Tuesday, 05 October 2021 10:02

About time!

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: The Hound, like many in the agriculture sector, is worried about the growing increase of good farmland being lost to trees - especially carbon sinks - and the negative impact this is having on rural communities.

So he welcomes news that Tararua mayor Tracey Collis and Wairoa mayor Craig Little have called on fellow rural provincial councils to contribute to a collaborative study looking at the impacts of forestry on rural communities.

It aims to look at the impact of forestry on the four wellbeings - social, cultural, economic and environmental; the effects of forestry on soil and water quality; damage caused to roading; fire risk; and the future of carbon farming.

Predictably, this has upset the forestry industry who claim the study is "anti-forestry".

Perhaps the tree barons should put a hold on the crocodile tears until they see exactly what this study finds.

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True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

Stuffed!

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

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