Matthew Hooton apologises … sort of …

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, September 30th, 2013 - 74 comments
Categories: david cunliffe, Media, radio - Tags:

nine-to-noon-matthew-hooton1

Yesterday on my twitter feed I read Matthew Hooton’s sort of apology to David Cunliffe.

Then when I checked later it had been chucked behind NBR’s paywall.  I guess Matthew may want to make sure that he has a legal fighting fund, just in case.

The article involved a concession that his description of David as a liar was “inaccurate”.  David had actually been engaged in work that led to the formation of Fonterra and Hooton begrudgingly accepted this.  He also accepted that he was complying with the Cameron Slater maxim that explaining is losing.  His explanation was begrudging and rather tedious with the amount of self promotion and the amount of further denigration of Cunliffe that it contained but a backdown it was.

His particular comment (thanks Peter Aranyi) was as follows:

In politics explaining is losing so in writing all this I have just lost the little public contretemps between me and the likely nextPrime Minister.  I was wrong to call Mr Cunliffe a liar when he said he had “helped with the formation of Fonterra” and consequently apologise to him for using an inaccurate word”.

This backdown is followed by a further passage which outlines what will be the continuing line of attack on Cunliffe:

Of course, this little kerfuffle is hardly the biggest issue facing the nation, and is relevant only because Mr Cunliffe’s Fonterra comments are the same type of self-aggrandisement that gets him into trouble over other issues.  There were his false or exaggerated claims of community work for the Auckland and Wellington City Missions and Forest & Bird, and his claim to have graduated with a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Business School when in fact he earned the degree from the nearly-as-impressive John F. Kennedy School of Government.

These claims can also be disproved but you get the picture.  Stand by as the snide public attacks continue.

Having known David Cunliffe for the past 14 years and having been heavily involved in his first campaign can I say that the spin is total bollox.  Of all the politicians that I have met, and I have met a few, David is actually one of the most grounded yet dedicated and energetic I have met.  And I cannot help but think that these attacks are motivated by fear.  Because if John Key is the National leader most likely to reach across and gain the votes of Labour supporters then David is his left wing alter ego, able to persuade National supporters that he is a real and effective alternative to our failing status quo.

The whole episode justifies more analysis of what happened because rest assured it will happen again.

David Cunliffe had stated that he had “helped with the formation of Fonterra”.  A very helpful analysis has been provided by Karol and as the formation of Fonterra took place over a number of years and Cunliffe through Boston Consultancy Group had been involved in advising Dairy Group on merger options the statement is clearly true.

The spin involved is frankly extreme.  If you listened to Hooton you would think that Cunliffe was claiming that he was solely responsible for Fonterra’s formation.  He claimed nothing of the sort.  As you can see by what Cunliffe said in Parliament he has only claimed that he was a management consultant tasked with advising on the formation on Fonterra while with BCG and this is clearly true.  Hooton has applied the most extreme of spin to what is a quite a vague comment and then stated repeatedly that his extreme spin cannot be true therefore Cunliffe lied.

Yesterday’s Mediawatch had an interesting analysis of the issue complete with the retractions from Radio NZ as well as Radio live.  Their description of Hooton being a partisan pundit is very apt.

I suspect that all ears will be on Radio New Zealand’s Politics from the Left and the Right and if Hooton appears then you will have to wonder about the balance shown by the State’s foremost radio broadcaster.

UPDATE:

The show has been broadcast and RadioNZ repeated its apology and Hooton apoligised for the use of “that word”.  The audio is below:

Hooton also claimed that Lianne Dalziel was a member of ABC.  He has to be joking.

74 comments on “Matthew Hooton apologises … sort of … ”

  1. karol 1

    Thanks, micky. Will be listening to the 9-to-noon spot with interest.

    I wanted to listen to the mediawatch segment, but your link takes me to a Future West post.

    • mickysavage 1.1

      Oops ta Karol, now fixed.

      • karol 1.1.1

        Thanks, micky.

      • karol 1.1.2

        And Mediawatch compares Hooton’s rant with Bomber’s ban behaviour. But RNZ’s statement to mediawatch makes it seems that RNZ is not going to ban Hooton. If that’s the case, RNZ can expect a lot of further complaints on the unbalanced response to left & right.

        • newsense 1.1.2.1

          I honestly don’t mind if Bomber is not on RNZ, except that I think he deserves some pay checks, as does the other Bfm alumni, Wallace Chapman. I’d rather things be a bit more reserved and less war of the blogs there.

          I do expect the state broadcaster to be absolutely scrupulous with accuracy and quality. It has to hold itself to a much higher standard because it can.

          It pisses me off that Hooton is taking our tax-payer funded time slot to run what essentially is party propaganda (what else do you call fueling rumours about opposition parties based on inaccuarcies in emotive and unprofessional language?). He should be banned from the show and someone with a bit more credibility and respect should be found for the slot, not a PR guy.

          • newsense 1.1.2.1.1

            also- anyone else getting anti-virus warnings about the dailyblog being an attack site or something?

            • newsense 1.1.2.1.1.1

              There should be a constant branding of National ‘dirty tricks’ or some such when they occur. It is obviously an attempt to get ‘liar’ to stick to D.C.

