Open mike 13/11/2022

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80 comments on “Open mike 13/11/2022”

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  1. 1

    I'm not really a rugby fan (or indeed, sports in general) – but from all accounts that was an outstanding win for the Black Ferns in the Women's Rugby World Cup last night.
    Family and friends who had tickets are raving about the game – a nail-biter to the finish – and where both sides played their hearts out.

    1. 1.1

      It was a terrific game the woman play at pace and arnt constantly fouling so the games frantic.

      That said if England hadn't of had a player red carded early thay would have wiped the floor with our wahine

      1. 1.1.1

        Correct. NZ would probably have lost to a full strength English side. The same goes for their game against France in the semis. A couple of fortuitous calls saw them progress to the finals. That said, luck is always in play regardless of the sport. And lady luck smiled benevolently on our ladies last night. I think to be competitive in the future we will need a new generation of faster and stronger forwards. Women’s rugby is now hardcore. With that goes higher expectations.

          1. 1.1.1.1.1

            Yes, but … they are two dimensional. A dominant forward pack and a very good backline. But they lack the link play that comes with more mobile loose forwards, thus can be taken in a faster pace game. It was a little hidden because they were the first team to go professional and thus were fit. But now France and New Zealand have their measure (as will a professional Canada). They will not get to 30 games again.

          2. 1.1.1.1.2

            Apparently the physical stats of rugby players is important. That's why they are often quoted in media coverage. That's why the pro rugby sites usually carry stats of players on their roster.

            Why should the weight of male players be available and the females ones not?

      1. 1.2.1

        Sanctuary, agreed Tiu is a great motivator. Her final "Let's do this" along with the singalong with the crowd Just wonderful.

        1. 1.2.1.1

          True – however one does have to be careful with celebrity sportspeople. I was one of a busload of Labour people who went down to Wellington to canvass for Chris Laidlaw in the Wellington Central by-election, He won, but by the time the General election rolled around he had alienated almost everyone on his LEC and the Nats put up a smart, liberal woman who ran a good campaign and won the seat. He does seem to have learned from that and has prevailed on the Regional Council, but I have been cautious of the "celebrity" factor ever since.

          God on Ruby though for the "lets do this" .

          1. 1.2.1.1.1

            Laidlaw fell out with the public over a reorganisation of the Wellington bus services while head of the WRC and quit at the 2019 election. He wasn't the favourite Local Body politician in Wellington after the "bustastrophe" as it was labelled.

  2. 2

    I have a feeling that Transport Minister Michael Wood is going to make more waves and not just in the Waitematā Harbour.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/300737617/aucklanders-to-have-their-say-on-harbour-crossing-options-including-a-tunnel

    Not a peep about Mr Brown and Auckland Council.

    Edit:

    … new online survey created as part of Auckland Council’s investigation into future options for people wanting to drive, walk, cycle, transport freight, take the bus or travel by light rail across the Waitematā Harbour. [my italics]

    1. 2.1

      A swipe at new Mayor, populist Wayne Brown who has been trashing the government at every opportunity for some sort of irrational revenge?

        1. 2.1.1.1

          Any big project like that is always a partnership of some sort between central and local govt. Brown's recent desperate chestbeating is too insignificant to shape the ongoing governance of the project. The Minister knows that.

      2. 2.1.2

        They were promoting this down at Smales Farm markets this morning Michael Wood was in attendance with young son.

        How many years have governments/councils been talking about an additional harbour crossing and what have seen apart from untold millions spent on consultants ….. nada.

        1. 2.1.2.1

          Mt Cook Salmon's construction crew would have a walking cycling bridge across that harbour in six weeks or less – for less than $500k. Folk who get things done.

