Key smacked down on jobs failure

Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, November 28th, 2012 - 68 comments
Categories: jobs, john key, russel norman - Tags:

Dr Russel Norman: Does it not all boil down to the fact that whichever way you cut it, whichever statistics you care to choose, the Government has failed on jobs, unemployment has grown in New Zealand, and the number of jobs in the manufacturing sector has not grown; and is it not time he just admitted it and figured out what to do about it?

Naturally, Key responded with a long-winded version of ‘la, la, la, there’s no problem and, if there is, it’s all someone else’s fault’.

Key never wants to look the facts in the eye, but Norman forced them down his throat:

Dr Russel Norman: Which of these figures does he dispute: that the household labour force survey shows a 31,600 decline in the number of people employed in manufacturing in the past 4 years; that the quarterly employment survey shows a 31,300 decline in the number of jobs in manufacturing in the past 4 years; or that the linked employer-employee data set shows a decline in the number of filled jobs in manufacturing of 20,000 in the 3 years to September 2011?

Key, of course, tries everything to look the other way and refuse to address the issue (he even accused Labour of starting the global financial crisis) but, you know what, that’s fine. It’s great news for the Left when Key refuses to acknowledge the problem that’s in front of everyone’s face.

When Kiwis see job loses on the TV night after night in places like Tokoroa, Rotorua, and Mosgiel – to name just the publicised job losses in the last two days – and then see Key claim there’s no problem, we don’t walk away thinking that there is no problem. We walk away thinking that Key has his head in the sand and a seriously credibility issue on jobs.

Remember to get your submission in to the Manufacturing Inquiry.

68 comments on “Key smacked down on jobs failure ”

  1. CnrJoe 1

    no flaff – Worst. Govt. Ever

  2. karol 2

    I do find it frustrating, the endless game playing a rule-defining process that takes so much of question time.

    It all seems to work against enabling the government/PM to honestly be held to account.

    FFS!  Norman asked  for 4 years of stats, Mr Speaker.  Key gave 3 years.  Any school child can see what a dodge that is.

  3. fisiani 3

    Key could easily have claimed quite factually that the Green and Labour Hobbit Haters would have cost 3,000 jobs.

    • karol 3.1

      Key could have claimed it, but like many things he’s claimed, he would be wrong.

    • felix 3.2

      Key hates the hobbit. He doesn’t want to read it and he hasn’t watched the LOTR films either.

      • kea 3.2.1

        Torture.

        You may need to restrain him, as Kubrick did with Alex in ‘A Clockwork Orange’, using Ludovico technique apparatus forcing him to watch through the use of specula to hold the eyes open, all three episodes of the Rings ..

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_technique

        I couldn’t handle it.

        • felix 3.2.1.1

          That’s fine, you don’t have to like it. I haven’t read the Hobbit either. Not my cup of tea.

          But I don’t go around calling my opponents “Hobbit Haters” and I haven’t tied my political career to the franchise.

          Presumably you haven’t either.

    • Roy 3.3

      3000 < 20,000, even if the 'Hobbit haters' assertion was true, which it is not.

  4. Steve Wrathall 4

    What utter hypocrisy, when the watermelons oppose every suggestion for actually creating jobs: mining, fracking, lowering minimum wage, youth rates, free trade…

    • One Tāne Huna 4.1

      It’s so nice to hear from the tiny minority once in a while.

      Wrathall, not even the Treasury department believes your delusional fantasies. Perhaps you should blow harder.

    • framu 4.2

      still living the fantasy there steve?

      watermelons – oooh, such a stinging put down. First time anyones heard that, quite a new one in fact, invent that all by yourself?

      Shame that when you describe green policies and the party as such it just proves you dont have a fricken clue about what your talking about – as usual

      • Steve Wrathall 4.2.1

        Not to mention wanting to shut down the fossil-fuel based economy and replace it with unreliable energy sources that cost 100s of thousands of $ for each phony job created.

        • One Tāne Huna 4.2.1.1

          Earth to idiot: fossil fuels are running out; the change you are whining about is inevitable. Perhaps if you blow harder you will strike oil, though.

        • Tracey 4.2.1.2

          How’s the job creation gone over at Pike River???

        • Warren 4.2.1.3

          How’s the job creation at Solid Energy?

