Give the future a vote

Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, May 5th, 2012 - 93 comments
Categories: Deep stuff, democratic participation, political education - Tags: ,

One of the frustrating things about democracy (aided and abetted by systematic flaws in our reasoning skills) is that it in most cases it results in governments that are bad at addressing long term challenges. The need to maintain short term popularity (and the oppositional system that creates incentives for vested interests to spread FUD) results in governments that are unwilling to propose radical changes, and particularly unwilling to ask any kind of sacrifice from the electorate. It’s all about the illusion of short term gain. The long term pain is somebody else’s problem.

Peak oil and climate change are two big, obvious issues where most countries are failing to take the required action. Here’s another NZ case in point:

Govt must address costs of ageing – NZIER

However, New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) chief executive Jean-Pierre de Raad says the Government should be looking ahead for a way to deal with the long-term costs of an ageing population. …

He says this year’s Budget “doesn’t do anything about [long-term costs]” and while it is important that New Zealand addresses the effects of the global financial crisis and local events like the Christchurch quake, “ultimately we have to turn our minds to the long term”.

“[These are] big-ticket items that may be good politics but they’re poor economics… we will need to tackle them at some stage, and it’s better to do them sooner.”

I see the problem, but I don’t see the solution. How to we improve the consideration of long term issues in the political process? How do we build in incentives to take these issues seriously? How do we, in effect, give the future a vote?

93 comments on “Give the future a vote ”

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  1. Bemoan Riot 1
    5 May 2012 at 2:35 pm

    Alas, voters and politicians will always be self-serving to some extent.

    Education as to the importance of being involved in the political process would be a good start.

    A move to limited direct democracy on important future issues would be a good way to remove party politics from these big decisions.

    In terms of the ageing population, means/asset testing should be introduced in regards to NZ’s largest benefit, NZ Super.

    If our elderly can comfortably support themselves in their dotage they do not require the saftey net of a state pension.

    This will free up a millions to start tackling the issues of an ageing populations AND other future issues.

    • McFlock 1.1
      5 May 2012 at 3:30 pm

      Means testing pensions is simply trimming the crumbs to use for another meal.
      We need a systemic change in approach, from tax reform to more investent in social services (including education and health).

      • Matthew Whitehead 1.1.1
        5 May 2012 at 11:23 pm

        Do you have any data that actually suggests means-testing doesn’t return much more than it would take to implement?

        • McFlock 1.1.1.1
          6 May 2012 at 3:40 pm

          No direct evidence. My rationale is simply:
          Pensions are about $12b a year.
          Sounds great if we can save that much, but realistically we’d probably be looking at a quarter of that at the most.  Feck all in relation to what we need to spend in health, education, and of course in paying back government debt.
             
          Like I say – we need a systemic change in approach – including higher taxes for higher tax brackets.
           

          • Matthew Whitehead 1.1.1.1.1
            7 May 2012 at 12:32 pm

            Right, I’d agree it’s never going to return the whole shortfall in funding pensions, but it would go a long way and is absolutely worth the political capital it would take to implement.

            • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1.1
              7 May 2012 at 1:20 pm

              I disagree – it opens the door to shifting the goalposts for entitlement, in exchange for a saving that is akin to pissing on a brushfire.
                   
              Weren’t the Cullen tax cuts something like $10 billion dollars alone? That’s almost the entire pension bill right there! If we rebuild the tax base, there won’t be a fiscal requirement to introduce means testing.

  2. Jenny 2
    5 May 2012 at 2:54 pm

    How do we build in incentives to take these issues seriously? How do we, in effect, give the future a vote?

    ANTHONY R0BINS

    Well for a start we could put the income tax rate up to 75% for those earning over $1million dollars* a year.

    As is being proposed by the new prospective French president, Francoice Hollande, who is currently leading the polls over Nicolas Sarkozy.

    *(or 1million Euros equivalent)

    • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 2.1
      5 May 2012 at 4:09 pm

      What a complete non sequitur, Jenny.

      Q: How do we build in incentives to take these issues seriously?

      A: The square root of raspberry must be legalised.

      • weka 2.1.1
        5 May 2012 at 4:18 pm

        I’m sure the idea of taxing extremely rich people at 75% would incentivise many voters 😉

        • TheContrarian 2.1.1.1
          5 May 2012 at 4:43 pm

          “Well for a start we could put the income tax rate up to 75% for those earning over $1million dollars”

          Yup, that’d be a good way of making sure no one invests, prospers or stays in NZ.

          • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.1.1
            5 May 2012 at 5:30 pm

            Had plenty of investment, prosperity and people staying in NZ last time that the top tax rate was around that mark. In fact, the lack of investment, prosperity and people leaving seem to have coincided with the lowering of the tax rates.

