ABC: The Lexicon of Labour

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, July 23rd, 2015 - 63 comments
Categories: crosby textor, elections, International, Politics, uk politics - Tags: , ,

A second curious similarity has emerged from the wreckage of the UK Labour party’s disastrous General Election defeat.

The first was the Tory’s successful re-running of the informal Crosby/Textor dog-whistling during the NZ election that Labour  could only win with the help of Hone Harawira and Kim Dotcom. This scare tactic was converted into a formal campaign position in the UK, with the Tories using advertising that blatantly said Vote Miliband, get Salmond.

edalex

Now, and rather weirdly, the campaign to replace Ed Miliband as leader has thrown up a term Standard readers will have hoped was consigned to the dustbin of history: the ABC club. Rather than Anyone But Cunliffe, the Blairite wing of Labour are proposing the formation of an Anyone But Corbyn club as the firebrand socialist Jeremy Corbyn is on course to win the 4 way contest. A YouGov poll on Tuesday shows Corbyn comfortably  leading the vaguely left candidate Andy Burnham.

This result has caused no end of panic from the centrists and Blairites in the Labour Party. Nothing shows this better than the pitiful whining of John McTernan, a former special adviser to Tony Blair who told the BBC’s Newsnight programme a couple of the contenders should consider dropping out in order to pool centrist support and block Corbyn.

These figures are disastrous for the Labour party, disastrous. The fact is the other candidates need to decide who is the ABC candidate; the Anyone but Corbyn candidate,”.

McTernan complained that party activists were “suicidally inclined” and condemned MPs who gave their nominations to Corbyn in order broaden the debate, even though they did not actually want him as leader.

“They need their heads felt,” he said. “They are morons.”

Charming stuff!

And Tony Blair has weighed in, as well. Speaking at a function organised by Progress, a conservative Labour party think tank, Blair opined that Labour members should not seek to wrap themselves in a Jeremy Corbyn comfort blanket, saying that members whose heart was with the leftwing candidate should “get a transplant”.

And well, … nah, actually. The result north of Hadrian’s wall suggests that there is an appetite for genuine left wing policies in Britain. If Labour is to have a future in Scotland, and the rest of the UK, then somethings gotta change. Another  middling, unconvincing leader is not going to improve their chances of toppling the Tories in 5 years time.

At the moment there is a battle for the soul of the UK Labour Party. It’s got that bad that on Monday night, 48 MP’s defied a three line whip and refused to abstain on the government’s bill lowering the household welfare benefit cap. The 48 joined the SNP and the Greens in voting against the measure that limits the total income a household on benefits can receive. It was the largest revolt against the Parliamentary Labour Party leadership in years.

A veteran MP and lifelong activist, Corbyn’s platform is firmly anti-austerity and he can point to his own result in the General Election as a reason for optimism about the depth of his support. Almost alone amongst Labour MP’s he actually lifted his majority in his seat of Islington North.

Corbyn is close to both the SNP and Ireland’s Sinn Fein. He wants to use policies from those parties and implement some legislation already in place in Scotland, including free higher education. I can’t think of any reason why his ideas shouldn’t be tried. The alternative is a consensus of the bland.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-gJD6PvUO0]

 

In one bizarre twist, the establishment right are pretty keen to see Corbyn win as well; the Daily Telegraph has a handy 3 point guide to rorting the electoral system in the hope that Corbyn will doom Labour to permanent opposition. What larks!

The other candidates are:

  • Andy Burnham, Shadow Health Secretary, former Secretary of State for Health, candidate for leader in 2010 and MP for Leigh.
  • Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.
  • Liz Kendall, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People and MP for Leicester West.

The election is carried out under a ‘One Member, One Vote’ system. The result will be announced at a special conference on September the 12th.

In the two national conferences before our next General Election the NZ Labour Party  can set policy that clearly sets them apart from the other contenders. Have no fear, the middle ground can be won from the left. It’s not a given that only policies that appeal to floating voters matter. But policies that genuinely reflect the broad church that is Labour require the kind of belief and courage that UK Labour members are showing in their leadership contest.

