Gould on the TPP

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, October 8th, 2015 - 59 comments
Categories: capitalism, Globalisation, trade - Tags: , , , ,

Yet another excellent discussion of the TPP yesterday:

Bryan Gould: Dairy tariffs still in place – why did we sign TPP?

Now that we are at last allowed to know a little more about the TPPA negotiated in our name, it is clear that the free trade goal that was said to be the main point of the exercise has not been achieved. Tariff-free access for our dairy produce into US, Canadian and Japanese markets has been denied to us.

Such small gains as have been secured are so insignificant that Tim Groser, the Trade Minister, could not even remember what they were. The best he could come up with was a small reduction over time in the Japanese tariff on cheese.

So, if the TPPA is not from our viewpoint really about free trade, what is it about? As Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, maintains, it is about managed, not free, trade – and trade that is managed in the interests of large, international, and mainly US corporations.

It represents, in other words, a further, large, and largely irreversible step towards the absorption of a small economy like New Zealand into a much larger economy – an economy that is increasingly directed from overseas, not by politicians or even officials, but by self-interested and unaccountable business leaders.

Perhaps the most obvious indication of that further shift in power is the Investor/State Dispute Resolution provisions included in the TPPA. These provisions allow overseas business interests to sue our government in specially constituted tribunals if they feel that the government has done or is likely to do something that might adversely affect their profits.

A democratically elected government carrying out its mandate, could – in other words – be compelled by a tribunal comprising just three unelected business people from overseas, to abandon its legislative programme and thereby give up a major power of self-government.

How can we have confidence in an arrangement that has been agreed in secret and over our heads, that has at the same time taken such care to consult and serve the interests of such a small group of powerful international business leaders, and that potentially has such a far-reaching impact on our ability to govern ourselves?

Plenty more in this excellent piece, go read the whole thing in The Herald.


Bonus from cartoonist Rod Emmerson:
Emmerson TPP dead rat

59 comments on “Gould on the TPP ”

  1. Paul 1

    Evans cartoon
    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/08/malcolm-evans-tppa-2/

    In World War 2, New Zealanders died to protect our sovereignty. Now we have a PM who will trade it away.
    Sad days.

    • infused 1.1

      How is it being traded away? Or is this just more of your usual bullshit?

      • Tricledrown 1.1.1

        So we can’t stop non residents buying and speculating on land without throwing out the whole agreement.
        Confused .
        It’s Dogs breakfast.
        Pigheaded rwnj’s defending TPpa like lemmings.
        Confused you have been Trumped!
        The Donald had come out against the agreement.
        At least someone on the right has bucked the rights lemming sheepish following fetish.
        It takes a Dead Cat to expose a Dead Rat.
        T

      • Steve Withers 1.1.2

        You’d know if you were paying attention. This isn’t new. “Con”-fused.

    • Steve Withers 1.2

      Been saying it for years. They are the “Multi-National Party”. We should take them to the Commerce Commission for false representing themselves as pertaining to New Zealand primarily. Just about everything they have been doing is directed toward creating business openings here for multi-nationals….at the expense of locals.

  2. dukeofurl 2

    It seems that Middle east sandstorms have been beneficial to the anti TPP supporters as they have kept Key from pushing his lies and distortions a few days longer.

    Just wait till he arrives home and goes into full frontal bullshit.

  3. Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 3

    I find the Investor/State Dispute Resolution provisions most concerning. It seems to me a stick that capital can beat labour with.

    The TPPA introduces a foreign body into our sovereignty that will forever change governance in NZ. Not only will foreign corporations have a power over our government like never before. But domestic vested interests aligned with foreign capital will have a new tool to stop unwanted progressive movements wanting to solve important social problems -the housing crisis, obesity, global warming and so on.

    The likes of Mathew Hooten are already lining up the argument that NZ hasn’t lost its sovereignty but the choice is either agreeing with the pro- corporation Investor/State Dispute Resolution Provisions or leave the TPPA. How often in the future will the likes of Mathew be encouraging foreign companies to threaten to take a progressive NZ government to this unaccountable court so they can then tell the public you can have trade or you can have progressive social policies but you cannot have both.

    To me this is the true cost of the TPPA. I wouldn’t sign it. I hope that the public gets a real debate on this. That Labour doesn’t automatically fall into behind the Tories. Really a decision like this needs the mandate of a referendum or general election.

    • AmaKiwi 3.1

      Investor State Tribunals: The individuals who have been injured should be the judges, not corporate lawyers.

      Example: NZ decides to tax sugar. CocaCola sues. The case is decided by a panel of people with diabetes.