        • mike e 4.2.1.4

          silly wanker your the fossil fuelled by ignorance and greed

          [lprent: That comment appears to be pointless abuse. Read the policy and don’t make the same mistake again. This is your warning. ]

        • framu 4.2.1.5

          “every suggestion for actually creating jobs”

          from you list – are these the only ideas ever for creating jobs? are there better ones?

          I know your scope is very narrow and i dont expect you to really know – but its worth asking

      • Fortran 4.2.2

        framu

        Surely you mean a Fracking clue ?

    • Tracey 4.3

      not quite right, the alleged job creation “ideas” which have been shown to not deliver what is promised and are a step back in time. Were you for or against the carriages being put together in Dunedin or China?

      Can you point to the successes from our FTA with the USA?

    • Saarbo 4.4

      “every suggestion for actually creating jobs: mining, fracking, lowering minimum wage, youth rates, free trade…”

       Steve, Its debatable that any of these things make a MATERIAL difference to creating jobs but what does create Jobs is a growing economy. Key, English and Joyce are tanking our economy with their ‘Do Nothing” strategy. Growth under Labour Government’s 3.7%, Growth under National Government’s 2.9%. FACT.

      National are Hopeless.

      • Draco T Bastard 4.4.1

        We’ve hit Peak Conventional Oil. That, essentially, means that it’s now impossible to grow the economy so we need to look for better ways to distribute the limited resources we have.

        • Saarbo 4.4.1.1

          True DTB, the point that needs to be made to National supporters is historically their policies seem to consistently suppress and constrain the economy while Labours policies expand and grow the economy. Many business people naturally gravitate towards National when the differential in average growth would suggest that they are mistaken.

          I had a discussion with the owner of a business (employs 65 people/sales 60m), he is 3rd generation to run the business, he mentioned that his family were very aware that their manufacturing business does better under Labour than National.

          I planned to get around to calculating the historical growth rates between the two governments…so was glad Shearer come up with the figures in his speech. 

           

        • Steve Wrathall 4.4.1.2

          Bollocks. Peak per capita global oil consumtion was in 1979. Since then global per capita wealth has risen hugely. It’s all about using resources most efficiently, not wasting them as the commies did.

          • thatguynz 4.4.1.2.1

            How very disingenuous of you Steve.  Perhaps you might like to also look at the corresponding increase in global per capita debt.  Everything is not as it seems – moreso when you look at it through rose tinted glasses.

          • framu 4.4.1.2.2

            “It’s all about using resources most efficiently, not wasting them as the commies did.”

            yet when the greens suggest it you call them……… commies? – what a frackin hypocrite!

          • Draco T Bastard 4.4.1.2.3

            Since then global per capita wealth has risen hugely.

            Yep, it’s risen in line with oil production. It’s decreased population growth. It’s the latter that is the cause of the bigger decrease.

            As for efficiency, well, that comes with a paradox. More efficiency uses more of the resource as it becomes cheaper due to declining demand. It’s one of the bigger failures of the profit driven market system.

      • OneTrack 4.4.2

        GFC

        • Draco T Bastard 4.4.2.1

          Apparently the GFC has been over for the last 3+ years so it’s about time that National stopped using that excuse. On top of that it’s usual for economies to come out of recessions quite strongly.

  5. karol 5

    John Key has the gall to say at the end of the clip:

    I should point out that I deal in the facts. All I am interested in is the facts.

    When he has spent the previous 9-10 minutes dodging and distorting the facts.  There’s this gross distortion:

    Rt John Key: What is true is that there was a global l financial crisis that we inherited from Labour, and that had a big impact on the economy.

    Dr Russel Norman: Is the Prime Minister saying he inherited the global financial crisis from the Labour Government?

    Rt Hon JOHN KEY: In part of it, yes, because after 5 years of increasing Government expenditure by 50 percent, interest rates were 8.25 percent in this country. But this is the good bit of the news—this is the good bit of the story—if Labour are now accepting that there is a global financial crisis, then they will stop all that talk about Greece not having any impact on New Zealand.

    The only people who have been constantly saying that Labour don’t accept there’s been a GFC has been National MPs – part of their on-going distortion of what Labour MPs have been saying:  i.e.  that  NZ’s economic problems are only partly the result of the GFC.

    When are we going to get an honest  government?!