            • TheContrarian 2.1.1.1.1.1
              5 May 2012 at 5:34 pm

              75% is less about making the poor richer and more about making the rich poorer. It becomes a penalty for success.
               

              • Draco T Bastard …
                5 May 2012 at 5:50 pm

                Nope, it’s about realising that such massive accumulation that we get from present policies is bad for the economy.

                • TheContrarian …
                  5 May 2012 at 6:10 pm

                  So the exact opposite must then be the answer?

                  • Pascal's bookie …
                    5 May 2012 at 6:23 pm

                    Strawman alert.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    5 May 2012 at 6:58 pm

                    Eh?

                    What ever makes you think that comes close to being a valid question? Some accumulation is reasonable and even sustainable. People having millions of dollars and the wealth and power that goes with it isn’t.

                    • TheContrarian …
                      5 May 2012 at 7:08 pm

                      But where do you decide enough is enough? Do you put a limit on how much someone can earn? If so how is that decided outside some arbitrary measure?
                       

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      5 May 2012 at 7:13 pm

                      But where do you decide enough is enough?

                      That would be up to the community deciding what is a reasonable living standard in relation to the resources that the community has.

                      Individualism is a dead end. We should know this by now as we see increasing poverty and declining resources.

                    • Puddleglum …
                      5 May 2012 at 8:44 pm

                      TheContrarian,

                      The whole point of a resort to democracy in decision making is that many decisions have inherently uncertain outcomes and contestable assumptions underpinning them. (Note that the decision not to tax is as ‘arbitrary’, in your terms, as the decision to tax at a certain rate.)

                      True, no-one knows the ‘correct’ value of when ‘enough is enough’, given all the value assumptions required to make that ‘calculation’. But that is not a compelling argument that no decision should be made about that amount. In fact, it’s quite beside the point.

                      Belief in democracy is the view, in effect, that even if we make the wrong decision at least ‘we’ made it – not some arbitrary individual or small group that happened to possess some incidental attribute, like wealth. 

              • Carol …
                5 May 2012 at 6:25 pm

                Maybe it would put an end to the notion that gaining a load of money for yourself is a measure of “success”?

                • Matthew Whitehead …
                  5 May 2012 at 11:29 pm

                  It seems, in fact, to be more correlated with the profession you choose, (up to a certain point) who your parents were, and who your social circle is, than actually how much you succeed by any other objective measure than simply accumulating money.

      • Jenny 2.1.2
        5 May 2012 at 5:14 pm

        Q: How do we build in incentives to take these issues seriously?

        A very good question:

        Seriously? How can Labour supporters be taking these issues seriously, when under the headline ‘Give the future a vote” Anthony is giving a sneaky plug for Labour’s version of ‘Austerity’.

        Raising the retirement age is a retrograde step which will force older workers into the workforce increasing the blight of youth unemployment, already Obscenely high. Labour by giving the wealthy a free ride, and blighting the job hopes of a generation will actually prolong the recession.

        Labour will find out, as National is finding out, and as the right wing Republican US President Herbert Hoover found out in the ’30s. Austerity will not end the fiscal problems caused by recession. Hoover the epitome of the capitalist self made man began his administration with big tax cuts for the rich and business that he had promised them in his election campaign. Hoover’s tax cuts were also on the advice of Andrew Mellon the secretary of the Treasury who had previously overseen big tax cuts for the rich under previous Republican administrations.

        Mellon insisted repeatedly that tax cuts for the well off were affordable, even in the face of the 1929 market meltdown. In a weird echo of Bill English, Mellon asserted in a formal statement to the press after the Wall St. crash of ’29, “Our estimates indicate that the government should close both the fiscal years 1930 and 1931 with a surplus,”

        However, forced by events, President Hoover had to reverse his and Mellon’s tax cuts. Further, Hoover went on to enforce the single biggest tax increases on the rich in US history, before, or since. Not even bettered by the member of America’s wealthy elite who replaced him, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who continued and expanded this new policy direction.

        • Puddleglum 2.1.2.1
          5 May 2012 at 8:48 pm

          Very good comment, Jenny.

          ‘Affordability’ (of the pension or of tax cuts for the wealthy) is not a technical matter – it is a political (and moral) one. 

        • r0b 2.1.2.2
          5 May 2012 at 11:20 pm

          under the headline ‘Give the future a vote” Anthony is giving a sneaky plug for Labour’s version of ‘Austerity’.

          huh? How do you figure that Jenny?

        • Matthew Whitehead 2.1.2.3
          5 May 2012 at 11:34 pm

          Look, I want to find a way to pay for those entitlements too, at least for people who need them. But we need to do so in a way that doesn’t punish younger New Zealanders when we have an increasing proportion of our popular getting older, and may eventually end up in a situation where we have a shrinking labour force. That’s not an easy decision to make, and it’s not just some code word for austerity. What we’re talking about is intergenerational fairness, where we don’t simply have older generations in effect stealing from younger ones by making increasingly short-term decisions.

