Truth-telling and The New Climate Denial

Written By: - Date published: 2:03 am, August 4th, 2019 - 170 comments
Categories: climate change, greens, james shaw - Tags: ,

I always enjoy James Shaw’s speeches. He is often presented by the political commentariat as a centrist suit doing deals with business, letting farmer’s off the hook and dragging the Greens to the right. But when you hear him in his own words, the radical edge is always there. Not capital R, in your face radical, but a coherency with the outfield progressive nature of the party’s charter that runs through everything the Greens do.

In this year’s co-leader speech to the Green Party AGM in Dunedin, Shaw makes several important moves.

After outlining what the Greens have achieved since becoming part of the new government, he lays out what he sees as our most significant danger: the new climate deniers. Despite good work being done, the battle to address the climate crisis is proving difficult because of the next wave of this,

Today’s climate denial is far more dangerous.

And it’s dangerous because it doesn’t actually deny the basic existence of climate change or the science behind it.

It’s dangerous because it sounds reasonable.

The first stage of climate denial is – it’s not real.

The second stage is – if it is real, then it’s not us.

The third stage – if it is us, then it’s not that bad.

The fourth stage is – if it is that bad, then there’s nothing we can do about it.

Many of us have been observing and commenting on this, but it’s significant that Shaw is taking this into the mainstream. He’s directly naming Simon Bridges as leading this denial. On The Nation Shaw yet again rules out working with National, as well as saying that he could never work with someone with as little personal integrity as Bridges. That’s burning bridges time, putting a political stake in the ground and letting NZ know there is a clear choice to be made about the climate crisis and integrity. 

So much has changed in the past handful of years, and comprehension of the climate crisis is increasing rapidly. Along with that comes shifts in public response and willingness to act. This is a good thing and I feel more hope now than I did a few years ago, despite the deepening crisis. However while we are approaching a social tipping point where New Zealand (and the rest of the world) might start to take real action, we are seeing two big blocks. The new climate denial, and the potential to tip into despair.

Shaw bluntly names the problem with the first:

And the truth is, the politicians and their allies who are the new climate deniers are driven by something even more dangerous: calculated, short-term self-interest.

This is the alleged centrist in the suit, who talks with business and farming leaders, standing up and saying selfishness will kill us and the planet and we need to face this politically head on. To me this looks like paving the way for the next social shift. That what we are doing is not enough, that what we need to do can serve society well, that there is a way forward but we will have to change. It’s time to pick a side.

The second major block to real change is the potential for the tipping point of public awareness to fall over into despair. The great thing about tipping points is they can effect change rapidly, but the risk is that they may not go the way we want. We do have some choices here and I agree with Shaw that this is an absolutely critical one. As more people wake up to the crisis, if they don’t have the skills to manage that cognitively and emotionally, and don’t have pathways that give them a sense of empowerment and ways to act, then it’s likely that we will see many people choose to go into denial again, or simply give up.

National and its allies are now intentionally engaging in Trumpian politics NZ style and that is going to include increasing fear mongering at a time when awareness of the climate crisis is scary enough.  I see an urgent need for the left to be presenting truthful but hopeful stories about the climate situation and what we can do.

There are hints in Shaw’s speech of engaging with the aims of Extinction Rebellion. He talks about ‘truth-telling’, one of ER’s core demands, and goes on to list some alarming statistics on just how bad things are getting already with the climate, before talking about what is hopeful and what we can do. 

There will be criticism from the left that Shaw isn’t telling enough truth, but that’s not his job. His job is to translate the crisis into solutions-based policy and law, while conveying to the awakening public, at a pace they can cope with, why this is so important. When NZ is ready, more people will vote Green and the Greens in parliament will be able to do more. 

In the meantime it’s our job, those of us outside of parliament, to keep the pressure on across society so that at some point we elect a government that does declare a climate emergency, not in name but where it takes full responsibility for transitioning NZ to a long term, life affirming society.

Speech transcript and press release about the government’s Climate Action Plan are on the Green Party website.

170 comments on “Truth-telling and The New Climate Denial ”

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  1. Frankie and Benjie 1
    4 August 2019 at 8:14 am

    Yay

    Bring it on. Electric cars, cool. Tesla walls, wow. Exciting sci fi future.

    Just like the movies, up against frightening odds, how can they possibly beat the Death Star, or pull the glove off Thanos. Hopeful ideas might stop people from despair (or distract them enough to let others just get on with it).

  2. Robert Guyton 2
    4 August 2019 at 8:55 am

    So, those who refuse to be disadvantaged by climate change are digging deep into their denial resources to try to prevent anyone who accepts the situation as deeply concerning, from progressing their programmes. The denier councils are examples of this, as is the National Party. I'd suggest there's a close relationship between the two, consciously or otherwise. Bridges and his party are leading the Charge of the Ostriches.

    • weka 2.1
      4 August 2019 at 10:49 am

      Yep. I'll keep saying it, local body elections need some major attention from progressives. Regional councils especially are majorly blocking the moves we need to be doing at this point. Council elections can also be where major awareness raising happens in communities.

      The good councilors 🙂 and staff need support and we need many new, progressive faces in those positions. Hoping more people will be voting this year.

  3. Robert Guyton 3
    4 August 2019 at 9:06 am

    “Climate change is a conundrum for National, with the party’s rural base fearing the economic impact of the sharp reductions that some of its urban, more liberal supporters may want to see.”"

    “It’s time to pick a side.”

    • Pat 3.1
      4 August 2019 at 9:10 am

      wheres that quote from?

    • bwaghorn 3.2
      4 August 2019 at 9:47 am

      ""Climate change is a conundrum for National, with the party’s rural base fearing the economic impact of the sharp reductions that some of its urban, more liberal supporters may want to see.”""

      Otherring should be number 5 on the list . Those liberal urbanites will be flying and driving their little hearts out while pointing the finger at farmers. Much the same as the wealthy lefties.

      • Robert Guyton 3.2.1
        4 August 2019 at 10:03 am

        bwaghorn: do you believe that those with vested financial interests should have more or less say? Should farmers decide if farming practices must change, or should observers free of the obligations to the farm make those decisions?

        • vto 3.2.1.1
          4 August 2019 at 10:10 am

          New Zealand's primary sector has been making the decisions around primary sector resources since forever… and look at the results for the environment.

          Farmers like to claim they want to leave the land in a better state for their next generation… can someone (perhaps you mr waghorn?) show a generation in NZ which has actually done this? Because from what I can see our environment has steadily worsened with each passing generation. Since forever. Hasn't it.

          And it is still continuing (we in Canterbury are watching our drinking water getting shat in and become undrinkable. And those doing the shatting are simply looking glibbly at it with no answer, continuing to vote National and not caring a shit, so to speak)

          Under the above facts and history, the answer to your question Mr Guyton is "not on your nellie"

          • Robert Guyton 3.2.1.1.1
            4 August 2019 at 10:28 am

            "And yet as it stands the voter field most opposed to them is the field who hate the the Greens the most: rural New Zealand. They hate them because they feel regulated and taxed and under-represented against sneering townie liberals, who are often Green-leaning."

