Health service funding

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 25th, 2014 - 62 comments
Categories: health - Tags: ,

Not that you’d know it from most media coverage, but National has been steadily cutting funding to health and education in real terms (not keeping up with inflation and rising demand). Today yet another doctor broke:

Orthopaedics chief quits, slams health board

Orthopaedic surgeon Associate Prof David Gwynne-Jones has resigned as Dunedin Hospital’s orthopaedics clinical leader, citing frustration with the Southern District Health Board. … ”We are now performing significantly less joint replacements than the NZ average despite our increased demand.” …

Relationships had come under strain because of the lack of resources. …

Last night, patient services medical director Dick Bunton said the board’s managers should not be seen as the ”ogre”. Funding pressure was driven by the Government.

At a Dunedin North candidates’ meeting that I attended there were plenty of angry questions from the audience for the local Nat. The situation in Dunedin hospital is dire, and no doubt other hospitals are the same. Welcome to the brighter future.

62 comments on “Health service funding ”

  1. Chooky 1

    What a pity the surgeon did not resign well before the Election..so as to make health funding an election issue

    The day before the Election ( Friday September 18) on the front page Christchurch Press was a National Party advertisement.

    ‘5 Reasons to Party Vote National’

    1.
    2.
    3
    4.Better healthcare and Teaching
    5.

    Lets hope the Christchurch Press examines this lie in detail …but I doubt they will. (I also doubt radionz will investigate this issue or television)

    ….another reason why the umbrella Left must have its own radio station and newspaper

  2. Jay 2

    I was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma about two months ago, and at present am undergoing chemotherapy. The standard of the treatment I have been and am receiving is nothing short of superb. In fact I constantly find myself humbled by the amazing men and woman working in medicine in nz, all of whom are completely focused on my wellbeing and on getting me fixed up. I am also humbled by the amount of money my country is pouring into getting me better so I can live a bit longer, I expect my care and treatment will exceed the total tax take of my income and spending over my lifetime. It has made me very very grateful, and believe it or not am filled with an urge to get back to work so I can pay nz back, and help pay for others who are in my situation or worse. Now that I have learned what being and feeling sick is really all about, I also find myself far less tolerant of able-bodied people who don’t or won’t contribute to our society, and those who take our health system for granted. I don’t know what is going on elsewhere in nz,but hats off to Auckland Hospital and all the amazing men and woman who are looking after me, and thanks to all of you who’s taxes are paying to give me my life back.

    • adam 2.1

      Best of luck Jay – and yes our medical profession are quite amazing. Socialised medicine, what a great thing that is.

    • higherstandard 2.2

      Thank you Jay.

      That’s a great post, all the best.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 2.3

      “I got treatment, therefore this doctor is wrong”.

      I hope you get well Jay, and can you ask the doctors if they can do anything about your logic deficiency while they’re at it: it’s affecting your hate levels.

      • tinfoilhat 2.3.1

        🙄

      • greywarbler 2.3.2

        @OAB 9.01
        It is one thing to be relentless in critiquing comments, it’s another to misread them and then critique that. And this person is ill. And could do with some kindness. Are you sick with something OAB? Perhaps you need kindness too.

      • adam 2.3.3

        *tickles* OAB then *Hugs* OAB. Now that over – *slap* OAB .

        Pick ya battles FFS.

      • infused 2.3.4

        Ah oab. Proving to everyone what a piece of shit you really are.

        gg.

    • AmaKiwi 2.4

      Good luck, Jay.

      A few years ago Obama and that rich Republican Mormon were having a presidential debate. The rich guy boasted, “America has the best health care system in the world.” My partner, who is in that profession, started rattling off America’s pathetic health statistics on infant mortality, recovery from strokes, life expectancy, cancer treatment, etc., etc.

      Yes, our system works. But then American’s are good at being delusional. I read on The Intercept that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner (Obama) is now bombing his 9th Muslim country (Syria). I’m sure it’s all in the cause of peace.

    • Richard@Down South 2.5

      Best of luck… I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1997… touch wood, still clear

    • Simon 2.6

      Nice post Jay, but I think this comment is problematic ‘I also find myself far less tolerant of able-bodied people who don’t or won’t contribute to our society’.

