And now from the real Labour Party…

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 pm, January 26th, 2013 - 143 comments
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It’s been a good few days. Ratana on Thursday and Friday, and Young Labour Summer School today and tomorrow. And then there is David Shearer’s speech to come on Sunday, at the end of the Summer School.

The Ratana Church gathers to celebrate the prophet’s birthday on the 25th of January. In recent years political parties have paid their respects on the day before. This year, David Shearer came on Thursday 24th with a delegation, including a group from Young Labour on their annual Clarion tour.

yl ratana

David Shearer stayed over to attend the main day service in the Temepara. Party President Moira Coatsworth was there too, as was I. This followed from last year’s invitation from David Shearer to Ratana’s Tumuaki, Haare Meihana, to visit Labour in Parliament, as TW Ratana had done. That visit has led to ongoing discussions between Labour and Ratana about how to recognise and consolidate the long-standing relationship in today’s world.

There were a number of other happenings at Ratana, all interesting. The Maori Party chose the weekend and the venue to ventilate their leadership issues, and the Mana Party climbed in to the debate. My impression was that this was not appreciated at Ratana, where TW Ratana’s message of kotahitanga and rangimarie is paramount.

John Key argued, when the National Party visited, that while Labour had a relationship with Ratana National delivered. He cited rebuilding of houses at the Paa and recent Treaty settlements. This too did not go down well. His hectoring tone made it sound as though Ratana Maori should have been grateful for their blankets. It was also not lost on anyone that while National may have finalised some Treaty settlements, it was Ratana’s Labour Members of Parliament Matiu Rata and Koro Wetere who had been Ministers when Labour passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act in 1975, and the Amendment Act in 1985 that allowed the redress of grievances back to 1840 that made these settlements possible.

I have been going to Ratana for the celebrations for many years now. The korero has always been highly political, going back to the days of the prophet himself, and Labour’s first visit by Harry Holland. There is no question in my mind that Maori are intensely interested in the next election, and that their view may well be shifting in favour of the old relationship with Labour, that has delivered far more to morehu whanau than any of the more recent arrangements. As my old colleague Mike Williams would say, watch this space.

Young Labour’s summer school was also a delight. I had no idea of what pleasant places lie behind Wainuiomata, and enjoyed listening to the bellbirds as well as the insights from the likes of Rod Oram, Brian Easton, Anna Hamer-Adams and others.

Summer School was started by Alastair Cameron and Jordan Carter in 2003, at which I presented the first session on an Introduction to Social Democracy. 120 Labour members registered for this year’s school, young and old, including Alastair and Jordan, although Young Labour continue to organise it. Their forward-looking influence was shown in this year’s theme – “Labour’s Unique Narrative for the Future.”

A usual, it was stimulating, refreshing and inspiring. Labour has a great group of young ones, all optimistic and all active. It was also great to be able to say “Happy New Year” to David Cunliffe who was there, as was Trevor Mallard.

The scene is set. 100,000 houses has National on the run. I’m really looking forward to David Shearer’s speech tomorrow.

143 comments on “And now from the real Labour Party… ”

  1. geoff 1

    Astounding.

  2. handle 2

    In the holidays I visited the beach. There were some dogs. They liked me more than my sister. We had icecream. It was real.

    • QoT 2.1

      Today I went shopping and the weather was lovely. In 1985 I was a toddler and my speech was very advanced for my age. I also like icecream.

      • Tim 2.1.1

        In 1985, my son turned 5 and my brother was christened in the Ratana Church. We ll had a very luvly time. My brother told us a story too about the spirituality of Ratana, including trippy little visions he had. It was his epiphany – no need for any more lysergide or magic mushrooms.

        He also told us about the regular visits of politicians that used to turn up once a year and throw gifts and promises. He said they all bowed down and as the politicians left – thinking they had it all in the bag – the congregated all thought – what do these cnuts think we are…….cargo cultists maybe?. More fool them then.
        The weather was very nice.
        We marched and played trumpets.
        We frollicked in the summer sun.
        A good time was had by all

        • xtasy 2.1.1.1

          Yeah, and thus “vote Labor” (the painful labour)

        • bad12 2.1.1.2

          I also like ice-cream, lysergide is nice and trippy little visions can be scary too , i frolick in the Sun even now but cannot play a trumpet…

          • Anne 2.1.1.2.1

            I think GoodGoodyGumDrops is the best ice-cream. Its got lots of jellybeany thingies in it and they taste real nice. I once ate a whole carton and it made me feel sick.

            • CV - Real Labour 2.1.1.2.1.1

              Anne 🙂

              • Akldnut

                I’m old and grumpy or so my wife says and I still like ice cream (Hokey Pokey and Boysenberry Ripple) but preferred the old Hokey Pokey when they were chips and not balls.
                I too can’t play the trumpet but enjoy eating them.

