John Key’s brighter future is not for everyone

Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, August 20th, 2015 - 46 comments
Categories: class, john key, national, same old national - Tags:

Key blighted future

It has always troubled me how recently beneficiary numbers have been dropping at the same time that unemployment is increasing.

Anthony Robins wrote this in January of this year and it is clear that his analysis is increasingly true.

What we do know for sure is that National have created an environment for beneficiaries that is so nasty and so distorted, that doctors are being advised to consider welfare a “debilitating drug“. Make a system punitive enough and of course the numbers using it fall.

And this week he noted National’s crowing about a further reduction in beneficiary numbers and Anne Tolley’s celebration of the strong downward trend.

National’s hostility to anyone receiving a benefit, as long as they are under the age of 65 years, has been demonstrated time and time again. For instance policies adopted earlier this year to cut benefits if there was an arrest warrant in existence has the potential of making families lives really grim.

And the evidence that the system is not working is becoming very evident. From Radio New Zealand this morning:

In the year to the end of June 2015, 46 Work and Income staff were seriously assaulted, and 413 beneficiaries trespassed for threatening behaviour, figures released under the Official Information Act reveal.

In the 2013/14 financial year, 22 WINZ staff were assaulted and 163 beneficiaries trespassed.

Last September, Ashburton Work and Income staff members Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland were killed and another was injured when they were shot at their workplace.

A 49-year-old man, Russell John Tully, is facing charges.

Since the Ashburton attack, an extra 250 security staff have been employed at Work and Income offices, and a tougher line taken towards abusive and violent behaviour.

Is this increase in unruly behaviour a random occurrence or evidence of increased stress and pressure on those at the bottom of the pile? Carmel Sepuloni has injected some realism into the debate.

Labour Party social development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni suspected the increase in attacks was a sign of desperation.

She said the minister had underestimated the pressure beneficiaries were under.

“They’re going in, they’re feeling like they’re not getting the support they need, and so the tension between the client and the case manager has risen, and you’ve got clients who are under stress but also case managers that are under stress.”

And one symptom is an increase of homelessness and the appearance of homeless pregnant women. Again from Radio New Zealand this morning:

Rhys Abraham, who helps run a group distributing food and essentials to people living on the streets, said volunteers had helped some women who are eight months pregnant.

Though there are no official figures, he believed the number of pregnant women sleeping rough in Auckland had trebled in the past 18 months.

“There are places that will take in pregnant women in an emergency who are otherwise homeless, but a lot of women either…don’t know about it, or…can’t get there, and some of these places are just full.

“They don’t have any more space, they’re doing the best they can, but it’s still not enough.”

The story is a familiar one for Corie Haddock, emergency crisis response team manager for the agency Lifewise, which is currently looking after two pregnant women.

“I’m aware of situations in the past where we’ve worked with other organisations that people have been heavily pregnant – eight, eight and a half months.

“So as the need of New Zealanders grows, those falling into homelessness or needing access to accomodation grows.”

Reducing beneficiary numbers at the same time as homelessness and desperation is increasing shows that something is terribly wrong.

John Key’s brighter future is obviously not for everyone.

46 comments on “John Key’s brighter future is not for everyone ”

  1. Andrew 1

    “It has always troubled me how recently beneficiary numbers have been dropping at the same time that unemployment is increasing”

    Really? We have record levels of employment, unemployment is increasing as we also have record levels of immigration. Instead of loosing people overseas and out of the job market, more and more people are lining up to move here and work. I don’t think that benefit numbers dropping at the same time is very puzzling at all.

    • Macro 1.1

      “We have record levels of employment”
      We have record levels of people in the work force (which includes those seeking work) – that is actually a very different figure than record numbers in employment. We also have around 43,000 more unemployed than when National took office. Those figures are taken from the Household Labour Force Survey Dept of Statistics.
      http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/43000-unemployed-under-national.html
      Furthermore – the figures for “employed” are spurious – when one is counted as being in work if one works for 1 (one) hour or more a week. Try living on that!

