Category Archives: New Zealand

It was a marathon, not a sprint, he said.

"On the other hand, people who have had COVID, we know that reinfection is an issue, we know that new variants evade immunity from ... infection of previous variants.

"It almost becomes a game of many people are going to get COVID, you'd like to get it as few times as possible. It's not just a case of once and done, it's once and then potentially a few months later, again."

People who didn't take precautions after infection were likely to get COVID again, O'Neale said.

He said it may not be a case of needing tougher restrictions but needing better messages about the restrictions we do have.

"Maybe that might mean a little bit of support and help for people to follow some of those restrictions.

"Take mask wearing as an example of something that's relatively low cost, it's low impact, it's something that as individuals we're all able to do. There are a lot of people out there who are wearing masks, a lot of them aren't wearing them that well - they're wearing them over their mouth, they're not wearing them over their nose for example."

Messaging to explain that COVID is an airborne disease and that a masks needed to be worn in a way that filters the air, was needed to help people to stay safe, he said.

"We've been dealing with a pandemic for a long time, it is going to be fatiguing. On the other hand, something that is fatiguing is recovering from COVID and people havinglong COVID and post viral syndromesare a classic disease that leaves people fatigued."

"If you think the fatigue's bad from wearing a mask, imagine what it is from that post viral syndrome."

RNZ

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Coronavirus: Modeller believes around half of New Zealand's population has been infected with COVID-19 - Newshub

NO SECTOR CAN yet say it is doing enough to fight the climate crisis, according to a climate ambassador from New Zealand.

Kay Harrison, Climate Change Ambassador at New Zealands Department of Foreign Affairs, has said that Ireland and New Zealand must collaborate on solutions to fight the climate crisis.

She said that island countries like Ireland and New Zealand that have traditionally relied on agriculture are now examining the sectors role in climate change before other, more industrialised countries.

In an interview with The Journal at the Dublin Climate Summit, Harrison said that overall, if you look at the world, and you look at climate change, and you look at any sector, could you honestly say any sector was doing enough?

Im not sure that we can ever sit back and say, yeah were doing enough on anything, because we havent done enough for the last 30 years on anything.

Agriculture has got its own particular challenges but I think the rest of the world is going to turn to New Zealand and Ireland in a few years time when theyre finished with their clean energy revolution and say, have you got agriculture sorted, what do we do? Harrison said.

Weve been given this opportunity and challenge perhaps ahead of others and we need to get on with it.

On Thursday, Ireland and New Zealand launched ajoint initiativeto support research into climate and agriculture.

The initiative is open to research proposals that would study how to improve the accuracy of greenhouse gas emission inventories from the agriculture sector and technologies for the selection of low-emitting cattle and sheep.

Agriculture is the sector with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland, much of which comes from cattle.

The Climate Change Advisory Council has advised that reducing the number of cows in Ireland would substantially help to reduce emissions in a sector that has emphasised carbon budgets as challenging.

Polling last year by Ireland Thinks for The Journal found that 23% of people thought the number of cows in Ireland should be limited to the current level and 22% felt it should be reduced.

However, 39% believed there should be no limit and that farmers should be allowed to determine their herd.

In New Zealand, the number of sheep has fallen from over 70 millionin the early 1980s to 26 million as of 2019.

During the same period, beef cattle fell from 50 million to 38 million (with a low of 35 million in 2016), while dairy cattle increased from just under 30 million to 62 million.

Asked whether a reduction in herd numbers is something she believes Ireland and New Zealand should be implementing, Harrison said: I think its not a simple reduce the numbers.

Our Climate Change Commission suggested that probably weve maximised the number of animals that we can sustainably hold on our land, but there are different pressures in different parts of the country as well in terms of whether or not thats the best use of land there.

We see numbers probably levelling off, but these are private decisions by private landowners that are constrained by what local communities through resource management will accept.