      The question is how do ‘you’ determine able bodied. I’m guessing that when you say ‘less tolerant’ you mean that you make judgements about the ‘abled-bodyness’ of some individuals. The problem is many individuals may appear to be able bodied when they are in fact not. Unless you know someone , and in fact, know someone very personally, you will not be in a position to make an inference such as this.

      I work with people who have had stroke(s) TBI’s etc. and many of them probably appear outwardly ‘able-bodied’, but in fact their cognitive problems or mental health problems means that they are unable to work (in most cases, despite wanting too).

      So in sum, I think that you have to be careful about making judgements/inferences about others, regardless of your own profound experience of cancer, and the NZ health system.

    • Murray Olsen 2.7

      I got diagnosed with liver cancer about 3 years ago. Three months ago I had a liver transplant. This was all in Australia, which still has a decent health system. Looking death in the face and surviving the experience because of the doctors, the nurses, and the working class Aussies who built the health system is an experience that has made me far less judgmental and more tolerant.

      On the day that there are two jobs available and one unemployed person in Aotearoa, and that person doesn’t want to work, I’ll think “Ah well, the work can wait.” Until then, I am intolerant of governments that plan an economy with a 5 or 6% unemployment rate, and of people who talk about those who “won’t” contribute.

    • greywarbler 2.8

      Jay 8.30
      Be careful in your stream of consciousness outpouring, including this statement:
      Now that I have learned what being and feeling sick is really all about, I also find myself far less tolerant of able-bodied people who don’t or won’t contribute to our society, and those who take our health system for granted.

      There are a lot of us – retired people who take the health system for granted. And some of us might retire at 65 or even 67, and then live to 99. That is one-third of our lives when we may not be earning. And we are likely to be quite able bodied until in our 80’s. Were you thinking of us when you made your critical judgment about those ‘not contributing to our society’. Is volunteer community work contributing? Or does it need to be paid work, as the health system does need lots of dollars?

      So don’t go making sweeping statements as you have, without thinking about the whole picture, and trying to understand what the government calls ’employment’ and ‘wages’ in its statistics, which often fudge the real figures through what they decide to count.

  3. yeshe 3

    Nats making a case to plunder the Cullen Fund and probably ACC funds as well …. and causing such suffering.

    Welcome to a tighter future.

    And with Lusk’s two tobacco boys safely installed in parliament now, watch for a dilution of many health and wealth protections. Gruesome.

  4. BM 4

    Unfortunately there’s only so much money to go around.

    Can’t just keep raising or creating new taxes either.

    • stever 4.1

      Even if that’s true (only so much money…) let’s talk about who it goes to, and why.

    • adam 4.2

      BM, from the right who raised g.s.t. From the right who gave a tax cut to the rich, then borrowed money to balance the books. Far out man, you wonder why people on the left look at your comments and shake their collective head.

      Any other t.i.n.a expressions of wisdom you want to impart. Any other pearls of the narrow ideological trip you’re on, you want to bark?

      I love you man, I really do – when capitalism finally burns up all the resources and there’s bugger all left – drop me a line, will find something for you to do.

    • minarch 4.3

      “Unfortunately there’s only so much money to go around.”

      because its all been “trickled up”

    • Foreign waka 4.4

      It will get ever so interesting. NZ has currently a distribution of wealth whereby 10% own 50% of all wealth, 45% have to carry the major tax burden and 5% counting as the very very very poor. With this further deteriorating, I think the 10% will have to pay more.

      • BM 4.4.1

        Expecting a boom time for tax accountants?

        • Foreign waka 4.4.1.1

          Well, it already is so otherwise this out of kilter distribution reminiscent on the 16th century Europe would not hold water. The worst part is that a lot of funds are being siphoned off to offshore accounts and people who do this truly belief that they are in the right. How distorted must the world view be to get to this conclusion? How sad and small those people really are.

    • AmaKiwi 4.5

      “Unfortunately there’s only so much money to go around” and the Nats are wasting it by parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

      My partner see numerous poor people who cannot afford to get treatment and pay for prescriptions when their ailments are in the easily curable stage. For lack of free government services they wait until it gets really bad. Then YOU, @BM, have to pay $700 and more per day for them to go into hospital.

