GWPF Newsletter: After GWPF Complaint, Green Activists Withdraw Wind Energy Ads

In this newsletter:

1) Green Activists Withdraw Adverts Which Falsely Claim Price Of Wind Energy Has Fallen By 50%
Daily Mail, 27 December 2017
 
2) Global Temperature For November 2017 Continues Decline
GWPF Observatory, 24 December 2017

Karl du Fresne: Dominatrix vs dinosaur

Don Brash made two big mistakes recently.

The first was to think he could criticise a high-profile Radio New Zealand presenter on Facebook and get away with it. The second and much bigger mistake was to accept an invitation to explain himself on Kim Hill’s Saturday morning radio show.

Inevitably, Brash was savaged. It was as close as RNZ will ever get to blood sport as entertainment.

Viv Forbes: The Never-ending Battles of the Coral Sea

For at least 50 years Australian taxpayers and other innocents have supported a parasitic industry in academia, bureaucracy, law, media and the tax-exempt Green Alarm “Charities”, all studying, regulating, inspecting and writing about yet another “imminent threat to Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.”

It has become the never-ending battle of the Coral Sea.

The threats change, but there is always a doomsday forecast – Crown-of-Thorns, oil drilling, fishing, cane farming, coastal shipping, global warming, ocean acidity, coral bleaching, port dredging, chemical and fertiliser runoff, coal transport, river sediments, loss of world heritage status etc. Every recycled scare, magnified by the media and parroted by politicians, generates more income for the alarm industry, usually at the expense of taxpayers, consumers or local industries.

Dave Witherow: Jabberwocky

For more than a year our state broadcaster, Radio New Zealand, has concealed the fact that it is engaged in a campaign to “change the linguistic landscape”. This radical new mission was far from voluntary. It was imposed from above, forced upon a supine RNZ staff following amendments to the Maori Language Act in 2016.

Few New Zealanders were aware that one of their most trusted institutions had been so fundamentally subverted, and no-one at RNZ, it would seem, thought fit to tell them (or even, as many of us might have hoped - to protest). But no, they just quietly went along - some of them minimally and probably reluctantly, but others with servile enthusiasm.

Frank Newman: Investment analysis a waste of time?

Most property investors undertake some form of analysis before they make an investment decision.  They "Crunch the numbers" to forecast profit and in some cases they use quite sophisticated models to predict investment returns out some 10 years or so. 

This typically would involve estimating the future rental stream, expenses, interest rates, and a resale value of the property. The timing of those  future income steams and payments are then adjusted by what known as a discount rate to take account of the time value of money - because money in hand can be invested so net cash flow received sooner rather than later is worth more.

Gerry Eckhoff: Response to the Dave Witherow column in the Otago Daily Times

At first glance it would seem that the Otago Daily Times, Arthur Wellesley and the writer of a recent and contentious column in the ODT - Dave Witherow, do not have all that much in common. 

The connection is the famous statement of Arthur Wellesley - better known as the Duke of Wellington or the Iron Duke who famously said – “publish and be damned”. 

The Duke was alleged to be having an affair with a “scarlet women” and was subject to a blackmail attempt in return for their silence. The allegations were published. The Duke went on to become Prime Minister despite the English being scandalized.

GWPF Newsletter: EU Energy Ministers Back Coal & Wood Burning

Europe’s Great ‘Green’ Energy Swindle Exposed

In this newsletter:

1) Europe’s Great ‘Green’ Energy Swindle Exposed
Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, 19 December 2017 
 
2) EU Ministers Back Govt Subsidies For Coal-Fired Power Plants Until 2030
Platts, 19 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: New Study Finds Cosmic Rays-Climate Link

Scientists Find Missing Link Between Exploding Stars, Clouds, And Climate On Earth

In this newsletter:

1) New Study: Cosmic Rays, Solar Activity Have Much Greater Impact On Earth’s Climate Than Models Suggest
Graham Lloyd, The Australian, 19 December 2017 
 
2) The Missing Link Between Exploding Stars, Clouds, And Climate On Earth
Technical University of Denmark, 19 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Trump's National Security Plan: Energy Dominance, Not Climate Change

US Fuels The World As Shale Boom Powers Record Oil Exports

In this newsletter:

1) Trump’s National Security Plan: ‘Energy Dominance,’ Not ‘Anti-Growth’ Climate Policy
Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, 18 December 2017 
 
2) Trump To Remove Climate Change From List Of National Security Threats
Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist, 16 December 2017 

GWPF Newsletter: Weak Solar Activity And La Nina May Cool Global Temperatures In Months Ahead

Germany To Open Another New Coal Power Plant

In this newsletter:

1) Weak Solar Activity And La Nina May Cool Global Temperatures In Months Ahead
No Tricks Zone, 13 December 2017
 
2) New Paper Questions Paris Agreement’s Dubious Temperature Limits
Global Warming Policy Forum, 14 December 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Speaking Freely

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

On behalf of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research I would like to take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for your support and encouragement throughout the year - and to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year! 

