Budget 2016 – F for Fail

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, May 27th, 2016 - 31 comments
Categories: budget 2016, class war, economy, national, poverty, spin - Tags: , , , , , ,

As MS has already noted, Deborah Russell has the best summary of the budget:

budget-quote

Russell’s piece is here:

Budget 2016 – How do we look after all New Zealanders?

Very quietly, a cut here and a decrease there, a failure to keep up with inflation in one place, and ignoring increasing population in another place, the Government is walking away from New Zealand’s longstanding social compact.

In his Budget speech, Bill English proudly says that government expenditure is down to less than 30 per cent of GDP, and that’s the way that it’s going to stay. But how is this retreat from the economy achieved? It happens by spending less on health and less on education, and not spending enough on housing for the least well off New Zealanders.

Health spending is going from $15.2 billion to $15.6 billion. That’s an increase of 2.6 per cent. But inflation is predicted to run at 2 per cent, and population growth is running at around 2 per cent. In real terms, the health spend per capita is going down.

It’s the same story in education. Operating expenditure is going from $13.9 billion to $14.2 billion, a 2.2 per cent increase. That’s not enough to keep up with the growth in school rolls. …

It is irritating to see this described by some as an “education budget” when schools – for the first time ever – have been hit with a freeze on operational funding:

Schools will look to parents’ pockets after a freeze on school operational funding

Parents and principals around the country will be scratching their heads wondering what on earth is going on after the Government froze school operational funding.

Schools are increasingly relying on donations to cover their costs – gone are the days of a free education. Schools unable to afford their own technology for students have even resorted to accepting donations from foreign buyers in exchange for land deals.

Before Finance Minister Bill English had even wrapped up his Budget speech, schools would have been brainstorming how to get parents to cough up the shortfall. It’s no wonder “surprise” and “shock” were the two most common words rolling off the tongues of those in the education sector and Opposition MPs. …

The extra funding allocated for disadvantaged kids amounts to $2 each, per week. Wheee! Speaking of kids:

Not the New Zealand we want

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) endorses the Government’s stated commitment to improve the lives of all vulnerable children. It has failed dismally with the 2016 Budget announcement today.

CPAG asked for meaningful policies for incomes in this budget but there is nothing in this budget for families with children. When so many New Zealand families are in crisis and children are bearing the brunt this budget does nothing. “All families need sufficient resources for their children to thrive,” says Professor Innes Asher, CPAG health and housing spokesperson.

On housing:

Lack of housing initiatives in Budget making Auckland ‘uninhabitable’ for young people

The Government is making Auckland “uninhabitable” for young people. So say the city’s youth, who are bitterly disappointed that Thursday’s Budget contained few measures to tackle the housing crisis.

The only Budget housing announcements were a plan to release another $100 million worth of surplus Crown land in Auckland for residential development and a $258m boost to social housing.

Annaliese Johnston is a 25-year-old lawyer who believes she will never be able to own a home in Auckland. The absence of new tools on Thursday showed a lack of meaningful structural change, she said. “I have kind of resigned myself to the fact I will be a renter, potentially for a long time,” she said.

On the budget’s “rosy” economic forecasts:

But the forecasts for the economy were based on Treasury assumptions, which quickly came under question, including the expectation of a strong rise in dairy prices over the next two years [yeah right]. Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens was skeptical about the forecasts. “The Treasury’s forecast of large surpluses through to the end of the decade seem unrealistically optimistic to us.”

For a good summary see Grant Robertson: A Budget that lacks vision and courage to make life better.

As always Scoop has a comprehensive list of links to analysis and reaction. Go Scoop!

Effective cuts in health and education, nothing substantial to address the housing crisis, nothing addressing poverty, nothing on climate change. What a steaming load of fail.

31 comments on “Budget 2016 – F for Fail ”

  1. save nz 1

    +100 – great summary.

  2. TC 2

    Granny shows its ankle deep analysis by drawing comparisons to the batchelor and replaying nat spin lines.

    • TC 2.1

      It’s the fish wrap / budgie cage liner / fire starter rendition FYI.

    • mauī 2.2

      The reporting of the budget on tv showed happy smily faces and barely any critical thinking applied. Everyone loves a rockstar giving away free shit I spose.

  3. ianmac 3

    So it is not all rosy. Under the gloss is a murky threat to most of us. Bad boy Bill!

  4. Enough is Enough 4

    This budget is going to hurt a lot of people.

    We will have families not only living in cars but on streets when the effects of this budget really begin to kick.

    New Zealand, get used to walking past children asleep on the footpath as you walk to work.

