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OPINION: In the latest example of how broken the RMA consents process is, Meridian Energy has paid out DoC, Fish & Game and iwi rather than risk them blocking the renewal of consents that it needs to keep running its Waitaki hydro scheme.
It's an open secret that it's easier to grease palms than it is to risk getting tied up for years by 'greenmail' demands from rent seekers.
In this case, Meridian agreed to pay, over 35 years, $73.5m to DoC, $2.8m to Central South Island Fish & Game, and an estimated, 'confidential' $104m to Ngai Tahu.
This old mutt reckons this is the tip of the iceberg - the consent process is buggered and is killing development.
The coming overhaul can't come soon enough.
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.
OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."
OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.
OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.
OPINION: Your old mate's ear has been chewed off recently by farmers voicing their displeasure with the National Party, particularly relating to how they're treating their farmer base.
The Meat Industry Association of New Zealand (MIA) today announced that Chief Executive Officer Sirma Karapeeva has resigned from the role.
The winners of the 2026 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards were announced at the annual awards dinner held at Copthorne Solway Park in Masterton on Thursday evening.
Environment Southland is welcoming this week’s decision by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to approve the release of Blaptea elguetai, a leaf‑feeding beetle that will help control the highly invasive Chilean flame creeper.
This March, the potato industry is proudly celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March alongside the International Year of the Woman Farmer, recognising the vital role women play across every part of the sector — from paddocks and packhouses to research, leadership, and innovation.
Fruit trader Seeka posted a record profit and returns to shareholders in 2025.
Recent weather events in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne/Tairawhiti, and Canterbury have been declared a medium-scale adverse event.
OPINION: A mate of yours truly reckons rural Manawatu families are the latest to suffer under what he calls the…
OPINION: If old Winston Peters thinks building trade relations with new nations, such as India, isn't a necessary investment in…
