Unthinkable Renationalisation

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, July 21st, 2022 - 57 comments
Categories: assets, climate change, Economy, energy, Environment, Europe, Privatisation, privatisation, science, uncategorized - Tags:

Europe is leading the global fight against climate change by rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels. This now includes fully renationalising energy companies and forced decreases in gas use. What could New Zealand learn?

In the wake of the pandemic, Europe was rocked by disruptions in its energy supply that caused prices to surge – even before the turmoil triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now those forces have combined to put Europe’s energy transition onto something of a wartime footing, testing the limits of an accelerated timeline to adopt new technologies and leaving consumers footing much higher bills.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has driven the continent back towards coal in the short term, but there may have to be warp-speed deployment of green energy this decade.

As of late last month, all EU states will be banned from allowing the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2035. This is on the continent which hosts SEAT, VW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Volvo, Peugeot, BMW, and all the others we have known to grow and love.

Norway, Sweden, Netherlands and Germany have been well underway preparing their car users for this. Others, well, it’s going to be more of a shock.

Over the last fortnight, France and the UK have already renationalised energy companies, ready for greater political oversight from impending massive energy disruption.

The UK government has also started to put in place a windfall tax against petroleum companies.

Germany had signalled that it was ready to renationalise, and then did so.

While the Prime Ministership of Boris Johnson was falling apart, Britain’s government passed a law to fully accelerate their energy security strategy. Once you get past the spin, it’s substantial.

Across Europe there is a simple truth: there just isn’t enough energy to go around anymore. Russia is severely limiting supplies to Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron is grappling with an ageing fleet of nuclear reactors, and a lack of regulatory oversight means British gas and power providers sold cheap energy without considering the return of a commodities supercycle.

Gazprom PJSC is choking exports through all major pipelines to Europe, so there’s real risk European nations won’t be able to store enough up for the next winter season. Putin is driving Germany and other states back to coal in the short term and even an heroic deployment of green energy will not see them through the incoming pain. It will likely be the sternest test of the EU. Screaming consumers can quickly turn into motivated voters that destroy governments.

New Zealand is in the exceedingly fortunate position that its electricity supply is about 88% renewable and for a large part not reliant on foreign fuel to fire its heaters and dehumifiers. Even its key exporter, Fonterra, uses local coal and is getting out of it. Finally.

New Zealand farming is already one of the most carbon efficient in the world, though there’s always room for improvement.

However the truth is that we still use around 46 million barrels of crude oil every year, or on average 1,600 litres per person every year. 46 million barrels would fill the Wellington stadium about 13 times.

With renewable electricity on one hand and oil vulnerability on the other, our total renewable energy stands at 40%, only bettered by Iceland and Norway.

Our key instruments to improve on this vulnerability are still in state hands if we have the plan to use them:

New Zealand still has 51% stakes in Genesis, Mercury, and Meridian. This government is despite political talk a passive shareholder who tends to let the Electricity Authority do their regulatory work rather than be an assertive shareholder.

New Zealand still has 100% ownership of Transpower the main grid supplier and operator. It is unfortunately heavily regulated by the Electricity Authority. The new Chair Dr Keith Turner issued a stark warning on our vulnerability to energy supply just days ago: “We are living on borrowed time“.

Whatever regulatory or political oversight over the actual prices for electricity we suckers have to pay hasn’t worked.

And so to oil. The New Zealand government allowed the sale of Z Energy to Ampol and the shutdown of Marsden Point, so we very much now operate as an Australian branch office for oil and petrol supply and distribution.

Rather than take strong regulatory steps against either fuel or electricity generators, the government has acted to spend several billion subsidising to dampen the fuel spike and extended it to the start of 2023. On international benchmarks New Zealand has below average taxes but the highest fuel price if you take that tax away.

It has also halved public transport prices for the potential 85% of us who live in cities, though it is a hard ask getting us back to pt use in such a pandemic infection state. It also strongly directs its Departments and its contract bidders to buy electric fleets.

New Zealand is in an extraordinarily vulnerable state for transport fuel and it is going to get worse in the next year. The Russia-Ukraine war and its effects continues to destabilise markets, the European continent leads the world on transition, but the electric car shift in New Zealand is coming off a very very low base. New Zealand is 4th in the OECD for car ownership rates and we’re just not set up to change that.

