Clean it up

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, September 23rd, 2014 - 70 comments
Categories: accountability, blogs, brand key, david cunliffe, David Farrar, democracy under attack, john key, Left, news, spin - Tags:

Action Station (campaigning for a fairer NZ) has taken took out a full page ad in today’s last week’s NZ Herald, asking to vote to clean up dirty politics:

Let’s be clear what is meant by “Dirty Politics” as outlined in Dirty Politics, by Nicky Hager

Hager and his book Dirty Politics

Several journalists in the mainstream media, have taken to using the term Dirty Politics pretty loosely. They are implying it is a reference to Hager’s book, but use the term in ways to make it seem like the opposition parties do it too.  Dirty Politics does not refer to every isolated example of attack politics.  It does not refer to any attempt to critically hold the governing party to account.

Dirty Politics (as Hager exposes it), is an orchestrated plan by the National Party and their associates, to relentlessly attack their opponents using a two track strategy and covert black ops.

See chapter 5 here “The Lusk Plan”

The aim of Lusk and his allies like Cameron Slater is to use a two track strategy to install far right MPs in the National Party, and thereby move the party and ultimately government to the right.  This involved having a smiley front man (John Key) as leader of the party, and PM.  He would be kept at a distance from the orchestrated attack politics.

Opponents, within National and in opposition parties, would be relentlessly attacked using covertly orchestrated black ops.  This involves National MPs and party staffers feeding information to Cameron Slater, his Whale Oil blog, sometimes in coordination with David Farrar and his Kiwiblog.  This serves as a vehicle to feed attack stories to the mainstream media.  Alongside this, attacks and threats (of personal revelations) have been used to ensure journalists worked for and not against the attack bloggers and their preferred candidates or MPs.

The current state of our mainstream media serves to enable and amplify such covert black ops. It  is dominated by commercial imperatives that promote infotainment, and superficial reporting, focused on drama and sensationalism. With constraints on time and money, many journalists are too willing to repeat lines fed to them by political operators, rather than do more in depth investigation and analysis.  And the National Party’s covert smear machine uses a lot of personal, sensationalistic smears of the kind that infotainment feed on.

Lusk based his approach on the idea that attack politics disengages many potential voters from politics and is a disincentive to voting. The result is that it lowers voter turnout, but especially disengages more potentially left wing and independent voters. (p. 18 of Dirty Politics: How attack politics is poisoning New Zealand’s political environment).

Such attack politics were used consistently and relentlessly against David Cunliffe, before he became leader of the Labour Party.  Some of the MPs in (the mainly right wing of) the Labour caucus were also against Cunliffe becoming leader, hence their name “ABC: Anyone But Cunliffe).  And these ABCs appear to have been consistently feeding their version of the struggle to the media. However it is done, and whoever is doing it, it is the ABC’s version that gets the most coverage, and the most positively slanted coverage.  Such an approach also feeds into the Lusk-Slater black ops attack machine.

Cunliffe never has had a fair go, being always under attack from the right wing smear machine, while also never fully being supported by the conservative elements within his own caucus.

Any opposition party MPs who work in such a ways as to reinforce the National Party smear machine, are complicit in driving away potential left wing voters.

You can click on a link here to open the Action Station letter in a more readable window.

The full text is here:

Dear Politicians,

We, the undersigned XXXX New Zealanders, are concerned about the state of our democracy.

We’ve recently learned that some of our politicians have taken dirty politics to new depths and have seen how democratic checks and balances have been eroded in New Zealand.

Some people say we don’t care. Some say dirty politics will discourage us from voting.

But we do care. Very much, and we will step up and vote for democracy this election.

Here are five urgent steps that need to be taken by our political leaders:

– Establish a high calibre, non-partisan Royal Commission to investigate the workings of government.

– Restore democracy to Christchurch by handing back leadership to elected local representatives.

– Ensure our academics and community leaders can speak out freely on matters of public importance.

– Increase and secure funding for high quality public interest news broadcasting.

– Increase protection for freedom of information.

Can you, our political leaders, do it?