Kay Harrison addressing the Dublin Climate Summit Source: Lauren Boland/The Journal

Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, the EU has been clamouring to reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, which are a major source of energy for many European countries, particularly former Soviet states.

At the same time, it must avoid backtracking on efforts to reduce emissions and consequently put the planet in further peril.

I think the first challenge to focusing on climate was Covid and the second challenge is this most recent situation [in Ukraine], Harrison said.

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What Ive consistently heard out of Europe is this is a reason to double down on renewables, this is a reason to double down on investment in the kind of technology and innovation that we need for the future.

Meanwhile, New Zealands neighbour Australia has been listed amongseveral countries with the biggest expansion plans for oil and gas production.

New Zealand has specifically said it will not issue any further permits for offshore oil and gas, Harrison said.

We think its really important to send those kinds of signals to investors and also to level the playing field so that the kind of clean energy that we need to take over is as adopted.

As the climate crisis threatens countries around the world, Harrison said that the strongest hope that we have is in collaboration and cooperation and in this recognition that we are confronting so many of the same things.

Were going to be much, much stronger than the sum of our combined parts by working together.

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Agri-reliant countries must pave way for cutting agriculture emissions, says New Zealand expert - TheJournal.ie

Skipjack tuna is the most abundant of the major commercial tuna species and takes just four years to reach maturity. Photo / Greg Bowker

OPINION

Seamounts are undersea mountains that rise at least 1000m off the seafloor. Collectively, they form the largest wildlife habitat on Earth, covering more of the Earth's surface than rainforests, deserts or tundra.

Fish congregate on the slopes of seamounts, as do corals and crustaceans. These are regions of high productivity due to ocean currents flowing up the seamount and bringing nutrients upwards from the depths of the ocean towards the warm surface.

People have trawled for fish in these areas for a very long time, using nets that run over the seafloor.

This method, while necessary to catch fish, makes it tough for coral and others to live where the nets run.

Two weeks ago, Sealord proposed that 89 per cent of known seamounts in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) should be placed into conservation.

The plan would protect 127 of New Zealand's 142 known seamounts from all bottom trawling.

The proposal is an unprecedented commitment to protecting life on the seabed, in tandem with the ongoing protection of providing fish within the fixed Government quota limits.

Some may wonder why we should want such a thing.

Primarily it's because Sealord values sustainability. We want to do it for the same reason New Zealand has fishing quotas: to preserve abundant marine life on the seafloor so the population remains healthy.

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This plan is what we all understand as living sustainably; to conserve the marine environment and continue fishing at a level that allows marine life to keep regenerating.

Sealord has worked out that it only needs to fish 11 per cent of seamounts to catch enough to contribute to the 700 million fish meals that deep-sea trawling produces annually. These meals feed New Zealanders, employ locals and earn export dollars the country uses to buy things from overseas, such as electric vehicles.

Currently, about 50 per cent of seamounts (71 of 142) are protected from bottom trawling through Benthic Protection Areas (BPAs) and Seamount Closure Areas (SCAs). Of the remaining 71 seamounts, 56 have never been trawled.

That leaves 15, or 11 per cent, that are trawled, and where the seabed is already disturbed.

This proposal is sustainable and achievable because it locks in the present practice and locks away the rest in a conservation envelope.

Some activists are campaigning for a ban on the fishing of all seamounts. This has been timed to coincide with a Government-led process that is working out what level of seamount fishing is sustainable.

The campaigners responded to our proposal, saying New Zealand needs to shut down all seamount fishing because there is an "extinction crisis". No studies show an "extinction crisis" on the seafloor. It seems very unlikely that fishing only 11 per cent of seamounts would cause the extinction of any species.

The campaign has shrewdly enlarged the things it wants banned. It now claims there are 800 seamounts, not the 142 mapped by Niwa of mountains over 1000 metres high. The features being talked about are undersea hills and knolls. These can be protected, and many are.

Sealord is open to discussing more protection once we conclude the seamount discussion.

