Posts by Alfie
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Envirologue: 1080, "eco-terrorism" and agendas, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
We are told we need 1080 to save the feathered forest inhabitants from decimation by the furry foreigners. Its all about the birds.
When in reality, it is predominantly about keeping TB out of the dairy herds that are inexorably encroaching into the marginal lands adjoining the forests.
I'm not so sure about that Rosemary. I too was anti-1080 until a trip deep into Fiordland made me question that stance.
We were on a boat, miles from civilisation in the middle of a sound, surrounded by wonderful NZ bush. That place should have been bird heaven. But when the skipper cut the engine we were enveloped by silence, and I mean Silence. There wasn't a single bird call. Not one.
That's because rats and stoats are decimating the birdlife over vast swathes of our countryside.
1080 is a cruel poison which should not be used anywhere near people. But until there's a viable alternative and if you value native birdlife, doing nothing is not an option.
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Envirologue: 1080, "eco-terrorism" and agendas, in reply to izogi,
I don’t totally get it either, but it might be a reference to the claim that he developed an alternative poison for possum control.
Aha… with greed as the motive, suddenly this case starts to make sense. We learned earlier that the 1080 sample sent to Fonterra was lab quality, i.e. not available to the general public.
The accused has been involved with a range of companies, including one that involves pest control.
He also developed an alternative poison to control possum populations.
Imagine his mindset for a moment. The blackmail attempt succeeds, NZ stops using 1080. What do we use to control possums? Hey… Mr X has developed a viable but costly alternative… let’s use that. Mr X gets rich and lives happily ever after. The end.
I must say it’s especially reassuring that no anti-1080 protesters appear to be involved. Their campaign was much-maligned when this story broke.
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3 News hit its lowest ratings in four years on Sunday - just 124,000 viewers compared to 590,000 sets of eyeballs glued to the government channel.
Brian Edwards suggests that kiwis still see TVNZ as the only "legitimate" channel, whatever that means. Some people might think it has more to do with TV3 management treating their viewers as imbeciles. Or maybe people just prefer entertainment?
Time will tell.
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Prof Jane Kelsey appears to have won a minor victory with her High Court TPP challenge to Tim Grosser. Here’s her take in the Herald.
The High Court’s decision today that Trade Minister Groser acted unlawfully in refusing to release any information to me under the Official Information Act should act as a wake up call for him and the government.
In his determination to keep everything secret, Minister Groser treated his legal obligations with contempt. He did not look at a single document before deeming every piece of information too sensitive, or too anodyne, to release.
During the case the Minister’s standard line, parroted by many politicians and media commentators, that ‘negotiations are always done this way’ was abandoned in the face of evidence they are not.
My reading suggests that the Court has ordered the Minister to revisit his decision (PDF) and I can’t see the Key government losing too much sleep over that. To them the OIA seems to be a method of concealing information, rather than honouring it’s intended purpose.
Kelsey continues.
It’s time for the post-Atlanta debate to focus on the substance, which requires release of the text and the background documents, and for the parties to revoke their secrecy pact to keep negotiating documents secret for four years after the agreement comes into force.
Work has already begun, with support from the Law Foundation, on a series of expert analyses that will enable New Zealanders to judge for themselves what they think of the final deal.
That is what democracy requires. New Zealanders deserve nothing less.
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Police executed search warrants in Auckland and Rangitikei District this morning. A 60-year-old businessman has been arrested and charged with two counts of criminal blackmail. He'll appear in Manukau District Court this afternoon.
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Polity: TPP, eh?, in reply to Katharine Moody,
Followed up with a taunt from Key to keep Labour in their place.
Prime Minister John Key says he would prefer for Labour to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPPA), given the two parties have been "locked at the hip historically when it comes to trade deals".
"In the end if Labour don't vote for it, it says a lot more about Labour than it says about TPP. It just means they're not thinking like an alternative Government - they're thinking like the Opposition," Key said.
Doh! They are the opposition, Prime Minister.
And naturally, Labour again portrays itself as Nat Light rather than offering any credible alternative.
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Hard News: The positive option of Red Peak, in reply to linger,
To extend the analogy: the PM would then spend a ludicrous amount of time campaigning for his own personal preference...
Blue cars drive on the right, red cars drive on the left?
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Wikileaks has released the final negotiated text for the TPP intellectual property rights chapter.
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Is Matthew Hooton just stirring things up here? Or do several prominent Labour MPs actually support the TPPA?
He said he had been told Phil Goff, David Shearer, Stuart Nash, Kelvin Davis, Peeni Henare, Clayton Cosgrove, Damien O'Connor, and Rino Tirikatene would all potentially vote with the Government and against Labour if it decided to oppose the deal.
While the matter is currently hypothetical, with Parliament due to debate the deal but not vote on its approval, Hooton said there were other ways for the Government to make Labour MPs show their hand.
"I've got no information about what might going through John Key's mind...but it must be sorely tempting to put this to a confidence vote in Parliament."
