It’s not just Serco, it’s state operated prisons

Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, July 25th, 2015 - 72 comments
Categories: crime, Judith Collins, Kelvin Davis, prisons, Privatisation, Public Private Partnerships - Tags: , , , ,

Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, one of the 18 arrested during the Urewera Terrorism Raids, has written a detailed piece useful for anyone interested in finding out more about the NZ correctional system and why penal reform in NZ is absolutely necessary. (Hat tip Gangnam Style/Tautoko Mangō Mata).

He says:

– Prisons are the way they are because the public is largely uninvolved, and is not actually interested in what goes on inside.
– Most of the general public don’t actually care about what happens to prisoners – they get what they deserve … unless violence is put in the public face, as in the recent Serco revelations.
– The Justice System is determined by politicians who are keener to get re-elected than fixing up a dysfunctional prison system.
– Many of the groups that do engage with the Justice System to advocate for adjustments to the way prisons are run, are often self-serving and/or ideologically driven (i.e. Sensible Sentencing)

This sounds spot on to me. Our prison population increased 86% between 1995 and 2010. And with a recidivism rate sitting at around 50%, things need to change. We are wasting people, and we are wasting the finances of the Crown.

Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara continues:

While societies continue to create the conditions for street gangs, prisons will only perpetuate their longevity and ongoing recruitment. I saw this with my own eyes, to some extent in ACRP/MECF and in full bloom in Spring Hill Corrections Facility (SHCF).

In order for gangs to survive the onslaught of targeted policing decimating their numbers at large, they use your prison system and your tax money to recruit and train the next intake of manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and security (foot soldiers). The gangs regenerate themselves inside the prisons.

Whether by organised fight clubs to train foot soldiers to do the muscle work, or the more common method of one on one mentoring, your tax dollar is being put to good use by gangs for their objectives. Corrections in its history in this country has never been able to prevent this from occurring, whether under National or Labour, in either private or state run prisons.

And of course, whatever Labour does with respect to Corrections – and they definitely have room for improvement – National can always do much worse:

Spring Hill Corrections Facility was built by the Labour Government and completed in 2007 to house 650 sentenced prisoners. Its initial focus was on Pacific Island prisoners, hence it has a Pacific Island focus unit called Vaka, and a Pacific Island church.

With the change of the incoming National government in 2008, the government then embarked on putting more people in prison, 1000’s more than they had bed spaces for. The then Minister of Justice Judith Collins concocted this grand idea of replacing the single bed cells in Spring Hill (and other prisons to some extent) with bunk beds. I bet Collins thought this was a clever cost saving idea, but it however led to a massive and fatal rise in violence. Every prisoner I ever spoke to pointed without hesitation directly back to that one event as the principle catalyst – deliberate over crowding.

Spring Hill now has 1050 prisoners inside cells in facilities designed to be uncomfortable for 650 prisoners. This results directly in a new level of violence that is not isolated to the world of gangs and their training regime. Everyone is susceptible to the violence that ensues from Collins’ intentional overcrowding.

Whether waiting for the one unit telephone, or microwaves, or the two unit washing machines, the result is a daily high level of anxiety that is far above and beyond the intended stress levels prisoners were meant to be under while incarcerated. After weeks of these extended lockdowns, Spring Hill turns into a sort of war zone that makes those so called fight club videos look like child’s play.

The simple truth is that NZ incarcerates too many people, we set too many young people up on a path to prison, and on release, we don’t do anywhere near enough to give these people new options in life and prevent them going back inside, creating new victims on the way. Ideologically constipated, hypocritical, pro-punishment groups like the badly named “Sensible Sentencing Trust” are given too much sway in the conversation. And now that National is signing away the Crown’s responsibilities to low accountability for-profit corporates like Serco – who make more money when there are more people behind bars – we have seen things deteriorating further.

72 comments on “It’s not just Serco, it’s state operated prisons ”

  1. Sable 1

    The number of people imprisoned by a society is in my estimation a refection of the quality of that society in terms of justice, fairness and equality. Rather than lock people up, why not increase home detention with an emphasis on supervised volunteer work during daylight hours? It would give people purpose and limit exposure to hardened criminals who may have gang affiliations (I do appreciate that there is little chance of this happening whilst National is in office).

    • Colonial Viper 1.1

      Yep there are many options to consider. What we are doing now is not working. Ensuring stable housing and employment with supervision and support for those coming out of prisons would also greatly reduce recidivism.