The days where the ABCers held the NZ Labour Party back are over. If we want it. If we work for it.

 

Last word to the Guardian’s always wonderful cartoonist Steve Bell:

 

Bell

 

 

63 comments on “ABC: The Lexicon of Labour ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    Well, if Jeremy Corbyn wins then the general proposition of the Blairites and machine politicians of the establishment left that ‘pragmatic realism’ dictates accepting the constraints and values of globalised corporate neo-liberalism as the only practical path to power will be put to the test. If the Blairites and the establishment left are proved correct, then political “choice” is reduced to a one party state and democracy is dead.

    This actually has serious implications, because it is generally held by a large body of legal and ethical opinion that where democracy is abrogated, resistance to the state and it’s established organs by other means up to and including violence can then become not just legitimate, but a moral obligation for those who love freedom.

    • Olwyn 1.1

      If the Blairites and the establishment left are proved correct, then political “choice” is reduced to a one party state and democracy is dead.

      I agree. The Blairites want to treat the neo-liberal consensus in the same way as the post-war Keynesian consensus was treated. But the problem with that idea is that the neo-liberals have not respected the bargain themselves, and have used the GFC to double down on their advantage. This leaves a market-approved Blairite LP with nothing to offer beyond a career trajectory for a small number of people. A Blairite might be a safe pair of hands as far as the market is concerned, but Corbyn is a safer pair of hands if one wants to see democracy survive, and he would get my vote if I were English.

      • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.1.1

        This actually has serious implications, because it is generally held by a large body of legal and ethical opinion that where democracy is abrogated, resistance to the state and it’s established organs by other means up to and including violence can then become not just legitimate, but a moral obligation for those who love freedom.

        Translated: if I don’t get what I want, I am entitled to be violent.

        Nasty prick.

        • Mike S 1.1.1.1

          Perhaps you could try reading before spouting. In particular this extract – “…it is generally held by a large body of legal and ethical opinion…..”

          So assuming you’re calling Sanctuary a “nasty prick” as opposed to “a large body of legal and ethical opinion”, you may want to rethink, or even just try thinking in the first place.

        • Sanctuary 1.1.1.2

          “…Translated: if I don’t get what I want, I am entitled to be violent.

          Nasty prick…”

          Clearly someone from District 2 is still intent on currying favour with the Capitol.

          • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.1.1.2.1

            People haven’t voted the way I have wanted since 1987. Fundamental failure of democracy? Entitling other people (not me, you understand) to violently overthrow the government? Entirely reasonable.

    • weka 1.2

      That’s a very interesting comment, thanks Sanctuary.

  2. John McTernan – the Chief of Staff to Jim Murphy, ignominiously defeated leader of the Scottish Labour Party, and special adviser to Tony Blair. Enough said.

  3. Les 3

    I would put my money on Cooper.

  4. Save NZ 4

    Extremely interesting. It is a pity we don’t have decent media in NZ that can actually have an intelligent debate, so that politicians like Corbyn can actually voice their views.

    I would vote for Corbyn if I lived in the UK, because at least he has him own views and not afraid to be outside mainstream. Like with the IRA issue he was proved right. To have peace you have to talk and collaborate and resolve issues. While mainstream view might be to fight it out, talk is cheaper, not resulting in massive poverty and war, and ultimately more successful. For that alone I would vote for him. One of my biggest concerns with NZ Labour is that they can’t stand up to the US and any other government for what is right and what is best for our country. In effect a trade off for principals for some sort of protection or trade.

    This is probably not so much of an issue in the UK Labour but in NZ post Nuclear Free it is still an important issue and in particular being used to spy for the US in this country. Also our country being sold out from under us, is not a UK issue but clearly a NZ one.

    The UK message for Labour was not clear to voters and too confusing (like NZ Labour). They fought so much internally ultimately it damaged their chances.

