Archive for March, 2006

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  Eating wiser - by frog

  
  
  
  Being able to make informed decisions about what we eat is a pretty basic democratic right, and Sue Kedgley’s Consumers Right to Know ( Food Information) Bill is a major step in that direction. Sue K.’s private member’s Bill was pulled from the ballot this week, and it seeks to strengthen our food labelling laws. [...] read more
  March 31, 2006 4:58 pm - 18 Comments
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  Nuking Global Energy Supplies - by frog

  
  
  
  Oil crisis, anyone? Lets hope everyone keeps cool heads over Iran’s nuclear programme and keeps on talking. According to these comments by Iranian general Rahim Safavi of the paramilitary revolutionary guards, any military action against Iran would result in Iran blocking the Straits of Hormuz, a vital gateway for global oil exports. Juan Cole’s website [...] read more
  March 31, 2006 4:30 pm - 12 Comments
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  Not so special benefits - by frog

  
  
  
  The next phase of the Government’s Working For Families assistance package kicks in tomorrow. Sue Bradford has praised a report (offline) by the Wellington People’s Centre showing the negative impact that some of its measures could ultimately have on up to 50,000 of the country’s poorest families and children. While the Green Party supports the [...] read more
  March 31, 2006 4:01 pm - 10 Comments
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  Positive Pete - by frog

  
  
  
  Climate Change Minister Pete Hodgson was, as noted yesterday, effusive in his praise of the Greens’ Turn Down the Heat proposals when opening the Climate Change and Governance Conference in Wellington, and he repeated that sentiment in the House later that day when questioned by Metiria: Metiria Turei: What quantity of greenhouse gases will be [...] read more
  March 29, 2006 9:52 am - 1 Comment
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  Turn down the heat! - by frog

  
  
  
  Apologies for a rather dry couple of weeks blog-wise. I’ve had a bit of a croak lately. Fully recovered now, this morning I was busy with some young Greens outside the major Climate Change and Governance conference being held in Wellington. Timed to coincide with the release of the Greens’ proposals on Climate Change – [...] read more
  March 28, 2006 11:09 am - 7 Comments
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  Terminator issue on the cards again - by frog

  
  
  
  New Zealand’s stance on the issue of terminator technology at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Brazil this week is finally getting the scrutiny it deserves following new information release by the Sustainability Council who obtained some Cabinet papers through an Official Information Act request. Nandor, who has been vocal on this issue, is calling [...] read more
  March 23, 2006 10:51 am - 12 Comments
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  Climate change science censored by Bush administration - by frog

  
  
  
  A while ago I blogged about climate change, and specifically the feeling in the scientific community that the Bush administration is attempting to cover it up. Now, CBS’s 60 Minutes in the US have interviewed James Hansen, NASA’s chief climate scientist, and Rick Piltz, a former US government scientist who resigned in protest, who say [...] read more
  March 21, 2006 11:45 am - 8 Comments
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  Fewer MPs? - by frog

  
  
  
  NZ First MP Barbara Stewart’s Bill to reduce the number of MPs to 100 got its first reading in Parliament this week, and received enough votes to send it through to the select committee stage. The Greens were among the parties voting against the Bill, largely because of the detrimental effect it would have on [...] read more
  March 17, 2006 5:05 pm - 31 Comments
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  New Zealand sticks out like sore thumb in Brazil - by frog

  
  
  
  The meeting of the parties to the Cartagena Protocol on biological diversity is underway in Brazil this week, and there are still serious concerns from other member governments and environmental groups at the positions New Zealand is taking. As well as standing out on the issue of Terminator technology, which Nandor traversed in the House [...] read more
  March 16, 2006 11:44 am - 48 Comments
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  Metiria on the Whangamata decision - by frog

  
  
  
  Conservation Minister Chris Carter’s decision to decline resource consent for the controversial marina at Whangamata has been widely covered in the media in the last week or so, and widely debated. For the most part though, the coverage has lacked detail and has had a generally hysterical tone. Metiria injected some perspective when she spoke [...] read more
  March 15, 2006 5:55 pm - No Comments
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  Campbell and Fisk - by frog