      Lower rates of recidivism mean fewer victims, and less costs for society and the Crown.

  2. Pat 2

    irrespective of Sercos ability (or lack of) to operate any of our prisons or indeed the whole service John Key has basically announced today that they will continue to be part of the system for the foreseeable….not entirely unexpected.

  3. whateva next? 3

    I am not surprised if there are issues with state run prisons also, but question why state run prisons are accepting wounded people from Serco run prisons to put on their stats?
    If the government care so little about people, then of course they will run state run prisons into the ground, to justify handing the lot over to Serco.
    This government seek to abrogate ALL responsibility (aged care, health service, corrections etc), despite the fact it is the society that is paying them, and giving them the power to make decisions affecting us all.
    NZ Society has been reduced to playing with and manipulating numbers and (our) money.

  4. DH 4

    That is a very well argued and constructed piece from Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, the man is certainly no fool. I knew about very little of what he’s written and I find his story convincing.

    I would debate one of his assumptions though, and that’s his view on the attitude of the general public. We just don’t know and I think if we were properly informed on prison conditions people would largely be more sympathetic towards the inmates.

  5. RedLogix 5

    It would be more humane just to bring back the death penalty for ALL criminal offenses.

    From overdue parking tickets upwards. Life is cheap after all. /sarc

  6. Draco T Bastard 6

    The simple truth is that NZ incarcerates too many people, we set too many young people up on a path to prison, and on release, we don’t do anywhere near enough to give these people new options in life and prevent them going back inside, creating new victims on the way.

    How about we don’t send them inside in the first place?

    I’m becoming a firm believer in home detention and community work/rehabilitation. You pull people out of the destructive communities that they’re in and put them into communities that support them out of poverty and into their dreams.

    • Karen 6.1

      Absolutely right.
      Finland has shown us the way. In the early 1990s they had one of the highest prison rates in Europe. They decided to reduce the length and number of prison sentences, and replace them with home detention, fines and community service. They now have one of the lowest imprisonment rates in Europe without any increase in crime.

    • RedLogix 6.2

      Probably 80-90% of people in prisons don’t belong there.

      There are a number of people who have no conscience, no shame nor empathy and probably no chance of ever changing. They are the minority who the public DO need protecting from and should be isolated in their own communities for life. But the large majority really just need time in an environment where they stand a chance of maturing into functioning people again. Prison is absolutely the wrong place for them.

      But we are rather poor at telling the difference between them, and the public driven by easily aroused punitive instincts, and isolated from the consequences, will fail to make it every time.

      • Colonial Viper 6.2.1

        yes there are a few people who do need to be put away for decades/permanently. Basically, if a prison term is required, it would probably be a max security institution such would be the nature of the crime.

      • dukeofurl 6.2.2

        No days with the use of home detention for large numbers it would be a far higher number in prison who really deserve it.

        Back in 1983 short term prisoners (< 2yrs)were 70% of prison population, now they are only 17%

        60% are in prison for violence against person (physical or sexual),Im not sure where you get the impression that 80-90% ‘shouldnt be there’

        600 alone are in for homicide type offences. Just under 10% of all prisoners have killed someone.
        Not sure where you get the idea 80-90% shouldnt be there

        500 prisoners have ‘life sentences’ ,250 have preventative detention

        83% or prisoners are there for longer than 2 years, no sure where you get the idea 80% shouldnt be there

        2000 prisoners have sentences over 5 years

        Nothing in these figures suggests that most ‘should not be there’

        http://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/738939/Trends_in_the_Offender_Population_2013_updated.pdf

        • Colonial Viper 6.2.2.1

          You’re brand new to this policy area, aren’t you?

        • RedLogix 6.2.2.2

          Some years ago when the very well known defence attorney Mike Bungay retired Kim Hill (I think) interviewed him.

          He expressed the view (based on a career up close and personal with murderers) that around 85% of people who kill do so in extraordinary circumstances. He thought most of them were never ever likely to commit such an act ever again, nor did anyone really need ‘protecting’ from them.

          He did go on to say that there were some who killed for money, or for some personal/political gain – that were candidates for ‘natural term of life’ imprisonment – but that the majority were not.

          And mostly what your figures reflect has been an increasing ‘tuff on crims’ obsession over that period with locking people up for longer. Ultimately the only logical end-point of that logic is either an evil, over-crowded prison culture that constantly re-infects the wider community with increasing levels of violence, abuse and damage – or a return to some form transportation/death penalty to get rid of them.

