The Chrematistic Camel

Written By: Bill - Date published: 7:26 pm, July 4th, 2016 - 110 comments
Categories: capitalism, climate change, Economy, Environment, ETS, global warming, International, science, tax - Tags: carbon pricing, climate change, economics, ets, global warming, tax

So this post is about a suite of frameworks not to adopt if the goal is to avoid 2 degrees of global warming.

I’ve no idea what a chrematistic camel of the post header might look like by the way. I guess its hump might be made from the curve of a $ sign. I do know a haruspice sits atop it. A haruspice is a charlatan who claims to know what’s going on by their reading of chicken entails and other such like. Haruspices have had a name change in recent times. These days they’re called economists – ie, a certain type of economist – one who would reduce the entire world and everything in it to a dollar value. For some reason the clowns and dolts we elect as our politicians treat these haruspices with reverence and awe. Anyway, we need to break the camel’s back and leave the haruspice stranded in the furthest reaches of some remote desert.

I’ll be happy enough if this post amounts to so much as a straw…

We have, according to the pesky laws of physics, about 15 years to get emissions from energy down to zero to have an outside chance of avoiding +2 degrees of warming. There have been enough posts done about that. I’m not spending time here running through it again.

It would seem that proposals claiming to deliver emissions reductions fall into a singular category. That category is jam packed with various proposals built around the use of various monetary mechanisms and instruments that, it is claimed or hoped, will bring about large enough changes in behaviour that a concomitant drop in emissions will occur, and we’ll avoid dangerous levels of global warming.

Actually, there’s a caveat to all those chrematistic proposals. They don’t actually confront the reality – they underplay the severity of our situation and rely on the belief that negative emission technology will suddenly rear up, come on line, and avert a 2 degrees average surface temperature rise at some point in the future. Again, there has been enough written about exactly how integrated assessment models underplay the severity of our situation and puff up our future prospects, and of how our politicians, under the guidance of the ~~economists~~ haruspices, base policy around those assessment models. I’m not spending any time on that here.

Our government, in line with almost every other government on the planet has committed itself to take measures to avoid dangerous climate change that won’t cause poverty and that are informed by science. So, we know the path we have to walk – it’s signposted equity and it’s sign posted science.

Meanwhile, financial mechanisms and levers are the ‘go to’ tools for politicians and policy makers in the face of global warming. To be effective, they would have to achieve something like a 10 – 15% in reduction in emissions per annum – immediately.

And there’s not a single policy built around taxes, fees or levies that achieves anything remotely like that scale of reduction. They simply don’t work at that level of change. It’s time to rummage them out of the tool box and throw them off to the side instead of instinctively waving them in the impervious face of physics as if it’s going to achieve anything.

If you have doubts on their efficacy, then you don’t really have to look any further than the much touted Emission Trading Schemes (ETS) – dangerous shambles’ that may well have encouraged a rise in emissions. Now sure, many people said ETS would never work and wanted a straight up price placed on carbon – a carbon tax as it were. This is still a very much ‘go to’ solution for many, if not almost all, people. But from a 2 degrees perspective, it won’t work.

There are various ‘tax and dividend’ suggestions out there. The basic idea is that carbon is taxed and the tax take is then passed back to consumers, either directly or in the form of enhanced infrastructure. The NZ Green Party has such a policy. Climate scientist and activist James Hansen supports tax and dividend proposals. British Columbia has such a policy up and running.

This is what the supporters of the British Columbia “tax and dividend” scheme have to say. (pdf link)

Since then (2008), per capita emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases covered by the tax have declined, continuing a downward trend that began in 2004. Averaged across the period with the tax (2008 through 2013…), province-wide per capita emissions from fossil fuel combustion covered by the tax were nearly 13 percent below the average in the pre-tax period under examination (2000-2007).

Taking those numbers at face value, and ignoring any reasons as to why emissions were reducing before the tax was introduced, and ignoring any potential on-going effects those things might have had – 13% over six years is all very well and good, but nowhere near the 10% – 15% per year reductions required to have any chance of holding global temperatures to + 2 degrees.

For a take on a carbon tax that was instituted and where cross border/state purchases weren’t possible (as is arguably the case in British Columbia), then we just need to look to Australia. Australia introduced a carbon tax of A$23 per tonne in 2011.

If we ignore every other possible cause for a drop in emissions (such as economic slow downs, increased efficiencies and so on) and assign all of any reduction to the effect of pricing carbon, then the tax resulted in a 1.4% drop in emissions over the period of one year.

As reported in The Guardian

“The Greens leader, Christine Milne, said: “These figures demonstrate to the rest of the world just how effective our carbon price was at bringing down pollution. This is the biggest ever drop recorded and the price made it happen.”

You get that? A 1.4% reduction when we need between 10% and 15% rates of reduction apparently demonstrate the “effectiveness” of pricing carbon.

Or there was the Australian Conservation foundation quoted in the same piece

“The price did better than expected. Also, we would have seen deeper cuts in emissions over time as the price created a long-term economic signal and changed investment in energy. We never expected to see the biggest reductions straight away.”

Is it just me who can’t quite reconcile “long-term economic signal” with a fifteen year window of opportunity?

There’s another example, much closer to home, that demonstrates how effective the application of chrematistic notions of the economy are in the field of policy.

In 2010 the NZ government embarked on a fifteen year plan to make new Zealand smoke free. The fifteen years is worth noting. That’s the same time scale we have to work on carbon emissions. (So think annual reductions in the 10 – 15% range)

Smoking rates were dropping prior to 2010. But in 2010, alongside a slew of public awareness programmes, ‘adaptation’ services, legislation and law changes, the government chose tax as its principle weapon against the prevalence of smoking. So every year, the tax on an already expensive product rose by the rate of inflation, and then by another 10%.

You can go view some rudimentary charts here that show the smoking rate in NZ has continued to decline since 2010, but on a trajectory not so very different from that which was already underway before 2010.

And unlike in the case of carbon emissions, readily available and cheap alternatives were and are available to smokers. Yet the whole “Smoke Free 2025” is (excuse the pun) going up in smoke. Just look at the figures as reported by the MSD

Between 2006/2007 and 2013/2014, the proportion of the population who were current smokers decreased 2.8 percentage points.

The bottom line (if that’s not too incongruous a term) is that monetary measures or financial instruments, are to tackling global warming as a bread knife is to sawing up a couple of cubic metres of wood. Yes, it can be done. But not by the end of the day. And figuratively speaking, as far as reducing emissions go, we only have ‘til the end of the day.

One last word on the idea that we can price our way out of this mess. In 2009 Alice Bows, Kevin Anderson and Anthony Footitt released a study paper (pp89 -109) on carbon prices as they would affect air travel. At a carbon price of ~ NZ$500 per tonne, (ie – many times higher than any tax suggested by Hansen or implemented in either British Columbia or Australia) the cost of an airline ticket would only increase by about 25%.

I just randomly looked up the cost of a return to Sydney. House of Travel. One way, departing Auckland, for $161. A $500 carbon tax makes that flight about $40 more expensive. A deal breaker? I don’t think so.

Anyway, if you know of any pricing mechanism that will reduce emissions at the level required, and not bury the poor in the process, then please, link to it or explain it in the comments.

The next post will be the bare bones, or a sketch or outline if you will, of a framework guaranteed (big call that, eh? ;-)) to bring the emissions from NZs transport sector (responsible for over 40% of NZs energy related emissions) down to zero by 2030 – as demanded by physics and in line with promoting equity as demanded by the international agreements the NZ government has signed up to.

110 comments on “The Chrematistic Camel ”

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johnm 1

4 July 2016 at 7:48 pm

Definition of chrematistic

: of, relating to, or occupied in the gaining of wealth

For the vast majority CC isn’t real until one day it bites them in the rear. Hasn’t happened yet. It’s business as usual until we can’t.
- Bill 1.1
  
  4 July 2016 at 8:23 pm
  
  Chrematistic enonomics is the economics of the dead. What it does is reduce and diminish the value of everything – of life – into tradable units of pounds dollars and cents, or failing that, write it off as worthless.
  
  That river that needs cleaned up? It plays out something like this. It’s only fresh water and fish, algae and a plethora of life on the river banks and birds and frogs and somewhere to play and swim and walk or romance and….it just doesn’t stack up any dollar signs.
  
  And yes, we know the factory is leaching toxins into the water, but the thneeds from its processes bring millions of $$$ into the local economy, whereas the river just isn’t worth anything. Sorry.
  
  Now, if the river was a trout river! Why, yes! There’s a pragmatic case to be put as to why, on balance, it should take precedence over the factory. $$$$$
  
  Meanwhile, an economist in the broader sense would appreciate a broad sweep of value, rather than just the reductionist, singular and tradable value that derives from successfully monetising everything – people, things, our relationships to one another and our surroundings, our surroundings, our actions, our experiences….y’know, like how we charge top dollar for what we used to give away for free.
  - Jenny 1.1.1
    
    5 July 2016 at 5:36 am
    
    Finally a post that looks the problem in the face.
    
    Also very glad to see Bill that you are going to be putting up a future post on cutting our transport emissions.
    
    As Oscar Wilde said; “Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”
    
    In my opinion anything that New Zealand does on climate change has to be dramatic enough to be world news, it has to be something that is significant, and ground breaking, (Like for instance our stand on nuclear weapons or apartheid.)
    
    The reason for this is because New Zealand’s emissions from all sources only account for 0.2% of the world total.
    
    Sir Peter Gluckman the government’s top science advisor
    
    “New Zealand is a small emitter by world standards – only emitting some 0.2% of global green house gases. So anything we do as a nation will have little impact on the climate – our impact will be symbolic, moral, and political”
    
    Sir Peter Gluckman
    Chief Science adviser to the office of the Prime Minister
    
    http://www.pmcsa.org.nz/climate-change/
    
    “our impact will be symbolic, moral, and political”
    
    This is the key.
    
