Market not impressed with $30 Million payout

Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, August 9th, 2013 - 89 comments
Categories: economy, energy, john key, Privatisation - Tags: , , , ,

Yesterday John Key gave $30 Million of tax payer’s money to Rio Tinto in order to prop up its electricity deal with Meridian – and thus to prop up his privatisation ideology. (I note in passing that Rio Tinto just posted a 6 monthly profit of $4.2bn, but I guess that every little bit helps).

Looks like the “wisdom” of the market was unimpressed – there was a spike in trading of Mighty River Power shares, and a 7c drop in share price. Smart investors getting out?

MRP-price-8-August-2013

89 comments on “Market not impressed with $30 Million payout ”

  1. Skinny 1

    Yes of course they are. Our power utilities sell off is still John Keys biggest 
    weakness. The opposition parties need to keep linking as much mud back to this point. Hone in on property and really own this hot issue. Hard hitting bad press like;

    Why the contradiction John Key? what sane mum & dad investor would buy power shares, when the returns on property are rising thru the roof? Come on Mr share market trader don’t tell us your’ve pumped and dumped your (‘our shares’).

     We will force this out of touch Government to ‘understand’ Kiwi’s want the house door firmly slammed shut, on greedy oversea’s investors currently putting our next generations out on the street. 

    And our coalition Government of forward thinking progressives, will brain storm a total overhaul on housing full stop, one that successive generations will be truly proud of.

    I think you all get the drift, back on song. When is the anti assets sales petition result coming out anyone know?             

    • srylands 1.1

      “Come on Mr share market trader don’t tell us your’ve pumped and dumped your (‘our shares’).”

      Just a reminder – all his shares are held in a blind trust. What you are suggesting could not have occurred.

      • One Anonymous Knucklehead 1.1.1

        Just a reminder – he has a “seeing eye” trust that enables him to do exactly that. Didn’t you know?

        • Jim Nald 1.1.1.1

          “all his shares are held in a blind trust” with the “seeing eye”

          John Key’s blind trust means the public is kept blind to the shady operations of his trust.

          And people like srylands foolishly give him their blind trust.

          • felix 1.1.1.1.1

            srylands knows exactly how John Key’s trust network is set up.

            srylands is a liar, not a fool.

      • Skinny 1.1.2

        My banner hit a nerv did it Shrilly?

        Ok now let me think (all of a nano second) hmm wine..no not wine-box, that’s those other 2 money trader mates of his. Umm that’s right, forgetful Mr Share-Trader & his Xmas gifts to his rich masters, the ones who stumped up the loose change to buy the 2.2 million dollar new digs. You know… the one just up the road from the GCSB offices. Talk is, Transport Minister, Mr Who-Ate- All- Pork-Pies, has delayed the build of a Auckland rail tunnel, because Mr ST wants a tunnel to the GCSB HQ built first. Go figure…apparently something about his rights to privacy from the public eye.
        Anyway here is the ‘conflict of interest’ link to refresh you memory Shrilly. http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10647699

        • srylands 1.1.2.1

          “the 2.2 million dollar new digs”

          You mean the slightly run down unremarkable house in Thorndon? It is next door to the Ministry of Education, not the GCSB. It is two blocks away from GCSB. The tunnel would need to be a long one.

          • SpaceMonkey 1.1.2.1.1

            It’s about 100m away… not a long tunnel at all.

            • ghostwhowalksnz 1.1.2.1.1.1

              Will have a direct line of sight microwave link- its the fastest point to point.

              Just like Dotcomm had from his Coatesville house to the Sky tower

              Seriously though. the house will be used for meetings between donors and ministers.

              That way its off government premises and they can allways say – they arranged to meet but got delayed etc. Just like Peter Dunne said about his so called ‘missed’ meeting with Vance.

      • Mike S 1.1.3

        Hahaha, the only thing ‘blind’ would be you to the real world if you think he doesn’t know what his investments are.

