In face of share market meltdown, Govt’s options limited

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, August 26th, 2015 - 55 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, bill english, debt / deficit, Economy, housing, john key, tax, treasury - Tags: , ,

By Simon Louisson

John Key says New Zealand has options in the face of a share market meltdown.

The Prime Minister says that New Zealand is not like Greece (well that’s a relief).

The question is how real are those options?

Enormous debt built up by six successive Budget deficits has limited options.

Government debt under the stewardship of Finance Minister Bill English has soared to $63 billion – some 26.5% of GDP – from just $17 billion, or 9.1% of GDP, in 2009 when National tool office.

And while the economy temporarily revived due to a spike in dairy prices and the stimulus of the Christchurch rebuild, Bill English discarded the concept of the “automatic stabilizer’, where you save in good times so you can spend in bad times.

Remember it is only three four years ago that international rating agencies Fitch and Standard and Poor’s downgraded New Zealand’s credit rating, citing concern over our high external debt.

S&P’s sovereign credit analyst Kyran Curry said then: “the lowering of the foreign and local currency long-term ratings follows our assessment of the likelihood that New Zealand’s external position will deteriorate further”.

Our economic strengths were “moderated by New Zealand’s very high external imbalances, which are accompanied by high household and agriculture sector debt, dependence on commodity income, and emerging fiscal pressures associated with its aging population”.

Downward pressure on New Zealand’s ratings could re-emerge if the external position deteriorated, added Mr Curry.

Shortly after the ratings downgrade, New Zealand’s external position improved, thanks to dairy prices, but that situation has drastically reversed in the last 18 months with the Global Dairy Trade Index down 62 percent from a peak in 2013.

As well, debt in the household and agricultural sectors has increased sharply, and the latter it is about to increase drastically with most dairy farms now being unprofitable.

And now, our economy is tracking on what Treasury euphemistically called “Scenario One” – ie a negative outlook.

Under Treasury’s Budget Scenario One economic forecast, where world prices for New Zealand’s commodity exports fall below the central forecast, New Zealand’s current account deficit jumps to 7.7% of GDP by the end of 2016, far worse than the 3.6% deficit in the year to March 31, 2015.

Such an ugly deficit will certainly make the rating agencies sit bolt upright.

The central forecast had wholemilk powder prices moving back by 2016 to US$3900/MT, far north of their current level of US$1856.

Mr Key told Radio NZ that fears about China’s outlook mainly revolved around the construction and investment sectors while New Zealand was happily exposed to the consumer sector. Well go look at the fall in milk powder prices Mr Key.

The effect of a credit rating cut is to make borrowing by the government or New Zealanders more expensive. It is a detrimental and serious event that has long-term negative economic implications.

So essentially, the option of stimulating the economy via increased spending, or tax cuts, which would each significantly add to debt, is seriously limited.

A second option cited by Mr Key is a potential sharper cut in interest rates than already contemplated by the central bank.

Unlike many of the world’s leading economies, New Zealand has not yet had to cut its interest rates to zero, so with the Official Cash Rate at 2.5% there is theoretically a degree of wriggle room.

However, even there, the rating agencies are poised like Jerome Keino ready to wack us as a sharp cut to interest rates would puff up the Auckland property market further.

S&P just this month cut the ratings of the New Zealand arms of the four big Australian banks, citing concern about the over-valued Auckland market.

It said that most financial institutions would be adversely affected if house prices in Auckland fell sharply, even if they didn’t lend much in that region. The agency said that was because of Auckland’s importance to the New Zealand economy, accounting for about 35% of national output.

Then on Monday, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Grant Spencer said the potential for a bursting of the Auckland property bubble was a serious danger to both banks, the banking system as well as the economy as a whole.

A sharp cut in interest rates will therefore be problematic without further inflating the Auckland property bubble, thereby risking destabilizing the financial system, something the Reserve Bank has a statutory requirement to protect.

So while New Zealand may have more options than Greece, thanks to this Government’s profligate past spending, including irresponsible tax cuts, our options have narrowed drastically.

 


 

Simon Louisson is a former journalist who worked for NZPA, Reuters, AP Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, The Press, The Jerusalem Post and as a media and political adviser to the Green Party.