    • The Al1en 3.1

      Chasing spooks on the standard, the real ghost busters more like.
      Just tell Shearer, if someone asks him where will the votes come from in 2014, the answer isn’t mmm, ah, um, is it brighter futures?

      Looking forward to post election when the headline will read – And now, something completely different.

      • ordinary_bloke 3.1.1

        Re. ‘spooks’ – I understand that a number of embassies follow The Standard but doubt that they would own up to it in case their budget is cut, but .. it is a public forum.

        It is also something of a compliment to lprent ..

  3. hush minx 4

    I had a bit of a grumble about some people I know but I didn’t let it get me down. Not worth talking to them really, they’re not like me. I’d rather focus on the positive.

  4. lightly 5

    What was “Labour’s unique narrative for the future”? And when will you start telling it?

    Why hasn’t Kiwibuild moved the polls an inch? Is it because it’s unaffordable for the working class and the young?

    Also, what’s the game with the aggressive title? You know most of the young labour members there were are Standard readers and commenters.

    • handle 5.1

      “What was “Labour’s unique narrative for the future”? And when will you start telling it?”

      When the fossils are dislodged in favour of the young.

  5. RedLogix 6

    Let’s put it like this Mike.

    You guys can have your way. I’m not interesting in squabbling over this for months. But if David Shearer does not win the next election I’d expect mass resignations from the Labour Party of EVERYBODY who supported him. Including you.

    Consequences.

    • The Al1en 6.1

      If that had happened after the 2011 beating in the polls Labour wouldn’t be in the bizarre situation of actively and very publicly trying to squash dissent from it’s hard core voter base in order to win 5% of nationals vote.

      • lightly 6.1.1

        with the exception of the chief of staff, all the senior people around Goff are still in place around Shearer. Chief press sec, ‘strategic advisor’ (Pagani), campaign strategist (now also deputy leader), policy director, head of research, ‘brains trust’ of Mallard, King, Robertson, and Goff.

        After the disaster of 2011, Shearer should have cleared the decks of the people who made the decisions who caused that disaster – the ones that decided to try to hide Goff. The ones that thought dropping all the policy during the campaign (including raising the retirement age) was a good idea. The ones who didn’t offer that ‘narrative’ Mike speaks of. They got a good slogan – ‘own our future’ but had nothing to back it up with apart from not selling assets. Instead, those failures are being allowed to fail again and only a handful of junior people got the sack.

        • handle 6.1.1.1

          “They got a good slogan”

          From the marketing agency they hired who made that great campaign opening film maybe?

        • xtasy 6.1.1.2

          Is King not going for the next Wellington Mayor job, as I heard or read somewhere???

          • Benghazi 6.1.1.2.1

            I’ve heard King back away from that potential role.

            This is likely to be because there is too much uncertainty about the role with the Lord Mayor concept in play and not in a strong position to go head to head with Fran for that role. Wellington Mayor also doesn’t pay as well as an opposition MP and King doesn’t qualify for the gold plated Parliamentary super.

            • Fortran 6.1.1.2.1.1

              Understand that Annette, may, by agreement not stand, and not to upset the current Greens incumbent, Celia Wade-Brown, who is doing a good job.
              It would split the left wing vote and let the right in.

              • alwyn

                It doesn’t matter if you “split” the left-wing vote.
                The mayoralty vote in Wellington is done on a preferential system, which is how Wade-Brown won. Prendergast led through most of the counting and it was only as all the other candidates were eliminated that W-B got through in a last gasp win.
                You might be right if the Mayor’s election was in a FPP system but it isn’t.
                On the other hand, as a Wellingtonian, I would have to say that you are woefully wrong when you say that W-B is doing a “good job”.

        • xtasy 6.1.1.3

          lightly: Shearer can’t “clear the decks”, because the ones he would have to clear are the very ones that got him where he is!!!

    • Colonial Viper 6.2

      For the sake of my sanity, I’m also adopting this position. Kudos to your foresight Mike, and also the rest of caucus backing Shearer to the hilt, if Labour brings home the bacon for the Left in 2014. I’ll personally buy caucus a case of bubbly.

      Fail, and all of you get buried by history and don’t frakin come back. The rest of us will pick up the pieces after 3 Tory terms.

      • the sprout 6.2.1

        My prediction for 2014: Labour achieves record low vote, Greens highest ever.

        Yours,
        Real Labour

        • xtasy 6.2.1.1

          If Shearer is still there in 2014, I will dance naked in Vulcan Lane, CBD, Auckland after his election win

    • The Fan Club 6.3

      Erm what? (a) no dice guys, unless you’re willing to resign en masse in the event of a win, and (b) it’s fucking bullshit to demand that a guy who’s worked for the party and the movement for as long as I or anyone else can remember resign because you’re pissed off your boy lost.

      Lose the contempt of assuming that the party has to follow your orders., it’s really really unattractive.

      • The Fan Club 6.3.1

        Wait hang on holy fuck you aren’t even a member are you? I mean sweet fuck I actually find the idea of a sanctimonious Green member talking smack about long standing Labour members like this hilariously offensive.