      • Murray Olsen 1.1.4

        Sometimes you can be funny, sorryhands. This one was real ROFLMAO material.

        • srylands 1.1.4.1

          whatever Murray – you can ROFLYAO as you grow old watching electricity generators being privatised. Oh wait, I forgot the New Zealand Left has this sorted. It is the rest of the world that has it wrong.

          • Murray Olsen 1.1.4.1.1

            It was your touching faith in Key that I found funny. Your economic and social theories make me vomit.

            • srylands 1.1.4.1.1.1

              I don’t have any faith in any politician.

            • srylands 1.1.4.1.1.2

              “Your economic and social theories make me vomit.”

              Yes because you have a naive faith in the ability of governments to achieve higher living standards via regulation and control.

              • Murray Olsen

                You have some evidence to back up your claims? Have I written that somewhere? Or are you just making stuff up to justify your own character failings, much like your high priestess, the lovely Ayn Rand?

                • srylands

                  “Have I written that somewhere? Or are you just making stuff up to justify your own character failings”

                  I’m just making stuff up.

              • Colonial Viper

                Only governments can apply and enforce the regulation and control needed to balance societal and private sector needs.

                Not sure why you cannot see the obvious. You should stop going to neoliberal church for a while, methinks.

              • Skinny

                Speaking of Vomit Shrilly, Who were the mugs Joyce contracted to come up with the Nats conference catch cry- ‘Helping Families.’ Are they that cocky their now taking the piss, at the expense of the poor- including white, middle class, swing voters? Or was it simply a typo and should have read ‘Hurting Families.’ Seriously dumb slogan, the whole Country is thinking, actually, ‘that’s more National bullshit’, all this Government is doing, is ‘Helping Rich Families.’

                Classic-I hear big party donators the Talley family provided more than their quota of snapper for the gig. Don’t think Natan Guy will be eating fish, nor Key for that matter.

  2. srylands 2

    You need to get the context right. MRP shares have fallen by about 10% since the float, with about half of that being in line with the NZX index.

    MRP’s long term prospects still look good. The share price should trade around those fundamentals. The biggest regulatory risk remains the WM NZ Power plan. As the election nears you would expect to see some volatility as markets price in the likelihood of a Labour/WM win. I still maintain that NZ Power will never happen whatever.

    I think at $2.15 MRP would be a strong buy. I would be looking to increase my (modest) shareholding at that price. As a shareholder I would be relaxed with the price trading in the $2.00 – $2.30 range for the next year. If it cracked $2 I would reassess.

    I agree that the Rio Tinto subsidy was a bad idea. I would have preferred to see the smelter close fast. Meridian value would then have settled. We could then all have bought our Meridian shares with more certainty in the next float. I have not decided on a Meridian buy. I think it is wait and see.

    • vto 2.1

      Dontcha just love the way ownership of MRP has gone from all New Zealanders to just a few New Zealanders who are all srylandss and gosmanss

      fucked

    • richard 2.2

      What a load of meaningless twaddle. One thing you should ask your lecturers in econ101 is to teach you how to write plain English. Then you won’t have to rely on the jargon and slogans you copy and paste from your textbooks and back issues of the Economist.

    • tracey 2.3

      syrlands I thought your (and Nats and Act) iedology was government out of business. This looks like government is very much in this business (RIO Tinto) and giving our money away and yet you dont seem outraged. Especially as the parent of the smelter is LOADED. I say outraged because “not a good idea” is kind of “meh” and you dont seem worried provided you can profit from the share sale.

      • srylands 2.3.1

        I don’t think getting “outraged” by Government policies is healthy. Governments do many things I disagree with. I could be outraged all day.

        The subsidy is a bad idea. It is the left that has historically supported subsidy to industry. Last time I checked the Greens were in favour of tariff protection. Which is simply a transfer from consumers to business.

        So yes – it was a bad idea, along with 100 other bad things I could list.

        Selling Meridian is a good idea. I’m not going to stop buying shares. The really bad part of the sale process is that the Government is only selling 49% – it should be 100%. Inevitably a future governmnet will sell the remaining 51% of all the SOES now being partially floated.