  3. weka 3
    5 May 2012 at 4:09 pm

    “in most cases it results in governments that are bad at addressing long term challenges. ”

    Has that always been true? What happened in times like during WW2? When enough people understand the deep shit we are in, things will change. Maybe effort should be put into achieving that – educating the public about the things that will really affect them and their grandchildren over the next decades.

    • Viv 3.1
      5 May 2012 at 7:32 pm

      WW2 was a recognisable immediate threat, not an example of Governments thinking a decade or more ahead.
      But you are absolutely spot on when you suggest we should be “educating the public about the things that will really affect them and their grandchildren over the next decades”
      Unfortunately the owners of main stream media have a vested interest in the status quo and seem happy for the general public to stay blissfully unaware of the realities of climate change & peak oil and we know what’s happening to alternative sources of information (RIP Stratos & shortly TVNZ7)
      Without public pressure on politicians to consider long term issues most will focus only on the immediate future.

      • Jenny 3.1.1
        6 May 2012 at 11:51 pm

        WW2 was a recognisable immediate threat, not an example of Governments thinking a decade or more ahead.

        Viv

        Strangely, Viv, government leaders on both sides talked of consequences for their actions (or lack of action), lasting a thousand years.

        …. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour!”

        And Viv, I would disagree that WW2, or more accurately, a Nazi take over was “a recognisable immediate threat”. Many of the ruling circles inside and outside the British government were fully prepared to make their peace with fascism. Just as many leading circles in this country are fully prepared to appease those responsible for climate change. (It took a Churchill to forcefully wake the appeasers up to the very real possibility that they and their families could also become victims of fascism.)

        To give the future a vote, we should be demanding all action to fight the immediate recognisable threat of climate change. Not petty quibbling about which colour of austerity to impose necessary to maintain to maintain low tax rates.

        • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.1
          7 May 2012 at 12:33 am

          One good thing: austerity and economic decline slows down the rate of GHG emissions.

  4. Policy Parrot 4
    5 May 2012 at 4:16 pm

    There is a need for reform/fresh thinking – a Neo-Socialism if you like. Perhaps the starting point could in fact be the market system. Most democratic socialists do believe in a mixed economy to some point. Wherever the market was judged to fail (according to minimum economic, social and environmental standards), significant adjustments would be made so that these outcomes would be met.

    A lot of current bureaucratic systems have not been exposed to this type of thinking and only exist because they are the status quo, and have significant resources and personnel opposed to reform. It would be interesting to examine the original reasoning for their existence, and perhaps wondering if we could somehow do it better.

    Much of the economy however has now been exposed to this type of market forces, so we can already see where market failures and needed allieviations are required. It is important to make sure that any solutions do not lead to worse unintended consequences (i.e. the solution should not be worse than the original problem).

    Personally, the current tax system with all its holes and loopholes is certainly something that does not have vertical equity, and is thus unfair. There are some simple solutions to this which do need to be implemented if we are to have fair tax system, i.e. a conditioned land tax, in combination with a slightly altered version of GM’s Big Kahuna. Look at all the allowable deductions and make their eligibility require a positive test. A related issue is local body rates – should they be axed, and central government be required to fund local authorities on the basis of population? (be some kind of formula not exact pro-rata recognising that smaller and rural councils obviously have a higher fixed cost relative to their population size).

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      5 May 2012 at 5:46 pm

      Personally, the current tax system with all its holes and loopholes is certainly something that does not have vertical equity, and is thus unfair.

      After considerable thought on that subject I’ve come to the conclusion that there shouldn’t be tax deductions at all. The tax deductions for privileged groups that we have now is too complex to administer adequately and, by it’s very nature, allows some people to get away with not paying the taxes that they should be paying.

      • rosy 4.1.1
        5 May 2012 at 7:31 pm

        Agree it’s unfair and agree there shouldn’t be tax deductions – especially ones you can offset against other income. But imo that’s just tinkering. I agree more with Policy Parrot – there needs to be a rethink about how the tax system works.

        As it stands now wage and salary earners are paying for everyone – the poor don’t spend enough (because they don’t have enough) to cover their use of public goods and the very well-off don’t spend enough in NZ, and spend too much on GST-exempt financial services to cover their use of public goods, and that’s without ‘streamlining’ their obligations. wage and salary earners even pay to have their own jobs subsidised for a living wage.

        Labour, if not pushing for an examination of FTT should be promoting capital gains as the real estate version of GST to create a bit of understanding that mortgages and property gains don’t attract GST – so much for much-praised, complete GST system. It’s only complete if you don’t have assets.

