back to article Kiwis prep 'permissive' space laws to help Rocket Lab get off the ground

New Zealand's government has announced plans to relax the regulatory rules surrounding commercial space ventures, in a move it hopes will help local outfits and attract launches to the country. In the short term, economic development minister Steven Joyce wants to make sure regulation doesn't get in the way as the Kiwis' home- …

  1. Youngone Silver badge

    Noice

    This also bring more tourists to the area I would think.

    http://www.voyagemahia.com

    1. David Pollard

      Re: Noice

      And it's much more scenic than Area 51.

  2. an ominous mass
    Coat

    Now where can i find that rocket ?

    The NZ government has sadly become so corrupt it couldn't find a rocket in the singular place it actually needs one.

    Lofty dreams versus pie in the sky

    Watch out you other 4 eyes the 5th Echelon has a very very cunning plan, a plan in fact so cunning and so secret that even the the government dosnt know what it is.

    <icon>Mines the one emitting ticking noises on the parliamentary coat rack

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Now where can i find that rocket ?

      "he NZ government has sadly become so corrupt"

      Umm.. can you elucidate on what Blubberment isn't corrupt? The two go hand-in-hand.

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Now where can i find that rocket ?

        "can you elucidate on what Blubberment isn't corrupt? The two go hand-in-hand."

        No, but kiwis have a myth that their country is corruption-free and egalitarian (which might have been true in the 1950s but probably wasn't even then).

        The rot set in a long time ago (exclusive import licenses being granted to friends of ministers and being regarded as a license to print money in the 1970s being but one example) and accelerated through the 1990s (repeated ministerial orders killing Ministry of Commerce anticompetitive behaviour investigations) through the 2000s - to the point where NZ is now a highly unequal society where a multibillionaire insurance executive can get a "don't do it again" plus name suppression for posession of the amount of drugs that would get anyone else named and jailed for a couple of years (The reason Kim Dotcom was gone after was because the NZ govt was drooling at the thought of the amount of money they could make by selling off his seized assets. It's standard practice to seize everything in criminal cases so the defendant can't afford to pay a lawyer and to charge the entire prosecution costs against the defendant even if proven not guilty)

        The thing to bear in mind is that the Transparency International "corruption index" is _PERCEPTION_ of corruption - not actual levels - and TINZ is a 100% opaque, 100% government-funded organisation which kicked out most of its activists about a decade ago (going as far as to serve several with trespass orders so they couldn't collect awards at ceremonies with the attendant possibility of calling out the behaviour in public). TI international has been distancing itself from the NZ organisation notionally bearing its name for some time.

        Bear in mind that NZ doesn't have a free press and that the standard way of muzzling any story is to merely threaten legal action for defamation (even truth isn't a viable defence in most cases) as publishers are terrified of the legal costs involved in fighting cases (The NZ parliamentary expenses scandal story only broke because the reporters involved kept it secret until publication. Previous attempts were injuncted out of existence)

        It's getting harder and harder to paper over the cracks and the Internet makes it a lot easier for people to steadily expose how rotten the entire edifice is (particularly the issue of corrupt police. Gene Hunt would be quite at home in any NZ area office, as would the Greater Manchester Serious Crime Squad - and the primary reason NZ dropped the Privy Council as the highest court in the land had a lot more to do with consistent decisions savaging the competence/honesty of NZ police and criticising courts for unquestioning acceptance of clearly dodgy evidence than it did about national sovereignty), even if the NZ authorities have managed to get sites like e2nz.org and www.laudafinem.com blocked for NZ viewers.

  3. Mayhem

    Mahia?

    Interesting choice of location. It's pretty remote, but gives them a near 180 degree angle to launch stuff over ocean. I originally considered NZ to be too far south for effective launches, but turns out we're closer to the equator than Baikonur is by a fair margin.

    In theory Mahia is still on a rail line too, which should make material transfers from a deepwater port easier.

    The hot springs round the corner are a nice bonus too.

    1. x 7

      Re: Mahia?

      "The hot springs round the corner are a nice bonus too."

      any nice girls giving massages to make the most of the hot springs?

      1. Anonymous C0ward
        Devil

        Re: Mahia?

        Or even some not so nice ones?

  4. Mark 85
    Unhappy

    Pity...

    If it hadn't been for the news yesterday, this sounds perfect for LOHAN. Alas and alak.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like