Proposed mining in the sea around NZ to become a reality in 2012-2013...

Image via WikipediaI have never used this blog as a political blog, but because it does have some New Zealand readership, maybe I should have. But I will discuss proposed mining  in the future. The National Government proposed last year  some mining in the conservation estate, but it went down like a lead balloon. But I suspect it was a government  making policy on the hoof.  Kiwis just don't want  an irresponsible government such as the present one  interfering with our conservation estate.

There is an article in one of today's Sunday papers on proposed mining in the sea around New Zealand. So I'm a little mystified as to why the National government attempted unsuccessfully to gain public  support for conservation estate mining when its fully aware of the proposal to tap the sunken treasures in the sea in New Zealand's economic zone.

Mining will hopefully commence in 2012 or 2013. There is a wealth of iron, precious metals and phosphates in the vast undersea continent of which New Zealand is just a visible part.

Mining companies from around the world are turning their eyes towards the prospects of the insatiable demand for raw materials   from economies such as China to be supplied from New Zealand's economic zone. But NZ companies are in the forefront of that drive to exploit seabed minerals.

'Widespread Energy' hopes to be extracting phosphates from the Chatham Rise late next year, and 'Trans-Tasman Resources' wants to start mining ironsands of the 'Taranaki Basin' in  2013. These initiatives go back to the time of the last Labour administration, and the present Key Government cannot claim any credit for these proposals.

Those companies who are most advanced in their prospecting say they are very close to turning their prospecting permits into mining rights. And thats  when a vigourous public debate on the merits, risks and rewards  of taking tonnes of ore from the seabed will intensify.

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We are definately poorer for it...

Image via Wikipedia

We are definately poorer for it...

By Peter Petterson

First published at Qondio:

It is probably now cheaper to get a meal of KFC chicken for your family than it is to buy some average quality sheep and beef meat cuts down here in New Zealand.

It is also cheaper to buy coca cola and other softdrinks(soda in nth America) than fresh milk - a food in itself.
Somebody on a radio talk back show today said that even beer is cheaper than milk at present

What an indictment of a society that once provided milk in schools and subsidised milk sales as well back in the good old days.

We once had a local garment and footwear industry that manufactured clothes and shoes of a good quality and employed thousands of New Zealanders - now everything is of a poorer quality and originates from China or some other asian countries
.
We are definately poorer for it. Not a third world country, but not a first world one either. lets just say 'second class'.

http://blogevolve.com/we-are-definately-poorer-for-it

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An emerging story here in NZ - another body in a car boot...

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 An emerging story here in New Zealand - another body in a car boot...



An emerging story here in NZ is about a pretty young 18 year old Chinese student who had been missing for a couple of weeks. She has been found in the boot of a car and a couple of asian male students have been arrested. They had originally been arrested for robbery of the girl. The car had been parked outside a local home for 12 days. The owners recognised it from a television news report and rang police. The girl's body was then discovered in the boot.



Remenber the posts I wrote a few ago years about little "Pumpkin" the three year old Chines girl abandoned  at the Melbourne railrway station by her father, who then fled to the US.



The little girl's mother was found in a boot of a car outside the family home in Auckland a couple of days later. The father was later arrested after a manhunt in the US, and eventually deported to NZ. At his trial the following year he was found guilty and sentenced to life. Little Pumpkin lives with her maternal grandmother in China and is doing well.



Both stories are extremely sad.

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Chinese mistrust NZ milk products - what a hypocritical cheek...

More than half of Chinese consumers say they mistrust New Zealand milk food products after the melamine milk contamination. What a bloody cheek - the contaminated milk powder was Chinese not New Zealand!

It was Chinese babies who suffered from kidney stones, not NZ babies. Get it right!

The connection between NZ and the melamine contaminated milk was the fact that NZ dairy giant, Fonterra, owns 43% of Sanlu, the company company involved. No NZ milk, I repeat no NZ milk was ever involved.

A consumers survey came up with a rather confusing set of comments, because NZ still comes out with a rating second behind the European Union and head of the US,Canada, Australia, Japan and China in that order.

Guilt by association undoubtably caused the result of the survey. NZ is involved with one of companies proven to have sold melamine contaminated milk.

Incidently melamine contaminated food products have found their way down to the South Pacific and the NZ market. They have been tested, taken off the shelves and the exporters involved has been informed of the decision.

There is no acceptable level ever of melamine in foodstuffs - it is an industrial chemical only!

Read more here