We will be voting and we’ll be getting others along too. We are asking you to show some real leadership and start doing what it takes to restore our democracy.

That’s what we’ll be deciding on — you can bet your vote on it.

Sincerely,

XXXX members of ActionStation

The election has come and gone.  But the other requests can be a focus for a lot of future action.

keep-calm-and-stay-left-10

 

Update: Hager on the election.

Nicky Hager has been reported as saying that the attack politcs that he described were used in the election.  Cameron Slater kind of agrees with him, but, showing just how ethically challenged he is, he claims people just don’t care.

Hager said the issues revealed “have to be addressed” and should be seen as “accountability” in a democracy rather than attacks on National. “What we saw in the results was that National won, Labour was pretty discredited and piles of people didn’t vote – that’s what my book was about.

“It shows their tricks and smears and the systematic abuse of power I wrote about has a damaging effect. Writing about it is part of the road towards trying to fix it.

“These issues have begun – they haven’t ended – with the election day. The result was always likely to be what it was.”

 

70 comments on “Clean it up ”

  1. Sable 1

    The mainstream media need to be held to account before anything else can change. Ironic the ad is in the Herald….

  2. Ad 2

    Who are the people behind this effort?
    They sound like they have their heart in the right place.

    • karol 2.1

      According to their “About” page they are:

      Independent and member-led, we are affiliated with no political party, and answer only to our members. ActionStation is a not-for-profit organisation and relies on donations from real people to fund its work and in-kind donations from the public. We do not accept donations from political parties or the Government.

      If you think that ActionStation is a much needed solution to the problem of political disengagement and you want to see us thrive — then please join us.

      Their contact page gives some people’s first names (pseudonyms?) only:

      National Director? That’s Marianne
      Volunteer with us! Email Laura:
      questions about donations and membership, contact Lesleigh

    • Tracey 2.2

      They were trying to raise money for this prior tot he election. I donated. I wonder if the Herald didn’t have space for sale last week?

  3. Bill 3

    I believe your post talks to the most important issues in NZ as of right now.

    Unfortunately, I expect it all to swamped, washed away and largely forgotten – courtesy of a tsunami about to be generated by ‘Our Children in Wellington’

    I wonder if anyone will forgive them that?

    • weka 3.1

      The list of unforgiveables is getting a tad long.

      • yeshe 3.1.1

        +1 weka — it’s like the elastic in their ethics is stretched and their unforgiveables will eventually end up around their ankles and trip them up ! ( very mixed metaphors, but I’m sure you’ll get the visual!)

  4. SeanExile 4

    Do you seriously believe all this yourself?

    the conspiracy to move National right and having John Key as a frontman and involved in this grand plot.
    All led by bloggers and dark moneymen.

    The reason it will be buried is that for most normal kiwis this isn’t interesting nor will it register on the voters. Politics is dirty – ohh id never thought of that before…

    This is important to activists who think the standard is a bastion of objective truths were the worldview of ordinary voters is formed by activists who think that they have the only correct answer and that everyone who doesn’t see this is part of the giant conspiracy against them. the rest sees the changes in Labour and the installment of leftwing leaders as being as dirty as whatever Slater and his gang has done.

    When one think there is an absolute truth and that truth is identical to ones own opinion its time to wear that tinfoil hat…

    • karol 4.1

      Objective truth? You don’t seem to be dealing with that.

      Have you read Dirty Politics? Do you understand the difference between what is exposed in that book, and the usual kinds of politics in NZ? – it maybe grubby, but it’s not on the same scale as shown in Hager’s book.

      When one think there is an absolute truth and that truth is identical to ones own opinion its time to wear that tinfoil hat…

      I love the way so many rightees accuse the left of their own failings.

      How’s that hat fitting?

      Hager has produced some evidence, you are only spouting un-supported opinions.

      • Murray Olsen 4.1.1

        Has she/he read Dirty Politics? I doubt it, but I’d bet they’ve read about it on Whalespew. Ede, Adams, Collins, and others are conveniently left out of the comment.

        I just hope Beverley Wakem is up to the job.

