Rohan MacMahon

Late 2023: Govt cans the 4 year project set up "to explore possible renewable energy storage solutions" and solve for the dry year problem.

Early 2026: Govt says it will spend $1bn on an LNG import facility... to address the dry year problem. www.mbie.govt.nz/building-and... #nzpol

Righto. I've read the papers released by MBIE on the LNG analysis. This will be a longish thread on my thoughts, which I'll add to progressively. Docs are here. 🧵 1/-

The saga has left Thomson with a rare distinction. She is one of the few people to be mentioned in the Epstein documents – her name appears 38 times – and emerge with their reputation enhanced.
“I’m now the cool mum because I’m in the Epstein files for the right reasons,” she said.

There are currently 69,000 state houses.

You could comfortably afford this within the budget for the LNG facility.

Power outage means Auckland trains are running… even less than usual.

35 GPS devices were planted in e-waste in Australia. Where are they now? A not-for-profit environmental group put GPS devices in 35 e-waste items and dropped them off at recycling locations in four Australian capital cities. Here's what they found.

"Little lie detectors" (GPS trackers) reveal Australian e-waste is being illegally exported to South East Asia.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Deadly storms expose growing gap between disaster recovery and climate preparation Billions have been spent on storm recovery since 2023, while key climate adaptation funding and planning tools have been cut.

"We can brush our teeth each day or get a painful root canal… At the moment we're going to the dentist screaming."

Emily Mabin Sutton from Climate Club on New Zealand's current approach to climate change.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... #greensky

Just tonight a couple were riding two abreast, holding hands.

That's an enormous improvement on what Great North Road used to be like for cyclists.

So for example, 35 degrees and 20% humidity (Canberra-like?) gives you a wet bulb score of 19.3.

Whereas 25 degrees and 70% humidity (Auckland-like?) gives a score of 20.9.

The wet bulb temperature takes humidity into account.

Auckland is regularly higher on this measure than Australian cities.

This is also how I feel: dry heat is much easier to handle.

Thank you, have requested.

Epic. Well done to the Gurus. #auspol

Wonderful news!

And good to see you on BlueSky too @izzyfenwick.bsky.social.

It's currently 44.4 degrees in Adelaide at 5.15pm local time.

They took the $ allocated to the Climate Emergency Response Fund and used it for tax cuts.

Screenshot of front page of Stuff.co.nz website, featuring headlines like "'Possible we could find someone alive', police say after campsite landslide".

The top 6 media stories on Stuff are landslides, storms, floods.

None of them mention climate change, which we know makes these events more frequent and more extreme.

People have lost their lives. Homes have been destroyed.

And leading politicians are in the pub having "great fun". #nzpol

yeahhhhh i probably will be more willing to fork over the extra money for amtrak next time

Another successful 1080 drop in Te Ngāherehere o Kohukohunui / Hūnua Ranges. Possums are almost permanently nonexistent now, with rats again temporarily wiped out by the latest treatment.

From 1 pair of Kōkako in the 90’s, to over 260 today.

ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2026/01...

Major police action on Karangahape Road - at least 5 police cars near the top of Pitt Street and further 3 racing to get there.

Could not see what’s going on - anyone have further info?

Time for a shark code of conduct and an awareness-raising campaign, for sharks.

And perhaps a three word slogan?

Good to see the younger ones getting their exercise.

Climate change, flooding emergencies, local govt funding crisis, NZTA road budget are all different news topics so it’s important to keep everything in its proper silo and not draw any connections between things.

2025 was New Zealand's hottest year on record Following NZ's hottest-ever year, a new campaign is asking Kiwis to switch just one car trip a week to active or public transport.

2025 was Aotearoa's hottest year on record across land and sea according to a new study by Jim Salinger. We can reduce future climate change and make our lives better at the same time, it just takes action and optimism. #nzpol #kikorangi newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/16/2...

I remember how the media here covered the Kellie-Jay Keen speech in Auckland (the one where she got souped) that I attended, and how it was described as an angry mob when it was the most joyful, calm day. It was also telling that Action Zealandia turned up to support KJK and got zero mention.

Adelaide Festival board has retracted their statement of 8 January and have an extended an invite to Randa Abdel-Fattah for the 2027 Writers' Week

Venezuela is ‘uninvestible’ for now, Exxon CEO tells Trump in White House meeting Trump said companies that invest in Venezuela would be assured “total safety, total security.”

Venezuela is ‘uninvestible’ for now, Exxon CEO tells Trump in White House meeting

Unsurprisingly, there are quite a few listed from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.