    In NZ to put up taxes will be a disaster though as wages are already so low. Labour and Greens needs to go through the books and work out how to create wealth and jobs without putting up taxes. Or to have some sort of transition approach – will put up taxes next election.

    They need to analyse how basic necessities like power has gone up due to asset sales and where the money has gone from the asset sales. Publicise what a pathetic job of the economy bill english has done with budget deficit after deficit – a record!

    An important point was made as well, do we want the rich to get wealthier in the next 5 years while the poor get poorer, or do we want to have a fair society for all?

    If the answer is a fairer society, how do we achieve that economically?

    • Liberal Realist 4.1

      “If the answer is a fairer society, how do we achieve that economically?”

      To name a few, often repeated, ideas:

      – Take control of money supply away from private banks
      – Separate private banks retail and investment arms
      – Tax wealth over income (FTT, stamp duty, capital gains etc)
      – Introduce UBI for 100% of the adult population 18+
      – Support private sector exporters with innovation grants, R&D subsidies and tax credits, increasing value added exports.
      – Introduce a minimum wage living wage, remove youth rates
      – Ban all foreign ownership of all land + commercial & residential property (lease not sell)
      – Support a massive expansion of the digital economy via tax credits and generous R&D subsidies
      – Introduce a 21st century technology/scientific/engineering centric curriculum to primary, secondary and tertiary education
      – Reintroduce free tertiary education
      – Appropriately regulate / tax / legislate to ‘decommodify’ residential property market
      – Engage in an ‘Apollo’ like social housing build programme in Auckland and other areas of need.
      – Renationalize electricity generation & network, regulate pricing
      – …

      The ideas are out there. We lack leadership, integrity, empathy, honesty and just about every other positive human attribute in (most of) our politicians.

    • Smilin 4.2

      Dont forget in NZ OUR RULING PARTY FIRMLY STATES THAT
      Our aim is to end Socialism and Communism

  5. Chooky 5

    +100 TRP…great report …maybe the tide is finally turning….and this from RT

    ‘Corbyn strikes back: ‘Tony Blair’s big problem is the long-overdue Iraq War report’

    http://www.rt.com/uk/310497-corbyn-strikes-tony-blair/

    ….”Ex-PM Blair urged the Labour Party to reject Corbyn’s “traditional leftist position” in a speech on Wednesday, warning the veteran MP would take the party back to the 1980s.

    The long-delayed Chilcot Inquiry into the controversial Iraq war began in July 2009, but its conclusions remain unpublished as the investigation is mired in a legal process known as Maxwellization.

    The report is expected to be highly critical of senior Labour ministers in the run up to the war.

    Senior Labour figures have expressed shock as Corbyn emerged as the surprise frontrunner in the Labour leadership contest after a YouGov poll put him 17 points ahead of his nearest rival Andy Burnham….

    Speaking at a closed seminar with economists and trade unionists on Wednesday, Corbyn promised to raise taxes for the rich, clampdown on corporate tax avoidance and invest in the nation’s infrastructure if he is elected prime minister.
    The Labour MP for Islington North said the deficit should not be cut on the backs of the poor, but by the wealthiest in society…

  6. AmaKiwi 6

    Further proof that in an elected dictatorship the so-called “representatives” are about power for themselves, not about representing the wishes of the people.

  7. adam 7

    I enjoyed reading your post TE REO PUTAKE , wonderfully written. I liked the video link – again with a journalist trying to be the centre of attentions with all that theatrics. I thought Mr Corbyn handled him really well, and got across his message.

    You know he (Corbyn) is doing something good, when the whole establishment come after him.

    You know some of this debate is around the broad church analysis. And you know where I stand on that – a broad church is good for religion, bad for politics.