    Even if New Zealand magically cut its greenhouse gas emissions to zero, it would barely make a measurable objective difference to the world total.
    
    Our impact will be symbolic moral and political, because it will have to be.
    
    Any major initiative launched against climate change in this country must have as its aim to create that symbolic and moral effect.
    
    So how should we go about it?
    
    Our closest geographical neighbour Australia, shares with us a common language and culture, and a similar history. By some measures, Per capita Australia is the world’s biggest Green House emitter, (second only to Saudi Arabia).
    Australia (like New Zealand) has a relatively small population, compared to other countries, despite this, (unlike New Zealand), Australia is major gross global emitter in its own right.
    
    http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/each-countrys-share-of-co2.html#.V3qc5JN95Os
    
    And Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal, the most dangerous and polluting of all the fossil fuels.
    
    But as well as all the above, Australia is one of the countries worst hit by climate change.
    
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/26/climate-change-will-hit-australia-harder-than-rest-of-world-study-shows
    
    Australians are worried.
    
    Any serious and major ground breaking initiative launched against climate change in this country would be closely watched and commented on by Australians.
    
    I we did something major and ground breaking against climate change here, Australians worried about the changing climate, and many them are, would be demanding that their government do the same there.
    
    If Australia were to drastically cut back its emissions and even stop its coal exports this would be a world event. With a huge measurable difference, not to mention a galvanising flow on effect to the rest of the world.
    
    Small wheels, can turn big wheels, which can turn, even bigger wheels.
    
    And we have done it before.
    First in the world to give women the vote,
    First in the world to found a Social Welfare State,
    On the debit side, the First in the world to launch the Neo Liberal revolution.
    
    All these ground breaking initiatives were remarked on and followed across the globe.
    
    We can do it again.
    
    We must.
    - Jenny 1.1.1.1
      
      5 July 2016 at 6:02 am
      
      What I would suggest for a start, is the announcement of a complete ban on the opening of all new coal mines.
      
      With a set date to shut down all the rest.
      
      This is the sort of initiative that that would strengthen the movement against coal in Australia.
      
      In particular the movement against the notorious proposed Carmichal Coal mine development.
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmichael_coal_mine
      
      As James Hansen has said, “If we can’t stop coal, it is all over for the climate.”
      
      On the practical level this ban should begin with the immediate cancelation of the new coal mining operations being started at Maramarua and Ohura.
      
      Followed with a strong statement from the government that no new coal mines will never be allowed to be developed or started ever again in this country.
      - Jenny 1.1.1.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 6:06 am
        
        Auckland Coal Action
        
        “Keep the Coal in the Hole”
        
        https://aucklandcoalaction.org/
    - Bill 1.1.1.2
      
      5 July 2016 at 9:51 am
      
      Well, I have my doubts that a post on ‘thestandard’ would make world news Jenny – not even one of mine! 🙂
      
      But I’d say that the up coming post drives a horse and coaches through the typical “We’re only 0.02% of the problem, so what’s the point” response.
      
      NZ is (off the top of my head) one of only five places in the world that could be the first to adopt this policy framework. Australia, Japan, Ireland and Britain being the others that come to mind.
      
      And more than just a moral or symbolic gesture, it’s a practical and workable suggestion or proposal that can be adopted quickly elsewhere and that ticks all the relevant boxes bar one. And that one box that’s left blank, I’d argue, is largely irrelevant – an unnecessary hindrance that we could happily just simply ignore (as per this post).
      
      Now, since we all know that politicians know a good idea when they see one and are naturally occurring sources of huge quantities of that stuff called ‘political will’… 😈
      - Jenny 1.1.1.2.1
        
        6 July 2016 at 3:40 am
        
        “Now, since we all know that politicians know a good idea when they see one and are naturally occurring sources of huge quantities of that stuff called ‘political will’… 😈””
        
        But they have a long experience in knowing how to avoid even discussing a good idea.
        
        Campaign silence over climate change shameful and dangerous
        
        And political will….
        
        Don’t even start me on that one
        
        The missing ingredient
      - Jenny 1.1.1.2.2
        
        6 July 2016 at 1:08 pm
        
        <"But I’d say that the up coming post drives a horse and coaches through the typical “We’re only 0.02% of the problem, so what’s the point” response."
        Bill
        
        Sorry to be a pedant here Bill, but could I give a correction to your figure Bill of 0.02%. The actual figure of the world’s Greenhouse gas emissions that New Zealand is responsible for is 0.2%, not 0.02%.
        
        However, even though it is wrong, I like your figure more because it better emphasises the point that Professor Gluckman makes that, New Zealand’s greatest
        “impact will be symbolic, moral, and political”.
        
        Jenny 1.1.1.2.2.1
        
        6 July 2016 at 5:31 pm
        
        Well, I have my doubts that a post on ‘thestandard’ would make world news Jenny – not even one of mine! 🙂
        Bill
        
        Too true. It’s actions that count not words. But if your lobbying for better transport options is taken up, and it is world beating and innovative enough, and really makes a difference to congestion and pollution then, yes it could quite likely become world news.
        
        I am looking forward to your upcoming post on transport solutions relating to climate change.
        
        I am hoping it is a real counter to the insane nutters in the Auckland Chamber of Commerce have been lobbying to get a four or six lane motorway built under the Waitemata harbour, and it looks likely that they will get their way.
        
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11643578
        
        What could that possibly achieve apart from pouring hundreds of more cars into the already overburdened North Shore isthmus, and on the Southern side, into the already horribly congested CBD groaning under the weight of finding parking space for them? And that is not to mention the eye watering price tag for this incredible boondoggle, which apart from allowing lots more cars onto city roads, will (if the leaking Victoria Park tunnel is anything to go by), have its own massive carbon footprint, having to be lighted and pumped and ventilated 24/7 hrs a day 365 days a year forever, at a huge cost of electricity, also all paid for by the public. Environmentalists have also told me that the water that has to be continually pumped out, will also negatively alter the turbidity and clarity of the water in the harbour.
        
        Simon Tunnels and an unnamed NZTA spokesperson told appalled GenZero a climate change activist group, that there could be a public transport option tagged onto the planned under harbour motorway tunnel.
        
        HERE is one of the resources I check out on transport.
        
        Free and frequent public transport, where it has been trailed overseas, has been a run-away hit, easing both congestion and pollution. And has even proved to be as competitive, or even cheaper than building more motorways. Before the whiners start moaning that the tax and rate paying public shouldn’t subsidise public transport. Looked at it the proper way, motorways are massive public subsidies for the fossil fuel and car companies who have managed to externalise all their infrastructure costs and running costs to the local and central government and the private citizen, not to mention all the externalised costs of pollution and climate change.. Worked out that way, fully subsidised public transport, buses, trains ferrys are way cheaper.
        
        There are a lot of schemes for addressing climate change, in transport, in agriculture, in energy generation. But what you touched on Bill, and what is really lacking, is any political will to implement them.
        
        How to create that political will is worthy of a full post in itself.
        
        Briefly; IMO. It will take a combination of leadership from above and activism from below. Climate activists on the ground need to organise campaigns around climate change issues and politicians who by their position have been granted a public platform, need to use that platform to publicise and support the activists. And so shift the political discourse.
        
        We live in an age where politicians need to become activists and activists need to become politicians.
        
        We need more of this;
        
        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67169170/cunliffe-offers-to-climb-threatened-kauri
        
        And more of this:
        
        https://aucklandcoalaction.org/
        
        Jenny …
        
        6 July 2016 at 5:51 pm
        
        PS.
        
        I like the hints you have been dropping about your upcoming post.
        
        “NZ is (off the top of my head) one of only five places in the world that could be the first to adopt this policy framework. Australia, Japan, Ireland and Britain being the others that come to mind.”
        Bill
        
        My hope is that if your plan is adopted, that as you say, your transport plan will be template for others.
        
        This ties into my campaign for controls halting new coal projects in this country as a template that creates the groundswell for similar controls on new coal projects in Australia. Which would have a very real measurable affect on global Greenhouse Gas emissions.
Greg 2

4 July 2016 at 8:11 pm

One way to make it cooler is to follow what nature does.
So lets pop a few volcanoes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age

or
governments require growth of the economy pay its debt to private banks,

If they lived directly of our taxation, they wouldn’t need constant growth by consumption.

So how can will we get the government to change how they manage to pay for itself,

Taxing us to affect consumption change, cant work,
carbon credits have already been proven a fraud and great scam for East European criminal organisations
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11624441

Spains solar panel project collapses economy,
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125193815050081615

Failed green policy in California
http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/29/what-we-can-learn-from-californias-failed-green-jobs-plan/

unless there is a total economic collapse,
its popping a few volcanoes..
- Colonial Viper 2.1
  
  4 July 2016 at 8:29 pm
  
  Nuclear weapons. When climate push comes to climate shove, proposals to use multiple nuclear warheads to cause a nuclear winter, will be considered by the most senior and serious people in society.
  - Greg 2.1.1
    
    4 July 2016 at 8:34 pm
    
    The little ice age is an interesting study, it leads us on different paths:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series)
    
    still,
    how can we get government to live of our taxes and not private bank debt.
    =then they will be motivated to make our lives better and make Green policy work?
    
    And, Generation Y wont be able to afford the massive state that the baby boomers have created by unintended consequences.
  - Gristle 2.1.2
    
    4 July 2016 at 9:26 pm
    
    So like most previous solutions, the people who will be sacrificed are the indigenous people, the agricultural peasants, the poor.
    