      3. 2.1.3

        Mr Brown seems quite happy:

        "Wayne Brown is pleased the Government is asking Aucklanders for their opinion on the Waitematā Harbour crossing. Following the announcement, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said he is "encouraged" by the Government's decision to seek feedback from Aucklanders on the future crossing. While a third crossing is decades away, with Brown noting the infrastructure is not his priority due to the "public-transport crisis", he said he's pleased the Government is asking Aucklanders for their opinion. "I'm pleased to see Wellington asking Aucklanders what we want in our city rather than the old practice of Wellington imposing its preferred solutions on us," Brown said. "It's the change Aucklanders told me they wanted in the election campaign, which I emphasised to Minister Wood in our recent meeting. He seems to be responding positively." Brown is urging as many Aucklanders as possible to give constructive feedback. "If Wellington finally has the courtesy to genuinely ask Aucklanders what we think, then as many Aucklanders as possible should have the courtesy to share our thoughts at central government's website, or by attending one of the public meetings," he said. "I will certainly be doing so as a private citizen. As Aucklanders, we must then hold Wellington to account by ensuring it listens to what we say and acts upon it over the decades ahead."

    2. 2.2

      NZTA have designed and modelled the tunnel for over a decade now. It's a well rehearsed and quite detailed concept, waiting to go to market.

      The Minister isn't promoting authentic public decisionmaking.

      And Auckland Council once the CRL debt bomb truly lands are just financially fucked and don't have any say in the outcome either.

      1. 2.2.1

        Thanks for that useful feedback.

        What is the point of that survey?

        When do you think it will go to market? Now seems the wrong time, economically/financially.

        Will it need overseas investment and literal buy-in? If yes, where does that come from?

        1. 2.2.1.1

          What is the point of the survey indeed. Mayor Brown will have no say in it other than probably to oppose it in the RLTP due to the massive knock-on spending the tunnel will require of AC in consequent local road and utilities upgrades.

          If Labour get back in they will accelerate light rail and make harbour crossing the second cab off the rank.

          If National gets it light rail is dead and harbour crossing gets accelerated.

          Both jobs require international conglomerates to construct and likely to fund.

      2. 2.2.2

        Renegotiating the central/local share of the CRL (50/50) to be more like the Let's Get Wellington Moving programme (60/40) would give the Minister more leverage over other projects like this third harbour crossing.

        2. 2.2.2.2

          CRL has not released the updated costs of the project to the council or the share holding ministers,the release was delayed till after the elections,and further delays to increases in the cost of money.

          Treasury projections (risk models) have increased the cost to over 6b$,which Labour will not want on its balance sheet prior to the elections,along with problematic issues on the length of the debt bonds and cost.

            1. 2.2.2.2.2.1

              CRL is the problem at the moment with the information constraints.The Treasury financial models for the project includes cost to date,additional work signaled including financials to date (borrowing costs)

              The problematic issue is where the costs will lie,fully on the government books,with dual problems from Housing corp ( debt blowout and value depreciation).When AT gets the hit ,it is ACC that sees the full debt costings on their books,over 11.5b$ now and increasing as bonds roll over without additional spending.

              1. 2.2.2.2.2.1.1

                Let's see if Mayor Brown can prize open the books of our biggest alliance. Crown still has 51% but much of the asset falls into Auckland Council so the liability is also going to be theirs. I expect this is the very last time Auckland Council does this kind of partnership.

                1. 2.2.2.2.2.1.1.1

                  The Auditor generals report did little to provide confidence in that,despite saying nice things about no things with the significant co governance issues.

                  3.61
                  CRL Ltd is currently assessing the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on the CRL project's time frame and costs. CRL Ltd has publicly advised that it has a pending claim for additional costs from the Link Alliance for matters related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The claim covers the period from 20 June 2020 to 31 December 2021.

                  The CRL Ltd Board is accountable for successfully completing the CRL project. However, it does not have authority over all the work needed to achieve this, such as the wider network improvements that Auckland Transport and KiwiRail are responsible for.

                  In 2019, the Delivery Partner Steering Committee was set up. The Committee is a forum for senior managers from five agencies to co-ordinate the works that the delivery partners (CRL Ltd, Auckland Transport, and KiwiRail) need to complete for the rail system to operate effectively on opening day.