New Zealand is thus getting deliberately more reliant on both oil and electricity but isn’t making the public controls to hasten the shift with any urgency –  particularly when you see EU countries of all political stripe leading the way through energy supply and price spikes.

Surely a Labour government with all the international cache it is ever going to have, could at least follow the lead of governments from Conservative to independent to Social Democrat and take sufficiently strong action that our energy security is assured. Because right now we are one of the least energy secure countries on earth, and the world is energy-scary right now.

57 comments on “Unthinkable Renationalisation ”

  1. RedLogix 1

    Putin is driving Germany and other states back to coal in the short term and even an heroic deployment of green energy will not see them through the incoming pain.

    It will be much longer than short-term. The fact is that Germany is a cloudy and relatively windless location. Already they have an installed nameplate of wind energy that is twice their peak consumption – yet over the course of a year the actual generation accounts for barely 23% of their total energy. (I have seen another source that claims this figure is inflated and the real number is closer to 10%.)

    Another way to look at this is the doubling of installed capacity – mostly wind and solar for a miserable gain of 5% total generation:

    Germany's installed capacity for electric generation increased from 121 gigawatts (GW) in 2000 to 218 GW in 2019, an 80% increase, while electricity generation increased only 5% in the same period.

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

    At this rate they would need to install 20 times more solar and wind than they already have to run their existing economy on these sources alone. And still doesn't account for what happens when you get two weeks of cold, cloudy and windless weather in winter.

    In reality all of their renewable capacity is just about making up for the nuclear generation they are incomprehensibly closing down. And when the Russian gas finally shuts down – it will be brown coal all the way.

    • Molly 1.1

      Farmers protests across Europe indicate the problems that will be occurring, due to the political class failing to act in a timely and effective manner, and now acting without consideration or mitigation of decisions.

      https://www.firstpost.com/world/explained-why-farmers-protests-that-kicked-off-in-the-netherlands-are-spreading-across-europe-10925091.html

      Foreign waka posted on this the other day, which lead to a good article:

      https://www.newsweek.com/popular-uprising-against-elites-has-gone-global-opinion-1722653

      But while the Dutch people are on the side of the farmers, their elites are behaving much as they did in Canada and the U.S., and not just those in government. Media outlets are refusing to even report the protests, and when they do, they cast the farmers as extremists.

      Why the disconnect? Every reliable poll of European newsrooms from Germany to the Netherlands show that climate change is a much more important topic for journalists than it is for ordinary people. It's not that average citizens don't care about climate change, but that they have the common sense to know that destroying their farm so the government's emission goals can be met in 2030 instead of 2035 will not change the planet's climate.

      After all, the Netherlands accounts for just 0.46 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, and while a further reduction might be desirable, it will not be decisive in combating climate change over the next eight years. It may make the country's elite to feel good about themselves, but it will also result in large parts of the population seeing their living standards decline and their economic existence targeted by the state for ideological reasons.

      There is a malaise in the West currently, where ideological goals are pursued at the expense of the lower middle and working classes. Whether it's truckers in Canada, farmers in the Netherlands, oil and gas companies in the United States, ideology, not science or hard evidence, is dominating the agenda, gratifying the elites while immiserating the working class.

      Ultimately, there is a risk that climate policies will do to Europe what Marxism did to Latin America. A continent with all the conditions for widespread prosperity and a healthy environment will impoverish and ruin itself for ideological reasons.

      In the end, both the people and the climate will be worse off.

      • RedLogix 1.1.1

        After all, the Netherlands accounts for just 0.46 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, and while a further reduction might be desirable, it will not be decisive in combating climate change over the next eight years.

        In the meantime the nation already responsible for by far the largest fraction of global CO2 emissions, China is still ramping up the build of new coal power stations. In 2021 they built more than half the new coal power stations in the entire world.

        In the face of such mind-boggling hypocrisy I can well understand why Dutch farmers object to being made sacrificial objects in a futile performative ritual to elitist luxury beliefs.

        • Molly 1.1.1.1

          I can't find the link, but there was an article about the concern of many Germans for the expected loss of energy production heading into winter. This manifests also in widespread public support for the farmer protests.

          The familiar disregard of insulated decision makers from the real world impacts of their legislation.

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.1.1

            Your last sentence sums up an age old problem – the elites are the last people to feel the actual impact of their unwise decisions.