The campaigners do not explain what will be achieved by banning fishing. That's because there would only be a small percentage increase in the volume of coral, crabs and other seafloor dwellers.

That's a good thing, but there would be no significant improvement in the quality of the ecosystem.

The unique species down there, and some of them might be native to this region, survive and thrive under our plan almost as much as they would under total conservation.

The opposition to our proposal reveals the contrast between New Zealanders' ideas of sustainability and activists' ideas of conservation.

Harvesting food, from the wild or farms, always damages something. The aim of sustainability is that the damage we cause in order to live does not overwhelm other species and ecosystems.

New Zealand trawls just 2-3 per cent of its EEZ seabed each year, returning to the same fishing grounds. Only 8 per cent of the entire EEZ has ever been trawled.

It is remarkable that most of our domestic fish supply is caught by trawling in such a small area, compared to the proportion of land New Zealand uses for food production.

The campaign against seamount fishing is designed to make you feel bad. It is not bothered by the consequences of stopping access to a valuable food source. This approach, extended across all land and seafood production, is a recipe for human starvation.

You should not be made to feel bad for eating fish or anything else taken from the land or water, if it is done sustainably.

We all know sustainability is the answer. It is the approach we take to the marine environment with the quota system, now 30 years old and internationally acclaimed for keeping fish stocks healthy.

It is also the approach we should take for life on the seabed.

Doug Paulin is CEO of the country's largest deepsea seafood company Sealord.

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Sealord plan to close seamounts in New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone - New Zealand Herald

A recent report suggests New Zealanders are under-insured by hundreds of billions of dollars. Sharron Botica from AIA New Zealand explains why its so important to make up the shortfall.

If you were suddenly unable to work, how long could you keep up your lifestyle? Do you have a mortgage to pay? Kids to take care of? What about if you passed away would your family be financially taken care of?

These questions are understandably hard to think about. Theyre confronting, and for many people, especially those with families and children to care for, seriously considering the outcomes of these scenarios can impose a huge mental load.

But the alternative not considering them at all is costing New Zealanders millions of dollars every year. In insurance, we talk about the protection gap the shortfall that households would experience if the main earner was unable to continue work. A protection gap can occur when a person doesnt have insurance, or when someone doesnt have enough insurance cover.

In 2020, New Zealands protection gap was reported at around $670b. The report found two thirds of New Zealand households had a protection gap. And its expected to grow over the following decade.

Both aspects of that gap how its happened and how we can close it are complex.

While car insurance, home insurance and contents insurance are considered essential for so many, theres a disconnect that happens when it comes to insurance covering our less-tangible assets. But why dont we value our own lives, and our essential incomes, as we do our cars?

Thats a question insurers around the world have been asking as the global protection gap also grows.

AIA wants to help New Zealanders begin their insurance journey by offering simple and affordable insurance cover. By launching three new basic, digital-only plans, they believe they can help more New Zealanders get better protected.

Customer insight work carried out by AIA has told us that people often feel protected against death, illness and other physical circumstances because they feel they can lean on whnau and community to help out. But this isnt always realistic, and it can be a dangerous mistake that could leave that support network severely and unexpectedly cost-laden.

According to a Financial Services Council NZ report from 2020, 71% of New Zealanders are under-insured when it comes to life insurance. A similar study from 2011 found that 54% were under-insured in this same category that drastic rise is cause for concern.

The 2020 report described a mismatch between the reality of the risk of death, accidents and illness in New Zealand compared with the money smart solution to assess, manage, pool and offset the risks, and protect against them. Basically, this means we drastically underestimate how much financial pressure is created when a household loses half of its income.

Many New Zealanders also wrongly perceive what adequate levels of cover are, according to the report. So even for those who are insured, when the worst happens and they have to claim on their policy, theyll receive far less than they realistically need.