In this week’s newsletter we look at the importance of free speech to the healthy functioning of a democracy, and our NZCPR Guest Commentators Dave Witherow reflects on the firestorm of outrage that followed the publication of an article he wrote criticising the excessive forcing of the Maori language onto non-Maori speakers during Maori Language Week.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

Frank Newman: Mini-budget delivers on promises

The new government's mini-budget presented to Parliament on 14 December delivered on Labour's promise to reverse the legislated tax cuts that were due to come into effect on 1 April next year. They will instead direct that money into welfare.

The amount of money is significant. Had the tax cuts not been reversed, some $8.4 billion would have been distributed to taxpayers over the next four years by increasing the threshold at which higher marginal tax rates take effect. All taxpayers would have benefited.

GWPF Newsletter: Global Ocean Cooling Continues

Global Ocean Temperatures Drop Back To Pre El Nino Levels

In this newsletter:

1) Global Ocean Cooling Continues 
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 11 December 2017
 
2) Walter Russell Mead: Fracking Our Way To Mideast Peace
The Wall Street Journal, 12 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: EU Climate Consensus Broken

Centre-Right Parties Reject Green-Left Policy Proposals

In this newsletter:

1) EU Climate Consensus Broken: Centre-Right Parties Reject Green-Left Policy Proposals
EurActiv, 10 December 2017 
 
2) Sources: Trump Supports Pruitt's Plan To Set Up Formal Climate Science Assessment
ClimateWire, 11 December 2017

John Robinson: Open Letter To The Treaty Minister

To Andrew Little: Minister for Treaty Settlements

I have worked on gathering information on Treaty issues, as a consultant for the Treaty of Waitangi Unit at the Department of Justice, and with the Victoria University treaty of Waitangi Research Unit in projects for the Crown Forestry Rental Trust.

GWPF Newsletter: The Truth About That Dying Polar Bear

In this newsletter:

This was one polar bear dying a gruesome death as happens in the wild all the time. If sea ice loss due to man-made global warming had been the culprit, this bear would not have been the only one starving: the landscape would have been littered with carcasses. Yet other bears around him did not starve and die.  --Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, 9 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Britain Starts Dismantling Wind Farms After Successful Lake District Campaign

EU Member States Abandon Legally Binding Targets For Renewable Energy

In this newsletter:

1)  Britain Starts Dismantling Wind Farms After Successful Lake District Campaign
The Times, 7 December 2017

2) EU Member States Abandon Legally Binding Targets For Renewable Energy
EurActiv, 6 December 2017

Mike Butler: Sir William and the Waikato Times

The experts who last week sought to “deconstruct” comments on the Treaty of Waitangi by Hamilton businessman Sir William Gallagher could face a bit of deconstructing themselves.

The fencing manufacturer caused a stir during a speech to Waikato businesspeople on Friday night, November 24, and was reported to have said that there was no doubt Maori ceded sovereignty, and criticised “reparations, among other things.

NZCPR Weekly: Defend Your Beach

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we provide an important update on the coastal claims process and urge concerned Kiwis to take a stand – before it’s too late, our NZCPR Guest Commentators Dr Hugh Barr and John McLean outline why the new Minister, Andrew Little, needs to review the former Minister’s decision to award a Customary Marine Title, and in this week’s poll we ask whether you believe there needs to be a public information campaign to inform people how to become engaged in the marine and coastal area claims process.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter: Climate Change Goes To Court

U.S. Justice Department In Talks With Scientists Over Looming Climate Court Battle

In this newsletter:

1) German Court To Hear Peruvian Farmer's Climate Case Against Energy Company RWE
The Guardian, 30 November 2017
 
2) Exxon Climate-Change Probe Goes To Massachusetts Top Court
Reuters, 5 December 2017 

Sarah Taylor: Marine and Coastal Act's costly shambles will haunt country for decades

Touted by National as offering a durable and expeditious solution to Labour’s Foreshore and Seabed Act, Chris Finlayson’s Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (MACA) has unleashed hundreds of competing claims that will tie the courts up for decades, costing the country tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in claimant funding, policy advice and legal fees. 

Approximately 380 claims were lodged for “negotiation” with the Attorney General, while 200 further were lodged in the High Court before 3^rd April 2017, the Act’s six year claim deadline.

