The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | The Bullroarer

The Bullroarer - Monday 16th February 2009

Posted by Phil Hart on February 15, 2009 - 7:12pm in The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand

NZ Herald: Eco-town is where happiness blossoms

The push to make things "bigger, better, faster" is not only driving the planet to ruin - it's making us unhappy, according to a visiting expert on eco-towns.

Naresh Giangrande is on a world tour teaching people how to live slower, less wasteful lives, reducing their carbon footprint in the process. Mr Giangrande is part of Transition Towns - a network of towns and suburbs dedicated to preparing for climate change and the end of cheap oil.

TheAge: Public transport

PUBLIC transport in Victoria has long been a simmering issue, but tempers boiled recently when chaos hit Melbourne's rail system. Over three consecutive days - in which the city experienced temperatures exceeding 43 degrees - 1447 trains out of 5966 were cancelled. The heat exposed the growing inadequacies of the system's ageing infrastructure.

Courier Mail: Couples feel economic heat

AS WE all tighten our financial belts to stem the global economic crisis, experts are warning that relationships could be the first casualties of the recession.

Financial stress is one of the most common reasons couples cite for relationship problems and most young couples – particularly Generation Y-ers, – have never known tough economic times.

...

• Stay positive. It's not all doom and gloom. There are lower petrol prices and interest rates and the fact that couples have the financial advantage of being able to share their cost of living, holiday accommodation, home, computer, car and dog.

GreenLeft: Beat the car — increase public transport

Sydney residents of the lower north shore and inner city are increasingly “electing” to drive to work “despite living a relatively short bus ride from the heart of the city”, a report in the February 10 Sydney Morning Herald concluded.

According to key transport figures released by the NSW Ministry of Transport, trips made from these higher-income “inner and middle-ring suburbs” of Sydney by private vehicle each day far outweighed public transport use, at the time of the 2006 census.

Stuff.co.nz: Shell looks at selling 230 petrol stations

Shell's decision to review the ownership of all its downstream businesses in this country is being seen as a major strategic shift in the company's thinking.

The oil giant is intending to keep its extensive oil and gas exploration assets in New Zealand, which are mostly in Taranaki, but has everything else under review.

The Age: Don't play nationalist card against Rio deal

The chances of Chinalco (which has no steel-making operations) attempting to subsidise its junior rival Baosteel by supplying it with discount Australian ore are close to zero. Doing so would hammer the Rio Tinto share price and expose Chinalco to a furious backlash in China for making a dud investment.

Chinese state-owned enterprises are evolving away from their command economy roots and opening to the market. Paradoxically, the best way for a state-owned company to outperform its rivals is by pursuing profit even if it means circumventing political wishes.