In 2018, the retirement commissioner Diane Maxwell said the New Zealand shell be right attitude could be playing a part. That attitude has major consequences and leaves your loved ones to carry a heavy burden. When something bad happens you want to be looking after your people and your wellbeing, not stressing about how much money youre going to need to repair the damage, she said.

While relying on savings is a common plan in case of a significant event causing a loss of income the proverbial rainy day fund you need to have savings to use. Data from Stats NZ showed New Zealanders typically dont have great savings, with just 0.4% of income being saved over the quarter ending March last year.

Theres also the assumption that ACC will protect people against medical costs or time off work. But while they do help in many situations in the case of accidental injury, theyll cover up to 80% of lost income there is a longer list of things they do not cover. Most crucial is the loss of income from being out of work due to illness, something not covered at all by ACC.

We know that insurance can be a costly undertaking. Once you add up the car, home, contents, life, and health cover it can feel like a large cost. And for many people, long-term spending isnt considered as important as their immediate needs. Until its too late.

So how do we start to close that protection gap? We make insurance more affordable, easier to access, and provide information so people feel empowered to make insurance decisions for themselves. Closing the gap is about getting people to understand the importance of insurance, and about addressing the disconnect between how much cover people think they need and how much they actually do.

Shifting the focus of insurance from a luxury for those with extra disposable income, to a necessary expense to protect our own incomes is key.

Not closing the gap could mean thousands more New Zealanders face financial hardship at a time when they need support the most. We need to make sure that when those situations arise, those affected can take the time they need to recover with the financial security to do so comfortably.

To find out more and to protect your most valuable asset you visit the AIA website now.

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The problem with New Zealand's protection gap - The Spinoff

Stormy weather to hit parts of the country. Video / Weather Watch

New Zealand's first wintry blast will be pushed in by a storm that is expected to hit near Tasmania tonight.

By the end of the week, the storm is expected to unravel near New Zealand and temperatures are set to plummet, especially in the South Island.

On Friday, WeatherWatch reported that Dunedin's high is expected to be no more than 7C and around midday, the city's wind chill temperature would feel like 2C.

The chilly weather will be a result of a large Antarctic southerly sitting over the country.

"We haven't seen this so far this year," said head weather analyst of WeatherWatch, Phillip Duncan.

Duncan said the weather event won't cause major problems but there may be some alpine issues on highways and up to a few hundred metres of snow flurries in the South Island.

Blustery winds are also expected to accompany the cold temperatures on Friday night and Saturday morning, particularly around the Otago peninsula which could record gusts between 80-110km/h.

On Saturday, the cold weather will track further up the North Island and there would also be more rain across the country.

"Southland your drought problems are very quickly fading and we're hopeful that Waikato will get 40-60mm (of rain) over the next two weeks so that is also some good news," said Duncan.

Later today, rain is expected to sweep across near Mount Taranaki and the Waikato, where farmers are bearing the brunt of a drought.

Tomorrow, it is set to get windy in the South Island as the low-pressure system of the storm moves towards New Zealand.

The southerly is followed by a high-pressure system which means the country's first winter cold snap will be brief and temperatures would warm up again at the end of the weekend.

Read more:

Weather: Storm over Tasmania pushing in cold and blustery winds to New Zealand - New Zealand Herald

For the past few years, we have been responding to aCourt case brought against Vodafone NZ by the CommerceCommission about the historicmarketing from 2016 to March 2018 of our HFC service (whichuses fibre-optic and copper cabling). At that time, we weremarketing the service to customers under the brand name ofFibreX.

A fine of $2.25 million has been handed downfor this historical marketing. The Judges findings andsentence relate to the historical marketing of FibreX from2016 to March 2018. We are very disappointed with theoutcome and respectfully disagree with the Courtsdecisions.

While we would rather be focusing onproviding great service to current and future HFC customersand inviting customers to decide for themselves about theperformance of this product, the Commission has advised usthat it will appeal the fine handed down. Accordingly, wemust respond and will be appealing both the conviction andthe fine. Our appeal will set out our strong belief thatthere are several errors with the original convictiondecision and that there are aspects of the FibreX judgmentthat simply misunderstand the services we sell and are notin the best interests of consumers or futurecompetition.