        Basically imo the tax system is broken and the future this will become more apparent – especially in terms of GST and in the changes to gifting assets to trusts – and this must be fixed to be able to plan for the future.

        • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1
          5 May 2012 at 9:42 pm

          Basically imo the tax system is broken…

          As it was designed to be. It’s not an accident that a few people can dodge taxes through tax deductions and exemptions while the majority can’t.

  5. ianmac 5
    5 May 2012 at 4:18 pm

    Law and Order: Some countries developed long term plans involving the MSM actioning a huge drop in Crime reporting, rehabilitation of criminals, education for disadvantaged, shorter sentences, victim support, and prevention of criminal pre-cursors. They developed a nationwide ethos of support. Sweden and Finland (again). And over the next decade or so it worked to bring down the imprison rate to a fraction of ours.
    Know any politician who would step and lead? (Shearer might?)

  6. ianmac 6
    5 May 2012 at 4:21 pm

    Maybe a four year term of office would help as long as the incoming policies to develop long term plans were actioned.
    Cross party consultation and avoiding one-up-manship would help long term plans. But….

  7. Jenny 7
    5 May 2012 at 5:17 pm

    The top considerations I would suggest for voting for the future are:

    1) Serious concrete measures to constrain and limit those activities – responsible for climate change.

    2) Tax measures to reverse the financialisation of the economy – responsible for the recession, resulting mass unemployment and growing inequality and poverty.

    Other than being a palliative to appease the privileged, raising the retirement age will achieve neither.

    Instead Labour should stick to their promise to repeal the tax on fresh fruit and vegetables.

    Labour should legislate to tax financial speculation, currently completely tax free.

    Further Labour should promise to repeal National’s increase in GST to 15% and repeal National’s tax cuts for the wealthy.

    Instead of tax cuts for the rich, top end tax rates should, as being proposed by French president hopeful Francois Hollande be raised to 75% of income.

    A major investment in Green Jobs similar to Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ which was paid for by his predecessor’s huge tax increases on the rich.

    • TheContrarian 7.1
      5 May 2012 at 5:31 pm

      “top end tax rates should, as being proposed by French president hopeful Francois Hollande be raised to 75% of income”

      That is ridiculous. I don’t need the tax cut that National handed out but 75% is where tax becomes penalty. Even Belgium, which has the highest income tax in the world, stops at 50%

      • Jenny 7.1.1
        5 May 2012 at 5:55 pm

        Au Contrarian

        A great opportunity for New Zealand to become a world leader again.

        • TheContrarian 7.1.1.1
          5 May 2012 at 6:08 pm

          NZ: leading the world in penalizing success

          • Pascal's bookie 7.1.1.1.1
            5 May 2012 at 6:36 pm

            Hey bro, just an exercise in contraianism, shall we try and come up with some arguments for very high top marginal tax rates?

            Just as a way of challenging the conventional wisdom that they are simply ‘punishing success’ or ‘jealousy’ or other such blatherskite.

            It might be that the blatherskite wins, and that it really is the only way of looking at it. I fucken doubt it though.

            Right of the top I can think of two lines of thought that iopen up interesting angles for thought.

            1) marginal utility. It’s not self evident that someone who is earning a million a year will put the next dallar they earn to a ‘better’ use than someone who is earning 30K. I know that when I’m flush, for example, I’ll spend money more foolishly than when I’m broke. I think this probably happens a lot.

            2) Really high marginal tax rates will change behaviour in terms of how companies set renumeration. If a co owner knows that if they pay themselves that next million in salary it will get taxed heavily, it could well be that they decide to invest it back in the company instead. Perhaps in new plant, or more jobs, or even higher wages for people further down the chain.

            This might mean that the really high marginal tax rate doesn’t actually collect much money, but it might influence behaviour at the top end towards behaviours that generate more grwoth than just accumulating wealth at the top.

            I don’t know, I’m just riffing, but often the conventional wisdom acts like a dead end.

            • TheContrarian 7.1.1.1.1.1
              5 May 2012 at 6:39 pm

              Because you like memes…

              TL;DR

              • Pascal's bookie …
                5 May 2012 at 6:44 pm

                Sure.

                • TheContrarian …
                  5 May 2012 at 6:51 pm

                  Ok ok…I had a read and you seem to have committed an offense against the law of excluded middle argument here. Maybe not but did you consider that possibly the owner (or co-owner) might just not bother starting a business here in the first place or move somewhere with more competitive tax rates?
                   
                  *Sorry, I meant you committed a false dilemma not excluded middle argument.