    Maybe I’m a bit colour blind by this because of some of the arguments I have with other Christians about a broad church. I butt heads regularly with fundamentalist, and others inside the broad Christian faith. Indeed I’m critical of many groups who take the name Christian, when they are something else. I’m especially critical when they hide behind our tolerance of religion belief, and use the respect for the name and ideas of Christianity to cover for their obviously nefarious activity. Lets not forget, the fundamentalist nut bag wing who seem to think they can talk for all Christians – they can’t by the way.

    In the realm of politics I always like the big tent analogy better. In that you have labour staking out what it stands for/will do, and people coming in under the tent or not. The problem with the broad church analogy is where do you stop? Here like Christianity, the scoop and range of what is a “Christian belief” can be quite wide indeed. Let’s use Catholicism, you have the Pope and then you have Bill English – now I know they both believe in the same God, and go to church on Sundays, but there the similarities end – OK not that extreme – but you get my point?

    Broad church is just that broad – because of the nature of faith. Religion is not ideology.

    Politics is not religion, it’s generally not based on faith – although faith can give political belief some foundations or strength of conviction. But religion should not replace politics, nor politics replace religion.

    We learnt the hard way to separate church and state. I think we should keep it that way, even in the terms we use.

    OK sorry long rant – I just think the idea of broad church in a political sense is fraught with problems. A great term for religion – terrible terminology for politics.

    • Thanks for you kind words, Adam (and Chooky, above). I agree with your analysis of the political and religious meanings of broad church. While it’s long been used to describe labour and social democratic parties around the world, I think I’ll switch to ‘big tent’ in future posts.

    • Anne 7.2

      You know he (Corbyn) is doing something good, when the whole establishment come after him.

      Precisely.

  8. Gosman 8

    It is only anti-Austerity if he is going to fund additional spending via borrowing. Do you think borrowing to fund Government spending on items such as increased welfare is a wise idea long term?

    • weka 8.1

      Do you think borrowing to fund anything is a wise idea?

      • AmaKiwi 8.1.1

        @ Grosman

        As usual, the bizarre idea of taxing the rich has never entered Grosman’s mind.

        • Gosman 8.1.1.1

          Increasing taxes to fund current spending is still a form of austerity. It tends to reduce the amount of money available for investment rather than spending. The only way you avoid the austerity trap is if you spend more than you earn for a short period of time.

          • vaughan little 8.1.1.1.1

            you’re shifting investment from speculation to consumption in that scenario. there’s no reduction of investment, just redirection.

      • Gosman 8.1.2

        Borrowing is a good idea if it is used for investment purposes or to allow a person/nation to cover a short fall in revenue for a short period of time. Deficit spending to stimulate the economy on a long term basis is not generally a good idea.

        • AmaKiwi 8.1.2.1

          @ Grosman

          Blah, blah, blah.

          • Gosman 8.1.2.1.1

            I was asked a question and responded. If you disagree care to point out how my expressed views on this are wrong?

            • dukeofurl 8.1.2.1.1.1

              All the best ideas from our high school economics teacher Gosman.

              How long did you teach for ? Up to late 90s.

              • Gosman

                Except the ideas I express are what informs most of the World’s governments. Whereas I suspect the views you hold are only supported by a few regimes around the world whose economies are tanking like Venezuela.

                • half crown

                  How’s the economy going in the Ukraine?

                • Colonial Viper

                  Except the ideas I express are what informs most of the World’s governments.

                  LOL what a joke

                  Governments have top participate and co-operate in the bankster/debt funding system or they will be crushed (like Venezuela, like Greece, like Argentina).

                  But that era is slowly ending now, with alternative (non-US non-European controlled) financial and transaction systems gradually coming online.

    • half crown 8.2

      Gosman @ 12.39
      “Do you think borrowing to fund Government spending on items such as increased welfare is a wise idea long term?”

      Do you think borrowing to fund Government tax breaks for the higher tax bracket is a wise move in the long run?
      Please do tell me again, what is our debt now created by double dipping dickhead from Dipton.

