Dr. Tim Ball & Tom Harris: Geo-Engineering - Ignoring the Consequences

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report said we have only 12 years left to save the planet. It triggered the usual frantic and ridiculous reactions.

NBC News offered this gem: “A last-ditch global warming fix? A man-made ‘volcanic’ eruption” to cool the planet.” Its article proclaimed, “Scientists and some environmentalists believe nations might have to mimic volcanic gases as a last-ditch effort to protect Earth from extreme warming.”

Proposal like this are defined as geo-engineering – trying to artificially modify Earth’s climate to offset what are presented as unnatural events. The problem is, the events they are trying to offset are actually natural events. Any scientist or politician who doesn’t understand that will undoubtedly create worse problems than those they are trying to “fix.”

Clive Bibby: The case for low decile schools

As you might have expected, the current government has dialled up a storm when trying to fix some of the problems with the education system that David Lange's government put in place so many years ago. It was named "Tomorrow's Schools" which, on reflection, was a reasonably apt description for a new approach that included a fair amount of vision plus a huge dollop of common sense.

Sadly, it is or will become obvious that the latest shakeup has little of that much needed ingredient. Instead, it appears to be based solely on satisfying the idealogical persuasion of this administration's extreme left wing sector. Where have we seen that before!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The NZCPR wishes Breaking Views readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanks so much for your interest in our work and for engaging in the debate.

We are taking a break for a couple of weeks but will add new commentary that we think you will enjoy as it comes to hand.

In the meantime, here is a very cool short video which puts world economic growth between 1960 and 2017 into perspective!

Have a great day!

Melanie Phillips: Only two Options for Brexit

There are four, and only four, tactical options: Mrs May’s deal, no deal, second referendum, general election. That’s it.

No renegotiation with a suddenly obliging EU (really, Boris, Michael? Why on earth would they renegotiate with a UK that’s been on its knees throughout these pathetic negotiations in a state of pre-emptive surrender and would now come crawling back for another contemptuous beating?)

GWPF Newsletter: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

1) Christmas Competition: The Tallest Climate Tales Of 2018
Global Warming Policy Forum

2) David Whitehouse: How Can So Many Scientists Be So Wrong About The Pause?
The GWPF Observatory, 20 December 2018

BBC Confirms: Fake African Penguin Climate Claim ‘Was Misleading’

‘Climate Leader’ China Plans 200 New Airports

In this newsletter:

1) BBC Confirms: Fake African Penguin Climate Claim ‘Was Misleading’
Paul Homewood, Not A Lot Of People Know That, 15 December 2018
 
2) ‘Climate Leader’ China Plans 200 New Airports
Paul Matthews, Climate Scepticism, 12 December 2018

Melanie Phillips: “No risks are greater than Mrs May’s terms of surrender” – including no deal

Three days ago, a letter of great importance about Mrs May’s faux-Brexit deal was sent to MPs. The importance lay not just in what it said but who was saying it.

The authors were the former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, and the officer who commanded the British forces in the Falklands War, Major-General Julian Thompson.

Both men are committed to Britain leaving the EU. Both are horrified by the way the Prime Minister is betraying not just the 2016 referendum vote but the interests of the United Kingdom.

Neither man can be said to be extremist, xenophobic or stupid, the characteristics that so many Remainers attribute to those who voted to leave the EU. Both men are instead conspicuous British patriots who have devoted their lives, formidable intelligence and unmatched experience to the defence of their country.

Mike Butler: ‘Damp rental’ beliefs rubbished

Fewer than 3 percent of tenants find their homes cold and damp, the World Health Organisation did not recommend a healthy temperature, and client-friendly research helped understate the costs of heating and insulation proposals for rental property, according to a discussion document released today.

Iconoclastic economist Ian Harrison of Tailrisk Economics has taken aim at the cherished beliefs of Housing Minister Phil Twyford in a discussion document titled The proposed Healthy Homes Regulations: An Assessment.

Twyford is finalising a series of standards for New Zealand’s 588,700 rental properties on heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and draught-proofing under the so-called Healthy Homes Guarantee Act that was passed last December.

Karl du Fresne: Identity Politics and the Pride Parade

There was something strangely familiar about the spectacle of the LGBTQ+ movement chewing itself up over the Auckland Pride Parade.