    • Kaplan 4.2

      “the conspiracy to move National right and having John Key as a frontman and involved in this grand plot. All led by bloggers and dark moneymen”

      Leaving the deliberately conspiratorial sounding language aside. Anyone who has read dirty politics, seen the evidence, seen the actual results, and really believes that these people who want to see the end of Labour are not using these methods, show’s an extreme naivety.

    • Tracey 4.3

      I am guessing you didnt read it… and still have an opinion on it.

    • gobsmacked 4.4

      Hi Sean, good to see you’ve dropped the pretence of being a Labour guy.

      People on the left can disagree about pretty much anything … except what they think of Slater and his gang.

      Put more effort into your concern t**ling, it ain’t working.

  5. Gosman 5

    You are aware that the left lost the election aren’t you? That tends to limit the ability to demand action with an expectation that it will be acted upon.

    • minarch 5.1

      “You are aware that the left lost the election aren’t you? That tends to limit the ability to demand action with an expectation that it will be acted upon”

      you will note the Add is appealing to the citizens of this country Gosman, not any one particular political party

      or do the citizens not get a say either after the bold new dawn of the messiah ?

      I actually saw a commenter on the herald the other day refer to JK as god, disturbing to say the least !

    • emergency mike 5.2

      You are aware aren’t you, that the government is supposed to represent and listen to ALL New Zealanders. Not just the 29% who voted for them.

      • Blue 5.2.1

        Yes they are, I’m sure theyll represent the 14% that voted Labour just as well.

      • Gosman 5.2.2

        I’m well aware of that. I’d suggest demanding what is blatantly a partisan investigation in to the actions of members (including the leader) of a political party that has just won a third term in office with an increased majority smacks a tad of arrogance and wishful thinking .

        You might get more purchase if perhaps what was being asked for was a review in to how politicians in general interact with the media with the aim of setting up a code of conduct.

        • framu 5.2.2.1

          the fact that nats won doesnt magically make the issues go away

          thats innocence by populism

          • Gosman 5.2.2.1.1

            I didn’t deny any problem exists. I stated if you want it resolved it is unlikely to get done if you make it a partisan political issue straight after an election where your side just got trounced.

    • Puckish Rogue 5.3

      Come now Gosman, if you take away the amount of people who didn’t vote then you’ll see National only got a third of the votes and not nearly half and besides theres a growing belief that John Key is a very bad man who won’t give the left a go at running the country

      I have a view of the people running this are sitting around a table in a cafe having competitions seeing who can say how bad NZ is and theres one person with their head down just quietly saying sadly “I just really, really hate him”

      • Bill 5.3.1

        Thank god decent humour hasn’t died – 🙂

        • Puckish Rogue 5.3.1.1

          Thanks, I wasn’t sure if that last bit was going to work…maybe it would have been better if I’d used just quietly weeping saying “I just really, really hate him”

      • Gosman 5.3.2

        Are you trying to appeal to the people who represent the people who didn’t vote. Oh wait. They don’t have any because they didn’t vote.

    • Tracey 5.4

      Are you aware that “winning” the election doesn’t mean that everyone has to settle down in their armchair and wait for the next one while closing their eyes to how some behave.

      FOG thinking

    • framu 5.5

      christ gosman – no one thinks your quite that stupid

      you know the issue here (not hagers book itself – but what this ad is asking for) is really about the govt, any govt abusing its power to manipulate the electorate and attack those it doesnt like

      so – heres your chance – do you support big govt meddling and abuse of power or not?

      • Gosman 5.5.1

        See above for my reply to that.

        • framu 5.5.1.1

          i dont see any sort of answer to the question

          how about you humor me and just answer it here?

          do you support big govt meddling and abuse of power or not?

          I would support a wide ranging bi-partisan investigation – because i see the issues that were exposed by dirty politics as very major. Do you?

          or are you just an apologist for state corruption?

          this acutally is one of the rare occasions where the issue is black and white – either you support any govt doing was what revealed or you dont – there is no middle ground on this one

          • Gosman 5.5.1.1.1

            Excellent then we agree. A wide ranging bi-partisan review of the relationship between the media (both formal and informal) and politicians with a eye to developing a set of standards or a code of conduct is acceptable to me as well. However if you are looking for a witchhunt you are bang out of luck.

