GWPF Newsletter: UK Tories Are Lost And Face Extinction In Climate Of Hysteria

Ministers Accused Of Killing UK Shale Industry

In this newsletter:

1) Britain’s Fracking Commissioner Resigns And Accuses Govt Of Caving In To Green Zealots
David Rose, Mail on Sunday, 28 April 2019
 
2) Tory Ministers Accused Of Killing UK Shale Industry
The Times, 29 April 2019

Lindsay Perigo: New Zealand is a Police State

There is now apparently a police-compiled Enemies List circulating among New Zealand's totalitarian Globalist elite, such as Comrade Ardern, Comrade Andrew Little, Comrade Winston Peters and new Human Wrongs Commissar Comrade Paul Hunt, a lackey of raving anti-Semite and hard-core socialist Comrade Jeremy Corbyn, all advancing the agenda of the most evil man on the planet, George Soros. (Why was this Islamo-Marxist fascist Paul Hunt brought over to destroy our Bill of Rights?! At whose expense?!) 

From many accounts police are actively harassing people on this list.

GWPF Newsletter - Green Energy Wars: Solar Energy Threatened By Wind Lobby

Around the World, Buyer’s Remorse Sets in for Costly Clean Power

In this newsletter:

1) Green Energy Wars: Solar Energy Threatened By Wind Lobby
Associated Press, 25 April 2019
 
2) Renewable Energy Investment Looks To Be Going From Boom To Bust As Prices Collapse
ABC News, 26 April 2019

Bob Edlin: Let’s think about the defence of democracy

The PM called for a commitment to peace in an Anzac Day speech at the Auckland Domain this morning, addressing the thousands who turned up.

Anzac Day reminds us of sacrifice, loss, the service of others and the need for all of us to continually honour those who served to through our acts of remembrance and our defence of peace, she said.

“But it also reminds us of a singular truth through the ages, through wars past and present – it reminds us of our shared humanity, something we have been reminded of again in the wake of the 15th of March.”

That was a reference to the 50 Muslims who were killed when a gunman opened fire inside two mosques in Christchurch that day.

Karl du Fresne: Is this the man we want to shape our human rights policies?

I did something a couple of weeks ago that I’ve never done before. I made a request under the Official Information Act.

I suppose it might be seen as shameful, as a journalist, to admit that I’ve never previously had recourse to the OIA, but there you are. I never felt I needed to.

My request was to Justice Minister Andrew Little and asked for information about the appointment of the Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt.

Clive Bibby: Remembering isn't enough - the sacrifice can't have been in vain

I write this having just returned from our local Anzac Day dawn service. 

It is one of the events that makes me proud to be both a member of this wonderful East Coast community we call Uawa/Tolaga Bay and also a citizen of this paradise we call Aotearoa/ New Zealand.

When I grew up in Central Hawkes Bay this annual commemoration of our part in the world's major conflicts was a revered day on the nation's calendar. Since that time we went through a period when the attendance levels dropped away dramatically and it was feared this special day of remembrance might disappear altogether due to lack of interest.

NZCPR Weekly: A Costly Mistake

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we examine the Prime Minister’s decision to abandon a capital gains tax, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Edward A. Hudson explains the important contribution that capital gains make to economic growth, and our poll asks whether you believe Labour’s decision to rule out a capital gains tax has helped their 2020 election chances.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Germany’s Dirty Green Cars

Climate Sceptic AfD Now Biggest Party In East Germany

In this newsletter:

1) Electric Vehicles Emit More CO2 Than Diesel Ones, German Study Shows
The Brussels Times, 18 April 2019
 
2) Editorial: Germany’s Dirty Green Cars
Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2019

GWPF Newsletter: When We Celebrate Every Failed Alarmist Eco-Prediction

18 Spectacularly Wrong Earth Day Predictions

In this newsletter:

1) Happy Earth Day! When We Celebrate Every Failed Alarmist Prediction
Nicolas Loris, Bangor Daily News, 22 April 2019

This Earth Day, it almost feels like we should be carving some turkey. Why? Because we have a lot to be thankful for since the first Earth Day event occurred 49 years ago.