It was vaguely reminiscent of the destructive paroxysms that convulsed New Zealand’s communist Left throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s as rival factions competed to show who was most faithful to Marxist-Leninist ideology.

The feuding began when Moscow and Beijing fell out and New Zealand communists split into Soviet and Maoist camps. The plotting and infighting was so vicious and all-consuming that no one had any energy left to fight the supposed common enemy, capitalism.

John Robinson: Response to claims colonisation caused Maori violence

Comments on Every 4 minutes: A discussion paper on preventing family violence in New Zealand by Ian Lambie (Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, 6 Nov 2018)...

This report claims that Maori experienced little violence before colonisation, but are now highly exposed to violence and should be given culturally appropriate solutions.  It has been widely reported, as in a Herald article, New Zealand lacks comprehensive strategy to counter family violence – new report:

“Colonisation had had a traumatic affect on Maori, and culturally-appropriate solutions – informed by science – were needed for Maori and Pacific communities.  Despite the well-reported relative absence of whanau violence before colonisation, Maori are now highly exposed to it.  The trauma of colonisation has had an inter-generational effect on Maori, who experience disproportionate rates of family violence, combined with other negative social effects of racism, discrimination and dislocation, alongside strengths and resilience factors that endure.”

NZCPR Weekly: Climate Saga

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we raise concerns about the impact of global warming propaganda and the dangerous consequences of the truth being suppressed, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Professor Michael Kelly shares his experience of being censored and warns New Zealand against emulating the disastrous climate policies implemented in the UK, and our poll asks whether you think the UN climate models are accurate.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Alarmists U-Turn

Scientists Confirm Great Barrier Reef Is Recovering From Bleaching

In this newsletter:

1) Alarmists U-Turn: Scientists Confirm Great Barrier Reef Is Recovering From Bleaching
Huffington Post, 10 December 2018 
 
2) Greenland Ice Sheet Sixth Highest On Record
Polar Portal Season Report 2018

Kelvin Duncan: The UN Compact on Migration

The UN Compact on Migration hasn’t raised the amount of discussion it warrants and this is a major concern as it contains some quite unacceptable requirements to which we must simply not agree. Admittedly, there it contains some good ideas, including sharing information between nations, although I believe all decent countries already do this.

A number of countries have already refused to sign, but they have been labelled as right-wing by the Compact's proponents, which is quite unfair in my opinion.

Why am I concerned that we must not sign it? Haven’t we have been assured by Mr Winston Peters that the previous National Government started the process (not true, they did not determine the content of the Compact as implied by Peters during Question Time in the House), and that there is nothing to see here, so move on and trust us.

GWPF Newsletter: UN Climate Summit Fails To Adopt IPCC Report

After Paris: Greens Are Turning Away From A Carbon Tax

In this newsletter:

1) UN Climate Summit Fails To Adopt IPCC Report
BBC News, 8 December 2018
 
2) UN Climate Talks Stall As Battle Over IPCC Report Looms
Associated Press, 9 December 2018

Tim Ball and Tom Harris: Extreme Wildfires Caused By Extreme Stupidity, not Global Warming

In the push for strong action at this year's United Nations climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, a common refrain is that rising carbon dioxide levels (CO2) will supposedly result in global warming that will increase the incidence of disastrous wildfires.

“The longer we wait, the more our communities will suffer under bigger wildfires...,” wrote Lou Leonard of the World Wildlife Fund on December 4.

This is totally wrong, but then World Wildlife Fund got their recent claims of animal populations wrong as well.

Rising temperatures and increasing CO2 both act to increase soil moisture and so reduce the potential of fires. When temperatures rise, evaporation increases, causing more precipitation which increases soil moisture and so lessens fire risk. As CO2 rises, stomata, the pores in plant’s leaves, are open for shorter lengths of time. Plants therefore lose less water to the air and so more of it stays in the soil, again reducing fire potential.

Frank Newman: No new taxes, but lots of tax increases

"No extra new taxes until after the 2020 election." That was the promise made in September 2017 by the then newly appointed leader of the opposition.

This week the Labour led government introduced an omnibus Bill to Parliament that when passed into legislation will, among other things, collect GST on low value imported goods and will ring-fence tax losses on rental property.

