Bob Edlin: Govt rejects MBIE costings of oil decision

The Ardern government’s ban  on new oil and gas  exploration could cost the country  from $1.2bn  to $23.5bn  in foregone revenue, according to official advice from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and  Employment.  The MBIE  modelling, quality-checked  by Treasury,  points to lost oil company profits falling within a range of $199m and $7.3bn, with a calculated mid-point of $2.1bn.

Energy and Resources  Minister Megan  Woods says the government disputes  the figures— but doesn’t  offer  its own estimate. She  has introduced  to  Parliament the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill, which will legislate  officially  to stop new offshore oil and gas exploration permits.

Brian Gaynor: What Fonterra needs — radical reform

When will New Zealand dairy farmers wake up and realise that Fonterra Co-operative Group needs a massive shake-up?

When will farmers grasp that the group’s poor performance has a massive impact on their pockets, with this column estimating that the average NZ dairy farmer has missed out on over $1.5 million of tax-free capital gains over the past nine years?

The most depressing section of Fonterra’s recently released annual report is the historical financial summary on page 62. This shows that the farmgate milk price has fallen 20.4 per cent since 2014, the co-op’s dividend is the same as 2014 and its shares have a dividend yield of only 1.7 per cent.

NZCPR Weekly: Capital Gains Tax Edges Closer

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we examine some of the proposals outlined in the Tax Working Group’s interim report and urge anyone concerned about the prospect of a 33 percent Capital Gains Tax to send in a submission, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Frank Newman shares his analysis of tax changes proposed by the Working Group, and our poll asks whether you think the Capital Gains Tax as outlined by the Tax Working Group will be good for New Zealand or bad.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Arctic Sea Ice Much More Stable Than Thought

BBC’s Climate Change ‘Facts’ Are Fiction

In this newsletter:

1) Arctic Sea Ice Much More Stable Than Thought
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 22 September 2018
 
2) 30 Years Ago Officials Predicted The Maldives Would Be Swallowed By The Sea. It Didn’t Happen
Michael Bastasch, The Daily Caller, 21 September 2018 

Clive Bibby: “Hang on a minute mate” - Half time in the Provinces.

I hope the late Barry Crump won't be too concerned if l flog the title of one of his best works. It seemed like an apt description of the current political scenario in this country.

Last week's public demonstration of unity (or lack of it) within the governing coalition gave indications of what we might expect during the remainder of this parliamentary term.

Most experienced political observers will say that the chaos was bound to occur given the lack of experience amongst those chosen to be in cabinet although they might have been surprised at how quickly the incompetency of some was exposed.

Hans Bader: How a Minimum Wage Hike Wiped Out 40% of Venezuela's Stores

A large minimum wage increase in Venezuela has dealt a “fatal blow to 40% of Venezuelan stores,” reports the Miami Herald. The increase has closed many stores and left employees jobless. Venezuela’s government ignored the most basic law of economics in raising the minimum wage: the law of supply and demand. But laws don’t go away just because you ignore them.

The job losses will rise in the coming weeks because even “some of the stores that did [remain] open are simply liquidating their merchandise and plan to close definitively when that’s done.”

Bob Edlin: Mystery still shrouds ‘incident’ that sparked latest ministerial sacking

Boom!  There  goes another  minister…

PM  Jacinda  Ardern  wasted little time  in firing  Meka  Whaitiri  as  Minister  of Customs after   receiving a  report  into  an  “incident”  in Gisborne  on  August  27   involving Whaitiri and one of her staff.

Ardern said she no longer had confidence Meka Whaitiri as a minister.

“That is why I have taken the action I have.  I’ve made the decision solely on this incident. I’m confident in the decision I have made.”

No  mucking about this time, as there was  over the  Curran  affair.  Yet there  are  still elements of  mystery  over precisely  what  happened  in that  Gisborne  “incident”.

Melanie Phillips: The Leverage for Britain in the Art of the No Deal

According to a report in the Mail on Sunday, a “gang of four” has emerged inside the British Cabinet to get Brexit through without breaking the government and Conservative party apart.

The quartet, said to comprise two Brexiteers, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab, and two Remainers, Sajid Javid and Matt Hancock, have reportedly formed a “pragmatic” alliance to “get Brexit over the line”.

Apparently, these four ministers will seek to hose down both ultra-Remainers and ultra-Brexiteers who are all likely to object to the final terms of the deal.

GWPF Newsletter: One-Third Of US Households Struggle To Pay Energy Bills

Ontario Government Moves To Scrap Green Energy Act

In this newsletter:

1) One-Third Of US Households Struggle To Pay Energy Bills
Associated Press, 20 September 2018
 
2) One In Three U.S. Households Faces A Challenge In Meeting Energy Needs
U.S. Energy Information Administration, 19 September 2018

Karl du Fresne: My shameful confession

I have a shameful confession to make.

On a gorgeous spring afternoon in 2017, I drove to Fernridge School, just west of Masterton, and cast my vote in the general election.

Virtually until the moment I entered the polling booth, I remained an undecided voter.