            Advantage

        • bwaghorn 3.2.1.2
          4 August 2019 at 11:07 am

          All those involved need to be part of the process.

          We need to pull the catch as one.

          Trying to go to fast and sending whole communities to the poor house will just see the whole process fall down .

          Consensus is the only way its ,probably not possible due to human nature and the fact that the national party are scum short sighted fucktards.

          • Sacha 3.2.1.2.1
            4 August 2019 at 1:18 pm

            Fascinating how corporate dairy farming still manages to convince some people it is a 'whole community', let alone the majority of NZ's people or businesses.

            Responsible, smart farmers have a big role to play in climate action. They have not been served well by sector organisations, financiers, regulators or media.

            • Robert Guyton 3.2.1.2.1.1
              4 August 2019 at 1:23 pm

              Trying to go fast?

              We have to go fast.

              Do you suggest we go slowly?

              • bwaghorn …
                4 August 2019 at 4:41 pm

                When moving a large mob of sheep you guide the leaders by applying pressure from the sides near the front, while easing the back along slowly enough that they dont sit down on you. The middle will go where the front leads.

                You go fast you'll lose the mob and losing the mob in the nz climate debate will hand power to right for years .

                As much as I hated the key years he was right what nz does means fuck all so we should concentrate on finding scientific solutions as reductionism really ain't going to work . Kiwis will not accept third world living standards .

                • greywarshark …
                  4 August 2019 at 5:03 pm

                  bwaghorn you are wise up to a point. But we are all going to have to accept a drop in living standards. The big job is to try to make them at the upper third of the third world standards.

                  Thinking ahead. There are so many houses on vacant land that may have been used to bury bodies from islands in the NZ, from the Pacific etc. where they just don't have room once sea level rises or have too-high childbirth rates with over-crowding and then high influenza and dengue fever rates.

                  This sounds a crazy thought, but our ideas are lagging so far behind the known and already felt effects of climate change that we are still at kindergarten level. This is not the 20th century and we noted that changes needed to be made then, which were not done. That was because we opened the door to the tricky money-men, and they have come in and pinched our assets and our bums and settled in comfortably to shore up their tax havens, or bomb shelters, or piece of paradise or whatever.

                  It's funny my relatives have worked hard all their lives and lived well but carefully, not been alcohol drinkers for instance. Now they have a nice big house overlooking the water. Across the road are what I consider ugly utilitarian? or perhaps brutalistic two-storey grey painted, black roofed dwellings (not homes to my eyes) and the group of them are owned and lived in by Chinese people. They haven't even been able to bring their attractive roofed dwellings for some diversity of housing style.

                  We seem to be chained to the money-mad elite strutting their stuff. So we all here need to keep up with what is happening, we may be small in NZ but we will feel the effects of climate change plus political stuff-ups that will still be felt in 2084. Kiwis who won't accept this or that when they are talking over a beverage, will find that they are unprepared for what Nature and events force on them, and be lucky to have any insurance. Insurance was for when you could calculate the odds of something happening, and when it gets too uncertain it is not a viable business option.

                  • bwaghorn …
                    4 August 2019 at 5:08 pm

                    Personally think it's to late grey . Russia and Canada are burning the die are caste .

                    But on the off chance I'm being a chicken little I am pointing out the only way were can go forward in the age of stupid.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  4 August 2019 at 5:36 pm

                  "Kiwis will not accept third world living standards ."

                  What'll they do, Kiwis, when the climate imposes those "third world standards" upon them?

                  I'd rather choose to live differently than have such a decision forced upon me. Making changes now, voluntarily, seems the wiser choice by far. Becoming an pro-active, adroit, knowledgable "third-worlder" would be a pleasure and a privilege, imo. Being chucked, kicking and screaming, into it would be unpleasant, especially when the choice to embrace the state was offered, and declined, earlier.

                  • Psycho Milt …
                    4 August 2019 at 5:54 pm

                    Leaves one to ponder why people in the third world accept those "third-world living standards." In some situations, what one is willing or unwilling to accept is irrelevant, and climate change looks like one of those situations for fairly obvious reasons.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      4 August 2019 at 6:01 pm

                      Looking on the bright side; many of those "standards" look very appealing; it's a matter of controlling the "descent" rather than taking the plunge because someone pushed you. In fact, it'll be an improvement on many of the things we "first-worlders" seem to cling to; anyone wanting more traffic jams or a higher concentration of sugar in their diet?

                  • bwaghorn …
                    5 August 2019 at 11:23 am

                    Guess I should have used the term 'willingly ' I assumed it was self evident.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      5 August 2019 at 11:38 am

                      You and Key are united in believing "what nz does means fuck all "?

                      Do you also believe that what an individual does means fuck all?

                      No point in grass-roots movements then?

                      Greta et al are wasting their time?

                • Robert Guyton …
                  5 August 2019 at 11:40 am

                  Reductionism won't turn back the climate change tide but it will prepare those who reduce for surviving when that tide comes in.

      • weka 3.2.2
        4 August 2019 at 7:55 pm

        Fair point about the othering B. There's still going to be focus on farming, for obvious reasons, but I agree that there may be some people who will finger point and not look at their own impacts. Climate change as something other people do.

  4. Robert Guyton 4
    4 August 2019 at 9:18 am

    "When Chlöe Swarbrick stood up in Parliament to declare a climate emergency, the opposition simply blocked it.

    That is the new climate denial: the denial that we need to change how we do things, to avoid a climate crisis.

    It is desperate and it is dangerous.

    Simon, it’s time for a bit of truth-telling, don’t you think?

    Climate change is real, it us, but it is bad. Really bad.

    Since 1980, the world has experienced a fifty-fold increase in the number of dangerous heat waves.

    The United Nations estimates that by 2050 the world will need nearly twice as much food as it does today.

    But drought is turning some of the world’s most arable land to desert.

    The Arctic is on fire right now. Today. While I stand here and talk to you.

    The Arctic.

    On fire."

    I know how Chloe felt smiley

    • Wayne 4.1
      4 August 2019 at 12:05 pm

      You seriously expect National to buy into a Chloe Swarbrick political stunt? The "climate emergency" declaration is not about practical action, it is about identifying political enemies.

      It was a good thing that Shaw said on The Nation, that the Greens would never go with National because in his view National is dishonest. Although the statement was in reference to Simon Bridges, it will be interpreted by National as applying to them all. It will make it very difficult for Shaw to do anything at all with National on anything. He has made cross party consensus on anything to do with climate change very difficult. I suspect that was probably his intention. He wants climate change to be a key political battlefront, so insulting National is one way of achieving that. He won’t be easily forgiven by National for his statement, in making it very clear he doesn’t want a cross party consensus.