        • Colonial Viper 6.3.1.1

          Nah mate, asking people to back themselves is what its come to. This is now a world of consequences.

          it’s fucking bullshit to demand that a guy who’s worked for the party and the movement for as long as I or anyone else can remember resign because you’re pissed off your boy lost.

          I think RL stated quite clearly that he’s willing to accept that Mike and the other Shearer supporters might finally be proven right.

          • The Fan Club 6.3.1.1.1

            Consequences? Look, mate (!), you do us all a favour and roll Curran and then we can talk about consequences. Until then, I think I’m going to write you off as an internet blowhard.

            • fenderviper 6.3.1.1.1.1

              You may be expecting the wrong person to “roll Curran”.

              A real leader (her boss) would be the one to reprimand her for her Nact style privacy breech. Any fan club blowhard fool without blinkers would realise this.

      • blue leopard 6.3.2

        psst [Who is going to break it to The Fan Club that Labour have just lost 2 elections in a row?

        I don’t have the heart to and its clear the Fan Club isn’t aware that this has occurred, is the source of peoples’ distress, and the same approaches will not bring a different result; appears to be in denial….inferring weird causes about “your boy” losing, being the cause of these comments…deep denial

        How does one lift the veil of serious denial from these…people…, so they stop dreaming and start acting e f f e c t i v e l y?] Anyone?

      • rosy 6.3.3

        “Lose the contempt of assuming that the party has to follow your orders., it’s really really unattractive.”

        You might want to follow your own advice re party members, methinks.

    • David H 6.4

      But you won’t get them RedLogix. They are too attached to the public teat, to have to go out into the nasty real world and have to do something tangible for their wages. Unlike the sit on arse, and rake it in on the teat.

  6. DJ 8

    “It’s been a good few days” . Fuck me you set very low standards ………..

  7. Peter 9

    Hang on Mike. Am I correct in reading in your title that some of us here are not the “real Labour Party”?

    • The Al1en 9.1

      Real Labour party, meet realist Labour voters.

    • QoT 9.2

      Oh yes, according to Mike a good number of us are part of the Outside Left. It’s like the Twilight Zone only with more singing of the Internationale.

    • Ed 9.3

      I thought it was well known that as well as “real Labour Party” people, some who post in here are Green, Mana, Maori Party and even National supporters, as well as the confused, uncertain and bewildered . . .Some of those are represented in this thread – where do you fit, Peter?

      • Tom 9.3.1

        That’s what I like about this site .. regardless of provenance, it attempts to set *The Standard*

        Cough, cough ..

    • the sprout 9.4

      Well I guess we’re not Real Labour like Douglas, Prebble and the current ruling cadre of neoliberal party hijackers – we just happen to be the weirdo trouble makers with, like, leftwing values

  8. Pete 10

    Bloody hell, Mike. Shearer’s speech better be something special. No more of this keeping your powder dry until the campaign. We need a stream of genuine policy building up to a cogent manifesto over this year. The housing was a good start, but we need follow through, like a commitment to reverse National’s employment law. Otherwise quit pissing on our legs and telling us that it’s raining.

    • Pete 10.1

      And if you’re wondering if I am a genuine Labour Party member, here’s my 2012 membership card I’m undecided whether to sign up for 2013.

      Edit: although it says much that I feel it has come to this.

  9. Alanz 11

    Hi everyone

    From a long-standing Loyal Labour member who has current NZLP membership, and who has always supported and continues to support the incumbent, I have been wanting to refrain from commenting all evening but I cannot bite my tongue and just bear with it any longer.

    For me, this post by Mike Smith, with the title he has chosen, illustrates that things as they stand presently have not improved since 2008 but have gotten worse and indeed gone backwards for the Labour caucus vis a vis the membership. At this point in time, Labour should be steadily strengthening but current circumstances feel like there is still a way to fall before hitting rock bottom. The disconnect, which I felt after speaking with dejected Labour MPs in December 2008 and early 2009s, has not been bridged and seems even wider than ever.

    I feel increasingly despondent that the sense conveyed is that of a shrinking number of Labour MPs barricading themselves from people that they should recognise are its champions, supporters and friends. When the incumbent became leader, I felt that a caretaker had been put in place. And I have been willing either to wait for another candidate, or other candidates, to emerge or to give the incumbent the support to grow into the job quickly for a real challenge against National. Why is it that I am finding it more difficult to shake of the sense that, as far as the Parliamentary wing is concerned, the party seems to be in the hands of undertakers?

    • xtasy 11.1

      THANK YOU, all you say proves my case: We NEED a NEW LEFT party!

      • muzza 11.1.1

        Actually no, what is needed is for people to completely disregard the primitive thoughts that central government is needed at all.

        People are getting on, (just) despite its efforts, and while the institutions the masses have been programmed into believing they need to survive, are killing/trapping ever greater numbers, why do people still look to arcane entities to turn it around.