    • Steve Withers 3.2

      The good news is that this is the same reason many Americans don’t like it either. If they hate the UN as usurping their sovereignty, they should DESPISE the TPP tribunals.

  4. Nigel Gregory 4

    The main thrust of this deal from the US standpoint is the pharmaceutical industry and their push to export drugs.

    High drug costs are a huge issue in the US with the Obama administration arguing high drug prices in the main benefit the US economy as export profits outweigh the negatives of high domestic prices.

    The TPP from a US view is specifically designed to make drugs more expensive.

    https://medium.com/@jamie_love/tpp-designed-to-make-medicine-more-expensive-reforms-more-difficult-e6a94a5d4a18

    Anyone who does not feel Pharmac will be the victim of a death by a thousand cuts is not being honest with themselves in my opinion.

    • AmaKiwi 4.1

      More Americans die each year from addiction to prescription pharmaceutical company made opiate-based pain killers than die from cocaine and heroin combined.

      Grosser negotiated with corporate murders. Key thinks it’s OK for murderers to dictate rules to us!

  5. Bob 5

    Ha! So in June Bryan Gould is complaining about our reliance on Dairy:
    “The warnings that some of us have voiced for some time about our dangerous dependence on a single commodity are, sadly, proving all too accurate. The slump in world dairy prices has exposed the unwelcome truth that our apparent good fortune depends substantially on just one price for just one product – and we now know that the milk powder price will not remain consistently at its recent high levels.”
    http://www.bryangould.com/chickens-coming-home-to-roost/
    And now in October he is complaining about opening up alternate trade opportunities, with not enough being done for dairy!

    • Paul 5.1

      Bob. Shill for the 0.01%.

      • Bob 5.1.1

        That’s right, pointing out hypocrisy is being a shill.

        Are you still stuck on conspiracy theories around fat taxes? Or have you actually done some reading now?
        http://www.tpp.mfat.govt.nz/assets/docs/TPP12%20summary%20of%20the%20Agreement.pdf

        • Paul 5.1.1.1

          Attack the messenger Bob

        • Tracey 5.1.1.2

          If you like pointing out hypocrisy Bob your finger smust ache when addressing National’s.

          Remember when Groser and Key said they wouldn’t enter a deal that wasn’t great for dairy?

          Because I am nothing but generous, here is a link to several hypocrisies which you will enjoy

          http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2015/10/07/gordon-campbell-on-govts-favourite-crony-serco-and-the-tpp/

          “The nadir of yesterday’s TPP coverage would have to be the claim by Crawford Falconer, Kathyrn Ryan’s RNZ Nine to Noon star commentator on the TPP, that investor-state disputes “certainly aren’t targeted at countries like New Zealand.” Rubbish. Here’s the Toronto Globe and Mail on two examples of huge ISDS losses inflicted on Canada in this year alone.
          As mentioned previously in this column, the Canadian government was deemed liable in the Bilcon case when it sought an environmental impact review of the effect of a quarry that it had agreed to in principle:
          The Bilcon decision [which has laid Canada open to a $300 million damages claim] has raised a number of concerns about the investor-state dispute settlement provisions that are commonplace in international agreements, ranging from the North American free-trade agreement, to the Canada-China foreign investment agreement, to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership currently under negotiations.
          A dissenting member of the panel – University of Ottawa law professor Donald McRae – warned that the ruling represents a “significant intrusion” into domestic jurisdiction and will “create a chill” among environmental review panels that will be reluctant to rule against projects that would cause undue harm to the environment or human health.
          There is a growing concern in legal circles that the arbitration panels are expanding their mandate – including substituting their decision-making role for domestic courts – and that they cannot be appealed, Toronto trade lawyer Larry Herman said Tuesday. The Bilcon decision “will feed ammunition to those who oppose international arbitration as a form of dispute settlement,” he added.
          It’s the second high-profile NAFTA loss for Canada. Last month, Ottawa was ordered to pay Exxon Mobil Corp. and Murphy Oil Ltd. $17.3-million after a NAFTA panel ruled that Newfoundland and Labrador had violated the trade agreement by imposing retroactive research-spending requirements on its offshore oil producers.
          It remains to be seen whether the final ISDS wording in the TPP will remove the expectation of profit as a grounds for liability. If it doesn’t, New Zealand would indeed be liable to exactly the same Bilcon-style cases, if it subsequently chose to seek an environmental review of a foreign investment that it had greenlit.”

          • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 5.1.1.2.1

            Tracey I would recommend ignoring trolls. This post is too good to be a reply to some useless bastards who will probably not even read it let alone reply in any sort of intelligent way.

            Promoters of the TPPA point to the increase in trade over the coming decades. Which even they admit will be a small percent of sweet bugger all. But what about the increasing costs as social problems are not fixed? When the corporates use ISDS to stop progressive movements campaigning on social problems. Who will pay for the unresolved -housing crisis, rising healthcare costs, obesity that continues to worsen, environmental degradation….. ?

            If the TPPA had been in force 20 year ago. How would it of affected NZ. Would we have Pharmac and KiwiBank? Would we have been able to save KiwiRail and Air NZ? What other impacts would it of have?

            What things will it prevent in the coming decades and what cost will that impose on our society?

          • Matthew Hooton 5.1.1.2.2

            Why would the fact a company tried to sue Canada (a G8 economy) mean that ISDS are likely to be “targeted” at NZ?

            • Tracey 5.1.1.2.2.1

              Why would John Key think that a company that would sue Canada or any other country under such provisions wouldn’t sue NZ?

              Ohhhhh it’s because you are saying we are too small and nothing-ish, right? Which kind of makes it odd that we would have got a great deal from the TPP negotiations given we are seen as insignificant, right? We got scraps right? Which is whty Aussie (not a G8 country) got the US to concede on some medical provisions, but not us, and why Dairy was infinitesimal?

            • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 5.1.1.2.2.2

              Because people like you will invite them to. Whenever there is a progressive movement that Tories like you don’t like. You will manipulate the situation so you threaten the government being sued due for breaching (in Tory-world opinion) the TPPA.

              • Tracey

                The OIA process will become important too. IF corporates can suggest to governments that a particular Bill will make them sue unless it is softened off “here” and “here” then we won’t know what influenced the changes unless we can get OIA’s

                • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal

                  Ultimately we need a Lange type political leader who is willing to stand up and say that corporates are part of society not above it.

                  That it is madness to put governments in a choice between supporting humanity in the form of supporting progressive movements in the public interest or supporting corporates in the form trade. That doing both should always be possible.

                  Much like Lange supported humanity by saying it is madness to say the only way to promote peace is by supporting the inhumane nuclear destruction of MAD.

                  • Tracey

                    Yes but in the end Lange couldn’t stop the march of the corporate ideologues

                    • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal

                      Yes we would need a new Lange without Roger and his gnomes.

                      This could be a defining test for the progressive left. To unite behind the traditional humanity values of the left. Or be split into a Progressive left camp and a Tory-lite pro-corporate camp.

            • Anno1701 5.1.1.2.2.3

              Because we are a soft/easy target

            • NZSage 5.1.1.2.2.4

              Oh dear Matthew, I find it incredulous that you are touted as a “Political Commentator” when clearly you are devoid of any political nous and incapable of thinking outside of the “right” field.

          • Steve Withers 5.1.1.2.3

            Canada can be clever.

            You pay Bilcon the $300 million……and then never let them do anything in Canada ever again.

            Like the US does……conjure up a fatuous reason to declare them a terrorist organisation, sequester all their assets for “racketeering” and “money laundering” and extradite their execs. Bad form to question a ‘good faith’ application for extradition for such serious crimes.

            Bu-bye.

        • infused 5.1.1.3

          Paul’s an idiot. Best to just ignore him.

          • Tricledrown 5.1.1.3.1

            Confused.
            Schaudefraude.
            Put some facts on the table put up an argument.
            That’s right you don’t have any.
            Pathetic.
            The TPPa is dead in the water the US,Canada and Japan will not have anything to do with the TPPA.
            Negotiations are nothing more than a Junket for has been washed up politicians.
            By the time you add up the negative costs which are large and funnily enough reported in the MSM on an annual cost several hundred millions.
            Added up over the 25 years when the socold benefits acrue.
            The costs add up to more than the benefits.
            No benefits to Dairy sheep or Beef industry.
            It’s the emporers new clothes purveyed by flimflam Conmen.

          • b waghorn 5.1.1.3.2

            Says the pathetic piece of shit who attempted to derail farewell from the job post to a sick women. Fuck off and die

    • maui 5.2

      A rather facile insight.

    • KJT 5.3

      Because that was touted by TPPA propagandists as the main benefit to New Zealand of signing.

      Even Key/Groser etc were claiming they would not sign, without “meaningful movement” on dairy.