                • Pascal's bookie …
                  5 May 2012 at 7:06 pm

                  ‘maybe not’ indeed. You’ll note that I used the phrase “it could well be that ” acknowledging that there could be any manner of reactions.

                  It might be the case that companies refuse to set up in places that have very high top marginal income tax rates. But if you’ll note that in the options I listed, the alternatives I thought of to paying the ceo that next million, was to either pay it to someone else, or to retain it in the company.

                  The money doesn’t go nowhere, there are places in can go to other than the government, or the already wealthy.

                  But you are kind of missing the point. I’m just curious to see if you have any contrarianism in you. I’m seeing a lot of conventional wisdom. which is fine of course, whatever rocks your boat.

            • rosy 7.1.1.1.1.2
              5 May 2012 at 7:33 pm

              btw the Brits have worked out that 48% is the optimal tax rate at the top end for a maximum collection over avoidance ratio.

            • Gosman 7.1.1.1.1.3
              7 May 2012 at 1:01 pm

              1) What is your definition of foolish spending?

              2) Possibly, but it could also encourage them to invest in unproductive areas which benefit them personally as it is regarded as a cost (e.g. flash new premises and computers). This is because any productive investment that results in a higher profit will be taxed heavily. Unless you are stating that the Company tax rate will remain low. In which case high valued individuals will just set up companies and be paid via these vehicles thus avoiding the higher tax rate.

          • Jenny 7.1.1.1.2
            5 May 2012 at 6:48 pm

            NZ: Leading the world in penalising excess. (After France that is)

            There fixed it for you. Don’t bother thanking me, Contrarian. It’s the least I could do.

            • TheContrarian 7.1.1.1.2.1
              5 May 2012 at 6:53 pm

              Who are you to decide what is excess? What gives you the moral authority to decide, if I work 12 hours a day for 20 years to work myself into a position to pay myself a cool Million per annum, that it is excessive? Who are you to decide “that’s enough”?

              • Draco T Bastard …
                5 May 2012 at 7:03 pm

                …to pay myself a cool Million per annum, that it is excessive?

                Yes. Who are you to decide that the community owes you so much?

                Who are you to decide “that’s enough”?

                It’s not “us” as an individual but the community as a whole deciding the best use for its resources.

              • Jenny …
                5 May 2012 at 7:09 pm

                There are many more who work 12 hour a day for 20 years with very little break, just to get enough to pay the bills necessary to survive, let alone raise their children in comfort and security.

                And before you say it. I don’t gamble, I don’t drink, or smoke, I work hard, but I’m still broke.

                Even if I worked every second, of every day, for a year I still would not clear “a cool Million”. I would like to suggest to you. That those who do, don’t do it with their own work, they have other people doing it for them.

                While there are children going hungry in this country. (or anywhere) I feel I have every right to decide that some are not only getting far more than they need, but far more than their deserved share.

                After many decades of slaving away for the “millionaires” I feel I at the very least deserve a pension at the age of 65.

                • Pascal's bookie …
                  5 May 2012 at 7:15 pm

                  I feel I have every right to decide that some are not only getting far more than they need, but far more than their deserved share.

                  Indeed. Everyone has the right to form an opinion, and advocate for that opinion, and try and get it through as policy. And it seems to me that society does have the right to enact policy arrived at democratically.

                  The alternatives are worse, IMO.

                  • TheContrarian …
                    5 May 2012 at 7:16 pm

                    “Everyone has the right to form an opinion, and advocate for that opinion, and try and get it through as policy. And it seems to me that society does have the right to enact policy arrived at democratically.”

                    How about asset sales?

                    • Pascal's bookie …
                      5 May 2012 at 7:19 pm

                      Of course. Why on earth not?

                      And of course, people opposed have the right to try and and stop it.

                      How far did you say you were through a post grad politics degree again?

                      This is basic stuff.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      5 May 2012 at 7:20 pm

                      We’re getting seriously democratic about them now especially considering that this elected dictatorship is trying to sell off our stuff against our wishes.

                    • Jenny …
                      5 May 2012 at 7:56 pm

                      Yes. How about asset sales?

                      A minority government that preserves it’s thin majority through Peter Dunne. Who claims that he listens to the people but closed down his own poll when it showed that the people don’t agree with him over asset sales.

                      And even if Dunne did decide to vote down this NACT rip off. The government have signalled that they would undemocratically force it through with the veto, over the objections of parliament.

      • KJT 7.1.2
        7 May 2012 at 1:10 pm

        91% top tax rate did not stop the USA becoming the richest economy in the world.

  8. Pete George 8
    5 May 2012 at 5:29 pm

    I see the problem, but I don’t see the solution. How to we improve the consideration of long term issues in the political process? How do we build in incentives to take these issues seriously? How do we, in effect, give the future a vote?

