Homeless coverage goes international

Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, May 17th, 2016 - 97 comments
Categories: class war, housing, national, poverty - Tags: , , ,

The Guardian has covered the Auckland homeless crisis:

New Zealand housing crisis forces hundreds to live in tents and garages

Property prices in Auckland have increased by nearly 80% in five years, leaving some families unable to buy or rent

Hundreds of families in Auckland are living in cars, garages and even a shipping container as a housing crisis fuelled by rising property prices forces low-income workers out of private rental accommodation. Charity groups have warned that, as the southern hemisphere winter approaches, most of the premises have no electricity, sewage or cooking facilities.

“This is not people who haven’t been trying. They have been trying very hard and still they’re failing,” said Campbell Roberts of The Salvation Army, who has worked in South Auckland for 25 years. “A few years ago people in this situation were largely unemployed or on very low-incomes. But consistently now we are finding people coming to us who are in work, and have their life together in other ways, but housing is alluding them.”

Auckland’s housing market is one of the most expensive in the world, with property prices increasing 77.5% over the last five years (this growth has now slowed), and the average house price fetching over NZ$940,000 (£440,000), according to CoreLogic, New Zealand.

Jenny Salesa, a Labour MP in the South Auckland suburb of Otara, says Maori and Pacific peoples are overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of Auckland’s housing crisis, and she has people coming to her office every day begging for help. “People are living in garages with ten family members and paying close to NZ$400 for the privilege,” said Salesa.

“People are ashamed their lives have come to this, and they try to hide. But you can tell which garages are occupied – there are curtains on the windows, small attempts to make it a home. And on the weekends, in the park, there can be up to fifty cars grouped together, with people sleeping in them.”

Worth repeating – fifty cars with people sleeping in them.

Salesa estimates nearly 50% of people asking for her help in finding a home are in paid employment, and many families have two parents working and are still unable to make ends meet.

So the working poor are now the working homeless. And we’re contemplating tax cuts. Brighter Future!

97 comments on “Homeless coverage goes international ”

  1. mary_a 1

    Yes, I read this. Sent to me by an overseas relative.

    NZ’s shame …

    • Julie mach 1.1

      Correction- John Key the Sly Minister Jackal -HIS Shame!
      He has been systematically disembowelling our country since the Greedy Elected him.

  2. Colonial Viper 2

    In feudal times the lords of the land had a responsibility to ensure that their serfs were properly housed and fed.

    Ditto for the days of the American slave plantations.

    In these improved modern ages that’s not even required.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.1

      Ditto for the days of the American slave plantations.

      Actually, they didn’t. There were no rules about the ownership of slaves in the US and, as Adam Smith points out in the Wealth of Nations, the way that they were treated was absolutely atrocious.

      It’s a pattern that’s repeated throughout history. Ownership tends to bring about the worst treatment of the thing owned rather than the best treatment that the economists and National types say it brings about.

      • Chris 2.1.1

        And part and parcel of that is the increased difficulty of being able to even convey this to the wider public in any meaningful way. The AAAP must be applauded for achieving this. No mean feat these days unfortunately.

    • vto 2.2

      That is exactly why it is often pointed out it is cheaper today for an employer to pay minimum wage than it is to keep a slave..

      minimum wage is cheaper than a slave

      Fuck the National Party and all its members – what a bunch of c#@&s

  3. esoteric pineapples 3

    Without mass house building, a strong capital gains tax and most importantly a ban on foreigners buying NZ property this speculative market has no where to go but up – with unlimited funds overseas acting as the wind beneath its wings.

    Auckland will become a city with half its houses empty or with very few inhabitants and the other half crammed to the max.

    • Colonial Viper 3.1

      Need strong limits on what banks can lend on a house as well, to prevent house price inflation ping pong.