      Prior to the election I did mention that I thought the Greens could in theory go with National, though I never believed that could actually happen. It is a good thing that has effectively been permanently ruled out. It makes it easier for voters.

      In the same way that in 2020 NZF won't go with National in any circumstances. So Simon might just as well rule them out as an option for 2020. That is reality anyway.

      The 2020 election might well turn on whether NZF gets above 5% or not.

      • Pat 4.1.1
        4 August 2019 at 12:07 pm

        Youre a spokesman for NZFirst as well now?…when did you take up that role?

      • Muttonbird 4.1.2
        4 August 2019 at 12:20 pm

        I see this has made you very angry. Backs up what I said earlier that Bridges and National will be very hurt by this. The last thing they wanted was a line to be drawn because their policy so far was to smudge any line and pretend they gave a stuff about the environment.

        Shaw has neatly framed the issue as for or against and it is this simple messaging which Crosby Textor and Topham Guerin think works with voters used against them.

        National are now on the wrong side of the environment debate and unfortunately for them their business backers will not allow them to regain any of the narrative.

        Watch for very emotive, simple, clear campaigning on the environment in the 2020 election.

        National are very worried, proven by their petulant reaction to Shaw’s speech. They know they are vulnerable.

        • Shadrach 4.1.2.1
          4 August 2019 at 2:37 pm

          "National are very worried, proven by their petulant reaction to Shaw’s speech. "

          Maybe. But after the rather naïve personal attack on Simon's speech issues, and now this, I'm wondering who is worried about who?

      • Ad 4.1.3
        4 August 2019 at 12:27 pm

        Shaw must have been pretty confidence in his parliamentary numbers about his Carbon bill to go after Bridges like that. Also confident that he really has won the forming lobby over. Hopefully he remembers how the Fart Tax bill was killed.

      • Dennis Frank 4.1.4
        4 August 2019 at 12:30 pm

        The 2020 election might well turn on whether NZF gets above 5% or not.

        Just as likely that it will effectively be a referendum on how well the coalition has worked (as an experiment in leftist centrism) and on whether minimising our response to climate change is sensible (National's stance).

        I'm puzzled that National finds consensus so hard to even think about, let alone do. I get that tradition binds them to a sense of entitlement, but wouldn't it be better to try and make MMP work? Pissing off James was stupid. He was making a sustained genuine effort to work with National.

      • Muttonbird 4.1.5
        4 August 2019 at 12:31 pm

        Bridges screwed up when he attacked Shaw on the day Shaw was signing emissions reduction targets with farmers on board.

        He said Shaw was in back-down. He should have congratulated Shaw instead for getting policy through with consensus from industry.

        Bad mistake by Bridges, as if we weren't used to that, and one which is coming back to haunt him now.

        • Wayne 4.1.5.1
          4 August 2019 at 3:05 pm

          When someone calls you dishonest or lacking in personal integrity, you are entitled to react.

          Generally politicians will say of politicians on the other side that they are wrong, or muddled, or have bad policies something like that. They generally don't make it personal. That is more for party activist who usually don't have any restraint. you see that all the time on this site, or for that matter on Kiwiblog (though you don't see DPF ever doing that, unlike some of the authors on this site)

          When a politician starts saying there opponents are dishonest or have no personal integrity, they have crossed a line.

          Muttonbird,

          Simon Bridges saying that Shaw backed down is hardly a cause for a personal attack. Saying the someone had backed down is not an attack on their integrity or honesty. Ask far as I can see the only looser in all of this is Shaw. He has seriosly damaged his reputation that he is above personal attacks.

          It is interesting that it is Shaw (and thus the Greens generally) taking up the cudgel of personal attacks. Shaw is getting form on this, just like the ad he used about Simon.

          In contrast you don't see either Simon or Jacinda taking that approach about each other, or the members of their opponents.

          So the Greens, who have always made a point about being above personal politics, have become among the worst practitioners of such approach. There is no obvious reason why they should do so. Unless they want to make it emphatically clear that they have no further interest in cross party dialogue.

          This issue is not about coalition arrangements (the Greens would never go with National in any event). It is a statement they don't intend to engage with National on any issues. Why they would do that, I don't know.

      • Psycho Milt 4.1.6
        4 August 2019 at 12:37 pm

        It was a good thing that Shaw said on The Nation, that the Greens would never go with National because in his view National is dishonest.

        On this subject, National is dishonest. It pays lip service to the science on AGW while simultaneously opposing any efforts to mitigate it that would affect its voter base. I don't know whether it's being dishonest about accepting AGW is happening or dishonest about wanting to do something about it, but the "dishonest" part is clear enough.

      • weka 4.1.7
        4 August 2019 at 12:38 pm

        "It will make it very difficult for Shaw to do anything at all with National on anything. He has made cross party consensus on anything to do with climate change very difficult. I suspect that was probably his intention. He wants climate change to be a key political battlefront, so insulting National is one way of achieving that. He won’t be easily forgiven by National for his statement, in making it very clear he doesn’t want a cross party consensus."

        I see it similarly, although for me there are two additional contexts. One is that the Greens have taken an open approach to politics generally and climate change specifically for nearly 30 years. Now that it is clear that National are choosing climate denial and active on that, it's fair that the GP assess that as extremely dangerous and act accordingly by laying down some lines. There's nothing left to lose but a lot to gain.

        I agree that it gives voters clarity.

        The other is that afaik the GP position is still that they will work with any party on shared policy. So theoretically this includes National. Whether National can get over the insult, or whether they choose to use the insult for their own side of the power game, that is on National. At some point they will have to acquiesce on climate or be destroyed as a party. The climate crisis will ensure that. I hope for all our sakes that doesn't happen in a long drawn out nasty political process. But in the end the Greens are still willing to work with whoever is willing to do the right thing.

      • Anne 4.1.8
        4 August 2019 at 12:43 pm

        … the Greens would never go with National because in his view National is dishonest. Although the statement was in reference to Simon Bridges, it will be interpreted by National as applying to them all.

        If the news reports I’ve seen are correct, he didn't say National is dishonest. He said that Simon Bridges lacks integrity. And he was referring to Simon Bridges, not all the members of the National Party. If you have chosen to interpret it that way, that is your prerogative but imo you are clearly wrong.

        Bridges has shown time and again he lacks integrity by the way he distorts a circumstance to fit with a meme he is trying to evoke. The most recent example is the Part Time Prime Minister (PTPM) incident. He knows it’s a lie, and he also knows the trip to the Tokolaus was arranged many months ago and it was NOT a holiday.

        James Shaw has been in talks with the parliamentary National Party for some time over cross-party action on Climate Change. Simon Bridges would have been an integral part of those talks. I suspect he and some of his MPs were saying one thing to Shaw, then something quite different to the more self-serving and entitled among National's supporters.

        Is it any wonder he has deduced that Bridges cannot be trusted and lacks integrity.