  6. Lanthanide 6

    Hager should have called the book Abuse Of Power.

  7. gobsmacked 7

    There seems to be some confusion about the dates. The ad was placed last week, wasn’t it?

  8. Granted 8

    I don’t recall Hagar predicting a National win for the elections. I could be wrong, but seems to be his message now.

    He has had his few weeks in the limelight to ensure he sells a few books just like the other times.

    No doubt he will release another book just prior to another election and try to sell some books. It seems to work for him.

    He really is irrelevant and not entirely honest.

    • Murray Olsen 8.1

      What has he said or written that was dishonest?

    • karol 8.2

      What has anyone’s predictions got to do with it. Predictions are merely guess work – some better informed than others. Some of us don’t go in very much for doing predictions.

      Hager has reflected on what actually happened based on the evidence available.

      You don’t seem to want to engage with the evidence in Hager’s book, just blow out a lot of smoke and hot air.

      When has Hager been dishonest?

      What is dishonest in Dirty Politics? Or are you another person criticising it without having read it?

  9. Carol 9

    What can’t be ignored is the public’s perception of what Dirty Politic’s is, and they voted accordingly. They viewed the printing of stolen emails as no better (and perhaps worse) than the content of the emails themselves. The public also questioned the motive and timing of the release of the book. If anything those behind the book Dirty Politics underestimated what the publics reaction would be when the book failed to deliver fact – only allegations and innuendo.

    • Tracey 9.1

      No, you believed mr key when he said it wasnt fact. Slater sued to get his emails back, the same ones hager quoted. You havent read the book yet here you are espousing the truthfulness or otherwise.

      The election is over now, sit down and have the courage to read it.

      Arguably the CP got votes from nats who didnt like dirty politics. If you add their percentage to the left vote you get quite a few who didnt like the revelations about ms collins, mr key and the band of nasty men and women.

      Add nzf votes in too… And you are left with 48% , cos dunne got 4500 and act about 16,000

      Now pop away and spin that.

    • karol 9.2

      Carol, try reading the linked article at the bottom of my post – where Hager talks about the election and how it was the result of the dirty politics he wrote about.

    • Craig Glen Eden 9.3

      “The book failed to deliver fact-only allegations and innuendo”

      So tell me why did Crusher resign from cabinet, why did Jason Eade disappear then resign, and why is it that the Ombudsman is conducting an inquiry? If it was all allegations how come not one thing in Hagers book has been shown to be incorrect?
      How come Journalist came out and confessed to there role in the sorry saga. What they just decided to go along with the contents in the book for…… shits and giggles.

      Keep spinning Carol.

      • Carol 9.3.1

        While you are all entitled to your views, my point was that they clearly were not shared by the majority of the wider public. If there was indisputable fact of wrong doing proven in the book National would not have been re-elected. Only two points were raised that have required further investigation, and I like most sensible people will wait on the results before commenting. Judith Collins is on public record as resigning so that she can defend ‘allegations’ of corruption made against her which she felt she could not do while still being a Minister. Let’s see what comes of this before claiming victory. If this blog is the voice of Labour, then I suggest you all conduct yourselves with a little more respect if you want people to view Labour positively when vistors come calling. We do vote.

        • Tracey 9.3.1.1

          Your concern for us is touching. This website isnt the voice of labour. I notice you didnt read dirty politics. Youmight want to read this sites policy and about us

          • Carol 9.3.1.1.1

            One of us is confused. If you google this blog, ‘The Standard’, you will see that it is identified as being ‘the Voice of Labour’. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that The Standard was the name of the newspaper that the founding Labour movement published back in the 1930’s. I also note that this blog describes itself as being committed to the values and principles of the Labour movement. Perhaps you are right, this may not be the voice of Labour as I am having trouble finding evidence of those values and principles. What I have witnessed is just condescension.