                  However, I am not yet satisfied that there is an effective forum for the delivery partners' governing Boards to resolve issues that the Delivery Partners Steering Committee cannot.

                  In my view, as the CRL project moves into its next phase, there needs to be effective and timely processes that enable the delivery partners' governing Boards to help with resolving problems and take the "best for Auckland" approach that the Sponsors require.

                  https://oag.parliament.nz/2022/city-rail-link/overview.htm

                  Significance suggests that the model does not work,with too many interacting agencies,with their own agendas (KPI controlled) , poor accounting both from the Alliance and from the agencies

  5. 5

    Reply to Observer from their comment in ''Equality For The Black Ferns'':

    No, we aren't in a better place. Much of this brave new world has a ''forced'' feel about it; egged on by wokey media. Under the surface hate and mistrust boils. That's my opinion. The upcoming election will prove me either right or wrong.

    Talking of war, the Taiwanese people are facing the reality of having to fight for their homeland and democracy. We shit over our democracy; both in the past and present. Taiwan holds their democracy dear. They only have to look across the straight to see how a country devoid of democracy functions. We have no such template making us ruminate and appreciate what we have, and what we potentially may lose.

  6. 6

    I know there is no such things as a free lunch but two free wind turbines?

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/130451387/wind-turbines-rejection-lost-opportunity-for-island

    This seems an unbelievable and utterly 'cutting one's nose off to spite ones face' move. Mind you in the South where sheepdogs decked in blue ribbons sit on mailboxes getting all the votes, the home of Groundswell and the lovely placards, it is not perhaps all that amazing.

    Until we see the SDC report I guess we won't know what else, other than pure politics, is behind this rejection. It seems fiendishly short sighted to me.

    2. 6.2

      I don't have enough information to form an opinion. I doubt the turbines were rejected for political reasons. So that would leave, for whatever reason, problems with the placement of these turbines. No big loss in my opinion. Having travelled in the Wairarapa recently and seen the visual pollution wind turbines have created, the Islanders may have dodged a bullet.

        1. 6.2.2.1

          It's that old conundrum, reality v blind faith.

          https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/renault-is-betting-the-market-for-gasoline-cars-will-continue-to-grow.html

          https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/india-sees-no-transition-away-coal-foreseeable-future-2022-11-09/

          Meanwhile in Aotearoa:

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/new-zealand-beef-and-lamb-among-the-most-carbon-efficient-in-world-research/QLNBGJHVWBER7AYFIFLUID5LWA/

          Will the government give our cocky’s a break?
          Hell, no. CC is their vanity project regardless of the cost to farmers and New Zealand.

          1. 6.2.2.1.1

            Most carbon efficient in the world doesn't mean shit if it's not reducing GHGs fast enough. Just because other countries are worse, doesn't mean NZ is good. Your argument is a form of climate denial.

            1. 6.2.2.1.1.1

              When it comes to farming, we have the one of the lowest emission rates in the world. The law of diminishing returns has come into effect. If calling out the stupidity and blinkered reality this government promotes then I'd rather be a denier than a fool.

              BTW – looking forward to people trying to charge their EVs with public charging stations over the Xmas break. Another example of a government jumping into something that feels good without considering the Infrastructural realities needed to support their vision.

              All this is so sad because with a little less ideology, and a little more fore thought, Labour could have gone into the upcoming election with a fighting chance to retain power.

              1. 6.2.2.1.1.1.1

                I'd rather be a denier than a fool.

                No need to choose wink

                A storm is coming — and it’s one that will drown out Groundswell's howl [25 July 2021]
                Farmers are among those most affected by the heat, fires and floods ramped up by anthropogenic climate change.

                BTW, with you on "a little less ideology". Selfishly, all that matters is the next 10 – 15 years; after that, improving soil fertility is all I'll be good for.

                The future of farming: how global crises are reshaping agriculture [9 Oct 2022]
                Like most who are experimenting with regenerative methods, Fiennes has sometimes experienced negative results due to the changes he made: “it’s a learning process”. The timing of planting and applying inputs and the vagaries of the weather are all crucial.

