The week that was 14 - 20 May

This week, the ACC admitted it has been rejecting too many claimants seeking elective surgery. The acknowledgement by ACC officials comes after an internal review of elective surgery decision-making. Patients, lawyers and advocates were angry at the new approach, which had led to many injury claimants being turned down because of age-related degeneration.

The report revealed a sharp increase rate of ACC decisions refusing to pay for surgery being overturned in review hearings: 44 per cent in the nine months to March, compared with 36 per cent in the last financial year, and 30 per cent in 2008/09. The report says ACC needs to apply extra expertise, particularly in complex cases, before finally deciding to refuse surgery. President of the Orthopaedic Association, Associate Professor Gary Hooper, said surgeons were increasingly frustrated at having to appeal for funding of patients' surgery, "even when they apparently met the criteria and were clearly in urgent need".

A new report suggests that some 1.3 billion metric tons of food in the world is lost (on the production side of the food supply chain) or wasted (on the consumption side) each year. That's about one-third of total edibles produced for humans.

It's not the only jarring statistic in the study conducted by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, on behalf of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Consumers in industrialized nations waste nearly 222 million tons of food each year, virtually the equivalent of sub-Saharan Africa's total net food production (230 million tonnes). And in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as South and Southeast Asia, individual consumers waste between 6-11 kg annually, while consumers in Europe and North America discard more than eight times as much: between 95-115 kg.

During the Shell annual general assembly (AGM) in The Hague this week, Friends of the Earth International presented an “erratum” to Shell’s 2010 annual report. In this spoof “erratum”, which was distributed among shareholders, Shell 'admits' that it is “causing a lot of unwanted and unnecessary damage” in its global oil-gas- and biofuels operations. The company also states that Shell “has learnt from these mistakes” and pledges to take “full responsibility to prevent and mitigate costs for the environment and people affected by our operations”.

The erratum (PDF) published by Friends of the Earth International highlights 12 cases from 5 different continents. It displays climate and other environmental impacts from Shell’s oil and gas operations, but also shows the involvement of Shell in the violation of human rights and labour irregularities, such as those resulting from Shell’s joint venture with Brazilian biofuel producer Cosan S.A., which has been linked to slave labour and violations of labour rights.

Furthermore, the report lists cases of corruption and interference with politicianss in order to ensure business profits. The erratum, which should serve as a wake up call for Shell's shareholders and board, is backed up by an in-depth report about the 12 cases involving life threatening pollution, bribery, slavery and violation of national and international laws.

NATO helicopters from Afghanistan intruded into northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, wounding two soldiers, officials said, prompting a protest from the military already seething over the secret U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden. The Pakistani Army said it had lodged a "strong protest" and sought a flag meeting with NATO commanders over the incursion in Pakistan's North Waziristan near the Afghan border, which has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. drone aircraft as a hub of al Qaeda linked militants.

A Western military official in Kabul, however, said two NATO helicopters supporting a base in eastern Afghanistan had returned fire after being attacked from Pakistan, but declined to say whether they had crossed into Pakistani airspace. A senior Pakistani security official said NATO has lodged its own complaint with Pakistan, accusing its forces of "unprovoked firing." Western military officials in Kabul had no immediate comment about the possible complaint. The incident is certain to weigh on relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have been pushed almost to the breaking point after the May 2 raid on Abbottabad that killed bin Laden, with Pakistan's parliament condemning the operation as a violation of the nation's sovereignty.

Donald Trump has announced that he will not be running for presidency in 2012, saying "running for public office cannot be done half-heartedly." On Monday, Trump said he could win the presidential race but added that through his “unofficial” campaigning, he has realized that business was his “greatest passion."

In recent months, the real estate mogul and host of the reality television program Celebrity Apprentice had questioned whether President Barack Obama was born in the US. The questioning of Obama's place of birth boosted Trump to the top tier of candidates. Eventually, the US president released his certificate, and Trump took credit for forcing Obama's hand. Analysts believe if Trump ran for presidency, he would have to make significant disclosures about his financial interests and business activities.