        • Tracey 9.3.1.2

          If you did vote labour, can you explain to me why you are so eager to disbelieve mr hager, whom no one has sued for defamation?

          you believed mr key when he said it wasnt fact. Slater sued to get his emails back, the same ones hager quoted. You havent read the book yet here you are espousing the truthfulness or otherwise.

          The election is over now, sit down and have the courage to read it.

          Arguably the CP got votes from nats who didnt like dirty politics. If you add their percentage to the left vote you get quite a few who didnt like the revelations about ms collins, mr key and the band of nasty men and women.

          Add nzf votes in too… And you are left with 48% , cos dunne got 4500 and act about 16,000

        • karol 9.3.1.3

          Actually there are way more than 2 issues that need investigation. Expect many of them to gain attention over the coming months.

          There’s the issue of the Ports of Auckland.

          They are alleged to have used tax payer money to slip private details about striking employees to the Whale Oil blog.

          The SIS is conducting an inquiry, there are calls for a wide ranging investigation into issues related to the Serious Fraud Office.

          Key and his office have refused to allow the media access to Jason Ede, in his role int he PM's office. Why was he hidden away during the election, then resigned immediately after it. It suggests an attempt at a cover up.

          There's other issues around Katherine Rich and tobacco lobbyists… on and on it goes.

          • Carol 9.3.1.3.1

            Thank you for your response Karol. I look forward to following the events you have mentioned over the coming weeks /months.

        • gobsmacked 9.3.1.4

          Carol, you’ve made the word “fact” mean no more or less than what you choose to believe.

          Maybe you believe the sun orbits the earth. But that doesn’t make it a fact. Just a perception. One that is disproved by evidence.

          Why don’t you look at the evidence? If you disagree with it, challenge it.

          Page numbers and specifics please.

        • RedBaronCV 9.3.1.5

          Carol If you have not read this book then please try. While it doesn’t neccessarily convert to an easy sound bite it details orchestrated campaigns of smears eminating from the right of politics preventing people doing their job properly. Yes a large part of the NZ public are probably ignorant about and the intention clearly is that they stay that way.
          And believe me , you should be very thankful the left don’t go wiping some pretty dreadful personal right wing behaviour all over the internet.

        • framu 9.3.1.6

          really? – most sensible people would easily spot the stinking fetid pile of corruption, realise the implications of it and back away

          which leads me to think you havent read it, or didnt get it

          question – do you think that “all parties do this”?

          • gobsmacked 9.3.1.6.1

            Since the misogyny and nasty abuse in the e-mails from Slater, Lusk etc is far worse than the comments on this thread that have “offended” Carol, I think we can safely conclude that she hasn’t read the book.

      • SHG 9.3.2

        So tell me why did Crusher resign from cabinet, why did Jason Eade disappear then resign

        To make sure those two people weren’t distractions during the campaign, and it worked.

  10. unaha-closp 10

    If Dirty Politics is to be believed then its ultimate success is surely the destroying of David Shearer. A Labour leader who consistently polled in the low to mid 30s, coupled with the Greens on low teens, is a real danger to the Nats. They needed to get rid of him, so they did.

    Cameron Slater portrayed him as a stammering fool, there were WO comments inferring UN links of his vintage to child sex rings and terrorism. A consistent stream of derision, soon there was a little slip in the polls and he was gone.

    Of course the funny thing is the partisan Right did not act alone, they had a lot of help from the Labour Left. This place and Public Address can take a big bow, for how effectively they destroyed David Shearer.

    Labour ended up with Cunliffe, a Left faction dreamboat. Totally unelectable as it turns out.

    • karol 10.1

      Seriously? You must have missed the relentless, and endless attacks on Cunliffe, some pedaled via WO and KB, all getting into the MSM, from before Cunliffe became leader.

      You must have missed how the likes of Hooton first talked up Shearer, then knocked him down, and are now talking him up.

      it is in the interests of the Nat smear machine to have had a changing Labour leadership throughout the last term. And they would like to see it again through this term.

      And the ABCs can take a bow for all the white anting they did against Cunliffe, via the media.

  11. Richard 11

    “Cameron Slater kind of agrees with him, but, showing just how ethically challenged he is, he claims people just don’t care.”