    If it comes down to nukes at dawn I think that the probability towards mass extinction of humankind becomes something closely approximating, if not actually, 100%.
- Draco T Bastard 2.2
  
  4 July 2016 at 10:34 pm
  
  governments require growth of the economy pay its debt to private banks,
  
  If they lived directly of our taxation, they wouldn’t need constant growth by consumption.
  
  The government wouldn’t, no, but the people would as they rack up the debt to the private banks which create the money for the ‘loan’.
  
  So how can will we get the government to change how they manage to pay for itself,
  
  Real Monetary Reform
  Again, it’s not just the government finances that need seeing to but the private as well.
  
  Throw in a UBI and stopping the banks from creating money and we would easily be able to stop the need for growth while ensuring that no one was living in poverty.
- lprent 2.3
  
  5 July 2016 at 8:10 am
  
  There is no science or engineering that I am aware of that shows how to produce the level of volcanism at levels that would have any appreciable effect on insolation. This requires mega volcanoes, and nothing we have access to can produce or modify the magma plumes required to produce them.
  
  Besides, all.it would do is to mask the problem. Stop for a few years and the climate shifts come back in full force. Similar geo engineering up to nuclear winter and dropping asteroids all have the same flaw. Stop having a nuclear war every decade and the existing excess greenhouse gases in the oceans continue to create global warming.
- Corokia 2.4
  
  5 July 2016 at 1:34 pm
  
  Trying to reduce the sunlight getting through to the planet (which is what you are suggesting ) and what those who advocate spraying sulphur dioxide particles in the atmosphere are also wanting to do, does nothing to stop ocean acidification.
  - Greg 2.4.1
    
    5 July 2016 at 2:04 pm
    
    farming seaweed might, most in eatable..?
    
    http://www.seafoodnewzealand.org.nz/media/news/news/item/huge-potential-for-the-seaweed-industry/
    
    National claims we have a diverse economy, but thy seem unable get away from policy that keeps wages low, and that doesnt compete with milking cows as cheaply as possible.
    
    employment cost for the dairy industry is hard to find,
    - Corokia 2.4.1.1
      
      5 July 2016 at 3:25 pm
      
      Absolutely nothing there on the CO2 absorption rates of seaweed.
      - Greg 2.4.1.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 4:09 pm
        
        Um, how would they?
        
        corokia 2.4.1.1.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 6:26 pm
        
        I pointed out that your suggestion that volcanoes are needed to reduce global warming would do nothing to stop ocean acidification.
        
        You wrote “farming seaweed might, most in eatable..?”
        
        Do you understand what ocean acidification is?
        
        You are the one who needs to explain why you brought up the topic of seaweed.
        
        Greg …
        
        5 July 2016 at 6:57 pm
        
        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/28/kelp-ocean-acidification-algal-blooms_n_7152362.html
        
        if not, then there goes half our planets oxygen,
        
        http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0607_040607_phytoplankton.html
        
        its hasta la vista,
        
        except for the elite and Disney stars on the moonbase,
        
        Corokia …
        
        5 July 2016 at 7:39 pm
        
        All you do is put up multiple links related to the post.
Gristle 3

4 July 2016 at 8:16 pm

AI think your mistake is going to the market to look for a set of solutions. Pricing mechanisms are Neo libertarian tools.

The state is not limited to the markets to enact policy.

Here is a starting list:
Putting a cap on the size of new cars
Putting minimum emission levels on new vehicles
Requiring use of rail for freight.
Double tracking railways.
Making government vehicles be electric vehicles
Stop building more roads.
Increasing environmental safeguards in agriculture.
Bicycle lanes.
Reduce the speed limit.
- Bill 3.1
  
  4 July 2016 at 8:32 pm
  
  I agree with all of that. But where we are at present, is that if some regulation is proposed it is costed and and a whole suite of chrematistic criteria applied like hurdles that the regulation must clear.
  
  Even where someone advances the proposal regardless, the market (which is just an expression of chrematistic economics) seeks to water it down, delay it, change it, have it scrapped or whatever on the grounds that it threatens the making of money.
  
  The EU attempts to set car emission standards offer up a fairly good example of that type of nonsense, and importantly politicians threw themselves into the fray on the side of the car manufacturers.
  
  For them it was a case of fuck the science, fuck the health implications, fuck yeah, money!.
Bill 4

4 July 2016 at 8:36 pm

Still waiting for anyone to put the case for using money as a mechanism for guiding policy or change.

Y’see, if nobody puts up anything, on the basis that the general thrust of the post is being taken as read, then I have to wonder that we allow politicians to use those various chrematistic criteria when considering policy or regulation or legislation.

I’ll come back tomorrow and see if there’s anything other than tumble-weeds and distractions.
- Colonial Viper 4.1
  
  4 July 2016 at 9:07 pm
  
  I don’t think you can altogether ignore the basis of our current economy and financial system. Even as you make changes to de-emphasise the importance of money and market mechanisms you still have to recognise how powerful a logic they provide in driving decision making at every level of the economy.
  - Gristle 4.1.1
    
    4 July 2016 at 9:41 pm
    
    The use of financial incentivisation is probably best aimed at those who cannot afford to change. For example, low income has hand me down technology in the form of 20 year old cars. Financially incentivate them to swap out their car for a bog standard small EV with controlled /subsidised price. Increase the cost of petrol. Permanently Remove old cars NZ by regulating by stripping them. Further, no more ICE cars coming into NZ unless they meet stringent emission and consumption standards.
    
    Secondly, Put the true financial costs of road freight onto the freight industry while investing in rail.
    
    is this using money as a mechanism to guide behavioural change?
    - Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1
      
      4 July 2016 at 9:47 pm
      
      For example, low income has hand me down technology in the form of 20 year old cars. Financially incentivate them to swap out their car for a bog standard small EV with controlled /subsidised price.
      
      I agree with your general points.
      
      However you should also consider what the “sunk carbon cost” of different options are. For instance I think that a 20 year old 1.6L petrol powered Toyota Corolla is a far lower GHG option than a brand new hybrid Prius or EV, as the new vehicle requires the carbon intensive production of brand new steel, plastics, aluminium, etc. And the old Toyota doesn’t.
- ropata 4.2
  
  4 July 2016 at 9:30 pm
  
  No pricing mechanism can work because it’s embedded in the capitalist model which is a massive part of the CC problem
- b waghorn 4.3
  
  4 July 2016 at 9:48 pm
  
  The only chance pricing would have of working is if every cent taken in tax went into removing carbon, be it spent on science to create the mythical carbon capture machine , or some such thing.
North 5

4 July 2016 at 8:51 pm

Only came upon this word “chrematistic” the other day but I love it already – “of, relating to, or occupied in the gaining of wealth.”

Immediately noted the sense of assured, legitimate authority it imparts. Like a science. It’s irrefutable Thought immediately about the reality that hundreds and hundreds of thousands of us live, maybe a third or 40% of us. Where the only rational aim can be bare survival. Maslow’s Need Heirarchy sort of explains that. We have no time for philosophising. We must first survive !

The bastards in this picture are John Key and his cronies. This one or that one or Bennett or Dame Rebstock……..cavalier, audacious, mouthy, looking to turn snake-like on the victims. As urged by their morally bankrupt media minders. Looking after their own fat ugly arses and their personal power lusts. As they fuck around corrupting and diseasing our social psyche. Molesting our sense of decent thinking and decent behaviour.

God they’re detestable ! Away with the bastards, please !
- In Vino 5.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 9:45 pm
  
  +1 North
In Vino 6

4 July 2016 at 8:55 pm

Great but depressing post, Bill.

You have taught me 2 new insult words. Chrematistic and haruspices. That was the great bit, and I thank you for it. The few economists I know are going to suffer..

I fear that it will take another year or two of warning signs that it is too late before most people – especially the rightie deniers – will actually admit that we all need to act together.

And by then it will be even more too late.

I like both Greg’s and Gristle’s ideas, but I fear that the Titanic’s Captain will order such ideas executed only after the ship is heavily listing, having hit the iceberg some time ago.

How do we make an explosive impact on people’s minds?
ropata 7

4 July 2016 at 9:24 pm

We are fucked. This was from 2009 and not much has changed:
http://socialistreview.org.uk/332/climate-change-radical-solutions-needed

The Geophysical Research Letters journal published evidence in December that a qualitative change for the worst has already hit – that of runaway global feedback. In 2007 methane levels in the atmosphere began to rise again. This would indicate that the methane is being released from the frozen peat bogs of the Siberian permafrost. This will further accelerate climate change, and leads to the release of yet more methane. Arctic permafrost also contains twice the amount of carbon that is currently in the atmosphere.

All the evidence shows that capitalism, fossil fuels, and growing human population are not compatible with serious CO2 reductions
http://isreview.org/issue/92/can-capitalism-prevent-catastrophic-climate-change

It is now too late to stop global warming. Even if greenhouse gas production stopped today, two centuries of emissions will remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. The average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans will rise, with increasingly severe effects on climate and weather, no matter what we do.

If emissions continue at today’s levels, catastrophic climate change is inevitable. At the very least, large parts of the world will be uninhabitable, and conditions in the rest will be harsher than humans have ever experienced. The survival of our species, and of the millions of animal and plant species we share this world with, is at stake.

