Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 25/10/24

Yelps tell us Willie Jackson was stung by Beehive news about Richard Prebble sitting on the Waitangi Tribunal

An announcement from the Beehive yesterday had the distinct whiff of “jobs for the boys” about it – the appointment of Richard Prebble as a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.

Nevertheless it’s fair to suppose there will be significant support for the prospect – or hope – of Prebble tempering the tribunal’s zeal for censuring the Crown.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 25/6/24

Now that astrology is being saluted – would the cancer-drugs fuss have been foreseen if govt read the stars before Budget Day?

The news media made much of the ministerial statement which was announced just after Point of Order monitored the Beehive website yesterday.

The press statement from Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour was somewhat imprecise in announcing the government’s deliverance of “up to 26 cancer treatments” as part of an overall package of “up to 54 more new medicines”.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 10/4/24

Govt gives farmers something to talk about (regarding environmental issues) at those woolshed meetings

Hard on the heels of three rurally oriented ministers launching the first of their woolshed meetings, the government brought good news to farmers on the environmental front.

First, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced an additional $18 million is being committed to reduce agricultural emissions.

Point of Order: Campbell has gone from Health job, we hear.....

.....but Verrall has not officially posted news of his sacking

Kiwiblog’s account of the sacking of Rob Campbell kicked of with a Radio NZ report:

Health New Zealand’s board chairperson Rob Campbell has been sacked over a political attack he made about the National Party’s Three Waters policy.

On Checkpoint tonight, RNZ was reporting on the likelihood of Campbell also being sacked as chair of the Environmental Protection Authority.

Point of Order: World dairy prices tumble further as farmers face the prospect of being charged for livestock emissions

As debate rages in New Zealand’s farming industries over the Ardern government’s plan for charges on agricultural emissions, prices at Fonterra’s Global Dairy Trade fortnightly auction have fallen to their lowest level in nearly two years.

The average price at the sale fell 3.9% to US$3537 (NZD$6054) a tonne, after falling 4.6% in the previous auction.

Prices have generally been falling since hitting a record high in March, and are now at their lowest level since January last year.

Stuart Smith: The Aim vs the Outcomes

The prime minister is delivering on her ambition to lead the world in pricing agricultural emissions by announcing the Government’s proposal to levy farmers for their emissions.

 
It is ironic that the one thing she may deliver on will put us in breach of Article 2.1b of the United Nations Paris Agreement: that food production must not be threatened.

The Paris Agreement took effect in New Zealand in 2020 when food security was a third-world issue; today, however, it is much more widespread and therefore, even more important today than it was in 2020.

Cam Slater: Duh! Of Course It Will Lead To Higher Prices

The economic wizards of the Labour Party have launched their farms emissions scam, where it is their stated goal to start taxing cow and sheep farts, burps and wees, as well as to reduce herds by 16-20%. Apparently, this will have minimal impact on prices and lead to the world food commodities markets wanting to pay a premium for the new virtue signalling farm produce. Of course, the opposite will occur. These changes will only lead to higher prices for the consumer because of the double effect of cost recovery and reduced supply.

Point of Order: The consequence of cutting livestock numbers to tackle farm emissions?

A culling of support for Labour in rural areas, perhaps

Has the Ardern government just shot itself in the foot?

Despite its poll ratings slipping in recent months, it nourished hopes of returning to power next year. But its “world-first” policy to cut greenhouse gases with farm-level pricing, effectively making 20% of NZ’s sheep and beef farms uneconomic, could result in it bleeding votes in most of the regional electorates it won in 2020.

The unpalatable truth is just dawning on the country: cutting agricultural emissions means cutting food and fibre output. And that means slashing the export income on which NZ depends.

Danny Simms: The Carbon Cycle, livestock emissions and land use

Since writing on this topic – see HERE - I have circulated my paper widely to all parliamentary politicians, news outlets and agricultural lobby groups. The replies I received and discussions I had with the responders showed a real lack of acceptance or even understanding of the carbon cycle. In this paper I try to address this and look further to other serious policies affecting agriculture.

Four issues stood out: 

1)     No understanding of the essential place CO2 has in the growing of all food.

2)     Not recognising that CO2 is one of the trace gasses of the atmosphere

3)     the belief that CO2 and methane are different issues 

4)     an utter lack of appreciation of the uptake of CO2 by growing pasture. 

Eric Crampton: Pricing agricultural emissions

A lot of problems have no good solutions – just ones that are bad in different ways.

Pricing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture is important, and every way of doing it is going to have problems.

This week, the agricultural sector put up its proposed solution. It has problems. But it is worth looking at the thorny mess that it has to deal with.

In a better world, every country would price all greenhouse gas emissions – whether industrial or agricultural.