  
  
  
  Last night’s Campbell Live show featured an exclusive interview with acclaimed war correspondent Robert Fisk which was both compelling and impressive. Fisk has truly seen more than any person should – death, destruction, despair – in some of the worst war zones in the world, and his message is unequivocal. On television last night and [...] read more
  March 14, 2006 1:35 pm - 61 Comments
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  Greens applaud a petrol company! - by frog

  
  
  
  You probably saw over the weekend that BP have decided to scrap the youth wage when hiring/paying their employees, and start all their workers on the new adult minimum wage of $10.25. This is great for the young workers, who – as a BP spokesperson points out in this TV1 story – are often in [...] read more
  March 13, 2006 3:24 pm - 25 Comments
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  Commonwealth? More like stolen wealth - by frog

  
  
  
  The Commonwealth Games are about to get underway in Melbourne, and while most people are focussed on Ian Thorpe pulling out and/or how many medals New Zealand can expect to win (I hear 50), a former Green Party staffer is tackling a much more important issue – the plight of aboriginal people in Australia. Rayna [...] read more
  March 10, 2006 9:28 am - 4 Comments
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  Student protest at Parliament - by frog

  
  
  
  Students from Victoria University marched to Parliament today to protest fee increases and demand better access to student allowances. There were some funny, “typical slack student” aspects to the march – namely that they did it in a recess week when no MPs are around, and that they arrived so late after the planned time [...] read more
  March 9, 2006 4:50 pm - 6 Comments
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  SeaWeek in Dunedin - by frog

  
  
  
  Metiria marked SeaWeek in Dunedin today by decorating Dunedin’s drains with beautiful chalk reminders that the water that goes down them ends up untreated in waterways and the sea. Poisons such as cement, paint, and soapy water from car washing are a serious threat to marine plants and animals. The Dunedin City Council is currently [...] read more
  March 8, 2006 4:46 pm - 8 Comments
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  Jeanette on the newly announced coastal inquiry - by frog

  
  
  
  Jeanette and the Greens were pleased yesterday with Conservation Minister Chris Carter’s decision to use his statutory right and decline consent for the controversial Whangamata Marina, which would have gone against the wishes of local iwi and harbour users and destroyed an ecologically valuable salt marsh. (Others were not so pleased, as this TVNZ clip [...] read more
  March 8, 2006 3:30 pm - 1 Comment
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  Fuel challenge musings - by frog

  
  
  
  The British couple who are attempting to set a world record by driving around the world on only 50 tanks of fuel are finishing their New Zealand leg and arriving in Auckland this afternoon, to be greeted by the Prime Minister. They’ve been using a special fuel designed by Shell to be highly efficient (it’s [...] read more
  March 8, 2006 2:37 pm - 33 Comments
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  A new kind of roadmap - by frog

  
  
  
  The Greens have long been supporters of open source software (you may have heard of the battle Nandor had to have Firefox installed on his Parliamentary Service PC), so were very interested in the State Services Commission report on the legal implications of open source software (OSS) which came out late last week. The report [...] read more
  March 7, 2006 12:31 pm - 10 Comments
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  Whales really do take revenge! - by frog

  
  
  
  As a post-script to yesterday’s link to WhalesRevenge.com, check out this story from the Times, which was also printed in yesterday’s Dominion Post. It seems that clever sperm whales really are taking revenge on pesky humans by learning how to raid fishing lines for an easy meal! read more
  March 7, 2006 9:05 am - 5 Comments
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  Here’s something fun - by frog

  
  
  
  New Zealanders are leading the world in terms of signatures per capita to this online anti-whaling petition. WhalesRevenge.com aims to collect 1 million signatures against whaling and present it to the International Whaling Commission, and so far 22,000 New Zealanders have signed, more than any other nationality. The fun part is that the site is [...] read more
  March 6, 2006 10:34 am - 3 Comments