      It’s called “preventative medicine.” The Nats ain’t interested in it. Cunliffe and the Left are.

      @ BM some advice: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Did they leave that out of your economics lessons?

    • Andrea 4.6

      ” Can’t just keep raising or creating new taxes either.”

      Why not?

      Petrol and similar taxes. GST. Catching the sinners buying goods overseas and dodging tax here. Oh, there’s plenty of slop in the system yet.

      An offence to the mainstream middle New Zealanders? Hehehe. Smile, wave, ignore, rinse and repeat. They’ll LOVE it.

    • greywarbler 4.7

      @ BM
      The country could just charge us so much per comment to increase tax, like putting money into a swear jar. And you would be getting charged along with all of us. And you would gladly pay because you love telling us how we are wrong.

    • tricledrown 4.8

      blind monetarist why don’t we run the health system on a Cullen fund idea initially we all pay a little more but when the fund reaches a point where returns a high enough then we won’t have to pay any taxes
      we could run the whole of Govt. using this model
      kiwi-saver could be expanded to be a self funding model for the whole of Govt.!
      time for a rethink on the left!
      National and ACT have won the war on neo liberalism !
      The majority of New Zealand that vote have aspirations to be wealthy one day Most will never attain that goal but dream they will so are happy to play along with the neo liberal propaganda!

  5. Jay 5

    Thanks Adam I should be alright. Not counting on letting old anymore though!

  6. dv 6

    BM
    Nat Debt clock
    88,964,425,200

    Interest
    $4,358,741,701 per yr

    Shame about the tax cuts?

    • BM 6.1

      Shame about the WFF and the interest free student loans and the DPB and the dole and all the other hand outs people now expect.

      I have no problem with the people who provide the income for all the above services to get a small break.

      Lets be honest, it’s not like that money is being stashed in a mattress, it’s out their keeping people employed.

      • repateet 6.1.1

        I’m looking forward to getting home from my employment to count my tax cut. It’ll be easier to understand than 88,964,425,200. Which won’t be 88,964,425,200 any more of course, it’ll be closer to 89,964,425,200 by then.

      • AmaKiwi 6.1.2

        “it’s not like that money is being stashed in a mattress, it’s out their keeping people employed.”

        Building highways that will create ever larger traffic jams, urban congestion, CO2, and dirtier air. Brilliant.

        I wonder how much Fulton Hogan donated to Key.

      • dv 6.1.3

        BM The small break was about 1 billion

        Heard of GST BM?

        How come SFC got bailed out?
        Tiwai pt?
        Solid energy
        Joyces radio stn

        etc

        • Rob 6.1.3.1

          This is a reply to dv in 6.1.3

          SFC

          So what would have happened if SFC did not get bailed out, remember it was actually Labour that brought in the original finance company protection scheme as they could also see the risk to the predominately baby boomer population as well. The damage that has been done to baby boomer investors in the very unregulated financial investment markets through Labours last years will probably become the defining summary of that Govt. National probably did not have a choice but to extend the scheme as they could see the huge societal risk as well.

          Tiwai Point.

          It will probably be gone in 2017 as I think that is when the next round of electrical negotiations come around . It will also probably mean the end of of regional Bluff as a contributing and growing city. You want to keep people in employment in the regions?

          Solid Energy

          Yep too many tries at loose innovation, particularly in Bio oils and the like. Bloody expensive and risky to get that type of innovation successfully commercialised. Management team did spend money like drunkin sailors on new initiatives. History shows that they should have kept to their core business of mining coal.

          Joyces radio station.

          So you would like the whole commercial mass media market to reduce to one player and one voice. You complain about compliant media now, imagine what that model would have looked like.

          • dv 6.1.3.1.1

            My point was that BM was one eyed in terms of who got help from the govt.

            It seems to me BM can’t have it both ways.

            However the SCF case is smellier.

            These are notes made from a Paul Caruthers video from memory may be 2- 3 weeks ago, source from a DimPost comment by Victoria Adams

            Interesting that video has now been taken down.

            It is a 25 min listen.Some key pts from memory

            The notes

            English and Key renewed the Govt guarantee the day after they got into power against treasury advice

            The got Hubard to put a couple of his own valuable company into SCF – scale and helicopter line(?), which he did willingly.