          Or as Karen points out – there is Finland.

          • dukeofurl 6.2.2.2.1

            Please dont mention countries that have no relation to NZ, and have no figures that back this up.

            The people who shouldn’t be in prison are doing home detention type sentences, 60% of prisoners are doing sexual or physical violence sentences.

            Off the top of your head rules of thumb are ignoring reality

            Mike Bungay was talking about 30 years ago, he died in 1993.

            Please look at current numbers etc

            • Colonial Viper 6.2.2.2.1.1

              closed minded people like you who refuse to look at best practices will always hold back progress in NZ, which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the western world. Which explains why you dont want to look internationally for answers: because other countries have shown that answers to improvements do exist.

              • dukeofurl

                Im not closed minded. I didnt expect these numbers which Ive just looked up. I was looking for numbers on life sentences but the numbers in prison for violence was totally surprising.

                We are stuck between a rock and hard place as prison rarely gives a light bulb moment for those locked up, and yet we have protect people from all types of violence.
                Other countries are all very well but they mostly dont have the inset gang problem which ruins so many young mens lives.

                Overall the current system using home detention for sentences under 2 years and for prerelease for others towards the end of longer sentences is a big step forward.

                • Colonial Viper

                  We are stuck between a rock and hard place as prison rarely gives a light bulb moment for those locked up, and yet we have protect people from all types of violence.

                  Did you even fucking read what RL wrote? Let me remind you (even though it was only a couple of comments up):

                  He expressed the view (based on a career up close and personal with murderers) that around 85% of people who kill do so in extraordinary circumstances. He thought most of them were never ever likely to commit such an act ever again, nor did anyone really need ‘protecting’ from them.

                  So your argument of protecting people from violence is 85% BULLSHIT

                  Overall the current system using home detention for sentences under 2 years and for prerelease for others towards the end of longer sentences is a big step forward.

                  Look at the fucking numbers in context and not two dimensionally.

                  The system is using home detention and other forms of out of prison punishments IN ADDITION to sending more people to prison for longer and longer sentences than 20 years ago.

      • Anno1701 6.2.3

        they should certainly release all the “drug criminals” ASAP

    • dukeofurl 6.3

      Thats already happening.

      There are approx the same number on the different forms of ‘home detention’ as are in jail.

      • Colonial Viper 6.3.1

        Yet we still have 5,000 too many people in prison at any one time.

        • dukeofurl 6.3.1.1

          Really ?

          My numbers suggest otherwise

          • Colonial Viper 6.3.1.1.1

            2/3 of people currently in prison should not be there, as a rule of thumb. It does them, and society, no good.

            What are the “figures” you are going off?

          • dukeofurl 6.3.1.1.2

            You could be looking at 70% of all prisoners who have life or preventative detention or physical or sexual violence offences.

            NZ is a violent country, our prison population problem is too many are violent or dangerous.

            • Gangnam Style 6.3.1.1.2.1

              “NZ is a violent country” – paranoid, gated community mentality on show.

              • Ergo Robertina

                Not necessarily. I can’t speak for dukeofurl’s intent, but NZ is a violent place. But it’s families – wherever they happen to live, who cop it mostly, not strangers.
                Go and sit in any district court in the country for an afternoon and watch what comes before it – such as the thugs who punch and kick pregnant partners.
                The 1 or 2 years their fathers spend in jail may be the only time some children do not witness violence as an everyday reality.
                I support prison reform and an overhaul of rehabilitation and training programmes BTW.

                • whateva next?

                  social unrest inevitable when wealth gap is so wide

                • RedLogix

                  I can’t speak for dukeofurl’s intent, but NZ is a violent place.

                  I’m inclined to agree. I’ve faced it down a few times up front and personal. But that’s the point CV and I are trying to make – it didn’t get that way by accident.

                  Middle class white dudes with the privilege of living in leafy suburbs and attending good schools (like me) can go through life oblivious to it. But it’s a daily reality for a whole swath of people living in this country. People who’ve been nothing but shit-magnets from the day they were born.

                  Prison is graduate school for these guys.

                  • Draco T Bastard

                    People who’ve been nothing but shit-magnets from the day they were born.