        Find it in yourself, with your family and friends, don’t expect that you can get any traction inside the current game, the game masters have it stiched up, and by seeking to continue to play along, the results will continue to trend!

        Time for natural thinking (No I don;t mean the Greens)

        • locus 11.1.1.1

          🙄

        • PlanetOrphan 11.1.1.2

          muzza at the reigns of Anarchy ….
          not like that M8! , more irregularity and confusion please M8!
          Pointy hat on and all ;-D

        • fatty 11.1.1.3

          well said Muzza,

          The problem is that Labour is a top-down party that takes power away from its base – see Mike’s title for this post, its very demeaning.
          We should resist this top down power hold and strive to create parties that give more power to their base, fortunately these already exist in Mana and the Greens.
          Rather than a new left party, the left needs to vote against Labour. By voting for our true left parties that already exist, and then spend time working within them, our political energy will be used effectively. Any energy put into Labour at the moment does nothing but strengthen the grip of Mallard, King, Goff & Robertson.
          As a left winger, your time will be better spent with a local grassroots movements, or ground up political parties.
          Just don’t depoliticise with too much cynicism…

  10. Saarbo 12

    I haven’t been a Labour member for very long, so I dont know Mike Smith apart from the posts on this site. I would have thought that David Shearer could have found someone to advise him who wasn’t such a condescending wanker.

    Having attended my 1st Labour Party Conference in November, one of the things that I did notice was the lack of Maori (in fact, I made this comment on TS just after the conference), Labour has a lot more work to attract the Maori vote back, as its not going to happen by merely attending the Ratana Church gathering each year.

    • xtasy 12.1

      But that is how ignorant and arrogant Shearer is: He thinks by going to Ratana, and criticising the Maori Party, all young and old Maori will come flying, to sign up and vote for Labour. Imbecilic that thinking, but I am not surprised.

  11. Blue 13

    Reading these posts is like walking into an alternate universe where puppies skip amongst daffodils in the sunshine and butterflies land on Shearer’s shoulders wherever he walks.

    Meanwhile, back in the real world, some guy with no deep links to either Labour or Ratana went to a marae and started posturing like a fool.

    Did he even know the significance of Ratana or did someone have to explain it to him?

    • xtasy 13.1

      As I have “diagnosed” Shearer, he is a mere “opportunist”, and that is why he went to Ratana!

  12. Salad 14

    Young Labour are a bunch of bores. If that’s your real Labour Party, you can keep them. Me, I’m heading to the Greens, now they know how to run a political party.

  13. Jim in Tokyo 15

    “at which I presented the first session on an Introduction to Social Democracy”

    Ever considered reprising the contents of that speech for us ‘nutters’ who think Labour 2013 is still lost down a third-way cul-de-sac?

  14. xtasy 16

    I notice ONE thing right away, seeing Shearer in that photo up the top:

    He has HIS HANDS IN HIS PANT’S POCKETS!!!?

    Now a “HANDS ON” polly does to me look a bit different.

    Going around with hands in your pockets may be ok at a flea market or whatever else, but for a “leader”, say rather “wannabe leader” it is a death certificate.

    I only read arrogance, indifference and laziness out of it. Maybe it was just a shot at the wrong moment, but also I have seen to many captures of Shearer with his hands upon his hips. That is to me another signal, I have seen too much of, it is clear body language, a bit of a show of “power” and “arrogance”.

    Surely, I know body language, and what I see is not anymore that much mumbling and stumbling, but this hands in pocket and on the hips kind of attitude. It is a sign of LAZINESS!

    Let me tell you guys in all discretion: That is NOT how a hands on and smart, acting leader looks like!!!

  15. xtasy 17

    Mike – your link to Robertson under “summer school” is quite revealing. I see lots of partly balded, grey haired and other folk, who do not really look much like “Young Labour” or “young” as such. Are you sure you linked the right caption there?

    Well, I am not the least disappointed, as I will never vote your party ever again, I had it!

    So much BS in one thread is beyond of being bearable. You need a wake up call, and get out of your master’s office, where you are on too high a salary and over protected from the real world out here.

    Sorry, you lost me completely with this post!

    • karol 17.1

      xtasy: I see lots of partly balded, grey haired and other folk, who do not really look much like “Young Labour” or “young” as such. Are you sure you linked the right caption there?

      That’s how it looks, xtasy. Or maybe there’s a lot of young Labour (white) guys who are going bald at a young age – happens. And there seems to be more guys than women… or is it that the guys are on one side of the room, and the women mainly on the other, and the camera mostly took in the guy’s side?

  16. Pascal's bookie 18

    Red sed: You guys can have your way. I’m not interesting in squabbling over this for months. But if David Shearer does not win the next election I’d expect mass resignations from the Labour Party of EVERYBODY who supported him. Including you.

    Word.

  17. Pascal's bookie 19

    Fucking listen Mike.