            Lotsa comments made that hubbard was fraudulent- thus reducing the co value!!
            Day after the assets were transferred? they charged him with fraud

            Powers ‘illegally’ used an act to freeze the assets

            Westpac got quite a lot from the Govt under the guarantee
            Power moved to Westpac
            Sold the a very valuable asset (Scales) to Keys next door neighbour (across the rd) for 44m
            Later listed the next year on stock market for 144m?

            And when Hubbard died in the crash, he had a court case pending against the govt.
            Apparently the autopsy reports and all the file re the the case are sealed!!!

            • Sarah 6.1.3.1.1.1

              Those comments are just so far out of touch. Paul Carruthers means well but timing is all out .

              Allan Hubbard place assets in to SCF 28 Feb , the same day the anonymous complaint was written (and originally said to have been received at secom). 28 May Hubbard resigns within days the George Kerr equity is changed to Debt (more cost to Taxpayers aka compliments of MOF Treasury) and the inspectors are only then sent in to Aorangi (given the compliant was acknowledge 28 Feb)

              SCF was accepted in to original GG on the day Key took office, but PGGW and Marac were the first entities accepted …. that is the key to all this.

              The value of hubbard’s assets were talked down in media – as another company did and noted in media with it share value prior to rights issues but for different reasons, one to successfully recap the other to destroy the company and reap assets at firesale prices

              AH died one week out from a court hearing that would have likely seen him released from Stat Management . He was the day he died to sign a deal that would ensure investors would deal with Tur Borren and others rather the Managers that now have stripped aorangi alone of $12 million plus in fees, that Aorangi was never INsolvent is a crime in my opinion given the consequences of the action taken against the Hubbard’s.

              A number of valuable assets ended up firesaled and Govt got some assets – Scales the biggy but much worse and hidden amongst non transparency.

              Hubbard was stoned to death basically by media via parrots of power without a trial and is still on trial via SCF – Media was well used by regulators especially SFO and off the record with a certain media in Timaru, frequently as OIA show and inside information- that should be proven in an investigation and someone held to account. This affair stinks to high heaven , the only consolation is the fact that George Kerr appears to be facing a lot of scrutiny now via three different issues – so maybe just maybe people might begin to follow their noses back and see where the smell began regards SCF…

              • dv

                Thanks Sarah.

                I really don’t know much about SCF. And that may show in my comments

                BUT my basic thesis is that it was smelly, and you appear to agree with that.

                What is your reaction to the sealing of autopsy report and the case agin the govt.

                Is anyone investigating,

      • minarch 6.1.4

        “Lets be honest, it’s not like that money is being stashed in a mattress”

        nope it stashed in the Caymans, the BVI, Bermuda, The Cooks, Labuan

        take your pick, theres plenty more !

      • Foreign waka 6.1.5

        With the wealth distribution getting more and more out of kilter, many more people will get angry. Rhetoric about benefits will not help as the rich take more and more advising the ones the take from to eat cake. God help NZ.

        • BM 6.1.5.1

          Families with 1 kid who earn 50k pay basically no income tax, more kids you have, the more money you get.
          Quite a few receive more money back than what they’d pay in tax.

          That doesn’t seem particularly fair.

          The irony of those same people bitching about the more well to do paying their fair share is not lost on me.

          • Liberal Realist 6.1.5.1.1

            “Families with 1 kid who earn 50k pay basically no income tax, more kids you have, the more money you get.
            Quite a few receive more money back than what they’d pay in tax.

            That doesn’t seem particularly fair.”

            Your argument is moot BM. Why does WFF even exist? Because wages in NZ are too low to support a family with. If workers are paid a fair, livable wage then WFF wouldn’t need to exist.

            “The irony of those same people bitching about the more well to do paying their fair share is not lost on me.”

            And before you’re tempted to lump me in this group, no, I do not have children. I’m well into the top tax bracket and do not have any problem paying my FAIR share of income tax.

          • Richard 6.1.5.1.2

            Whole things cock eyed BM, why is there WFF, a bribe for voters? Why are wages so low families need assistance. Why compulsory pre schooling, why forcing mums back into work. Why do families have to both work was a time when one earner was enough to keep a family.

