Guest Post: Methane and the beleaguered Farmer 

A guest post by Spartacus Stultus Clima Mutatio:

New Zealand Farmers will soon likely have to pay tax on the emissions their stock produce, in an effort to meet the reductions in green house gas emissions, that we promised under the Paris accord 2015. Just how imposing a tax reduces methane is difficult to understand, but here we are.

Cows and Sheep belch out a tiny amount of methane, as a bi product of their 4 stomachs breaking down grass and turning it into protein. 

Cows eat the equivalent of 10 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide every year* and expel 100kg of methane. Of the remaining carbon, about a quarter of it returns to the land as dung, and rest goes off the farm as animal growth, milk, meat, fibre and ultimately the carcass of the animal itself. 

It’s all part of the wonderful and infinitely complex circle of life.

According to scientists the 100kg of methane a cow passes every year is, molecule for molecule, about 30 times worse than CO2 so the cow expels the equivalent of 3 Tonnes of CO2

When you do the maths, cows take out the equivalent of about 6 tonnes of CO2 from the air every year

Let me put that to you again, cows are net sequesters of CO2.

None of this matters of course, scientists say that most of the CO2 Animals sequester ends up back in the atmosphere in no time and, anyway, it’s the methane that’s the problem. 

When I suggested to one scientist that it wasn’t fair to tax farmers on naturally occurring animal processes, he said “It’s not a matter of being fair, it’s that methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, so if we can decrease the amount we emit, then that’s a good thing”

Scientists, bless them, busy themselves with “the science”. They focus on the heat trapping potential of gases. They live in their heads, and don’t have a wider perspective on just how trivial the effects are. 

Intellectual incest, birthing retarded ideas. 

What scientists say is no doubt correct in as far as it goes, but they can never, of course, present the full picture of a wonderful and infinitely chaotic atmosphere.

Questions like how much of the carbon the cow or sheep ingests ends up in deep storage, is a question unable to be answered, because it’s just too complicated, but it’s not zero. Grazing land for example holds about 15 tonnes per ha more carbon than Cropping land, and about 10 tonnes more than forestry land. That report is here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00288233.2017.1284134

There is no definitive answer to the net impact that animal farming has on the atmosphere but the real-world effect on any animal emissions will be nothing. It’s like saying you increase a lake level when you piss in it. 

Objectively true, but also pathologically stupid.

This is the elemental fight in the climate change arena. the effects of the actions we are forced to take are vanishingly small but we are told; 

Every little bit counts 

We have to do our bit. 

We must pay for our privilege.

We are guilted, coerced and blackmailed precisely because we all want to do the right thing.

We buy electric cars, tilt at windmills, accept higher prices, put useless taxes on farmers, not so that the temperature will be cooler in a hundred years, It won’t. we do these things to show that we are “good people” 

And because our politicians have mindlessly signed supranational agreements that are equally flawed and meaningless, why?  Well because thousands of autistic scientists came to a consensus, 200 other countries signed it and well we don’t want to be the pariah.

And so here we are.

Here’s 4 other relevant facts around this;

  • The Paris accord specifically states (page 104, summary for policy makers) that efforts to reduce emissions should “not threaten food production.”
  • Methane degrades in the atmosphere, having a half-life of 10-12 years, CO2 lasts for hundreds of years
  • The latest IPCC report on page 1016, states that the currently used metric, denoting methane molecules being 28-30 times worse than CO2, overstates their warming potential by 3-4 times. 
  • Because of falling herd numbers, the total amount of methane in the worlds atmosphere due to NZ livestock has fallen by 12-15% since 1990

*(Cows eat about 5 tonnes of dry matter grass per year, half of which is carbon, that’s derived from CO2, that comes straight out of the atmosphere through the grass absorbing it via photosynthesis.