        The irony is that many people I have discssed the sales with actually think the Government is selling 100% now! – so they may as well have.

        • Tracey 2.3.1.1

          you’ve come across quite emotional on other topics here though Sryland, so you have exhibited the ill health before. I’m glad you think it’s a bad idea but as long as you get the shares at a good price you don’t really care.

          I have no doubt you think outrage is unhealthy because it is outrage that leads to change and stops bad things happening. You’re a staus quo or “good old days” kind of a guy/gal I suspect.

          • srylands 2.3.1.1.1

            “You’re a staus quo or “good old days” kind of a guy/gal I suspect”

            No I am not. I do care. I have worked to change poor public policy for 30 years. The subsidy is a bad idea. But there are many other policy settings that are a higher priority becuse they are more costly. Just one example – removing the remaining 10% tariff on clothing and footwear would benefit lower income New Zealanders considerably. I don’t see the Left lobbying for this removal of a subsidy from consumers (especially lower income consuemrs) to the capitalist owners of clothing manufacturers, many of which are owned by Australians. Over the last decade this subsidy would certainly have exceeded $30 million.

            One moderating factor in the Rio Tinto subsidy is that it is one off.

            • vto 2.3.1.1.1.1

              “I have worked to change poor public policy for 30 years”

              there we go

              for all to see

              1984 to 2014

              hasn’t it gone well

              you confirm all suspicions

              no wonder you cannot see

              start again

              at the beginning

              people first

            • richard 2.3.1.1.1.2

              …removing the remaining 10% tariff on clothing and footwear would benefit lower income New Zealanders considerably.

              Haven’t heard that argument for years. As the only thing an economist has successfully predicted is what has happened in the past, let’s have a look at how tariff removal has worked in New Zealand:

              1. tariff makes imported goods more expensive
              2. tariff enables New Zealand employers to set up factories to make those goods and pay their employees at a rate where they can afford those goods.
              3. remove tariff
              4. low paid workers can now buy more imported goods
              5. low paid workers employer’s factories now can’t compete with imported goods
              6. factories close making low paid workers unemployed
              7. previously low paid workers are on unemployment benefit.

              Yep, tariff removal has been a great success in the past and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t continue with it.

              Edit: would be handy if we could put in bulletted lists

            • freedom 2.3.1.1.1.3

              ” I have worked to change poor public policy for 30 years.” after reading most of your slogan heavy potpurri that now malingers on the pages of The Standard, one could argue that you believe any policy that actually helps the public would fall under that category.

            • framu 2.3.1.1.1.4

              “I do care”

              then why are you so blind to the destruction and harm that your ideology inflicts on society?

              im calling either BS or deluded on that claim

            • Colonial Viper 2.3.1.1.1.5

              I love Shitlands continuing push for income deflation for ordinary people, and continuing upwards wealth redistribution.

              BTW Government is in the business of subsidies and wealth transfer, of getting things done that the private sector is either unwilling to, or unable to. That is one of the main reasons for government’s existence.

              Its also one of the main reasons that neolibs and corporates hate government (unless they are the ones receiving the wealth transfer).

              • srylands

                “continuing push for income deflation for ordinary people, and continuing upwards wealth redistribution”

                Really? I thought the consensus on this thread was that my MRP shares were going to end up worthless?

                “once Meridian shares are dumped on the marke tand (sic) the govt subsidy has gone (Tiwai will close) your MRP shares will be worth nothing”

                Looks like a plan for income deflation for the “rich” (sic)

                New Zealand can’t escape the trend of governments getting out of business. 20 years from now there won’t be any SOEs – all electricity generators will be privately owned (with majority foreign ownership unless we lift productivity).

                Even if the left get into government they can’t renationalise the privatised assets. So the politcial cycle will deliver a shrinking role for the state, even though change will come in spurts. As the population acquires shares, the consensus for further privatisation grows. The debate here now is exactly what we saw in Australia in the late 1980s. But it has now gone. Same will happen here.

