by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, World
Melbourne: New Zealand has banned new offshore oil and gas explorations as part of efforts for a clean energy future, the prime minister said on Thursday.
“There will be no further offshore oil and gas exploration permits granted,” Jacinda Ardern said in a written statement on the ministry’s webpage.
“This is a responsible step which provides certainty for businesses and communities that rely on fossil fuels. We’re striking the right balance for New Zealand – we’re protecting existing industry, and protecting future generations from climate change,” she added.
“All three of the parties in this Government have agreed that we must take this step as part of our package of measures to tackle climate change,” Energy Minister Megan Woods said in a statement.
Woods said that existing exploration and mining rights would be protected.
“No current jobs will be affected by this as we are honoring all agreements with current permit holders,” she added.
“There are 31 oil and gas exploration permits currently active, 22 are offshore. These permits cover an area of 100,000 sq kms [38,610 square miles] nearly the size of the North Island, and run as far out as 2030 and could go an additional 40 years under a mining permit,” she said.
While environmentalists celebrated the decision as a victory, the Petroleum Exploration & Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) said that the government’s decision was “surprising”.
In a statement, PEPANZ CEO Cameron Madgwick said the new measures would have a significant impact on the industry, stating that other types of fuel — which he said will be more expensive — will become an issue of energy security in the future.
Reporting by Recep Sakar:Writing by Meryem Goktas
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | B-School, Web Exclusive
Wellington:(IANS) Students from India and China helped to drive a record net gain in migrants to New Zealand in the first half of 2015, the government statistics agency said on Friday.
Annual permanent and long-term migration showed a record net gain — the number of arrivals over departures — of 59,600 migrants till July this year, resulting from 117,100 arrivals and 57,500 departures, Xinhua cited the Statistics New Zealand.
Of the arrivals, 13,800 were from India, with three-quarters having student visas, and 10,400 were from China.
July also set a record with the highest ever monthly net gain in migrants at 5,700, surpassing the previous record of 5,400 set in January this year.
The influx of migrants would put a strain on all public services, including hospitals, and demand for housing, especially in the overheated market of Auckland, the opposition New Zealand First party said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
New Zealand’s government has stepped up efforts to contain the fallout from a scare over contaminated products made by dairy giant Fonterra.
Officials have been sent to Fonterra facilities in New Zealand and Australia to oversee the flow of information.
Fonterra said on Saturday that batches of products, including infant formula, contained a raw ingredient tainted with a bacteria that can cause botulism.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has promised a “forensic” investigation.
“The biggest and most important thing we can do is, as part of that full review, we are open and honest about what went wrong and demonstrate that there’s change,” Mr Key was quoted as saying by local media.
He criticised the company on Monday, saying he did not understand why this issue had not been flagged earlier.
Fonterra is the biggest company in New Zealand and is responsible for almost 90% of the country’s milk production.
Dairy exports account for about a quarter of New Zealand’s export earnings and the dairy industry contributes about 7% of the country’s gross domestic product.
Shipment blocked
Fonterra, which apologised on Monday for the problem, says that there has been no known illnesses caused by the tainted products.
It says the bacteria came from a dirty pipe at a processing plant for whey protein concentrate.
The company has issued a recall and countries, including China, have implemented import bans on the raw ingredient, whey protein concentrate.
Infant formula makers Danone and Abbott Laboratories, which use Fonterra ingredients or sell milk produced on Fonterra production lines, said they had issued precautionary recalls.
On Tuesday, Chinese authorities ordered Abbott to recall some of its products. Infant formula safety is a sensitive topic in the country where melamine tainted milk killed six children and made 300,000 ill in 2008.
Overnight a shipment of possibly contaminated whey concentrate was intercepted while on its way to Australia, New Zealand’s trade minister said.
Economic Development Minister Stephen Joyce added that data provided by Fonterra initially had been incorrect, which led to confusion and meant product recalls in China and other countries.
However, he said about 90% of the contaminated product had already been located and that using Fonterra’s tracking records the government was hoping the rest would be found by Wednesday.