Millions of people demonstrated in more than 50 cities across Spain this week. They demanded “Real democracy” and were dissatisfied with the countries politicians and bankers. "They call it a democracy and it is not”, said Juan Luis Sánchez summing up the general sentiment. “This is a crises, the poorest pay while the rich ones and bankers keep on winning millions.” He said. This was a statement repeated by many of the protesters to the sound of drums and fanfare.

The peaceful protesters were comprised of young and old alike all demanding real democracy, which the Government had promised but not delivered, especially to the poor. The protest was organised using social media networks and the turnout was larger than expected.  They yelled slogans and held banners with; The Politicians Lie, the Bankers Steal, the Rich ones Laugh, Real Democracy Already and This is not the Democracy that we deserve written on them. The protests have gone largely unreported elsewhere in the world with many of those that attended complaining about the absence of the media during the large gatherings.


It was reported this week that twenty MPs have interests in at least four properties each, and one MP has money in a set of ruins in France. The Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament (PDF), reavealed as part of the annual register of MPs financial interests, shows eight MPs have interests in at least six properties. These MPs include John Key, Amy Adams, Gerry Brownlee, Hillary Calvert, Aaron Gilmore, Chris Tremain and Paul Hutchinson. Cam Calder, a National list MP, declared he is involved in restoring a ruin in Gers, France. The biggest investor is Chris Tremain, National MP for Napier, who has interests in 15 investment properties. Outgoing National MP Georgina Te Heu Heu has interests in dozens of properties held in common with many thousands of other Maori owners.


The average dairy farmer pays less tax than a couple on the pension. Despite the dairy industry being 40 per cent larger than the entire utilities sector and two-thirds the size of the construction sector, IRD figures showed the agricultural sector, including forestry and fishing, paid $319m in tax in 2009. Compared with $486m from mining. Inland Revenue Department figures provided to Labour revenue spokesman Stuart Nash show that, in the latest full year for which figures were available, the average tax paid by dairy farms was $1506 a year, despite an average Fonterra payout understood to be well over $500,000. The figures also show that more than half of the farmers reported a loss for the 2009 year and 2635 reported trading income of between $1 and $20,000.

The information was made available just prior to the Government delivering one of the tightest Budgets in recent years, which cuts into middle-class family benefits and KiwiSaver subsidies. As a co-operative, Federated Farmers pays out profits to its farmer shareholders, who are liable for tax. Figures complied by the Parliamentary Library show that, from May 2007 to January 2011, Fonterra earned $1.86 billion before tax, on turnover of $61.6b. It reported after-tax profit of $1.88b after receiving net tax credits of $28m – equivalent to a tax rate of negative 1.5 per cent. Farmers did not pay tax on their capital profits when they sold farms. But Mr Nash said he was not signalling a move to a capital gains tax.

Tax paid by the 17,244 dairy farms in 2009: $26m

Tax paid by the agricultural, forestry and aquaculture sector: $319m

Tax paid by individuals through PAYE and source deductions: $23b

Total government tax take: $54.7b

Tax credit paid to Fonterra over 3 1/2 years: $28m

Average annual tax paid by 17,244 dairy farms in 2009: $1508

Tax paid by an unemployed beneficiary aged over 25: $1229

Eight New York residents are suing China and its biggest search engine company, accusing Baidu of conspiring with the government to censor pro-democracy content. The lawsuit claims violations of the US constitution, and according to the plaintiffs' lawyer, is the first of its type. In an unorthodox move, it names not only a company but also the Chinese government as defendants. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, more than a year after Google declared it would no longer censor search results in China, and rerouted internet users to its Hong Kong website.

Parliament's Wall of Shame #2

Pansy Yu Fong Wong

On 12 November 2010 Pansy Wong resigned as a Minister after misusing her parliamentary travel perks for trips to China on which her husband conducted private business activities, which is specifically prohibited. What is clear is that the couple advanced Mr Wong's business interests while travelling together, subsidised by the New Zealand taxpayer to the tune of nearly $55,000. To make matters worse, the Wong’s unlawfully registered two private companies to Ms Wong's Botany Downs electorate office.

At the time, Mr Key said he saw no reason why Mrs Wong should resign as an MP.

"Nothing I have heard in terms of the allegations would drive me to believe that she shouldn't be a member of the caucus."

