Mike Butler: Burning trash the cleanest option

Waste incinerators in which all household rubbish except recyclables and concrete can be burned are the short answer to trash disposal and panics such as that caused by China’s recent refusal to take any more recyclable plastic.

Auckland man Chris Newman, who built New Zealand’s first waste tyre processing plant, was living in Japan when he noticed that household waste there was incinerated.

Returning home, Newman submitted a proposal for a waste incinerator that also generates electricity to Cr Penny Hulse at the Auckland Council, only to have it ruled out by council staff.

He then made a presentation to the office of Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage and found an impenetrable government ethos of “compost and recycle”.

James Delingpole: Three Years Ago We Voted Brexit. Here’s Why We Haven’t Got It…

Today is the third anniversary of the EU Referendum. Like all Brexiteers, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the result. And more importantly, I remember exactly how it felt. 

It felt as people must have done on VE Day. (Quite appropriate, really, given what the E in VE Day stands for…)

It felt how that preeminent knight of the Crusades Reynald de Chatillon must have felt on his release after years in the lightless, airless, foetid dungeons of Aleppo.

Melanie Phillips: How the Tories Can Save Themselves and Brexit

A general election in Britain in the near future is surely well-nigh inescapable. Whoever wins the Conservative leadership election — and as we can see from the histrionics of the past few days, Boris Johnson may end up destroying himself — both Johnson and his rival, Jeremy Hunt, have committed themselves to leaving the EU with no-deal on October 31 if they cannot renegotiate the withdrawal terms.

Since it seems overwhelmingly likely — regardless of Johnson’s claims to the contrary — that the EU will not offer any concessions, the new prime minster will therefore be declaring that the UK will leave on October 31 with no deal (unless of course he weasels out of his no-deal commitment, an outcome which would surely surprise no-one).

Bob Edlin: What would a no-deal Brexit look like?

Throughout the Brexit negotiations, the media have struggled to describe how a no-deal Brexit might work.  Understandable really, as it all depends on the actions the parties take; the responses to each other’s actions; and adaptation to new policy realities.

The most recent effort from The Times (see here) sacrificed clarity for comprehensiveness, listing outcomes ranging from the far-fetched (that aerospace companies will abandon their investments and skilled workers and decamp to Europe and China) to the near-inevitable (that volume car manufacturing in the UK is facing serious restructuring). But in speculating on outcomes, it might have missed a chance to explain the choices driving them.

Clive Bibby: Care of the elderly - we have much more to do

Watching the parliamentary debate on the "End of life" bill during its second reading stages was an experience that l would recommend to anyone who genuinely wanted to form a reasoned opinion on the issue.

There is no question that, in these circumstances when MPs are not bound by party loyalties and are free to speak frankly from the heart, we see the institution of Parliament and those who represent us operating in a manner that makes us proud to be "kiwis".

Sadly, there appear to be few other branches of Government that rewards us in similar fashion for the massive amounts of taxpayers dollars spent keeping our version of democracy afloat.

NZCPR Weekly: Supreme Power for New Housing Authority

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we review the KiwiBuild debacle and outline how, instead of fixing the problems in the housing sector, the Government is creating a super agency with draconian new powers to not only sidestep council plans and the RMA, but to compulsorily acquire private land and impose new taxes; our NZCPR Guest Commentator Fiona Mackenzie shares her concerns about the role the tribal elite will play in the new agency; and our poll asks whether you believe this new Government agency should be given the power to compulsorily acquire private land for its developments.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Oregon Climate Bill Drama Ends In Victory For Runaway Senators

Oregon Democrats Say Climate Change Bill Is Dead After Republican Senators Fled The State

In this newsletter:

1) Runaway Oregon Republican Says Lawmakers Won't Return Until 'Expensive' Carbon Tax Bill Scrapped
Fox News, 25 June 2019 
 
2) Oregon Democrats Say Climate Change Bill Is Dead After Republican Senators Fled The State
Slate, 26 June 2019 

GWPF Newsletter: G20 Plays Down Commitment To Climate Change Action

UN Climate Talks Fail To Adopt Contentious IPCC Report

In this newsletter:

1) G20 Plays Down Commitment To Climate Change Action
Financial Times, 25 June 2019

2) UN Climate Talks Fail To Adopt Contentious IPCC Report
The Independent, 23 June 2019 

Brian Giesbrecht: UNDRIP won’t help marginalized aboriginals

Bill C-262, the proposed legislation requiring Canadian laws to meet an undefined measure of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples (UNDRIP) is being held up by Conservative senators.

Tax paying Canadians should be thankful.

Advocates of the Bill say that the legislation will create no additional legal impediments for Canada, but it will significantly improve the lives of poor and marginalized Indigenous people.

Bob Edlin: What's happened to NZ's housing crisis?

The absence of emotive media reports and silence from the lobbyists does not mean the housing “crisis” has been fixed. 

So what happened to New Zealand’s housing “crisis”? Was it real, or just another imagined but emotive issue akin to “peak oil”, the fetish of the Green Party back at the turn of the century which was accompanied by grim forebodings that the world would run out of oil by 2006?

Surely it was not just a figment of our – or the public’s – imagination! After all, the media for months carried nightly images of the hundreds of homeless on the streets, people living in garages or – if they were lucky – people being accommodated at state expense in motels.

That was in the run-up to the general election.

GWPF Newsletter: EU Fails To Set Net Zero Emissions Target

2050 Climate Goal Relegated To Footnote

In this newsletter:

1) EU Fails To Set Net Zero Emissions Target
CNN, 20 June 2019

The European Union has failed to set a firm deadline to end its contribution to climate change, after a group of eastern European countries blocked a proposal to slash EU carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

European heads of government sitting at the council summit on 20 June. Photo: European Union Leaders of the bloc’s 28 member states agreed instead on Thursday to start working on “a transition to a climate-neutral EU.”