            There’s a lot of questions BM that’s just the Tip of it. However if you want to talk, lets talk without the party blinkers on. Because I’m telling you the fact is all parties are to blame for the mess we are in, and National is currently taking that to new heights whether you care to admit it or not. If you think another ten years of Keys idea’s, and everything will be swell your more deluded than a loony left conspiracy theorist.

            The only thing I see going on, is rich people praising keys top tax cut and making employee’s a cheaper outgoing for which they have no respect for.

            You expect everyone to treat you(the company owners, Nationals support base) with respect because business makes the world go round, but actually pass on higher wages for increased productivity and profit?, not unless your forced too, lets argue that point.

            Trickle down my ass,
            Show me trickle down that’s not a fairy story.

            You want the working man to respect National start treating US with a little fucking respect.

          • Foreign waka 6.1.5.1.3

            Why would you say that a family with 1 kid does not pay income tax? Any money claimed in income tax would be refunded after a year of trying to make it through the year. If you break it down, the income is 25k before tax per person. You are aware of the living costs these days? Daycare assistance is $ 4.00 per hour at the highest rate for 20 hrs. Childcare can cost up to $400 per child per fortnight (perhaps even more). The organization for Economic Development has found that NZ spends on average 28% of income on childcare – the fourth highest in of 32 industrialized countries – and this was 2 years ago. So lets revisit that income of 50k – and reduce this to 36k for a starter, not even inflation adjusted. I hope you see where this is going?

          • Occam 6.1.5.1.4

            Not true. We are a single ‘taxed’ income family, my partner earns $59 K. I earn a reasonable tax free income (post-grad scholarship),so doesn’t count for WFF.

            We have two kids and don’t receive any WFF. In our case the cut-off is about $80k, at which point we would get about $7 p/week.

            So in fact you are totally wrong.

          • tricledrown 6.1.5.1.5

            families on $50,000 pay way more Gst than single people they also are bringing up a new generation of taxpayers so we want them to be healthy and successful our low end wages are not enough to pay for all of the needs of a family!
            now you will say they don,t deserve to breed ,now you are fighting nature

      • Occam 6.1.6

        DPB doesn’t exist anymore. It’s sole parent support till the kids are 5 then job seekers.

        Dole also doesn’t exist, it the job seekers.

        Student loans are only interest free if you stay in NZ. Outside of that ex-students pay above market rates (7%).

        Keep in mind that every dollar that the govt lends out in a student loan they get 15c back straight away with GST.

        Plus grads typically earn more, so pay more income tax and GST over their lifetime, cost less in terms of health system, justice system, and have kids that are more educated/healthy and so on saving the govt a huge amount of $$ over their lifetime.

        Carry on with your ignorant rants thought….don’t let me stop you!

  7. tc 7

    A senior ENT surgeon confided to me earlier this year they are being driven mercilessly to breaking point by administrators and management obsessed with numbers.

    He’s considering retiring even though he’s got many years left in his globally experienced hands but he’s shattered after years of it.

  8. AB 8

    We are in the USA right now getting what we believe (after long investigation) is world-leading neurosurgery for a child with cerebral palsy.
    The treatment is not available in NZ and not funded. Total cost for us is about NZ$130-140k. Luckily our extended family can help us to afford it. Other NZ families are doing it via public fund-raising.
    It seems likely to me that this procedure will become in time the preferred ‘standard of care’ for certain types of CP, at least in the developed world.
    But given that the intense cost-containment focus we already see in NZ is likely to intensify under National, I can’t see most NZ kids with CP having this option available to them.
    The silly thing is, I suspect that proper health economic analysis would show that it makes sense in pure economic terms because of surgical treatment avoided in later life and reduced future dependency on health services generally.

    It is this sort of decline in our healthcare from first world status we are going to see with National. Those of us with enough money will get by. But I despair for everyone else.

  9. KJS0ne 9

    My theory is this, they will continue to cut public healthcare over their 3rd term, with the express purpose of trying to kill Universal free healthcare. At some point they’ll turn around and say: ‘Look, see public healthcare just doesn’t work. The only way to bring NZ healthcare into the 21st century is to privatize it.’