Pansy Wong became silent on the matter at John Key's request. When Trevor Mallard questioned Mr Key further on the matter of the Wong's inappropriate use of perks, John Key advocated for and defended his spokesperson Kevin Taylor, who had called Pete Hodgson a fuck-wit!  Pete Hodgson had been questioning the legitimacy of Pansy Wong’s business affairs when verbally accosted by Mr Taylor. Mr Key was relieved that Kevin had only resorted to verbal abuse and did not use violence. Clearly Mr Key thought that this was an option to resolve the accusations.

Ms Wong admitted she misused her taxpayer funded travel subsidy by paying for her husband Sammy Wong's travel to China in late 2008 while he was conducting personal business. Pansy and Sammy Wong’s company Sampan was an agent for Massey, AUT and Lincoln, and the couple would often travel to China to promote this business. It was also revealed that a company called PPD engaged Sammy Wong in March 2005 to facilitate meetings with a Chinese business CNR, whose subsidiary Dalian Locomotives subsequently won a contract to supply 20 train locomotives to KiwiRail. There are also questions concerning the huge amounts of money raised by the Wong's for the National Party which have gone unanswered.

A report (PDF) was generated which found no impropriety, although it cynically only looked at the couples flights from before Pansy Wong was a minister and before Sammy Wong had business interests in China, and as such has been largely referred to as a white wash. Clearly the lack of a proper investigation is the reason the Wong's have not been formally charged.

John Henry Tamihere

John Tamihere was convicted for three drink driving and other offences between 1978 and 1995. He recently made the excuse that "There are over 700,000 New Zealanders who have been convicted of drink driving." Mr Tamihere followed the reprehensible example of Piggy Muldoon and enthusiastically embraced Parliament's drinking culture with gusto. Drunkenness was probably the reason Tamihere abandoned two cats in May 2005. He was formally cautioned by the New Zealand SPCA.

On 15 October 2004, John Tamihere requested leave from his ministerial portfolios after accusations of dishonest financial dealings. The accusations against Tamihere included: accepting a "golden handshake" from the Waipareira Trust after stating that he would not take one and failing to pay tax on this payment. On 22 October, the Waipareira Trust accepted that it, not Tamihere, had the responsibility for tax on any payment. However this is not legally correct. Other allegations relating to the financial management of the Trust persisted.

It was also revealed that the Waipareira Trust had written off $100,000, which was allegedly a mortgage to MP John Tamihere and another $800,000 was allegedly written off for money owed on a commercial joint venture of the Trust. On 3 November Tamihere resigned from his Ministerial portfolios, citing as untenable the retention of his responsibilities during on-going investigations. On 21 December, an official investigation cleared Tamihere of the tax charges, and on 14 March 2005, the Serious Fraud Office cleared him of the charges relating to his stewardship of the Waipareira Trust.

During the fiasco, Tamihere made a number of derogatory remarks against Helen Clark as well as other Labour Ministers. Steve Maharey was called "smarmy" and lacking in substance, and Michael Cullen was depicted as cunning and manipulative. The party's homosexual MPs were also criticised. Tamihere was reported as being highly critical of women leaders, saying that they achieved their position through preferential treatment. He also stated that he was "sick and tired of hearing how many Jews got gassed" in the Holocaust. The minimum answer to that is an estimated total of over 2.586 million.

Helen Clark indicated that she saw no chance of Tamihere being elected to Cabinet again. The revelation of these comments also ended talk of a potential move to the National Party where his demeanour would be more suited. Despite his obvious alcoholism, Tamaere tried to develop a huge detox centre for the Waipareira Trust. He has now found his calling and currently hosts a talkback show on Radio Live with co-host Willie Jackson.

David Benson-Pope

In May 2005 Benson-Pope stood down from cabinet after allegations that he had physically abused students while teaching at Bayfield High School in the 1980s. The allegations included charges he stuffed a tennis-ball in a student's mouth and taped his hands to a desk, threw tennis balls at students' heads, caned a student until he bled and smacked a student in the face with the back of his hand on a school camp, making his nose bleed. He also forced students to stand outside for lengthy periods in their nightwear during a school camp and entered the female dormitory and showers in 1997 while 14-year-old girls were undressed.