        • Wayne 4.1.8.1
          4 August 2019 at 3:13 pm

          Anne,

          I would have thought "part time Prime Minister" cannot really be seen as a personal attack. It is not intended to be an attack on her integrity or honesty.

          • Morrissey 4.1.8.1.1
            4 August 2019 at 3:17 pm

            ???

            Of course it is an attack on her. Bridges must have struggled hard to resist using the demeaning and misogynistic language his National cronies use about her when talking with one another.

          • Robert Guyton 4.1.8.1.2
            4 August 2019 at 4:01 pm

            Wayne said:

            "I would have thought "part time Prime Minister" cannot really be seen as a personal attack."

            "Breath-takingly disconnected from reality", was my first thought, but eventually I went with, "ex-Nat".

            • Muttonbird 4.1.8.1.2.1
              4 August 2019 at 5:24 pm

              Struggling to see how Key's accusation that Labour 'backs rapists and murderers' isn't personal.

          • Anne 4.1.8.1.3
            4 August 2019 at 4:14 pm

            It was dishonest Wayne intending to create an impression which is untrue. Yes,
            I know politicians of all colours make a mockery of one another, but that came across to me as intentionally nasty.

            • Poission 4.1.8.1.3.1
              4 August 2019 at 5:30 pm

              Would it be a personal attack on James Shaw,to say that in relation to his management of the statistics portfolio that he lacks integrals (almost surely) ?

              • Anne …
                4 August 2019 at 6:01 pm

                Are you referring to the Census balls-up that he inherited from National? The one where they made the decision for the population to fill their forms in online… failing to appreciate that many people didn't have computers because they couldn't afford them so ended up been left out altogether? By the time Shaw took over the portfolio at the end of 2017 the point of no return had passed, so he had no choice but to let it roll out as it was.

                I agree that was a shambles but that's what one expects from a National govt.

                As for his integrals… he's always come across to me as a pretty wholesome and complete sort of guy. 😉

              • In Vino …
                4 August 2019 at 6:30 pm

                It seems to me that Wayne is diverting – taking Shaw's low, personal attack as if it somehow is more significant than the global warming of our planet.

                That Wayne does so makes me suspect that he is one of those denialists who still clings to the delusion that the science is not yet settled, and it can all be put off and ignored in the real world of business… etc.

                Wayne, I suspect you may well live long enough to have to admit how wrong your outlook is.

                • Anne …
                  4 August 2019 at 6:54 pm

                  Actually, I think Wayne is aware of the seriousness of CC, but his desire to protect his beloved National comes first.

                  Btw, I don'r regard Shaw's comment as low at all. I think he was telling the truth based on his own personal experiences.

                  • In Vino …
                    4 August 2019 at 7:14 pm

                    Yeah, I was kind of quoting Wayne when I wrote 'low' .. But I could not remember him using the word, just portraying it that way.

                    I agree with you.

                  • Wayne …
                    4 August 2019 at 8:20 pm

                    Anne,

                    I was certainly defending Simon Bridges. He has not done anything that warrants such a personal attack.

                    Obviously I know that politicians attack each other, usually on policies, sometimes using satire and hyperbole (such as part time Prime Minister). But only very rarely do they do so on the basis that they are dishonest or lacking in integrity.

                    That this particular attack came from James Shaw made it all the more unusual. Given the record of the Greens on personal attacks.

                    So I can only assume he is using it as demarcator that in future he will have nothing further to do with National. That cross party dialogue between National and the Green Party is a thing of the past.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:26 pm

                      Unequal dialogues are a contradiction in terms and bound to fail. National is unable to see this. Might is Right.

                    • In Vino …
                      4 August 2019 at 10:05 pm

                      What else can one say, Robert?

                      My compliments – I think you say it best.

      • Robert Guyton 4.1.9
        4 August 2019 at 1:14 pm

        "The "climate emergency" declaration is not about practical action, it is about identifying political enemies. "

        You're repeating that nonsense again, Wayne?

        I suppose you are unable to recognise just how wrong it is; hence your insistence on making the claim over and over. As someone who did as Chloe did; moved the declaration of a climate emergency, not, as you claim, to "identify my political enemies" but to set in motion action to address the coming changes and because my intentions were genuine and not as you describe, I can understand that Chloe's were also for the same reasons. Your view is cynical and warped, in my opinion.

        • Shadrach 4.1.9.1
          4 August 2019 at 3:06 pm

          There are two angles to this.

          On one hand, declaring a climate 'emergency' is tokenism and no more. It is just another foolish attempt to use emotive language to scaremonger based on the worst case scenarios, and forgetting that many people have become skeptical because of the failure of many predictions from the past to become reality.

          On the other hand, there could be something more sinister. Alarmism is seen by some as an excuse to curb the freedoms of others, in a similar way that occurs in times of wars and natural disasters. The difference is that man cannot 'fix' climate change, and so these curbs will continue indefinitely, inserting ideological insanity in the lives of our children and their children.

          I am very definitely in the former group, perhaps because I have a natural bs meter when it comes to conspiracy theories. Nevertheless, as the climate change hysteria heats up, it is increasingly difficult to ignore those who have a foot in the second camp.

            • Shadrach 4.1.9.1.1.1
              4 August 2019 at 4:18 pm

              Graph 1 shows an increase in atmospheric CO2.

              Graph 2 shows a temperature anomaly over 140 years of under 1%.

              Neither graph provides any insight into whether mans activities can 'fix' climate change, or whether climate change is, or will be catastrophic. Some suggest it may well be very, very good https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/10/carry-on-warming/.

              • Drowsy M. Kram …
                4 August 2019 at 5:34 pm

                Believing that the effects of unnatural atmospheric/climate trends "may well be very, very good" is illogical (IMHO). As is appealing to the ‘authority’ of Matt Ridley (“Carry on Warming” – 2013).

                "For 23 years, I worked at a libertarian thinktank, arguing against climate action. But my views have changed. I now embrace decarbonization. Why? For one thing, I’ve come to better understand risk management."

                "There’s a world of difference between those “likely” low-end and the high-end estimates. “Lukewarmers”, such as the journalist Matt Ridley, contend that warming will be at the low end and prove of little consequence. Many scientists, however, have little patience for those arguments, arguing instead that warming is more likely to be at the higher end, with global environmental and economic convulsion the likes of which we’ve never seen." – Jerry Taylor

                https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/10/conservatives-should-change-how-they-think-about-global-warming-i-did

                • Shadrach …
                  4 August 2019 at 7:44 pm

                  No it is not illogical. Believing man can 'fix' climate change in any significant way is illogical.

                  • Robert Guyton …
                    4 August 2019 at 8:02 pm

                    Shadrach; if you believe humans caused the climate to change beyond its natural form; AGW in other words, you must surely believe that … humans can cause the climate to change; therefore they must be able to "fix"; that is, change, the climate still. They/we may not be able to entirely reverse the changes we've made but still, significant change isn't at all "illogical", donchthink?