Matt Ridley: A Pledge to Abolish Sin

If the British government declared the abolition of sin by 2050, commentators would be rightly cynical. The announcement last week that Britain will enact a net-zero carbon target for 2050 was instead welcomed, especially by “faith leaders”. Yet without specifying how it is to be achieved, setting this target is about as wishful as pledging to eliminate sin. It is not just a matter of cost – although £1 trillion is not small change (if you had been spending a pound a second and had now reached £1 trillion, you would have had to start when Neanderthals were still on the scene).

Too many Tories think that going green means getting into lucrative bed with the crony-capitalist wind and solar industries, putting profit-seeking lipstick on a subsidy-dependent pig. But this is a futile strategy, politically as well as practically.

NZCPR Weekly: Dangers Ahead

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we outline how the Government is readying the country up for the legalisation of cannabis – and we remind readers concerned about drug users driving on our roads that the Ministry of Transport has called for public feedback on whether the random roadside drug testing of drivers should be introduced, our NZCPR Guest Commentator is the former Colorado District Attorney Bob Troyer who expresses his concerns about the State’s disastrous experiment with cannabis legalisation, and our poll asks whether you would support the introduction of random roadside drug testing for drivers.

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

Viv Forbes: How to Create a Country with no Heart?

What happened to Australia’s once-bipartisan policies favouring decentralisation? Why is every proposal to develop an outback mine, dam, irrigation scheme or a real power station now labelled “controversial” by the ABC and opposed by the ALP/Greens?

This coastal-city focus and the hostility to new outback industry (except for wind/solar toys) has surely reached its zenith with the recent state budget for Queensland.

The population of coastal and metropolitan Queensland is surging with baby-boom retirees, welfare recipients, grey nomads, tourists, overseas students, migrants and winter refugees. But the outback is dying with lagging industry and many aging farmers retiring to the coast. We are creating a country with no heart.

Guy Steward: Hong Kong, NZ, and the Common Law

The people of Hong Kong have an understandable concern for the future of their state, and especially of the tradition of English common law which forms most of their legal system. The young people there seem to highly value it.

So, it’s timely to discuss the implications of changes to that law wherever it has been found. That discussion could also focus on what appears at times to be a lack of awareness of and appreciation of common law and its history in New Zealand.

In fact, we’re connected to it through the Third Article of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Clive Bibby: Carnage always has a human face

Recent polls indicating support levels for the proposed “decriminalisation of cannabis use” referendum have produced interesting results. Although surprised that both surveys suggest it will be voted down (l wouldn't have picked that result), l am none the less grateful that kiwis appear not yet ready for such a change.

We must ask the obvious question - why not?

Having been inundated with supportive opinions from the self appointed guardians of social behaviour for years leading up to this point, l had become resigned to the fact that this was a fight that was not going to be won based on logic or even appeals from those who are the casualties of this selfish destructive pastime. I thought we had lost out to the smooth talkers who weren't interested in their responsibilities to future generations or even the current ones.  There appeared to be little hope of a re think and I wasn't looking forward to the consequences of this inevitable decision.

But, apparently miracles do happen.

GWPF Newsletter: Back To The Dark Ages

German Greens Look To Ban All Industrial Farming

In this newsletter:

1) German Greens Look To Ban All Industrial Farming
The Daily Telegraph, 17 June 2019
 
2) Merkel’s Climate Hype Backfires As German Greens Ride to Brink of Power
Bloomberg, 17 June 2019

GWPF Newsletter: Will Carbon Tax Bring Down Trudeau’s Government?

Majority Of Canadian Voters Oppose Trudeau’s Carbon Tax — May Decide Elections

In this newsletter:

1) Majority Of Canadian Voters Oppose Trudeau’s Carbon Tax — May Decide Elections
Toronto Sun, 12 June 2019

2) Only 32% Of Canadians Think Trudeau Deserves Re-Election As Tories Hold Lead: Ipsos Poll
The Canadian Press, 14 June 2019

Bob Edlin: Drilling programme vital to avoid importing oil and gas

The arrival of the self-propelled, 34,500-tonne offshore drilling rig COSL Prospector in Taranaki heralds an important stage in the exploitation of NZ’s oil and gas resources. 

The first task for the rig is to drill three side-track wells for Malaysian-based Tamarind at the Tui offshore field, in the expectation it can extend the life of the field beyond next year and lead to the extraction of 6-8m barrels of oil.

Then the rig is contracted by OMV, operator of the offshore Pohokura and Maui fields, to drill an exploratory well in the Great South Basin.

OMV, which also operates the offshore Maui and Pohokura gas fields, expects to begin drilling towards the end of the year – potentially using the COSL Prospector if consents are secured. OMV’s first well lies in about 1,200 metres of water 130 kilometres south-east of Balclutha. If successful, the programme potentially could involve drilling 10 wells, up to two further exploration wells and up to seven for appraisal.

Bryce Edwards: Who does the public trust in 2019?

How much trust do you have in politics and public institutions? It’s one of the most important political questions of our time. All over the world there has been a decline in trust, which is leading to a sea change in our politics – from Trump and Brexit through to the emergence of radical progressive causes that are challenging orthodoxies around economics, ethnicity and gender. So, suddenly people are more sceptical about authority, and it’s having major consequences, for good or ill.

Here in New Zealand there’s mixed evidence on the issue of trust, and today some new survey statistics are out which give us a better idea of levels of trust and mistrust. These come via Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, which commissions the Colmar Brunton market research firm to ask the public questions about trust each year.