David Farrar: The case for seabed mining

The Herald reports:

Bright orange, 61m long, and 16m wide, the Anuanua Moana jars against the crystal blue waters of the Cook Islands. Kelvin Passfield hasn't seen the research vessel head out to survey the ocean floor so much recently, but when he does it serves as a bad omen: its work is making the small island nation the new frontier of environmental extraction.

Point of Order: We are assured we have been made safer against terrorists.....

.....but the Greens found grounds to grumble about the new law

The Government has further strengthened and clarified counter-terrorism laws, particularly around high-risk individuals, to make our communities safer, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said in a press statement after the Counter-Terrorism Acts (Designations and Control Orders) Amendment Bill 2023 passed its third reading in Parliament “with strong support across the House”.

But the Greens did not support the bill and Allan’s press statement is somewhat vague in explaining how the laws have been strengthened and clarified.

Point of Order: Mahuta was finding a job for Goff and keeping miners off the seabed

So what does she make of further dismantling of our democracy?

The news we expected to hear from Nanaia Mahuta, as Minister of Local Government, was not to be found on the Beehive website when we checked around noon.

We refer to the far-from-surprising but nevertheless deeply disturbing news that the Government-appointed review of local government is recommending the further dismantling of democratic governance in New Zealand