                    • Shadrach …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:26 pm

                      Humans are undoubtedly responsible for some of the change in climate. It does not necessarily follow that we can reasonably reverse that, or that we should even try.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:28 pm

                      "Humans are undoubtedly responsible for some of the change in climate. "

                      Capable of some change?

                      Good. Let's make some more changes to help alleviate the expected damage. I'm surprised you can't detect the contradiction in your claims.

          • Robert Guyton 4.1.9.1.2
            4 August 2019 at 4:04 pm

            Shadrach says, of an issue with a multitude of aspects,

            "There are two angles to this", thus proving he's from the Right.

            • Shadrach 4.1.9.1.2.1
              4 August 2019 at 4:09 pm

              You've totally misunderstood the point I was making.

              • In Vino …
                4 August 2019 at 6:42 pm

                From what I can see your point is that it is foolish to be alarmist, because you yourself, with your marvellous bullshit detector, have seen through so many conspiracy theories.

                In this case I think your bullshit detector may have become a bullshit producer. You often produce it in quantities on TS.

                • Incognito …
                  4 August 2019 at 7:45 pm

                  If his BS detector is anything like a vacuum cleaner it sucks, and blows at the other end 😉

                • Shadrach …
                  4 August 2019 at 7:50 pm

                  Your reading for comprehension is deficient.

                  My original post (https://thestandard.org.nz/truth-telling-and-the-new-climate-denial/#comment-1642864) made it quite clear that the conspiracy theories I was skeptical about were those that ascribe some great global scam to alarmist climate change claims.

                  I don’t hold that view. Apart from anything else, I doubt the protagonists of such a grand conspiracy would have done such a poor job at making their case.

                  The reason it is foolish to believe the most alarmist of claims because there is no evidence for them, and acting on those claims will likely bring harm to many people.

                  • Robert Guyton …
                    4 August 2019 at 8:03 pm

                    So many of us failing to grasp your meaning, Shadrach! It might be, bear with me for a moment, that your explanation was somehow…lacking. Wanna have another go, more slowly this time, using words and concepts we hold in common?

                    • Incognito …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:13 pm

                      Somehow, it reminds me of Donald Rumsfeld … 😉

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

                    • Shadrach …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:28 pm

                      "So many of us failing to grasp your meaning,"

                      No, only InVino.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:29 pm

                      "You've totally misunderstood the point I was making."

                      4.1.9.1.2.1

                    • Shadrach …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:35 pm

                      "You've totally misunderstood the point I was making."

                      Yes that was addressed to your inability to differentiate between your "multitude of aspects" and my "There are two angles to this". It seems you were struggling to read the posts in order and context.

                    • Robert Guyton …
                      4 August 2019 at 8:39 pm

                      So only In Vino … and me…

                      Drowsy's all good then?

                    • Incognito []
                      4 August 2019 at 8:45 pm

                      Yeah, nah!

                      I’m still at a loss what Shadrach thinks a “hissy fit” means.

                    • In Vino …
                      4 August 2019 at 10:12 pm

                      Shadrach – my heart bleeds for your misunderstood ardour.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      5 August 2019 at 10:11 pm

                      Robert @8:39 pm (4 August) – I may have misunderstood Shadrach's 'evidence', but their position might be summarised as "make hay while the sun shines*" – never mind that 'making hay' (BAU) is untenable, not to mention irresponsible. [* wow is it shining or what!]

                      No doubt Shadrach supports the concept of 'personal responsibility', provided that it doesn't hinder their efforts to accumulate wealth.

    • Poission 4.2
      4 August 2019 at 12:45 pm

      That is the new climate denial: the denial that we need to change how we do things, to avoid a climate crisis.

      It is desperate and it is dangerous.

      Indeed it is.

      Climate deadlines,and declarations of emergencies are dangerous.

      https://mikehulme.org/against-climate-emergency/

      https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0543-4

      • Robert Guyton 4.2.1
        4 August 2019 at 1:21 pm

        From your link, Poission:

        "For those who take the rhetoric of climate change discourse literally there is of course a certain logic to such desperate measures. "

        For those who believe much of what is said by the climate scientists and commentators, there is of course logic to support a such desperate measures; it's a desperate situation and those who deny that situation are indeed a threat to the well being of all of us.

        • Poission 4.2.1.1
          4 August 2019 at 1:33 pm

          Look out the window Robert.

          The consensus models (both GCM and CCM) suggest strongly (high confidence) that the gains under the montreal protocol (CFC control) will reverse and cancel mode and circulation changes in the SH, a return to the good old days.

  5. Ad 5
    4 August 2019 at 9:19 am

    I've been guilty of of quietly enjoying a well structured political speech or two, like weeing in your own wetsuit its quietly warming.

    When Labour starts trending back to its natural mid-30s, the Greens need speeches with policy platforms that will attract 12% rather than 6%. Sure it's too early for election-year policy, but some hints on how to get there would be useful.

  6. Muttonbird 6
    4 August 2019 at 9:25 am

    I enjoyed Shaw's comments on The Nation. Describing Bridges as someone with little personal integrity will hurt Bridges, and it will hurt him because it is the truth, he knows it is the truth, and he knows that a very, very large proportion of New Zealand knows it is the truth.

    It's in the people he associates with: It's in Chris Bishop who deliberately trawls government agencies for online weak points to exploit. It's in political hitman and bagman, Jami Lee Ross. It's in Paula Bennett who uses ordinary people's personal information to attack them politically and closes the door on struggling people, the door once open to her.

    It's in his daily actions: It's in the casual racism and the casual abuse of colleagues. It's in the corrupt cash-for-candidates thought embedded in the National Party. It's in the default silencing of women who have been harassed. It's in the arrogant, smug, entitled use of taxpayer resources for personal political gain. It's in the employment of US-style attack politics.

    And it's now in climate change denial. Pretending action while still placing business ahead of the environment.

    • AB 6.1
      4 August 2019 at 10:50 am

      A shame that James stopped at stage four. Stage five is when the evidence and effects are visible to everyone. Then denial will not be enough to protect existing wealth and power. Only force will do that job. The pain and suffering will be pushed downwards while the top end of town defends to the death everything they have. There is a straight line from current denialism to some dystopian future.

    • chris T 6.2
      4 August 2019 at 4:12 pm

      The Greens have become just an off-shoot of Labour now they continue to sling their hook to one ship.

      Actually more just Labour's patsies given how little influence they have had.

      Sad really, given how much influence they could have had, if they had genuinely cared enough about making change to be make an effort to be more influential.

      • Dukeofurl 6.2.1
        4 August 2019 at 4:25 pm

        What part of 6% of the vote dont you understand. You maybe on the bridge but you dont get to plot the exact course. 12% likely gets a hand on the wheel.

        Ask Maori party about how much of your agenda gets implemented when you go with National

        • chris T 6.2.1.1
          4 August 2019 at 4:29 pm

          It is all well and good having 6% of the vote, until Labour figure out they can do anything they want and the Greens will just cave, as the Greens will only hang out with them.