This article lays out a blueprint for the transformation that’s required. No idea how the hell humanity will ever actually do any of it. IMO (barring divine intervention) we are doomed to extinguish our glorious civilisation
http://isreview.org/issue/94/marxism-and-ecosocialism

Ian Angus and Simon Butler, outline the following steps in their book Too Many People? Population, Immigration, and the Environmental Crisis:

* Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and biofuels, replacing them with clean energy sources.
* Actively supporting farmers to convert to ecological agriculture; defending local food production and distribution.
* Introducing free and efficient public transport networks.
* Restructuring existing extraction, production, and distribution systems to eliminate waste, planned obsolescence, pollution, and manipulative advertising, and providing full retraining to all affected workers and communities.
* Retrofitting existing homes and buildings for energy efficiency.
* Closing down all military operations at home and elsewhere; transforming the armed forces into voluntary teams charged with restoring ecosystems and assisting the victims of environmental disasters.
- Colonial Viper 7.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 8:16 am
  
  That’s what I call a serious plan. Thanks!
- Pat 7.2
  
  5 July 2016 at 8:35 am
  
  as you say…a list of (some) of the things needed (yesterday), but no practical means of implementing them….you cannot remove the basis of production without a practical plan to substitute.
  
  We know what needs to be done, what we don’t know is how we do it AND continue to supply everyones needs….forget about wants.
  
  Kevin Anderson’s ideas are the most practical I have heard to date but even those would require a massive change in how we organize society, and in NZ with ag being half our emissions and our electricity essentially carbon free already more would be required to meet the required reductions.
- Bill 7.3
  
  5 July 2016 at 9:56 am
  
  That’s not the first time I’ve come across the ideas about ‘re-directing’ the energies or purposes of the armed forces for civilly useful aims. I’d forgotten about it though, so thanks for the reminder.
- Karen 7.4
  
  5 July 2016 at 10:41 am
  
  That is a great list of what is required Ropata – in every country.
  
  Unfortunately the vast majority of the population refuse to accept the scale of the problems we are facing and as a result governments are reluctant to to do anything even close to what is required. As the effects of the climate change accelerate then there will be a more realistic response, but as Bill says, it will be much too late to avoid 2 degrees of warming.
Stuart Munro 8

4 July 2016 at 9:37 pm

Nothing soaks up carbon like biomass. Macrocystis seeding would make a difference, as would various treeplanting strategies. Our cities could use a redesign though – unlikely under contemporary governments. It’s like we’re building a ruined earth set for the next remake of Planet of the Apes.
- Colonial Viper 8.1
  
  4 July 2016 at 9:51 pm
  
  That biomass would re-release the carbon into the atmosphere within a few decades at most.
  
  We’d also have to be willing to re-cover a lot of farm land with forest. Can you imagine re-foresting the Waikato, Southland, Otago and Hawkes Bay?
  - Stuart Munro 8.1.1
    
    4 July 2016 at 10:37 pm
    
    Yes, there is churn, but a large biomass can absorb a lot – our cultural methods have tended to decrease biomass – deforestation for example. But the mass is not just the forest but the deep litter on its floor and the carboneceous litter that supports freshwater ecosystems and finds its way into marine sediments (or crayfish pots).
    
    Freeman Dyson was a bit of a smartarse, but he calculated a 2-3 mm increase in soil volume would soak up all the problematic carbon in the world. No, we don’t need to cover our farmland – though increasing tree cover would save a devil of a lot of irrigation. Browsable trees in pasture are one thing – tangaste, saltbush, willow, apple all improve livestock health, reduce erosion and moisture loss to wind events. Forestry is mostly moving to post and line rather than skidders for pragmatic reasons, but it’s better practice because it conserves the active topsoil.
    All the techiques are pretty much known but not always widely adopted here.
    
    Even proper composting of dairy manure or riparian planting to keep it out of rivers is pretty carbon positive. Recent roading policy has been to clear trees from beside highways – but something softer with good kinetic as well as carbon absorbtion should be planted instead – native flax would be my pick except in arid areas.
    
    There is plenty we can do, it’s not even very expensive. Absent political will however, the consistently lousy and backward outcomes we associate with Gnat misgovernance will simply shamble on.
    - Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1
      
      4 July 2016 at 10:55 pm
      
      ” The idea that global warming is the most important problem facing the world is total nonsense and is doing a lot of harm. It distracts people’s attention from much more serious problems.”
      
      I understand that Freeman Dyson said that in 2007.
      - Stuart Munro 8.1.1.1.1
        
        4 July 2016 at 11:01 pm
        
        Part of an ongoing father-son conflict. But he’s not a liar – his calculations aren’t crap – it’s his reasoning and conclusions that are questionable. He was always a heretical voice – the guy behind Project Orion after all.
    - Robert Guyton 8.1.1.2
      
      5 July 2016 at 9:29 am
      
      Hebe on the roadsides – they’re pretty and people need something other than pragmatic in order to feel inspired about planting their own stretch of roadside.
    - Bill 8.1.1.3
      
      5 July 2016 at 10:14 am
      
      I admit that I’ve difficulties with this idea that a simple increase in bio-mass will soak up all excess CO2.
      
      Before we began adding externally sourced CO2 into the atmosphere, there was a balance between the CO2 in the atmosphere/ocean and the CO2 of living things. And that produced an atmospheric CO2 level of around 250 – 300 ppm.
      
      So…if we restored all of the biomass that existed from before we started trashing it, then on a given amount of CO2 in the CO2 cycle, an atmospheric concentration of around 250 – 300 ppm would eventually result.
      
      But we have added externally derived CO2 into the cycle and so, even allowing for elasticity in the system, I find it difficult to conceive we’d get out of this current fix by simply restoring previous levels of bio-mass.
      
      The proportions that follow are all wrong, but my thinking is something like…. there was a 10l pot on a stove happily bubbling away with 9l of water in it. But then we swapped it out for a 8l pot while adding another 2l of water into the mix at the same time.
      Restore the carrying capacity by swapping back to a 10l pot, and we can’t accommodate the extra 2l of water we added to the mix.
      - Colonial Viper 8.1.1.3.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 10:30 am
        
        I admit that I’ve difficulties with this idea that a simple increase in bio-mass will soak up all excess CO2.
        
        The coal and oil we are burning is carbon based biomass which was stored over millions of years. We’re not going to get it back into the ground within a 10 or even 100 year period of time. And its only the 10 year period of time which matters.
        
        Let’s say Freeman Dyson is right and 3mm more top soil or whatever is enough to soak back all that excess CO2 back to Earth (I very much doubt that as our seas which cover a clear majority of the planet and are kilometres deep and which can dissolve huge amounts of CO2 are not keeping up with our CO2 emissions rate).
        
        What he hasn’t said is HOW FAST we can encourage this increase in biomass/soil depth can take place.
        
        Like everything in this game, we are in the last quarter and the countdown is ticking fast. Whatever is done on the biomass front it won’t change the fundamental to slash carbon emissions to zero within 10-15 years, which will require 10% reductions per year starting this year.
        
        lprent 8.1.1.3.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 12:54 pm
        
        Biomass isn’t a solution unless it sequesters itself. It is pretty damn obvious why. At any point in geological history, the amount of carbon in living organisms is something like 0.001% of the weight of fossil carbon in hydrocarbons (and lets just ignore for the moment the carbon burnoff of other carbonates like the limestone used in the production of concrete).
        
        At best it will temporarily suck up a teeny fraction of the additional carbon added to the oceans and atmosphere for a few decades. And in the best case carbon releases will happen unpredictably whenever there is a wildfire. With larger areas of vegetation around, there will be more wildfires – especially as climate change is going on around it from all of the other released fossil carbon.
        
        I class biosucking excess carbon as being the same level as the idiocy of using volcanic or nuclear winters to reduce the heat. A temporary meaningless ‘solution’ for a geological timescale problem.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        5 July 2016 at 1:24 pm
        
        As far as I can see, annual carbon (not CO2 but carbon) weight released in GHG emissions is equivalent to about 3% of the carbon stored in living above ground biomass.
        
        Which tells me that restoring the ecology of the planet – not just replanting a few forests – is theoretically scalable enough to be part of a solution.
        
        Although I may have the orders of magnitude wrong in the unit conversions…
        
        I do understand how it seems very unlikely that releasing carbon stored over billions of years is going to be offset by contemporary biomass storage though.
        
        Stuart Munro …
        
        5 July 2016 at 7:12 pm
        
        Two things – of course the initial impact of biomass as a solution will be modest, though the need for sequestration is dependent on how much biomass you maintain. Dyson’s calculation is deceptive – that’s 2-3 mm across the land surface area of the world, and you have to keep it there.
        
        But biomass is both cheap and politically feasible, and, somewhat adaptive. A large mass of marine algae will propagate rapidly. Species grow where habitats exist – if we don’t expand manageable algae like macrocystis the same resources might just as readily support red tides.
        
        Can it solve all our problems? Perhaps – smart policy would certainly include it in any suite of carbon reducing measures. It’s likely to be among the most cost effective.
        
        This isn’t a problem we’re going to get to simply solve, it’s one we’re going to have to manage sensibly into the future.
        
        Lloyd 8.1.1.3.1.2
        
        6 July 2016 at 11:13 pm
        
        The biomass that New Zealand can sequester easiest is Mussel Shell. Shells of shellfish are mainly calcium carbonate. Aquatic algae are converted by mussels into shell. Increasing mussel farms will increase the amount of mussel shell available for storage in such places as road metal and in concrete. (I know both these examples are peripheral to heavy co2 production, but they are typical examples – use your imagination)
        Mussel shell will also help reduce soil acidity.
        With thought as to the hazards of ropes to aquatic mammals, New Zealanders could easily increase the amount of mussel shell sequestered every year by several orders of magnitude. We could sell carbon sequestration credits to the Ukraine!
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        6 July 2016 at 11:26 pm
        
        Good to know, Lloyd. However I understand increasing ocean acidification is going to eventually impair this process.
      - Colonial Viper 8.1.1.3.2
        
        5 July 2016 at 10:36 am
        
        And thanks to the evil tech of Google, a video on the topic of carbon capture via biomass increase has just appeared on my YouTube page – Paul Beckwith, University of Ottawa
        
        Bill 8.1.1.3.2.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 11:05 am
        
        Paul Beckworth needs to be treated with a degree of caution. He’s a ‘catastrophist’. His phd is on sudden climate change/collapse and he views most everything through that lens. And he gets many things wrong. For example, just the other day he was pronouncing that the jet stream was ‘bleeding’ from the northern hemisphere into the southern hemisphere and that the end (an immediate one) was nigh – again.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        5 July 2016 at 11:30 am
        
        Yes he’s an advocate of the idea that we are in the middle of “abrupt climate change.” Given that we’ve had the most rapid CO2 increase in millions of years, and that we are now on track for 4 deg C or 5 deg C global temp increase in the next 80-90 years, would you disagree.
        
