A group of business people who are pushing for public/private taskforce that would help develop clean technology in New Zealand is gaining some political traction.
Group spokesman Phillip Mills (chair of Les Mills and 2009 winner of the Kea World Class NZ Award for new thinking) told Carbon News (www.carbonnews.co.nz) that the idea is now getting good response from government ministers and there is commitment to investigate.
The 100-strong group, which includes Air New Zealand chief Rob Fyfe, Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall, and former Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard, is highlighting the business and entrepreneurial opportunities available in developing green technology. Mills has espoused clean technology as means to play catch-up with Australia and, as part of its lobbying campaign, the group has been distributing copies of book by Australian climate research scientist Ben McNeil, The Clean Industrial Revolution: Growing Australian Prosperity in Greenhouse Age (www.thecleanrevolution.com.au).
Investment in renewable energy and clean technology was one of the subjects addressed at the New Zealand-Australia Investment Forum held in Auckland on March 10-11.

M9 event to amplify the power of the Māori economy
M9 will kick-start its 2025 season with Te Ōhanga Māori — A Pathway to Prosperity, on April 10, exploring how Māori have shaped and continue to drive the success of the economy in