If you have a chance to wander up Queen St and see these - do. They are absolutely stunning. Well done.

Te Ao Māori News - 🤖 (unofficial)@teaonews.bsky.social · 7d ago

Two towering art works have been unveiled in the Auckland CBD this morning paying homage to waterways that once ran through the city and tangata whenua.

Lume seems lovely, made by good people with a lot of care. thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/...

Every surprise coming from Lume’s launch

Landing on app stores today, the music platform offers fans the chance to 'go deeper'. So what does that look like?

thespinoff.co.nz

Sometimes the data screams a warning. Westpac's regular survey of employment confidence just hit a new low - worse than 2008 & COVID. library.westpaciq.com.au/content/dam/...

Pretty good. Top tax rate cuts in far too low though at $160k, which is very low versus housing market. US/Au income tax rates are more aggressive but at higher levels.

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand@greens.org.nz · 2mo ago

It's time for the super-rich and big corporations to pay their fair share. Visit greens.org.nz to learn how "A Tax System for All of Us" can build a fairer country for everyone 💚✊

It's time for the super-rich and big corporations to pay their fair share. Visit greens.org.nz to learn how "A Tax System for All of Us" can build a fairer country for everyone 💚✊

Ads for meat and long distance tourism banned in Amsterdam. Say 75% of our export economy, and fair enough too. What the hell are we doing NZ. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/c...

In Permissive Amsterdam, Ads for Fossil Fuels or Meat Are Now Verboden

nytimes.com

But, maddenly, overall oil demand continued to rise in 2025. www.iea.org/reports/glob...

THREAD: The IEA global energy review 2026 * CO2 record high, but growth nearly ground to halt * Clean energy shaved 3bn tonnes off CO2 * Fossil-fuel power pushed into reverse * Age of Electricity "confirmed" * "Extraordinary" solar growth * Batteries up 40% * EVs up 20% 1/10

Perhaps senior NZG folks should also visit China to set up deals to buy, and prioritise delivery of, $billions in solar panels and batteries..

The 1979 Iran fuelled energy crisis resulted in Think Big (succeeding in improving energy independence), but then a wage price freeze. Winston was around then - 45 years ago. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...

Robert Muldoon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

NZ earns $17 billion from international tourism each year, and the bulk of people arrive on Air NZ. If Air NZ makes a $50m loss then NZ still makes say $1-300 per person versus $1 lost in a bad year for our national carrier.

It’s like climate change. The Brexit cost was so obviously off-the-scale insane that any forecast was going to be wrong. Steer away especially from ones that seem to be ‘not much to see here’

Holger Hestermeyer@hhesterm.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research has published a paper on the impact of Brexit siepr.stanford.edu/publications...

Maybe get someone who understands the other side as your chief negotiator. Or at least don’t admit it. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Strikers' demands 'a mystery', government's top negotiator says

The Public Service Commissioner says it's regrettable major strike action is going ahead, because he's always been available to negotiate.

rnz.co.nz

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Emerging evidence of abrupt changes in the Antarctic environment - Nature

Abrupt changes are developing across Antarctica’s ice, ocean and biological systems; some of these changes are intensifying faster than equivalent Arctic changes, potentially irreversibly, and their i...

nature.com

InternetNZ AGM is terrible. Starting 25m late, motions not opening for voting until the agenda item, we can't see the motions, we can't talk, we are mostly on hold and....... .... it's a fantastic way to make us vote against the status quo. (It's my second AGM today. This should not be hard)

Formula 1 is the same. Rugby too. Good companies don't need to sponsor, as we already like them, but I wish they would, and for them to crowd out the bad.

Dave Walker@davewalker.bsky.social · last yr.

Such an important feature on TotalEnergies by ITV Cycling and Matt Rendell on the Tour de France rest day programme this evening. In support: a repost of this drawing.

If only there were a simple trick to increase demand. While you’re at it sign long term leases, match to long term mortgages and stop making people move. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

'Pain' for property investors as renting listing levels hit decade high

The amount of rental listings in March reached levels not seen since 2014.

rnz.co.nz

This is great. Of course a total ban of cars from all of Queen St. is the right answer, but play silly games... www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3606...

The eye-watering amount a section of Auckland's CBD racked up in fines in just 2½ years

Auckland Transport has issued nearly $20 million in fines after banning private vehicles from a small section of Queen St in 2022.

stuff.co.nz

As someone of a certain age, lack of hair, business masters degree from the 90s, and US, Canadian and NZ business experience I feel unduly qualified to provide an interpretation of the messaging in this oft-quoted text. (And yes, I’ve been guilty of using “full court press” before)

Jonathan King@jonathanking.bsky.social · last yr.

“Whatever you do – DO NOT mention boats.” “Got it.”

In a world of bad business news, one bit of good news, which is the announcement of the sale of Quantifi Photonics, with founders, staff and seven NZ funds benefiting.

Every time I find myself on Stats NZ's website they achieve their primary role of preventing access to the statistics I want.

If this is the estimate now, I’m sure the result will be a lot more servos eliminated than that.

Leo Hickman@leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 2y ago

wow Oil demand is falling at such a rate in China that "it is expected that China will eliminate 20,000 gas stations by 2030, from the current 110,000 to about 90,000" m.caijing.com.cn/article/359487

If only there were an elegant solution @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3605...

Videos show cars reversing after driving down notorious Christchurch cycleway

A woman who lived near the cycleway said it was a daily occurrence and she once saw 11 cars on the cycleway within two hours.

stuff.co.nz

If you thought 2025 might be a year of recovery for NZ - there's news. www.stuff.co.nz/culture/3605...

James Blunt announces first NZ show in seven years

The British singer-songwriter will perform at Auckland’s Spark Arena in October to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut album.

stuff.co.nz

If only there were other suppliers, hungry for deals and with capacity to expand rapidly www.made-in-china.com/products-sea...

Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · 2y ago

Must-read story on how a private equity group cornered the fire truck market, doubling prices, causing massive delays and leaving departments across the county — including Los Angeles — without the resources needed to combat fires.

Some ICE cars will be treasured for years. If yours isn’t one of them then plan to get $0 return. (Also TradeMe posts don’t show previews, which seems… odd) www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car...

I learned from this (gift link) article on how Aussies changed their response to bush fires. “In crises like this, you can play politics, point fingers and resist reality, or you can choose safety” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/o...

Opinion | California, We Feel Your Pain Here in Australia (Gift Article)

In California’s fire-stoked debate over how aggressively to manage both nature and urban sprawl, Australia can share both empathy and insight.

nytimes.com

Auckland transport is closing all the (low speed) EV chargers inside AT car parks. Leaving pretty much no option for apartment dwellers with that need.

Biomass using waste material makes sense. Cutting down trees to make pellets that you then burn is increasingly obviously nonsense.

Stephen Jarvis@stephenjarvis.bsky.social · 2y ago

Picking back up after the winter break, and one thing I’m keeping an eye out for this year is whether there will finally be a shift away from subsidies for "renewable" biomass, especially in the power sector. To that end, there was recently some notable news out of South Korea on this issue. 💡🔌(1/6)