55 comments on “In face of share market meltdown, Govt’s options limited ”

  1. AmaKiwi 1

    +1

    In each of the past 30 years, only three OECD countries have NEVER had a year when they had a positive balance of trade: Greece, Australia, and New Zealand.

    IMO, these market drops signal a dramatic turn for the worse in a global sovereign debt crisis. If I am right, National has done everything WRONG. We are more in debt and far less able to cope than we were under Labour in 208.

    • save NZ 1.1

      +1 – the government should have continued to cut debt like under Labour. Instead they have spent the kitty and then some, AND MORE.

      Not content to get us into huge debt the Nats have also been busy selling our assets to their mates, power, land and state housing.

      Not even content to do just that they have ordered state owned companies like Solid Energy to take on more debt until they are now bankrupt so they could get more dividends (while still not being in surplus).

      Not content with that, they lowered the immigration investment criteria so now you get into the country by buying up residential property and farms!

      Not only content to do that, they set up crazy public private schemes like Serco to lose NZ jobs and pay more money to have worse public service, less jobs and the profits being sent offshore.

      Not only content to do that they set up crazy corporate welfare schemes like paying for SkyCities conference centre build and putting a vanity conference centre in Christchurch (where Joe Bloggs doesn’t even have an insurance pay out to provide a roof over their head).

      They are like SO CRAZY and irresponsible. It is like some sort of sick joke.

      And then having MSM do their dirty work by telling joe blogs how amazing they are running the economy.

      Words fail me.

      They are even worse than Muldoon’s crazy ideas.

      They are the LOONY RIGHTIES.

      • Chooky 1.1.1

        +100…”They are the LOONY RIGHTIES.”…corruption!

        ….they are working NOT for New Zealand and New Zealanders

        • save NZ 1.1.1.1

          And this, money not spent of social welfare but on consultants to take from the poor and give to the corporate rich.

          Cost of private contractors doubles to $11.9m at Ministry of Social Development
          Payments for private contractors at the Ministry of Social Development has skyrocketed to $11.9 million.
          The blow-out has resulted in a bill for taxpayers that is more than double the previous year.
          Figures from the Social Services Committee’s estimates examination reveal that at the same time the public service is being asked to be frugal, the ministry has spent up large on private contractors, including a $2.6m programme provided by Deloitte.
          The ministry spent $5.4m on contractors for the year to the end of March 2014, but that amount ballooned to almost $12m by the end of March this year.

        • save NZ 1.1.1.2

          +1 – I just hope these National MP’s unscrupulously selling off our country and doing criminal financial damage to the economy, get to taste a Serco prison first hand.

    • DS 1.2

      Quibble:

      New Zealand hasn’t had a Current Account surplus since 1974. We have trade surpluses all the time, but they are always outweighed by a severely negative balance of invisibles (profit flows and such).

  2. Ad 2

    The Key/English/Joyce handling of the economy is beginning to feel like the Robert Redford film “All Is Lost”, which consists of a series of flashbacks in which the sailor
    – chose not to plan
    – chose not to tell people where he was going
    – chose not to predict his risks
    – chose to go the unsafe and vulnerable route
    – chose the wrong equipment
    – chose to keep pressing ahead when it was going wrong

    …and then cries out “All Is Lost.”

    Now, I sure ain’t saying “All Is Lost”. Far from it.
    And I would hate to hear any alternative government sounding other than resolute and coherent rather than stoking public fear.

    But this government has consistently failed to plan, form new instruments, chart a course, tell people where it was going, or figured out how to change when things are going wrong.

    National are inferior government in a crisis.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1

      Also, they’re an inferior government when there isn’t a crisis.

    • tracey 2.2

      except the government ministers are not suffering. They are not castaways, they are not bereft or hungry or thirsty.

      • Ad 2.2.1

        And clearly you’re not Robert Redford either.
        Go and figure out the definition of metaphor and come back.

  3. Charles 3

    Cool! The Nats are finally thinking of becoming responsible in the face of a crisis and spending to alleviate effects. This spending will include:

    Proactive job creation, public sector support for self-employment, small businesses, co-operative and community-owned enterprises. Expand the apprenticeship programme and greater availability of bridging courses for immigrants.