Vodafone NZ has spent over $25 million onimprovements to HFC, and the service is a well-performing,price-competitive product. The March 2022 CommerceCommissions independent SamKnows broadband measurementreport noted that 100% of HFC Max plans were all able tostream 4 simultaneous UHD Netflix streams, offering anequivalent experience to Fibre to the Home plans in thisrespect.

In addition to its outstanding performance,HFC is not subject to potential input cost rises from localfibre companies, so is good value for money. As these 3rdparty fibre input costs are projected to increase, HFC isoffering customers in eligible areas real choice and theability to access a fantastic service at an excellent pricepoint.

HFC is a remarkable broadband solution,offering high-speed internet at a lower price than Fibre tothe Home with an easy installation process. As the CommerceCommission noted in its annualtelco monitoring report in March 2021, HFC was thecheapest ultra-high user plan and we think this is agreat broadband option for consumers where its available in Kapiti, Wellington and Christchurch.

We believehealthy digital infrastructure competition and maximisingcustomer choice should be welcomed, to offer New Zealandersa wider range of broadband internet access types dependingon what they value most. As this matter is now before thecourt, Vodafone NZ will not be commenting further at thistime.

Scoop Media

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Vodafone New Zealand Disappointed In FibreX Judgment And Intends To Appeal Both Conviction And Fine | Scoop News - Scoop

Leaving aside the odd season of injury comebacks, it's been 15 extraordinary years since James Anderson last went into a home summer as anything other than England's attack leader. You have to go way back to the India series in 2007, when his second Test five-for at Lord's hinted at the bowler he was about to come, for the last time Anderson was genuinely out to prove his worth, rather than cement the credentials he had already established.

And so it was an oddly cagey Anderson who faced the media in Leicester on Monday, at the behest of the Test sponsors LV= Insurance, but before he'd had any cast-iron assurances that his name will be back in the frame for another Lord's appearance, when the squad for the first Test against New Zealand is announced on Wednesday.

"Until that squad's picked I'm not counting on anything," he said. "My job's to try and prove that I'm in good form, take wickets for Lancashire and help them win games. That's all I'm bothered about, and then we'll see what happens whenever the team is announced."

Chicken-counting aside, however, Anderson's return for his 170th Test appearance, and 96th on home soil, is a given. Not only has he proven his form and fitness on the county circuit - including with the eye-catching dismissal of his former England captain, Joe Root, in last week's Roses clash - he and his long-term sidekick Stuart Broad are just about the only capped England seamers available to Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum as they prepare to begin their captain-coach alliance in a fortnight's time.

Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher, both of whom debuted in Anderson's and Broad's absence in the Caribbean, have succumbed to stress fractures, the same complaint that Sam Curran is currently returning from, while Craig Overton and Chris Woakes - who shared the new ball in Antigua in March - are labouring with knee injuries. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are coming back from elbow operations, and Ollie Robinson - the man who ought to be in possession - has been a fitness concern since struggling through the Hobart Test in January.

Anderson and Broad, on the other hand, just keep rumbling on. "I don't know, it's just luck I guess," he said of their longevity. "We still love playing, we're really hungry to take wickets, and still love that feeling you get from it. I've spoken to Stuart a lot over the last few months, we still feel like we've got a lot to give the game, whether it's for Notts or Lancashire, or for England."

Nevertheless, Anderson admitted that, with his 40th birthday approaching in July, his omission for the West Indies tour had caused him to reassess his priorities as he enters his 20th season as an international cricketer.

"I definitely questioned it, yeah," he said. "I talked it through with my family as well, and they saw it as I did, that I feel like I've got more to give to the game. The longer time went on, the more I was with the Lancs lads doing pre-season training. I was still doing the gym work, and I wasn't bored of it. I wanted to be there doing it, irrelevant of what was going to happen in the summer.

