Russel Norman Archive

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  Flight tax vs oil price - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I have posted earlier about the PM’s short sightedness when it comes to considering the potential impacts of oil price increases on tourism, versus his loud complaining about the potential impacts of flight taxes being imposed by the UK govt. But I wondered if it was possible to quantify the comparison between the departure tax [...] read more
  November 9, 2010 7:29 pm - 41 Comments
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  Neo-Muldoonism with a smile - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I’ve posted before about the way this government is turning increasingly Muldoonist. The ECAN Act, the billion dollar infrastructure projects without any cost benefit analysis (Holiday Highway), the unlawful failure to answer OIA requests in time, the extensive use of urgency and so on. But now we have a new level of Muldoonism with this story. The [...] read more
  November 4, 2010 5:57 pm - 88 Comments
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  Urgency – Nats go crazy - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the Govt’s use of urgency. So I asked the library to do the stats. Which show that the Nats really are using urgency a lot more. Another example of their neo-Muldoonism. Urgency 48th and 49th Parliament (to 2 November 2010)                [...] read more
  November 3, 2010 9:05 pm - 22 Comments
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  Fonterra’s discharge into the Manawatu - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I’ve been looking into Fonterra’s discharge of condensate into the Mangatainoka River in the Wairarapa, which leads to the Manawatu. You can read it about it here. [UPDATE - Fonterra just announced that they are reconsidering their application and "decided to look at alternatives, such as irrigating to land or diverting through the local town [...] read more
  October 29, 2010 4:21 pm - 7 Comments
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  Rafting the majestic Mokihinui - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Over 100 of us rafted and kayaked down the Mokihinui River on Sunday. The Mok is a fantastic wild West Coast river, a river full of life which makes its way through some of the last of our great lowland forest. Meridian Energy wants to dam and destroy the Mokihinui and drown the surrounding forest, [...] read more
  October 27, 2010 3:59 pm - 9 Comments
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  Labour and overseas ownership of land - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  I welcome Labour’s apparent change in intention about the sale of land into overseas ownership. But I do have a question about how different it really is. Phil Goff says that: ”No overseas person has the right to buy our land – it is a privilege.” Yep, and this is what the Overseas Investment Act currently states [...] read more
  October 17, 2010 5:22 pm - 54 Comments
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  Nats weekend turns from bad to worse - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  The National Party had a bad local body election with their favoured candidates losing out. Especially Banks in Auckland. And now their favourite TV shock jock has resigned from TVNZ. Paul Henry has gone after his racist comments about the GG. Henry, a former National Party candidate, specialized in giving John Key a nice easy [...] read more
  October 10, 2010 8:11 pm - 16 Comments
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  Wellington continues to go green - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Great local election result for the greens in Wellington. Celia Wade-Brown has come within 40 votes of toppling Kerry for the  mayoralty. There are up to 900 special votes still to count. We will find out final results on Wednesday. Iona Pannett on city council and Paul Bruce on regional council have been returned. Awesome job. Lisa [...] read more
  October 9, 2010 7:19 pm - 7 Comments
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  Defeat for Nats in Auckland - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Still waiting for all the results to come in around the country, but the Auckland result is certainly a defeat for the Nats. Not only did Brown thrash Banks, but there is a soft progressive majority on the new Auckland Council. There are also a number of progressives on the Local Boards around Auckland. Some [...] read more
  October 9, 2010 4:48 pm - 24 Comments
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  Paul Henry should actually apologise - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Paul Henry has expressed his racism on TV. Talking to John Key about the Governor General Anand Satyanand, and Anand’s replacement next year, he said: “Is he even a New Zealander?” Henry asked. ”Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time?’ That is just plain [...] read more
  October 4, 2010 7:18 pm - 50 Comments
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  Rongotai and Labour’s highways - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  On Thursday night I was selected as the Green candidate for Rongotai for the general election in 2011. Cool, it should be an interesting campaign in one of the greenest electorates in the country. Curiously the response from the sitting Labour MP, Annette King, was an attack criticising me for running in the Mt Albert by-election and [...] read more
  September 25, 2010 5:30 pm - 14 Comments
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  Dams – sustainable and permanent? - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  In NZ we’ve often thought about dams as permanent sustainable ways to generate power and store irrigation water. But they’re not necessarily permanent as dams can become silted up and the structures deteriorate. And from the point of view of migratory fish species and flooded forests, there’s nothing sustainable about a dam. In the US they’ve had [...] read more
  September 23, 2010 9:27 am - 56 Comments
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  Climate and financial stability - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Moody’s report on the NZ banking system was an interesting read. Perhaps one of the surprising statements was that they thought one of the weaknesses of the NZ banking system was:  Large industry concentration in rural lending, which is susceptible to fluctuations in agricultural prices and climate conditions   So they seem to be saying [...] read more
  September 22, 2010 10:13 pm - 30 Comments
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  Hawkes Bay local elections - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Got an interesting email from Tom at the BayBuzz about the election up there. Thought this billboard that someone has put up was awesome. Apparently it has upset some of the local regional councillors who have overseen the pollution… read more
  September 21, 2010 10:45 pm - 8 Comments
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  Earthquake bill passes tonight - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act passed tonight. The Act gives the Govt the power to make and break almost every law in the country until April 2012, in the pursuit of the recovery of Canterbury after the earthquake. It uses Orders In Council, a kind of regulation promulgated by Government Ministers and rubber stamped [...] read more
  September 14, 2010 10:26 pm - 351 Comments
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  Podcast: Bird of the Year - by frog

  
  
  
  Forest and Bird are launching their Bird of the Year competition this week and Green Co-leader, Russel Norman, is officially championing the kokako. I talked to Russel about his choice of native bird and his great dream of a Giant Totara National Park that inspired it…along with a gaggle of other Green MPs on their [...] read more
  September 13, 2010 12:20 pm - 1 Comment
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  Rebuilding Canterbury after the quake - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Re-opening the Christchurch office last night was an opportunity to talk to locals about what’s ahead. Obviously we need to work on the immediate issues of safety and welfare, but we also need to think ahead at the same time. Some of the issues raised were: Making sure that the community of Christchurch and Canterbury [...] read more
  September 8, 2010 10:55 pm - 33 Comments
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  Russel Norman on Back Benches (ETS special) - by frog

  
  
  
  The pub was packed last Wednesday evening, with a solid Green contingent supporting Russel! You briefly can see our table at the end of Chapter 2 when Wilber won a book about something or other. You can watch the show at http://tvnz.co.nz/back-benches/s2010-e26-emissions-trading-special-video-3736153 I think Russel did really well – as usual there was a lot [...] read more
  August 28, 2010 11:28 am - 27 Comments
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  $200,000 donation to National a very bad look - by frog

  
  
  
  Earlier this week we saw Hong-Kong based company Natural Dairy Holdings buying full-page national newspaper advertisements to spin its bid to buy the Crafar Farms. Today it has been revealed that Auckland woman Susan Chou, closely associated with Natural Dairy Holdings, has in the past two months made $200,000 in donations to the National Party. read more
  August 20, 2010 4:58 pm - 13 Comments
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  But most foreign investment is from nice white people like me - by frog

  
  
  
  John Key should be telling his Finance Minister to focus his Overseas Investment Act review on the real economic and ecological implications of increased land ownership by foreigners, rather than pandering to the xenophobic underbelly of New Zealand society whose only concern about foreign investment is that it is from “nice white people like me”. read more
  August 6, 2010 11:23 am - 52 Comments