Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 16h

Indeed. Treasury itself host slides from a “Why Austerity Kills” presso:

www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/defaul...

(From one of the book “The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills” authors)

www.treasury.govt.nz

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 16h

Not a bad move … for Germany. I hope they take up that offer. 🤞

Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 16h

It’s amazing to me that the Covid period was less damaging to jobs than the current economic policies.
#nzpol

Musical Chairs @musicalchairs.bsky.social · 1d

Here's the job ads online index - adjusted for working-age population. Good news is that we've stopped falling. Bad news: we're back to 2012 - a low point in the economic cycle. We are facing years of stagnation / slow recovery without some kind of large, strategic intervention. [2/3]

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Reposted by Charlie

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 19h

The spike in the rate of growth wasn’t due to a surge in emissions from fossil fuels, but rather higher emissions from wildfires and less CO2 absorbed by land and ocean sinks.

Optimistic take: it’s a blip.
Pessimistic take: these are positive feedbacks.

Underlying growth still driven by FF.

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 19h

The rate at which the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is growing jumped to its highest level ever, in 2024

pretty bad shit!!!!

wmo.int/sites/defaul...

a chart showing the rising growth rate of co2 in the atmosphere

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 1d

I mean it basically just looks like a shift from National to NZFirst.
They could still continue their coalition as is with a bit of a ministerial adjustment. 🤷🏽

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Gary @netchicken1.bsky.social · 2d

Now this is cool.

Overseas comedian making a joke about Kiwis not having a chant.

Then someone in the audience sings out Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi and the whole audience shouts Hi aue hei in response.

So the comedian tries to learn it.

Good vibes, real kiwis.

www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

Kiwi crowd schools US comedian

Visiting US stand-up Jeff Arcuri expressed his surprise that there were no New Zealand chants - his fans quickly put him right.

www.stuff.co.nz

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 1d

Surprise? Not!

Marc Daalder @marcdaalder.bsky.social · 1d

New: Climate Change Minister Simon Watts concedes the Government’s new methane target could result in outcomes not consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C above preindustrial levels – a threshold mandated in New Zealand and international law.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/15/c...

Climate minister admits new target may breach global 1.5C goal

Climate Minister Simon Watts admitted the Government's new methane target may not be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C.

newsroom.co.nz

Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 1d

No smoke to be seen anywhere yet. It’s a beautiful day though. ☀️

Reposted by Charlie

Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 1d

Luxon boasting today about ram raid numbers falling - meanwhile #nzpol

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 1d

Yet there are still journalists and commentators on this toxic platform.
Riddle me this!!

Also NZ journos that may take their inspiration for stories from there. 🤦‍♂️
#nzpol

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 1d

"The richest man in the world and the owner of the most influential social media site in US politics is a nazi who openly supports and amplifies other nazis" would, on its face, seem to be rather newsworthy!

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

Hey news people: I know you like to pretend this doesn't exist, but you need to pay attention to the Nazi drama on Twitter. Basically, it seems as if Elon just restored two major neo-Nazi accounts that were banned by his product head, and might be about to fire the product head for banning them

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Lauren M @elenem.bsky.social · 2d

Once again, we're doing:

- Climate destruction
- Environmental destruction
- Science destruction
- Healthcare destruction
- Deregulation as per big biz
- Racism
- Tax breaks for rich people
- Special visas for rich people
- Voter suppression

But this is New Zealand, not America #nzpol

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 2d

NZ's govt has announced reforms to science funding

just one line about basic science in there: "Discovery-led science & research will continue to be funded. This will sit outside the pillars & is essential for maintaining vibrant curiosity-driven science system"

yea mate seems like a real priority

A new strategy for the science system | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

The Government is changing how science, innovation and technology are funded and supported in New Zealand. The goal is a simpler and more strategic system that helps researchers turn ideas into solutions that benefit New Zealand.

www.mbie.govt.nz

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 2d

Dire 😔

Musical Chairs @musicalchairs.bsky.social · 2d

More waves crashing on the sandcastles of hopium. I'm famously pessimistic, but the data continues to surprise me to the downside. It's relentless. We've not seen anything like this for 45 years. Compounding, mutually reinforcing, job-killing dynamics. (1/2)

Reposted by Charlie

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 2d

While California is at the forefront of the battery storage revolution, this trend is now being adopted worldwide.

Global capacity projected to increase by 67% to 617GWh this year alone and is expected to grow tenfold by 2035. By 2027 massive increase in capacity is forecasted for major economies.