      • Colonial Viper 8.2.1

        Gossie is backing a system where the world’s money supply is controlled by a few key banking organisations, and “sovereign” countries have to take on debt from that financial system in order to access that money.

        • Gosman 8.2.1.1

          Until an alternative comes online there is no effective alternative.

          • Colonial Viper 8.2.1.1.1

            Step by step mate; it often takes 20-30 years for a reserve currency changeover to fully occur.

          • adam 8.2.1.1.2

            Goodness me we got a tina from Gossman – who would have funked it

        • AmaKiwi 8.2.1.2

          Gossie is also backing a system where “investment” is the golden key to unlock prosperity for all.

          Gosman, show me ONE publicly traded company whose primary goal is ANY of the following:

          reduce war
          reduce environmental destruction
          reduce poverty, inequality, and/or injustice
          improve health for everyone.

          Answer: There is no such company because BY LAW the ONLY goal of every publicly traded company MUST BE to increase shareholder value. The best way to be a really profitable company is to promote war, destroy the environment, increase poverty, or damage our health.

          Gossie, can you propose another Golden Calf besides “investment”?

  9. Puckish Rogue 9

    So UK Labour don’t want to ever be in power?

  10. weka 10

    What’s a three line whip?

    • Puckish Rogue 10.1

      Sounds like the beginning of a good night out at the UK conservatives party

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss_-Ukgzr7k

    • Good question, weka! When legislation comes up, the parliamentary whips (senior MP’s) advise MP’s of their party’s line on each matter and the expectations of them, usually in writing.

      A one line whip would usually be in the form of a letter underlined once saying they could be excused voting as it wasn’t that important an issue. A two line whip would be that letter underlined twice and the member would be expected to vote, unless given permission to be away.

      A three line whip is an absolute requirement to turn up and vote the way we want you too, or else, chummy! Given that the whips often dole out the goodies in Parliament (chairmanships of committees, overseas trips, advancement up the ranks etc.) it’s hugely risky to an MP’s career to ignore the whip.

  11. Karen 11

    Corbyn sounds great. So does this guy.
    From The Independent.

    ‘Labour backbencher John McDonnell made his distaste for the Government’s proposed welfare bill clear when he told MPs that he would “swim through vomit” to oppose it.
    Amid the five-hour debate over the bill, which is designed to cut welfare spending by £12 billion, the MP for Hayes and Harlington announced:
    “I would swim through vomit to vote against this bill. And listening to some of the nauseating speeches in support of it, I might have to.”‘

  12. odysseus 12

    Unfortunately Mr Corbyn believes in supporting homeopathy. Strikes himself off my Xmas card list.

    • Colonial Viper 12.1

      Corbyn believes in socialism. Which is your actual problem with him I suspect.

  13. Wayne 13

    I saw Jeremy Corbyn in an extended TV interview. A 21st century version of Michael Foot.

    Of course if that is who UK Labour wants as their leader, that is their free choice. Just don’t expect to win general elections.

    • Clean_power 13.1

      By selecting Corbyn, UK Labour is condemning itself to another two terms of toothless opposition while the Tories govern. Its choice, its destiny.

  14. emergency mike 14

    The way that the UK election so closely paralleled ours really is fascinating. Crosby-Textor is the commonality imo.

    And now an ABC club in UK Labour. Over here Labour was prepared to sabotage their own campaign rather than let Cunliffe be PM, surely that’s even more of a stupid road to go down when elections are every five years instead of three.

    UK Labour needs to decide if they will really be a party for the people, or carry on being tory-lite. Same story in NZ. Apparently what sociopathic war monger Tony Blair thinks is important. Liberal he ain’t.

    • Colonial Viper 14.1

      UK Labour needs to decide if they will really be a party for the people, or carry on being tory-lite.

      Unfortunately I think the decision has already been made, irreversibly.