      • Robert Guyton 6.2.2
        4 August 2019 at 4:25 pm

        It's sad, Chris T, terribly sad: think of all the joy they could have felt as an off-shoot of National! They would have Simon as their leader, Maggie Barry and Paula Bennett as role-models and climate-denial as their raison d'être! Foolish Greens; giving all that up for … governance!

        What were they thinking???

        • chris T 6.2.2.1
          4 August 2019 at 4:31 pm

          They would have a shedload more influence doing a Winston and getting the best deal from either side than just going "We are going with Labour. Tell us what you will let us do Winston"

          • Robert Guyton 6.2.2.1.1
            4 August 2019 at 4:37 pm

            A shedload more!

            Just what they yearn for! A shedload more of National-approved…what?

            • chris T 6.2.2.1.1.1
              4 August 2019 at 4:55 pm

              There is no law that says you can't say you will go with either knowing you will go with Labour.

              It is called political bargaining and Labour could do with a bit of a shock rather than just taking them for granted.

              The Greens could have easily been in the same bargaining position as Winston and demanded to be in on the talks.

              Instead it was, "We will be alright. Just get what you can get for us no matter how small, in closed meetings with Winston Jacinda. Cos your ace and we will go with you anyway"

              • Robert Guyton …
                4 August 2019 at 5:03 pm

                Well, Chris T, it's a great shame, a great shame indeed that YOU weren't leading the Greens negotiating team when the horse-trading was underway, coz you're EXCELLENT and this sort of thing and clearly The Greens were completely unable to grasp the subtleties you are so au fait with. If only they had known!! Everything might have been different now! The Greens could be hand-in-glove with Simon and Paula and winning concessions hand-over-fist!

                And you'd be singing their praises. Instead of wittering-on like a neurotic chicken smiley

              • Sacha …
                4 August 2019 at 6:23 pm

                The Greens could have easily been in the same bargaining position as Winston and demanded to be in on the talks.

                'Demanded' backed with what? If they had retained closer to 15% of the vote perhaps.

                • chris T …
                  4 August 2019 at 6:29 pm

                  Backed with the fact if the Greens said they might go with the Nat's, even if internally an empty threat Labour would be screwed Winston or no Winston

                  • Rapunzel …
                    4 August 2019 at 6:42 pm

                    If "ifs" and "buts" etc, etc, it looks like, this is not the same chris.

                    • chris T …
                      4 August 2019 at 6:46 pm

                      How is it not the same?

                      Without Winston they couldn't be in govt, without the Greens they couldn't be in govt

                  • Sacha …
                    4 August 2019 at 8:01 pm

                    Lab + Winston > Nats

                    No way the Nats were going to change stance enough for the Greens to work with them – so there was nowhere else to go. Everyone knew that, including Winnie.

            • chris T 6.2.2.1.1.2
              4 August 2019 at 4:58 pm

              Would also remind you that probably the best deal the Greens have had in a long time was insulating 100,000s of houses in partnership with the Key govt

              • Robert Guyton …
                4 August 2019 at 5:04 pm

                Ah, yes, the MOU The Greens ended because of National's duplicitous behaviour. That abiding memory!

              • Rapunzel …
                4 August 2019 at 7:00 pm

                The other "reply" bottom has gone but they did and they are in govt, NZers will get a vote next year and National will still get the same hard-core vote around the 40%. That will be the time to gauge how to deliver both their supporters and Winston's a sound platform, I don't see why an "Epsom" shouldn't be exploited to shore that up.

                • chris T …
                  4 August 2019 at 7:06 pm

                  Unless Labour gift Winston a seat (which may not even work with them) it doesn't look like he will even be around.

                  But a fair point. Labour should still win and hopefully the Greens won't just roll over again, to put them in govt.

                  As scary as a Labour, powerful Greens only govt sounds to me, it is better than just one party.

                  • Rapunzel …
                    4 August 2019 at 7:29 pm

                    I hope Winston is but it may not even be seats that are the cause of that TBH.

                  • gsays …
                    5 August 2019 at 8:27 am

                    Winston not being around after the election… this will be the fourth election he has been dismissed as ineffective.

        • ianmac 6.2.2.2
          5 August 2019 at 2:17 pm

          Delicious there Robert @6.2.2

  7. Dennis Frank 7
    4 August 2019 at 9:30 am

    I detect a personal element in his description of Bridges, and I have no problem with whatever experiential basis provoked that description. The Nats have a genuine leadership vacuum, and are in collective denial about that, gambling that enough voters are deniers. Not a sensible gamble!

    A clever leader would respond appropriately to geopolitical circumstances, and read the mass shift that history is catalysing. Bridges, instead, is thinking like a used-car salesman – as the Greens attack ad depicted.

    When I first wrote here around 5 years ago I was staunch on the GP being centrist. I've seen the viability of that stance eroded by Nats obduracy, so I reckon James is reading the electoral prospects right. The Greens have to reject a National Party that is firm on remaining part of the problem. If the Bluegreens want to play a constructive role in Aotearoa, they must pull finger and shift National into being part of the solution!

    • gsays 7.1
      5 August 2019 at 8:33 am

      Is it a leadership vacuum or the result of their politics.

      By that I mean Bridge's utterances seem to be the result of polling. Not coming from principles, not from a bigger plan just saying what they think needs to be said to get into power again.

      On RNZ, when he paints himself into a corner, Bridges just seems to repeat a couple of key phrases that he was briefed on before the interview.

      • Dennis Frank 7.1.1
        5 August 2019 at 8:39 am

        Yeah, both, I guess. He is indeed a practitioner of ad hocism. No sense of the zeitgeist whatsoever. Little sense of strategy, and not a clue how to make MMP work for National in the current context.

  8. vto 8
    4 August 2019 at 9:37 am

    Truth-telling? Ha

    Until politicians apply the Fair Trading Act to themselves, like it is to commerce, they will always fail to impress…

    Misleading and deceptive conduct in trade

    Misleading and deceptive conduct in politics

    Which is more important. Which has a greater impact on society

  9. Rosemary McDonald 9
    4 August 2019 at 9:45 am

    What would secure my two votes again would be a definite, unequivocal move left from the GP. Have loudly and proudly proclaimed policies that would not only demand implementation of measures to halt climate change, but would also demand protections for those most affected by climate change.

    • weka 9.1
      4 August 2019 at 10:36 am

      What kinds of protections Rosemary? The Greens talk about a just transition (eg job creation in the new green economy where climate polluting jobs are phased out), but I am curious how you see that could be done.