      Hours worked in employment is the total number of hours worked in employment per week by all people meeting the definition of employment given in the standard for labour force status, that is, all people aged 15 and over who during the survey reference period:

      . worked for one hour or more for pay, profit or payment in kind in a job, business, farm or professional practice
      .worked without pay for one hour or more in work which contributed directly to the operation of a farm, business or professional practice operated by a relative
      .had a job or business they were temporarily absent from.

      http://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/classifications-and-standards/classification-related-stats-standards/hours-worked-in-employment/definition.aspx
      Furthermore, as has become increasingly obvious to anyone who is involved in social justice and working with those who for what ever reason find themselves in desperate economic circumstances, many who are entitled to assistance from the government are just opting out as it becomes too difficult and stressful to deal with an abusive WINZ.

      • Andrew 1.1.1

        “We also have around 43,000 more unemployed than when National took office”

        We also have about 100,000 more people in work than when National took office.

        http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE7051

        Edit:

        “when one is counted as being in work if one works for 1 (one) hour or more a week”

        Employed figures have been calculated this way through successive governments. So you could equally argue that the record low levels of unemployment over the last governments tenure were rubbish as well. Not that I’m going to.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1.1

          Lazy. The household Labour force survey provides information on precisely this topic going back years.

          So you could argue it, only to be confounded by someone who had the minimal time and energy required to dig into the figures a bit further.

          Foolish, no?

          • Andrew 1.1.1.1.1

            No. I was only bringing it up as you only seem to get the “1 hour or more a week” argument now that national is in government. I can’t recall howling of outrage when unemployment was lower about, but, but, 1 hour a week … underemployment …

            Yes underemployment is a thing, and yes it’s bad, but it’s not like it’s a new thing.

            • Macro 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Yes underemployment is a thing, and yes it’s bad, but it’s not like it’s a new thing.

              Oh! its a new thing for those who were born before 1970. You could argue underemployment was also a feature of the 19th C, but in terms of NZ employment conditions, its is a relatively recent phenomena, and its getting worse as we slip further and further back to employment laws reminiscent of the 19th C.

              • Draco T Bastard

                +1

                The more capitalism we have, the worse off we are.

              • McFlock

                The days when a prime minister claimed he knew the names of the half dozen or so unemployed people in NZ never happened, honest, it’s all a left wing myth. The only way for a society to exist is with tens of thousands unemployed, thousands in prison, and hundreds of thousands in poverty and hardship. That is the nature of things, there is no alternative, yadda yadda invisible hand, and so on

                – the High Priest of Neoliberal Economics and Goatfucking (possibly apocryphal) 🙂

            • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1.1.1.2

              You get the argument more, perhaps because the phenomenon is more prevalent, as shown in the link.

              The facts will still be there when you’re done howling about it: National’s track record is worse by every measure you care to mention.

        • risildowgtn 1.1.1.2

          The unemployment rate peaked at 10.7 percent in 1992, at 7.7 percent in 1998, and fell to a low of 3.7 percent in 2007.

          As economic growth declined throughout 2008 and the first half of 2009, unemployment rose. The annual rate in 2008 was 4.2 percent, rising to 6.9 percent in 2012 and again falling to 5.8 percent in 2014.

          http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-progress-indicators/Home/Economic/unemployment-rate.aspx

          so No youre wrong + u r posting shit

    • One Anonymous Bloke 1.2

      We can’t house the homeless because demographics.

      Of all the callous, gutless, lame excuses in the world…

    • mickysavage 1.3

      Que?

      More people unemployed but less people on a benefit. Normally works the other way around.

    • Brian Smith 1.4

      ‘we also have record levels of employment’… Employment is recorded as anyone working for 1 hour or more per week. Remember that! And remember also that we have record numbers of casual, zero-hours, and part-time jobs. Most of the people in these jobs barely earn enough to live and many of them are better off being unemployed, with an accommodation allowance. Why are people migrating? To flee the growing problems in their own country and add to the growing problem in this country. They also bring their parents who have never worked in this country but still get a pension, a Gold card, and free public health!!! Maybe that’s why more people are lining up to move here…Duhh!!