      • mikes 3.1.1

        And a ban on companies owning residential property. The only reason a company would own a residential property is to avoid/evade tax. If a real person’s name is down as the owner of the property it is much easier to keep track of.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.2

      +1

    • b waghorn 3.3

      Another there term of this government and we will have slums and shanty towns on the margins of Auckland

  4. Bill 4

    So according to Campbell Roberts of The Salvation Army, homelessness is kind of okay as long as it’s only people who fit a homeless stereotype that are homeless. Seriously, what the fuck was going on in his head that he could say –

    “This is not people who haven’t been trying. They have been trying very hard and still they’re failing,” said Campbell Roberts of The Salvation Army, who has worked in South Auckland for 25 years. “A few years ago people in this situation were largely unemployed or on very low-incomes. But consistently now we are finding people coming to us who are in work, and have their life together in other ways, but housing is alluding them.”

    Which reads to me as….

    So, it used to be if you were homeless it was because you were …what?…lazy? Whatever, they didn’t have their shit together and they were failures and well, nobody cares too much about failures. They should have tried harder. But they didn’t try harder and that was why they were unemployed or doing low paid jobs and….yeah, fuckem. Now though…now we have the deserving poor winding up homeless, and well….that’s a different story. Now the situation isn’t acceptable – nosiree, it’s not!

    • Colonial Viper 4.1

      Well, you could read it that way but my pick is that he’s deliberately informing an otherwise ignorant middle class NZ of the severe level of economic rot that has set in underneath them.

      • weka 4.1.1

        And it’s rising.

        Could also be that he’s using language to speak to a certain audience but he does use some phrasing. I wonder how a house eludes someone. Like the house is the agent in all this.

      • jcuknz 4.1.2

        +1 CV

      • Bill 4.1.3

        Tell me how he’s not saying that a certain amount of homelessness is ‘normal’ or okay – as long as it’s confined to those people whose state of homelessness is to be considered (by people like him) an acceptable situation…an understandable situation…a self inflicted situation, because they are (at least in Mr Roberts’ world view) feckless, or addicts, or variously and otherwise those consigned to the pigeon hole marked ‘Society’s Detritus’?

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.3.1

          well, it is capitalism, so a certain amount of homelessness and destitution is “normal”…

        • Gabby 4.1.3.2

          ‘A few years ago people in this situation were largely unemployed or on very low-incomes, so it served them right.’
          That’s what he said, eh Bill.

    • McFlock 4.2

      Concern for the “deserving poor” are the low hanging fruit for social assistance agencies. A bit like how pandas and elephants get the international news when they’re endangered, but frogs and insects don’t get so much.

      On the one hand it gets some attention to the problem. On the other hand, it reinforces the prejudices.

    • b waghorn 4.3

      Oh ffs Bill the guys on your side , this is why people mock the left.

      • Bill 4.3.1

        No. The guy’s not on my side. He supplies a reasonable example of the Salvation Army’s institutional mentality or reasoning. And it’s deeply conservative, disabling and disempowering.

        edit. McFlock’s comment above kind of puts it in a nutshell.

        • b waghorn 4.3.1.1

          When homeless people were mainly made up of the mentally ill and addicted did the sallies turn a blind I to them or did they help?

          • Bill 4.3.1.1.1

            Not, for example, if there was a whiff of alcohol on them. Not, for example, when they were unionists getting hounded by the state at the turn of the 20thC. Not, for example, if they were pregnant young women.

            Those falling into the first category got and still get turned away.
            Those falling into the second were often variously run out of town, jailed, hanged or exiled.
            Those falling into the third category had every vestige of dignity stripped from them and had to endure years of systemic, cruel shame being meted out while they remained incarcerated in Salvation Army ‘mother and baby’ homes.

    • Gabby 4.4

      It reads to me as, it used to be that having a job meant affording a home. Now, not so much.

      • Rosemary McDonald 4.4.1

        “It reads to me as, it used to be that having a job meant affording a home. Now, not so much.”

        Me too.

        Let’s not look a “blast the 100% pure image out of the water opportunity” in the mouth ….?

        Another dirty little secret outed.