    • Tricledrown 5.4

      Bob you have shot yourself in the foot saying Bryan Gould says our economy is to reliant on 1 commodity milk.
      Then you point out how Bryan points out Dairying will not not benefit from the TPPA.
      Bob you remind me about the joke what’s the name of a drowning man,Bob.
      Bob you have drowned in your own argument.
      Bryan Gould is right about the futility of reling on one or two commodities.
      As it can leave to exposed as the TPPA shows!
      Rwnj’s shallow thinking exposed again
      Footnmouth disease no pun intended but I’m milking it,I couldn’t be Grosser.

    • Steve Withers 5.5

      No…he’s saying this was the reason the government gave us for being in the TPP….and they didn’t achieve it.

      Learning to read with comprehension will aid your understanding enormously.

  6. wyndham 6

    The TPPA is largely about the US asserting a presence in the Pacific region as a counter to the increasing Chinese influence in the area. Simple as that and will be the only reason that TPPA will pass in the Congress and the Senate despite all the hot air politicking from the likes of Trump.

    • Nigel Gregory 6.1

      Agree with your sentiments but would add the push towards US corporate hegemony as well, especially big pharmaceutical companies.

      Trump is a buffoon.

      • Tricledrown 6.1.1

        Trump has come out strongly against the TPPA.
        Yes he is a bafoon but his rhetoric has put an end to any chance of Congress ratifying the TPPA.

    • AmaKiwi 6.2

      “US asserting a presence in the Pacific region”

      No. It’s about US corporations replacing elected governments.

      What’s this awesome “Chinese menace” NZ faces? My freedom is not endangered because I buy Chinese products at the Warehouse.

  7. vto 7

    Gould highlights why the entry into this is invalid.

    The government simply does not have the ability to change the power of our vote like that.

    Simple

    Invalid

    • dukeofurl 7.1

      Its time you woke up to what our current system is: we are a representative democracy, which means once elected our representatives ( especially the government) can pass any laws they like. And for trade agreements, very few laws need changing, the rest is by diktat.

      Did you think we had a sort of Icelandic Athling passed down over centuries of citizens getting together.
      Well hello.

      • vto 7.1.1

        Oh yes you are correct the government can pass a law to cancel all future elections

        how silly of me

        • AmaKiwi 7.1.1.1

          Legally they could.

          Read about how all civil liberties were suspended during the 1920’s watersider strikes. Chris Trotter had a frightening piece on it a few months back.

          You could be arrested for giving food to the family of a striker!

          • Chooky 7.1.1.1.1

            The NZ opposition parties have to come out swinging over the TPP

            Thus far it seems NZF has been most vocal…so they will get my vote

            • dukeofurl 7.1.1.1.1.1

              At least they are consistent, voted against China FTA too.

            • Steve Withers 7.1.1.1.1.2

              Chooky: So the media decides who you hear and how much…….and then you vote on that basis?

              Amazing.

        • weizguy 7.1.1.2

          Parliament can pass such a law. Whether it would receive royal assent is an interesting question.

          • dukeofurl 7.1.1.2.1

            It would be done in an instant. They literally cant refuse, its a myth that they have discretion at all.

            “There is no longer explicit statutory recognition of a power to withhold the Royal assent, as there was in the previous law. [9] This was omitted in 1986 as being unnecessary. It was felt that to re-enact it then (when New Zealand’s constitutional rules were being restated in modern terms) might suggest that a personal discretion was vested in the Governor-General. But even with the omission of any express statement of the power to refuse to give the Royal assent, it remains the case that a bill does not become law until signed by the Governor-General in token of assent. [10]

            A refusal to assent would be a remarkable – indeed a unique – event in New Zealand. No bill presented to a Governor or a Governor-General has ever been refused the Royal assent in New Zealand, although two Acts were subsequently disallowed by the Sovereign (in 1855 and 1867) under a procedure which no longer exists.
            http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/how-parliament-works/ppnz/00HOOOCPPNZ_281/chapter-28-enactment-and-publication-of-acts

      • Tricledrown 7.1.2

        Demockery.
        Duke.
        Govts take head of popularity polls .
        Otherwise known as the greasy pole.
        When nearly 80% of New Zealanders are against the TPPA.
        Our pole dancing PM will move policy to where the votes are.
        With out anything like a decent deal for Dairy and Agriculture National won’t get any support for the Sell out they have negotiated.
        Big economies can opt out Delay opening their market’s while small economies like ours will have to wear their decisions like the Australian’s did to our Apple growers.

      • Steve Withers 7.1.3

        There are democracies and then there are democracies.

        If you subscribe to the Tory view that a government is an elected dictatorship….I guess you’re correct according to that view.

