New Zealand Listener Issue 2 2020

A new word recently entered the English lexicon: overtourism. It describes a situation where the number of visitors to a tourist destination reaches the point where local inhabitants, and even tourists themselves, are negatively affected. A less polite term is people pollution. From Stavanger, Norway, to Queenstown, New Zealand, local authorities are embracing the economic benefits of mass tourism while simultaneously wrestling with the infrastructural demands it creates and striving to mitigate the environmental and societal costs. The statistics tell the story. Worldwide, an estimated 25 million people travelled internationally in the 1950s. Now, the figure is 1.5 billion and rising. The global tourism boom has been brought about by the growth of the middle class, the availability of cheap flights and the proliferation of ever-larger cruise ships that sometimes penetrate the very…

If the Government can help councils and other public agencies to offer to subsidise employee e-bike purchases by $300-$1200, why can’t it do the same for the rest of us with electric cars? Average Kiwis might then be able to afford a modern EV for zero-emission, guilt-free driving. The Government could also push on with a battery exchange programme to mitigate people’s fears of buying used EVs with worn-out batteries. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Greens co-leader James Shaw could make these things happen at the stroke of a pen. Rob Buchanan(Kerikeri) KICKSTARTING THE H2 ECONOMY There is an obvious alternative use for the electricity consumed by the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and that is for the production of hydrogen to fuel motor vehicles. The primary difficulty is likely to be in the timing. The Government…

Ann Love, Nelson FINALISTS Sanna Marin: “We the Hells(inki) Angels will make Finland great again.” – Bruce Eliott, St Heliers Marin: “Beat this, Jacinda.” – Rex McGregor, Auckland Caption: “Ardern cloning a success.” – Robbie Blair, Warkworth Marin: “We’re debating a name change to New Finland.” – Trish Bishop, Hamilton Marin: “Ugh, I just realised we’re going to have to meet Trump one day. Let’s pretend we don’t speak English.” – Lizzie Robertshaw, Havelock North Caption: “The Finnish Line.” – Lizzie Robertshaw, Havelock North Marin: “Finnish? This is just the beginning!” – Alan Belcher, Christchurch Marin: “We agreed on less pale, male and stale.” – Simon King, Wellington…

“I cannot stand people who disagree with me on the issue of Roe v Wade … which I believe is about the proper way to cross a lake.”– Stephen Colbert quoted in the New York Times“Men also experience a ‘change of life’. Because some cope by buying a Porsche, women often refer to this as the Menoporsche.”– Bill Ralston“Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.” – Roman poet Ovid“In the morning, only aristocrats and degenerates drink.”– Moldovan saying“Beauty attracts the eye, but personality captures the heart.”– Unknown“Sometimes I wish we could go back to living in precedented times.”– Telegraph cartoonist Matt Pritchett sums up the mood of 2019“If we think of anger as compost, we think of it as energy that can be recycled…

1. Who painted A Bigger Splash, an iconic 1967 pop artwork depicting a splash in a swimming pool? ❑ Jeff Koons❑ Roy Lichtenstein❑ David Hockney❑ Andy Warhol 2. Complete this famous opening from a novel: “The past is a foreign country; …” ❑ And not one you’d want to visit❑ Remote and inhospitable❑ They do things differently there ❑ A place that exists in the mind 3. Which of these early-20th-century events happened first? ❑ RMS Titanic sinks❑ First “talkie” feature film screens❑ October Revolution❑ Ford Model T released 4. True or false? Some people are immune to brain freeze (ice-cream headaches)? ❑ True ❑ False 5. “Betwixt” and “between” mean the same. True or false? ❑ True❑ False 6. Which of these novels is not set in London? ❑ The House of Mirth ❑ About a Boy❑ Bridget Jones’s Diary❑…

One rogue bastard drought did it all, say the harder men in our Government. The Sydney restaurateur, hot and weary, grumbled his frustration. The white cloths over his troublingly empty outside tables were smeared with falling ash. He’d replace them and a couple of hours later he’d have to do it again. Finally, he gave up and substituted ash-coloured paper for the cloth. The smell of burning eucalypts from the scores of bush fires to the west, north and south of Sydney carried sweetly on the breeze, the smoke yet to invade the city. We hoped it wouldn’t. Two days later, the city awoke to a smell so acrid it seemed the fires were in the streets. The smoke had slunk in overnight and, by dawn, hung low and thick. Street lights switched on…