  5. Sabine 5

    Well
    Surplus?
    TaxCuts?
    Brighter Future?

  6. Enough is Enough 6

    r0b I think perspective is important when rating this budget.

    You seem to be under the misapprehension that National is failing. Try speaking to some of their rich mates though who will rate this as an A+++ budget.

    National is delivering on everything they stand for. Transferring the nation’s wealth to a small hand picked minority.

    If you stand back and think what does National represent, then the only conclusion you can come to is this budget was a success.

  7. Lanthanide 7

    In other words, this government borrowed and ran up the debt on unimportant things, and since they’ve made such a pile of debt they’re now putting self-imposed limits so that they “run a surplus” and don’t create any further debt. Meanwhile things that they should be funding – and therefore running up a debt for – go unfunded, and we slip further behind.

    To make it worse, this government is talking about further reckless spending in the form of tax cuts.

    I actually wonder if in 2017 they might go into the election with a new top tax rate – say 36% at $150,000 or over. Just like they stole the benefit increase in last year’s budget from the left, they could steal this other plank from the left to make themselves look more electable to middle NZ. That would let them have their tax cuts while also keeping their surplus (since there’s really no other way to do it than to raise more revenue).

  8. Halfcrown 8

    What really gets me about this budget is. The double dipping dickhead from Dipton who I would not trust with the local Boy Scouts Jamboree money let alone the country’s finances, can only give meager increases to essential services like health, but can spend a BILLION dollars on a not required 17 bridge in 22 Ks bypass of Hamilton for the trucking lobby.

    • Wayne 8.1

      Roading is basically paid for by roading charges and petrol tax.

      By the way try telling Aucklanders for instance that the current surge of motorway projects are not required, or that Hamiltonians should put up with heavy traffic going through the city.

      The “trucking lobby” is actually the sinews that connect or country, getting all sorts of goods around the country. If that dropped off that would mean the economy had tanked.

      It is a simple equation really, more goods being transported means a growing economy, less goods means a shrinking economy.

      • Psycho Milt 8.1.1

        If that dropped off that would mean the economy had tanked.

        Or, it would mean we were sending more freight by rail and thereby getting some of these annoying road-going obstacles off our highways. Which would be totally awesome, not to mention better for the roads and the environment.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2

        By the way try telling Aucklanders for instance that the current surge of motorway projects are not required

        Why don’t you ask Aucklanders?

        Because we Aucklanders have been saying for decades that we don’t want more roads but decent public transport. We’ve had the more roads ideology forced on us since the 1950s by both local and central government and it’s never worked.

        The “trucking lobby” is actually the sinews that connect or country, getting all sorts of goods around the country.

        Trucks, like cars, are highly uneconomic compared to trains but the added expense allows higher profits. And trains are a natural monopoly so they have to be run by the state so as to prevent the price gouging that private monopolies always engage in – see Telecom since it’s sale.

        It is a simple equation really, more goods being transported means a growing economy, less goods means a shrinking economy.

        And the uneconomic means of trucking those goods means an economy that can’t develop as it should because that transportation is using excess resources. It’s especially using far too many people which the country would be far better off having in R&D.

      • Richard Christie 8.1.3

        ever heard of rail, Wayne?

  9. Chooky 9

    Good discussion here on the effects of this budget on state education which is being bleed in favour of finance for charter schools and private schools

    ‘Are tough times ahead for schools and parents?’

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon

    “The budget saw no increase in school operation funding which goes to pay for teacher development, learning support, power and water bills, technology and sports funding. Instead, the government announced a plan to provide 43 million dollars in extra funding for the children of long term beneficiaries.

    We discuss this with the PPTA General Secretary Michael Stevens and Sandy Pasley the President of the Secondary Principals’ Association.”

  10. whateva next? 10

    If the previous promises of National election “slogans” could be highlighted against their next slogans, it would show the people how empty their promises are, we cannot just keep barking at the next one.
    We knew this budget would deliver nothing, hardly worth a mention really, it’s just a distraction from the appalling legacy of the last budgets.

  11. esoteric pineapples 11

    Was there ever even the slightest chance that the budget would be anything else than a fail. This government is so committed to a philosophy of self interest for itself and its mates disguised as some sort of free market ideology that it will never make decisions that are good for New Zealand as a whole.

  12. Enough is Enough 12

    Why has Labour not produced an alternative budget?

    • AmaKiwi 12.1

      @ Enough is Enough

      “Why has Labour not produced an alternative budget?”

      Reading about the lead up to the Great Depression, the prevailing public mood today is (as in the late 1920’s) “balanced budgets and corporate profits are the good.”