    And when are we going to get a PM that doesn’t speak gibberish. In the above video @6.40 minutes, Key’s response is indecipherable.  It’s Key’s respose to the question quoted in the post above. There’s a silence in the House as everyone tries to make sense of what he said.  The transcript says this:

    Dr Russel Norman: Which of these figures does he dispute: that the household labour force survey shows a 31,600 decline in the number of people employed in manufacturing in the past 4 years; that the quarterly employment survey shows a 31,300 decline in the number of jobs in manufacturing in the past 4 years; or that the linked employer-employee data set shows a decline in the number of filled jobs in manufacturing of 20,000 in the 3 years to September 2011?

    Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No, no, in the past 4 years.

    It sounds to me like Key says something like “Noh, none in the past 4 years.”  But I could be wrong.

    • Tracey 5.1

      “I should point out that I deal in the facts. All I am interested in is the facts.”

      He says it, it’s reprinted, broadcast and hey presto it is believed. That’s how it works. Sadly it’s working so well we even have commentors here who point out that he has misled and the previous government misled and that commentator abhors both but voted for National twice. THAT’s the problem, we’re all stuck in this “government is a game you win or you lose” meme. If only it were just a game!

      • Akldnut 5.1.1

        Point of order Mr Speaker

        The Prime Minister said that he only deals in facts yet less than five minutes ago he twice implied that the previous Labour Govt created the GFC.

        Which of the statements is the truth?

    • Tracey 5.2

      But but but but English says everything is just fine… so what is Key blaming things on for, his MOF says the economy is doing well.

  6. kea 6

    I think that Russel Norman ought to be given credit for his performance, irrespective of politics.

    Look at the backgrounds of the leaders of the 3 major parties. Key and Shearer were more or less eased into their positions, Shearer having once worked as a staff member for Phil Goff.

    Norman worked in a market garden, wrote a Ph.D. on the NZ Green party, worked as a Green Party researcher, and won a strongly contested leadership ballot.

    A Norman-lead coalition could be a viable outcome, it being unlikely the Greens would have numbers to govern alone. Could Peters and Shearer, or his successor, work with Norman ?

    A week can be a long time in politics.

    • weka 6.1

      A Norman-lead coalition presents significant challenges for the Green Party, given that the leaders of the GP are Norman and Turei. How do you propose that is resolved?

      • Outofbed 6.1.1

        How can that be resolved ? I think you will find fairly easily The Green Party is not a party of inflated egos. I have full confidence in the Green Party Exec will make the appropriate decision based on feedback from the membership

        • muzza 6.1.1.1

          Look at the backgrounds of the leaders of the 3 major parties. Key and Shearer were more or less eased into their positions, Shearer having once worked as a staff member for Phil Goff.

          Read, they were groomed, then the road map planned out for them…agreed

          Norman worked in a market garden, wrote a Ph.D. on the NZ Green party, worked as a Green Party researcher, and won a strongly contested leadership ballot.

          Read, Norman has been groomed (where is he really from anyway, seriously map it out if you can), because the green agenda/progression is a carefuly manufactured one, which will lead NZ and other countries towards desired outcomes. People will laud the accent of the greens, right until they can no longer afford to live, just like under “the rights agenda”, how could this be…

          Its called playing both sides, like any good trader would hedge a bet on!

          I have full confidence in the Green Party Exec will make the appropriate decision based on feedback from the membership

          @ Outofbed – All the best with that full confidence!

        • weka 6.1.1.2

          “I have full confidence in the Green Party Exec will make the appropriate decision based on feedback from the membership”
           
          That doesn’t really answer the question though. And as a GP member who thinks the co-leadership is important, I need to see discussion of this now, while Norman’s status is being talked up. It’s not enough to think that the GP will handle this well when we don’t know what they will do.

        • OneTrack 6.1.1.3

          Yep, Turei. Shearer is male, so the Green ethos demands equality. Furthermore, she is Maori and we need to preserve the Mana of our Maori hosts. Its a win -win. I have full confidence that Norman does not hav an inflated ego and will agree this the the most logical arrangement for ll concerned.

    • David H 6.2

      Yes the next poll will be interesting to say the least, who’s is due first Morgan?

    • OneTrack 6.3

      “Norman worked in a market garden, wrote a Ph.D. on the NZ Green party, worked as a Green Party researcher, and won a strongly contested leadership ballot.” -Thats what we need, someone eperienced in business and economics, and a true man of the working classes. Oh wait…..

  7. kea 7

    It’s true, the Greens have *two* leaders, but still ..