        If you subscribe to the view that we elect representatives with whom we have an ongoing conversation throughout their term……then you can’t possibly be correct.

        Under First Past the Post we tended to have more of the former.

        Under MMP we have tended to have more of the latter…..simply because a government that wants to survive needs to be paying attention to the views of the people they represent.

        The days of elected dictatorship – should be – well behind us now. Someone tell National.

  8. Murray Simmonds 8

    Julian Assange, interviewed on ‘Nine to Noon” this morning, referred to “LAWFARE” – a term that was new to me. Furthermore he linked it to the Trans-Pacific Trade negotiations. So I tried to find out a bit more about Lawfare. There’s quite a good definition of it on Wikipedia, but the link below gave a rather more interesting account of what its all about:

    http://www.thelawfareproject.org/what-is-lawfare.html

    What stood out for me was a list of five goals of modern-day lawfare, the second of which is (Quote)

        “ 2. To delegitimize the sovereignty of democratic states”

    The Radio NZ Interview:
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/286406/julian-assange-talks-to-radio-nz

    • Chooky 8.1

      Thanks I missed that interview

      • Steve Withers 8.1.1

        It’s a good one except for the couple of occasions the interviewer reveals she hasn’t done her homework and plagues him about the Swedish legal issues and “why don’t you just walk out of the embassy and face the” Swedish charges?

        He’d already told her the UK planned to extradite him to the US regardless of the outcome of the Swedish case. He had already also explained he wasn’t charged with anything in Sweden. They were engaged in a preliminary investigation – which had been concluded, and then re-opened by a politically partisan prosecutor.

        Other than that….it was very interesting.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 8.2

      ‘The highest art of warfare is to subdue the enemy without fighting…willful ignorance of this is the height of inhumanity…’

      Sun Tzu, c. 500BCE

      “Lawfare” has been around for a little while now.

  9. Chooky 9

    This is the nature of the corporates we are dealing with behind the TPP…white collar criminal tax evaders

    ‘Top 500 US companies keep $2.1 trillion where tax collectors can’t get it’

    https://www.rt.com/usa/317839-top-usa-companies-trillion-overseas/

    “The top 500 US companies retained $620 billion that would have otherwise been taxed and spent by the government by using overseas bank accounts, according to a report from Citizens for Tax Justice and the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

    “At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014,” the report states. In total, the 500 companies keep about $2.1 trillion in tax havens outside the US, most often in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

    So-called “offshore” profits often don’t leave the US economy, however. The money is still circulating within America, just under the name of a registered foreign subsidiary of a US company. The report’s conclusion is that the real problem lies in too many loopholes resulting in too little government revenue.

  10. Rolf 10

    ”We” did not sign the TPP, Key did, to remain in the ”Club”. He is just a lackey to Washington, does whatever he is told to do. People always say, we are a part of Asia, so let us trade with Asia. Dump USA.

  11. tracey 11

    According to professor Kelsey the 3.25% gain of dairy into Canada is NOT NZ’s gain but is the total gain for all 11 nations. Until the full text is released we won’t know our share. The Government does though. So, if Kelsey proves right(basing her views on reading what other nations are writing) and in fact we are sharing part of 3.25% then the Government will have been deliberately misleading. If she is wrong, it is cos she was not permitted access to full details while the Government picked and chose according to its spin strategy.

    “Canada granted new quotas phased in over 5 years: a 3.25% share of annual dairy production, with most directed to value-added processing (not what New Zealand produces). That is for all 11 members; we don’t know how much of that NZ got.”

    – See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/07/must-read-sober-reflections-on-the-tppa-deal-and-why-we-need-to-keep-fighting/#sthash.9hgyGp3d.dpuf

  12. Murray 12

    Brian Gould claims that the TPPA is managed trade not free trade. I suggest a name even closer to the truth would be rigged trade. The TPPA is certainly not free trade. I once heard it claimed that in free trade there is no need for free trade agreements. With the environmental problem that is perhaps an over simplification but it is nowhere near as much a repudiation of the truth than to call the TPPA a free trade agreement.
    I believe inappropriate exchange rates are at least partly responsible for trade problems between countries. In many if not all countries there are far more people who purchase imports than produce exports. There are therefore in democracy more votes for an over-valued currency than an under-valued currency. One consequence is that countries that have strong democracies tend to have over valued currencies with consequential low economic growth and high and increasing external debt and I believe with only a few exceptions the statistical evidence supports this opinion.

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  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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 ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 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
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days 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
    4 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
    6 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
    7 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
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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