One tonne of elemental carbon makes 3.7 tonnes of CO2) 

Indigenous government

Grant Duncan writes:

Te Pāti Māori have a policy to “establish a Māori Parliament”. According to the NZ Election Study 2020, however, the proposal for a Māori upper house of parliament is only supported by a minority of Māori, let alone others.*

This made me look up the data from the 2020 NZES. Net support for a Maori Upper House is:

  • All -19%
  • Labour -16%
  • National -64%
  • Greens +10%
  • NZ First -12%
  • ACT -41%
  • TPM +42%
  • Men -38%
  • Women -6%
  • Non-Maori -25%
  • Maori Ethnicity -18%

So opposition to a Maori Upper House wasn;t massively different between Maori and Non-Maori. Basically it is favoured by 2020 Green and TPM voters and opposed by all others. Also a large gender difference.

It is a useful reminder that TPM’s views are not shared by most or all Maori. Here is the net favourability of certain politicians by Maori in 2020:

  • John Tamihere -23%
  • Debbie Ngarewa-Packer -15%

So significantly more Maori in 2020 had a negative view of Tamihere and Ngarewa-Packer than a favourable view.

What legislative powers would a new upper house possess, though? Would it amend, review or veto bills? What method of representation would it use?

I actually could be persuaded to support a Māori Upper House so long as its powers were constitutionally limited to a power to scrutinise, inquire, propose amendments and delay (say up to six months) bills. It is not uncommon for upper houses to not be as democratic as lower houses. The UK House of Lords is a prime example. The former NZ Legislative Chamber. The Australian and US Senates vastly favour smaller states etc.

As I say, the democratically elected lower house would need to be constitutionally supreme and able to progress laws, even when the upper house disagreed. But I could see an upper house of say 30 Maori MPs elected through proportional representation as being a way for there to be democratic Treaty partner for the Crown. In return the Maori seats would go from the lower House.

Based on an exit poll analysis of the 2023 election, a Maori Upper House would have:

  • Labour 14
  • TPM 7
  • National 3
  • Greens 3
  • NZ First 1
  • ALCP 1
  • NZ Loyal 1

And in 2017 it would have been:

  • Labour 16
  • National 5
  • NZ First 4
  • TPM 2
  • Greens 2
  • TOP 1

Or there’s the model of devolved parliaments, as in the UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales), or the Sami parliaments in Scandinavia, for example Norway’s. Such subordinate parliaments are delegated with wide-ranging but constitutionally limited powers.

The UK model can’t work in NZ. A key thing people often miss is that the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments have a geographical basis, not an ethnic basis. The Scottish Parliament passes laws for everyone living on Scotland, including English. And they have no reach over a Scots living in England.

Maori in NZ do not live in one territory. There are no reservations like in the US or Australia.

The parties opposing Seymour’s bill have not (yet) produced an alternative draft bill, even though principles of te Tiriti have been developed by the courts. Why not try to codify in statute the judicial opinions that they want to uphold? Are they afraid that this would expose those “principles” to public scrutiny and possible defeat?

I strongly agree here. If you don’t like the principles in the Seymour bill, then propose amendments. I would much rather have a parliamentary definition of the principles (even ones I don’t fully agree with) than having decades more of lawsuits and judicial evolution of the principles. Certainty is beneficial.

Ending Assad’s rule is good, but the replacement may be worse

It looks like the Assad regime which has ruled Syria since 1971 may be about to crumble. The Civil War started 13 years ago but was thought to be at a stalemate, but suddenly two major cities have fallen, and opposition forces are approach Damascus. The fact Iran and Russia have started to evacuate their people is very significant. With Iran extended due to the conflict with Israel through their proxies and Russia extended with their invasion of Ukraine, neither country is able to prop up Assas as strongly as they did a decade ago.

Different parts of the country are held by different military groups and it is far from certain that conflict will stop, if Assad is toppled. Syria could split up, or it could become a failed state, a terrorist haven, or most optimistically a federal state with semi-autonomous regions.

The major armed groups are.

  • Syrian Armed Forces. Offical Armed Forces. Backed by Iran, Russia, Hezbollah
  • Free Syrian Army. Big-tent grouping led by defectors. Backed by US, UK, Turkey
  • Syrian National Army. Backed by Turkey
  • Syrian Democratic Forces. Mainly Kurdish. Backed by US, UK. Opposed by Turkey
  • Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham. Sunni Islamist. Backed by Turkey. Opposed by US. Associated with Al-Qaeda until 2017. They are the group that has captured two cities.