GWPF Newsletter: Was This The BBC’s Worst Climate Show Ever?

What David Attenborough Got Wrong

In this newsletter:

1) What David Attenborough Got Wrong 
David Rose, Mail on Sunday, 21 April 2019
 
2) Was This The BBC’s Worst Climate Show Ever?
Paul Homewood, Not A Lot Of People Know That, 19 April 2019

Mike Butler: Rental property child hospitalisation claim contradicted

Housing Minister Phil Twyford justified the launch of costly new rental property standards in February by saying “6000 children are admitted each year for ‘housing-sensitive hospitalisations’” but, when questioned, two Ministries provided contradictory data that undermined the claim.

I sent a series of questions to the Minister’s office, to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and to the Ministry of Health, all seeking evidence to support this rather specific claim.

The full quote was that “6000 children are admitted each year for ‘housing-sensitive hospitalisations’, and that these children have been found to be nearly four times more likely to be re-hospitalised and 10 times more likely to die in the following 10 years.”

GWPF Newsletter: Carbon Tax Opponents Keep On Winning

Did David Attenborough’s Film Crew Scare Walruses To Death?

In this newsletter:

1) Carbon Tax Opponents Keep On Winning
Michael Bastasch, The Daily Caller, 17 April 2019
 
2) Editorial: Another Carbon Tax Defeat
Editorial, The Wall Street Journal, 18 April 2019

Bob Edlin: The prickly issue of Treaty rights and governance

Point of Order was handsomely rewarded when we emailed a Victoria University of Wellington law lecturer with questions about the propriety and legality of cracking eggs on the heads of unpopular politicians.  Within two hours Māmari Stephens had addressed the issues we raised with a well-considered response.

The response was somewhat briefer when we emailed the university with questions raised by an article on its website headed Academics commend Hastings District Council for inclusive, effective decision-making.

The article was prompted by the council’s decision to appoint Māori representatives with speaking and voting rights to its four standing committees, sparing them the need to campaign for election as the councillors who made the decision had been obliged to do.

Barry Soper: If PM pushed on with CGT, she'd face a mutiny

There was a very real chance of mutiny on the Beehive barque which forced the captain for the second time to make a contradictory call.

But it was essential to keep all hands on deck, without them she knew they'd all sink without lifebuoys.

One of the deckhands though has been left clinging to a lifeline that has become perilously frayed.

The first captain's call, her description, came from Jacinda Ardern who not long after she got her stripes from Andrew Little put a capital gains tax back on the agenda, saying there'd be one in the first term of her Government.

Christopher A. Sarlo: The Causes of Poverty

This paper is an inquiry into the causes of poverty. By poverty we mean a circumstance of serious deprivation where a person lacks one or more basic need—as opposed to a condition of inequality. 

The question we wish to try to answer is this: Why do some people find themselves in a circumstance of serious deprivation and, more importantly, why are some able to escape poverty fairly easily while others endure persistent, long-term poverty?

This study’s working hypothesis is that there are two broad categories of the “initiating causes” of poverty—bad luck and bad choices. 

Karl du Fresne: Why the public transport zealots hate private cars

If you want a stark demonstration of the ideological divide between people who think the state knows what’s best for everyone and those who value personal choice, look no further than the private car.

People love cars for a whole lot of reasons, but their root appeal lies in the fact that they give us options. They enable us to make choices about where and when we travel, and with whom.

This enrages and frustrates ideologues who envision a Utopian collectivist society where such decisions are made by politicians and bureaucrats, supposedly for the common good.

The very existence of the private car is an affront to these zealots, because it prioritises individual autonomy over the ideal of a compliant society where people are made to do things their way.