                • McFlock

                  we’ll see.

                • freedom

                  “Even if the left get into government they can’t renationalise the privatised assets. ”

                  You confuse ‘can’t’ with ‘probably won’t’.
                  A government can nationalise anything it chooses to.
                  A government’s willingness to accommodate the repurcussions is the main factor seperating the two.

                  • felix

                    You mean a sovereign parliament doesn’t have to play by the rules set out according to srylands’ ideology?

                    Well fuck me.

                    • srylands

                      “You mean a sovereign parliament doesn’t have to play by the rules set out according to srylands’ ideology?”

                      Of course it can. But (back in the real world) it won’t.

                    • felix

                      If it’s a neoliberal fuckjob government, yeah.

                      Your delusion is that that’s the only type we’re ever going to have.

                    • srylands

                      “If it’s a neoliberal fuckjob government, yeah.”

                      No – whatever Government – won’t happen.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      For the moment mate, I agree. All the main political parties in the western world are pretty much right of centre, on the political economic spectrum.

                    • felix

                      I find your lack of imagination disturbing.

                • Colonial Viper

                  Looks like a plan for income deflation for the “rich” (sic)

                  The rich can afford it. And it better reflects their real contribution to society.

                  • srylands

                    “The rich can afford it. And it better reflects their real contribution to society.”

                    Bloody hell – whatever .. NZ probably has about 500 “rich” individuals. An annual income of $200,000 NZD certainly does not qualify close to being rich. Plus you have to work your arse off to maintain it. Plus you pay all the nation’s tax. If you have a couple of kids it requires careful budgeting to make it work.

                    • McFlock

                      ‘For just $547 a day, you can help Emmanuelle get taken to private school in a late model SUV, rather than a used car’…

                      Try raising a kid on a fifth or a tenth of that, and then talk about how life is such hell on $200k.p.a.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      An annual income of $200,000 NZD certainly does not qualify close to being rich.

                      It’s seven times above the country’s median income. So you can fuck off.

                      Plus you have to work your arse off to maintain it.

                      Ahhh, the “life is so hard” cry of the wealthy. Again, fuck off.

                      Plus you pay all the nation’s tax.

                      Hey shit for brains, I know a few thousand people who’d like to make $200K pa and pay all that tax on it too. Maybe if rich people want to pay less tax they should take less of the nation’s income share OK?

                      If you have a couple of kids it requires careful budgeting to make it work.

                      You really are a toff creep haha

                      PS fuck off

                    • srylands

                      “It’s seven times above the country’s median income.’

                      Misleading much? It is 4.6 times median income for those receiving income from wages and salaries.

                      http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/Income/nz-income-survey-info-releases.aspx

                      4.6 x the median hardly qualifies as “rich”.

                      So you fuck off.

                    • felix

                      “Misleading much? It is 4.6 times median income for those receiving income from wages and salaries.”

                      Yes, how misleading to include poor people in the calculation.

                      “4.6 x the median hardly qualifies as “rich”.”

                      lolz

                    • McFlock

                      Once again spylands gives us a glimpse into his fucked up little mind. Poor people don’t count and don’t even deserve to be counted.

                    • srylands

                      “Yes, how misleading to include poor people in the calculation.”

                      Why the fuck would you include people getting government transfers in the calculation??? Low paid workers are included.

                    • felix

                      Because we’re discussing how much more some have than others. What did you think we were talking about?

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Hey srylands, as others have mentioned, nice of you to exclude the lowest income 2.25 million NZers in your quoted sadistics.

                      You really are a dick shit.

                    • srylands

                      “Hey srylands, as others have mentioned, nice of you to exclude the lowest income 2.25 million NZers in your quoted sadistics.”

                      Only those receiving government transfers are excluded. They are always going to be poor. No matter what happens to GDP growth. Because they are on welfare.