  2. Tiger Mountain 2

    the HLFS–Household Labour Force Survey has its weaknesses as to what actually constitutes ‘work’, but even it has shown for several years now the disparity in numbers between those in receipt of “jobseeker support” and those classed as unemployed

    thousands of kiwis are not getting the support they should be entitled to because a decision has been made to treat WINZ ‘clients’ as hostile, “Catch 22” is a term rather out of favour now but most applicable to the current situation where people needing support deal with case managers who are rewarded for denying them support

    if you treat people like underclass beasts, denying even toilet facilities as some WINZ offices do, making a visit more like going to Serco Mt Eden then that is how some will behave, add in Kafkaesque bureaucratic sadism and something is going to give

    bennie bashing middle class people should take no joy from “glad its not me” because you could be next if you need two incomes for the mortgage–if one partner in a couple say is made jobless they are not entitled to jobseeker support–who you sleep with still decides eligibility, stiff abatement rates need abolishing too, so bring on a UBI and put this divisive department out of its misery for good

  3. mac1 3

    “Building a Benighted Future.”

    A future of pitiful and contemptible intellectual and moral ignorance.

    “Building a Beknighted Future.”

    A future built for us by people speaking with royal authority. /sarc

    Both very true of this honorific-centred PM and government.

    A future based on emotional response, greed and social irresponsibility.

    Today, before this post, I heard in the news of a knife-wielding man robbing a shop, and my thought went immediately to the possibility that this form of desperation might be the sort driven by poverty, lack of opportunity and the denial of the Kiwi way of life, both spiritually and financially.

    • Tricledrown 3.1

      Has anyone noticed the increased number of beggars and buskers.
      Making it harder to access benefits is cresting more desperate people(customers Bennett speak formerly clients Shipley speak)
      Now with a massive loss in Dairy jobs around 30% of Dairy workers expected to loose their jobs,then farm service sector jobs then rural service sector jobs.
      This govts laissez faire approach to the economy is coming home to roost.
      The bullying approach by WINZ is going to exasperate the way clients /customers/people deal with them.
      Under nationals sinking lid policy no extra staff will be needed so a bigger backlog will form more frustrations occure.

      • Clemgeopin 3.1.1

        “Has anyone noticed the increased number of beggars and buskers”

        Wealthy people living in their massive mansions or gating communities are shielded from all that,

      • mpledger 3.1.2

        This morning there was a homeless man on Lambton Quay with a sign “Stopping friends from voting National – Legend”. I had to laugh.

  4. maui 4

    Harrowing. This is what happens when we have pyschopaths running the country and it being passed off as how you run a society.

    There was also that report the other day that 305,000 kiwi kids are now in poverty. Up from the 275,000 or whatever it was previously. This Government has and will continue to make things worse, a lot worse.

  5. New Zealander 5

    You know you think you can’t be shocked but pregnant women being homeless. This is disgusting.

  6. Draco T Bastard 6

    Last September, Ashburton Work and Income staff members Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland were killed and another was injured when they were shot at their workplace.

    A 49-year-old man, Russell John Tully, is facing charges.

    The last time I recall someone getting killed in a WINZ office was under the last National government in the 1990s and it was for the same reason – the person wasn’t being helped as he needed. This, of course, brings up the old saw about insanity:

    Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

    National are insane and probably psychopathic.

    • Mike the Savage One 6.1

      No they are just cold blooded, calculating bean counting accountants and free market ideologues, who believe that all is better left to be resolved by “market forces”. Getting the state out of welfare, and expecting the public servant foot soldiers to do the coal face tasks, that is where they are simply the cold-hearted, “firm” manager, wanting to get the job done. I grant them they actually believe most of what they preach, but that does not make it any little bit more acceptable or excusable.

      As for Tully, they seem to be doing all to deny him justice, by dragging the case out endlessly, the trial was meant to begin in May, then July, and now they are talking about the end of the year. That is disgusting, totally disgusting, how they even interfere into the judiciary.

