Mōrena. Long stories shortest: ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges to reduce emissions. David Seymour downplays Cameron's comments, saying National is (happily) doing the bare minimum on climate. A fast-track panel rejects Contact’s plans for big wind farm.
(There is more detail, analysis and links to documents below the paywall fold and in the podcast above for paying subscribers. If we get over 100 likes from paying subscribers, we’ll open it up for public reading, listening and sharing, although we’d love it if you subscribed to join The Kākā’s community and support making this journalism public. Students and teachers who sign up for the free version with their .ac.nz or .school.nz emails are automatically upgraded to the paid version for free. Our special are: $3/month or $30/year for under 30s & $6.50/month or $65/year for over 65s who rent.)
Long stories short, my top six news items in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, March 19 are:
David Seymour says Simon Watts is doing the 'absolute minimum' on climate, which was a good thing, he suggested. He was responding to questions after ACT climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to New Zealand’s climate commitments. (See more in my Pick’n’Mix below)
A panel of experts yesterday decided to block Contact’s plans for a 55-turbine wind farm in Southland that would have generated 1.2 Gigawatt a year of renewable electricity to effectively be stored in South Island’s dams, along with up to 240 jobs and around $250 million per year of domestic spending. The panel ruled some loss of vegetation and dangers to a population of bats and some lizards were more important. Contact CEO Mike Fuge described the decision under the old Fast-Track legislation as “extremely concerning” and a “significant setback for New Zealand’s decarbonisation.” (See more in doc of the day below)
Improving covid testing and masking in hospitals could have prevented 600 deaths from covid in our hospitals, not to mention presenting a big opportunity to save money in future by reducing the number of nights covid patients spend in general hospital wards ($1,200 a night) and intensive care ($5,500). (See quote of the day below.)
Staffing shortages that closed Whakatāne Hospital’s maternity unit are now cascading on to create staffing shortages at Tauranga Hospital, causing women to be sent home early, The Hui’s Ruwani Perera reports via Stuff, along with a panel discussion on The Hui. (See more in video of the day below)
Doctors have been told they need 'national level sign-off' for public comments, which they fear will restrict their criticism of health sector cuts, Glenn McConnell reports this morning for Stuff.
Today’s must-read is an Op-Ed from Tim Berners-Lee with his suggestions for how to rescue social media from enshittification, fraud and harming mental health. (See must-read of the day below)
My Pick’ n’ Mix Six at 6am today
Health deep-dive: The lessons from Covid we haven't learnt RNZ’s Katie Kenny
Data analysis: Young Americans lose trust in the state FT-gift
Column by Thomas Coughlan: The school lunch programme is a disaster - here’s how we could fix it and whether we should bother NZ Herald-$
Health deep-dive: The Hui: Whakatāne Hospital maternity closure puts pressure on short-staffed Tauranga Hospital Stuff Ruwani Perera
Health deep-dive: Doctor shortages: Plans for on the job training puts more pressure on GPs RNZ’s Ruth Hill
First person detail: The cost of being: An unemployed 31-year-old who wishes he could afford good food'Three words to describe my financial situation? Broke, depressing, unliveable.' The Spinoff
Full paying subscribers can see the full suite of Pick ‘n’ Mixes in today’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am article and email sent earlier.
Quote of the day
“It's unacceptable. Hospitals should be places of safety, not places where you contract Covid.” Otago University public health professor Michael Baker via RNZ’s Katie Kenny in this deep-dive: The lessons from Covid we haven't learnt
Number of the day
$20 - An example of the cost of poverty.
“Describe your financial low: Two months ago. Friend had to give me money to see a doctor because I couldn’t afford the transport or the $20 appointment (with Community Services Card) to check out a possible broken bone after a tumble. I’d spent my last $20 buying Betadine and dressings from the pharmacy for the grazes. The bone was broken; I still haven’t been able to repay the friend.” First person detail: The cost of being: An unemployed 31-year-old who wishes he could afford good food'Three words to describe my financial situation? Broke, depressing, unliveable.' The Spinoff
Document of the day
Read it and rage.
“The Panel finds that although the Project could urgently promote employment to support New Zealand’s recovery from the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 and support the certainty of ongoing investment across New Zealand, the environmental effects are such that the Project will not promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources and thus will not achieve the purpose of the FTCA. The Panel declines the application.” The decision published yesterday by Clare Lenihan (Chair), Gina Solomon (Member) And Sharon McGarry (Member) of the expert consenting panel considering Contact Energy’s consent application under the old Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 for its Southland Wind Farm proposal.
The 55-turbine 330MW capacity wind farm was to be located 15km east of Wyndam in Southland and was expected to produce about 1,200GWh of extra electricity per annum. It would have created up to 240 new jobs, generating around $250 million a year in local spending. Contact CEO Mike Fuge was gobsmacked in a statement to the NZX:
“The decision by the Panel to decline Contact’s proposed wind farm is extremely concerning. It represents a significant setback for New Zealand’s decarbonisation, Contact’s mission to improve electricity security of supply and the country’s economic development.” Contact CEO Mike Fuge in a statement to the NZX yesterday afternoon.
Chart or graphic of the day
Demand for labour in Australia has just spiked again, which employers here should take note of.
Substack essential today
Video or podcast of the day
This episode of The Hui from Monday night refers to the Bay of Plenty maternity crisis example reported by Ruwani Perera in Stuff above, which also includes a panel discussion with Dr Elana Curtis and Dr Rawiri Jansen at the end of this story.
Thread of the day
This is a tale via jjw.wtf on bluesky of public sector office life in New Zealand that’s worth following. A taste to start with:
“If you ask most public servants about “hot desking” you will come to understand it is considered a violation of Geneva Conventions and an insult to basic human dignity.” jjw.wtf on bluesky
Cartoon of the day
Timeline-cleansing nature pic of the day
Ka kite ano
Bernard
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