29th August 2022 Newsletter

PRESIDENTS COLUMN

This is the last newsletter before the conference and AGM in Auckland. If you haven’t registered, basically this is your last chance as we need to shut off registration to finalise numbers. So please stop reading and register on line.

You will have received and AGM email with links to the documents. There is one proposal for rule changes around the use of appellants. This is more a technical change (rather than a major rule change) as it brings the rules into line with the NZIF Trademarked appellants. Nevertheless the rule change must be agreed at an AGM. Technically rules changes should be sent to members at least four weeks before the AGM, as such technically we will not meet this requirement. I will be asking the AGM to allow the rule change to proceed anyway, otherwise we will push it out to next years AGM.

Speaking of appellants I would encourage members to add NZIF before any appellant they are using going forward. We want to distinguish our members from and within the RFA scheme and this is one way to do so.

Council has agreed to seeking legal advice on what changes to the Incorporated Societies Act and the Charities Act will mean for us. One change which we are already aware of is we will need to change our rules to a constitution. We will work on this over the coming year and will be presenting the changes to next years AGM.

However as next years conference is an ANZIF conference based in Australia we will be looking to hold our AGM outside of this conference, probably in Wellington around June. We will likely place some CPD around the day and also hold our awards dinner. More on this latter in the year.

We continue to work on the Registered Forest Advisors (RFA) scheme, and I met with the Minister and DG MPI last week to try to move this forward. Our advice remains the same to members; being do not sign up to the RFA scheme yet. Apart from any other reason why would anyone sign up to something where there was no clarity around standards they will be measured to, the amount of CPD required or how complaints against RFAs will be heard. The sector is working hard with MPI to get these clarified, but until they are we will keep to our advice to not sign up.

For registered members I am confident we will either get and exemption from the act or we will get ‘automatic’ approval into the RFA scheme at no additional cost. Which one we will get is unclear and we are working on both. The latter is my preference however I am also very clear I don’t want to be telling members in 8 months time they should not register under the RFA scheme but have no alternative; such as an exemption.

You will see in the budget; coming out with the AGM documents, undertaking some of the work above places cost pressure on our budget. We have put aside approx $100,000 to work on the RFA scheme, approx $45,000 to seek legal advice on the changes to incorporated societies and the charities act and help to get us to a position of meeting the changes. We also have budgeted money to bring the valuation standard up to present day, which we will expect to recoup some of from non-members using it under the RFA in the future. The result is a large loss this year, however we have reserves which we will use. We are hoping we may get some funding help on the valuation standards, and may not need the whole $100,000 for the RFA work, however Council felt taking a conservative approach to the budget was the best result. No doubt we will discuss these items further at the AGM.

I look forward to catching up with many of you in Auckland in two weeks. Until then,

Thanks

James

CONFERENCE

With less than two weeks to go, we look forward to welcoming over 180 delegates across the three days of the conference. For those arriving on the Sunday, the 94^th AGM is being held starting at 4:30pm and the NZIF Council value attendance by as many members as possible to ensure the orderly functioning of NZIF business.

Today is the very last day to register – if you haven’t already then please ensure you register by 5pm.

This year we are using the ‘Poll Everywhere’ mobile app to bring more structure to the question time at the conclusion of presentations. It is very simple to use, is common to a number of conferences and enables other attendees to vote on which questions they most want presenters to address. More information is included in the Conference Programme but if you want to get a head start download it now.

To register for Conference Register here

Accommodation Option for Conference Delegates:

The Hilton Auckland  see here

Other options
Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland see here

Auckland Harbour Suites see here

ibis budget Auckland Central see here

NZIF would like to thank our sponsors for the upcoming Auckland Conference.

INSTITUTE UPDATES

From the Registrar

Any member of the NZIF has the right to object to an application. Any objection should be lodged with the Registrar registrar@nzif.org.nz within 20 working days of the first appearance (29 August 2022) of the notice in this newsletter, specifying the grounds for the objection.

SUCCESSFUL 5 YEAR REGISTRATION REVIEW

Continuing Registration:

• Adam Mills of Rotorua

REGISTRATION REVIEWS 2022

The following members are due for 5-year review of their status as a Registered Member during 2022 and have not yet submitted their application;

• Kevin Reardon
• David Evison
• Mark Morice
• Mort Shepherd
• Vern Harris
• Kenneth Tsang
• Paul Molloy
• Jessica Brown

You are responsible for ensuring that your review is completed by end of December 2022.