    • mikes 4.5

      I would say he’s pointing out that it used to be people with little or no income who were homeless but now it’s more and more of those who are earning a bit more.

    • Irascible 4.6

      He is saying: Once those were living in garages and in the conditions reported were those who were unemployed or on very low incomes, not necessarily fully employed, through no fault of their own Now we’re seeing the working poor being reduced to living in the slum conditions revealed. The working poor are those in full time employment but not earning enough to meet the demands of rent, utilities and food.
      He is not condemning either group.

  5. mary_a 5

    And here is NatzKEY gobshite Larry Williams’ solution. Let’s build some high rise ghettos!!!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11640144

    • tc 5.1

      Another enabler of the neoliberal con job along with all the other ZB red necks trying to pass themselves off as ‘reasonable’.

  6. johnm 6

    An in your face indictment of Neoliberalism and the greed society whose main standard bearer is Key. So, you asked for it you got it: a total massive failure of the political system to care for their fellow kiwis, they didn’t because they are all corrupt self aggrandising rubbish. It’s so far gone I wonder why I bother any more. NZers have been told this for decades: they still vote them in. !?:-(

    • AmaKiwi 6.1

      “Well actually, at the end of the day, I’m comfortable with the Guardian article ’cause whatever those socialist crazies say is the opposite of what I would ever think of doing.”

      “If the Wall Street Journal had written it, I might consider it. Maybe.”

      “Nah, just kidding.”

  7. AsleepWhileWalking 7

    Max Key shares a post on the housing market. Gets sarcastic and nasty replies.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11640164

    • b waghorn 7.1

      Interesting , maybe there is hope for young Max.

      • ropata 7.1.1

        because he laughs at people living in cars / tents / garages / rough ?

        • b waghorn 7.1.1.1

          Oh shit that’s embarrassing I thought he wrote the bit about destroying the housing market. Must pay more attention.

          • North 7.1.1.1.1

            I am absolutely delighted that Key Jnr has mouthed off. It will add to a growing consciousness about daddy and activate many votes against daddy which otherwise might not ever be cast.

            Shitty little Barbara Hutton punk he is. You wouldn’t be well advised to go strutting South Aux, Maxi. The place where a homeless child is only one at most two steps removed from everyone living there.

            http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11640164

          • ropata 7.1.1.1.2

            it was a good tweet and i shared it too, but didn’t make a joke about it like Mr. Maximillian Key

    • tc 7.2

      The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree except it lacks decades of training and experience in masking real agendas with slippery con artist techniques.

      Carry on max and show everyone what you’re really thinking, it suits you sir.

      Hope the msm shills try and spin this as unwarranted abuse for a diversion to draw attention to it.

  8. jcuknz 8

    I bawk at “even a container.
    So long as this useless government, instead of insisting on nice three bedroom houses with all mod coms* do not take up the container concept with several units clustered around a central abolutions block. I spent my first three months of National Service in the Uk living in a ‘spider’ … six dormitaries each housing twenty of us around a central block.
    Seems perhaps we need Judith Collins to put a bomb under housing and make some progress .. didn’t she suggest that to house prisoners? A modification for homeless singles and families should be easy to organise and build…. in the past years I have seen several suggestion for container holiday homes ….. so long as they are insulated and double glazed windows.
    A lot better than bridge, garage or plain container.

    * and letting builders build four bedroom luxury homes because that is where the profit is … shame on Fletchers for saying building prefab, whatever, would be uneconomical. But do National have a social conscience?…. yeah right a Tui.

  9. jcuknz 9

    Stupid bloddy site stopping me posting ……

    [Not sure what happened there to delay the original comment, but I’ve removed the duplicate. TRP]

  10. Daveosaurus 10

    1789:
    Peasants: We have no bread.
    Marie Antoinette: Let them eat cake.

    2016:
    Peasants: We have no shelter.
    John Key: Let them stay in motels.