  8. kea 8

    Weka: I don’t have any particular insight into Green party dynamics or the distribution of seats after the next election. I just think that credit should be given where credit is due.

    • weka 8.1

      There is ongoing debate about to what extent the Maori female co-leader is being sidelined for the Pakeha male co-leader. It’s a core part of the GP having female and male co-leaders. Any suggestion of using Norman as the premier frontperson needs to also address how that can happen in accordance with GP values.

      • Tracey 8.1.1

        Although Rod Donald had a profile initially Jeanette was the media go-to person wasn’t she?

      • OneTrack 8.1.2

        We need to challenge the white patriarchal mindset that says that only white pakeha can be leaders.

        • kea 8.1.2.1

          I have a lot of respect for Metiria Turei, but Russel seems to be making a lot of the running in public and can expose John Key’s slipshod management of the facts. He seems better able to handle Key’s rough and tumble style of politics than any number of pleasant suburban politicos.

          It was embarrassing to watch Key mangle his facts as he finished his speech at the launch of the Hobbit last night. He kept repeating the line “If the people support the government” .. as if scripted by his PR crew.

          Could there be a Hobbit election in the air ? It would secure Peter Jackson’s next project and doom Aotearoans to continuing deterioration of work conditions for which many of our forebears fought.

          The Barons of the Roundtable are watching with interest.

  9. aerobubble 9

    …the Canterbury real build being the only source of growth in the country?

    Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I am sorry but the member, again, is on another planet, because actually the world has been going through a global financial crisis. Actually, he speaks of the Canterbury earthquake as if it has been some lucky thing, but, in actual fact, for the New Zealand economy and for the people of Christchurch it has been a very unlucky thing. Yes, we are going to get some benefit out of the post-earthquake construction, but, actually, it has cost New Zealand and the people of Christchurch substantially, and so it is only proper that they actually benefit in terms of the rebuild. If the member is saying that that somehow should be discounted away, then, truly, that is ludicrous.

    Joyce chch reply in parlliament, the window into
    stupidity of distortion capitalism, castrating
    facts is core to inititiaing distortion capitalism.
    So Joyce immediately ignores all the insurance
    payments, all the stored wealth in EQC for such
    a Earthquake event, all the risk private risk analysis
    of investors and home owners do, and says that
    Canterbury rebuild growth is not ‘discountable’,
    does Jouce not understand societies, businesses,
    and yeah governments, build in risk abatement
    depress growth in good times, discount growth
    in order to deal to Earthquakes disasters wiping
    value off the economy.

    ChCh growth is discounted because for the most part
    it was growth under Labour government administrations
    that squirreled the money away, for disasters, to
    get the books to zero.

    And so you have wonder what other nonsense Joyce
    believes, and Key also.

    Cheap oil did away with so many of the old problems,
    population growth, pollution abatement, resource limits just
    by having a cheap energy means to solve these problems.
    Now these problems are back and have to be
    solved with energy costs in mind, and the solution to
    cheap old, to keep markets moving without the old
    adaptive incentives of adversity was the manufacture of
    consent for distortion capitalism, where crisises where
    solely market created.

    So what we have is those schooled in the politics
    and economics of distortion capitalism, the
    artifical creation of new problems to be solved
    by the market, for the market and of the market,
    due to easy solutions abounding for old problems.
    Are those people now writing the trading relationships for
    decades to come. And its worse, they have no integrity
    because no green economics, no sustainibility
    analysis, no social diminsionality, breaks
    the darkness of these talks.

    Because men like Joyce, schooled as they were in turdonics.
    Joyce chch reply in parlliament, the window into
    stupidity of distortion capitalism, castrating
    facts is core to inititiaing distortion capitalism.
    So Joyce immediately ignores all the insurance
    payments, all the stored wealth in EQC for such
    a Earthquake event, and says relying on past growth
    sotred up for a rain day, is a sign of his present
    administrations countable legacy.

    This is the government that plans to sell renewable
    energy into the private market, when the world
    economy is printing money, when the world looks
    set to hit an energy crisis, Key is handing over wealth
    a bottom of the market in order to boost fiscal
    growth books of markets, AT A TIME when its
    now obvious that the old paradigm of market
    distortion by capitalists has run its course, that
    the new paradigm isn’t profit its wealth. Wealth
    not for the few, but the majority.