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nzjanette @nzjanette.bsky.social · 2d

Excellent piece by @mountaintui.bsky.social

The most telling quote: "Luxon sold the lucrative Heathrow slot for $27 million in 2019, stopping the 40 year London service, but only 4 years earlier, another airline purchased the Heathrow slot for $75 million. Today Air NZ can't get it back."
#nzpol

Prime Minister, Unions ARE Workers

Chris Luxon, Erica Stanford and Simeon Brown continue to gaslight Kiwi workers, in their latest instalment of divide and conquer

mountaintui.substack.com

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 2d

❤️☀️

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 2d

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
"Australia doesn’t just excel at big renewables and big batteries. Four million homes produce rooftop solar; a few weeks ago, those households temporarily supplied 55% of demand on the National Electricity Market, Westerman said."

As coal fades, Australia looks to realize dream of 100% renewable…

The country’s grid operator says shifting from coal to clean power is not only possible but inevitable. The work there could provide a road map for other…

www.canarymedia.com

Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 2d

Looks like it.
Good video from economics explained on that

m.youtube.com/watch?v=F_VU...

Why Everyone is Leaving New Zealand

YouTube video by Economics Explained

m.youtube.com

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Yung En Chee @yungenchee.bsky.social · 3d

BREAKING📢 Crack team of climate scientists show "it is no longer defensible for companies proposing new or extended fossil fuel projects to claim the climate harms will be negligible. Our research shows the harms are, in fact, tangible and quantifiable – and no project is too small to matter"

For the first time, we linked a new fossil fuel project to hundreds of deaths. Here’s the impact of Woodside’s Scarborough gas project

The results challenge claims that the climate risks posed by an individual fossil fuel project are negligible or cannot be quantified.

theconversation.com

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 2d

National starting US style/T*umpian anti-immigration policies and rhetoric.

How big is the problem in NZ really? We’re surrounded by ocean after all…

#nzpol

Marc Daalder @marcdaalder.bsky.social · 2d

Revenue Minister Simon Watts sought advice on removing IRD numbers from those not entitled to work in NZ as part of an immigration crackdown.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/14/i...

IRD mulls sharing data with Immigration NZ to catch illegal migrants

Revenue Minister Simon Watts sought advice on removing IRD numbers from those not entitled to work in NZ as part of an immigration crackdown.

newsroom.co.nz

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 3d

Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

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T&E @transportenvironment.org · 7d

Today, the equivalent of 100 mn bottles of vegetable oil are burned in cars every day, meaning a fifth of all vegetable oil is never even used for food.

By 2030, biofuels crops will require land the size of France, which would make it the 6th largest country in terms of arable land use globally.
2/

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EV Curve Futurist @evcurvefuturist.com · 3d

People think we’d need to cover half of Australia in solar panels — the truth is much different. Replacing all coal power with solar would use less than 0.016% of our land, smaller than Kangaroo Island. The challenge isn’t space, it’s political will, grid upgrades & storage. ☀️⚡ #Solar #Lithium #LFP

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Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 5d

Nicola Willis promised affordable tax cuts and zero borrowings - OR she would resign.

Instead, Willis borrowed $12,000 million i.e. $12 billion & has created another $8 billion hole in the budget. She's now down $20 billion and counting #nzpol #kiwi

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Charlie @ichaber.bsky.social · 3d

It’ll be interesting to see the outcome of that.

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 3d

WORLD’S FIRST INDUSTRIAL ELECTRIFICATION AUCTION: EU Commission releases final T&Cs for a €1B Innovation Fund pilot to decarbonise industrial process heat — scaling electrification & direct renewable heat, paving the way for the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank. climate.ec.europa.eu/news-other-r...

Commission publishes Terms and Conditions for the first pilot auction for industrial heat decarbonisation with a budget of €1 billion

For the first time, the Innovation Fund will launch an auction to decarbonise industrial process heat, awarding subsidies linked to carbon abatement and paving the way for the future Industrial Decarb...

climate.ec.europa.eu

Reposted by Charlie

Climate Tracker @climate.skyfleet.blue · 3d

New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to methane reduction targets #Climate

New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to methane reduction targets

Farmers praised the move, but scientists and opposition parties criticised it as ‘weak’ and ‘unambitious’

www.theguardian.com

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Kieran @nug.monster · 3d

why are you talking about it as if it's up to you, you worthless cunt. You're never getting another term and I 100% guarantee you're out of the country the day after you're out.

Christopher Luxon 'very open' to Electoral Commission running local elections

Currently, local elections are run by the councils themselves.

www.rnz.co.nz

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