                    • tricledrown

                      Not easy being on $200,000 a year if you had universal benefits for families like the Mana party promotes it would be easier for you gooseman.

                    • felix

                      Ok srylands, but you also have to exclude all 4th 5th and 6th decile salary earners.

                      Because they’ll always be in the middle.

                      You.

                      Fucking.

                      Moron.

                    • McFlock

                      I’m somewhat horrifically fascinated as to what spylands would regard as “poor”.

                      Probably something like being forced to wear suits that cost less than a thousand dollars.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Off the rack, the fucking indignity of it all.

                    • srylands

                      “Ok srylands, but you also have to exclude all 4th 5th and 6th decile salary earners.”

                      Felix – You are the moron. Of course middle income salary earners will be in the middle but their incomes will grow in real terms with GDP if that GDP growth is driven by productivity improvements. Welfare is indexed to CPI.

                      So – if we get our policies right, real incomes might increase by 50% over the next 20 years. But welfare payments will not. They will simply increase by CPI.

                      You.

                      Fucking.

                      Moron.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Middle income salary earners are in the top 20% of NZers.

            • tricledrown 2.3.1.1.1.6

              goooose an election bribe to rescue failing asset sales with Tiwae will most likely shut down 1/2 its production, so their will be an over supply of power on the market reducing other power companies profits reducing their value for long term. Because the smelter will close in 2016 .Investors they are better waiting for mugs like You SCHRILGLANDS to buy them at full price. then buy them when the price has gone down by 10%!
              You have been duped by your own propaganda!

              • srylands

                “then buy them when the price has gone down by 10%!”

                You are deluded. You only lose money if you sell the shares now.

                If I keep these shares for the next 30 years it is the dividend stream that matters.

                I will buy some more at $2.15. So should you.

                • Colonial Viper

                  Funny how you support the “dividend stream” being transferred away from the commons to foreign investors and privateers.

    • “MRP’s long term prospects still look good. The share price should trade around those fundamentals.”

      It sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself, Sry?

      Don’t forget the market principle when there is an excess of a particular item. What happens to the price…?

  3. tricledrown 3

    Schrilands once Meridian shares are dumped on the marke tand the govt subsidy has gone (Tiwai will close) your MRP shares will be worth nothing
    Meridian are selling power for less than cost causing losses so you bought MRP shares and have lost 10%+ you are a politically Naive dumbarse Troollle Gooosseeman.
    That is the level of National party supporter!
    The partial self off of power companies is over any investor in their Right mind would be looney to part with money!
    Schrilands subsidizing the National parties asset fire sale!

    • srylands 3.1

      “any investor in their Right mind would be looney to part with money!”

      I predict the Meridian float will be over-subscribed.

      • fender 3.1.1

        Dream on, One News did a poll and found a whopping 3% were interested in buying shares.

        • srylands 3.1.1.1

          It said 3% of people are very likely to invest, with another 11% saying they are quite likely. Even 3% is plenty enough when you add in the institutions

          So I repeat – it will be over-subscribed by a very big margin.

          • vto 3.1.1.1.1

            and so too is 3% of foreign landlords being banned plenty enough to have a market effect.

            • Skinny 3.1.1.1.1.1

              Yes quite right vto, that’s the point. Shrill & his gullible 2 bob-tory mates have been sold a pup for the time being Too much blind faith in their share trading leader.  Now don’t try tell us it’s not a contradiction, the market is too small here to have both competing successfully. So what’s it going to be… power shares or property? Of course it’s property as gutless Key won’t fair up the property market. So what’s a share investors to do, because it concerns a slab of your money? Your’ve pretty much said it! Slink out of the polling booth in 2014, having party voted Labour (never admitting it), justified insurance will keep your conscious at ease.

          • fender 3.1.1.1.2

            Doesn’t matter how many times you repeat the same crap, 3% is a sad result (MRP is lower than that). But it suits National to have only 3% benefiting from this wealth transfer scam.