    The response doesn’t have to be a capitulation, bur you have to show that you are least fucking hearing what people are saying.

    • The Fan Club 19.1

      Why? Like, for reals, why the hell should Mike take seriously the grandiose ravings of a pissed off Green voter? RedLogix is a guy on the internet who is seriously insisting that large parts of a political party he isn’t even a member of quit because they don’t just do the thing he wants them to do.

      Pascal, the big problem is that you guys are unbelievably isolated within the party, those of you that are within in. My read at this point is that probably of the party activists, a good third now thinks the Standard is a den of Tea Party-esque crazy (see Scott Yorke’s increasingly bemused postings.). Amongst Labour Youth it’s way worse. I think there’s pretty much unanimous agreement that the Standard’s a write-off there.

      That’s not the number for Shearer (at this point much higher, I’d be guessing if it went to a vote 55-60%?). That’s a large swathe of the party thinking y’all here are just not in touch with reality.

      It’s why Mike can be at a large gathering of party faithful and say stuff like this and not get any push back in person. If anything, I reckon he’d be having difficulty paying for his drinks at the moment.

      • The Fan Club 19.1.1

        (Look at Sanctuary’s post in the Greens thread. He’s no Shearer-ite, but he can see what’s happening.)

      • Colonial Weka 19.1.2

        Maybe that’s true (hard to tell really), but it doesn’t make the criticism of Shearer, the ABCs, or Labour’s current neoliberal focus wrong.

      • RedLogix 19.1.3

        No the point you keep missing TFC is that Labour has now lost two elections in a row, and the polls have you firmly on track to loose a third. The left does not have the media on it’s side. Simply doing nothing and expecting the electoral cycle to deliver you into government every 2-3 elections is a losers strategy.

        People like you have insisted that Shearer is the man. Fine … have it your way, it’s your choice and your Party. And when Labour get another 31% in the next election Shearer will do the expected thing and fall on his sword. Or will the wider Party man up and take responsibility for the choices it has made? Especially those in the inner circle who had all the power.

        And yes I may well be a pissed off Green voter; I have every right to be because for at least the foreseeable future the Greens need a vibrant winning Labour Party to be in coalition with. Alternatively I’m increasingly of a mind to think maybe we should take the hard road, accept that Labour is dying on it’s feet and hope we can bury Labour within three to four election cycles.

        And just so as it is clear, I’ve been strongly pan-left all my life. I’ve strongly gone into bat for Labour in the past, I’ve donated substantially and I still hugely respect their legacy. But right now the Greens look increasingly like the future…. and I’m in.

      • Olwyn 19.1.4

        @The Fan Club: “I’d be guessing if it went to a vote 55-60%?). That’s a large swathe of the party thinking y’all here are just not in touch with reality.”

        That is supposing that your guess is right, and also that the 55%-60% think as you claim they do. We do not know exactly where the 31% of the general population who are presently supporting Labour stand, and we do not know either how a members’ vote would go since such a vote has not happened. We all tend to think that “everyone else thinks as we do” because we tend to hang out with people who think as we do.

        Here is a link to the list of the NZ Labour Party’s social-democratic principles. http://www.labour.org.nz/about-us

        Do you think that members are foolish or mistaken in trying to hold MP’s to those principles?

      • millsy 19.1.5

        Is it just me, or are you a bit of a right winger who thinks Labour should be National-lite. Suggest you just go and join National. That’s what you want really.

      • MrSmith 19.1.6

        Fan Club it’s great to see someone sticking up for Shearer and the Labour party, I mean it.

        Unfortunately you and Mike along with Matthew Hootten and a couple of other right wingers seem to be the only ones supporting Labour and Shearer around here.

        Stop attacking the messengers, instead how about pointing out why we are wrong, and why we should get behind or at least stop criticizing a party that got absolutely screwed in the last election and appears to have learnt nothing from it.

  18. xtasy 20

    Mike Smith just release one other LEAD BALLOON! All for the favour of dear ol David, the shorn one, of Labour, I believe, of sorts, but I cannot link the pieces together with a history of sorts.

  19. Elizabeth Bourchier 21

    I had a stone in one if my shoes.
    After reading this I now have a stone in both shoes.
    I feel very uncomfortable.
    I going to take off my shoes and sort it out.

  20. the sprout 22

    Here’s Shearer’s latest cutting edge media foray, all about his dog called ‘Tino Rangitiratanga’, who apparently is

    “a firm favourite of his master….

    “He’s a lovely little dog. He’s generally well-behaved and he loves swimming.””

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10861647

    • chris73 22.1

      Thats brilliant, as a National supporter I have to say that while I think Labour will probably win the next election David Shearer is Nationals best bet for winning a third term

    • just saying 22.2

      Not as an affirmation of Maori sovereignty though. He is keen to point out that Tino is a play on the word ‘tiny’, and the pet came into the family on Waitangi day.

      I suppose there is a kind of black positive in this. Shearer is refining his dog whistle.