"If I play the whole season for Lancashire, then great. If I get a Test call-up then brilliant, but at the minute I'm really enjoying playing cricket. It did come into question, I guess - do I want to do I want to carry on? But in my head, I quickly decided I did want to see what happened this year."

James Anderson attended a #Funds4Runs community initiative in LeicesterLV= Insurance/#Funds4Runs

And if there were any residual doubts, then they were emphatically quashed by the 11th and most recent of his first-class wickets this season - the uprooting of Root's off and middle stumps at Headingley on Sunday, as Anderson's typically frugal figures of 15-7-17-2 briefly set Lancashire up for a final-day victory push against Yorkshire.

"I did enjoy that one, it was nice to get a player of Joe's quality out," Anderson said. And it was doubtless all the sweeter given that Root had still been England captain for the Caribbean tour, and therefore was at least complicit in Anderson's controversial omission.

Did he say anything to Root when he got him out? "Absolutely not, no. Didn't need to. Just pick the two stumps off the ground," Anderson said. "We do talk. We've not fallen out or anything. Yeah, we chatted. I spoke to him before he announced that he was stepping down. There's still a huge amount of respect between the two of us so there's no animosity.

"The biggest thing for me [on Sunday] was that we were pushing for a win," Anderson added. "Obviously he got 140 in the first innings; we know how good a player he is. A few of our guys were seeing him up close for the first time and realising how good a player he is; they all commented on it. It was fruitless in the end, but we were pushing hard for that win, and he was the best player so it was nice to get the best player."

Three months after the event, Anderson says he hasn't had a full explanation for his omission from the Test squad, and still doesn't know whether there was a perceived issue with his attitude in Australia, where his eight wickets at 23.37 couldn't prevent a 4-0 series loss. However, with his focus now back on adding to his England-record tally of 640 wickets, his thoughts are firmly fixed on the coming summer, as he hopes to help the new team hierarchy pick the performances up after a torrid 12 months.

"It's gone now. It's history. I'm not bothered about what's gone in the past," he said. "All I can control is what I do in the future. I've got to try to prove that I'm still good enough to play international cricket and keep my fingers crossed that the selectors and the captain think so as well.

"I don't think from a performance point of view my confidence would have taken a knock. I felt like I bowled well in Australia and since I've been bowling back in England I've felt like I'm in good shape and bowling well. So from that point of view I feel like I know what I'm doing and I don't think that will change, really.

"I guess you do start questioning other things when that sort of thing happens - is it something I've done around the group or whatever else? I guess that's the one thing that you start thinking about. But when it comes to cricket I'm pretty confident that I'm doing okay."

Anderson will be reassured too by the vote of confidence he received from Stokes after his accession to the Test captaincy, and is ready to return the compliment after seeing glimpses of his leadership style during the Ashes campaign.

"He's a natural leader and the lads all look up to him in the dressing-room," Anderson said. "When he's had the opportunity to be captain I think there was maybe an hour in Australia, and you could see he's got a real good tactical brain on him. He's the hardest trainer in the group and sets the example of how to be an international cricketer.

"We're at quite a low point at the minute as a Test side. Where we are in the Test championship, we're going to have to do something serious to be able to turn it around and get back up towards where we want to be, towards the top. I don't think that necessarily happens overnight. But with Brendon and Ben, we're never going to take a backward step. It could be a really exciting time for English cricket."

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

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James Anderson has 'more to give to the game' as he targets England Test recall - ESPNcricinfo

The risk of an economic recession is getting closer by the day, according to the BNZ.

Stock crisis red price drop down chart fall / Stock market exchange analysis or forex graph business and finance crash money losing moving economic investment loss Photo:

Head of research Stephen Toplis says the imbalances within the economy and the external pressures on it have become more pronounced and the measures needed to fix the problems are becoming more aggressive.