The GST change will apply to imported goods valued under $1,000. The target is online shoppers who to date have not paid GST on their overseas purchases. They will now find those purchases cost 15% more as from 1 October next year.

Melanie Phillips: Britain's Brexit Meltdown

It is now clear that the staunch and sturdy British people, those true heirs to Britain’s ancient culture of determined independence and robust common-sense, are lions led by devious and feeble donkeys.

Mrs May’s faux-Brexit deal is so bad it has united against it both Brexiteer and Remainer MPs. The likely revolt is so large that the Prime Minister is being urged to postpone next week’s Commons “meaningful” vote for fear that the scale of the defeat may bring the government down.

GWPF Newsletter: Panic Grips Élysée Palace As Carbon Tax Revolt Grows

‘French Carbon Tax Anger Shape Of Things To Come Globally As Costs Bite’

In this newsletter:

1) Panic Grips Élysée Palace As Carbon Tax Revolt Grows
The Times, 6 December 2018
 
2) Carbon Tax Revolt Escalates As French Police Union Joins Yellow Vests
Sud-Quest, 6 December 2018 

David Unsworth: French Citizens Want Cheaper Energy, not Global Warming Elitism

French President Emmanuel Macron pursues his global warming agenda at his own political peril.

Diesel moves France. Whereas in the United States diesel is increasingly a rarity used mainly to fuel heavy trucks, drivers in France and much of Europe have diesel cars. In past generations, diesel was believed to be more environmentally friendly. Today, it turns out that is not the case. Diesel is actually far worse for the environment than traditional gasoline.

GWPF Newsletter: French Carbon Tax Revolt Scores Historic Victory

French Government Announces U-Turn Of Carbon Tax

In this newsletter:

1) Carbon Tax Revolt Scores Historic Victory As French Govt Suspends Tax Hike
EurActiv, 4 December 2018 

2) Macron And Philippe Suspend Carbon Tax Hike 
Le Figaro, 4 December 2018

NZCPR Weekly: Maori Privilege

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we we look into the growth of Maori Privilege and urge readers who haven’t already done so to send in a submission on the Bill to entrench the Maori seats, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Michael Gousmett explains why taxpayer subsidies to billion dollar iwi corporations is so misguided, and our poll asks whether you believe Maori corporations should receive preferential tax treatment.

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

Troy Bowker: Capital gains tax 'valuation day' will cost Kiwi businesses billions of dollars

If the Government manages to push through the recommendations of the Tax Working Group (TWG), the 450,000 or so small business owners in this country will be hit with massive compliance costs.

Small business, meaning all sole traders and including businesses with up to 20 employees, are the back bone of the New Zealand economy.

Their contribution to our economy is enormous. Together small businesses employ roughly 30 per cent of our entire work force and contribute roughly $65 billion to New Zealand's annual gross domestic product.

GWPF Newsletter: Macron’s Carbon Tax Collides With France’s Forgotten

'Yellow Vests' Call For Moratorium On Carbon Tax Hike

In this newsletter:

1) Yellow Vests Call For Moratorium On Macron’s Carbon Tax Rise
France24, 3 December 2018
    
2) Riots In Paris: French Unions Call On Macron To Halt Carbon Tax Hike
AFP, 1 December 2018 

Clive Bibby: Elitism of another kind

I grew up on a farm just outside the small Central Hawkes Bay town of Waipawa.

   

My forebears had owned sizeable tracts of farming land that had been hacked out of the bush and scrub under the Ruahine Ranges.

   

I am very proud to be a descendant of such pioneering folk who understood what it means to build a business from nothing and see it grow into something that makes a reasonable contribution to the local economy. They also built the first trading general store in CHB. The building still stands.

It is perhaps ironic that much of the farm land in question was in the near vicinity of the catchment area for the now defunct Ruataniwha Fresh Water Dam proposal.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: Of missionaries past and present

One of Arthur Conan Doyle’s more memorable minor characters was an Andaman Islander named Tonga in ‘The Sign of the Four’, whose countenance he described in the following unflattering terms:

Never have I seen features so deeply marked with all bestiality and cruelty. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light, and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth ….