                    They’re not ‘shit-magnets’ but are living amongst family and local community violence. Both of these need to be addressed to stop the recidivism and the cycle of violence that is occurring. Sending people into jail where they get better training for violence and improved connections with gangs certainly doesn’t help.

                    • dukeofurl

                      Tell us what you think does deserve jail?

                      bashing the missus but not putting her in hospital but off work for a week is no jail then ?

                      What sexual violence doesn’t deserve jail then ?

                      Let us know your fine line ?So that we can reduce the numbers to suit you.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Jail – the Finnish way

                      Seven cases, six guilty verdicts; one imprisoned, six walk free. Another morning in the Finnish judicial system – a country with the lowest prison population in the European Union. Here they have made it a point of principle to keep criminals out of prison, unless they are believed to pose a risk to society.

                      “I don’t believe longer prison sentences help our real safety,” says Markku Salminen, general director of the Finnish prison administration. “If you put someone in prison, then it is almost certain that they’ll be released and go back again. Prison is like university – the university of crime.”

                      This, the Finns believe, is particularly true of the young, who are only incarcerated for the harshest crimes.

                      We really don’t have to send everyone who commits a crime to jail. Support and rehabilitation are much better options for the majority of offenders and society.

                    • dukeofurl

                      I think the Finland example could be in NZ as well. Fines and community detention for first time offenders

                      But look at contributing factors to our high rate of violence

                      NZs road accidents and deaths , higher than similar countries

                      NZs workplace deaths, higher than similar countries

                      NZ Drinking culture ( which leads to alot of the violence), its hard to pick as worse than other countries , but it has become worse over the years.

                • Gangnam Style

                  Maybe where you live, but in my town we can walk around at night, crime is low, never been burgled ever (touch wood), only sat nights in town I would say was dodgy. I would find it hard to believe we are any more violent than many other countries, so to say “NZ is a violent country” is nonsense IMO.

                  • Ergo Robertina

                    You completely missed the point of my comment.
                    I was talking about family violence.

                    • Gangnam Style

                      Fair enough, but I fail to see how gated communities will affect that! Bollard wrote a story about it in fact, where the inhabitants of the gated community turned amongst themselves, classic story of paranoia & snobbishness. Which is what I was getting at.

                    • Ergo Robertina

                      @Gangnam – Gated communities are not relevant to this discussion. The fact is the most dangerous place (in an overall sense) for women and children is their homes – gated or not.

                  • dukeofurl

                    So , because you like in a sheltered part of the country we shouldnt be keeping rapists and violent men in jail.

                    The facts are we have a large number in jail for the size of population, and 60% are for physical and sexual violent ( Another 10% have committed homicide type crimes or have preventative detention)

                    Just closing your eyes to reality doesnt stop it being true. Dont women and children deserve being kept safe ?

                    How violent does a person have to be go to jail ?

                    • Gangnam Style

                      You are the one closing your eyes to reality, I do not have to answer to you, especially with your ‘how long is a piece of string’ circular arguments. I am calling you out for your paranoia.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      The facts are we have a large number in jail for the size of population, and 60% are for physical and sexual violent ( Another 10% have committed homicide type crimes or have preventative detention)

                      Just closing your eyes to reality doesnt stop it being true. Dont women and children deserve being kept safe ?

                      you;re being a fucking dipshit

                      This system you are promoting has recidivism rates of almost 50% within 4 years of release from prison.

                      That means shit loads more victims shit loads more crimes shit loads more prison sentences shit loads more costs on society shit loads more cost on the Crown.

                      So, how does a failing-high recidivism-high crime repeat system keep anyone “SAFE”

                      FFS

                    • dukeofurl

                      If you dont reform, then the next sentence is longer-

                      I dont know you have any evidence other countries with lower rates of imprisonment have ‘softer sentences’, eg Britain

              • Anno1701

                i agree with the Duke

                Ive lived in a few different countries over the years

                NZ is the most violent in MY experience by quite a large margin

            • Colonial Viper 6.3.1.1.2.2

              you dickhead, people weren’t born that way were they. For many of them an early prison experience set them on a course for heavier duty recidivism and increasing violence. Thats the point RL and I and others are trying to make.

              All you can see in the numbers are the bad results of the current failing system, yet you use those bad results to try and justify why that same failing system needs to stay in place. WTF.

              • BM

                Lots of guys consider crime, a career, a life style.

                A lag in prison made you a man.

                • Stuart Munro

                  Yes – most Gnats are lifers too – once they pick up that criminal culture it takes a lot to reform them.