          • tracey 3.1.1.1.3

            I agree with srylands, in that it wont have trouble selling, but it wont be the mums and dads we were promised for nearly 6 years…

          • framu 3.1.1.1.4

            so 49% NZ ownership transferred to 3% global ownership

            thats just fucking magic innit

            • framu 3.1.1.1.4.1

              ok – that doesnt actually come out the way i meant – but you get the idea

          • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.1.5

            So I repeat – it will be over-subscribed by a very big margin.

            And that’s a measure of what? How greedy the capitalists are combined with how impotent they are at creating their own billion dollar assets that they have to nick ones from the commons.

      • tracey 3.1.2

        but not by mums and dads.

  4. Raymond a Francis 4

    The workers (you know the people who vote left) in Invercargill are happy to have their jobs even if the market doesn’t like the payout

    • tracey 4.1

      yup, self interest prevails all round, the right doesn’t have that to themselves.

      I assume there is no guarantee to have those jobs for say 10 years?

      • idlegus 4.1.1

        reported this morning on radio nz is that an announcement is expected next week where the number of job losses from tiwai point will come out. the restructuring that has been going on already, so at the moment up to 800 people are employed there (not 3000 that keeps getting repeated on tv3 & elsewhere), & job losses are expected to number in the 100s, a very shonky deal for nz.

        as an aside, nz post will be announcing their 3 day week sometime in the near future, that will be half the staff made redundant & there are actually 1000s of employees at nz post, will national come to their rescue? i doubt it. even though they can help kiwibank by throwing them some work instead of it all going to westpac.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 4.2

      So its too big to fail – again.

      Too bad for all the other smaller factories getting the chop. They dont happen to be in or near Bill Englishs electorate

    • Foreign Waka 4.3

      Yes, and anybody who has half a heart will feel with the people. Still, I think this is an election ploy as more job losses should not loom large on peoples minds (via the news, press etc).

  5. infused 5

    Well National have played this one smart.

    If the opposition attack this, then you have ‘think of the workers argument’. Which is bad for the left, since you are meant to be the workers party. Opens the left up for a National attack.

    However, personally, I think this was stupid. They were not going to go, maybe in a few years, but not now.

  6. SpaceMonkey 6

    So when are the Rio Tinto CEO and Board being drug tested? Presumably before they receive their handout…

  7. Huginn 7

    Some background on Rio Tinto’s thinking here, from the Financial Times. It seems that:

    Rio has been trying to divest Pacific Aluminium, which comprises high cost smelters in New Zealand and Australia and an alumina refinery, for almost two years.

    It is one of several assets that Rio has put on the block as it looks to reduce net debt of $22bn and retain its single-A credit rating.

    Rio’s debt burden is a legacy of its disastrously timed acquisition of Alcan. The miner paid $38bn for the Canadian company in 2007 just as the financial crisis hit and demand from industrial users slumped. Impairments have now eaten away at some $20-$25bn of the purchase price.

    http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ffcdfab6-ffec-11e2-9c40-00144feab7de.html#axzz2bIvEApxM

    • bad12 7.1

      Listening to Bernard Hickey on RadioNZ national just now i think it might be a long long wait for Rio Tinto if they now plan on holding onto the Tiwai point smelter until demand and prices pick up to pre-2007 levels,

      The Chinese have according to Bernard got enough smelting capacity for aluminum coming on stream in the next four years which will make Rio Tinto’s output look insignificant,

      i would suggest that (sadly), the people of Invercargill had better prepare for the smelters total closure sometime in the next 5 years,

      The Government of course could ensure the future of the smelter by offering Rio Tinto a few bucks for it having already dropped 30 million as a deposit…

  8. tracey 8

    Lol @ remove tariff to help the poor. The warehouse was responsible for more job losses than it created by bringing cheap stuff in.

    if you believe even half of what you write it must be cold in your shoes.

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    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 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
    9 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
    9 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
    10 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
    11 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
    12 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
    14 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
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    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
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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

  • 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
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 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
    10 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
    10 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
    24 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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