      • Rosemary McDonald 9.1.1
        4 August 2019 at 11:48 am

        I'd like to see parallel workstreams. One devoted to slowing and mitigating the effects of climate change and another building resilience in populations that are likely to be most impacted. Not in a 'We will look after the poor people if/when shit gets real' kind of way, but strengthening those individuals and communities now. There are far too many people barely getting by, and the WEAG highlighted this and recommended that benefits be raised immediately. This has not happened and these citizens have been told to wait, again. I sense the GP knows that life is hard enough for this group already without them giving climate change much thought. Alleviate their financial constraints and this very large group of potential voters just might have the time to consider other issues. Come voting time it would be useful for people to have already come to see the GP as being as much for the people as they are for the planet.

        It nearly happened under Metiria…

        • weka 9.1.1.1
          4 August 2019 at 12:42 pm

          Love the parallel workstreams framing, and I hope the GP extend their work out beyond the jobs aspect. I think they inherently do, in that they want all government policy to take climate change into account and thus their policies do. But I agree that it needs to be loud and proudly spoken.

          I think they've been hinting that welfare is coming up on their agenda. I hope so. Tying that into climate mitigation and adaptation is a really good idea, and might be a way of getting NZ out of its political cul de sac of hating beneficiaries/being afraid to stand up for beneficiaries.

          • Brigid 9.1.1.1.1
            4 August 2019 at 3:42 pm

            "I think they've been hinting that welfare is coming up on their agenda. "

            That isn't good enough. They need to declare that the lower paid and unemployed or disabled are barely subsisting and that they will tell the government in no uncertain terms that it needs to do something about it now.

            Rosemary is quite right. When you're living in your car with your three kids you do not give a shit about climate change, nor do you care what party is in government, because if this so called left leaning coalition will do damned all about inequality what's the point in voting at all?

            • weka 9.1.1.1.1.1
              4 August 2019 at 6:20 pm

              "They need to declare that the lower paid and unemployed or disabled are barely subsisting and that they will tell the government in no uncertain terms that it needs to do something about it now."

              Afaik they already did that in various ways and the government ignored them.

              The point in voting is that if the Greens weren't there it would be a more centrist L/NZF govt with even less attention paid to the homeless.

              The Greens don't have a magic wand, and they don't have the power in parliament to get more gains than they have. To get significant movement on poverty, they need more MPs.

              In the meantime, they have to strategise and work with what they have got. It looks to me like they have focused on the responsibilities they got post-election via the agreement with Labour. They've also worked on building and maintaining relationships with Labour and NZF, and using their influence there. They're now solid to start doing more on the issues you raise.

              If you want to blame someone, or be angry at someone, maybe look to the people who have the power to make immediate changes: Labour and NZF.

        • Carolyn_Nth 9.1.1.2
          4 August 2019 at 5:57 pm

          Agree with this on the need to strengthen less well off individuals and communities. And it is safeguarding the least well off that would make it a radical policy.

          In recent decades I have seen the elites appropriate and defuse radical policies (feminism, 'race', indigenous land rights, etc). They do not give up their power and privilege without mobilising many strategies and propaganda.

          I think this maybe where Jack McDonald sees the GP having drifted rightwards under Shaw's leadership, especially with policies on economics and social security.

          The main issue for the right with climate policies seems to be their potential loss of economic power, income and wealth.

          It will require mass mobilisation of people power to counter any right wing initiatives that claim to maintain the comfortable lives of the middle and upper classes – rather than the required need for us all to change our lifestyles.

          • Pat 9.1.1.2.1
            4 August 2019 at 6:40 pm

            "It will require mass mobilisation of people power to counter any right wing initiatives that claim to maintain the comfortable lives of the middle and upper classes – rather than the required need for us all to change our lifestyles."

            It will require a mobilisation of people power with a coherent pathway AND an acceptance that everyones lifestyle (OECD) is going to need to change and PDQ rather than a disparate demand that only others need to change …the signs of that acceptance are as yet not good.

  10. Marcus Morris 10
    4 August 2019 at 10:29 am

    A brilliant, timely and extraordinary speech from James Shaw. It is extraordinary because it has long been a Green Party mantra where you do not attack the person. Criticise the policy of course, but avoid bringing in personality. The philosophy behind this, I think, is that in doing so you maintain both your dignity and your integrity. I may be wrong but show me a piece where any previous Green Party Leader has contradicted my “thesis”. In fact Green MP’s have shown remarkable restraint over many years when they have put up with incessant personal attack and abuse from the “right”.

    James Shaw has called out Simon Bridges for what he is, a shallow desperate populist. Had this come from Labour or New Zealand first it would have been dismissed as a political rant. Coming from James Shaw it will get the waverers thinking and it is that thirteen percent that must be engaged if we are to ensure the continuation of this present regime.

    • weka 10.1
      4 August 2019 at 10:42 am

      I thought that too (but haven't been following politics so much in the last year so wondered if I had missed something). This is why it seems like a stake in the ground moment. Shaw has burnt the GP bridges with National as part of an intentional strategy to carve out space for the next political movement on climate action to centre. It's a very good move (despite the wonky start with the car sales ad). I hope they will maintain their position of not doing attack politics generally, but make exceptions as needed on CC. Or maybe they're about to go hard after Bridges/National.

  11. Psycho Milt 11
    4 August 2019 at 11:34 am

    IMHO, Shaw is one of the most under-rated NZ politicians. Ardern is good with the media, but you can hear the careful message management being applied when she's in difficult territory – I've never been able to hear Shaw doing that. He always sounds like he's just telling you what he thinks, which is mind-boggling when you try to imagine yourself being able to do that if you were him. If he says "I would never empower someone with as little personal integrity as Simon Bridges to become Prime Minister," you'd best believe it.

  12. Psycho Milt 12
    4 August 2019 at 11:41 am

    I'm glad they've ruled out working with National, because National's MPs peddle a particularly devious variant of climate change denial. It's a variant of this one:

    The third stage – if it is us, then it’s not that bad.

    The model is to pay lip service to the science, but downplay the speed and extent of change so that there's an excuse to oppose every single climate-change-mitigation policy that would affect its supporters' BAU. That way, they can avoid being described as AGW-deniers while continuing to act as AGW-deniers. There won't be any truth-telling from these people and the Greens' efforts would only ever be sabotaged by them.

    • Robert Guyton 12.1
      4 August 2019 at 11:55 am

      "There won't be any truth-telling from these people and the Greens' efforts would only ever be sabotaged by them. "

      QFT

  13. Sacha 13
    4 August 2019 at 1:25 pm

    This seems to be the shortest clip of the relevant part of The Nation (1m30): https://www.facebook.com/NewshubNationNZ/videos/377634992895005/

    "I would never empower someone with as little personal integrity as Simon Bridges to become Prime Minister"

    If Wayne wants to read that as insulting his party rather than its current temporary leader, that says more about tribalism than anything else.

    • weka 13.1
      4 August 2019 at 1:38 pm

      I don't know, seems like a pretty pointed insult to the party. They put in and keep a leader who has no personal integrity. What does that say about the people that chose him?

      • weka 13.1.1
        4 August 2019 at 1:39 pm

        probably not the party as a whole though, from memory National don't have a democratic process for choosing leaders so it's not like members are responsible for Bridges.