    Then they’ll proceed to institute a system similar to the USA. Their corporate lobbyist mates will cream their pants, retiring Nat MPs will get cushy jobs in return for supporting the change and lots of money will be made at the expense of the New Zealand public.

    Money has no place as the driving force in healthcare. I support private option to work as competition to public healthcare, but universal free healthcare is the only way to prevent profits overtaking the hippocratic oath. The USA system of healthcare only benefits the rich, and it leaves an underclass of uninsured former middle class people who have had to sell their houses and entire life savings and borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars just to pay for their medical expenses. Many people who do not have, or cannot afford health insurance die each year as a result. Even a lot of people who have basic healthcare insurance die because their healthcare insurance doesn’t provide the best care necessary. When the ‘wallet biopsy’ is performed in the ambulance, if the card isn’t good enough they get sent to a mediocre hospital with mediocre doctors who cannot provide the same level of care that one would receive in the top tier institutions.

    Monetizing healthcare just creates another dimension of inequality. Sometimes I get the feeling the corporates just see us as crops to be farmed. We are the trees upon which the money grows, and their job is to harvest it. It’s not too far removed from the machines harvesting human energy in the Matrix.

  10. StarSpangledBallet 10

    SDHB (formally Otago and Southland DHBs) has had financial challenges through periods of significant funding growth and lower funding growth. For most of the time of the DHB model, the area has run financial deficits. The area has a history of over intervening in terms of specialist and institutional services relative to many other areas of the country. They need to get their own business in order relative to the funding they receive through the equity-weighted population-based funding formula.

    • Andrea 10.1

      “They need to get their own business in order”

      Look: the answer is actually absolutely obvious. Isn’t it.

      It is dazzlingly clear they aren’t paying their top management enough salary and incentives to rein in those stroppy medics trying to improve their skills and care for their clients/patients.

      Do you suppose a little 10% tweak would be encouraging? Too meagre? But these are Hard Times…

      😛

  11. Michael 11

    Labour has only itself to blame for this state of affairs: it lost the Party Vote in both Dunedin electorates and even managed to lose the votes in the University booths, for the first time in living memory. It did so as a result of offering a timid, pusillanimous, National-lite policy platform that convinced no one. I frankly doubt whether the caucus is (a) interested in, or (b) capable of, reconnecting with the Party’s base, in which case it is doomed to irrelevance and slow political death. I’d really love to believe otherwise but the spectacle of the caucus shredding the stock of political capital that I, and many other people, spent years building up in and around Dunedin, tells me Labour is now terminally fucked.

    • r0b 11.1

      Factually incorrect, Dunedin North won the party vote for Labour (albeit by a tiny majority which may be overturned by specials). But Labour + Green demolished the Nats in Dunedin North.

  12. whateva next? 12

    It’s inevitable, they have hacked all other government departments, and sure as night follows day, it’s the health service that will have it’s turn now, just like Thatcher did…Key has done everything else she did, why are we surprised?

  13. Occam 13

    In 2013 the Govt gave ADHB an extra $10 mill for elective surgeries on the proviso that they push through a large number of easy and cheap surgeries, so that the govt can make the claim that they have achieved an increase in elective surgeries through the ADHB system. The ADHB agreed an completed the surgeries and met the targets.

    In 2014 they tried the same thing but the ADHB told the govt that there wasn’t enough ‘easy/cheap’ surgeries left (only challenging, expensive ones) to meet the targets for the $10 mill. The govt decided not to fund.

  14. AsleepWhileWalking 14

    Under funding of health has to lengthen time spent on benefits, coincidentially those that are by the governments own research have bee increasing in numbers for the last few years.

    When a client is signed onto either the Jobseeker + medicial dispensation (previously Sickness) or the Supported Living payment he government is paying for a resource.
    In the absence of proper health funding this resource is going to be wasted in many cases.

    PATHS is limited in funding and only funds health related expenses that have a clear nexus with working. If you need longer term or complex intervention you are out of luck, or more specifically out of funding.

    Tis a real shame for everyone involved. Perhaps it is now time to look at the two together before allocating budgets.

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    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    8 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    11 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    14 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    16 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    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 ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    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
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology â€“ 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 DĂŠjĂ  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
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    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
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 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
    11 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
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
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