This week on The War on News, Martyn Bradbury unpacks hoggish cronyism, doomed water reform, and a methane-fuelled climate apocalypse. All in a week’s work.
🐖 Hoggard the Hog & the Sow Crate Loophole: Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard (yes, really) granted a 10-year delay on pig welfare reforms after consulting only with the pork industry. No public input. No experts. Just bacon barons. It’s a textbook case of crony capitalism — and yes, he kind of looks like a pig. If Martyn ran the Ministry of Bears, this is how it would look: tax-free maulings for everyone.
🚱 Water Reforms: From Three Waters to Three Debacles: S&P Global warns the Government’s new “Local Water Done Well” model is a downgrade. It’s less clear, less stable, and won’t solve our underfunded infrastructure crisis. The right-wing disinformation machine painted Labour’s Three Waters as a Māori takeover — now we get worse water services, higher rates, and zero clarity. Enjoy the consequences, rednecks.
🌡️ Permafrost Meltdown Could Doom Us All: Bloomberg reports 1.4 trillion tonnes of carbon locked in Arctic permafrost is destabilising fast. Once that carbon releases as methane, temperatures could rise beyond what civilisation can adapt to. Spoiler: reusable tote bags aren’t going to cut it.
A week of pigs, piss-poor policy, and planetary doom. It’s not news. It’s the War on News.