If you were to score than on a 0 to 10 scale of bad to good, then I’d give them:

  • Syrian Armed Forces. 1/10
  • Free Syrian Army. 6/10
  • Syrian National Army. 3/10
  • Syrian Democratic Forces. 7/10
  • Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham. 2/10

If Assad falls, that is a big black eye for Putin, Iran and Hezbollah. Syria has been a vital hub for them. So geopolitically his fall is a good thing. But for people living in Syria, it will not be clear for sometime if things will improve for them.

UK votes for assisted dying bill to continue

The Guardian reports:

MPs have taken a historic step toward legalising assisted dying in Englandand Wales by backing a bill that would give some terminally ill people the right to end their own lives.

Campaigners in favour of the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill said it was a significant move towards giving people more choice over the way they die, after the Commons backed the bill by 330 votes for to 275 against.

Brought by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, the bill would give terminally ill adults with less than six months to live the right to die once the request has been signed off by two doctors and a high court judge.

Sounds similar to the NZ law.

The vote, which is the first on the issue for almost a decade, split the political parties and the cabinet. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves voted in favour alongside prominent opposition MPs such as Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt. Those voting against included Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister; Wes Streeting, the health secretary; Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader; and Nigel Farage, the Reform leader.

The vote by party was:

  • Labour 236:148
  • Conservatives 23:93
  • Lib Dems 63:11
  • Reform 3:2
  • Greens 4:0

A recent poll found support for the law by how people voted earlier this year was:

  • Labour 77%:10%
  • Conservative 72%: 16%
  • Lib Dems 80%:10%
  • Reform 68%:19%

Albanese defeated on censorship bill

Sky News reports:

Sky News has revealed the Albanese government will dump its misinformation and disinformation bill in response to overwhelming opposition in the Senate.

Political Editor Andrew Clennell broke the news on Sunday Agenda after it had become clear the Coalition, Greens and crossbench all opposed the legislation.

The proposed laws, which threatened online platforms with fines of up to 5 per cent of their annual revenue for failing to curb misinformation, had sparked fierce opposition.

Governments view misinformation as being things they disagree with.

Left governments always seem keen to ban things they deem as misinformation, but they would not like it if right governments did the same. Imagine if governments forced social media companies to ban any posts that asserted communism was beneficial, on the basis that it is clearly factually incorrect and hence misinformation.

The antidote to bad or misleading speech is more speech, not less speech.

The worst and best ads

This ad has been widely mocked by, well, everyone. It fails to mention or show the product even once.

This ad had a huge spend behind it – which only happens if polling ands focus group data shows it is effective in shifting votes. The power of it isn’t so much the merits of the actual issue, but the sentiment that Harris was focused on fringe issues, rather than issues which affect the vast majority of voters.

Going back to car ads, this one by Volvo is very good:

The so called Climate Change Performance Index

There was a lot of media coverage of the release by the CCPI that NZ had dropped from 34th to 41st place. But many may be unaware that the ratings are highly subjective – basically the views of the activist organisations that make up the organisation. To show how willy their ratings are, I’ll show you their current rankings and compare them to the growth in net emissions since 1990:

  • 10th India +305%
  • 17th EU -38%
  • 20th Egypt +253%
  • 41st NZ +39%
  • 55th China +257%
  • 57th US -7%
  • 62nd Canada -9%

So India with emissions growth of 305 is higher than the EU which has shrunk emissions 38%.

NZ with 39% growth is below Egypt with 253% growth.

The US and Canada which have reduced emissions is below China with 257% emissions growth.

So maybe let’s not take the ratings as anything more than opinions, not data.

Guest Post: Abraham Lincoln and the Treaty of Waitangi

A guest post by Peter Lynn:

In 2005 I went on a pilgrimage with a group of Americans to Gettysburg, site of the pivotal battle of the American Civil War.  At the climax of our visit, I was the only person willing to attempt Lincoln’s address.  It was rendered in a kiwi accent with quite a bit of fudging but to sustained applause- very polite people Americans.

  Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal—–” 

 “All men are created equal” is wrong of course, we are born differently abled and into different circumstances- and what about women?  But at that time, it was a resounding affirmation of equality before the law and a shining beacon for enlightened government everywhere.

And then Lincoln (and I) continued: Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.

The founding document for NZ is not a remarkable statement of the principles of good government like the 1776 American Declaration of Independence but the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown, and 500 something Māori chiefs.  

We call it a treaty, but strictly it isn’t, treaties can only be between sovereign countries and New Zealand in 1840 was a collection of warring Māori tribes plus a few European settlers.  It’s an agreement or contract. 

From 1800, guns brought in by traders, sealers and whalers were used by Māori to settle old scores and take territory in what is now called the Musket Wars (1818 to 1840).  Perhaps 20,000 from a population of 100,000 died and Māori pressured the British to take control and protect them- as did the few European settlers and traders established by this time. 

The British were very reluctant, foreseeing a lot of expense and very little thanks but finally asserted sovereignty in 1840 with the agreement of a majority of Māori chiefs (the Treaty of Waitangi).  This ended the Musket Wars.

Bringing Māori into the English law system was not complete until nearly 1900 and as European population increased, conflicts between settlers and Māori escalated.  By the time of the American Civil war, NZ was embroiled in the New Zealand Land Wars (1843 to 1872).

These were at the same time and had the same cause as the US army’s campaign to push Indians out of their hunting grounds in the American West.  At this post-enlightenment stage of European expansion, settlers were attempting to behave legally and humanely- but often failed.  At least they were trying.

In previous eras, back to pre-history, the question of ‘rights’ did not occur to invaders- or to the invaded (who had likely been invaders last time around).  Rape, slaughter, pillage and genocide were routine- Genghis Khan’s expansion for example, and the Spanish conquest of the Americas.  Māori tribal wars were of this style well into the European era, with the Chatham Islands Moriori  (an isolated island tribe) being reduced from perhaps 2000 in 1835 to less than a hundred in 1860 by invading mainland tribes- New Zealand’s very own genocide.  

Inevitably, Māori could not prevail against British Imperial power and New Zealand then settled into a hundred years of rapidly increasing prosperity from the expansion of farming.  By 1950, New Zealand was in the top international rank by gdp/capita.

Māori were still relatively disadvantaged but had adapted at least as well as any colonised stone age culture.  Worryingly, they became reluctant to engage with education.  By the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi, pre-eminent Māori leader Sir Apirana Ngata proclaimed “Beware of separatism. The Māori can do anything the Pakeha can do but in order to achieve this we must all be New Zealanders first.”   On their return from WW2, the Māori battalion (volunteers, Māori were exempt from conscription) asked (paraphrasing): “Now have we earned the right to be New Zealanders?”

This was the high point.  By the 1970s, Māori separatism was on the rise again, driven by a deep sense of injustice:  In less than 100 years, they had lost most of their land, had their culture overturned, went from top of their heap to being at the bottom and had still not adapted adequately to the changing world. 

Recently, supported by Pakeha elites, for whom it has become a fashionable cause, Māori separatism has accelerated and at the fringes has become a Māori supremist movement.  This has been abetted by an activist judiciary: Justice Cooke’s 1987 “— akin to a partnership” has since been strengthened to an actual partnership, permeated NZ institutions and seeped into statutes.

Separatism has of course been passionately embraced by tribal hierarchies whose status and power it massively boosts.  There is now an entrenched ‘Treaty Industry’ comprising individuals and entities who benefit from the extension of Māori privilege.

To sell this to the majority population, there has been extensive revision of our history.  Māori was not a written language until missionaries created dictionaries to aid with religious conversion.  Language drift, tribal variations in meaning and imperfect translation has provided ample scope for revisionists.  Also, some of the Māori signatories to the treaty couldn’t read (although Māori literacy was higher than for settlers at that time because of mission schools).  Spoken explanations were used to cover this- leading to disputes over what the signatories thought they were agreeing to.  

After the treaty was signed, Māori acted as though they had ceded sovereignty until quite recently, but revisionists now claim that Māori never did cede sovereignty.  In the ‘80’s and 90’s the treaty was pushed as a “living document” to justify interpretations that suited revisionists.  Curiously, now those changes are established, it is no longer a living document. 