GWPF Newsletter: Arctic Refreezes After Warm El Nino Year, Melting Pause Continues

14 Climate Bullies Attack Susan Crockford For Telling The Truth About Polar Bears

In this newsletter:

1) Arctic Refreezes After Warm El Nino Year, Melting Pause Continues
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 3 December 2017 
 
2) 14 Climate Bullies Attack Susan Crockford For Telling The Truth About Polar Bears
Thomas Fuller, Climate Scepticism, 1 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: 2017 Sets New Record For Global Food Production

Royal Society – It’s Worse Than We Thought

In this newsletter:

1) Global Warming: 2017 Sets New Record For Global Food Production
UN Food And Agriculture Organization, November 2017

2) GWPF Podcast: Royal Society – It’s Worse Than We Thought
GWPF Podcast, 1 December 2017

Frank Newman: Rāhui to you too

Rāhui. It's becoming an important word. It's also been in the news a lot lately. To place a rāhui on something is to restrict or prohibit access, normally temporary to allow replenishment.

This is quite different from a Wahi Tapu, which is a reserve empowered by the Historic Places Act 1993 and is defined as a place sacred to Maori in the traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological sense. These tend to be site specific but may be an area.

GWPF Newsletter: Never, Ever Trust Climate Alarmists

Great Barrier Reef More Resilient To Climate Change Than Previously Thought

In this newsletter:

1) Great Barrier Reef More Resilient To Climate Change Than Previously Thought
The Daily Telegraph, 29 November 2017 

2) The Green Inquisition: Fears University May Sack Marine Scientist Over Comments On Great Barrier Reef Health
The Australian 26 August 2017

Matt Ridley: Britain should give the EU £20 billion extra as an act of charity

The letter Theresa May should send with the cheque as Britain's "financial settlement" with the European Union:

Theresa May reportedly plans to offer about £40 billion of our money in order to bring the European Union to the table to discuss whether it wishes to trade freely with Britain after we leave in 2019. I listened to a German MEP last week describe these negotiations as “a French commissioner insulting an entire nation”, and heard a British MP call the EU’s obsession with money “disreputable”. The result is not humiliating for us, but for them. If I were Mrs May, this (tongue-in-cheek) is the letter I would write to accompany the offer.

GWPF Newsletter: Green Lobby Defeated As Germany U-Turns

Bavarian Minister Kills Germany’s Grand Coalition On Glyphosate

In this newsletter:

1) Green Lobby Defeated As German U-Turn Swings EU Vote In Favour Of Glyphosate
Deutsche Welle, 27 November 2017
 
2) Germany’s Glyphosate U-Turn Angers Green Lobby
Politico, 28 November 2017 

Karl du Fresne: Freedom of speech, Rachel Stewart-style

New Zealand Herald columnist Rachel Stewart is a true champion of free speech. Except, that is, when someone wants to say something she doesn’t like.

In her column this week she savaged an occasional Otago Daily Times columnist named Dave Witherow. Witherow is guilty of the unpardonable sin of being (like me) an ageing, conservative male. In the eyes of the left-leaning bigots who have acquired almost total control of the public conversation in New Zealand, this automatically disqualifies him from having a valid opinion on anything.

NZCPR Weekly: The Dangers of Dependency

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we look at the cause of New Zealand’s dependency culture and how the new Government’s proposed changes could make the situation worse - especially for children, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Lindsay Mitchell shares her concerns over the proposed scrapping of benefit sanctions, and in this week’s poll we ask whether the penalties on sole parent beneficiaries who do not name the father of their child should be abolished.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

Frank Newman: LVR relaxed and mini budget day looms

Last week the Reserve Bank loosened its grip on bank lending, making it a little easier for low deposit house buyers.

Acting Reserve Bank Governor, Grant Spencer, said, “LVR (Loan Value Ratio) policies have been in place since 2013 to address financial stability risks arising from rapid house price inflation and increasing household debt. These policies have helped improve banking system resilience by substantially reducing the share of high-LVR loans. Over the past six months, pressures in the housing market have continued to moderate due to the tightening of LVR restrictions in October 2016, a more general firming of bank lending standards and an increase in mortgage interest rates in early 2017...Housing market policies announced by the Government are also expected to have a dampening effect on the housing market."

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: What the Aussie postal ballot tells us about the future of democracy

You’ve got to hand it to the Aussies for originality. There’s a divisive social issue the Government would rather not have to deal with (same-sex marriage – SSM), so let’s have a postal ‘survey’ to gauge public opinion and then we might put the issue to a vote in parliament or we might not, depending on the outcome. Real cutting-edge leadership, Mal.

Just in case anyone is in any doubt, this was neither a referendum nor a plebiscite, either of which would have been conducted under the auspices of the Australian Electoral Commission. Instead, this show was run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and participation wasn’t compulsory as it would be under Australian electoral law.