                  • Tricledrown

                    BM its a pity all the white collar criminals who run the National ,ACT and the country end up doing some lag .

                • joe90

                  A lag in prison made you a man.

                  You’ve done a lag have you?.

                  • BM

                    No, I just heard it from a few guys I used to drink with.
                    Seemed like prison was a bit of a badge of honor.

                    They weren’t very nice people.

                    • “They weren’t very nice people.”

                      And yet, they tolerated you. The rehabilitative system at work, I guess.

                    • dukeofurl

                      I think hes saying some are tougher than us . Thats is my experience of someone who was in jail for a shortish sentence for repeat drink driving. Of course that was nearly 20 years ago. I think its got worse now as the ‘people who shouldnt be there’ of Mike Bungays day , 30 years ago, mostly are not in jail unless they repeat the offending

                • Tricledrown

                  BM your simplistic narrative is an example of your shallow thinking and lack of research your bullying by lying. dramatizing a shread of truth to make propaganda.have you read anything on why people end up in prison.
                  Like reductions by this govt on mental health spending has lead to more mentally ill people ending up in prisons.
                  Up to 70% of inmates have mental health issues.
                  Up to 70% of inmates are their as a result of alchohol related crime.People with mental health problems 99% of them have substance abuse problems as well,no doubt BM you have substance abuse problems as well.
                  70% of inmates are ilerate and can’t get work.
                  All these issues could be reduced significantly if money was spent at the top of the cliff.
                  But also the fat cat lawyers cops prison managers constructors are happy for this industry to expand.
                  All they need is a few redneck dickheads to put simplistic ideas in the voters minds and the multi billion dollar crime and punishment industry continues to thrive.
                  These rednecks are the first to complain about wasting taxpayer money.
                  In this case last to look at permant cost reduction solutions.
                  An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.

                  • half crown

                    Hey trickle, you’re on to it. First class comment mate

                    We have just lost one of the only people who was also on to it, and was aware that what you see is not always the complete story and there could be other circumstances. Sir Peter Williams QC. I am a republican and against any form of honuor for doing a job, but I am pleased he has been recognised for his work.

              • dukeofurl

                Sorry that doesnt cut it. Im not saying they are born that way , just that we ARE a violent country.
                Theres too much violence against kids, against women and even against men.

                Given you have a lot of study into the prison problem, which of the rapists and violent men shouldnt be going to prison?

                • Lloyd

                  I have to agree we are a violent country – we keep voting in a government that kicks the majority of the population in the teeth every day. Sell-offs, tax cuts for the rich, cuts in essential services, lack of investment in infrastructure, you name it. All violence against the lower and middle income mom and pop battlers.
                  We don’t have enough political prisoners in this country. The present cabinet could all be arrested as traitors and if we can’t shoot them, well maybe a decade or two in Serco’s hands would be justice enough.

                  • dukeofurl

                    Gang violence , domestic violence, violence against children.
                    Its not a good list at all.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      chuck them all in prison because that’s what NZ society is all about. The corrections system is working to improve the level of violence in society, right?

                    • dukeofurl

                      Im hoping you are coming from a background of extensive experience with courts and prisoners, otherwise its just another pious hope your radical ideas will be accepted.

                      A bit like a South Seas Syriza, and we know how their big ideas turned out.

              • Tricledrown

                Bitterly Misogynist.is lagging behind in manhood.

  7. Treetop 7

    A couple days ago on AJ TV I heard that 2.2 million people are imprisoned in the USA, this amounts to 25% of people world wide who are imprisoned. 60% of the 2.2 million are either Afro American or Hispanic. NZ appears to be catching up with the high level per million of incarceration.

    Until the reasons that cause (racialism, addiction, theft, violence, PTSD, anger, unemployment) are addressed, prison numbers will increase. Prison has little or no benefit in preventing racialism, addiction, theft, violence, PTSD, anger or unemployment.

    It was predicted by a person on the Standard about 18 months ago that Serco would not deliver. The government have theirselves to blame for the dire situation of prisoners being least safe at Mt Eden. It is a big problem for anyone who has been harmed or who is being harmed so a service can make a profit from a persons misery.

    • greywarshark 7.1

      About the black high numbers in USA prisons, there was an explanatory comment here I think though maybe wrong as to place, a few months ago, showing a line from Nixon and policy considerations shown in government documents then and increasing entrapment, provocation and apparently irrational harrasing treatment and judicial bias….