Parents complained about these and other incidents and the school headmaster at the time says he discussed the complaints with Benson-Pope. Benson-Pope issued a public statement on 28 February 2006 saying that although a discussion had taken place, he had not seen a written complaint until the day before. He apologised in Parliament to his former students, while maintaining he had done nothing inappropriate. 

When the Speaker Margaret Wilson decided that the privileges committee had no case to address, Benson-Pope regained all his former portfolios apart from Associate Minister of Education. Clearly Parliament needed a Minister who could dish out perverted corporal punishment. 

In November 2005 the media reported that no prosecution would take place, despite police finding there was a prima facie case that he had assaulted students. In July 2007 Benson-Pope ran into further political trouble when it emerged that a political advisor in his office - the Labour Party's Trade Union Affiliate Vice-President Steve Hurring had made phone calls, which led to the sacking of the Ministry for the Environment's newly appointed Communications Manager. The issue revolved around her relationship with the chief press secretary to National's parliamentary leader John Key, despite the fact that she had "made a disclosure of her personal connections" during the appointment-process. (Under New Zealand's State Sector Act, ministers and their staff may not become involved in employment matters within their ministries, with the law placing on CEOs of ministries a "duty to act independently of Ministers in matters relating to decisions on individual employees"). 

After a week of intense pressure focusing not only on the allegation that his staff had acted improperly, but also that he himself had misled Parliament, Benson-Pope offered his resignation from Cabinet at noon on Friday 27 July 2007. 

The Prime Minister Helen Clark accepted the resignation, saying: "The way in which certain issues have been handled this week has led to a loss of credibility and on that basis I have accepted Mr Benson-Pope's offer to stand aside".  

Ruth Dyson

Only a week after Ruth Dyson called Norm Hewitt irresponsible for playing rugby with a broken arm, she was charged with drunk driving. Ms Dyson's breath alcohol reading was almost twice the legal limit. Ironically, Dyson was associate minister of health, accident insurance, and social services and employment when she decided to get behind the wheel pissed. She also held the disabilities issues portfolio. Dyson resigned in Oct 2000 but regained most of her ministerial responsibilities on June 4 2001.

There are also some reports that Ruth Dyson (then Minister of Womens Affairs) called Katherine Rich a stupid tart. The Jackal whole-heartedly agrees with this sentiment. Katherine Rich is a stupid tart!

Fukushima Cover-Up

While independent experts have been saying for ages now that there is evidence of nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the confirmation by Japanese officials has until very recently been missing from the official story. This information has seen no coverage from mainstream media, who've largely forgotten the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Last week TEPCO announced that workers had finally entered the reactor building of unit #1 to find the first 5 feet of the 13-foot long fuel rods had completely melted down into a pool of molten lava that now sits on the bottom of the reactor. The development means TEPCO will no longer be able to follow the 9-month plan to slow radiation leaking with the use of a huge sarcophagus and an entirely new plan will need to be drafted.

TEPCO confirmed that the #1 reactor was in a state of full meltdown and is worried that the molten pool of radioactive fuel may have burned a hole through the bottom of the containment vessel. The nuclear fuel meltdown is believed to have occurred around 16 hours after the devastating quake and tsunami that crippled the plant’s critical cooling systems. The company suspects the meltdown has already created a hole or holes in the bottom of the reactor causing water to leak into the containment vessel. TEPCO also suspects the water is leaking into the reactor building, making any containment nigh on impossible.

“We will have to revise our plans, we cannot deny the possibility that a hole in the pressure vessel caused water to leak,” said Junichi Matsumoto, a spokesman for Tepco.

Tepco has not clarified what other barriers there are to stop radioactive fuel leaking if the steel containment vessel has been fully breached. Greenpeace said the situation could escalate rapidly if “the lava melts through the vessel”.

March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by unmanned drone.

Last Monday, an adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had failed to inject water into the Number 2 and 3 reactors for more than six hours after the March 11 massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami. TEPCO has not confirmed if this also resulted in meltdowns at those reactors.