But we don’t need to resolve these probably unresolvable questions to consider Lincoln’s question: ‘can a nation so conceived long endure’

For America the answer is yes- they have not only endured but have risen to world leadership.  The poorest state in the US is now more prosperous per capita than London, the richest district in England, the world’s super-power in 1863.

For New Zealand the answer is no it can’t.

Because the majority population is becoming increasingly resentful of special legal status based on ancestry.   For example, Māori have increasingly gained veto power over land and water use consents, enabling them to demand koha (usually money) in return for not opposing applications.  To Māori this is seen as reasonable as it was their country before Europeans arrived.  They further justify their demands for special privilege by quoting Māori’s worse economic and health stats- and are not at all interested in discussing the cultural and lifestyle choices underlying these. 

But no country that is ruled by a racial, religious or cultural minority. has ever survived for long.  South Africa didn’t, Rhodesia didn’t, Rwanda didn’t (> 500,000 dead), Iraq didn’t (failed state).  Not even the French could- their aristocratic elite met Monsieur Guillotine and weren’t even of different ethnicity or religion. 

Nothing riles people more than others getting preferential treatment.  For how much longer will the Asian immigrant population (18% and rising) accept inferior status?  Resentment is especially sharp when the group claiming superiority set themselves apart- as Māori are doing with their overt adoption of retro cultural markers.

It might take a while here, perhaps even a few generations, but sooner or later every minority group that puts itself above others pays the price.

Can the special legal status Māori have acquired through judicial activism and 30 years of appeasement (which always just invites further demands) be stripped away without violence?  Jenny Shipley says there’ll be a civil war if Māori aren’t further elevated but this will be as nothing to what will happen when the majority population rises up. 

Equality before the law is not just desirable, it’s a necessity- as Abraham (yes, he was Jewish) Lincoln knew back in 1863 but NZ’s tribal leaders, Pakeha elites and appeasers in the major parties seem not yet to have grasped. 

Abuse of HDCA

The FSU report:

Portia is a Kiwi journalist who has worked on some of NZ’s most challenging investigative news stories. Portia and her family enthusiastically embraced the many freedoms of a democratic society when they emigrated here from China over two decades ago. …

The complainant, a man running in local body elections in Howick, East Auckland (and someone Portia had investigated back in 2019) had been repeatedly attacking Portia on a Chinese chat forum for her involvement in the Stuff documentary.

For a time, she ignored the man’s many derogatory articles and posts about her. But when he accused the NZ Government of being a “lackey to the United States”, Portia decided she’d had enough and retorted that in fact it was he who was being a “lackey” for the CCP.

The literal translation of the specific Chinese insult they both used for each other is “running dog”, or someone blindly loyal who does another’s bidding.

According to the complainant in his affidavit to the Court, receiving this label in a chat forum had caused him “serious emotional distress”. He requested the Court defend his honour, citing the Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA).

Portia was, therefore, barred under the HDCA from engaging in criticism of the complainant. This ban also extends to Portia encouraging anyone else to criticise the man. Violation of the order will result in a fine of anything between $5,000 and $20,000. Yes, this is happening in New Zealand, not China. 

You’re probably wondering what Portia said in her defence? Surely no NZ judge would take the complainant’s claims seriously?

Think again.

Not only did the judge decide in favour of the complainant, but Portia wasn’t even able to give a defence. 

Why?

Because Portia was never notified by the Court about the case in the first place!

This is why I had misgivings about the HDCA. We did need a law to protect people against online harm, but it should be for serious cases of abuse – not a trivial insult (in response to her being insulted). It is bad enough an order was made, but worse that it was made without notification and even worse to prevent a journalist from criticising a candidate for political office.

The surge in doctors leaving

An interesting OIA response which details how many RMOs (junior hospital doctors) who left the NZ health system every year:

  • 18/19: 55
  • 19/20: 85
  • 20/21: 76
  • 21/22: 121
  • 22/23: 266

This is part of the reason the health system is now under such strain – the huge exodus of doctors from 2021 to 2023. It may not be coincidence that this was the period of Labour’s mega-merger health reforms.