    • Colonial Viper 10.1

      Dunno whether to laugh or cry

    • Sabine 10.2

      can i steal that 🙂

      • Daveosaurus 10.2.1

        My bit isn’t copyright, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s been dead since 1778 (eleven years before the French revolution, so how he managed to put his words in Marie Antoinette’s mouth is anyone’s guess), so go for it.

    • ropata 10.3

      I interpreted JK’s comment the other day to mean that homeless people ought to camp out in the WINZ office and carpark???

      • dave 10.3.1

        i have a better idea

        homeless need to park there cars on john keys street nice wide verges for the tents there also nice park area at the end of his road
        there idea for campaign flyer’s with maps address and location of john keys house for the homeless iam sure john key will welcome his new neighbors lets take it futhier and target all natz mps

        • ropata 10.3.1.1

          +1 yep. Seems the only way to make MPs do their job is to surround Parliament like they did in Iceland

        • North 10.3.1.2

          Reminds me of when at the height of the Dawn Raids the Polynesian Panthers I think did a dawn raid on the house of Bill Birch or maybe it was George Gair, at about 4.30 in the morning. Megaphones, powerful lights. Whichever Tory it was was just mortified. “How dare they……at this hour !!!”

          Reckon it would be in order. For the War on The Poor and the hatred and the libels and the demonisations. And the front pages of The Guardian and the Washington Post.

        • AmaKiwi 10.3.1.3

          @ Dave

          “homeless need to park there cars on john key’s street”

          Nice idea BUT we have to do it. People in dire poverty do not have the fight in them. It’s OUR job to do it with them.

          • WILD KATIPO 10.3.1.3.1

            THAT idea… has merit.

            And it could be organised easily enough. It could be done on a rotational basis for two weeks or more outside of every Nat MP’s residence . Even as has been said… in the parks nearby. Let them see it , let them feel it.

            Tangible and proactive .

            A great big fat long line of cars right outside National party MP’s and the PM’s residences. One night a week or more if you are so inclined. Park up, bring your sleeping bag and your alarm clocks. Think of it as similar to the Occupy movement.

            Something for University students, Unionists , relatives of people in those situations, Poverty Action groups, and any and all concerned and angry citizens. Including those thinking of their children’s and grandchildren’s futures in this country.

            And John Campbell doing interviews of people who have to live rough as well as those who are demonstrating. Then have that flicked to The Guardian in the UK.

            Its time to hammer the far right.

            These globalist neo liberals want to play rough ?

            Lets give em rough by sleeping rough.

            Sleep rough for one night a week.

            • The lost sheep 10.3.1.3.1.1

              These globalist neo liberals want to play rough ?

              Yay sock it to them Kat!
              Look fwd to reading about your ‘sleep rough’ hammering!

              Where will you be doing yer first one? (Just so i know how to tell it’s you by the media coverage)

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                Were you also a nasty sneering piece of shit when you voted Labour?

                • The lost sheep

                  That’s rich. Coming from someone whose sole contribution to this blog is scorn and abuse.
                  It’s pricks like you that made me stop voting Labour. I’m not the only one obviously. With people like you around Labour just ain’t a fun place to be anymore.

                  • One Anonymous Bloke

                    A Green voter turned you into a sneering treacherous Quisling? Boo hoo.

                  • vto

                    “With people like you around Labour just ain’t a fun place to be anymore.” ….

                    with people like you around New Zealand just aint a fun place to be anymore.

                    It is people like you and National Party members who vote for Key and his ilk and principles who are the scum of the country, voting in and maintaining policies which lead to the likes of the homeless….

                    shame on you piece of shit

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      Well said vto.

                      They know it too: hence the sneering at their betters.

                    • jcuknz

                      Unfortunately it is language like yours both here and on Kiwiblog which put sensible people off completely … I am reminded of school humour … “You must be one to know such words” … scum etc.
                      Forget the pointless war on John Key and stay with the problems which are crying out to be fixed instead of miniscue tax-cuts.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      @jcuknz

                      Just to be clear, is it my disgust at Sheep’s nasty sneering or the use of the word ‘shit’ that makes my comments a war on the Prime Minister?