After levels of radiation had been measured as high as 700 millisieverts* per hour last week, Japan released 500 million becquerels of radioactive water into the ocean to lower the radiation levels inside the plant. However this pales in comparison to the amount of radioactive material that has already been dumped into the Pacific Ocean by TEPCO from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

To make matters worse, it appears that many officials are actively participating in a cover up to hide the true extent of the radiation that is being released from Fukushima Dai-ichi. On May 9, scientists inadvertently uploaded a radiation forecast to the ZAMG website showing a massive cloud of Xenon radiation spreading over Japan and the United States. Here is a comparison of the two radiation fallout forecasts.

Japan has been reasonably lucky in relative terms with the wind blowing most of the radiation out over the sea and towards the US. However earlier this month, the wind direction changed and blew radioactive material over Japan. To make matters worse, there’s evidence of another large fire at the Plant that occurred 8th May. This event was also unreported.

Japan Nuclear Radiation Iodine Dispersion Forecast 6 - 9 May 2011

 

*Exposure to this level of radiation will cause death after six hours. According to the NIH radiation levels of 4 sieverts per hour will cause fatality in 50% of people and at 6 sieverts per hour death is almost certain. 100 sieverts per hour is far above the 100% lethal dosage amount of 6 sieverts per hour.

Parliament's Wall of Shame #1

Former Act MP David Garrett

ACT MP David Garrett obtained a fake passport with a false name using the birth certificate of a dead baby. He was arrested and charged in 2005 as part of a Police inquiry into wrongly obtained passports. The law can impose ten years imprisonment and/or a fine of $250,000 under passport legislation for the crime Garrett committed. However Garrett received name suppression and was discharged without conviction. It was latter revealed that he had created a disguise to gain the passport and also lied in Court in order to escape conviction.

David Garrett was the Sensible Sentencing Trusts legal adviser until 2008 and is a personal friend of Garth McVicar. In 2002 Garrett received a conviction and fine for assaulting a man in Tonga. In 2009 Garrett made inappropriate sexual comments to a female Act member and was chastised by Rodney Hide, who revealed he'd known about Garrett's prior convictions and chose to keep them secret. David Garrett has openly stated that he believes homosexuals are paedophiles. His hypocritical three strikes and you’re out policy is still in effect today. Garrett resigned from the Act Party in 2010.

Graham John Capill

Graham Capill served as the first leader of the now-defunct Christian Heritage Party and often used his position in parliament to speak out against homosexuality. In 2005 he was convicted of multiple sexual offences against girls under 12 years of age, and is currently serving a 9 year prison sentence with no minimum parole period. He was last considered for early release on Sept 28 2010. His next chance of early release will be in Sept 2011. The statutory sentence ends in June 2014. The Parole Board has twice declined Capill's applications for early release stating:

''Any level of risk, however, is likely to amount to undue risk for so long as Mr Capill's offending issues centred round offence-related sexual arousal, violence, relationship difficulties, and anti-social ways of thinking are insufficiently addressed without appropriate intervention either in prison or, under suitable stringency, in the community,'' the report said.

In the hearing it was revealed that Capill had tried to use his knowledge of the law as a police prosecutor to avoid the accusation of rape and that he'd sent out emails two weeks prior to the hearing saying that his sex with one of his young victims was consensual. Security at the Christchurch courthouse was tight when Capill was being sentenced in 2005, following an attack on him by former boxer Danny McNally. The retribution was captured on camera and extensively broadcast throughout New Zealand. 

Donna Awatere Huata

In Sept 2005, Act MP Donna Awatere Huata was sentenced to jail for two years and nine months for stealing from a Maori trust set up to help under-privileged children. Her husband Wi Huata was also sentenced to two years. An Auckland District Court jury found the couple guilty of fraud and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The Serious Fraud Office said the duo stole $82,000 from the Government funded Pipi Foundation and then tried to cover up their crime by altering the books and asking people to lie for them.

Some of the stolen money was used to pay for Awatere Huata's stomach stapling operation and some was used to pay state-integrated school fees for the couple's children. The foundation was set up by Awatere Huata in 1999 to help literacy and social skills of under-privileged Maori children and over three years received more than $840,000 in Government funding. Huata was expelled from the Act party on the allegations of fraud and subsequently undertook a legal claim to remain in Parliament as an Independent List MP. The Supreme Court ruled against her and she was subsequently removed from Parliament. In October 2010 another school she was heavily involved in was also forced to go into liquidation.

