the state of our environment | July 2013

It’s a tonic to see the days getting longer and to feel hints of the approaching spring in the air. Having said that, there’s little to complain about in the winter offerings of last month – namely the occasional useful dose of rain but plenty of sunshine to boot. River, groundwater and soil moisture levels are all recovering nicely, especially in southern parts of the region where rainfall was well above usual July totals. Yo-yoing temperatures saw a number of sharp frosts (almost every second day out the back of Hastings towards Waipawa) followed by daytime maximums which made a mockery of July’s claim to being the coldest month of the year - topping those of June. I could get forlorn about the state of the air quality last month, and let’s face it, we haven’t seen so much red on a graph since June 2008 (when we had 13 NES exceedances in Hastings). It’s the flip side to our stunning, calm, blue sky days in winter but one where we can all be part of the solution, to ensure that the whiff of spring we enjoy at this time doesn’t smell like the back end of bus.

20130805_HBRC_SOE_July2013.pdf

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New Court Orders, Screening, Guardianship Changes...: Government Ignoring Poverty, Again

It remains to be seen if announcements today will better protect children, but the National Government is forgoing an opportunity to really help kids by ignoring the elephant in the room, which is poverty, Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei says.

"All the experts have told the Government that very low income is associated with higher rates of child maltreatment and neglect -- something which was totally ignored in the Government's Children's Action Plan and the announcements today," Mrs Turei said. More>>