      • Sanctuary 14.1.1

        “…Unfortunately I think the decision has already been made, irreversibly…”

        Corbyn represents a existential threat to a key component of all our Anglosphere Labour parties – their comfortable institutionalisation. As Yanis Varoufakis acutely observed, it is easy to become infected with a sense of entitlement that enervates radicalism with the warm embrace of comfy limousines, investment properties, private schools and six figure MP salaries.

        This is the real reason most modern Labour parliamentary parties want to go along with neoliberalism. Why risk the police baton, why abandon the post-parliamentary sinecure, the knighthood (arise Sir Michael Cullen, socialist defender! Hah! What a joke!) in exchange for potential penury, or the bowel emptying fear of confronting the monied bullies of corporate power?

        Corbyn may or may not be the best leader to return the UK Labour party to power. But the question arises – here as in the UK – as to the purpose of a “Labour” party if it now merely aspires to power as the occasionally kissed battered girlfriend of capitalists who anyway have a much better and willing mistress in the Tories? In a sense, Corbyn’s popularity has something in common with UKIP – he offers the chance for those ignored and forgotten to get a message across to the establishment and to stick one up the sleek institutional political elites – and my, how they are squawking! But they had also better start paying attention. You can’t have a tiny Eton and Oxbridge educated political class running a country on behalf of banksters and hold for long without a breaking.

      • Smilin 14.1.2

        Strange isnt that the MO of UK politics hasnt deviated much from the Thatcherite confrontational destruction of the left even within its own Labour party self destructing and the simple twist of fate that allows the tories to bullshit false confidence in a system of archaic Austerity as the panacea for all thats wrong with the system that has failed the whole world since the 1987 financial crash which gave license to the said right wing to continue to maintain their divine belief that they will always be proved the better way even to the eventual destruction of the basic principles of democracy degenerating into some form of fascism to ensure their way will be done.

  15. Binders full of women 15

    41 years since the uk has had a labour PM not called Blair…. I respect his opinion on all things not Iraq

  16. millsy 16

    As I said before, Tony Blair is further to right than John Key. Tory left and Labour right overlap.

    Corbyn’s position would have been mainsteam 40 years ago. People who call for Labour to do the whole centre ground forget that Cameron and Osborne want to shrink the state to pre war levels. By that I mean Crimean War.

  17. Wayne 17

    Millay,
    I was living in the UK during the 80’s and Corbyn sounds pretty much like Michael Foot, and definitely not like any Labour PM going back to Wilson. He even looks a bit like Michael Foot and in the age of telegenic looks won’t have a chance against Cameron or for that matter Osborne. He is simply out of step with the times, and with UK voters in the middle (who actually decide elections).

    • Colonial Viper 17.1

      Wayne, I suggest you encourage the ruling class in the UK to give the bottom 50% of the population a bit of a break. Else next time they might have to actually deploy those brand new water cannon in London.

    • millsy 17.2

      So Mapp — do you really think that slashing the level of public spending and shrinking down the state to levels never seen before the Napoleonic Wars, or at least heading that way is some how ‘middle’?

      This Tory government is to the right of your paramour, Maggie T — she never contemplated privatising roads, railways and the f*ing postal service, let alone cutting welfare benefits.

      Jeremy seems like the only leadership contender who doesnt want to go along with the conservative agenda.

  18. Colonial Viper 18

    Jeremy Corbyn: Oxford Union debate – Socialism DOES work

    Some riled up Tories listening to him…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6dFsbe-7so

  19. Peter Bradley 19

    There’s a similar and very interesting thing happening in the US around Bernie Sanders who is running to be the Democratic parties presidential candidate.
    Is socialism making a come back in Western countries?

    • Colonial Viper 19.1

      Also with Syriza and Podemos

      Wait and see

      Very many people have realised that this current economic system with all its promises has not and will not deliver for them

      Discontent is rising

  20. Stuart Munro 20

    The utter (and shameful) failure of the current government to achieve any of their economic promises practically guarantees their departure – if Corbyn informs the views of our Labour party so much the better.

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    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    15 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    17 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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