        By the way this is his video on the global “jet stream bleeding.” He doesn’t make “pronouncements” – his video talks through a whole lot of satellite imaging showing unusually high mixing of northern hemisphere air with southern hemisphere air.
        
        And he didn’t make any statements similar to the “end is nigh.” However he did say that we might see a blue ocean Arctic zero sea ice event, and that the mixing of the jet streams will reduce seasonality throughout the world and help cause massive hits to food supply and political stability.
        
        Again, I can’t argue with any of that.
        
        Bill …
        
        5 July 2016 at 12:45 pm
        
        ffs CV! That bullshit was posted and refuted the other day.
        
        Y’know, there’s a big difference between being realistic and posting up stuff that would appear to revel at the prospect of imminent and unavoidable ‘big shit’. .
        
        Can’t remember who I already said this to, but one handed typing while the other is stuffed down pants clutching at some stinking cock of doom, might be satisfying at some personal level. But like all wankery, it really is just wankery.
        
        edited
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        5 July 2016 at 12:54 pm
        
        OK fine, so this is not Beckwith’s area of expertise and he is speaking out of turn on this matter.
        
        Bill …
        
        5 July 2016 at 1:00 pm
        
        Which you could have discovered for yourself with just the most cursory of google searches.
        
        Sorry, edit. I mean for fuck’s sake. Some wee joker jumps up and and says the jet-stream is going all to hell in a hand basket, and you’re not even just a wee bit curious as to what any wider scientific community might be saying about that?!
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        5 July 2016 at 3:41 pm
        
        Bill, your reaction that the jetstream disturbances is a clear sign that climate chaos is upon us and the end is nigh, is your reaction to what Beckwith said. It was not my reaction.
        
        The message I took from his presentation was that it was another sign of the end of the climate stability that we have all taken for granted.
        
        I brought Beckwith up because of the idea he presented that restoring the ecosystems of the world land and sea will be a critical part of reducing atmospheric carbon.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        6 July 2016 at 12:34 am
        
        Paul Beckwith responds to the Washington Post article.
  - b waghorn 8.1.2
    
    4 July 2016 at 10:50 pm
    
    Waghorns out there theory on stored bioass is to grow harvest and sink to the bottom of the abyss mega tons of carbon.
  - Greg 8.1.3
    
    5 July 2016 at 7:48 am
    
    Err most of the Wakato was a giant swamp,
    
    http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/waikato-region/page-8
    - Robert Guyton 8.1.3.1
      
      5 July 2016 at 8:09 am
      
      There’s a deep West Coast lake that’s bed is littered with huge logs spilt from a barge. They’re not rotting (no oxygen down there) and represent long-term carbon sequestration.
      - Greg 8.1.3.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 2:11 pm
        
        dont tell Collins, she’l be digging it up for export to China, who add value,
        
        Robert Guyton 8.1.3.1.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 3:18 pm
        
        Already happening. Not her (perhaps) but some ~~entrepreneur~~ orc or other.
    - ropata 8.1.3.2
      
      5 July 2016 at 9:40 pm
      
      So were Canterbury and Central Otago (swamps that is). Drained 100 years ago. Great farmland (when it’s not a drought). Wetlands that were once as rich in biodiversity as rainforests, are now being shat on by bovines.
  - Xanthe 8.1.4
    
    5 July 2016 at 8:18 am
    
    CV ” That biomass would re-release the carbon into the atmosphere within a few decades at most.”
    In the specific case of plantation trees true,
    in general case Not true
    
    The swamps of waikato were very long term storage as are perrenial grassland plains
    Regeneration of natural carbon sink processes is a realistc goal
    Soil carbon can make a difference
    - Colonial Viper 8.1.4.1
      
      5 July 2016 at 8:22 am
      
      would have to enforce wholesale changes in todays land use…
      - Robert Guyton 8.1.4.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 9:15 am
        
        facilitate wholesale change, Viper.
        
        Colonial Viper 8.1.4.1.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 4:31 pm
        
        yes, facilitate and re-educate.
    - Robert Guyton 8.1.4.2
      
      5 July 2016 at 3:21 pm
      
      There’s a 5-plant combo that Graeme Sait preaches about that causes carbon to be sequestered below that mixed crop at a rate far faster than any other ‘natural’ ‘pasture’. Soil-sequestered carbon will make all the difference, imo. Gotta get it sown though…
      - Greg 8.1.4.2.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 7:01 pm
        
        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/28/kelp-ocean-acidification-algal-blooms_n_7152362.html
adam 9

4 July 2016 at 11:11 pm

The only case I can see for money, is if we put stamps on it. By that, put messages on money to the public about what is needed to confront climate change.

Yeap only way I can see money helping 🙂
Don't worry. Be happy 10

5 July 2016 at 7:01 am

Tax ploughs out of existence and use that money to make direct slot drills cheap/free. Feed the micro organisms in the soil so that the carbon is buried, the soil is restored and those who depend on it are fed. Farmering practice is very cost sensitive esp. as fast cycling drought bites hard and government relief becomes central to economic survival. Convince the politicians that money and votes will flow their way. Expect push back from the giants who dominate current agricultural practice. And those who have already given up.
- Robert Guyton 10.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 7:57 am
  
  +++
Robert Guyton 11

5 July 2016 at 7:55 am

Adam’s ‘notes on notes’ idea is brilliant!
On the fiver, Sir Ed, standing on the last remaining ice floe, captioned;
“You’ve knocked the bugger off!”
- Lloyd 11.1
  
  6 July 2016 at 11:25 pm
  
  Rutherford stating “we’ve split the climate!”
Ad 12

5 July 2016 at 7:57 am

Money is just civilisations’ inhalant drug that makes everyone speak the same language and speak it very fast.
- Robert Guyton 12.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 8:05 am
  
  Heliopolis’ helium
- Bill 12.2
  
  5 July 2016 at 10:27 am
  
  Not sure what you’re saying there Ad. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with having tokens of exchange.
  
  But when the reductionist idea of assigning a universal ‘unit of value’ to everything gets away and dominates our thinking as it pertains to everything – ie, when we get to the state of affairs where the only value recognised is that reductionist one and all other possible measures of value are viewed as worthless (the chremastistic view), then we have a huge problem.
  
  Our potential to act can become stymied or paralysed by an overriding and all consuming fixation on notions of chremastistic worth.
  - Craig H 12.2.1
    
    5 July 2016 at 11:28 am
    
    As the saying goes, the love of money is the root of all evil… (Not money in and of itself)
  - Ad 12.2.2
    
    5 July 2016 at 1:00 pm
    
    I am saying that money is not escapable as the primary form of collective exchange and hence of almost all collective action. I’d like it to be something different. We can’t uninvent money, nor its dominance.
    
    Trying to think outside it is lovely and idealistic and all that, but futile.
    - Bill 12.2.2.1
      
      5 July 2016 at 1:33 pm
      
      There’s no problem with universally recognised form of exchange.
      
      But when principle or even decisive concern is given over to the movements or dynamics of an affect that only exists within a conceptual framework to the extent that those concerns outweigh real world necessities, then we have a huge problem.
      
      Don’t know how clearly I’ve managed to express that. I’m sure someone else could do better.
      
      Maybe try this. It’s not the money or the existence of money that’s problematic, it’s the dominance of a particular conceptual framework that we’ve built around money that’s causing problems.
      - Ad 12.2.2.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 2:19 pm
        
        Slowly getting clearer.
        
        But in this world money can’t be overcome. Would be nice. Not possible.
        
        Bill 12.2.2.1.1.1
        
        5 July 2016 at 2:35 pm
        
        I’m not asking for money to be over come.
        
        Lets throw it into another context. Not the best analogy, but anyway…
        
        The priests say that if action ‘a’ is taken then the gods will be displeased, so we mustn’t take action ‘a’. If action ‘b’ is taken, then all you guys are fucked, but the gods will be pleased, so sadly, we must take action ‘b’.
        
        Now, I could be very much against the priests, their way of thinking and the dominance that they exercise while not really being concerned at the apparent basic need people have to believe in a god or in gods.
        
        So, y’know, I wouldn’t want to set about burning down peoples’ places of worship or whatever. Just dis-empowering the priests and being done with their dangerous and stupid influence would do.
        
        And maybe in the aftermath, the religion’s organisation shifts from a very structured and hierarchical one like (say) the Anglican or Catholic church towards a more (it’s essentially between you and God) Presbyterian model.
        
        Ad …
        
        5 July 2016 at 3:05 pm
        
        Like yourself I loathe that there is no option to money.
        
        But I can see why you had to use a religious analogy; it expresses a dominance through every thought and action.
        
        This is where your posts get somewhat unstuck Bill.
        
        They will only ever engage with a very rare few who are determined to live outside the world of money and the current trajectory of the development of the world.
        
        Almost all people believe in the omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience of money, even more powerfully than Europeans in the late Middle Ages believed in the omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience of God. Money is more powerful than God ever was.
        
