. But his completely weird and idiotic remarks on how the ICT industry runs really do reach a new level of mindless – even for a fool from MFAT. The TTP will bring us no advantages, and are likely to cause major disruptions to the innovation that is driving the ICT export sector.

Climate change – New Zealand not even a fast follower

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, August 13th, 2015 - 48 comments

Recent analysis of different Governments’ greenhouse gas reduction pledges for the Paris Conference suggests that New Zealand’s is behind that of Windmill hating Tony Abbott’s Australia.

Breathless children

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, July 29th, 2015 - 46 comments

Tim Groser has some advice for us on the TPP – “We need adults to do this, not breathless children to run off at the mouth when the deal is not actually finished.”

Spy watchdog to investigate GCSB’s help for Groser’s campaign

Written By: - Date published: 5:01 pm, May 14th, 2015 - 13 comments

Spy watchdog Cheryl Gwyn has announced an investigation into circumstances surrounding possible spying on our allies by the GCSB in support of Tim Groser’s tilt for the top WTO job.

NZ emissions disaster in The Herald!

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, April 11th, 2015 - 112 comments

Well knock me over with a feather. The disaster that is NZ’s greenhouse gas emissions has broken out of the ghetto of Twitter and Parliament TV, and made it on the front page of the (digital) Herald.

GCSB spied on foreign communications to help Groser’s WTO bid

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, March 23rd, 2015 - 133 comments

More embarrassment for the Government as it is revealed that the GCSB spied on internet communications involving diplomats competing with Tim Groser in his bid to be elected as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation.

Climate change is too important to lie about

Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, December 8th, 2014 - 150 comments

First instinct, lie. When caught, trivialise and try to deny the science. When pushed, argue that we have to wait for others. When cornered, plead that it’s all about the economy, and promise to act later. Groser is as bad as Key.

Groser and National have a plan to save the world from global warming

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, December 6th, 2014 - 61 comments

Tim Groser and National have a plan to solve global warming so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

About climate change …

Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, November 3rd, 2014 - 162 comments

The IPCC has released a further report refining previous research and announcing with practical certainty that climate change is happening because of the production of greenhouse gasses.  It proposes that we stop burning fossil fuels, and change the electricity generation system so that by 2050 the vast bulk of the world’s power is produced by renewable means.  The diagnosis is clear as are the remedies.  And meanwhile Tim Groser thinks the Greens are to blame for the recent drop in the milk price …

National and the Kiwi aversion to arrogance

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, August 2nd, 2014 - 35 comments

Simon Bridges has spent $237,000 of taxpayers money to wine and dine and house eleven oil executives.  And Tim Groser, Murray McCully and Claudette Hauiti have spent up large on the taxpayer tab.  Way to reinforce the born to rule feeling National.

Polity: Free trade fundies

Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, June 19th, 2014 - 2 comments

The great tragedy in New Zealand trade policy came in the 1990s when we almost literally gave away the farm, dismantling most of our tariffs unilaterally to “demonstrate” how much fun life is with no tariffs. You can’t get much more fundie than that.  And now – quelle surprise – we have basically no cards to play when negotiating with other countries. Who would have thought it?

NRT: An agreement for the sake of an agreement

Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, May 22nd, 2014 - 19 comments

The more you look at the Trans Pacific ‘Partnership’, the more you realise that unlike the trade agreements of the past 20 years, this agreement isn’t a agreement about freeing up trade. It is about putting restraints on trade. For NZ especially, it appears that we will not receive anything from it. All it does is makes it harder for our businesses. No Right Turn looks at the latest disaster of NZ diplomacy..

LB: Bill’s Busted Budget and Tim’s Exploding Emissions

Written By: - Date published: 4:28 pm, April 9th, 2014 - 13 comments

Local bodies points out a couple more of the National government’s sad-sacks. For some strange (but obvious) reason a warmish market for milk powder doesn’t do much for NZ apart from destroying our environment. English’s taxcuts for his wealthy mates have destroyed the fiscal base of the government and done nothing to cause any investment in the productive and employable parts of our economy. Tim Groser has also made an artform of making NZ worse off.

LocalBodies: National Slumps in Polls As Ministers Struggle

Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, March 24th, 2014 - 22 comments

There is danger of reading too much into polls months out from an election. Commentators were claiming that National was too strong to lose the next election based on a rogue poll. Few looked at multiple polls, accounted for the margin of error nor the trends over past months. The last fortnight has seen a National with the latest Roy Morgan Poll plummeting from the Colmar Brunton result of 51% to 45.5%. And it is based on a lack of ministerial performance…

$250k for failed Job Interview

Written By: - Date published: 4:37 pm, April 26th, 2013 - 22 comments

I like my employer, and they’re not ungenerous.  But I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t spend $250,000 on helping me to get another job – and one that I’m a long shot for at that.

As Tim Groser’s employers, you’ve got to wonder just how generous we as voters are being.  And why either he doesn’t think we’re good enough employers and wants to leave, or why National want rid of him.

Ahead of the curve on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, December 4th, 2012 - 66 comments

Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has defended the Nats’ decision to drop out of the Kyoto treaty, describing the move as “ahead of the curve”.  Quite apart from being absolutely stupid short-term thinking and a pathetic abdication of leadership, the idea that this retreat is “ahead of the curve” is a rather unfortunate turn of phrase.

ImperatorFish: Environmentalists Are Not The Problem, Mr Groser

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, July 3rd, 2012 - 9 comments

Tim Groser in the NBR: “Our enemies who are internal, will find one cow in one stream and feed it back to environmental activists in the developed world to be used to try to exclude New Zealand’s products and services in the ludicrous belief this will somehow help New Zealand.” Paranoid, much? And don’t you think the polluters are the problem, not the people who fail to hush it up?

What’s in the TPPA?

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, June 24th, 2012 - 44 comments

While we the public distract ourselves with trivia like car crushing, and focus on other important matters like asset sales, the TPPA which is quietly unfolding in the background is actually the most important ongoing political issue.  It has potentially disastrous implications for our sovereignty and our future.

Groser and McCully’s booze breaches the rules

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, June 21st, 2010 - 31 comments

Tim Groser and Murray McCully charged thousands of dollars to his ministerial credit card when it’s clearly against the rules on Travel, Accommodation, Attendance, and Communication Services Available to Members of the Executive: 2. Examples of goods and services that will generally not be paid for:… (i) Alcohol unless it relates to a portfolio/ministerial function. They’ve got to go.

Ball back in Key’s court

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, June 12th, 2010 - 118 comments

Shane Jones and Chris Carter are for the chop. Labour will lay down the gauntlet to John Key to apply those same standards to Murry McCully and Tim Groser. Key is desperate to avoid that, we know how lax his standards are. Maybe its hard on Jones but Labour needs to clean up its act and heads have to roll. Expect Key to squirm as he refuses to hold his ministers to account, once again.

Sack ’em all

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 pm, June 10th, 2010 - 100 comments

McCully and Groser put their drinking habits on the taxpayer bill. Jones charged his own, um, habit. Carter played far too loose. All broke the rules. Carter and Jones paid the money back eventually. Groser and McCully better soon.
I say we deserve better. And if one’s gotta go, they’ve all got to go. Goff, Key, which one of you is going to set the standard? Sack ’em all.