Trevor Rogers

Former National MP Trevor Rogers, having become increasingly frustrated with National's refusal to pursue his anti pornography policies left the party. He joined the Right of Centre, which had been founded by another dissident conservative, Ross Meurant. The Right of Centre party restyled itself as the New Zealand Conservative Party as a result of poor opinion poll performances. Meurant was later dismissed from Government over a conflict of business interests, leaving Rogers as party leader.

After leaving office, Rogers multi-million dollar helicopter project and other companies were folded and he applied for bankruptcy protection. The status of some of the assets from his various ventures was in doubt or disputed and liquidators called in forensic receivers and investigators. Some of the missing assets that were claimed as destroyed or sold by Mr and Mrs Rogers, were later found in concurrent property searches, having been sequestered in various shipping containers around Auckland. He was jailed for one month for contempt of court in February 2011, after failing to provide the Court with the whereabouts of the intellectual property relating to the helicopter businesses. Mr Rogers was censured for "continually lying to the court.” 

Nick Smith

Nick Smith is a National MP and recently received the Jackal's Asshole of the Week Award. In late March 2004, Smith was found guilty of contempt of court. He had been asked to assist a constituent with a Family Court case and made a number of public comments which broke the court's confidentiality rules and was also found to have pressured a witness in the case. Smith's defence was that he was exercising his responsibility as a constituency MP to aid a constituent and that his public utterances in the matter had served the public interest, but these claims were rejected by the court.

In June 2010, Osmose New Zealand took a defamation case against Smith to the High Court in Auckland. Osmose New Zealand alleges that Smith's statements made in July 2005 about the timber product, T1.2, destroyed the product's reputation caused the company to lose more than $14 million in estimated profits. On 10 June 2010, Smith settled the case by issuing an apology and making an undisclosed payment. Smith was quoted by the Dominion Post as saying “No public money is involved in the settlement, although I have been very grateful to have received $209,000 of public money from the Parliamentary Service”. 

The Speaker, Jonathan Hunt, held that contempt of court was insufficient to warrant expulsion from Parliament, as it did not fall within the statutory definition of a crime. What a crock!

Roger McClay

In 2010 former National Government Minister Roger McClay admitted to a $25,000 double-dipping rort of cash strapped charities and taxpayer money. He pleaded guilty to three representative fraud charges that he abused his ex-MP perk of taxpayer-subsidised flights, then falsely claimed travel costs from Keep New Zealand Beautiful and World Vision, the charities he was involved in. Judge Jan Doogue described the fraud as “significant” in the Auckland District Court where she indicated a sentence of community work if he pleaded guilty.

Police detectives searched the former National ministers house of the fraudulent ex-National MP. During his 15 years in Parliament, McClay was Minister of Youth Affairs and Associate Minister of Education and Social Welfare. He was then appointed Commissioner for Children, and in 2005 was made a companion of the Queen's Service Order. The disgraced ex-MP was farcically sentenced to 300 hours community service for his crimes. Being privileged really does have its bonuses.

59% of NZ Houses Not Maintained Properly

A recent BRANZ study has found that 59% of New Zealand houses are not maintained properly. It found many common defects in the houses studied, such as poor under-floor ventilation, inadequate clearance of wall cladding from the ground, missing or corroding sub-floor fasteners and poor maintenance of timber windows. 25% of the houses surveyed were in particular poor condition.

The BRANZ study found the amount of houses in good condition fell by 9% between 2005 and 2010. This is due to a lack of proper investment and a large proportion of landlords putting off house maintenance, which leads to many houses being cold, draughty and unsafe. Ultimately this impacts negatively on tenants health.

The research also found that rented homes are in a poorer condition than owner-occupied homes. The findings have caused some to blame inflation, with many landlords apparently putting off maintenance because of increases in the cost of living. However this is a weak excuse by people who receive large amounts of finances from their rentals, a percentage of which is meant to be set aside for proper maintenance. The correct term to describe such landlords is rack renters. They took advantage of cheap loans to speculate in a largely unregulated housing market which pushed up house prices and rental costs and are now taking advantage of those trapped in the poverty cycle.