It’s definitely not 21^st-century protocol, and yet I can’t help thinking that the impression left on the mind of the helicopter pilot who was being shot at by Andaman men with bows and arrows was not dissimilar, especially when he considered his fate should his craft be downed.

GWPF Newsletter: Global Temperature Drops By 0.4°C In Three Years

Blackouts, Deaths And Civil Unrest: Warning Over Scotland’s Rush To Go Green

In this newsletter:

1) Global Temperature Drops By 0.4°C In Three Years
The GWPF Observatory, 30 November 2018
 
2) Blackouts, Deaths And Civil Unrest: Warning Over Scotland’s Rush To Go Green
Sandra Dick, The Herald Scotland, 29 November 2018

GWPF Newsletter: The Paris Discord: Not In My Wallet

Australia On The Brink Of New Coal Boom

In this newsletter:

1) G20 Nations Reportedly Set To Kowtow To Trump On Climate Change
Clean Technica, 27 November 2018
 
2) Swimming In Cheap Energy: U.S. Crude Oil And Natural Gas Proved Reserves Set New Records
U.S. Energy Information Administration, 29 November 2018

Brian Gaynor: Aussies are banking on bumper profits in NZ

The four major Australian-owned banks are huge money-making machines.

They completely dominate the New Zealand commercial sector in terms of profitability and have a huge impact on the domestic economy, particularly residential property.

The four banks — ANZ Bank New Zealand, ASB Bank, Bank of New Zealand and Westpac New Zealand — reported combined statutory profits after tax of $5128 million for the latest year, a 9.2 per cent increase over the same period in 2016/17 (see table).

GWPF Newsletter: UN Climate Conference To Promote Coal

Brazil Cancels 2019 UN Climate Summit

In this newsletter:

1) UN Climate Conference To Promote Coal
AFP, 28 November 2018
 
2) Brazil Just Cancelled The Green Blob’s Annual Jamboree
Climate Home News, 28 November 2018

Karl du Fresne: Pike River - a lot of ifs, buts and maybes

This might seem an insensitive question, but it needs to be asked. Exactly what will be achieved by going back into the Pike River mine?

The justification for the $36 million re-entry operation is often vaguely expressed and seems to vary depending on who’s doing the talking.

Anna Osborne, who lost her husband in the Pike River disaster, wants the 29 miners’ remains recovered. Bernie Monk, whose son was killed, talks about wanting “justice and accountability”.

NZCPR Weekly: Legitimising Illegal Migration

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we outline the United Nation’s radical plan to legitimise illegal migration and we call on the Government to walk away from this global compact, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Judith Bergman shares her critical analysis of the deal, and our poll asks whether you think New Zealand should sign the United Nation’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

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

GWPF Newsletter: American Fracking Is Changing The World

The Shale Revolution Is Toppling The Green Agenda

In this newsletter:

1) American Fracking Is Changing The World
Walter Russell Mead, The Wall Street Journal, 27 November 2018
 
2) How The Shale Revolution Is Toppling The Green Agenda
Nick Butler, Financial Times, 26 November 2018

GWPF Newsletter: The Coldest Thanksgiving In Over A Century

Met Office Hotheads Predict Incredible Hothouse

In this newsletter:

1) The Coldest Thanksgiving In Over A Century
Newsweek, 22 November 2018
 
2) Record Cold Hits North America As Solar Activity Reaches Near 200-Year Low
P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, 24 November 2018

Melanie Phillips: Brexiteers! Start Promoting No-Deal. Fast

Has there ever been a more hopeless, pathetic bunch of political clowns than Britain’s parliamentary Brexiteers?

The people of Britain have voted to leave the EU. Theresa May’s government is poised to spit in their faces by preventing that from happening through a sleight-of-hand deal which would be Brexit in name only, leaving the UK as a “vassal” state still in thrall to Brussels.

Bob Edlin: Yes, dear taxpayer – you will pay to help people make up their minds about home ownership

The Minister of Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, last week announced 24 community-led housing repair projects will receive funding  from the Māori Housing Network (which gets it from taxpayers) totalling $5.8 million.

In the same press release, she and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi announced a new programme called Sorted Kāinga Ora.  It involves a series of “workshops to help whānau decide whether they are ready for home ownership”.