      • Treetop 7.1.1

        ….entrapment, provocation and apparently irrational harrasing treatment and judicial bias….

        I do know that the parole conditions in the USA are overly strict compared to NZ for the same crime.

        Long term Incarceration can lead to institutionalisation, the world would be a scary place being released after 20 years e.g. finding employment.

        I cannot provide the figure that imprisonment in the USA costs, it was in the low billions.

        • greywarshark 7.1.1.1

          And not only blacks are harrassed. The law in some states makes not doing up seat belts something serious, I think they might call it an indictable offence.

          A white woman taking her boy home from sport, was stopped and probably protested, and was held in jail overnight. Now there may have been something extra to the seat belt, but she was in charge of a child in her vehicle and some at home I think. This sort of thing is not keeping the peace, its petty harrassment by a tyrant legislature with a control force that is willing to police to the max.

          Recently I wrote about a black family in Canada where a young man threw a tissue out of the car window and the family were very afraid when they were stopped. Police are patrolling, looking for a reason to stop and question blacks. There are too many reports in north America of police behaviour that apparently is accepted, not controlled or punished by their leaders.

      • Colonial Viper 7.1.2

        Changes that Bill Clinton – a Democrat – signed into law as part of the Omnibus bill around 1993 massively increased the incarceration rate of blacks for crimes which had previously been considered relatively minor.

        • dukeofurl 7.1.2.1

          Your points are certainly valid for US. Their federal system doesnt even have parole. Things like 20 yrs to life are common. Very rare in NZ someone is more than 20 years

          Unfortunately our figures are different, as we massively reduced the people in jail for short periods ( those who shouldnt be there on average)
          Even for longish sentences say 4-6 years , which is a pretty bad crime, they are only serving 1/3 which is 18 months to 2 years if they have a good record inside

  8. DH 8

    Well it looks like we can add NZ Herald to the rogues gallery as well…. try reading this without tasting bile;

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11486812

    Poster boy? wtf!!!

    • whateva next? 8.1

      beyond words how Serco/government are spinning the narrative around this, this is a new low for Keyspeak though.

      • Tricledrown 8.1.1

        Prisons are battery farms for people who a large proportion have untreated mental health issues.
        Who end up getting educated in the criminal university called prison.
        People with mental health problems are easily lead,a lot of mental health problems come from violence neglect and abuse during childhood.
        Prison is though to be the cheapest way to deal with this problem.
        But all prisoners are released sooner or later the way they are treated on the inside cut of from society beaten abused then trained by the only family they know the criminal fraternity.
        No wonder recidivism is a problem.
        .
        This ends up costing the tax payer billions feeding the likes of Serco and bearaucracy ie Police lawyers Judges court workers infrastructure etc because rednecks have this idea to lock em up and throw away the Key. The same rednecks don’t like paying taxes either but end up paying billions for this naive shortsighted short term thinking

        • whateva next? 8.1.1.1

          summed up nicely there, very well done, thankyou.
          If this could be on The Nation, or at least picked up by any MSM as THE narrative, instead of the drivel I had to hear from Boag on Q&A this morning, we could get going!!

    • whateva next? 8.2

      and why were they transferring him anyway?

  9. RedLogix 9

    Those of us who participated in this thread yesterday will find this highly relevant:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/70464458/the-home-that-created-little-criminals

  10. Kevin 10

    1. House repeat-offender pedophiles and the like in their own gated community which they can never leave.

    2. Decriminalise ALL drugs but at the same time provide extra penalties for when people act under the influence, e.g. drive, commit a crime (this is something The Economist has been advocating for at least two decades).

  11. Ron 11

    It seems that so many people are missing the point CV was making that we need a proper investigation of the whole penal system in New Zealand and for once we should try thinking outside the box (cell) There are countries in the world that have had the courage to address the prison question and they have evidence to back up the idea that increasing prison terms and treating people like non humans will only increase the problem. Get rid of the whole jail idea and start thinking of how we would want to be treated if we were in a similar position.
    +100 CV

    • dukeofurl 11.1

      Other countries have lower rates of violence, that is our number one problem. Prisons dont fix that but its a group of responses that we have like home detention, but we can hardly but someone with domestic violence back in the home.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    5 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 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
    12 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
    13 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
    15 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
    11 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
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T08:05:26+00:00