      Nats are crims in suit and tie, with a grin on their face, while they hold the whip or stick behind their back.

      • Draco T Bastard 6.1.1

        No they are just cold blooded, calculating bean counting accountants and free market ideologues, who believe that all is better left to be resolved by “market forces”.

        Yeah, that’s what I said 😛

  7. Clemgeopin 7

    ” He believed the number of pregnant women sleeping rough in Auckland had trebled in the past 18 months.

    “There are places that will take in pregnant women in an emergency who are otherwise homeless, but a lot of women either…don’t know about it, or…can’t get there, and some of these places are just full.

    Reducing beneficiary numbers at the same time as homelessness and desperation is increasing shows that something is terribly wrong”

    That is heart breaking and deeply distressing.

    I think EVERY MP from EVERY PARTY should immediately use their collecting wisdom and serious effort to solve this shocking state of affairs now. That is why they have been elected as the representatives of the people. If they are not up to the task, they should resign now.

    • Olwyn 7.1

      I think EVERY MP from EVERY PARTY should immediately use their collecting wisdom and serious effort to solve this shocking state of affairs now. That is why they have been elected as the representatives of the people. If they are not up to the task, they should resign now.

      I wholeheartedly agree. However, I can’t help wondering about the force behind this attitude. For instance, is “reducing dependency” an orthodoxy we are obliged to uphold in order to stay in the “club”? If so, how far are we willing to go before decency demands that we break ranks with the club? It looks to me as if decency should have demanded that long ago, but instead we have Paula Bennett, mooted as a future National Party leader, regularly wheeling out reasons for indifference, with a smug insider’s expression on her face.

  8. Ad 8

    What is particularly frustrating is that the story this afternoon is not about the actual unemployment numbers, but about the ANZ survey of business employment confidence, and an increase in job adverts of .1%.

    These are simply commercially cherry-picked stats, limited to ANZ clients, measuring how good or bad employers feel rather than anything concrete, and bears no reality to actual people losing their jobs, trying to get work, grinding through the wreckage of a social welfare system, and otherwise not being a privileged ANZ business leader client represented on the news by an ANZ-paid economist.

    Complete misdirected joke.

  9. Kay 9

    I’m not an angry or violent person. And I’ve had to deal with WINZ for 25 years (Invalids and can’t change my situation). Until 6 years ago when the “reforms” started and the constant financial stress got even worse – until recently it was actually reasonably manageable on Invalids but not now- dealing with WINZ was pretty routine, and it helped seeing the same person each time.

    But now- following the massive panic attacks before even getting into the office- I find myself going on the defensive right away, trying to justify my existence. And without realising it I’m getting louder and louder, shouting and screaming, then sobbing. I’ve had a security guard heading my way on more than one occassion, and I’ve had to walk out several times before I blow my stack completely. On top of that the stress now aggravates my medical condition so badly it’s potentially life-threatening for me to go anywhere near a WINZ office.

    So while they can’t sanction my core benefit (no work obligations) I’m missing out on some extras that Im’, entitled to because it’s too dangerous for me to do the paperwork and deal with them.

    I head some of this on RNZ this morning, and first thought after “this doesn’t surprise me in the least” was great- another beneficiary bashing story press released to distract from all the Govts present messes. Nothing changes.

    • Macro 9.1

      Good God Kay that is a shocking story and situation for you. Thank you for your comment here – it helps to bring some reality to the otherwise esoteric discussion that we tend to indulge in here.
      Kia Kaha

      • greywarshark 9.1.1

        If anyone didn’t understand why many of us were giving it in heaps to Labour for their bloody mindedness in not talking to Greens, not following every possible legal step to get into a winnable position, then Kay’s story illustrates the reasons. We knew that things could only get worse with another three years of Notional. It was unbelievable that they were waiting to see how voters would place Labour BEFORE they would act and talk with their fellow travellers.