    Introduce a tax-free zone at the bottom end of the income scale.

    $6.8 million increase in support Initiatives to employ people with disabilities, mainly in the public sector.

    New top tax rate of 40 percent above $140,000. Tax credit giving an extra $60 a week to families; a non-discriminatory Parental Tax Credit of $220 a week in the first weeks of life for the poorest children; $500 million per year investment in children’s health and education to reduce the harm caused by poverty.

    $21 million a year to extend free GP visits to teenagers aged 13-17, abolish their prescription charges; a further $8 million a year to help GPs deal with the extra workload.

    Increase the minimum wage and ensure it cannot fall below 66% of the average wage.

    Set benefit amounts at a level sufficient for all basic needs of the individual/family: Protect all benefit levels by linking rates to a fixed percentage of the average wage (like superannuation).

    A two-tier benefit system consisting of a universal base rate that is enough to live on, with add-ons for specific circumstances, such as dependants, disability or chronic illness.

    A Universal Child Benefit with the ability to capitalise it towards a home deposit.

    Abolish stand-down periods, treat people aged 18 and over as adults for benefit purposes; no forced work for the dole.

    Oh wait no I was thinking of a Green government. Silly me. https://www.greens.org.nz/policy

    Oh, well then, what will happen is National will use this as an excuse to blame the unemployed, the vulnerable, extend zero hour contracts everywhere, privatise everything, throw those with the least power over their circumstances under the metaphorical luxury tour bus – or into private prisons – while handing out funds to the usual collection of people who don’t need it and waste it.

    • tracey 3.1

      I can always count on your to remind me that I have a pot on the hob… that needs more…

  4. tc 4

    As designed folks, the narrow ‘dairy is the new gold’ focus, hammering R&D, reduction in the govt asset base/revenue, foreign ownership is all good, Cullen fund is evil etc etc is what banksta john’s wrecking crew has been relentless about with TPPA coming along to further give away control and soverignty.

    Granny hardcopy leads today with a dog whistling piece on empty state houses playing her part on the diversion front giving the flag a rest probably.

  5. Stuart Munro 5

    The Key government aren’t actually any good at this economics stuff. They just swallow and regurgitate any daft line from the fantasists at Treasury. Among the many options this government faces the service revolver and the decent thing is not the worst.

  6. tracey 6

    I thought I heard Key imply when asked about plan B that he didnt need one cos PLan A is working?

  7. linda 7

    I think national party voters should. Pay the rest of us cant we are stone broke as it is

  8. Anno1701 8

    makes you wonder if JK is our “economic hitman”

  9. Michael 9

    I hate to give National any satisfaction, but this post is wrong.

    a) National was right to run deficits after the GFC as balancing the books when the economy was not running at capacity would have harmed the economy and worsened unemployment.

    b) Debt being 26% of GDP still places us as one of the lowest debtors in the OECD. We can afford to run more deficits if the economy worsens. Debt below ~60% of GDP is considered sustainable, I believe. (And you don’t really get into a Greece-style crisis until you get to like 100-150% of GDP).

    But one point I will make to criticise:
    a) Increasing debt to cut taxes for the wealthy was extremely stupid. National’s tax cuts for the lower tax brackets made sense – that’s classic Keynesianism. But the top rate should not have been changed.

    • dukeofurl 9.1

      Trouble is this year which is supposed to be a ‘near surplus’ is in reality a cash deficit of $5-7 Billion. Thats 7% of government spending. Any economic slowing and the cash deficit ( which is the amount borrowed) gets to 10% of total spending very quickly.

    • Lara 9.2

      Your first point a) may have been true for a couple of years, or maybe even up to four years after the GFC ended, but not the last couple of years at least.

      The GFC ended (at least, the markets made their final lows and thereafter have been in a bull market since) in 2009.

      So for a couple of years after that then yes, running a deficit would be okay. With the strong caveat that only so long as the extra spending was carefully targeted to STIMULATE THE ECONOMY.

      But six years? Six years after the GFC ended? That’s ridiculous. Those last years were a bull market, a long one, with economic recovery. That’s the time to put money aside to weather the next storm, not continue to run deficits and leave the economy less able to weather the next storm.