      • Sacha 13.1.2
        4 August 2019 at 1:40 pm

        Or it could be giving the Nats a face-saving way out of their current stance – ditch the 'leader' (who in reality has little power), then upgrade the policy.

        And yes, the people to convince are not the branch members but the shadowy creeps who run the party apparatus.

      • greywarshark 13.1.3
        4 August 2019 at 3:07 pm

        I guess that Gnash plan to present a new leader later on who will seem to be fresh and have no faux pas to stir the peeps. The Party will be so overjoyed that they will flock behind the new person, and only the seat will remain warm. The temperature will get colder around S Bridges – they might give Simon a medal for just sticking with it, probably stick the medal at him – ouch.

        (In the UK it was noticed that Boorish was quiet in the 7-10 days before the election for which he was tipped to tip-over, the thinking being that it cleaned the slate ready for the announcement of his rising.)

        • chris T 13.1.3.1
          4 August 2019 at 8:04 pm

          The irony being the Nats are in a better position currently than Labour would kill their own family in the same time frame to be in when they became opposition.

          Obvious difference is the Nats have no friends.

    • joe90 13.2
      4 August 2019 at 3:59 pm

      "I would never empower someone with as little personal integrity as Simon Bridges to become Prime Minister"

      Wow.

      James knows something we don't?

      • Sacha 13.2.1
        4 August 2019 at 4:03 pm

        You have to wonder. It's an unusual statement.

        • weka 13.2.1.1
          4 August 2019 at 4:52 pm

          How so?

          • Sacha 13.2.1.1.1
            4 August 2019 at 5:03 pm

            As our friendly law commissioner has been noting above, pollies do not usually go for each other so personally. Maybe Shaw's obvious distaste has been informed by stuff the public has not been privy to?

            • weka 13.2.1.1.1.1
              4 August 2019 at 7:58 pm

              Maybe but it doesn't strike me as something he would do. Unless this is a new, dirtier Greens.

              • Robert Guyton …
                4 August 2019 at 8:07 pm

                James was just truthin'

                • weka …
                  4 August 2019 at 8:11 pm

                  I think so. I think PM's point upthread, that what you see is what you get, is true.

                  • Robert Guyton …
                    4 August 2019 at 8:17 pm

                    The Greens hold the issue of climate change and if they're staunch enough to keep their grip on it strong, they stand to rise to extraordinary political heights, in my opinion. They'll have to endure slings and arrows, but what's new about that? They always have and know a thing or two about the Simons of the political world and know that when he says, "do this" they should do as they've always intended.

                    • marty mars …
                      4 August 2019 at 9:17 pm

                      One big issue is that the forces of denial are going to ramp up as more evidence is shown that they are wrong – facts, evidence and photos mean nothing to these people – they want BAU and money and that is that. The Greens are going to have to really get tough to take the shit coming their way if they stand up for action to combat the climate disaster – they can do it and they will need the strength of many arms to achieve it.

                • Psycho Milt …
                  4 August 2019 at 9:06 pm

                  James was just truthin'

                  Yup. Even if the info leaked by Jami Lee Ross didn't convince Shaw that Bridges has no personal integrity, the pride Bridges took in having overseen a data breach of a government system couldn't have left any doubt.

  14. Tony Veitch (not etc.) 14
    4 August 2019 at 3:28 pm

    A sitting member of the Labour Party told me NZ First are a real anchor to progressive/radical policies within the Coalition.

    National, in the face of the impending climate crisis (the scale of which few have been able to imagine or comprehend yet) are irrelevant. They will be consigned to a footnote in history books (if humans are in a position to record the terrible events about to happen).

    NZ First are not much better, but at least have some capable MPs. Tracy Martin, for instance.

    If this country is going to respond in any meaningful way to the coming climate crisis, we need an unencumbered Labour-Green coalition government. James Shaw and the Greens, especially the young members, will have an increasingly important role to play.

  15. marty mars 15
    4 August 2019 at 5:13 pm

    This is very sad.

    "As an indigenous ecosocialist the last few years have been tough; the 2017 campaign, Metiria's [Turei] resignation, and the continued centrist drift of the party's direction under James Shaw's co-leadership.

    "When the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] says we have 12 years to save the world from climate catastrophe, we simply don't have time for centrism, moderation or fiscal austerity."

    However, Mr McDonald said he would be staying on as a party member, as he believed the Green Party were still the best hope for radical change in Parliament.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/395936/high-ranking-greens-member-pulls-pin-before-election?

    • Ad 15.1
      4 August 2019 at 5:27 pm

      Agree, but it's also a gift for list renewal.
      It’s more dignified than the mad foaming mess of resignations four weeks out to election day last time around.

    • marty mars 15.2
      4 August 2019 at 5:29 pm

      Sad because we need young people to be engaged – to be motivated to work to change things but maybe that needs to come from outside the system.

      • weka 15.2.1
        4 August 2019 at 8:00 pm

        Sad as a loss for the Greens. Exciting to see what Jack does without the limits of being a political candidate. I'd be happy if we had a solid GP the way that it is with a substantial movement outside of parliament pulling government left and forward.

  16. greywarshark 16
    4 August 2019 at 7:59 pm

    What does anyone think of whether the computer age and tech generally is taking away our ability to think things through and make decisions as a reasoning individual – put this in How to Get There? But I think someone detected me as a BS fabricator, and I have not passed the test for serious consideration.

  17. WILD KATIPO 17
    4 August 2019 at 10:51 pm

    Hmmmm,… I've always been a skeptic of the assumed core reasons ( the burning of fossil fuels etc ) for any 'climate change'… and thought tree planting / revegetation would be far more appropriate. And while they ( oil / coal ) may be a contributor,… I reckon its far more than that. Remember when we all used to say that the worlds forests are the 'lungs' of the earth?

    And why we talk about riparian edges being 'reveged' as natural filters?

    Well , I think the real culprit is the denuding of the worlds great forests thats more at fault than the burning of fossil fuels.

    Have a listen to this learned academic.

    ‘How to green the world’s deserts and reverse climate change’

    Allan Savory

    https://youtu.be/vpTHi7O66pI?t=675

  18. Sacha 18
    5 August 2019 at 11:16 am

    When did we start labelling willingness to compromise as 'centrist'?

  19. ianmac 19
    5 August 2019 at 2:27 pm

    Read somewhere this morning that said a US Poll showed that young Republicans believed that Climate change was the most important issue facing them.

    Might put Deniers Trump and Bridges in a tricky spot?

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Recent Posts

  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 27

    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 hour ago
  • Ticket To Anywhere

    You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 hours ago
  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    19 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
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    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
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    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
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    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
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    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
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    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
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    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
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    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
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    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
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    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
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    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
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    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
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    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
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    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
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    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
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    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
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    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
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    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
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    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
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    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
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    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
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    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
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    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
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    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
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    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
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    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
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    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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