Ron Manners: Killing and Stealing: Government Specialties

Over the centuries, governments have only excelled at two things. Killing (mainly by declaring wars) and stealing (mainly by taxation and redistribution).

In Part 1 (Killing) we draw attention to the unintended consequences of a misguided Fringe Benefit Tax introduced into Australia on 1st July 1986.

It was obviously introduced as a way of raising money to cover the unfunded liabilities of the over-generous superannuation and pensions schemes for politicians and public servants.

GWPF Newsletter: Carbon Tax Defeated As Conservatives Win Alberta Elections

Allegations Netflix Film Crew Lied About What Caused Mass Walrus Deaths

In this newsletter:

1) Carbon Tax Defeated As Conservatives Win Alberta Elections
Bloomberg, 17 April 2019
 
2) Terence Corcoran: Carbon Tax Trial Full Of Alarmist Political Diversions No Court Should Fall For
Financial Post, 17 April 2019

NZCPR Weekly: Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we outline the controversial background to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and explain the implications of the Government’s decision to implement it, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Brian Giesbrecht explains why Canada’s decision to adopt UNDRIP as law will be such a disaster, and our poll asks whether you agree with the Government that UNDRIP should be ‘implemented’.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Victory For Peter Ridd and Academic Freedom

Peter Ridd Has Defeated The Climate Inquisition Thanks To You

In this newsletter:

1) Victory For Peter Ridd & Academic Freedom: ‘Sacking Ruled Unlawful’
The Australian, 16 April 2019
 
2) Peter Ridd Has Defeated The Climate Inquisition Thanks To You
Jennifer Marohasy, Spectator Australia, 16 April 2019

GWPF Newsletter: Did David Attenborough’s Film Crew Drive Walruses Over The Cliff?

Climate Sceptics Now Second Largest Party In Finland

In this newsletter:

1) Did David Attenborough’s film crew drive walruses over the cliff?
Global Warming Policy Forum, 15 April 2019
 
2) Andrew Montford: What we don’t know about walruses
Global Warming Policy Forum, 15 April 2019 

Melanie Phillips: End this abuse of power - replace Mrs May

It has been reported that the government has ordered all operational planning for a no-deal Brexit to end. According to a leaked email seen by Sky News, the decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill.

On what basis has this cynical, manipulative and irresponsible decision been taken? For the possibility remains that, whatever the eventual date on which it leaves (if ever), the UK will do so with no deal. The Cabinet doesn’t even seem to have been told that abandoning no-deal preparations was to happen.

Tory MP Crispin Blunt described the move as a “complete betrayal” of the referendum and a “dereliction of duty”. More than that, it speaks to a ruthless abuse of power by the prime minister – and further evidence that the government machine is determined to stop Brexit altogether.

GWPF Newsletter: Finland's Climate Sceptic Party Set For Election Breakthrough

In this newsletter:

1) Finland's Climate Sceptic Party Set For Election Breakthrough
The New York Times, 12 April 2019 

2) Finland’s Populists Find Favour With Anti-Green Agenda
Financial Times, 11 April 2019 

Clive Bibby: The killing machines and the law

It disturbs me that our first response to the Christchurch massacre is to look for politically acceptable measures that will stand no chance against the evil they are supposed to prevent.

Most of our Government's reaction, just like that of other politically sensitive governments around the world reaction's to similar atrocities, is to find the most vulnerable, high profile public utensil that could be misused and take it out of circulation using the law of the land to do so.

The normal procedure is to make sure the Government's "feel good" actions are backed up either by enforcing existing or implementing new legislation that has to be rushed through the house in the dead of night so that people will see their leaders are serious about fixing the problem.

Viv: Forbes: How to Break the Backbone of Australia

Since the days of the gold rush and the wool boom, Australia has always relied heavily on its great primary industries – mining, farming, forestry and fishing and their supporting transport, energy and processing industries.

First was the export of hides and tallow, wool and timber. Then came the great discoveries of gold, coal, copper and silver-lead-zinc, followed by exports of wheat, butter, meat and cotton. 