                Nevertheless, an increasing number of farmers are receptive to his message — especially once they can see that his farm makes profits. His second year of production at Holkham led to lower input costs as he allowed inefficient parts of the farm to revert to their natural state and increased biodiversity while productivity increased. “We’re in year three so we’ll have more data,” he says.

                Some of his conversations with growers through his speaking engagements around the country and visits by farming groups to Holkham have been difficult. But many are persuaded after he demonstrates what can be achieved with changes in farming methods.

                “It’s amazing how enthused they are,” he says. “The next food crisis, if we can have resilience through biodiversity and healthy soils, that will protect us from whatever comes next.”

                Comment: "People don't often think beyond today's meal…"

                "Secrets of the Soil Sociobiome" with Dr Christine Jones [30 March 2021]

                "Variety is the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor." – Cowper [1785]

                "Kiss the Ground" – "From Dirt to Soil"

              2. 6.2.2.1.1.1.2

                When it comes to farming, we have the one of the lowest emission rates in the world.

                I already explained that if the rest of the world isn't dropping GHGs fast, then NZ having 'one of the lowest' is a nonsense. Do you not understand the argument?

                1. 6.2.2.1.1.1.2.1

                  The question is – do you understand the argument? Your argument is based on some hypothetical future. My argument is based on the here and now. You do understand that if farming goes under, we go under?

                  1. 6.2.2.1.1.1.2.1.1

                    Farming isn't going to go under unless we get runaway climate change and can't grow enough reliable food. Mainstream organisations are talking about this already, we're in the beginning of climate crisis, it's not some vague thing in the future.

                    Industrial farming causes so many problems, not just climate. I support farmers being financially assisted to transition to sustainable ag. Those that cling to pollution/extraction models I have little sympathy for.

                    But anyway, I don't argue with climate deniers, because it's just a distraction from what needs to be done. Good to get up to speed with where you are at.

                    1. 6.2.2.1.1.1.2.1.1.1

                      From what I can see the present government has little time for farmers. If farmers weren't the mainstay of our economy, I believe this government would have stomped them into oblivion long ago.

                      Your second paragraph is what I have a problem with. You can barely disguise your anti-farming meme. If we follow your vein of thought we get the possibility of madness as this post from one, Tony Veitch, testifies to:

                      Quote:

                      ''Reducing the number of ruminants by at least three quarters.''

                      https://thestandard.org.nz/holy-sht-overshoot-dont-dither-do/#comment-1918741

                      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/sustainable-future/nz-absent-on-cop27-agriculture-day

                      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/sustainable-future/the-fixation-on-a-pms-cop-out

                    2. 6.2.2.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1

                      Your second paragraph is what I have a problem with. You can barely disguise your anti-farming meme.

                      Here’s what I said,

                      Industrial farming causes so many problems, not just climate. I support farmers being financially assisted to transition to sustainable ag. Those that cling to pollution/extraction models I have little sympathy for.

                      I didn’t diss farming, I dissed industrial farming. Can you not tell the difference? I’ve written about regenerative agriculture as well as the need to support farmers. I also said that I have littel sympathy for the farmers clinging to the pollution/extraction models as we transition. If you think that’s being anti-farming, then I can only assume that you think the pollution/extraction model should be valued and upheld. Which is frankly bizarre.

                    3. 6.2.2.1.1.1.2.1.1.2

                      I didn’t diss farming, I dissed industrial farming.

                      Yet industrial farming is what feeds 8 billion people. Pre-industrial agriculture absorbed at least 90% of all human labour, fed barely less than a billion people – and famines regularly stalked our history.

                      We might both agree the regenerative approach has many important and valuable ideas; but in reality the immense productivity of industrial farming cannot be unwound without incurring monstrous risks.

                      There are any number of good reasons why we would want to evolve our current agricultural systems but selling these ideas and methods to the people who matter – farmers – is careful patient work. And they are by definition careful patient people; which is exactly how we would want them to be.