      • Colonial Viper 9.2.1

        Don’t mix up the bullish state of the financial markets in the last couple of years – fed by a QE I.V. drip of brand new electronic cash direct injected into the markets daily feeding asset price bubbles as well as ZIRP/NIRP – to the state of the global real economy over the same time frame.

        The Wall St/Main St divide has never been greater.

        • Lara 9.2.1.1

          This is true, that inequality and the divide between financial markets and the rest of the economy is great.

          But NZ has still had overall growth in our GDP (with the exception of 2011) for most of National’s reign.

          And although there is a gap between financial markets and the rest of the economy (which is highly problematic) there has been some filter through to the wider economy.

          It’s just not true to say that NZ has been suffering from the effects of the GFC enough for deficits to be run consistently all these years.

          • Colonial Viper 9.2.1.1.1

            The NZ money supply depends on debt, because our government does not issue the money it needs itself.

            Foreign companies take approx $15B out of the country annually, we import more than we export, and the country runs a chronic current account deficit.

            Net, the NZ economy is depleted of many billions of dollars of cash a year.

            If the government were to also start running a surplus i.e. taking more out of the economy than it spends into the economy, it will further exacerbate this extraction of cash out of the NZ economy.

            The result, over time, will be a recession and economic crisis.

            • Lara 9.2.1.1.1.1

              I agree completely.

              I’m approaching the topic from the mantra of a National supporter. They seem to think a surplus is a good thing, and that National are always just about to produce one, and when they don’t’ keep blaming it on Labour and GFC.

              My point is that is bullshit.

              And I’m aware of how money works, that it is created new as debt by private banks.

              And I’m also aware that this is not the only possible way of structuring our monetary supply, in fact, it seems really dumb to keep doing it this way. Iceland is onto it.

              But while we operate in a money = debt system and while we get into ever increasing debt, the interest must be repaid. If this is the system they insist on then they need to reduce debt in good times so that they are ready for bad times.

              I have read plenty of Bernard LIeater’s ideas, and Margrit Kennedy’s too.

      • Michael 9.2.2

        That’s why I mentioned the tax cuts for the wealthy. Now *that* was profligate. If National had not done that, then the books probably would have balanced themselves a bit faster.

        But other than reversing those tax cuts, National should not have raised taxes or cut spending elsewhere to get the deficit down faster. In 2007/08 the unemployment rate was between 3 and 4 percent. It peaked above 7 percent around 2012 or 2013. We didn’t see a more solid recovery in that rate until 2014. So that’s 5 years after the GFC ‘ended’.

        So sure 6 years after the GFC might be a bit excessive. But we still were quite far from running at capacity until early 2014, so the deficit should not have been forced down. I think if National hadn’t cut taxes for higher income earners, we probably would’ve seen the books balanced by then.

        But I think it was completely justified to deficit spend and keep easy monetary policies until 4 or 5 years after the GFC officially ended, sure. I do agree that we should have seen the books balanced by now, though, so we can be prepared to stimulate the economy in case the China crisis snowballs.

        • Colonial Viper 9.2.2.1

          Governments cannot ‘balance the books’ if a country has a chronic current account deficit like we do.

        • Lara 9.2.2.2

          Yes, I do tend to agree with you.

          I’m just really sick of National supporters blaming this governments lack of financial management, the consistent deficits and increasing government debt on the GFC which ended years ago.

          Their supporters are so sure National is a good manager of the economy, all the while they have never actually produced a surplus while repeatedly promising it’s just around the corner, and blaming it all on Labour and the GFC which damn well ended years ago.

          I do agree the “recovery” is a fake. And I expect it’s beginning to all unravel now.

    • Stuart Munro 9.3

      Don’t confuse the incompetent inability to run surpluses with stimulus spending. Those tax cuts were paid for by austerity measures that more than consumed any stimulatory effect. Tax cuts are invariably a remarkably poor stimulus – they feed into the wrong end of the economy.

      We’re in trouble – and the reason we’re in trouble is our economic management is hopelessly captured by neo-liberal cultists. Whatever goes wrong their answer is to steal more public assets.