My electorate vote was straightforward enough. It went to Labour’s Wairarapa candidate Kieran McAnulty – mainly because I thought Alastair Scott, the sitting National MP, had done bugger-all in his first term other than turn up for photo opportunities, and therefore didn’t deserve to be re-elected.

GWPF Newsletter: Europe's Business Lobby Finally Fights EU's Unilateral Climate Policy

Release Of New Climategate Emails Imminent

In this newsletter:

1) Europe’s Business Lobby Prepares Pushback Against EU’s New Climate Goals
EurActiv, 19 September 2018
 
2) Climategate Continues: Release Of University Of Arizona Climate Emails Imminent
Watts Up With That, 19 September 2018

NZCPR Weekly: Cultural Indoctrination Week

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we reveal the radical race-based agenda that Labour is progressing – including their just-announced plan to pass responsibility for some of the Marine and Coastal Area claims to a new powerful Maori Agency, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Michael Coote shares his analysis of the Government’s Maori language strategy and urges readers to make submissions, and our poll asks whether you support the Government’s Maori language revitalisation strategy.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Arctic Ice Growing Again

Computer Climate Simulations Just Crashed

In this newsletter:

1) Arctic Ice Growing Again
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 16 September 2018
 
2) Harry Wilkinson: Arctic Sea Ice Just Won’t Play The Game
The Conservative Woman, 7 September 2018

Bryan Leyland: “Things you know that ain't so" - fossil fuels

As the American humorist Will Rogers said: “It’s not what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.” 

“We can have a reliable and economic supply of electricity without burning fossil fuels”

Nonsense!

Blackouts are inevitable if we do not have sufficient energy in reserve to make up for the loss of hydro generation in a dry year. In a 1:20 dry year the shortfall amounts to 10% of annual consumption.

To make up for the shortfall we need to have an energy store that can be converted into electricity over the four month dry period. Ever since Meremere power station was commissioned in the 1950s, we have relied on coal-fired stations supplemented by gas and oil to provide the dry year reserve.

Matthew Lau: Federal Government’s “Eat the Rich” Plan Backfires

A few years ago, the federal Liberals told Canadians that they would help the middle class by raising taxes on the rich. According to the early evidence, the plan has flopped. This was entirely predictable. Indeed, in 2015, the C.D. Howe Institute (formerly chaired by the current federal finance minister) called the policy a “losing proposition.” However, the federal finance minister and federal government forged ahead anyway.

The data so far suggests that the federal government’s tax hike on top earners was so economically damaging that it actually reduced federal tax revenues. The Globe and Mail recently reported that the “Liberal government’s tax on Canada’s top 1 per cent failed to produce the promised billions in new revenue in its first year, as high-income earners actually paid $4.6-billion less in federal taxes.”

Mike Butler: Gate Pa and the need to look ahead

Gate Pa and Te Ranga – the full story seeks to put fighting that took place in Tauranga in 1864 within a wide historical narrative that includes Maori history back 360 years, the impact of British settlement in the 19th century, and the reaction to that settlement.

The Battle of Gate Pa on April 29, 1864, has been described as a humiliating defeat for the British although the Battle of Te Ranga seven weeks later resulted in Maori defenders being routed and their commander killed.

At Gate Pa, 31 Government troops were killed and 80 wounded despite vastly outnumbering the rebels. At Te Ranga, more than 80 rebels were killed or fatally wounded. The book corrects a few myths:

GWPF Newsletter: Out-Trumping Trump

European Nations Urge Subsidy Extension For Coal Plants Beyond 2030

In this newsletter:

1) Out-Trumping Trump: European Nations Urge Subsidy Extension For Coal Plants Beyond 2030
Montel, 14 September 2018
 
2) Green No More: Germany Is Razing A 12,000-Year-Old Forest To Make Way For A Coal Mine
Quartz, 13 September 2018

Frank Newman: Sidestepping planners

The government is getting serous about housing, but it's interesting how Labour's view of planning regulations has changed now that it finds itself in the position of being a developer via its Kiwibuild scheme.

It seems the Housing Minister Phil Twyford is now discovering the very same difficulties builders and developers have confronted for quite some time. The only difference being, unlike every other poor sod who is burdened with outrageous planning regulations, the Minister is able to sidestep the obstacles to get the building work done quicker and at less cost.

GWPF Newsletter: Green Madness

Europe's Renewable Energy Directive Poised To Harm Global Forests

In this newsletter:

1) Green Madness: Europe's Renewable Energy Directive Poised To Harm Global Forests
Princeton University, 12 September 2018
 
2) Is The European ETS Falling At The First Hurdle?
ICIS, 11 September 2018 

Bob Edlin: Ethnicity data to be collected for “balance” in appointments to State sector boards

Great news for mathematicians.  Their services – or the services of a few of them, appropriately selected – look likely to  be increasingly required to monitor the implementation of the Government’s diversification policies.

Those policies are being pushed into the domain of science by the Royal Society of New Zealand and by Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods.

The society and the Minister are saying – in effect – they can’t wait for the gender and race blends they seek to evolve naturally.  They favour a creative approach, to be effected through social engineering.

This puts merit on the back seat and promotes a numbers game.