    The first thing that has to happen – ditch the partisan negative left v right politicking and build a structure to debate together and work together. This needs to be outside parliament, they won’t change there unless they are pushed to follow.

    When we have a democracy based neutral structure to work under we can start to make progress having decent discussions about long term issues.

    Otherwise we will remain opposed from habit, shouting insults from opposite sides of self built fences.

    • Pete George 8.1
      5 May 2012 at 5:37 pm

      So far most of the suggestions have been policy/political. We have to start with that neutral structure with an agreement how it can debate and make progress on issues.

      I’ve made some progress in Dunedin getting support for a part neutral part cross party collective going. What has been absent so far is any serious commitment from the left. I won’t launch it until there is representative involvement from across the spectrum.

      Are you interested Anthony?

    • mickysavage 8.2
      5 May 2012 at 8:03 pm

      ditch the partisan negative left v right politicking and build a structure to debate together and work together

      Nah Pete this has been tried many times.  The greedy rise to the top when you have a system where everyone “works together”.  The left is there to advocate for the proper distribution of resources.  Looking for some ephemeral “consensus” only means that the rich get richer. 

      • Pete George 8.2.1
        5 May 2012 at 9:31 pm

        The left is there to advocate for the proper distribution of resources.

        Very funny. Do you actually believe that?

        One of the biggest problems is when one side has the delusion that their way has to defeat the other lot and win everything for themselves. And are oblivious to the stupidity of their delusion.

        • mickysavage 8.2.1.1
          5 May 2012 at 9:44 pm

          Petey 

          1.  Yes I do
          2.  Do you believe the world’s wealth is concentrated in too few hands?
          3.  if so what would you do about it? 

          • Pete George 8.2.1.1.1
            6 May 2012 at 4:09 am

            1. I think left, right and centre should work out between them the best balance of “wealth distribution”.
            2. To an extent, yes.
            3. a) There is virtually nothing I or anyone in New Zealand could do about it worldwide.
            b) In New Zealand I’d encourage a wide ranging non partisan discussion about what to do about it, try to discourage purely selfish views (“I want to vote to transfer money from others to me)” and promote any resulting conclusions to local and national politicians.
            (It’s not for me to try and dictate my own views, that’s what a lot of commenters are getting wrong on this post).

          • Pete George 8.2.1.1.2
            6 May 2012 at 4:28 am

            Here’s part of a comment (by someone else) that I think has a lot of merit.

            The purpose of both disciplines is to serve the people who populate an incredibly diverse society. Some people are born with more, or less capital – whether intellectual, monetary, or social. That’s the nature of society. But they all have a right to inhabit the planet and live a good life, interfacing positively with the citizens around them.

            We employ our politicians to reconcile the needs of these diverse citizens in a way that allows everyone to achieve their potential. We cannot make every citizen do so, but we can offer them all the best opportunity having regard to their capital.

            The political and economic system is there to meet the needs of the people, and not vice versa. Ideological posturing by career politicians without real life experience doesn’t cut the mustard. Voters want to know what kind of society New Zealand is going to be under any specific politician or party.

            We don’t know that. That is why ordinary people are disillusioned with politicians who blindly align themselves with ideological positions and parrot dogma, rather than talk about societal outcomes.

            There seems to be a preponderance of “ideological positions and parrot dogma” in the comments on this post, ignoring what I think is the key question ask by Anthony in his post.

            • Uturn 8.2.1.1.2.1
              6 May 2012 at 9:51 am

              So if you agree with this, you are saying that everyone should go through the motions, but not only that the staus quo should remain, it should be elevated to natural law and we should all be happy about it. Enforced inequality. Smile and pat the poor on the head and say, there there, you have all you deserve. Hello Feudal NZ. Really, Pete, you are an anachronism whose time is better spent over a well filled pipe of nostalgia.

  9. lefty 9
    5 May 2012 at 5:30 pm

    Policies will always need to be contested as long as we live in a class society.

    Short term and basically mindless thinking is inherent in capitalism. The only thing that would be worse than what we have at present is if long term policies were cemented in place to deal with issues when those issues are identified through neo liberal lenses.

    The short term nature of policy making environment we are in is one of the few redeeming features of our system. At least some of the time policies can be reversed, although not often enough.For example Roger Douglas made sure we couldn’t reverse much of the harm he did, and John Keys sale of state assets will be similar.

    This post gives a very good example of the mess you can easily end up in if you try to deal with issues that have been defined by neo liberals without challenging their framework.

    What you identify as an aging population problem is in fact a problem of how we organise and reward work.

    We have not used new technology to reduce the hours of work and increase the hourly earnings of everyone. Instead the fruits of increased productivity have flowed into a the hands of a few while the rest of us end up overemployed, underemployed or unemployed.