Someone – it seems – has decided whanau are unable to work out if they are ready to own a house without the help of bureaucrats from Jacinda’s Nanny State. 

Richard Prince: Rewriting History

It is said that we learn from history but that is predicated by what sort of history we are taught. New Zealand history has become of major importance as with  many Waitangi Tribunal findings being based on histories.

The Waitangi Tribunal's role as a truth-recovery mechanism has been questioned by historians critical of the Tribunal's interpretations of the past. Eminent NZ historian Bill Oliver criticized the Tribunal's conclusions as creating a “retrospective utopia”.

Frank Newman: More RMA reforms and letting fees

The Resource Management Act (RMA) is being amended - yet again! Hardly a year goes by without the Act being changed. One would normally expect changes to improve legislation. Sadly, that's not the case with the RMA.

The Act was fundamentally flawed when it was first introduced, and remains so today. Although it was conceived with aspiration and good intent, the +20 or so amendments to the Act have been a series of backward steps that have given absolute discretion to regiments of we-know-best planners. The effect has been a transfer of property rights from landowners to council staff that has paralysed progress and seriously inflated land and building costs.

Irish Households Face €3,000 Tax Bill On Fuel And Energy To Cover Climate Costs

How The BBC Quietly Obliterates And Rewrites Science News

In this newsletter:

1) Irish Households Face €3,000 Tax Bill On Fuel And Energy To Cover Climate Costs
The Irish Independent, 21 November 2018
 
2) Ireland’s CO2 Emissions Could Be ‘95% Off Target’, Says Minister
The Irish Times, 22 November 2018

NZCPR Weekly: Plastic Bags - a matter of perception not science

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we question the Prime Minister’s proposed ban on plastic shopping bags, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Nicholas Kerr explains why such token bans do more harm than good, and our poll asks whether you think the best approach to reducing plastic bag use in New Zealand is a continuation of the voluntary scheme that’s presently in place, the PM’s ban, or new taxes, levies, or a deposit and refund collection scheme.

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

 

Subsidy Cut Deals Blow To UK Wind Farms

Carbon Tax Needs To Increase 15-Fold For Ireland To Meet Climate Targets

In this newsletter:

1) Subsidy Cut Deals Blow To UK Wind Farms
Emily Gosden, The Times, 21 November 2018 
 
2) You Did Say Your Costs Had Been “Slashed” Didn’t You?
Andrew Montford, GWPF, 21 November 2018

Mole News

Significant Health Research Council grant for Waikato researcher
The Health Research Council has awarded Dr Rawiri Keenan 2019 Career Development Awards.

Dr Keenan is looking at cultural competency and equity in primary care and has the Foxley Fellowship worth $224,727.

GWPF Newsletter: French Anti-Carbon-Tax Revolt Escalates As Lorry Drivers Join Protests

Macron’s Climate Waterloo

In this newsletter:

1) French Anti-Carbon-Tax Revolt Escalates As Lorry Drivers Join Protests
The Times, 19 November 2018 
 
2) France’s Climate Change Policies Trigger Street Protests
The Washington Post, 17 November 2019

Bruce Moon: The Rangiaowhia Incident

There must be few events in New Zealand’s history which have been the subject of more brazen lying than the occupation of Rangiaowhia by government troops on 21^st February 1864.[1]  

In particular the gross falsehood of the burning of a church full of women and children has been repeated time and again, and recently, for example:

- by Tommy Wilson in the “Bay of Plenty Times”, 12/8/09

- in  Eraka’s Blog in Tainui News, 7/5/14

- by JOC Phillips on air, 2/4/16

- by Susan Devoy in the “Bay of Plenty Times”. 4/1/17

- by Vincent O’Malley in “The Listener”, 25/2/17

- by members of Ngati Apakura in “Waikato Times”, 9/12/17

- by deceived children of Otorohanga College

Power-Hungry Asia Drives New Coal Demand

Anti-Carbon-Tax Revolt Threatens To Paralyse France

In this newsletter:

1) Power-Hungry Asia Drives New Coal Demand
Forbes, 15 November 2018
 
2) Anti-Carbon-Tax Revolt Threatens To Paralyse France
GWPF & Irish Times, 16 November 2018