            A quick search threw up this article:

            In a new paper, anthropologists examined a broad, global sample of 30 pre-modern societies. They found that when "good" governments—ones that provided goods and services for their people and did not starkly concentrate wealth and power—fell apart, they broke down more intensely than collapsing despotic regimes. And the researchers found a common thread in the collapse of good governments: leaders who undermined and broke from upholding core societal principles, morals, and ideals.

            • Molly 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Good article. Do you think our Western democracies may be at this stage:

              "We noted the potential for failure caused by an internal factor that might have been manageable if properly anticipated," says Richard Blanton, a professor emeritus of anthropology at Purdue University and the study's lead author. "We refer to an inexplicable failure of the principal leadership to uphold values and norms that had long guided the actions of previous leaders, followed by a subsequent loss of citizen confidence in the leadership and government and collapse."

              The failure of adequate checks and balances on leaders and governance also rings true:

              "Our findings provide insights that should be of value in the present, most notably that societies, even ones that are well governed, prosperous, and highly regarded by most citizens, are fragile human constructs that can fail," says Blanton. "In the cases we address, calamity could very likely have been avoided, yet, citizens and state-builders too willingly assumed that their leadership will feel an obligation to do as expected for the benefit of society. Given the failure to anticipate, the kinds of institutional guardrails required to minimize the consequences of moral failure were inadequate."

              But, notes Feinman, learning about what led to societies collapsing in the past can help us make better choices now: "History has a chance to tell us something. That doesn't mean it's going to repeat exactly, but it tends to rhyme. And so that means there are lessons in these situations."

              • RedLogix

                Yes. My belief – and I admit that it is just that – is that while the mistakes from the past should inform us, the human context has changed.

                While pre-industrial societies could rise and fall with usually only a regional impact at most – we are now in a global era where nations are all intimately connected, geographically, economically and socially at least. We cannot assume that exactly the same patterns will repeat.

                But yes I agree – increasingly large fractions of ordinary people everywhere are losing trust in their governing institutions – rightly or wrongly it doesn't matter. There are no signs that anyone in the elites knows how to respond to this, beyond a doubling down on the authoritarianism that created the problem in the first place.

                Lot more I might write to this – but in the interests of keeping to the spirit of Ad's post I'll leave it here.

          • Hanswurst 1.1.1.1.2

            […] the concern of many Germans for the expected loss of energy production heading into winter. This manifests also in widespread public support for the farmer protests.

            News to me. It's true, though, that some of us (my family included) are looking at supplementing the gas heating with electric heaters this winter.

        • satty 1.1.1.2

          This part:

          Netherlands accounts for just 0.46 percent of the world's CO2 emissions

          Is a very convenient excuse for a lot of countries to do nothing. Looking at the emissions by country, for example here: World-o-meter – CO2 Emission by Country, shows that even heavy industrial countries, like Germany, only produce ~2% of global emissions. Around 190 out of 209 countries can claim they don't have to reduce emissions, because they produce "only" 1% of the global emissions or less.

          The top 5 countries – China, US, India, Russia and Japan – have a population significantly over 100 million people and are big global producers of goods and services.

          Another easy excuse is to point to China's emissions: How much of the Chinese emissions are actually linked to products consumed outside China? If the "Western World" is so concerned about China's emissions (and using it as an excuse not to reduce their own CO2 emissions), the best start would be to stop importing any Chinese-produced products, inclusive products that include Chinese-produced parts.

          Maybe Germany, which – if my memory serves correctly – was one of the top three global steel producers, should restart their steel plants and see how the country can continue reducing their emissions…

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.2.1

            I agree – allocating CO2 emissions by country is a fraught business. There are many different ways to look at it, each with their own political meaning.

            However the one very few people consider is Carbon Intensity per Unit GDP. This is the measure of how much carbon you emit for a given amount of wealth generation – and while you can see most developed nations have been improving – China still remains almost twice as bad as the US and way worse than the rest of the world.

            • satty 1.1.1.2.1.1

              Not sure comparing Carbon Intensity based on US dollar GDP is overly meaningful, because China tends to keep the Yuan artificially low, for example see Why is China's currency getting weaker

              I think the "efficient use of energy" would be a better comparison. Something like how much CO2 is produced per kWh and how much can a country produce per kWh (unfortunately, the comparison is done by a currency specific GDP, because that's what's everyone settled on).

              The best "solution" from a consumer perspective would be to have a "carbon tax" on fossil fuel on extraction and pass it through the production / transport process to the consumer (a little bit like GST). So the more efficient use of the fossil fuel would mean the production / transport cost would be lower. Therefore it might be possible for countries with higher labour costs but with more efficient production, to compete with low efficient low labour cost countries.