      This government are looters – only in power for what they can steal. The public should impose martial law on them until the crisis abates. Martial law usually includes shooting looters.

    • Pat 9.4

      debt is approx 37% of GDP…from near zero under Labour

  10. SPC 10

    The OCR was reduced to 3% in July.

    It is not 2.5%, it is forecast to reduce to 2.5% later this year.

    • lprent 10.1

      Agreed. A bit pedantic though

      By now I’d say that the drop is built into everything that the market already does. It is even more likely to go ahead now that the overseas trade is falling.

      The only thing that appeared to have been staying the RBNZ’s hand last year was that it might heat up the Auckland housing market further. However it has become quite apparent over the last 18 months that the money fuelling that is from financing sources outside of the local mortgage markets, and therefore unaffected by OCR rates.

  11. SPC 11

    The most obvious option is to introduce unemployment insurance.

    A pool of money available to pay people for up to 12 months unemployment keeps the economy intact despite job loss – it also means there is no shock to the government budget from benefit cost rise.

    Re property, a surcharge on investment property mortgages would help to calm speculation driven buying and assist resort to a lower OCR/dollar.

    • Craig H 11.1

      I don’t care how it’s done (UBI is my personal preference), but anything that eliminates benefit-bashing is good in my books.

    • Tricledrown 11.2

      That’s not working very well in the US ,ACT style policy.

      • SPC 11.2.1

        Unemployment insurance is not ACT style policy. And they do not have universal unemployment insurance in the USA. They simply have a limited term for UB.

  12. Richard@Down South 12

    The Government crippled the economy when they lead a ‘cut costs at all expenses’ crusade… It didn’t matter what it did to each government dept, as long as costs were cut…

    Private industry was hardly going to look at what the government was doing and go ‘now is a good time to invest and hire new staff (unless you had an up and coming plan/project which had a good chance of succeeding), so most businesses hunkered down, and waited for the ‘economic recovery’ which never came

    Instead, the Government could have made smart choices, invested in real job growth, not changed the GST rate/upper tax rates (a move which was supposed to be revenue neutral but wasnt)… Instead of selling off assets because it is a core belief, they could have kept them and in a few years, we’d have been in a better position than we will be due to the sell off (i believe its 7 years from sale date that we lose any benefit due to what we would have gotten in dividends)

  13. RedBaronCV 13

    I Think I would change the heading “Govts options are limited” sounds like they are caught in something they haven’t contributed to.
    Something harsher like “Govt ensures we have no options ” but I’m sure there are better ways of saying this

  14. Nic the NZer 14

    [lprent: This is a simply awful comment – appears to have been written by a economic idiot doing a diversion comment and not even explaining what their alternatives are. ]

    This is a simply awful article. The author disqualifies himself from ever writing about the economy again due to his total ignorance.

    Question: can NZ ever become like Greece?
    Authors Answer: Yes, maybe.
    Actual Answer: No never, because NZ has its own currency, unlike Greece.

    [lprent: Author never said that anywhere. ]

    Question: should we be concerned about credit rating downgrades?
    Authors Answer: Yes.
    Actual Answer: No never, because NZ has its own currency.

    [lprent: The issue is about debt, specifically sovereign debt which is about how governments raise money offshore in overseas currencies. We raise bugger all sovereign debt inside NZ because our savings levels are too low. Local currency has very little to do with overseas debt except in the export/import balances in paying it back. ]

    Question: should the government stimulate the economy with tax cuts or spending?
    Authors Answer: No, not an option, because it will add to the deficit.
    Actual Answer: Yes, definitely, the government should have already been doing more due to a 5%+ unemployment rate.

    [lprent: He didn’t say anything of the sort. It can only be done if the government wishes to raise debt offshore, or raises local taxes, or causes inflation in prices by printing money or by arbitrary confiscations. (And you didn’t explain any other method). What he said was that using the first was a problem. ]

    Then a discussion about interest rates, apparently the more viable but still problematic alternative. But completely missing the point that the housing market slowing dramatically is a likely underlying cause of the recession at which point your no longer concerned about housing market inflation.

