Ben O'Brien

Wellingtonian, father and grandfather, part time agricultural policy consultant

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

Excuse me while I take a little time for therapy. By writing this down I shall calm the devils within and grow closer to a being at peace. NZPOST really pisses me off! Let me tell you why. I had ordered some vital components for one of my projects from one of those amazing 1/n

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@PronouncedHare Still in full upstanding position at the moment of delivery, from thereon there was no prospect of any great truth being revealed.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@PronouncedHare Frankly, I knew that the whoevarticle would be rubbish cricket wise, by the Ill chosen accompanying photograph, showing, in order of sinfulness, no bails on the stumps, a wicketkeeper at half -mast I.e. neither up nor down before the ball was bowled and first slipper 1/2

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@Penny_kins @PronouncedHare I prefer batsperson, but only marginally over ‘batting individual’

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@fleroy1974 @skdh Maybe you’re not your ordinary academic.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@StuartBDonovan Yes, but is it worth $30million or whatever to demolish it?

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@ponekeben so what now? a commercial decision is all of a sudden a matter for WCC? What’s it got to do with you? Stay in your lane!

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@JamesMelville How did you control for your dietary experiments?

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@PronouncedHare The councillors should face the consequences of the decisions made before them. I also believe Wellington ratepayers should face the consequences of their voting behaviour. Perhaps they’ll be a little more responsible in the future . Appointing Commissioners is undemocratic.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@SeanPlunket @chrishipkins Since when did the plural of misdemeanour require an apostrophe Sean? This service brought to you by your friendly grammar nazi.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@MAnneAmbrose1 @HoneyBeeGeek @tepunamike @FlorenceWoodle1 Hello Margaret, perhaps I can assist here. There is a difference between NZ halal and UK halal. In NZ animals must be insensible to pain at time of slaughter i.e. stunned, In the UK it seems that islamic authorities require the animal to be conscious at time of slaughter.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

Even during lockdowns, Kiwis and Aussies find ways to compete against each other, This time it’s our farm dogs doing the work. See the cobber challenge - AU and NZ farm dogs tracked for distance travelled per day. Check it out. https://t.co/7XXkJdWOHS

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@DGWilkinson @Adam_Creighton @jeffreytucker They’re not Australians, they’re Victorians, different species.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@NicholasDCarter @Plant_proof @fleroy1974 And what about the warming from the CO2 for the 880 years after that?

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

Catherine McBride puts the UK/Aus FTA in perspective. Hard to argue with the analysis and observation that the Irish must be breathing a sigh of relief. Not so sure she’s quite got to grips with the OIE BSE guidelines though.

[Catherine McBride OBE @CeeMacBee]

Never let a Farmers Union determine a nation’s trade policy
https://t.co/naBdaT7VAm

[Sam Wilkin @MrSamWilkin]

Business idea: a Belgian company that has customer service

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@Joe_Mayes Another enormous assumption is that all these trade deals are additive. Experience shows they are not. The EU has been granting increased beef access to trade partners (CETA, Mexico, ++) with absolutely no increase in total imports. There is no cumulative effect.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@Joe_Mayes @nvonwestenholz Enormous assumption in there, that the 15% will be in addition to current imports. Where does this extra 15% demand come from? Much more likely Aus beef will replace imports of Irish (or French or Romanian or Polish) beef.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@nvonwestenholz @alanbeattie I’ve even heard that farmer lobby groups do it.

[Ben O'Brien @obonekenobe]

@CeeMacBee Yes, it continually surprises me how small the consumer voice is in all this.
Plenty from the industry interest groups but zip about the benefits of removing what are, by most measures, enormous tariffs on beef and sheepmeat. Especially so for beef which UK needs to import.