Luckily the effects of droughts in the rural sector were often moderated by booms or new discoveries in minerals. 

Karl du Fresne: Guess what? Hate speech can be punished using existing laws

The moron who shouted abuse at Muslim worshippers outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch on Wednesday now faces a possible prison sentence, and so he should.

Why the police officers stationed outside the mosque didn’t arrest this odious exhibitionist hoodlum immediately is a question only they can answer, but at least someone higher up later thought better of it.

Anyway, Daniel Nicholas Tuapawa has now pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in an insulting manner likely to cause violence and has been remanded on bail for a pre-sentencing report. He says he has no recollection of the incident.

NZCPR Weekly: The Consequences of a Tragedy

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we examine the consequences of the Christchurch shooting – including a growing mass hysteria over security largely created by Government scaremongering to justify its crackdown on gun owners, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Stephen Franks shares his concerns over the Government’s gun law changes, and our poll asks whether you believe the Crusaders should change their name, branding or imagery as a result of the tragedy.

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

GWPF Newsletter: EU Plans To Transfer Energy Powers From Capitals To Brussels

GWPF Paper Refutes Walrus-Climate Scare

In this newsletter:

1) EU Plans To Transfer Energy Powers From Capitals To Brussels
Forbes, 9 April 2019

2) EU Wants Members To Drop National Veto Over Possible Carbon Tax
Associated Press/Washington Post, 9 April 2019 

Karl du Fresne: The enemies of free speech have seized the moment

Changes to the gun control laws are a mere trifle compared with what else might come down the legislative pipeline following the Christchurch mosque massacres.

There are an estimated 250,000 New Zealanders with a firearms licence. Of those, we can assume only a small proportion of gun enthusiasts will be directly affected by proposed changes covering military-style semi-automatic weapons.

Changes to what we can say, write, read and hear, on the other hand, could threaten the essential nature and quality of our democracy. Ultimately they would affect everyone. That’s why we should all be extremely uneasy about the pending review of laws governing so-called “hate speech”.

Guy Steward: On ANZAC Day

The timing of the terrible attacks in Christchurch made it virtually inevitable that there would be controversy and debate about how we honour ANZAC Day. What should or could be included as time goes on has now included the suggestion of a Muslim call to prayer.

 It’s fair to say that the traditions around ANZAC Day are overwhelmingly and predominantly steeped in New Zealand’s traditional religion—Christianity, which has formed our thinking for centuries. Case in point: it was not only community spirit that manifested itself, strong though that is in our small and beautiful country, but also—with the love, the prayers, the flowers, the sympathy, the tears, the hugs, the outpouring of collective compassion—reflection of a firm Christian heritage, This is a nation which has responded to past trials in similar manner. Many no longer identify with our past beliefs, but they are there, and have become infused, like it or not, into our worldview.

Troy Bowker: Why argument of Capital Gains Tax fairness is based on unreliable data

The Tax Working Group (TWG) used an unreliable survey by the Department of Statistics as the basis for its argument that the majority of the proposed capital gains tax (CGT) will be paid by the top 20 per cent of households measured by wealth.

Repeatedly, since the final report was published, Sir Michael Cullen has quoted the "statistic" to the media that 82 per cent of the assets that will be subject to CGT are owned by the top 20 per cent of New Zealand households measured by net worth.

He goes on to state (as factual) the second 20 per cent of wealthy households will be responsible for another 11 per cent , then only 4 per cent for "middle" New Zealand.

In reality, this information is based on what most reasonable people would describe as little more than guess work.

Melanie Phillips: Hold your nerve Brexiteers - there is a way forward and it's called leaving with no deal

So now, finally, it’s make-or-break time and the issue remains exactly the same as it always was, for Brexiteers and everyone else caught up in this maelstrom.