Any member of the NZIF has the right to object to an application. Any objection should be lodged with the Registrar registrar@nzif.org.nz within 20 working days of the first appearance (29 August 2022) of the notice in this newsletter, specifying the grounds for the objection.

Alan Bell, Registrar 
NZIF Registration Board

registrar@nzif.org.nz

+64 27 444 7779

29 August 2022

The NZ Journal of Forestry Volume 67 No 2 is now online

Read more

MEMBERS VOICE

Congratulations on another edition of the highest quality - Cover, Print, Charts, research and analysis by highly qualified authors could not be better.

Nearly every article acknowledges the real uncertainty regarding AGW and the zero emissions targets to which we are being committed, but assumes there is no alternative.  I wrote nearly ten years ago to ask whether  NZIF had an official policy on this and was assured that further analysis was needed.

I do not accept the premise of human-caused climate change hysteria.  The media worldwide reinforce the panic and I am a lone voice in my own community.

But you will know there is a huge body of scientific opinion that vehemently rejects that premise.  Among the best of MANY analyses I have seen is by Dick Reaney in NZCPR earlier this year.  His credentials should not be questioned (although I am sure they will be by some).  I am in no way a scientist, but I am a bit disappointed that NZIF seems to be heading along the panic route.  If those emissions targets are achieved, the impacts on humanity will be enormous and devastating - and far worse than anything fossil fuels could cause in that time.

Have you canvassed your members on this matter?

Barrie Downey

Why NZIF members will have no interest in the ideology of natives

I received the email below from Jeff Tombleson in response to some comments I have made in the newsletter.  I make such comments because I believe it important for NZIF members to be able to discuss issues in an open manner, but within the confines of the “members only” newsletter.  Accordingly, although the email was, I think, just to me, I have forwarded it to the newsletter to add to the discussion.

Andrew McEwen

NZIF Registered Forester

Why NZIF members will have no interest in the ideology of natives. The four quadrants of conformism

Hello Andrew

Your last NZIF newsletter item expressed dismay at the poor or nil response to your call for volunteers to form a natives group.

May I provide you with a professional response of why there was no support. The NZ govt has declared a climate emergency that requires a halving of NZs net emissions by 2030. To suggest in August 2022 after six years of MPI led ETS consultation that the planting of natives should be pursued is professionally irresponsible.

But what’s more concerning in your quest for such a group, is you promote (registered) ideology versus an evidence-based approach that is not consistent with a professional body such as the NZIF

And your promotion of a registration process for log traders and advisors takes the same ideological approach

And what’s more concerning is that such (pompous) ideology that is a carryover from colonialism is not inclusive and is based on a highly negative model

If you were an evidence based NZIF professional, you would take a step back and examine the above and why you have been a key promoter of the log trader and forest advisor political ideology introduced by Minister Jones that has been pursued by the ideology, non-sector qualified, public servants in the Forestry and Land Management team of MPI

If you are puzzled by the label of ideologist, then maybe a read of the paper below titled ‘The four quadrants of conformism’ by Paul Graham (http://paulgraham.com/conformism.html) may assist. I believe your conformism sits in the broad centre left

An evidence based litmus test for the promotion of natives to address NZs net emissions targets would be to call you as an expert witness by the Crown in the defence of the court case suing the Climate Change Commission by hundreds of top New Zealand lawyers for what they say are substantial errors in the Commissions advice to the government over reducing carbon emissions. The prosecution lawyer would ask you “is this promoted as evidence-based mitigation to seriously address NZs urgent and colossal emission reduction targets, or is this this ideology?

My enjoyment of NZIF here in the CNI comes from engagement with the organisation of regular networking and speakers in an environment absent of ideologists. While our membership is representative of just a small component of the CNI forest industry it is fair to say that the ideology being imposed on log traders and forest advisors by NZIF is not welcomed and will be counterproductive to growing our CNI membership (again the paper below may provide why such ideology should be discarded) 

In conclusion: the most professional NZIF action that you could make towards achieving a halving of NZs net emissions by 2030 and net zero 2050 would be to discard your ideology associated with natives

Please accept the above, as an evidence-based response as to why your call for volunteers to promote natives was not met

I do have considerable admiration for your outstanding commitment as an ambassador for NZIF that is well beyond the call of duty

Jeff Tombleson

NZIF Ordinary Member

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