    We have the mad situation where youth unemployment is soaring yet there is pressure on older people to keep working longer and longer.

    Silly economists tell us the way to address this is through austerity including putting up the pension age. Even sillier politicians buy into this and we end up with very one sided debates that look at the issue through financial lenses rather than analyse it objectively. This results in bad policy.

    The real answers lie in having a basic liveable income for all, free access to a good education,good pay rates and affordable housing so people don’t have to work excessive hours to pay the mortgage.

    People would soon work the number of hours that best suited them. Bosses would lose control over our lives of course, but that is as it should be.

    This is not to say long term policies are not needed to deal with issues like peak oil, climate change or incomes. It is just that it will not be possible to develop good policies to deal with problems caused by a disfunctional system until that system is changed.

    There is a way to give the future a vote. If we run a fair and just society now that will flow through to the future. But if we were to project our present rotten system into the future by developing long term policies based on what we have, we would condemning future generations to a very miserable life.

  10. Bill 10
    5 May 2012 at 5:46 pm

    Just a minor tweek, but if the opening line had read “One of the frustrating things about representative democracy is…” , then the solution to the problems posed in the last three sentences of the post would be seen to be contained in the opening sentence of the post: Democracy.

    ( Or let’s settle for fiddling with the fringes of a system that, even by the admission of social democrats, is utterly dysfunctional)

  11. Reagan Cline 11
    5 May 2012 at 6:35 pm

    I think we could improve the consideration of long term issues in the political process by

    Giving governments a longer term – more time in power to enact legislation intended to influence longer term trends. The consequences would be apparent while the government passing the legislation was still in power and this would be an incentive to introduce better legislation.

    Election rhetoric stressing the importance of long term issues to the voters.

    A career public service staffed by clever, well educated, idealists to provide policy advise to governments

    No one knows what in 50 years time historians will regard as the most important long term issues facing NZ in 2012

    Certainly there are more of us older people alive now than ever before and we will need health care and enough money to house, feed and clothe ourselves.

    What a pity so many of us did not or could not save and invest for retirement !

    So the state will have to provide, paid for from taxation.

    Increase the tax by taxing capital gains on speculative ventures, close loopholes, compulsory superannuation payments by everyone – all people over 15 contributing a summ annually to a state run investment portfolio, a fully publicly funded health service provided by salaried staff, educated at the expense of the state and bonded for life, provide incentives to live a healthier life.

    Somehow make housing more affordable – to me this is the number one long term issue.

    Finally, encourage awareness of the future as being very much a continuation of the past and foster a new myth of newzealandness.

    Not neglecting the two generations that lived here, maori women and pakeha men, before the treaty and what they taught each other and their children.

  12. Pete George 12
    5 May 2012 at 7:05 pm

    Election rhetoric stressing the importance of long term issues to the voters.

    Election rhetoric is mostly influenced by the media. They have very short term interests – advertisers and ratings.

    To change this you need to find a way of influencing a lot of people in competition with the sound bite obsession.

    • Reagan Cline 12.1
      5 May 2012 at 7:14 pm

      I was thinking about the “quick fix” carrot of asset sales which was a big election issue.

      Looking back, the Greens and Labour (I was most interested in them) did draw attention to long term issues – the Greens adverts were all about the long term.

  13. Matt 13
    5 May 2012 at 8:25 pm

    “If so how is that decided outside some arbitrary measure?”

    Uh, show me a measure of any kind which is not arbitrary. 

    • Reagan Cline 13.1
      5 May 2012 at 9:06 pm

      You can put a limit on how much someone earns obviuosly by deciding on the salary or wage level and there are established mechanisms to do that – not arbitrary but based on negotiation and legislation.

      For the self employed and rentiers some control over what a person earns is possible via market forces, rent control and so forth, also not entirely arbitrary.

      By any measure, arbitrary or not, few would disagree that the range of disposable incomes is far too wide to allow for a full range of interactions between people – reducing what can be achieved when people feel able to work together for common good .

      The rich live in fear of loss. Those from the puritan WASP tradition endure a sense of guilt requiring endless self justification. The poor are unable to afford a decent standard of living and blame the rich..

      • Matt 13.1.1
        6 May 2012 at 9:31 am

        No, every human decision, collective or individual, is arbitrary precisely because it is a human decision and not dictated or decreed by God or the Universe. There is nothing you could say about tax (an arbitrary human creation) rates or income (another arbitrary human creation) thresholds or fairness (yep) that would ever pass the ‘not arbitrary’ test. So ignore those kinds of arguments, or better yet dismiss them as amateur hour sophistry.

        • felix 13.1.1.1
          6 May 2012 at 9:48 am

          I’m not familiar with a definition of the word “arbitrary” that includes every human decision, collective or individual – I’ve always understood it to relate the absence of reason or rationality.