      Now all he needs is a cat called ‘left’ who is a bloody nuisance and hangs around, and hangs around though even though no-one sitting at the table wants her. She happened to be living in the house when the Shearer’s bought it.

      And a pampered inbred pedigree called ‘Trickles’ who pees all over lesser beings. Shearer could quip: “we like to think we own Trickles, but cats like her don’t have owners, they have a staff”.

      • Colonial Weka 22.2.1

        lolz.

        Can’t see the connection between the word ‘tino’ and the word ‘tiny’ myself. Other than if you are writing them down.

        Here’s betting that the Shearer household pronounce their dog’s name ‘tee – no’

    • marty mars 22.3

      I’d normally go off about the symbolism and insult behind that dogs name but I just called the rat I caught in the rat trap ‘shearer’ so I suppose I’m no better.

    • QoT 22.4

      *headdesk*

      Next up: we meet John Bank’s dog Das Kapital, so-named because Banks’ kid said “he’s all covered in marks!” when they got him.

  21. chris73 23

    You know that all Labour has to do to win the next election is not say any stupid things (so the mps should just say nothing), not say any outright lies (again the mps should not say anything), publicly support Shearer (funnily enough the mps should…well you get the idea), display a committed team working towards the goal (again with the mps) and Shearer should stick to press releases…

    Not that hard really and it would have won the last election as well…

  22. Macro 24

    Mike this is the sort of thing your party should be saying

    http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/greens-take-steps-build-movement-oppose-government

    but we hear it not.

  23. lprent 25

    I’ve attended quite a few Summer Schools over the years. They have frequently been informative and useful to me and the campaigns at a local level. However little seems to happen afterwards at any other level. I’d have to say that they have become increasingly less useful as it went from my grey balding head being the rare exception, to being the norm.

    But this weekend at Lyn’s request I expended a few hours at the NGO The P3 Foundation talking things to think on about whilst blogging and their multiauthor blog. It is nice to see young people active and engaged.

  24. CV - Real Labour 26

    Thanks for the link Macro. An innovative idea from the Greens – to engage those who have been sitting on the sidelines to become active in the interests of NZ, without having to commit to the membership and identity of a specific political party.

    I can think of a few groups the Greens are targetting here, and some of them are people who might otherwise be considered natural Labour voters.

  25. IrishBill 27

    No we’re the real Labour party.

    No we are.

    No we are.

    No we are.

    This is starting to get absurd.

    • bad12 27.1

      I think ‘it’ got absurd way back down the track, if the February caucus vote confirms David Shearer as Labour Party leader, (a forgone conclusion to some), then the options for all those who cannot stomach that would seem to be either swallow the pride and support Labour in spite of the particular Head(s) that occupy the seat(s) at the top table,

      Or,

      Resign their Labour Party memberships and join another party like the Green Party,

      Note: this is not an official Green Party recruiting message…

    • Bill 27.2

      Nah. It’s not starting to get absurd It’s well and truly off down the rabbit hole and hitting the ‘Drink Me’ bottles by the crate full.

  26. CV - Real Labour 28

    Real Labour Policies

    More than ever I think we need to progress the idea that Irish Bill proposed to develop and test out Real Labour policy. A Labour Party which delivers democracy to its members and delivers strong Left wing policy will be, be definition, the Real Labour Party.

    http://thestandard.org.nz/2013-the-policy-year/

    By the way, have the new plasticky Labour Party membership cards have removed all mention of the values of the Labour Party? Including a reference to the principles of democratic socialism?

    If so, this is a bad change, and certainly not Real Labour.

  27. muzza 29

    this year’s theme – “Labour’s Unique Narrative for the Future.”

    Perhaps they/you it, could start with telling the truth Mike, how would that be for , unique narrative!

    No, can’t/won’t/don’t know how to, argh, thought not!

  28. billbrowne 30

    Cool – another hit and run condescending posting from Mike — and that’s just the title.

    Hint – this is not winning friends or influencing people – hope you’ve kept your day job.

  29. Elizabeth Bourchier 31

    Moira Coatsworth and Tim Barnett are the President and General Secretary selected/endorsed by the membership and the NZ Council.
    Mike Williams and Mike Smith are not. They are the one who were in charge when we lost.
    So Please ENLIGHTEN Moi!
    Why has Shearer/Robertson hired these throw-backs to attack and demotivate the party activists?

    Help, I’m totally confused by the actions of these men.

    • The Fan Club 31.1

      They were also in charge when we won three elections in a row. I don’t think Williams is on the books at the moment, but Smith’s got a lot to offer the party and we’d be mad not to make use of him.

      • Elizabeth Bourchier 31.1.1

        Mike Smith is doing damage to the party by his approach and tone.
        He seem to think he can do a MSM style OpEd and job done.
        Mike Smith does not understand “interaction”. It is not in his DNA. He has a patrician approach and a condescending tone.
        As someone who see the TS as a valuable tool for driving the democratising of the NZ Labour Party, Mike Smith is A GOD-SEND.
        His hiring by Robertson/ Shearer highlights why we need the members to have a say in the Leadership in February.
        Keep up the good work Mike Smith and gang. You are invaluable.