Sensible changes proposed to End of Life law

The Herald reports:

Among the areas it identified for improvement was a rule that said any discussion of assisted dying had to be initiated by the patient.

The rule was made out of concern a patient might feel pressured to consider assisted dying if it was suggested by a doctor. The ministry, however, said it was contrary to health consumer rights and was creating a significant barrier to access for some people.

“I cannot get my head around why your GP who’s in charge of palliative care, or oncologist — why no one is able to bring up or give information about this,” a family member of a patient who had an assisted death told the ministry during the review.

“Giving information is very different to recommending it. It seems so strange and weird it’s not allowed.”

Seems a sensible change.

The ministry also recommended more powers for the End of Life Review Committee, which is tasked with ensuring each assisted death complied with the law.

It said the committee should be able to access a broader range of information and be able to raise any concerning cases with relevant authorities.

The Herald reported last month that two former members of the committee felt the oversight process was so inadequate they would not have known if someone had died wrongly.

One of those members, palliative care specialist Dr Jane Greville, said she was “very pleased” with the ministry’s proposals, which if adopted would ensure the committee could appropriately review assisted deaths and make the law safer for doctors and patients.

I think this is critically important. I support the law, but it is a law that needs extensive safeguards, and it was concerning that the existing review committee felt constrained.

TEU thinks competition is the biggest threat to academic freedom

The TEU recently had a conference on academic freedom. I found this amusing as one of the biggest enemies of academic freedom is the TEU. There have been numerous stories of academics who have faced sanction for saying something which upset someone, and the TEU has refused to defend the academics. In fact sometimes the TEU even joins the with count against the heretics.

So what did the TEU decide was the true threats to academic freedom:

Presidents of NZTEU, Dr Julie Douglas, and NTEU, Dr Allison Barnes talked about academic freedom as a union issue and resisting the growing constraints on academic freedom brought about by the financialization of tertiary education institutions and the pressures of market competition.

So the problem isn’t lecturers being too scared to say what they think due to woke lymch mobs. It is market competition. Equally sad and hilarious.

The conference also addressed proposals from Act Party leader David Seymour to amend the Education and Training Act to require universities to adopt “Free Speech Policies.” However, Professor Giselle Byrnes from Massey University dismissed the need for such changes, pointing out that free speech is already protected under existing law. 

So the TEU is against actually requiring the universities to meaningfully protect free speech on campuses. Yes it is already in the law, but with no ability to be enforced. The law change will require universities to actually measure and report on free speech on their campuses – something that everyone should want.

Progressive Yale students jealous of conservative peers

Publius writes:

We exist in a very progressive space. In a survey of our peers, the Yale Daily News found in October that 82 percent of respondents intended to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket. The divide is larger among the faculty: 98.4 percent of professors’ political contributions went to Democratic-affiliated entities in 2023. 

Wonder what the stats would be in NZ?

Meanwhile, conservatives are confined to a glum minority. We hear often about how they have it tough, facing ostracization, mockery, and pressure to conform. There may be some truth to this, but we don’t pity our conservative peers. 

In fact, we envy them. 

While liberal students are cushioned by a sense of majority, conservatives must grapple constantly with difficult questions. They are forced to interrogate their own beliefs in ways their liberal peers need not. It’s challenging, but it cultivates resilience, critical reflection, and the capacity to find community amid disagreement.

At Yale, conservatives are forced to square their opinions with the progressive supermajority. They emerge from college better versed in left-wing ideas than when they entered

This is an interesting take – that being a small minority politically on campus, actually strengthens your ability to reason.

In Yale classrooms, sweeping statements like “healthcare is a human right” are unlikely to provoke debate. Liberal students can get away with the minimal nuance that accompanies these slogans because their arguments fall within our school’s political orthodoxy. Our conservative peers are not afforded the same argumentative safety net. In anticipation of left-wing pushback, they must frame their contentions precisely and gracefully. This pressure to defend unpopular ideas is a catalyst for intellectual growth.

