Heat from both sides suggests the agri-emissions proposal is about right
Labelled pragmatic from the outset, it’s drawn fire from farmers while Greenpeace blasted the proposal's ability to cut climate emissions from agriculture.
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, October 12, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: iconic ski fields operator put into voluntary administration; further condemnation of Russia from government and business; the people legally earning $2 an hour; but first, the agricultural emissions scheme and reaction to it.
The proposal to charge farmers for agri-emissions was released yesterday and is now out for consultation
No free lunch
Yesterday’s announcement of the proposed agricultural emission scheme presented a challenge to anyone writing short form news – 20-year timeline, big overlapping issues, complicated science and a lot of reaction. But it impacts all of us so here we go. First, a simple reminder from RNZ’s Farah Hancock published last year of why we need to tackle agricultural emissions. The Herald’s Jamie Morton has a great backgrounder on the proposal and an explanation of exactly how it will work. Stuff’s Gerhard Uys tackles the average punter's concern about whether it will impact the price of food. Economists have weighed in on that this morning too. Westpac senior agri-economist Nathan Penny says "There is no free lunch for this policy.” (paywalled)
James Shaw’s preferred scheme rejected by cabinet
The scheme proposes charging farmers for emissions produced by, as Stuff’s Eloise Gibson neatly put it, burps and fertiliser, using a levy that will be set by cabinet, with advice from the Climate Change Commission either every one or three years. Climate minister James Shaw wanted a cap and trade system –something closer to the Emissions Trading Scheme where prices are set by the market – but was overruled. The government deemed it too complex to achieve by 2025. Shaw was concerned that having cabinet set the levy would make it susceptible to lobbying. The shape of the proposed scheme also isn’t what was backed by the industry.
The reaction
The industry groups involved in the He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) working group have strongly opposed the proposal. Federated Farmers national president Andrew Hoggard said it will "rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand” concerned about the loss of sheep and beef farmland to forest and the impact on small towns. The Herald’s Adam Pearse and Michael Neilson have that reaction summarised. The sector has two main concerns: the government reducing categories for sequestration (on-farm planting to offset methane emissions - explained here), and the levies being set by the government and not the sector, as proposed by the HWEN group. On Facebook, Groundswell NZ is telling supporters to “Fuel up the tractors people” and promising “MORE TO COME, STAY TUNED”. Greenpeace says the proposal doesn’t go far enough.
The potential political fallout
The plan was labelled pragmatic from the outset by the government. Stuff’s Luke Malpass’s analysis suggests that it will do no harm to Shaw or Labour, but that National’s response to it “will say a lot about the still-forming political instincts of Luxon and his top team”. Broadly speaking, those most impacted vote for National, not Labour. The plan is now out for consultation and as Stuff’s Anna Whyte reports, the industry wants a backdown. The Herald’s editorial this morning (paywalled) ends by concluding “that flames of condemnation come from all sides will give this government some confidence it has landed somewhere near the right position.”
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Ski field operator appoints voluntary administrators
Newsroom’s Jono Milne has a comprehensive read on the news that Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) has appointed voluntary administrators. RAL employs about 196 staff and has operated the Whakapapa and Tūroa ski areas in the central North Island since the 1950s. RAL released a statement saying the past three years had been difficult dealing with the pandemic and poor weather this ski season. Speaking to RAL’s financial difficulties last week, climate scientist James Renwick said that skiing will become more untenable as temperatures increase and that he’s “told the North Island ski operators more than once that things are going to become marginal fairly quickly”.
Government sanctions Russian oligarchs, bank in discussion on tennis sponsorship
Yesterday foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta announced further sanctions on Russian oligarchs, and a ban on imports of luxury goods from Russia (like vodka and caviar) and exports from New Zealand (like wine and seafood). The government isn't the only one applying pressure on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Naming rights sponsor of New Zealand's premier tennis tournament, ASB, is in discussions with tournament organisers as it doesn't want the brand to be used in association with the tournament if players from Russia or Belarus are invited to play. Newshub’s Alex Chapman outlines why this puts the tournament organisers in a tricky position.
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The minimum wage exemption for people with disabilities
Roughly 900 workers in Aotearoa get paid between $2 and $5 an hour as a result of the minimum wage exemption. Although it’s a government initiative to get more people with learning disabilities into the workplace, it still makes Alice Snedden feel a little uneasy. Is it weird to remunerate entirely based on productivity? But how else can we ensure a fully inclusive workplace? In the latest episode of Alice Snedden’s Bad News, the comedian speaks to former minister for disabilities Carmel Sepuloni, disability rights lawyer Huhana Hickey, Altus CEO Martin Wylie and workers Tatiana Tupou and Samantha Gillespie about the pros and cons of the exemption, and what reform could look like.
The audio description of this episode is available at Attitude Live.
Click and collect
The Pacific pay gap report: Pacific Islanders changing their names to English ones to get jobs.
Christchurch’s new mayor asks other councils to help pay for the new stadium.
Really good data visualisation (paywalled) from the Herald on correlations between local government election turnout, age and property ownership.
Samoa concerned over loss of police officers to our Recognised Seasonal Employer workers scheme.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla to be crowned on May 6 next year.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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Three weeks. Three different reality TV failures. Duncan Greive asks: is this the end of an era? Toby Manhire analyses what – if anything, given the terminally low turnout – the local election results tell us about the national mood for change. Chris Schulz meets the West Coaster taking high-powered American CEOs into the wilderness to teach them leadership skills. Reweti Kohere learns about the emerging economic concept of "degrowth". And in an excerpt from his book Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand’s Native Sea Creatures, Robert Vennell serves up the fascinating history of the toheroa.
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More vile, unmoderated posts - the future of social media?
You may not be keeping up with the fallout from Ye’s (artist formerly known as Kanye West) anti-semitic social media posts but Stuff has a republication of a good Washington Post piece on what it might say about the future of social media. I’m not typing what he wrote but Twitter and Instagram were quick to block the posts and lock his accounts. There is a growing movement among conservatives in the US to rein in what they see as censorship on social media - best exemplified by a law passed in Texas last year which would make it more diffcult for social media companies to moderate content on their platforms. If Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter actually lands, Musk has indicated he would also loosen moderation policies on the platform.