    Key is not only clueless, his administration is corrupted
    by a time past when growth was easy, when spin was
    rewarded and incompetence could be over looked because
    there was so much activity the ocean would quickly
    cover up the rocky hazard temporarily exposed.

    the tide has gone out on neo-conservative stupid.

    • aerobubble 9.1

      Economies thirty years ago needed to create
      new problems when cheap oil did away
      with so many of the old problems, to population
      growth, pollution abatement, resource limits.

      Enter distortion capitalism, cannibalize societies to create
      need and so demand for goods and services. Attack
      the family, ignore the value of extended families,
      stuff people into suburban sprawl and make a
      wasteland of communities. Even today Key is
      continuing the attacks on Education, centralizing
      power away from communities.

      So what we have is those schooled in the politics
      and economics of distortion capitalism, the
      artifical creation of new problems to be solved
      by the market, for the market and of the market,
      are now writing the trading relationships for
      decades to come. And its worse, they have no integrity
      because no green economics, no sustainability
      analysis, no social dimensionality, breaks
      the darkness of these talks.

    • Kevin Welsh 9.2

      In all honesty aerobubble, do you even understand what you have written?

      • mike e 9.2.1

        aero has stated pretty clearly what vampire capitalism all about!

      • aerobubble 9.2.2

        I don’t care for your laziness, considering the wonderful cascade of nonsense that the media passes off as cogent. I’m no journo, no english grad, I doubt most people are, does that mean we have to bow down to the grammar and, yes even be understandable. We live in the age of nonsense, of lies, of dishonesty, how darn you use the three ideas in the same question, honesty-understand-written, how you lack integrity for you case, since in our information existence these three never meet in any public discourse I’ve ever seen, there are two many differing perspectives, too many contrary facts, too many sullen writers, for anyone to make complete sense to anybody else, let alone themselves. Argghhh, have you never written anything you later did not understand? I would contend you are either limited in your expression, craven in your outlook or just naturally boring.

  10. Tracey 10

    Is it still the case that our Pm’s don’t do interviews unless they have the questions first?

  11. Skinny 11

    Both Key & Joyce skirted around the issue coming up with less than satisfactory reasons why unemployment is so high. It’s just disingenuous when we can recall Key trumpeting to captains of industry that pay rates in manufacturing are too high in New Zealand. That might be so if your comparing us to some Asian Countries that pay around $2-$2.50 per hour. The smarts would be to harangue the hell out of National over removing the R&D tax credits, something that still grates a lot of small to mid size manufacturers. And keep the pressure on over the high NZD, there are enough manufacturers finding it tough to compete only too willing to be outspoken about this. Finally, start a day of protest by Kiwi workers made redundant in the last 3-6 months, this will bring the issue right out in the open for all to see!

  12. History Repeats 12

    Really decline in developed world economies manufacturing is a worldwide trend. The jobs have moved to China and Asia. Check out the stuff last purchased from The Warehouse, Look at the USA manufacturing Jobs.

    One could argue we have done well to be in the posisiton we are in now.

  13. James 13

    The article AND the comments below make for some extremely interesting reading and points of view! Seeing the various perspectives etc

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    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    14 hours ago
  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    14 hours ago
  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    15 hours ago
  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    18 hours ago
  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    18 hours ago
  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    18 hours ago
  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    19 hours ago
  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    20 hours ago
  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    20 hours ago
  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    22 hours ago
  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago
  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    1 day ago
  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    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 days ago
  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    3 days ago
  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    3 days ago
  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    3 days ago
  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    4 days ago
  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
    4 days ago
  • Feline Friends and Fragile Fauna The Complexities of Cats in New Zealand’s Conservation Efforts

    Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...