        It is very sad to see NZ go down this cruel poverty-inducing road. The smooth smiling faces of pollies determined to stay in power, the only thing they care about. The traitors to our country’s legacy to the people, and to democracy, helped by the quislings who vote for them.

        • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.1

          It was unbelievable that they were waiting to see how voters would place Labour BEFORE they would act and talk with their fellow travellers.

          Competition is expensive. Wonder how long before Labour actually realise that.

    • tc 9.2

      I really feel for you Kay they tried the similar processes on my mother, a great way to treat someone who’s paid tax all their life.

      If we weren’t around to support and expend many hours supplying documented evidence (which they already had) and getting the same medical folk to re-write the same letters it wouldn’t have been resolved.

      We sorted it relatively quickly because we were ready for their games as national always does this, it’s as predictable as night following day and indicative of the nastiness in treating members of society whilst they throw many many millions at corporate welfare.

    • Augustus 9.3

      We are in a similar situation to you, Kay, with 2 disabled people in the family. For me, the most hideous part of all National’s rules is the “discretion” awarded to case workers. They have these draconian regulations, from which your individual case worker can deviate if s/he so deigns. In my case, that usually means they won’t, because I can’t bring myself to be nice to them.
      Entitlements should be entitlements and written down as such, not discretionary help depending on which foot your particular mini-fascist got up that day.

  10. Clemgeopin 10

    An example of the plight of the homeless :

    Lewis Stanton, also known as Hone Ma Heke, was attacked with a solvent as he was sleeping in the entranceway to the Nelson City Council offices, on the corner of Halifax and Trafalgar streets, about 6:45am on Wednesday.

    He received solvent burns to his lips, mouth and throat and stayed in Nelson Hospital overnight.

    Police have been reviewing CCTV footage of what they described as a “cowardly attack”

    Stanton said he saw a person wearing a red jersey running away from him following the attack.

    He was discharged from hospital on Thursday and said he had a safe place to stay for a few days while he recovered.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/71295652/police-release-cctv-image-following-chemical-attack-on-lewis-stanton

    Recently I read about building owners installing water sprinklers to deter the homeless from sleeping in front of their buildings.

    New Zealand is fast descending into third world conditions. But hey, no worries. We can vote on a new flag soon.

    • Wensleydale 10.1

      Check out photos from the UK, where they actually embed spikes into the pavement outside shops to prevent homeless people from sleeping there. It’s draconian in every sense of the word.

      • Clemgeopin 10.1.1

        If only these businesses, the corporates and other wealthy bastards would build some decent night shelters for the poor and homeless as a small service back to society for the exploitation and huge profits they make from society in the first place! That wouldn’t break their bank, would it! May be they could afford to even offer the poor homeless a bowl of soup and a few slices of bread if there is a little kindness in their hearts.

        The arse holes do not think twice about buying a private jet plane for themselves at the drop of a hat!

  11. Mike the Savage One 11

    “Anthony Robins wrote this in January of this year and it is clear that his analysis is increasingly true.”

    Also quoted from above:

    “What we do know for sure is that National have created an environment for beneficiaries that is so nasty and so distorted, that doctors are being advised to consider welfare a “debilitating drug“. Make a system punitive enough and of course the numbers using it fall.”

    Yes, and then they go on about supposed “evidence based” findings and approaches, repeated like some mantra for solving all health, disability and social ills, promoted by MSD’s infamous ‘Principal Health Advisor’, who gets backing despite of misleading claims in his many presentations and media comments. WORK is the salvation for all, and “cures” sickness and helps living with disability, that is for most, we heard.

    It is always astonishing and disturbing, how the MSM is limping behind of what others have found out long ago, but that just proves how low the journalistic profession has sunk, certainly when it comes to investigating, seeking OIA information and reporting on social security matters.