              But that's probably not going to happen, therefore more polluting countries with cheap labour will continue to have an advantage.

              • RedLogix

                Not sure comparing Carbon Intensity based on US dollar GDP is overly meaningful, because China tends to keep the Yuan artificially low,

                That is a good question and again I can accept that comparisons between nations are not easy, but in this case my second link suggests they have thought of this:

                The source for GDP data is the Maddison Project database. We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by total population. You can find our chart with this data here. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.

                Your suggestion on CO2 per kWhr is perfectly reasonable, yet given there is a very strong correlation between kWhr and GDP, it pretty much amounts to the same as the measure as I referenced.

                That link immediately above is quite good. Basically it means as long as China, and India to a lesser extent, keep building coal power stations – it really doesn’t matter a shit what the rest of us do.

        • mikesh 1.1.1.3

          In the meantime the nation already responsible for by far the largest fraction of global CO2 emissions, China

          On a per capita basis, surely not.

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.3.1

            In reality China can be thought of as two separate nations; a highly developed and industrialised First World nation consisting of the coastal cities and some of the regions like Sichuan – and a more populous and poorer nation in the interior.

            Most of the industrial CO2 comes from the First world part of China that represents only part of China's population – and on a per capita basis suddenly the numbers don't suit your argument at all.

            Imagine for instance if South Africa was to claim a very low CO2 per capita – by including the population of all it's much poorer, less industrial neighbours – everyone would see the dodge immediately. China gets away with it because most people don't think about how uneven regional development is in that nation.

            But as I suggested above CO2 per capita is just one legit way to allocate CO2 responsibility – but it is not without it's flaws and limitations and certainly does not convey the whole picture.

            • mikesh 1.1.1.3.1.1

              You seem to be suggesting that a large part of China's population should remain impoverished so that Western counties can continue with its high energy consumption. China still has a lot of catching up to do. I think we should cut them some slack by reducing our own consumption.

              • RedLogix

                No I was not suggesting that at all – but given their current terrible CO2 per unit GDP rate, if that impoverished portion of the Chinese population was to become as wealthy as the elite coastal cities – then Chinese CO2 production might rise from 28% of the global total to something close to 50%.

                I am pretty sure you are not advocating for that either.

      • Rosemary McDonald 1.1.2

        Media outlets are refusing to even report the protests, and when they do, they cast the farmers as extremists.

        Te Media have an habit of doing that.

        And folks just suck it up and spew it out like gospel.

        • Molly 1.1.2.1

          That's true.

          Been casually following the European protests by links brought up by Twitter.

          • Hanswurst 1.1.2.1.1

            I'd be wary of assuming that following Twitter links leads to less fairyland bias than following the traditional media.

            • Molly 1.1.2.1.1.1

              I follow the links to overseas media on this, because NZ doesn't seem particularly interested.

              But thanks for the tip.

      • joe90 1.1.3

        The Netherlands is smaller than the Canterbury region and farms twice the number of cattle and more than one hundred times as many pigs as Canterbury.

        Dutch farmers are drowning not only their own country but also large parts of low-land Belgium and Germany in ammonia and nitrogen-rich run-off that jiggers lakes, wet lands, water ways and oceans. They're also among the most subsidised farmers on the planet.

        And now they've had the hard-word to clean up their act by reducing stock levels, they don't like it. Poor babies.

  2. Tiger Mountain 2

    Well the Rogernomics Lab. Govt.set up Refining NZ mid 80s–essentially the then 5 main Oil Co.s– which created a vertically integrated petroleum market; importation/refining/distribution, including pipeline to Auck./retail and price setting, all by the same people.

    The oil companies basically had carte blanche to shaft NZ motorists and users, and with their transfer pricing model, profits went back to the parent companies offshore.

    Nationalisation of the industry is the obvious answer. Anywhere in the world such as Indonesia, Mid East or Latin America where there is cheap petrol there is also state/public ownership.

    The oil companies would not like that up ’em.

    and…return power generation and supply to full public ownership and control after booting Rio Tinto–compensation to the natzo created private market depending on them going quietly…

    • tc 2.1

      Here here, Keith turners stating the obvious as we've let the 'market' ream the customer, not provide a resilient enough network (blackouts, insufficient undergrounding of lines, lack of diversity) and it's totally dragged it's heels on extra renewables like wind farms.