    4 days ago
  • Or is that just they want us to think?
    Nice guy, that Peter Williams. Amiable, a calm air of no-nonsense capability, a winning smile. Everything you look for in a TV presenter and newsreader.I used to see him sometimes when I went to TVNZ to be a talking head or a panellist and we would yarn. Nice guy, that ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Fact Brief – Did global warming stop in 1998?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Did global warming stop in ...
    5 days ago
  • Arguing over a moot point.
    I have been following recent debates in the corporate and social media about whether it is a good idea for NZ to join what is known as “AUKUS Pillar Two.” AUKUS is the Australian-UK-US nuclear submarine building agreement in which … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • No Longer Trusted: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    Turning Point: What has turned me away from the mainstream news media is the very strong message that its been sending out for the last few years.” “And what message might that be?” “That the people who own it, the people who run it, and the people who provide its content, really don’t ...
    6 days ago
  • Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?
    No – nothing about that in PM Luxon’s nine-point plan to improve the lives of New Zealanders. But beyond our shores Jamie Dimon, the long-serving head of global bank J.P. Morgan Chase, reckons that the chances of a goldilocks soft landing for the economy are “a lot lower” than the ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    6 days ago
  • Sad tales from the left
    Michael Bassett writes –  Have you noticed the odd way in which the media are handling the government’s crackdown on surplus employees in the Public Service? Very few reporters mention the crazy way in which State Service numbers rocketed ahead by more than 16,000 during Labour’s six years, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • In Whose Best Interests?
    On The Spot: The question Q+A host, Jack Tame, put to the Workplace & Safety Minister, Act’s Brooke van Velden, was disarmingly simple: “Are income tax cuts right now in the best interests of lowering inflation?”JACK TAME has tested another MP on his Sunday morning current affairs show, Q+A. Minister for Workplace ...
    6 days ago
  • Don’t Question, Don’t Complain.
    It has to start somewhereIt has to start sometimeWhat better place than here?What better time than now?So it turns out that I owe you all an apology.It seems that all of the terrible things this government is doing, impacting the lives of many, aren’t necessarily ‘bad’ per se. Those things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Auckland faces 25% water inflation shock
    Three Waters became a focus of anti-Government protests under Labour, but its dumping by the new Government hasn’t solved councils’ funding problems and will eventually hit the back pockets of everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 8:06 am today are:The Government ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Small accomplishments and large ironies
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume VII
    In order to catch up to the actual progress of the D&D campaign, I present you with another couple of sessions. These were actually held back to back, on a Monday and Tuesday evening. Session XV Alas, Goatslayer had another lycanthropic transformation… though this time, he ran off into the ...
    6 days ago
  • Accelerating the Growth Rate?
    There is a constant theme from the economic commentariat that New Zealand needs to lift its economic growth rate, coupled with policies which they are certain will attain that objective. Their prescriptions are usually characterised by two features. First, they tend to be in their advocate’s self-interest. Second, they are ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • The only thing we have to fear is tenants themselves
    1. Which of these acronyms describes the experience of travelling on a Cook Strait ferry?a. ROROb. FOMOc. RAROd. FMLAramoana, first boat ever boarded by More Than A Feilding, four weeks after the Wahine disaster2. What is the acronym for the experience of watching the government risking a $200 million break ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research.   “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government redress for Te Korowai o Wainuiārua
    The Government is continuing the bipartisan effort to restore its relationship with iwi as the Te Korowai o Wainuiārua Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading in Parliament today, says Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. “Historical grievances of Te Korowai o Wainuiārua relate to 19th century warfare, land purchased or taken ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Focus on outstanding minerals permit applications
    New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals is working to resolve almost 150 outstanding minerals permit applications by the end of the financial year, enabling valuable mining activity and signalling to the sector that New Zealand is open for business, Resources Minister Shane Jones says.  “While there are no set timeframes for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Applications open for NZ-Ireland Research Call
    The New Zealand and Irish governments have today announced that applications for the 2024 New Zealand-Ireland Joint Research Call on Agriculture and Climate Change are now open. This is the third research call in the three-year Joint Research Initiative pilot launched in 2022 by the Ministry for Primary Industries and Ireland’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Tenancy rules changes to improve rental market
    The coalition Government has today announced changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to encourage landlords back to the rental property market, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The previous Government waged a war on landlords. Many landlords told us this caused them to exit the rental market altogether. It caused worse ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Boosting NZ’s trade and agricultural relationship with China
    Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will visit China next week, to strengthen relationships, support Kiwi exporters and promote New Zealand businesses on the world stage. “China is one of New Zealand’s most significant trade and economic relationships and remains an important destination for New Zealand’s products, accounting for nearly 22 per cent of our good and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Freshwater farm plan systems to be improved
    The coalition Government intends to improve freshwater farm plans so that they are more cost-effective and practical for farmers, Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay have announced. “A fit-for-purpose freshwater farm plan system will enable farmers and growers to find the right solutions for their farm ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Fast Track Projects advisory group named
    The coalition Government has today announced the expert advisory group who will provide independent recommendations to Ministers on projects to be included in the Fast Track Approvals Bill, say RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones. “Our Fast Track Approval process will make it easier and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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