    I hate to say it but I sort of agree with slimy Slater – this selfish fucked-up venal little piss arsed country doesn’t care. I feel very less proud of the country I live in. In this selfish climate I can’t ever see us again standing up nationally to an issue like nuclear ships in our ports, nuclear testing, or anything to do with our environment for that matter. What does a government have to do before the country holds them to account?

  12. venezia 12

    Can someone please clarify whether or not there was a complaint to the Police about the hacking of the Labour party Website by Slater, Ede and cronies? That breach involved access to Labour Party lots of personal information like donor details, membership data, credit card details. Pretty serious stuff.

  13. dale 13

    I personally wont read Hagars book, simply because it’s one sided and he keeps lying about it. How many left supporters read Absolute Power? The real dirty stuff was hacking and stealing. The ad in the Herald means shit without the names behind it. Whos gonna sign up and give money to that. The left has learned nothing. Can’t wait for the enquiry. That’s when labour will be truly exposed to the nation. Mark my words. I have said that before and all came true.

    • framu 13.1

      so you wont read the book but you know whats in it?

      are you some sort of wizard?

      re: hacking and stealing – are you aware that national party staffers accessed information they knew was private, carried this out in secret and celebrated the fact they didnt get found out, then gave that info to a proxie in order to run personal attacks against innocent citizens?

      This is all blatantly admitted to in the email exchanges – there isnt even any conclusions or dot joining required for that one

      but your cool with it cause it didnt happen cause you didnt bother to check

      if your angry about the hacking of whale oil – who is in the employ of the current govt – who must be livid about the govt accessing AND using private info on hundreds of utterly innocent NZers

      So – heres your chance – are you in favour of the govt snooping into private data, regardless of how the data was obtained, for political gain or not?

    • framu 13.2

      and considering the inquiry is only looking at judith collins and has been instigated by a book written by someone whos not a labour member im curious how you think labour will be exposed for anything

      your talking utter shit dale – and making yourself look really stupid in the process

    • karol 13.3

      So you’ve managed to decide Hager’s book is worthless without reading it?

      Hager uses a wealth of evidence from the emails. A lot of it is supported by what actually went down on the WO and KB blogs, and they way their attacks were picked up y the MSM. It is also supported by information or statements provided by National insiders. There’s also Lusk’s statements about his own plan – it’s all out there.

      I have read Absolute Power. In comparison it’s a work of arguments stretched well beyond the evidence.

      At its core, there is the argument that Clark is a closet lesbian, who entered into a marriage of convenience,. Wishart keeps claiming that, if Clark would lie about one thing (her marriage) in her life, then she will and does lie about anything and everything. Wishart draws on such non-evidence as the fact that Clark was into Simone De Veauvoir in her younger days (weren’t we ll of that generation of tyhe left?) – and de Beauvoir was also a bit of a Sapphist….. geeze… weak, weak, weak… and then there’s paintergate, etc.

      Apart from anything elese the whole book dog whistles with homophobia. It has nothing to do with the way Clark performed as a PM, or the conduct of her government under her watch.

      Dirty Politics, on the other hand, IS about the whole MO of the Key government, and the manipulations to get him in power and keep him there.

      Wishart’s weak non-arguments focused on some irrelevant or minor things related largely to smearing Clark’s personal life. It just does not compare with the scale of manipulations, planned deceptions, and covert smear attacks that have been relentlessly carried out by the Nat smear machine.

      Things like the manipulations of SIS and SFO info, the leaking of workers personal details to Slater by Ports of Auckland during a strike – really, really corrupt and possibly illegal practices.

      So, until you’ve read Dirty Politics, and can present arguments based on its content, you’ve got nothing – just more smoke and hot air from the Nat-WO-Lusk-Ede (and Wishart) apologists.

      No wonder you don’t want to read Dirty Politics. It really shows up, not only the ethically-challenged depths of the Nats and their associates, but Wishart’s nasity use of non-evidence to join the smear attacks. And that was part of the VRWC – the advance guard of the WO-Lusk-KB smear machine.

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    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    10 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    14 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    16 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    18 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 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
    12 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
    14 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
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
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