NZ's handbrake
OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.
OPINION: The country's dairy farmers will now also have a hand in providing free lunch for schools.
The Government's new school lunch programme unveiled last week will cost $3 a lunch (down from $8) and save $130 million.
The Government had been working with local businesses, including Fonterra, to "transform" the school lunch programme, in a bid to save money.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the Government had "embraced commercial expertise, used government buying power, and generated supply chain efficiencies to realise over $130m of annual cost savings".
Fonterra is already partnering with Sanitarium and the Ministry of Social Development means to provide breakfast as part of the KickStart Breakfast. Since 2009, the programme has served more than 70 million breakfasts and run in over 1400 schools nationwide.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.
Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.