        Other than on the extreme margins, there is no possibility of otherwise.
        
        Bill …
        
        5 July 2016 at 5:10 pm
        
        I don’t loathe money Ad.
        
        Okay, I’ll tweak the previous analogy and mix it up a bit at the same time in the hope of imparting clarity.
        
        The priests are saying that action ‘a’ would displease the gods and so, sadly of course, the injurious action ‘b’ has to be taken.
        
        But unlike in years gone by, the financiers of today play the role of both high priest and god. So whereas in some past, priests, knowing all about eclipses may have ‘gamed’ those events for their advantage, financiers can (essentially) invoke chrematistic ‘events’ after the fact.
        
        Our politicians and policy makers can sideline or dismiss those detached chrematistic ‘events’ in just the same way as eclipses could have been dismissed by some imaginary village chief. Or they can allow them to play a central determining role in decision making in the belief that they are crucial and hugely important.
        
        It really is all down to belief – intractably tying actions and decisions to movements or events that happen within a mere conceptual framework.
        
        Our politicians an policy makers are fucking stupid and no more enlightened than some imaginary chief cowering before an eclipse as the priests stand around smirking knowingly at one another.
        
        Colonial Viper …
        
        5 July 2016 at 8:29 pm
        
        Our politicians an policy makers are fucking stupid and no more enlightened than some imaginary chief cowering before an eclipse as the priests stand around smirking knowingly at one another.
        
        That’s a quotable quote.
        
        But is that a touch of superior colonial imperialism there?
        
        Bill …
        
        5 July 2016 at 8:56 pm
        
        The Celts didn’t have chiefs and superstitions? The Goths? Vandals? Romans? Britons? Vikings?
        
        Us modern day consumers and sophisticates?
        
        ropata …
        
        5 July 2016 at 9:24 pm
        
        Ad said “Money is more powerful than God ever was.”
        
        That is flat out wrong. Fiat currency is inherently unstable and temporary, that’s why the global elites are desperately converting currency to tangible wealth, ie. land, gold, and other ‘safe’ assets
        
        Some history of fiat currencies (hint: history)
        http://dailyreckoning.com/fiat-currency/
        
        Signs that the wheels are falling off our monetary system:
        http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-collapse-of-the-western-fiat-monetary-system-may-have-begun-china-russia-and-the-reemergence-of-gold-backed-currencies/5521107
        
        Getting more technical:
        (BTW Bill this is sorta on-topic because the article talks about ecosystems just as much as the economic system)
        http://www.macroresilience.com/2011/12/14/the-pathology-of-stabilisation-in-complex-adaptive-systems/
        
        The ability of economic players to reorganise to maximise the rents extracted from central banking and state commitments far exceeds the the resources available to the state and the central bank. The key reason for this is the purely financial nature of this commitment. For example, if the state decided to print money and support the price of corn at twice its natural market price, then it could conceivably do so forever. Sooner or later, rent extractors will run up against natural resource limits – for example,limits on arable land. But when the state commits to support a credit money dominant financial system and asset prices then the economic system can and will generate financial “assets” without limit to take advantage of this commitment. The only defense that the CB and the state possess is regulations aimed at maintaining financial markets in an incomplete, underdeveloped state where economic agents do not possess the tools to game the system. Unfortunately as Minsky and many others have documented, the pace of financial innovation over the last half-century has meant that banks and financialised corporates have all the tools they need to circumvent regulations and maximise rent extraction.
        
        Even in a modern state that can print its own fiat currency, the ability to maintain financial commitments is subordinate to the need to control inflation. But doesn’t the complete absence of inflationary pressures in the current environment prove that we are nowhere close to any such limits? Not quite – As I have argued before, the current macroeconomic policy is defined by an abandonment of the full employment target in order to mitigate any risk of inflation whatsoever. The inflationary risk caused by rent extraction from the stabilisation commitment is being counterbalanced by a “reserve army of labour”. The reason for giving up the full employment is simple – As Minsky identified, once the economy has gone through successive cycles of stabilisation, it is prone to ‘rapid cycling’.
        
        …is the current rush towards “safe” assets a sign that we need to produce more “safe” assets? Or is it a sign that our fragile economic system is addicted to the need for an ever-increasing supply of “safe” assets and what we need is a world in which no assets are safe and all market participants are fully aware of this fact?
Colonial Viper 13

5 July 2016 at 8:12 am

” I just randomly looked up the cost of a return to Sydney. House of Travel. One way, departing Auckland, for $161. A $500 carbon tax makes that flight about $40 more expensive. A deal breaker? I don’t think so.”

On the lowest cost flights appealing to the most price sensitive part of the market, that relatively small absolute ticket price rise will be enough to get entire flight services cancelled. Even if an extra 10% of seats went empty on each flight that will be enough to take out the profitability of many services. And ticket prices might go higher than predicted as all the overhead costs of the flight, not just pricier fuel but also fixed costs like wages and airport charges, now have to be paid for by fewer filled seats.
- Craig H 13.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 11:29 am
  
  Bang on, and flights are incredibly price sensitive.
  - Bill 13.1.1
    
    5 July 2016 at 2:11 pm
    
    No they aren’t. Read the paper linked to in the post.
    
    By the way. Ever heard of ‘bucket seats’? Scheduled flight has unsold seats. Seats go on sale cheap so as to hold up profit margin of the flight.
Robert Atack 14

5 July 2016 at 8:13 am

If ‘we’ were serious we would stop all oil imports, stop all coal mining, go vegategian, close the maternity wards and stop all health cover 🤓 Easy
- Colonial Viper 14.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 8:19 am
  
  You’re getting more mainstream by the day…
- jcuknz 14.2
  
  5 July 2016 at 9:18 am
  
  A minor contribution would be for humans to stop copulating for awhile…. take precautions…. not that hard really.
  - Greg 14.2.1
    
    5 July 2016 at 2:08 pm
    
    wait until yur over 50, it gets easier n0t too,
    
    just saying,
Robert Guyton 15

5 July 2016 at 9:55 am

http://briefingpapers.co.nz/2016/07/trade-unions-and-the-climate-change-fight/
- Bill 15.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 10:32 am
  
  Institutional disconnect and inertia – don’t ya just love it?
Greg 16

5 July 2016 at 8:59 pm

Just a thought CV,
The government spends heaps of money on research ne Development and to privately owned companies, and universities,
so any Green technology that gets invented isnt own by the major investor, us the taxpayer, and there’s zero accountability,
so how come we just accept throwing billions at RND and not own some of it,
= theres a labour party policy,

it then gets quickly sold offshore,
its just happens time n again,

like national making policy on the hoof = my line
- corokia 16.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 9:35 pm
  
  Where are the billions being thrown at R & D in NZ?
  
  I reckon what needs developing are the techniques to make almost everything we need as close to where we live as possible.
  
  To have emissions down to zero by 2030, only the rarest, smallest and lightest items will be able to be physically traded. eg: specialist medicines and technological components. Everything else needs to be local. Food, clothes, shelter, machines.
  
  No more flying sports teams and dozens of hangers ons across the Tasman and the rest of the world every week. No more plane loads of tourists spending a week here. No more using fossil fuels to dry milk powder and ship it (or logs) across the oceans…so much of what is considered “normal” needs to be re-thought
  
  But hopefully we can have healthy local food, warm dry houses, healthcare, carbon neutral transport and, if we are incredibly lucky, technology to keep us in contact , informed and entertained.
  - Greg 16.1.1
    
    5 July 2016 at 10:05 pm
    
    over a decade its billions,
    
    why doesnt the taxpayer get ownership,
    
    or giving tax credits to companies listed on the stock market,
    corporate welfare is something key said that he would not do,
    
    google the quote,
Pat 17

5 July 2016 at 9:10 pm

NZers consume 1.25 tonnes of oil products and 1207 m3 of gas per person per annum.

If every person was allocated 1/4,600,000 of this total use and was unable to purchase those products without allocation and these allocations were tradable we could control the demand.

Every year the allocation is reduced by 10%

If you wish to purchase fuel for your vehicle you must use some of your allocation, the same for air fares, any service that requires the use of these products. If you are frugal in your use of oil/gas you will have a tradable surplus…if not you will be unable to travel or otherwise use carbon products.

Either way the annual allocation will be reducing and everyone is incentivized to reduce consumption and find ways of living without carbon producing energy over a relatively short time frame.