            • Julie mach 10.3.1.3.1.2

              Excellent idea!! Start a fb group with this idea 🙂

  11. dave 11

    good misery shouldn’t be hidden new zealand dirty little secrets should see daylight

  12. Treetop 12

    A short while ago on RNZ a mother with an 8 week old, 3 year old and a 7 or 8 year old will be tufted out of a motel on Monday. Think $1600 has been loaned by W&I for a 2 week stay in a motel which has to be repaid. Not sure if the same woman, but the next available appointment is 30 May to see W&I for housing assistance. I thought a person had to be seen within 24 hours in an emergency.

    Is living in a car with children not an emergency?

    What a bad start in life for a young baby on many levels. It offends me that the PM allows families with small children to not have stable affordable accommodation. There is no EXCUSE that I am prepared to listen to from the government for causing this type of situation again and again.

    It is an insult to everyone who requires emergency accommodation that extra funding will not be available until September (the 41 million package and a week in a motel which does not have to be paid back, the criteria for this has not been seen by me yet).

    Housing New Zealand is BROKEN, it does not do what it is there for.

    I am very ashamed to be a New Zealander.

    • AmaKiwi 12.1

      @ Treetop

      “Housing New Zealand is BROKEN”

      No, they are following orders, like paying a $118 million dividend to the government.

      Their boss is to blame, not those trying to do a job their boss wants them to fail at.

  13. logie97 13

    Have heard it said that there are property owners in Auckland who have purchased and “banked” lots of houses which are now unoccupied – presumably speculators. Well perhaps it’s time WINZ or Housing Corp started identifying these properties and advising the owners that they will be sending prospective tenants around.

    • Treetop 13.1

      At least these empty houses would do some good were squatters to occupy them. I would start with the empty HNZ properties.

      • Treetop 13.1.1

        There is no way of telling if a HNZ dwelling is P contaminated.

        Breaking and entering is an offence. It would be awful were police cells to be filled up with squatters and families separated.

    • AmaKiwi 13.2

      logie97

      Another suggestion. How about any house that is unoccupied for 3 months shall be seized and made government property!

  14. As it happens, I’ve got a car for sale on TradeMe. After four weeks, I still haven’t managed to sell it. Should I switch the listing to the real estate section?

    • Pat 14.1

      drop a line to Nick….he may have a use for it in one of his special housing areas

    • ropata 14.2

      who knows, cars could be the next speculative bubble. most of them are parked up doing nothing and housed better than a lot of people.

      NatCorp™ priority #1 is a billion $$$ for new motorways so trucks can go faster. Housing the poor? Sorry, must have misplaced that policy

  15. Treetop 15

    Correction turfed.

  16. Whateva next? 16

    Perhaps Mr. Key will listen to the overseas media more than he will NZ? He spends so much time elsewhere, I think it’s worth a shot

    • AmaKiwi 16.1

      @ Whateva next?

      “Perhaps Mr. Key will listen to the overseas media”

      No, he won’t. One of characteristics of highly successful people is that they don’t care what others think. They are single minded.

      The founder and owner of iTeka furniture is one of the wealthiest people in the world. He lives in a rather ordinary house and buys most of his clothes at second hand shops! Warren Buffett is similar (1st or 2nd wealthiest American).

      Empathy is not a stopping place on the road to riches or power.

      • whateva next? 16.1.1

        he still likes to look cool in front of the big guys though….maybe he thinks this is cool?

  17. John 17

    Vote National for a brighter future they said in 2008 and 2011 and then in 2014 vote National because we are working for you. All bluff and bullshit. What will their line be in 2017. National working for the 1%ers and stuff the rest. Instead of tax cuts fix the housing, health, education and infrastructure problems etc etc.
    Come on Labour lets be hearing you

  18. Anne 18

    National’s strategists are hastily stitching together a new housing initiative as we speak. It will be delivered in the Budget next week and it will sound impressive. But in reality it will only be superficially beneficial and things will not improve. Paula Bennett, who has been refusing interviews on the subject, will front on what she will be wrapping around (a favourite, meaningless expression of hers) the new policy. It will be hailed by the MSM as a welcome new initiative and the Nat’s weekly focus groups will accordingly record a change in direction in the govt’s favour.