"The chance of a soft landing is fading."

The main pressures have come from the series of supply-side shocks to the economy such as the lack of staff and Omicron leaving businesses forced to hire temporary staff, he said. While Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's Covid lockdowns, and a surge in prices for imported fuel, metals, food and a host of other items has added to the external pressures, with a weaker New Zealand dollar raising import prices.

The initial economic shocks from Covid-19 had been cushioned by government support measures, low interest rates, and resilient households but that has only added the fuel of demand to the fire of supply shortages, he said.

"The only available option is to crush demand to meet the new levels of supply."

Toplis said that inevitably meant the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) was left with no other option but to raise interest rates and dampen demand to combat 30-year high inflation, which it has started to do, while it would also hope for a rise in unemployment.

"Our central forecast, currently, is that New Zealand's growth stalls completely in 2023. The danger is that the wheels well and truly fall off. "

Toplis said more pressures were gathering with the gloss coming off agricultural production, falling house prices which would make households less keen to spend, and high fuel prices, along with a generally softening global economy as well.

"So, whichever way you look at it, the planets are aligning in such a way that a recession seems difficult to avoid."

He was expecting any recession would be next year, with the near term outlook likely to be solid growth in the middle of this year after a flat start because of the rebound from the Covid restrictions.

However, Toplis said there were factors that would moderate any downturn including a gradual recovery in tourism, more overseas workers, houses becoming more affordable, and healthy government finances, which would cushion any major downturn.

"There is, of course, the chance a recession does not eventuate but we think, given the way the world is evolving, households and businesses would do best adopting a prepare for the worst, hope for the best strategy."

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New Zealand's growth forecast to stall completely in 2023 - BNZ - RNZ

Politics

12 May, 2022 04:07 AM3 minutes to read

Trade Minister Damien O'Connor is launching a dispute process with Canada. Photo / Mark Mitchell

New Zealand is concerned Canada might not be trying to limit New Zealand's dairy access through the imposition of dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs), costing exporters $68 million.

Trade Minister Damien O'Connor said New Zealand said these TRQs went against the rules of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He said New Zealand would be using the dispute resolution process of that agreement to work towards a solution.

A TRQ allows a certain amount of a product (the quota) to be imported with lower import taxes (tariffs) .

O'Connor said the CPTPP set "high standards" and that it was "important these standards are maintained to ensure that our exporters can benefit from the agreement in a way that is fair and commercially meaningful."

"Our priority is to ensure that New Zealand exporters have meaningful access to the benefits negotiated under CPTPP, and that all parties fulfil the commitments they have made to each other under the agreement," he said.

O'Connor said the way that Canada was implementing the TRQs was "inconsistent" with CPTPP obligations.

"Many of Canada's dairy TRQs remain unfilled and this represents a tangible loss to New Zealand's dairy exporters," O'Connor said.

"The value to New Zealand of this lost market access is estimated to be approximately $68 million over the first two years, with this expected to increase year on year as the size of these quotas increase under CPTPP," he said.

O'Connor said New Zealand would continue to have "excellent" relations with Canada.

"New Zealand has an excellent relationship with Canada, who are one of our closest partners in the world. We have appreciated Canada's engagement on this issue at different levels over a number of years and these proceedings will not come as any surprise to them," O'Connor said.

"Occasionally even good friends disagree, and it's for that reason dispute settlement mechanisms in free trade agreements such as CPTPP exist to provide a neutral forum for settling such disputes when they arise," he said.

New Zealand submitted its request for "consultations" to Canada earlier today. Canada has seven days to respond to New Zealand's request, after which time the two parties will then enter into formal consultations to try and resolve the dispute.

If the dispute remains unresolved after consultations, New Zealand can request a panel to adjudicate the dispute.

This is New Zealand's first dispute under the CPTPP, although New Zealand has initiated disputes under the World Trade Organisation.