Are MPs going to do what they promised the electorate they would do and honour the referendum result and the (amended) act of parliament they themselves passed by allowing the UK to leave the EU on April 12; or are they going to break their promise, cementing into history their contempt for democracy and the British people, and stop Brexit?

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: Meddling in other countries’ internal affairs – when do two wrongs make a right?

The doctrine of sovereign nation-state equality underpins international law. A corollary of this maxim is that thou shalt not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.

National sovereignty means that we run our own show and do not stick our noses into the internal affairs of other sovereign nations. This maxim should only be deviated from in extreme circumstances, such as when a government is involved in genocide.

Interfering in the affairs of other nation-states can take very direct forms or subtler ones. The most direct form is military intervention in order to effect a change in the target country’s government or its policies. The Opium Wars were a classic example of the latter kind, while the NATO action against Serbia over Kosovo in 1999 provides a more recent instance. Tanzania’s military intervention in Uganda, and Vietnam’s in Cambodia in 1979, exemplify interventions aimed at regime change. (So was the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but that was under the pretext of Iraq presenting an imminent military threat, thereby invoking the right to pre-emptive self-defence.)

Stephen Franks: NZ’s right to bear arms? Firearms as a Treaty taonga.

When the Treaty was signed, pu and tupara (muskets and double barreled shotguns) were among the most valuable of all taonga under Article 2 (if it really does go beyond the real property interests listed as the New Zealand courts say). 

Article 2 assured the chiefs and all the ordinary people of New Zealand that they would have undisturbed exclusive use and possession of their taonga.

So if relations between Police and (rural) Maori break down, it is inevitable that some Maori will assert a Treaty right to be free from confiscation and possibly even licensing for firearms. Urban judges from leafy suburbs will look for some sophistry to reject that claim both in law, and morally. But they should not underestimate the power of a strong view that authority is wrong allied to a wide belief in historical right. We have seen that repeatedly. Myth becomes political reality when enough people believe the myth.

NZCPR Weekly: A Totalitarian State

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we reflect on the danger of the overly restrictive law changes being introduced by the Government to penalise New Zealanders for the atrocity caused by a visiting Australian, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Karl du Fresne outlines how the Christchurch tragedy is being exploited to further ideological agendas, and our poll asks whether you believe New Zealand needs stronger laws to outlaw ‘hate’..

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

GWPF Newsletter: Europe's Green Suicide

EU Climate Targets To Cost Carmakers €7.4 Billion UBS Warns

In this newsletter:

1) India: Droughts Declining & Famine Eliminated Despite Global Warming
Vimal Mishra et al., Geophysical Research Letters, January 2019

2) The Sun’s Magnetic Field Is Ten Times Stronger Than Previously Believed, Scientists Reveal
Queen’s University Belfast, 29 March 2019

Bob Edlin: Another Battle of Hastings – and one in the eye for those bloody democrats

It was the Battle of Hastings, 2019. On one side, the stalwarts of democracy intent on defending their ideal of the best form of government for their district.  On the other side, the champions of attenuated lines of accountability between citizens and those who govern them.

The democrats were outnumbered and the Hastings District Council – 33.3% of its members of Maori descent – voted to fortify iwi influence by appointing four members of the Maori Joint Committee to the council’s four standing committees.

This was decided after a debate which the NZ Herald curiously said became “divisive”, apparently because four councillors argued the decision should be taken to a public poll – a suggestion which, given the constitutional implications of the issue, had a great deal of merit.

GWPF Newsletter: Major Greenland Glacier Growing Again, Surprising NASA Scientists

Global CO2 Emissions Hit Record High

In this newsletter:

1) NASA: Greenland Glacier Is Growing Again
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 25 March 2019
 
2) IEA: Global CO2 Emissions Hit Record High
Bloomberg, 26 March 2019
 
3) German Task Force Can't Agree On Sufficient Traffic Emissions Cuts
Clean Energy Wire, 26 March 2019 
 
4) Peter Ridd’s Fight For Academic Freedom Begins In Court
The Australian, 26 March 2019