The wealthy will simply purchase extra allocation i hear some say….that would be true, certainly to start with when there was potentially spare energy but they will have to purchase from within that allocation and that will increasingly disappear and the poor members of society who use less energy will be the direct financial beneficiaries of their low use levels and they will be able to set the price and the time of the excess sale…..a sellers market

a financial solution Bill
Greg 18

5 July 2016 at 11:39 pm

women want everything for love,
just saying,
- Colonial Viper 18.1
  
  5 July 2016 at 11:50 pm
  
  that’s rather random, Greg
  - Greg 18.1.1
    
    6 July 2016 at 7:54 am
    
    just thinking about the sellers market, and what we all consume,
    why do we do it?
    
    we have to buy a lot of stuff to be comfortable,
    and do stuff,
    
    http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/17/the-history-of-why-women-started-shaving-their-armpits-5507362/
    - Jenny 18.1.1.1
      
      6 July 2016 at 6:00 pm
      
      Here’s some stuff you might like Greg.
      
      https://aucklandcoalaction.org/2014/10/22/merchandise-for-sale/
      - Greg 18.1.1.1.1
        
        7 July 2016 at 5:10 am
        
        I hate buying shoes, let alone undies n socks, most kiwi men just get them as birthday or xmas presents,
        
        aftershave for a present is good,, or a decent razor pack,
        
        never buy men shirts,
Lloyd 19

6 July 2016 at 11:29 pm

Research to reduce methane from sheep and cattle should be a major priority for any government, Taxing the burps seems logical.
- Greg 19.1
  
  7 July 2016 at 5:13 am
  
  err growing grass takes out carbon, the methane gets burnt in lightening,

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7 days ago

Beware political propaganda: statistics are pointing to Grant Robertson never protecting “Lives an...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”. As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
7 days ago

Winding back the hands of history’s clock
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
7 days ago

Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
7 days ago

Business confidence sliding into winter of discontent
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
7 days ago

Gordon Campbell on the coalition’s awful, not good, very bad poll results
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
7 days ago

Members Bill will prevent Māori land confiscations
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
Greens
14 hours ago

TIKANGA IS NOT LAW. IT IS CULTURAL INDOCTRINATION.
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
NZ First Press Release
15 hours ago

Release: National won’t commit to full Nelson Hospital upgrade
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Labour Blog
21 hours ago

Release: Labour calls for fast track list to be released
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 days ago

Release: National gaslights women fighting for equal pay
National has scrapped the pay equity taskforce that fights for equal pay for women and looks at ethnic pay gaps. ...
Labour Blog
5 days ago

Release: More job cuts, fewer houses under National
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: Children fall deeper through the cracks in Govt cuts
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: Labour honours memory of Sir Robert Martin
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour Blog
6 days ago

Release: 130,000 cattle saved from live export
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Labour Blog
7 days ago

Central Bank makes clear Government is pouring fuel on housing crisis fire
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
Greens
7 days ago

New unemployment figures paint bleak picture
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Greens
7 days ago

Release: National’s job cuts already starting to bite as unemployment rises
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
Labour Blog
7 days ago

Release: National hiking transport costs for families and young New Zealanders
Weekly expenses will grow for more than 1.6 million New Zealanders as the Government ends free and half price public transport fares tomorrow. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: Labour welcomes EU free trade agreement
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Surprise: Landlord tax cuts don’t trickle down
The Green Party is renewing its call for rent controls following reports of rental prices hitting an all-time high. ...
Greens
1 week ago

Release: $1.7b for no increase in access to medicine
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: National should heed Tribunal warning and scrap coalition commitment with ACT
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Release: More accountability for preventable workplace deaths this Workers’ Memorial Day
Labour is calling for more accountability for preventable workplace deaths because everybody who goes to work deserves to come home safely. ...
Labour Blog
1 week ago

Gaza: Aotearoa Must Support Independent Investigation into Mass Graves
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Māori Party
2 weeks ago

Release: Working together on consistent support for veterans this Anzac Day
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Penny drops – but what about Seymour and Peters?
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Another ‘Stolen Generation’ enabled by court ruling on Waitangi Tribunal summons
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
Māori Party
2 weeks ago

Release: Budget blunder shows Nicola Willis could cut recovery funding
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Further environmental mismanagement on the cards
The Government’s resource management reforms will add to the heavy and ever-growing burden this Government is loading on to our environment. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: RMA changes will be a disaster for environment
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Labour supports urgent changes to emergency management system
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Labour calls for New Zealand to recognise Palestine
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Three strikes law political posturing of worst kind
The Government is bringing back a law that has little evidential backing just to look tough, Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Release: Government cuts unbelievably target child exploitation, violent extremism, ports and airpor...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Three strikes has failed before and will fail again
Resurrecting the archaic three-strikes legislation is an unwelcome return to a failed American-style approach to justice. ...
Greens
2 weeks ago

Release: Environmental protection vital, not ‘onerous’
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Labour Blog
2 weeks ago

Ferris – Three Strikes targets those ‘too brown to be white’
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Māori Party
2 weeks ago

Release: Govt cuts doctors and nurses in hiring freeze
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

Fast-track submissions period must be extended
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
Greens
3 weeks ago

Release: Progress on climate will be undone by Govt
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Labour Blog
3 weeks ago

Low gas production threatens energy security
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
31 mins ago

Defence industry talent, commitment recognised
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
9 hours ago

Speech to the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
9 hours ago

Speech to the Sixth Annual New Zealand Government Data Summit
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
10 hours ago

Ceasefire agreement needed now: Peters
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
16 hours ago

Daily school attendance data now available
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
16 hours ago

Ambassador to United States appointed
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
20 hours ago

New permit proposed for recreational gold mining
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
21 hours ago

NZ and the UAE launch FTA negotiations
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

New Zealand Sign Language Week an opportunity for anyone to sign
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 day ago

Next stop NASA for New Zealand students
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

$1.9 billion investment to keep NZ safe from crime
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

OECD reinforces need to control spending
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
2 days ago

Agreement delivers Local Water Done Well for Auckland
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
3 days ago

Gaza and the Pacific on the agenda with Germany
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
4 days ago

Decision allows for housing growth in Western Bay of Plenty
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Speech to New Zealand China Council
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Modern insurance law will protect Kiwi households
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
5 days ago

Government recommits to equal pay
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Transforming how our children learn to read
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

NZ not backing down in Canada dairy dispute
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Stronger oversight for our most vulnerable children
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Streamlining Building Consent Changes
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
6 days ago

Accelerating airport security lines
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Community hui to talk about kina barrens
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Mining resurgence a welcome sign
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
7 days ago

Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Government to boost public EV charging network
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Independent review into disability support services
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
1 week ago

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey sought advice on ‘social impact bonds’ to fund services
Ministers have sought advice on 'social impact bonds', which offer a potential return on private investment in public services. ...
Radio NZ – political
12 mins ago

Managed retreat: How do we get out of the way of climate change?
"Ad hoc" house buyouts after major disasters cannot continue, the Climate Change Minister says. ...
Radio NZ – political
12 mins ago

Rules for property managers are scrapped. But what’s the worst that could happen?
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
The SpinoffBy Hera Lindsay Bird
21 mins ago

Explainer: What’s the deal with Auckland’s new water deal?
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
The SpinoffBy Joel MacManus
30 mins ago

‘We didn’t behave very well in NZ’, says Wakefield heir
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
NewsroomBy Peter Walker
31 mins ago

Govt risks another Havelock North by undoing water protections
Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
NewsroomBy Marnie Prickett
31 mins ago

Where to next for the Aukus ruckus?
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Nicholas Khoo
31 mins ago

Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 8 May
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NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
31 mins ago

‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects
Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Lianne Dalziel
31 mins ago

A controversial driving exam – put to the test
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
NewsroomBy Tom Kitchin
31 mins ago

A long road back to a very long jump
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
NewsroomBy Dave Crampton
31 mins ago

Daily crossword, Wednesday 8 May
The post Daily crossword, Wednesday 8 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
31 mins ago

Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Marc Daalder
31 mins ago

From Gallipoli to Gaza: remembering the Anzacs not as a ‘coming of age’ tale but as a lesson for...
ANALYSIS: By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
3 hours ago

NZ local council calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza as strikes hit
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
4 hours ago

End this ‘cruel, barbaric use of force’ on Gaza – WILPF plea to NZ
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
4 hours ago

Albanese government to invest $566 million for ‘generational’ mapping to promote resource explor...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
5 hours ago

Prison spending: Waikeria to have capacity for nearly 2000 beds
The government has clarified just how many beds the Waikato prison will get after a series of maths gaffes - 455, 600, 810 or 1865? ...
Radio NZ – political
6 hours ago

‘Repair colonial violence’ and support Gaza ceasefire, say Otago academics
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
8 hours ago

Expelling students for bad behaviour seems like the obvious solution, but is it really a good idea?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
9 hours ago

Green MP Julie Anne Genter responds after behaviour in the House, florist's accusations
"I can do better," she says, acknowledging the need to work on her de-escalation strategy. ...
Radio NZ – political
9 hours ago

If the RBA’s right, interest rates may not fall for another year. Here’s why – and what it mea...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
9 hours ago

‘Eye watering’ spending, growing debt make up surprisingly generous Victorian state budget
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
9 hours ago

Budgeting service cuts: 'It's like watching a train derail'
With some services facing closure after missing out on the latest government funding, there are for some of NZ's most vulnerable. ...
Radio NZ – political
9 hours ago

Coalition demands amendments to government’s deportation bill, as crucial High Court judgement set...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
10 hours ago

MP's comments 'bang on' despite negative response from other parties – Te Pāti...
Te Pāti Māori is standing by comments made by MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi which other parties have called inflammatory and offensive. ...
Radio NZ – political
13 hours ago

A story of trauma, hope and regaining control, Nayika: A Dancing Girl is soul-stirring dance theatre
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
13 hours ago

'Pretty dire' situation for patients as junior doctors strike over pay cuts
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Radio NZ – political
13 hours ago

How does the drug abemaciclib treat breast cancer?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

How a filmmaker, a pile of old shells and a bunch of amateurs are bringing our oyster reefs back
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
14 hours ago

Official 2023 election result final check done in a few hours, under extreme pressure
The rushed assessment, which failed to identify multiple errors in the official results, would normally take two days. ...
Radio NZ – political
15 hours ago

Curious Kids: what stops meteors hitting Earth and hurting people?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
15 hours ago

From pride rounds to rainbow guernseys, sports can be smarter when it comes to diversity and inclusi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
15 hours ago

Grand designs? Why many Australian architects say their career makes them unhappy
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Stead, Director of the Design and Creative Practice Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT, RMIT University SORN340 Studio Images/Shutterstock For years there have been suggestions of widespread poor wellbeing among architects. In many ways this is not surprising. It’s well established the ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
15 hours ago

Don’t embarrass the boss
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
NewsroomBy Tim Murphy
15 hours ago

Green MP Julie Anne Genter referred to Privileges Committee
Gerry Brownlee referred her to the Privileges Committee over complaints about her behaviour in the House. ...
Radio NZ – political
15 hours ago