    [lprent: You appear to have been reading a different article. The discussion was about the Reserve Bank’s OCR rate, the rating agencies response to it, and the danger to banks if there was a pop in the housing market. ]

    Obviously by dismissing the best, option for dealing with a likely recession you are going to be left with poor alternatives. Deficit fetishism is doing the country tremendous harm.

    [lprent: And then you didn’t bother to explain what your alternative was. Banned one week for doing a diversion on this post and attacking an author personally. I don’t care if you disagree, but to deliberately misrepresent what the author is saying, and then not even put your own ideas forward is outright stupid. Also tucking this at the end of the comments on this post ]

    • dukeofurl 14.1

      Glad someone pulled apart Nics farrago.

      One other economic lever Key said we could use was ‘lower interest rates’

      Which had me gobsmacked. The Reserve Bank governor is the only one who can set an ‘official interest rate’, and this was because it was taken out of the hands of politicians.

      Last time I checked the only mandate of the RBG was price stability in a certain range. Nowhere is there and requirement ( like other countries) for other economic indicators like reducing unemployment, or growing the economy etc.

      Has Key really thrown the RBG under the bus and the long held economic stability model that goes with it ? Is this the new Muldoon !

    • Wayne 14.2

      Another example of unreasonable banning by Iprent. I appreciate its your blog, but seriously Nic the NZer does not deserve the over the top reaction by you. And if you want to ban me as well because I question your decision, well, its your blog, so its your choice.

      [lprent: Hey don’t tempt me. My usual response to that plea is assist in the self-martyrdom that you are so clearly requesting. I figure that those making that plea should have what they are asking for in full, so I usually quadruple sentences.

      But in this case no. The comment was left in the post with my demonstration of a moderator doing exactly the same style of personal attack in return for a reason. Therefore to allow discussion on why I did it that way. See my comment in reply further down the page. ]

      • dukeofurl 14.2.1

        Banned one week for doing a diversion on this post and attacking an author personally. Im sure this nonsense did it:
        “The author disqualifies himself from ever writing about the economy again due to his total ignorance.”
        Everyone has a go at you wayne but authors are a different category

      • les 14.2.2

        have to agree with you there Wayne..he must have got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

        • dukeofurl 14.2.2.1

          read what the banning notice said, attacking the authors is a big no no.
          writing gibberish didnt help

      • Stuart Munro 14.2.3

        Actually Nic was behaving abnormally stupidly.

        should we be concerned about credit rating downgrades?
        Authors Answer: Yes.
        Actual Answer: No never, because NZ has its own currency.

        So credit downgrades make no difference? They don’t affect for example the cost of borrowing? The interest when for example you’ve blown $101 billion by truly spectacular incompetence is more if your credit rating is lower. Magic foreign investment fairies don’t make that go away.

        Like most of you untruthful ultra-righties Wayne, Nic would not survive what he deserves.

      • lprent 14.2.4

        I am always very unreasonable when people personally attack authors, and that was pretty clearly an attack on the author rather than what they wrote about.

        If it’d been a deconstruction of what was in the post, then Nic would have put in their preferred alternatives and left out the personal attack at the start.

        You’ll note that I did EXACTLY the same kind of attack on Nic that Nic did on Simon. This is part of my usual strategy to demonstrate why people shouldn’t use certain techniques unless they are willing to have the same ones used by me against them. Which is why I have this rather hurt email in my mailbox this morning from Nic.

        We need authors a damn sight more than we need commenters. Which is why attacking them on a personal basis is a risky business if people want to continue commenting here. Attack what they are saying, sure. But do not expect to do so when not offering anything as alternatives or without pointing to actual facts. That is a classic avoidance strategy of someone wanting to be a lazy critic without the moral and intellectual underpinnings to frame an effective criticism. It is what you do when you want to frame a personal attack. And leading off with something like

        The author disqualifies himself from ever writing about the economy again due to his total ignorance.

        is pretty hard to view as being anything apart from a personal attack.

        Normally I try to let authors deal with these as much as possible, and acting as a backup. However you’ll usually find me swinging my size 11’s in the same vein as any arsehole commenter (except far far worse) as soon as it is a post by a guest author, or a new author.

        I find it keeps most of the new authors entering the blogging environment happier if they know someone will deal with people being idiots.

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    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 – 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
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
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