          Could you provide a link to a definition which aligns with your usage? Thanks in advance.

          • Matt 13.1.1.1.1
            6 May 2012 at 10:13 am

            The first definition on Dictionary.com

            ar·bi·trar·y
               [ahr-bi-trer-ee]  Show IPA adjective,noun, plural ar·bi·trar·ies.
            adjective

            1.

            subject to individual will or judgment without restriction;contingent solely upon one’s discretion: an arbitrary decision.

            Is there any human affair, any element or premise of civil society, that is not solely the product of human discretion?  

            edit: Bleh sorry, I am not sure how to make that formatting less broken.

            • felix 13.1.1.1.1.1
              6 May 2012 at 10:20 am

              That’s a fairly precise definition. It relates to decisions by individuals, and to decisions made without restriction.

              That’s not at all in alignment with your description “every human decision, collective or individual”.

              • Matt …
                6 May 2012 at 1:57 pm

                Sure it is, and it’s really a meta argument isn’t it. There is no decision one could not confront with ‘why that, instead why not this’.

                It doesn’t matter, for example, that something is the law and the judgment of the collective – laws and legal thresholds – drinking age, three strikes laws, you name it  – are routinely criticized as being arbitrary. A demarcation between individual discretion and collective discretion is like trying to decouple the value of the Yuan from the Renminbi. 

                And the notion that it is the lack of some sort of formalized protocol that makes something arbitrary does’t make much sense. The quality of being ‘not arbitrary’ cannot possibly depend on how arcane or byzantine the methods of arriving at a decision might be.

                Going back the beginning, there is no number or threshold that one could have presented to The Contrarian which would not have been met with the ‘arbitrary’ rebuttal, except for some number that he agrees with.

  14. dave brownz 14
    5 May 2012 at 11:23 pm

    Democracy is a tricky word. In capitalist society it’s bourgeois democracy. BourDem is derived from the ideology of the free individual subject in the market buying and selling commodities. That individual wants a state to protect his (sic) exchange deals so he delegates some ‘representation’ to the state to pass laws protecting his private property, contracts, etc with courts, police, army etc. He even elevates this to the idea of a ‘constitution’ which becomes the founding document of ‘modern civilisation’. 
    But this is arse about face. There is no free individual only unfree labourers and their exploiting capitalists (and some confused people in the middle). The idea of free or equal exchange is an inversion of unequal production relations. Marx called this the ‘holy trinity’ because wages, profits and rents appeared to be the equal entitlements of workers, bosses and landlords when in reality workers produce the surplus value that bosses and landlords expropriate. There is nothing fair about workers producing all three shares.
    Moreover, capitalism has reached its due date and is destroying humanity and nature (though nature entails humanity) so planning for a ‘better’ capitalist future is like buying a plot in the cemetery because there is no way that the bosses can keep their wealth without turning us into slaves again.  
    Once workers rise up and expropriate the centuries of expropriated labour back, then there is a human basis for planned production in harmony with nature. We have to do it soon or even the cemetery will be under water.

  15. Muzza 15
    6 May 2012 at 7:54 am

    When was the last time Nz had a govt that enacted policy which was in the best interests of this country?

    How long until we might have one that does in future?

    Until democracy is taken back, it will not been seen again on these shores. See the twisting by this govt over their asset sales policy, which a huge majority do not want! This is the politics we have had for 40 years now , and we will have it until people accept that the problem is, we don’t own out political system, nor the people in it! Without acceptance of this fact , Nz will continue to be hollowed out!
    The answer to Nzs future lies in people starting to accept reality, not accepting the corrupt dishonest , globally mind trained, rinsed out , brought off , souless individuals who are hand picked and then rinsed through foreign training “scholarships ” , foreign “internships” etc, then sent back to Nz to inact those policies , without any local considerations given, other than to how slowly does policy have to move in order that most people can’t see what is happening in front of them , to their country !

    Until ” society ” wakes up to some home truths, any parliament working for our country will never be seen!

  16. darkhorse 16
    9 May 2012 at 10:18 pm

    Muzza is dead right

    Perhaps we need to look back at the past thirty years to see what we have done wrong and put it right.  Labour could do great things with “mea culpa” for inflicting Roger Douglas and his cronies on us.  That is where things started to go wrong.

    Politics at both national and local level have been trivialised and diverted from the job of being in charge of the country.

    There is a complete lack of integrity and accountability and a total lack of vision.

    But worst of all the public have given up – we/they have become discouraged and disillusioned and disempowered and disgusted.  There is a singular lack of active involvement in the democratic process particularly by the young.

    http://howdaft.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/rogers-legacy-fallacy-of-economic.html 

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    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research.   “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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