Six telling tidbits from the review of vote-counting errors at the 2023 election
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period during which we waited, and waited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
The SpinoffBy Alice Neville
15 hours ago

Government begins weekly reporting of school attendance figures
Schools should aim to have 94 percent of their pupils in class every day, David Seymour says. ...
Radio NZ – political
15 hours ago

A ‘blistering’ ‘tour de force’: Australia loves After the Party too
International audiences are starting to discover what New Zealand already knew about After the Party. When After the Party aired in New Zealand last year, the response was fast and furious. In his preview for Rec Room, Duncan Greive said it was a “gritty, wrenching and highly confronting” series. By ...
The SpinoffBy Tara Ward
16 hours ago

Iran is gaining credibility in the Muslim world and feeling emboldened. This doesn’t bode well for...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), and Acting Director the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Iran’s leadership has been a direct beneficiary of the months-long war in Gaza. With every missile that Israel fires ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
16 hours ago

‘Uncanny notes that plague this place’: Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson, reviewed
Claire Mabey reviews the haunting and sexy debut novel from Sinéad Gleeson, who is about to touch down in Aotearoa for a string of live events. When Irish writer Sinéad Gleeson was in Aotearoa in 2018 with her spectacular collection of essays, Constellations, she told me she was working on ...
The SpinoffBy Claire Mabey
17 hours ago

Bougainville ‘other avenues’ report ‘sensationalised’, claims Makiba
PNG Post-Courier Bougainville Affairs Minister Manasseh Makiba has described the Post-Courier’s front page story yesterday regarding a meeting between Bougainville and national government leaders as “sensationalised” and without substance. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (AGB) had warned it might use “other avenues to gain its independence” should the PNG government “continue ...
Evening ReportBy Asia Pacific Report
17 hours ago

Government on track for increased deficit despite fall in spending – Treasury
The government books are worsening as a fall in tax outpaces cuts to spending, leaving it on course to post a sizable deficit. ...
Radio NZ – political
18 hours ago

Luxon and Mitchell weren’t mixed up, they were using girl maths
Where some saw the worst press conference given by the government to date, Anna Rawhiti-Connell recognised girl maths game. Nicola Willis, recently exasperated by comparisons to Ruth Richardson, said she was “a bit sick of being compared with every female finance minister that’s ever been out there.” Some think that’s ...
The SpinoffBy Anna Rawhiti-Connell
18 hours ago

Interim Financial Statements Of The Government Of New Zealand For The Nine Months Ended 31 March 20...
The March results are reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2023 (HYEFU 2023), published on 20 December 2023 and the results for the same period for the previous year. ...
Scoop politics
19 hours ago

NZ First MP Jamie Arbuckle, who wanted to keep his pay as councillor pay too, changes his mind
Jamie Arbuckle, the district councillor who became an MP but decided to keep getting paid for both roles, will instead donate one salary to charity. ...
Radio NZ – political
19 hours ago

Jamie Arbuckle MP – Re: My Position As Marlborough District Councillor
This is my fifth term as a Marlborough District Councillor, I am passionate about local issues, and I will continue to work hard for my community. ...
Scoop politics
19 hours ago

Adding gender to the Human Rights Act – what’s the big deal?
Adding gender to the Human Rights Act would simply make the implicit explicit. So why is it so controversial? Paul Thistoll explain. At present, Aotearoa’s 1993 Human Rights Act (HRA) includes sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief (meaning a lack of religious belief), colour, race, ethnicity or national origin, ...
The SpinoffBy Paul Thistoll
19 hours ago

Carmel Sepuloni believed to be contestant on new season's Celebrity Treasure Island
The new season of Celebrity Treasure Island is due to hit New Zealand screens later this year. ...
Radio NZ – political
20 hours ago

The cost of being: A flatting student who’s saving for more tattoos
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an 18-year-old who’s studying and working in hospo shares their approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Transmasc Age: 18 Ethnicity: Pākehā/Māori Role: Student, ...
The SpinoffBy The Cost of Being
21 hours ago

'He got it mixed up' – PM backs Corrections Minister despite announcement muddle
The prime minister is backing Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell, saying he "quickly clarified" a confusing media conference announcement. ...
Radio NZ – political
21 hours ago

How the fast-track law could expose future NZ governments to expensive trade disputes
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Resources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Crisis of faith: why Australian women have so little trust in religious institutions
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Gleeson, Associate Professor of Law, Macquarie University Shutterstock The Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Terminal lucidity: why do loved ones with dementia sometimes ‘come back’ before death?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yen Ying Lim, Associate Professor, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Making merry: how we brought Melbourne’s Merri Creek back from pollution, neglect and weeds
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock I met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

This group rid one Australian river of its privet problem – and strengthened community along the w...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia Graham, DECRA Fellow, University of Wollongong Lekali Studio/Shutterstock Privet is a popular garden hedge. It grows quickly and responds well to being pruned. But in natural areas, privet is a problem. Like 72% of weeds in Australia, privet escaped ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Australian artists only earn $23,200 a year from their art – and are key financial investors in ke...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Throsby, Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts ...
Evening ReportBy The Conversation
21 hours ago

Experts Sign Open Letter To Legalise Drugs In New Zealand
Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa, a new incorporated society dedicated to ending harmful drug policies, officially launched today, seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence. ...
Scoop politics
21 hours ago

Politics live: Mark Mitchell, Christopher Luxon face questions after Corrections confusion
The Corrections Minister admits he "muddied the water" after he and the Prime Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about a $1.9 billion prison spend-up. ...
Radio NZ – political
21 hours ago

Messy press conference prompts correction over Corrections funding
It took a post-post-cabinet statement to confirm that 810 new beds will be built at Waikeria, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The SpinoffBy Stewart Sowman-Lund
22 hours ago

Politics live: Mark Mitchell, Christopher Luxon face questions after confusion Corrections
The Prime Minister and Corrections Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about their $1.9 billion planned prison spend-up. ...
Radio NZ – political
22 hours ago

Young Star burns bright for her Fiji family
Lili Tokaduadua was only 15 when she left her family in Fiji to pursue her netball dream in New Zealand. She’d been playing the sport for 10 years and was offered a netball scholarship at Auckland’s Howick College. Now, in her first year out of high school, the 19-year-old defender ...
NewsroomBy Merryn Anderson
23 hours ago

Plucky Foodstuffs crushed by the iron fist of big bicycle
The beloved local grocers lost a legal challenge to stop a new cycleway outside their store. Joel MacManus reports. In the annals of New Zealand legal history, there are a few brave people who have dared to stand up to the powers that be, no matter how bleak the odds ...
The SpinoffBy Joel MacManus
1 day ago

Seven graphs that show where New Zealand’s food comes from… and where it goes
How what we produce and what we eat connects us to the world beyond our shores, visualised. Walking around a supermarket or vege shop, it might be obvious that everything on the shelves came from somewhere. But you might ...
The SpinoffBy Shanti Mathias
1 day ago

The economic case against conscription
Opinion: How economists helped to end slavery and conscription in the US and elsewhere The post The economic case against conscription appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Dr Eric Crampton
1 day ago

Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money?
A $1.8b funding boost for Pharmac still won’t enable it to buy more drugs, raising questions about the Government’s approach to the agency The post Can Pharmac do more with the same pot of money? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Marc Daalder
1 day ago

National progressing changes to NZ Super’s ownership rules
Labour early last year introduced a bill to allow New Zealand’s pension fund to own more than half of a company or asset The post National progressing changes to NZ Super’s ownership rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Andrew Bevin
1 day ago

Q&A – avian influenza H5N1
Professor Jemma Geoghegan, of the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, co-leads a Te Niwha project aimed at understanding how and where avian influenza could affect Aotearoa New Zealand, as the highly infectious H5N1 virus spreads globally. The virus has now spread to all continents except Oceania and was recently ...
NewsroomBy Dr Jemma Geoghegan
1 day ago

The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime
Thirty years on from Rwanda’s genocide, is guilt over the atrocities is blinding the world to the true nature of its current leadership? The post The repressive underside of Rwanda’s regime appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Sam Sachdeva
1 day ago

World shines a light on NZ’s human rights breaches
Opinion: Last week, important recommendations for our criminal justice system were made by the international community. Every five years, each member of the United Nations has its human rights practices reviewed. This rolling event – the Universal Periodic Review – is the culmination of a government reporting on its human ...
NewsroomBy Christine McCarthy
1 day ago

The mutant bird flu lurking on our borders
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – H5N1, or bird flu – has been flying around the world since the late 1990s. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands are so far free of it, but now it’s been discovered in mainland Antarctica and scientists say it’s only a matter of time ...
NewsroomBy Alexia Russell
1 day ago

Meridian Energy: no need to ‘engage’ locals ahead of fast-track applications
For projects of national significance, the energy giant recommends applicants need only “notify” those potentially affected The post Meridian Energy: no need to ‘engage’ locals ahead of fast-track applications appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Fox Meyer
1 day ago

How Kiwis are getting their families out of Palestine
Mohammed paid $70,000 to get his 10 family members into Egypt. They still don’t have a clear way into New Zealand. The post How Kiwis are getting their families out of Palestine appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Fox Meyer
1 day ago

Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 May
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
NewsroomBy Newsroom Puzzles
1 day ago

On the legendary Phil Wood of Phil Wood Menswear, Westport
The following interview with auto electrician and former caver Stu Berendt, 68, of Charleston on the West Coast, came about because he was part of the caving team that found the rare and amazing fossil remains of the giant Haast eagle, the subject of one of the year’s best books, ...
NewsroomBy Steve Braunias
1 day ago

The Chrematistic Camel

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