Category: Environmentalism

The Northland by-election is a significant win for Winston Peters. In the short-term it takes away from National the luxury of being able to pass legislation without having to kowtow to Peter Dunne and the Maori Party.

The 1991 Resource Management Act (RMA) is under fire because it is seen in many quarters as an impediment to much-needed investment in housing and business. At the same time, communities are concerned that the Act is not serving the environment well,

Apathy and indifference are major threats to our democracy, not only through low voter turnouts in elections, but more importantly, by leaving open a window of opportunity for extremist minority interest groups to impose their will on the majority.

The Green Party had a significant impact on government regulation and legislation during the nine years Helen Clark was Prime Minister. While many radical environmental initiatives were eventually dropped or terminated by the National Government, others, like the ban on household fires and older wood burners, remain in place.

New Zealand is a small country located miles away from our major trading partners. With geopolitical events now impacting heavily on our export markets, surely the time has come for the government to prioritise the removal of the legislative barriers to progress that are stifling our economic development and costing jobs.

Australia has just scrapped its carbon tax, so should we scrap our Emissions Trading Scheme? The answer is yes, and for many reasons. The Emissions Trading Scheme has distorted farming and forestry, increased electricity and fuel prices and done little or nothing towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

The July 3rd discharge without conviction of Korotangi Paki on charges of burglary, theft, and drink driving, on the grounds that he is the son of the Maori King, has caused widespread outrage.

Last week, Lord Nigel Lawson delivered a lecture to the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment at the University of Bath in the UK, and given it is seven years since he was in New Zealand and we last featured his analysis of the state of climate change, we wanted to provide NZCPR readers with an update.

There is something odd about the global warming debate — or the climate change debate, as we are now expected to call it, since global warming has for the time being come to a halt. But I have never in my life experienced the extremes of personal hostility, vituperation and vilification which I — along with other dissenters, of course — have received for my views on global warming and global warming policies.

When did anyone last hear officials and professionals talking enthusiastically about the social and economic benefits resulting from the subdivision of land to create secure, clean and tradeable title? Indeed, any Regional or District plan is likely to include a long list of the potential problems caused by subdivision, but will mention few, if any, of the benefits.