The study has been largely ignored by the National Government and comes on the back of another recent report by the OECD that found New Zealand residential rentals are overpriced by 43% on average. This shows that New Zealand has a very large problem in terms of affordable and safe accommodation.

100,000 homes have been insulated under a Green Party initiated scheme with the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority, which has made significant improvements in air quality and energy efficiency. The retrofit has resulted in many landlords increasing the rental cost charged to tenants when their homes are improved. Christchurch was not included in the fourth House Condition Survey (PDF) which studied 573 houses from throughout the country.

Creating the Climate for Change

Did you realise that sea ice is melting and temperatures are warming even faster than climatologists predicted? There is no doubt that it's happening because of Human-made climate change. An increasing body of scientific observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system, with new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.

Greenland lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometres of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost around 152 cubic kilometres of ice between 2002 and 2005. Glaciers are also retreating almost everywhere around the world.

Although one can point to particular glaciers that are growing, glaciologists look for trends in the total mass of glaciers worldwide. The consensus is that the world’s glaciers are losing ice at an accelerating rate. Several ice shelves have collapsed completely, including one covering 3,250 km². In September 1979, Arctic sea ice extent was roughly equivalent to the area of Australia. Since then it has declined by about a third. The melt outstripped all projections, and added to an increase in sea levels around the globe.

Click image for larger view.

A new blueprint for sustainable, economic growth was presented with the UNEP's Green Economy Report, which outlines public policy choices, urgent actions and investments needed for a transition to a global 'Green Economy' that is low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially-inclusive. Unfortunately many Governments (Including National) have completely ignored the information. No doubt they will also ignore the information presented by James Hansen, one of the world's most famous climate change scientists, who is currently touring New Zealand.

The argument against implementing such a course of action can be described as weak at best. One of the recent issues raised is that there's a trade-off between environmental sustainability and economic growth. This is clearly a myth, adopting a Green Economy approach does not mean an inevitable decline in GDP. It's been shown that investing as little as 2% of global GDP across ten key sectors will trigger a new engine of economic growth and provide a net generator of decent jobs, something New Zealand is in desperate need of. Greater investment in a Green Economy model is also vital for eradicating poverty and curbing the costs associated with climate change.

It certainly beats what NASA has recently presented. Their scientists as well as a number of other institutions modeled the effects of a war involving a hundred Hiroshima-level bombs, or 0.03 percent of the world's current nuclear arsenal.

The research suggests five million metric tons of black carbon would be swept up into the lowest portion of the atmosphere. The result, according to NASA climate models, could actually be global cooling. Why they have presented this information is not clear. However a Nuclear holocaust is not a viable option, for obvious reasons.

It's not the first time the lunatics have taken over the asylum... Project Argus was a top-secret US military test aimed at detonating atomic bombs in space to generate an artificial radiation belt and disrupt the near-space environment. It, and the later tests conducted by both the U.S. and the Soviet Union, peaked with H-bomb detonations in space in 1962 that created an artificial magnetic (radiation) belt that persisted for 10 years.

However I digress. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), greenhouse gas reductions alone will not avert further destruction of the arctic. Black carbon and ozone reductions are also required. Estimates are that black carbon may be the second or third biggest contributor to global warming after CO2. It is a short term "climate forcer" which means that we could make an instant impact on global warming if reductions were implemented with a green economy.

Hyundai's pure electric car BlueOn - available 2013.

The idea of a clean tech future is no longer confined to the realms of environmental specialists and is fast becoming a key component of mainstream economic discourse. UNEP's Green Economy Report is a critical landmark in the transition to a more efficient and equitable economy that makes better use of natural resources to achieve sustainable growth.

You might be aware that exposure to air pollutants emitted by vehicles (such as sulphur oxides, soot and smoke particles) can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and an increased risk of lung cancer. With an estimated 10,000 Kiwis dying prematurely from airborne pollution each year, implementing cleaner technology will have an economical payoff in that not as many people will require hospitalization or time off work. There really aren't any more excuses for not pursuing a clean green future.