$200m gas fund breaches climate trade deal, says Green Party
The coalition's $200 million investment fund for local gas exploration is a 'clear breach' of an international trade agreement, according to legal advice commissioned by the Green Party.
The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) is a deal the Government struck with
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NZ Herald
7 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Covid inquiry: Time to cut Dame Jacinda Ardern a break – Fran O'Sullivan
Sowing dissension when this country could more usefully focus on setting an ambition that might persuade more talented New Zealanders to build their futures here instead of heading for the departure lounge. Fact: Ardern has agreed to give evidence to phase two of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Government's response to Covid-19. If she cares deeply for her reputation – and I am sure she does, given the global acclaim that has come her way after her memoir A Different Kind of Power – she will agree to do that in public during the commission's hearings. Ardern doesn't have to come back to New Zealand for that. If the commission calls her – and it should – it can take evidence via Zoom as is now commonplace in transnational court hearings. Subjecting the former Prime Minister to running a gauntlet of personal and potentially physical abuse by insisting she gives evidence in New Zealand will just set off another wave of paranoid behaviour. It won't help in getting to the facts and motivations which coloured prime ministerial decision-making in the Covid years in the dispassionate manner that is needed. The economic trade-offs where the money printers went overtime and dollars were flung at business – critics lament that now. The country has a debt bubble to digest. But it is notable that some critics come from companies that took the Government's financial handouts but did not remit them back when their fortunes improved. The shareholders were winners. The taxpayers were 'tail-end Charlie' here. Go figure. Commission chair Grant Illingworth, KC, has said the inquiry will take public evidence from those affected by 'social division and isolation, health and education, and business activity'. This is important so New Zealand can learn the hard lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and craft strategies for when the next pandemic arrives, as it certainly will. It will also provide a bloodletting for those who were most cruelly affected by the former Labour Government's Covid policies. Hearing from the 'victims' is long overdue. And there are personal stories aplenty, as most can attest. The commission also wants to hear from key decision-makers (and experts) about major decisions and their consequences so lessons can be learned. But the inquiry would be incomplete without hearing from Ardern, former Finance Minister Grant Robertson, former health supremo Sir Ashley Bloomfield and others within the tight Beehive circle that ran the country during the Covid years. It is undeniable that Ardern's performances at the 1pm 'podium of truth', where she and Bloomfield updated daily on the latest Covid situation, were required viewing. Her most impressive attribute was her mastery of that press conference. Her coining of the 'team of five million' (drawn from the late Sir Peter Blake's slogans to build public support for his America's Cup campaigns) to unite New Zealanders in 'fighting the virus' was also masterful. And it worked – at least in the initial phases of the pandemic response. People stayed home. The hospitals were not overrun. Lives were saved – although it is noticeable that the current world Covid death rate statistics show that many other countries did better than New Zealand in the long run. But Ardern's Covid honeymoon was quick to sour. Just one year after she pulled off a historic victory by catapulting Labour to an outright win in the October 2020 election, Ardern's reign hit stumbling blocks. Her Government's tardiness in getting sufficient New Zealanders vaccinated before the mid-August 2021 Delta outbreak helped pave the way for a punishing Auckland lockdown. This was Ardern's toughest year as Prime Minister. Cap that with the politically naive decision not to speak with protesters on Parliament's front lawn – instead of at least speaking with their leaders as commonsense former PM Jim Bolger advocated – and it is not surprising that the tide went out on her prime ministership. It was obvious to anyone coming down from Auckland to Wellington during this period that our political leaders were in a bubble of their own. I went to political journalist Tova O'Brien's farewell from the press gallery on the day we were finally allowed to travel domestically again. It was a different world. No paranoia about drunk citizens hassling or mugging people and acting thuggishly, which had become all too commonplace in the Auckland CBD, where I had spent the past four months. It was all bonhomie and drinks aplenty. The atmosphere also brought into sharp focus the lack of reality that coloured those 1pm press conferences to those watching from Auckland. Bizarre traffic light systems, for instance. The Prime Minister's empathetic response to the March 2019 Christchurch massacre, where 51 Muslims were murdered at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques, had earlier propelled her to international superstardom. The world's tallest building – Dubai's Burj Khalifa – had been lit up with a giant image of Ardern embracing a woman at a Kilbirnie mosque. Her leadership was tested not just by the terrorist attack, but by the Whakaari/White Island disaster and the pandemic. It's ironic that few thank her now for throwing so much money at the crisis. That's the pain of having to pay all that debt back. But there is room to examine all of this dispassionately – not try to (figuratively) hang her again as the more deranged attempted when they wheeled out their noose on Parliament's grounds.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
NZ Jewish Council And Holocaust Centre Of NZ Urge Govt Action Following Australia's Landmark Antisemitism Strategy
The New Zealand Jewish Council and the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand are calling on the New Zealand Government to urgently develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy to combat antisemitism, following the bold and principled leadership demonstrated by the Australian Government yesterday. Australia's plan, announced by Prime Minister Albanese, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, and Special Envoy on Antisemitism Jillian Segal, introduces strong, decisive measures aimed at tackling anti-Jewish hate across multiple sectors of society. Notably, institutions such as universities and arts organisations will face the loss of government funding if they fail to address antisemitism within their ranks. Standards are being introduced across education, public service, cultural sectors and media, reinforcing a zero-tolerance approach to hate and discrimination. In contrast, New Zealand has remained largely silent in the face of a marked and disturbing rise in antisemitic incidents, particularly in our universities. Over recent months, Jewish students and academics in Aotearoa have reported a growing climate of hostility and fear, from intimidation and exclusion to open displays of antisemitic rhetoric. We have reached a point where many no longer feel safe expressing their identity on campus. Much of this rhetoric is disguised as concern for the human rights of Palestinians or concern about Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, both positions which the Jewish Council and Holocaust Centre have repeatedly said do not constitute antisemitism. However, explicitly or tacitly endorsing violence or discrimination against Jews, including the vast majority of Jews who believe that Jewish people have the right of self-determination, is antisemitic. Jews who believe in Israel's right to exist, regardless of their position on the current war or actions of the Israeli Government, face discrimination. 'This is not theoretical,' said Ben Kepes, spokesperson for the NZ Jewish Council. "It is Jew-hate. We are hearing from young Jewish New Zealanders who avoid wearing visible symbols of their faith, who choose to remain silent in classroom discussions, and who fear for their safety. We have Holocaust survivors being retraumatised by vile slurs reappearing in public spaces. This is a crisis.' 'Antisemitism in schools is reaching epidemic proportions,' said Deborah Hart, Chair of the Holocaust Centre of NZ. 'Our children are fearful and feeling victimised with troubling frequency.' The Council and Centre support the adoption of a clear and consistent policy against antisemitism across all public institutions and call for funding mechanisms to be reviewed in line with a zero-tolerance policy toward hate. Institutions that enable or ignore antisemitic conduct should not continue to receive public support. Antisemitism has moved from the fringes to the mainstream in many Western democracies. New Zealand is not immune. What happens next will determine whether Jewish Kiwis, students, teachers, professionals, artists, and community members continue to feel they have a place in the Aotearoa we all call home. The Australian Government has recognised the danger and acted. We urge our leaders to do the same.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Immunologist gives evidence at Covid inquiry
health politics 30 minutes ago An immunologist giving evidence at the inquiry into the government's Covid-19 response, has been questioned on claims the debate around mRNA vaccines was shut down during the pandemic. Reporter Lucy Xia has more.