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New Zealand opens CPTPP dispute with Canada over dairy access - New Zealand Herald

As a sovereign democracy, New Zealand has the absolute right to set its own foreign policy. Its nominally closest allies have that same right, however.

Considering New Zealand's now unambiguous foreign policy service of China's interests, the United States, Australia, Britain, and Canada should move to suspend Wellington from the Five Eyes alliance. That alliance involves the cooperative collection and sharing of intelligence material gathered around the world. It thus gives New Zealand access to exquisite intelligence reporting that Wellington otherwise would have no means of gathering.

Unfortunately, as I noted last year, New Zealand's refusal to counter China's global aggression means that it's no longer reliable as a Five Eyes member.

This is a great shame. New Zealand has traditionally been a very close U.S. ally. Its armed forces served with honor in Afghanistan, losing 10 of their own. New Zealand's special forces showed especial skill and courage. Sadly, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has again reminded us why her government cannot be trusted with the most sensitive U.S. intelligence material.

In a BBC News interview published on Wednesday, Ardern said that New Zealand has a "mature" relationship with China. When addressing disagreements with Beijing, including on "human rights," Ardern insisted her government is "very forthright and clear."

Fact check: false.

It was only last week, after all, that Wellington allowed the extradition to China of a permanent New Zealand resident. While China accuses the man of murder, there is literally zero chance that he will receive a fair trial. This extradition is thus a plain betrayal of New Zealand's supposed sacredly held commitment to the rule of law. No worries, however, because in supporting the extradition request, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta told the court that China had pledged to treat the man fairly.

Even by the standards of Ardern's government, Mahuta is an unusually zealous appeaser of Beijing. But her pledge is, of course, worse than worthless worse, because it only proves that New Zealand needs the most pathetic pretense in order to sell its soul to Beijing. Don't believe me? Then consider China's record on pledges. Consider its treaty commitment via Britain to respect Hong Kong's democratic rights until 2047. China has eviscerated that pledge in recent years. Or consider China's 2015 pledge to end its U.S. intellectual property theft. That pledge is being broken each year to the price tag of hundreds of billions of dollars. Or consider China's new pledge to adopt international forced labor standards. Does anyone expect it to include the Uyghur people?

Give me a break. Ardern's government refuses even to join collective condemnations of Beijing's human rights abuses. It knows that China is particularly infuriated by collective action, fearing international isolation and loss of influence.

This obsession with keeping China happy is so unrelenting it is now patently absurd. In condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, for example, Ardern noted that Russia must be resisted because it has attacked the democratic international order. She says that this "threatens everyone, including New Zealand."

This is true.

But so also does China grossly undermine international order with its threats to subjugate Taiwan, seize the South China Sea, turn poorer nations into feudal subjects, unilaterally dredge the oceans of wildlife, and threaten small, far-away nations such as Lithuania that dare speak up for human freedom. Ardern has a solemn commitment to international order, just excluding the greatest threat to that order!

Proving as much, the prime minister rejected the notion that Russia's war reflects a broader effort by autocracies to impose their will upon smaller nations: China against Taiwan, for example. "Let's not be quick to create a binary situation between two differing schisms in the world," she said. This rhetoric is in pitch-perfect tune with the Chinese foreign ministry's screeching that efforts to counter autocratic intimidation, such as the AUKUS alignment (from which New Zealand is notably absent), reflect an unacceptable "Cold War mentality."

Where does this leave us?

Appeasement might earn New Zealand its lucrative trade and the avoidance of Beijing's more ludicrous insults. But Wellington's betrayal of democratic values and security is no longer tolerable. Australia can replace Five Eyes signal intelligence stations currently on New Zealand's territory, but the risk of sharing the most sensitive U.S. intelligence with Ardern's government is no longer sustainable.

Ardern can tell the BBC that her foreign policy is "fiercely independent," but in reality, it's just firmly indentured to China.

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Jacinda Ardern reminds us why New Zealand should be suspended from the Five Eyes alliance - Washington Examiner