Government accused of
'ecocide' over ETS scheme
The Government has been
accused of gutting the Emissions Trading Scheme by amending it with
new legislation.
9 November, 2012
Parliament has narrowly
passed the ETS Amendment Bill, which keeps agriculture out of the
scheme indefinitely and allows polluters to import unlimited foreign
carbon credits.
The Green Party argues
the Government has gutted the ETS which it says was already weak, and
is now pointless.
Green MP Kennedy Graham
says the Government is guilty of what he calls 'ecocide' - a
political crime of the highest moral order.
He says the ETS is now
simply a trading scheme and it is highly likely to increase
emissions.
But Climate Change
Minister Tim Groser says the bill has gone through an extraordinarily
protracted debate.
He says it strikes the
right balance between the country doing its fair share while ensuring
the cost does not impact unreasonably on New Zealanders.
The bill passed on
Thursday by 61 votes to 58, with the support of National, ACT and
United Future.
Median
house prices hit
record high - REINZ
New figures show house
prices have surged to a record high of $380,000 and sales have jumped
almost a third since last year.
9 November, 2012
New figures show house
prices have surged to a record high of $380,000 and sales have jumped
almost a third since last year.
Adjusting for some
variations, the median house price in October was 6.9% higher than
the same month last year.
The increase has been
mainly driven by rising prices in Auckland, Wellington and
Christchurch, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) says.
Auckland's median house
price also set a new record, rising 14% from last year to $530,000.
The institute says 6640
properties sold in October - 1633 more than in October last year.
REINZ chief executive
Helen O'Sullivan says a surge in new listings is struggling to keep
pace with buyer demand.
She says it took an
average of 32 days to sell a property in October - three fewer than
last year.
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