      • locus 31.1.2

        sadly Mike did his reputation a disservice with his ‘Tell the Truth’ post on this site. So hard to build a good rep and so easy to do irrepairable damage with a few words said in haste…

        time to put a few of the old warhorses out to graze, and to bring in a new team with youth, vision and optimism to help reshape the Labour Party, don’t you think?

      • CV - Real Labour 31.1.3

        They were also in charge when we won three elections in a row.

        H1 and H2 were definitely “in charge” over that time. Both are long gone.

  30. Mike throws in a taunt then scurry’s away,that’s ok though because it proves and
    confirms what we already know and that is that our dear leader and his comrades
    have no intention of having any real conversations with the wider online voting base.
    The Greens look more and more attractive

  31. PlanetOrphan 33

    Great post Mike Smith, keep up the great work.

    The art of politics is the art of hearing the peoples’ voice and giving them a box to Whinge from.

    A++ Mike 🙂

    (P.S. A burning Shearer doll would keep them happy I’m sure M8!)
    (P.P.S Could do a set, interchangable heads so no one misses out , not for internal use warnings of course)

    • the Al1en 33.1

      “not for internal use warnings”

      Not sure if you mean what I think you mean, or caucus being warned off a challenge.

      “Great post Mike Smith, keep up the great work.”

      I looked for the :sarcasm: icon

      “A++ Mike”

      Then realised it’s as missing as your understanding of the current situation.

      “The art of politics is the art of hearing the peoples’ voice listening and acting on them”

      Just a little edit to help you along.

      “(P.S. A burning Shearer doll would keep them happy I’m sure M8!)”

      But not as happy as a leader who leads and has a chance of winning, I’d bet.

      • PlanetOrphan 33.1.1

        “Then realised it’s as missing as your understanding of the current situation.”
        Cor blymey u r smart M8! What’d I miss exaclty ?

        Sounds like you’d be the perfect person to give me the one liner the “Burning shearer” doll can schpeel as it burns ?

      • PlanetOrphan 33.1.2

        We could re invent democracy , answering all those bloody one liners that got use here …

        Least # of sales = Elected Government MP.

        We could create a “Shrine” doll as well, so …

        Shrine sales – Burning doll sales = total score in the election.

        Everyones happy, the punters get to voice the frustration in the privacy of there own homes, we get a “Market” elected government, thus giving the people their hate vote, which is why they whinge so much in the first place M8!.

        The “Civilised” democracy in action M8!

  32. Foreign Waka 34

    Please look at the body language of the people in the picture. I think that no further comment is needed.

    • Bill 34.1

      You mean folded arms, crossed legs, scratched heads and hands in pockets isn’t a sign of ‘connectedness’? Nah. Surely not!

      • Foreign Waka 34.1.1

        Exactly! 😉 Look at the little corridor between the people too.

      • Foreign Waka 34.1.2

        One side scratches their head and the other is defensive. Lice?

        • the sprout 34.1.2.1

          the lice are Shearer’s pets too, they’re called ‘Poor People’

        • The Fan Club 34.1.2.2

          Yeah referring to young members who’re getting out there and volunteering in their communities as having lice is super fucking classy.

          • Foreign Waka 34.1.2.2.1

            Firstly, the word play is tongue in cheek. So its not a personal statement. Secondly, scratching the head signifies without words a state of confusion. And this is the point made here. How long is Mr Shearer in office and when did he (ever) give some clear leadership statements as to where the party stands? Exactly, back to scratching the head I suppose….

  33. KJT 35

    The ever more desperate spin from Labour caucus central shows they know how badly they have fucked up.

    This whole thing started, because, as a leader Shearer is FUCKING USELESS.

    Nothing to do with who the contenders are. But failing to get a competent subordinate, on side, whatever their ambitions, is yet another sign of poor leadership.

    New Zealand desperately needs an alternative to National, and dog eat dog neo-liberal meanness, in Labour and the Greens.
    Not yet another woolly “centrist” party.

    Don’t you get it? Hundreds of thousands do not vote any more because they have LOST HOPE that any political party is going to do their best for most New Zealanders.

    The fact is people are not going to turn out to vote for Shearer, and a bunch of, past their use by date, wallies, who make even National look competent.

    In fact the whole bunch, on both sides, are the best argument ever for BCIR and real democracy.

    • locus 35.1

      BCIR? I take it that you mean Binding Citizens Initiated Referendum’ and not Barnett Continent Intestinal Reservoir surgery…

  34. BM 36

    Do members consider It it better for the long term health of the Labour party that National wins at the next election, that way Shearer can be rolled and replaced with Cunliffe the members champion.
    Isn’t the real battle here , the fight against neoliberalism, with Shearer led government it’s a continuation of the same style of thinking.