    Here is stuff that was available LONG ago:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/mental-health-and-sole-parent-employment-services-msd-withholds-o-i-a-information-that-may-prove-their-trials-a-failure/

    Here is how they discretely changed the Medical Appeal Board hearing process:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/the-medical-appeal-board-how-msd-and-winz-have-secretely-changed-the-process-disadvantaging-beneficiaries/

    And this post reveals that much of the supposed “evidence” is at best inconclusive, if that, yes much is based on hand-picked data from reports that do not quite deliver the medical scientific “evidence” that is so often talked about:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/msd-and-dr-david-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-claiming-worklessness-causes-poor-health/

    An OIA response hiding more than answering to a request:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/msd-o-i-a-rqst-re-dr-bratt-presentations-contacts-anon-16-01-reply-by-ce-27-02-14.pdf

    A follow up response after the not really all that helpful Ombudsman was involved:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/msd-o-i-a-rqst-re-dr-bratt-presentations-contacts-anon-16-01-further-reply-12-11-14.pdf

    And a not that more helpful provisional decision by Ombudsman Paterson, who then send a final decision that was just “bizarre”:
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-o-i-a-to-msd-dr-bratt-publ-int-prov-dec-compl-hilit-22-05-15.pdf

    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ombudsman-complaint-msd-o-i-a-rqst-16-01-14-dr-bratt-presentation-info-hilit-dec-23-06-15.pdf

    Read the whole background and some revealing correspondence and details under this link (again):
    https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/msd-and-dr-david-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-claiming-worklessness-causes-poor-health/

    (All from a reliable, trusted source!)

  12. linda 12

    its deliberate and despicable whats happening but assault and murders will continue
    it you push people so far its logical that there will be a negative reaction i just wish the anger was directed at the right people key ,benett and the gang

  13. Smilin 13

    I heard from a reputable public source that in Keys days as a derivatives seller it was an environment of about 2 hours work a day to sell their crooked deals for about 60gs per million dollars return to them of their worthless junk
    Can their be some sort of regulation that can kept these people from corrupting our democracy
    And what right other than conning ignorant voters do they have to expect us to believe any of what they say or do in governing this country
    Their rockstar economy is nothing more than a junkies body shot full of holes

  14. millsy 14

    If a pregnant woman cannot get a roof over her head, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

    Really.

  15. Glenn 15

    There are a lot of unemployed who never appear in the statistics.
    For instance there are a quite a number of over 60s who are living on diminishing capital and savings to get through to the super.
    Too old to find anything in the way of jobs, often not in good health but not sick enough to be considered for sickness benefits and not willing after a lifetime of work to put up with the shenanigans of WINZ these folk just struggle on until the magical age of 65 (that’s if they survive that long).
    Not recorded and in no statistics they are right where the government wants them.

  16. Mike the Savage One 16

    While people hear are very “politically minded” and want a progressive change, I fear some still fail to understand the damned seriousness of what is going on in this country.

    Further to my comments above (see 11 and 11.1), I have today been informed by that OIA requester, that a letter from the Ombudsman was now received. Believe it or not, they simply are REFUSING to investigate the deletion of numerous emails that MSD’s Principal Health Advisor exchanged with a leading advisor to MSD and the government on the recent, draconian welfare reforms!

    These were ALL deleted, as “many of them were private”, was the earlier OIA information they gave in response, thus “excusing” that the records were not held. And the Ombudsman commented in his last response, they could not assess records and their types when they would not exist.

    Now they advise, they will not conduct an investigation under the Ombudsman Act, as prior to that the matter should be raised with MSD. Also they claim, due to the lack of resources, they will not accept any further complaints from the complainant.

    So that is how far we have got, the government holds the key to funding the Ombudsman, so the Ombudsman has no resources to deal with many received complaints. Hence the Ombudsman throws out complaints, saying they have no resources to investigate more.

    In other countries this may be called something close to corrupt practices, in New Zealand it is “acceptable” and is called “lack of resources”.

    So is this not coming close to silencing those applying independent scrutiny and dissent, just as they do in dictatorships?!

    What a “brighter future”, when will more people wake up?

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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
    8 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
    8 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
    8 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
    8 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
    9 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
    10 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
    13 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 ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    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
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    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
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • 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
    1 hour 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
    6 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
    8 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
    9 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
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
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