I suspect this is true in NZ also. If a student said that the Treaty is partnership that requires the university to be Treaty-led, there would be almost no pushback. But if a student argued the Treaty only imposes obligations on the Crown, they would have to defend their position vigorously (or sadly be cancelled and smeared as a racist).

Snobbery

Stuff reports:

Moral and health-related objections to fast food should not be considered in a hearing for a proposed Wānaka McDonald’s, the company claims.

Neither was the perception of McDonald’s as a large corporate that should not be allowed to exist, legal representative Jeremy Brabant said at the resource consent hearing which opened on Monday.

“The type and nature of the restaurant … is not a relevant consideration.”

While the proposal for the Wānaka restaurant drew an uproar in the small community and 339 people submitted in opposition to the plans, only six turned up to see the company argue its case, on Monday.

The company is entirely correct. The vast majority of the objections will be based on snobbery – that McDonalds is a venue for lower class people than the refined residents of Wanaka.

McDonald’s proposes building a single-storey 445m sq restaurant and drive-through at the Mt Iron Junction, at the intersection of SH6 and SH84.

This is what makes the objections particularly inane. The junction is around 3 kms out from the Wanaka township. I could semi-understand if it was proposed for the lakefront, but out at the junction is an excellent location.

There had been suggestions that the restaurant would be better placed in the Three Parks retail development but the rent at the suggested site was so exorbitant, the business would not be feasible, he said.

The Three Parks developer Willowbank was opposing the application, he said

McDonald’s was “not thrilled” to have received correspondence as recently as November 12 inviting them to call the Willowbank director and consider a new site if the application was unsuccessful.

A good law change would be to ban any competitor from objecting to a resource consent – or paying someone to object on their behalf.

Marsden Fund dewoked

Judith Collins announced:

The new Investment Plan focuses on supporting research that can be of economic, environmental or health benefit to New Zealand.  The new Terms of Reference outline that approximately 50 per cent of funds will go towards supporting proposals with economic benefits to New Zealand.

“The Marsden Fund will continue to support blue-skies research, the type that advances new ideas and encourages innovation and creativity and where the benefit may not be immediately apparent. It is important that we support new ideas which lead to developing new technologies and products, boosting economic growth, and enhancing New Zealand’s quality of life,” Ms Collins says. 

“The focus of the Fund will shift to core science, with the humanities and social sciences panels disbanded and no longer supported. Real impact on our economy will come from areas such as physics, chemistry, maths, engineering and biomedical sciences.

This is a great and badly needed decision. I have covered many times how a growing proportion of the Marsden Fund was going on identity politics research, wokeism and social sciences.

A focus on core science is desperately needed. Now we just need to make sure that those deciding on the applications are not the usual suspects.

The Government is also focusing the Catalyst Fund on “clear growth areas of quantum technology, health, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, space, and Antarctic research”

Sadly critical research such as disabled indigenous stories about climate change and decolonising ocean worlds from imperial borders will no longer get taxpayer funding – well not until the next Labour Government!

The Kiwirail black hole

Bronwyn Howell writes:

KiwiRail is a state-owned enterprise, and so by law its principal objective is “to operate as a successful business”.1 Success in the business world means that you provide something that your customers are willing to pay for, at a price for that exceeds your cost of production, leaving something to reward your owners/investors for the resources they have committed. 

Something all the other SOEs have managed.

That is a very powerful graph. In 16 years they have not managed to grow their revenue despite the economy as a while increasing 115%.

But they have taken is $12 billion from taxpayers which is around $6,000 per household.

From 2014 to 2017 taxpayer subsidies made up around 25% of Kiwirail cash, but since 2017 it has exploded to over 60%. And remember this is meant to be a commercial SOE, making money.

To put these figures in context, the $3bn of government funds that went into KiwiRail over the past two years could have paid for the Dunedin Hospital rebuild, which is at risk of being scaled back for affordability reasons.

A great reminder of opportunity cost.

Independent analysis shows that Interislander is a profitable business for KiwiRail. Interislander’s private-sector competitor, BlueBridge, certainly is. And I have no reason to believe that KiwiRail is not recovering its costs from Auckland Transport and Wellington Regional Council.5 So, the gap between revenues and costs would appear to be primarily attributable to KiwiRail’s freight services.