    Out of interest, how many here would actively undermine a Shearer lead labour party so it little chance of winning at the next election?

    • QoT 36.1

      Define “actively undermine”. Because apparently pointing out simple facts like “Shearer cannot answer media questions clearly and decisively” = “undermining The Cause” to some people.

    • RedLogix 36.2

      When Helen Clark reached an accord with Michael Cullen it was a partnership of equals. They went on to achieve a great deal.

      The problem for team Shearer is that they knew every time Cunliffe opened his mouth he’d show up Shearer’s shortcomings. I guess they simply couldn’t tolerate that and this meant an accord was never going to be offered.

      Is Cunliffe going to be around next election? Only he knows if he can put up with the crap being dished out to him in the meantime.

      Do I want to undermine Labour? No. But my money and time is back with the Greens (I’ve actively supported both parties over the years) and I’m not really interested anything Shearer and his Party have to say anymore. They’re boring.

      • Rhinoviper 36.2.1

        When Helen Clark reached an accord with Michael Cullen it was a partnership of equals. They went on to achieve a great deal.

        Yes, that. And it is the failure by ABC to accommodate their opposition that is the essence of their folly. It shows them to be vain, immature, cowardly, petty, insecure… and as Talleyrand once said, “It was worse than a crime, it was a mistake.”

    • Rhinoviper 36.3

      Out of interest, how many here would actively undermine a Shearer lead labour party so it little chance of winning at the next election?

      How many would undermine a Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble dominated Labour Party?

      OK, that’s provocative, but at least the example is real and I do actually ask this out of interest and it is not a challenge or a deconstruction. Instead, I ask where is the line in people’s minds and how close are the current parliamentary elite to it?

      Of course it might be more complex or at least different to that – is the line between the Labour Party and neoliberalism, between Mikes Smith and Williams and Matthew Hooton (though honestly I believe that both Mikes are actually sincere in their intentions at heart, as opposed to Hooton, who is nothing but a puerile money-grubbing parasite thoroughly devoid of principle) or between the front bench’s performance and irrelevance?

      And why the emphasis on “members” in drawing the lines since the “No true Scotsman” argument is circling like a shark? Mightn’t it be on voters?

      • geoff 36.3.1

        So the implicit assumption is that writing criticism of the Labour leadership on TS is considered undermining the Labour Party?

      • CV - Real Labour 36.3.2

        How many would undermine a Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble dominated Labour Party?

        Huge numbers of members walked and never came back. MPs broke away and formed New Labour, which in 1993 captured a full 18% of the vote. The Labour Party of today is but a meek shadow of the force it was in the 70’s and 80’s.

  35. Mike Smith is posting because we’re getting under their skin. The King/Mallard cabal should be worried. They are not going to quieten us down by insisting on their world view.

    I want a vote. I want to believe there are 13 MPs who care about our voice. If there is near unanimous confidence in the Shearer Leadership, then I’m out of Labour. We need a fulsome process, we need a vote to unite.

    Come on MPs – be brave.

    • hush minx 37.1

      +1, and I sure hope there are some mps reading this!

    • Elizabeth Bourchier Real Labour 37.2

      Yes, we gave to get our MPs to simply vote “no confidence”. Then the President asks for MPs to put their hat in the ring.
      Shearer can put his hat in the ring along with whomever e.g. Ardern Robertson etc and then we have a tour of a dozen centres and the members and affiliates and Caucus get to vote.
      There is no need to “challenge” Shearer at the Caucus.
      Yes we can have a productive party wide process .
      Yes we can.
      Yes we can.

    • Bill 37.3

      I’m picking the fact that a post claiming to represent ‘the real’ Labour Party comes after reports that Cunliffe isn’t putting his hand up means there remains a perception of an alternative ‘not real’ Labour Party.

      Which is odd given that if, as claimed, the confidence vote is a shoo-in there can be no-one and nothing posing a threat to the current configuration of the Labour Party. And so, obviously, no need to make absurd, provocative and somewhat Leninesque game plays.

  36. fenderviper 38

    Is that a typo?

    Do you mean “reel” as in wind up?

  37. Bettig 39

    I bookmarked The Standard because I wanted an alternative to the John Armstrongs, Whaleoil, and Matthew Hootons. I wanted news and opinion from the left, argument, discussion, fairness. For some time I’ve been astonished at the vitriol towards Shearer and the Labour Party. The response to this post from Mike Smith is the last straw. He put forward a view. By all means disagree, but this is totally ridiculous.
    I’m rearranging my bookmarks and looking elsewhere for views from the left. Chuck whatever you like at this post, I won’t be watching. Bye bye.

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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
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    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.
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    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
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    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
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
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    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 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
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    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
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
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    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
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    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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    2 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
    7 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
    9 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
    10 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
    23 hours 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
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
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    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
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    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
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    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
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    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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