National still sitting pretty with majority support

If an election was held today, National would easily be returned to government. With just four months before voters go to the polls in November, the National Party is continuing to gain on the opposition. A new Roy Morgan poll shows support for John Key’s government is up 3 points to 52 percent. Labour’s approval slipped slightly to 31.5 percent and Hone Harawira’s new Mana Party garnered a rating of 0.5 percent—level with United Future.

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EU deal to quadruple beef exports

Farmers are welcoming news that the European Union has agreed to accept an annual quota of New Zealand grain-fed beef, which will quadruple our beef exports to the continent.  Trade minister Tim Groser yesterday said New Zealand had been approved to join a list of countries able to access an annual EU tariff-free quota of 20,000 tonnes tariff-free, going up to 45,000 tonnes in 2012.

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Waiora: A new way to monitor water

A groundbreaking interactive water pollutant monitoring system has been launched in New Zealand, with the Māori sector in particular expected to benefit. Tuia Group has confirmed an exclusive agreement to licence Waiora Earth Monitoring Software, which claims to be the world’s first real-time, web-based system which allows users to monitor and analyse the dispersion of pollutants.

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Give me some hackerspace

Techies and artists don’t often mix. But they’ve got plenty of complementary potential. How best to bring the two communities together? Tangleball is the latest addition to the growing worldwide trend of DIY makerspaces, also known as hackerspaces—born of a desire to get offline, and to create tangible objects while sharing knowledge in a collaborative process.

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Nominations open for New Zealander of the Year

The hunt is on for the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year: someone who has made an outstanding achievement, service or contribution to the country, and is presumably suitably humble about it all. In addition, nominations are called for in another four categories: those over 60, those between 15-30, community groups, and local heroes making a difference.

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Innovation of the day: The outboard motor

It’s a propulsion system for boats. It’s got an engine, a gearbox and a propellor. And it’s a lot quicker than rowing. We can thank American engineer Cameron Waterman for that.

Do you have an innovation to share? Enter the Innovator Awards and you could be up in lights.

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