This is a fascinating aspect to the analysis. So we’ve put in $12 billion to help subsidise a freight service.

Maybe we should turn the Interislander into a standalone SOE, and sell the Auckland and Wellington train lines to the local operators.

A much quoted definition of insanity is “repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results”.6 Successive New Zealand governments have officially accepted arguments that KiwiRail is just one big subsidy cheque away from meeting its principle objective, to operate as a successful business. Sixteen years of financial accounts suggest otherwise.

If KiwiRail’s assets are still in poor condition, and its market share and commercial viability are in a worse state, then what has the government’s continuing investment in KiwiRail actually achieved?

I think it is high time we had a mature national conversation about KiwiRail.

Hard agree.

DPF away

For the next five days I’m away on a Disney cruise ship with my eight and five year old. Even better than the water slides, pools, shows, kids clubs, pirate parties, character meets etc is that there is little or no Internet or phone connectivity.

So basically I’m uncontactable until at least Monday.

I have timed posts to appear during my absence, but don’t expect breaking news to be covered.

The largest transfer of power back to the legislature in recent times

Thomas Coughlan writes:

The Government will shortly unveil its plan to give voters a choice on moving to a four-year Parliamentary term.

Act’s bill was first put up as a members’ bill in the last Parliament. That bill would not have automatically extended the maximum length of that term to four years. Instead, it would have given the Governor General the ability to extend the term from three years to four if control over Parliament’s select committees was effectively handed over to the Opposition, allowing a far greater deal of scrutiny of the Government.

The changes would only take effect if a majority of voters approved them in a referendum.  …

If approved at a referendum, the proposal could lead to the largest transfer of power back to the legislature in recent times, and would likely have flow-on effects on how Parliament functions and the type of candidates selected to be MPs.

I desperately want both these reforms to happen. Both could play a huge role in improving policy making in New Zealand.

The four year term is badly needed. Almost every other country has four or five years. Three years is simply not enough time to implement good policy, and see if it has worked before the next election. We almost always give a government a second term because we rightly think three years is not enough. With a four year term, I think we would see some bad governments lose office after just one term.

But also very important is the proposal to hand over control of the select committees to the opposition. This would allow far more rigorous questioning of Ministers and CEs, lead to more inquiries into important issues and generally improve golding the Government to account.

Sensible changes to Auckland Transport

The Browns announced:

The Government is restoring democratic accountability to transport decision-making in Auckland, ensuring voters can hold their elected representatives responsible for the city’s transport policies, Transport and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown, and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown say.

The changes are:

  • Transport policy and planning functions will move from Auckland Transport back to Auckland Council.
  • A new Auckland Regional Transport Committee will be formed to develop a 30-year Integrated Transport Plan for Auckland, to be agreed upon by both Cabinet and Auckland Council.
  • Designate Auckland Council as the Road Controlling Authority with decision-making shared between the Governing Body and Local Boards. 
  • Auckland Council will retain a transport council-controlled organisation focused solely on delivering transport projects and services.

These are all good changes, but worth also reading this column by Steven Joyce who points out that the lack of political will at Auckland Council is key. Once control passes more fully to them, the Council needs to do its job.

Are protection orders worth anything?

The Spinoff has an article by Zeni Gibson which details eight years of harassment by a man called Greg. Her suffering has been appalling, and hey tormenter has made a mockery of the law that should be protecting her.

I can’t even summarise all the multiple failings, but it sadly doesn’t surprise me. There have been so many cases where protection orders are basically worthless.

I think we need a massive law change, where breaches of protection orders (after a threshold) just get you automatic jail time. I would advocate something along the lines of:

  • 1st breach – Police contact offender within 24 hours to warn them they have broken the order and are facing arrest
  • 2nd breach – Police arrest offender, process them, and schedule a court hearing
  • 3rd breach – Police arrest offender, a dedicated court hears case within 24 hours, and automatic 48 hour jail sentence
  • 4th breach – automatic 96 hour jail sentence
  • 6th breach – one week etc etc

No one should have to go through what Zeni Gibson did. If she is assaulted or killed by her harasser this will be a preventable crime. It is not good enough.