      The one that was going from port Waikato down the west coast as one example that went pffft after the 08 election.

      About the same time we lost the 1:1 import export pricing so they game that margin by reselling power they had nothing to do with generating.

      Long overdue for re-nationalisation even without the current energy situation IMO.

  3. Cricklewood 3

    You'd think if the elites wanted to lead by example they'd do something meaningful… like get rid of private jets for example.

    If we did something about the rampant over consumption of the top 1% our resources would go alot further…

  4. Poission 4

    New Zealand is thus getting deliberately more reliant on both oil and electricity but isn’t making the public controls to hasten the shift with any urgency – particularly when you see EU countries of all political stripe leading the way through energy supply and price spikes.

    Spain says Ole and repeats the Merkel Rhetoric back.

    https://twitter.com/bopanc/status/1549832231690043393?cxt=HHwWgoCw9YGNjoIrAAAA

    Electricity prices being 25% cheaper in Madrid then Berlin.

    • pat 4.1

      Ouch…that'll learn them (or not)

      • Poission 4.1.1

        Central and northern Europe ( as is the uk) are dependent on fossil fuels for space heating and hot water,both in residential and services such as hospitals.

        IEA electricity update jul 2022.

        Significantly reducing Europe’s reliance on fossil fuels will need a
        deep transformation of the energy system, including greater use of
        renewable energy and electrification of more energy end uses.
        Developing flexibility options will be key to a successful transition.
        Depending on how it is done, decarbonising the space heating
        sector could turn out to be a blessing or a curse.

        Space heating accounts for a large share of total energy demand in
        Europe, at over 60% of total residential and almost one-third of total
        services sector energy use in 2020. In turn, space heating
        accounted for over half of CO 2 emissions in the residential and more
        than one-quarter in the services sector

        A substantive amount of housing is not efficient for substitution to heat pumps which require better property insulation.

        Due to their technical characteristics (higher efficiency with lower
        heat generation), heat pumps are best suited for well-insulated
        buildings. However, many existing buildings in Europe were built
        without significant energy efficiency requirements in place. Various
        studies show that the current building envelope renovation rate of
        1.3% (with below 1% primary energy reduction) must be expanded
        to 2% to 4% to reach long-term decarbonisation targets.

        So there is a need for both increased renewable,greater energy savings,more housing efficiency,a higher rate for energy subsidy for voters, (Germany will need to triple from 43b Euro last year) all funded by debt.

        • pat 4.1.1.1

          The most critical thing needed is the one thing we cannot produce or modify….time

          • Poission 4.1.1.1.1

            Time is relevant,it seems more imperative to the on demand generation with short term goals,rather then those who see the same errors being repeated eg.Boom-bust-boom rinse repeat.

            • pat 4.1.1.1.1.1

              They thought they had tamed the business cycle…they only delayed it and increased its intensity.

              • Poission

                Whilst trying to overt a business downturn following covid,they increased the risk of sensitivity to shocks (where all contractions of the same sign ) return to a nearby position (hookes law of elasticity) Housing intervention by the government being a good example,of wanting to sustain high costs.

                In the energy sector we have 2 distinct areas,liquid (mostly for transportation) and energy for production and electrical generation .Looking at the electricity sector which is not at risk from overseas supply shocks it has been significantly stable over the last decade.

                2010 Generation 43540 gwh

                2021 Generation 43112 gwh

                The change in the generation mix has been a substitution from gas to wind and geothermal and renewables from 74.3-82%

                Consumption has decreased in Agriculture and manufacturing, and increased in commercial and residential.

                Generation loss has increased in HCDC (1.3 %) and decreased in local distribution by 4.6% (mostly due to solar and substation upgrades) the savings in local distribution loss are around 200 gwh.

                • pat

                  Electricity consumption has decreased from Ag?…that is a surprise…over what period?

                  • Poission

                    Peaked 2015,lots of efficiency gains have been introduced (as have manufacturing)

                    • pat

                      Would have picked a later peak than 2015…maybe 2017/18 for dairy conversions, which are energy intensive….but then there was a bit of back peddling around then.

                    • Poission

                      Irrigation is the big user there ,but seasonal,and during winter the use in some areas is for winter hydro (rakaia)

                      Agriculture (and processing) is seasonal dependent which frees up a lot of energy capacity for domestic and service heating etc,without a large demand (and price) spike.