    • AmaKiwi 18.1

      @ Anne

      I hope and pray our MSM reporters are presently researching ways to increase social housing rapidly and economically. There are plenty of options.

      The reporters know what the government will say. Is it too much to expect them to be ready with tough questions?

    • Treetop 18.2

      Not quick enough for the 8 week old baby I mention above at 12.

      Key and his focus group need to go and hold the baby and put themselves in the families shoes and ask themselves how to prevent a mother from having to be burdened with a $1600 preventable expense?

  19. Just Me 19

    We here in NZ have a person(called John Key)who would much rather visit a crumpet factory than a homeless area. Next Key will be saying about the homeless of “Well let them eat cake…”

    We are now having a ‘carrot’ dangled in front of us with Key promising(yeah right)tax cuts next year. The thing about a Key ‘promise’ is it holds absolutely no volume or intention(by Key)to see it through. I can say we have had on the receiving end of so many broken promises by John Key that we must take whatever he promises prior to an election with a punch of salt.

    And so Key will claim the economy is doing oh so well whilst in reality(not on toilet free Planet Key where he firmly resides) people are living in difficulty. When people have to live and survive in vehicles then something has gone seriously wrong with this country over the past 7 1/2 years.

    I am sure Bill English will be applauded by Key & co for a “Budget Surplus” of say $345million. About the same amount a Chinese businessman spent at the Skycity casino over a long period of time. And so whilst Key & Co allow in the rich into NZ with no questions asked they have conveniently and probably deliberately forgotten about the poor outside of electin time.

  20. vto 20

    Why are National Party people so miserable?

    Why do they not care for their neighbours?

    I have come to the conclusion that National Party members are nasty horrible bastards who deserve no respect, no kudos, no nothing. They deserve to be shat on the head and pushed out of the community.

    • Treetop 20.1

      The next election cannot come soon enough for me.

    • Bob 20.2

      “Why do they not care for their neighbours?”
      That’s the problem, they do care for their neighbours, I bet all of their neighbours properties have close to doubled in price while they have been in power and the neighbours are ecstatic.

      The issue is, their aren’t enough Nats living in the areas that are being most effected by their (and Auckland City Council’s) lack of urgency/lack of any sort of coherent plan.
      Something needed to be done 3 or 4 years ago, it wasn’t, I now feel the left will fall into power at the next election on the back of record low voter turnout (no-one will want the Nats, and at this point no-one seems to want Labour or the Greens either). I just hope Labour manage to have some policy together to address the issues in time for the next election!

    • I have been saying this about Conservative(National) since I was 14yrs old and now I’m 85 . My conclusion like the Lefties song”When will they ever learn .

  21. Plan B 21

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=1164

    Abolish Auckland city limits – Labour

    Labour seems to be working it out. Great work.

    • Gabby 21.1

      How does that work re the responsibilities of neighbouring local bodies?

    • McFlock 21.2

      Hah, I think you meant this recent Brian Rudman article rather than the announcement that rod and rachel had split in 2000.

      Last 4 digits of the objectid had dropped off your link 🙂

    • Kiwiri 21.3

      Such a cunning plan. Genius from Labour’s most effective shadow minister!
      Slow, surely and steadily extend Auckland to 268,021 sq km and problems will be solved. Pooofff!
      At the same time, replace Zeal with Auck and we’ll have a new name for the country.

  22. FiFi50 22

    We can get people into homes without the pesky banks but it needs the majority of the public on board and ready to help. No one would ever need to borrow for a house from the bank again only the rich because they can afford it.

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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 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
    11 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
    13 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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 ...
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    5 days ago
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