      In the 1930’s it took a monumental economic collapse before the majority switched to the belief that “government intervention is the new “good” and that includes governments borrowing to alleviate suffering.”

      You and I may be ready for a Mickey Savage/FDR interventionist budget. But the majority are not there yet.

      • DoublePlusGood 12.1.1

        Well, Labour might as well go for broke and put out such a budget – right now, to give it a good spell to percolate in people’s minds before an election.

    • Sorrwerdna 12.2

      They are waiting for the fairies to drop a bunch of money from the money tree

      • AmaKiwi 12.2.1

        No, they are waiting for a Bernie Sanders or a NZ version of Paris today: riots.

  13. Observer Toke 13

    .
    . John Key & Billy English a failure ?
    .

    You are talking about Mutt and Jeff . You should have some respect for these chimps.

    After all, they are now getting rid of all the people who do not own a house in Auckland and sending them South in their thousands to where there is no work and little hope. It’s a master stroke of a budget.

    But seeing that the young men and women of Auckland cannot afford to even begin thinking about a house ….Auckland will very quickly become exactly what it wants to be:
    A Zimmer Frame slum. Bereft of vibrant Youth and creativity.

    By keeping wages so low, by not fostering employment, by increasing the cost of health and Education, Smut and Jeff will redouble their immigration of huge numbers of very wealthy, healthy and educated Asians and Britts, Ozzies and a few Americans and Germans.

    No need for Hospitals or Schools at all in Zimmer Frame Auckland.

    Toupe Super City, has achieved its Mission.

  14. Draco T Bastard 14

    For a good summary see Grant Robertson: A Budget that lacks vision and courage to make life better.

    This budget, like all National Party budgets, isn’t about making life better but about making the rich richer and more powerful. And they can only do that by making the poor poorer and less powerful.

    What a steaming load of fail.

    It’s a fail for the country but how well are National’s backers doing out of it?

  15. Health spending is going from $15.2 billion to $15.6 billion. That’s an increase of 2.6 per cent. But inflation is predicted to run at 2 per cent, and population growth is running at around 2 per cent.

    That was annoying the shit out of me watching the news reporting on it last night. “$300 million extra for education! $400 million extra for health! It’s a health and education budget!” And you sit there thinking “So is that increase above and beyond the inflation and population increase, or what?” You might well ask, because these guys aren’t going to tell you.

  16. Unicus 16

    The level of vtriol from regressives condemning Little”s speech can only mean one thing – it cut closer to the miserable bones of their government for comfort .

    Top job Andrew.

    • Heather Grimwood 16.1

      To Unicus at 16: Yes, ’tis patently obvious when watching their body language in the House, which I find even more illuminating than the blustering.
      To Anthony especially, but all who read this, I find the surreptitious cuts in Budget 2016 frightening, not for me so much but for those without houses, and/or sufficient resources to give their children the necessaries to ensure health and developed potential.

  17. Treetop 17

    Little, Shaw and Peters all gave excellent post budget speeches in the House yesterday. I really liked the “this is the get stuffed budget” repeatition from Peters.

    Tax cuts for middle NZ is a no brainer, there is no point robbing Peter to pay Paul.
    An increase of working for families for middle NZ would make more sense as less would be required. The remainder which would be saved from only targeting middle income children could be used for low income state housing.

    NZ Super has gone up 37% under the National government.

    The Key legacy will be the ruining of state housing, the increase of preventable child hospital admissions, the gap between the wealthy and the poor and being a hypocrite.

    I’m no fan of USA politics, at least the American constitution removes their leader after 8 years in office.

  18. Steve 18

    100% a scam, just like the last 7 delivered by National. How they can stand and applaud an appalling Budget is quite beyond me

  19. Jamie 19

    Lolz

    The title of your post should of been ‘National and Labour form tag team to gang bang the poor and working class’ ‘

    The Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill has passed through all its stages under urgency.

    Ayes 109 (National 59, Labour 32, Greens 14, Maori Party 2, ACT 1, United Future 1)

    Noes 12 (NZ First 12)

    This bill amends the Customs and Excise Act 1996 to make four cumulative 10% increases to the duties on all tobacco products’

    ***Source***

    http://parliamenttoday.co.nz/2016/05/tobacco-tax-bill-passes-under-urgency/

    Watch all the wowsers and sanctimonious holier-than-thou-pricks justify this tax grab

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    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?
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    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
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    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
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    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
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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
    5 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
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    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 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
    5 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 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
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    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
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    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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    10 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
    15 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
    17 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
    17 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
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    6 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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    6 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
    7 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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    7 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
    7 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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    7 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
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    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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