        1. 6.2.3.1

          What can I say? Guilty as charged. Just imagine flying into Steward Island and having the captain say:

          ''Ladies and Gentleman, below are the two huge turbines that power all of Steward Islands energy needs. The locals call them Rangi and Sally. While they don't really blend in with the landscape, the locals say they have no fear of their Jacuzzis going cold. ''

    3. 6.3

      the most striking thing about that article is that it said this,

      However, just 16-months later, in March 2021, it was announced the wind turbine project had been scrapped after agreement could not be reached on a suitable location for the turbines.

      But didn't explain what the location issues were. I doubt it's a secret.

    2. 7.2

      Good stuff. Everyone thought that the Dems would be swept away these mid terms, but they pretty much held on in the face of the most right wing reactionary GOP in decades.

      They still have a mathematical chance of holding the House, but we will see how it goes.

  8. 8

    So a really interesting question for the United States – by proxy – winning the Ukraine war. When do we start admitting that the United States is not in the least bit declining, and is in fact reinforcing its primacy?

    For New Zealanders every time they bought a fridge, a car, a movie ticket, or a computer or radio for 100 years, we've joined the rest of most of the world living through an American era: dominated by US power, wealth, ideas, alliances, entertainment, capital, and more.

    But from Noam Chomsky to Chris Hedges, many have been prophesising that this long epoch had been drawing to a close. The old US-led world was giving way to some post-American, post-Western, postliberal anomie marked in no small part by the rise of China. Apparently the US was slowly losing its commanding position in the global distribution of power.

    Now check out the side-conversation of Biden and Xi at the G20 tomorrow. Biden will talk Russia, trade, and Taiwan from an entirely different position to 6 months ago. This time Biden brings a very strong hand:

    US weapons are defeating Russia and US weapons are in the hands of Taiwan.

    US has stopped all computer chips to China, required mass business withdrawals, and it is a further trade dagger straight at Xi that there is no ready answer for.

    US and EU sanctions are crippling Russia and we all know how Xi signed up to that eternal friendship.

    Sure they both have strong recent political mandates. Only one is in the ascendancy any more.

    It's a weird feeling for some I'm sure, but the US is head and shoulders the lead political power on this planet.

    1. 8.1

      It seems odd, that an old man like Biden should be the one to hold back the encroaching night. America has returned to its old role – helping defend against malign aggression. It likes to be popular – and Putin has thoroughly burned the goodwill once extended to him as the inheritor of the post-soviet mess.

      The extent of Russian media ops against the West has also been exposed. Some of their more aggressive projects – Trumpism, weaponized migration, and hackmail are facing a higher level of preparedness. Disinformation survives, for the moment, but the proximate demise of Murdoch may even see a resurgence of professional journalism. It would be nice to see.

  9. 9

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300736858/exhausted-and-demoralised-healthcare-workers-plead-for-help-amid-burnout-crisis

    Likely people on this site are sick of me posting about the Health work force crisis. Everyday our media are reporting on this. I think this not wanting to hear on this site is because in posting this stuff, it is a criticism of Labour.

    This is straight from the horses mouth i.e the health workers who sound like they are at breaking point.

  10. 10

    Cheers Ad.

    I have decided I will keep going. Even if people scroll past.

    Its a terrying situation.

    A plan to increase the workforce would have been my first job as Min of Health when Labour came into power. They had two years before covid. They knew about it then.

    As more staff burn out and student nurses think they don't really want to work in nursing this catastrophe will only get worse.

    1. 10.1

      And what is your solution Anker?

      Importing health care workers? – outcome: downward pressure on wages, and less job oppurtunities for NZ graduates..see below article from 2013, when National was in power and bringing in workers by the plane load:

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9110729/Graduates-frustrated-at-lack-of-jobs

      Or imposing US-style health care. Rationing demand by charging people. They tried that in 1993, it just led to people getting sicker, because they couldnt afford treatment.

      Andrew Little is the first health minister in decades that see the value of the public healthcare system.

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