                      A lot of the conversions had new technology upgrades( chilling etc) which would have reduced the unit volume use.

                    • pat

                      There is another (potentially) significant factor to be considered with dairy conversions…housing. The labour units on dairy are considerably higher than the previous activities and most is resident…there is also a considerable increase in support activity facilitated by the increased farm revenue.

                    • Poission

                      True.Increased rural population growth is a big issue with demand forecasting in rural/provincial centres.

                      A good example was the under investment in Southland hospital build which was designed with a population decrease forecast.

                      The subsequent job/and hence population demand was inverse to the forecast hence the hospital was undersized and underfunded from completion.

        • Incognito 4.1.1.2

          Where is your link?

    • Bearded Git 4.2

      Los españoles tienen que luchar su esquina.

      • Chris 4.2.1

        Sí, eso es cierto, pero ningún país es una isla en todos los sentidos.

        • Bearded Git 4.2.1.1

          Cierto. Hablas muy bien senor.

          • Chris 4.2.1.1.1

            Gracias, pero debo admitir que mi español es pobre y he usado un traductor en línea para responder a sus comentarios, incluido este. Entonces, a eso, debo decir que es probable que tu español sea mucho más avanzado que el mío.

  5. weka 5

    Very good Ad.

  6. RedLogix 6

    Ad

    Good post mate. Your final sentence nails it. As far as transport fuels are concerned NZ is at the long thin end of a supply chain starting in the Persian Gulf. There are so many things that could go wrong with this it is hard to know where to start.

    The problem is far too many people thinking that sooner or later the conditions of 2019 will return and security of supply will be 'normal' again. Well that is not going to happen – that world is gone and not coming back anytime soon.

    • Ad 6.1

      Thanks it was Poisson and a couple of others yesterday who provoked me out of quick sentences into actual writing.

      Dr Turner is an old crustie with a singular focus on his pumped hydro scheme, but you've got to heed the old crusties.

      We seriously need historical memory in Wellington and in Canberra for energy futures right now.

      • Poission 6.1.1

        Transpower has to make a lot of assumptions with its demand forecast model,such as new demands from EV or data processing centres which change on the whim of a political initiative.

        EV (home charging) could change demand issues if they could be managed by the local distributer say,with overnight differential rates (similar to HW)

  7. RedLogix 7

    Speaking of climate change – as I type sitting here at home in Brisbane the weather is so cold, wet and miserable I have a hot water bottle under my jacket.

    Figure that!

  8. Maurice 8

    "at the long thin end of a supply chain starting in the Persian Gulf"

    A considerable proportion of our transport fuel comes via Singapore, Japan and Korea and some of that supply chain still starts in ……. Russia (surprise!).

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128409194/russian-oil-could-still-be-finding-its-way-to-nz-in-imported-petrol-and-diesel

    "The switch away from importing and refining crude oil appears to have complicated the task of ensuring the supply chain is clean of Russian oil."

    “As refineries source their crude from a number of different markets, the Government has limited visibility of all the inputs in the finished refined product,” she said. (Megan Woods)

  9. Stuart Munro 9

    Although reversing the egregious theft of NZ's generation resources is long overdue, I'm not sure it's the best or fastest climate mitigation strategy.

    Planting redwoods or kauri promises to sequester carbon while producing a resource so valuable burning it is not on the radar. And kauri cope well with higher temperatures – brown coal remnants from Central Otago show the region was once heavily forested – with kauri.

    An even faster route (which I have advocated here before) is re-establishing our kelp forests. Grows incredibly fast. A keystone species that also enhances our chronically mismanaged and thus declining fisheries.

    Even Buddha advised tree planting. It doesn't require rare minerals, just space, and sometimes a little care.

  10. Christine Rose 10

    The trope that NZ farmer's are the most carbon efficient in the world is not accurate, and the DairyNZ research which that claim was based on has been updated, showing we are in the middle of the international pack. The original calculations also excluded process heat and transport.

    Also, the Netherland's livestock reductions aren't because of GHG emissions but because of nitrate pollution to waterways. There are real limits to intensive agriculture, and contaminated freshwater is a clear indicator – as New Zealanders should also be aware. These rules won't just affect the Netherlands either, but are EU wide and we will see more changes to come. We can't just keep pumping this toxic waste into the environment and think it's ok, because it's farmers.

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    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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 ...
    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
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    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
    17 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
    20 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
    20 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
    22 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

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