              Agree with Mediawatch’s question that it was a political party attack, especially as he repeats it on Radio Live and clearly uses that term.

              The statement about Hooton makes a joke of public broadcasting, especially compared to their statement on Bradbury. A government of creeping authoritarianism, not democracy.

            • Athena 1.1.2.1.1.2

              I used to be able to read the daily blog on my phone, but since last week, it won’t load. I only get error messages now .

  2. Anne 2

    Noted that Lyn Freeman is filling in for Kathryn Ryan today. It may well have been previously arranged but it saves Kathryn Ryan some embarrassment even though she was not to blame for Hooton’s hysterical outburst.

    Btw, I always thought it was a mistake of Helen Clark’s when she ignored righting false claims about her political and personal life. By all means don’t go into lengthy explanations, but when false claims are made that can be easily refuted with factual material etc., then go ahead and use them otherwise the accusers get away with creating a false meme about their target.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 2.1

      No its school holidays, so the media takes off, just like parliament ( bizarre)

      • Anne 2.1.1

        Yep. The country comes to a shuddering standstill. Don’t go anywhere near malls. Do the SM shopping very early or very late. Avoid cinemas, don’t go on beach picnics in the summer, avoid swimming pools and keep your gates locked until the little hounds have gone back to school. 👿

        • tinfoilhat 2.1.1.1

          Honestly Anne you are what is wrong with politicians – it’s just all about you isn’t it ?

        • BLiP 2.1.1.2

          Heh! All true . . . but, I gotta say, the Auckland traffic is heaps better when the little blighters are on their holidays. I can cut 15 minutes off my trip to the office. You know, in my day, I had to walk (three miles, barefoot, in the frost, after waking up half an hour before I went to sleep and with only a mouldy crust and half a slice of lemon for breakfast to warm my little tummy on the way) to the bus stop. These days, God forbid our children should have to actually wear their shoes out.

          As for Hooton . . .

          . . . People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked . . . The man who lies to the world, is the world’s slave from then on . . .

          • Rogue Trooper 2.1.1.2.1

            choice cut BLiP

          • MrSmith 2.1.1.2.2

            You might enjoy this then:

            “The liar’s punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else”

            • Rogue Trooper 2.1.1.2.2.1

              seeing the Ayn Rand quote, I went looking for this (old-sKool) political pamphlet that had been delivered to my friends’ home by supporters of the 1Law4All political party (sic). I read the entire thing critically; man was their some doozy revisionist polemic, and misappropriations of actual quotes by, among others Dr. Martin Luther King and Rand.
              The leaflet was very cleverly done, although circuitous and descriptive in it’s ‘reasoning’. Being the Honest chap that I am, I was impressed, and appalled at the same time (RW movements can have that desired effect). Yet, the blatant lies and misinformation. As you can imagine, such rubbish has not been distributed (safely) in the suburb I live in. 😉

            • ghostrider888 2.1.1.2.2.2

              Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man…” Jeremiah 17:5
              For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Galatians 6:3
              Ride the High-road, down the line. 😎

  3. Chooky 3

    Good post….agree the HEAT has to be kept on Hooton….there are high monetary stakes for the people he represents and for him as well as their spinner.

    I heard Kathryn Ryan’s apology and thought it very good and simple….She read out Cunliffe’s statement as to what exactly his involvement was in setting up what was to become called Fonterra and it was very detailed and convincing….made Hooton look like a spinner and a liar…even worse.

    I just wish that Mediawatch had also read out Cunliffe’s statement….which actually says it all!

    ….otherwise mud sticks and people are left wondering exactly what the argument is about….for example I know one old Labour Party supporter who was believing Hooton’s slander …and that of the MSM….

    Cunliffe can actually very ably support himself if given the airing …and a fair hearing

  4. geoff 4

    Not that I’m trying to tell people what to write but…I wonder if the left gave this story too much oxygen.
    We all know Matthew Hooton is a self-promoting big mouth, and we know that we can expect much more of this sort of thing from the tories as we lead up to the election.
    The worst thing would be to spend lots of time and energy defending against this crap instead of going on the attack at National.
    Remember how little comment from the right there was after that ‘Mind the Gap’ inequality doco? They completely shut that down in an obviously organised way, starved it of attention and, grudgingly, I have to say that their strategy worked. After about a week, nobody was talking about it. Perhaps the left should take note.

    • karol 4.1

      The inequality story is still running on many fronts.

    • mickysavage 4.2

      Thanks Geoff.

      I thought about this but it is clear to me that this particular tactic is going to be used again and again. It is important to counter these particular memes that the right are trying to establish. At the same time however I agree completely about the desirability of debating stuff that actually matters such as climate change, poverty, unemployment …

      I think we need to do both. Addressing the real issues is vital but running successful campaigns is just as vital.

      • One Anonymous Knucklehead 4.2.1

        +1

        RNZ need to understand that Hollow Hooten is the story. The story is about a liar and his lies and his links to the government.

      • Not A PS Staffer 4.2.2

        The Tories will do to Cunliffe what they did to Clark: attack on theor strength, which is their Integrity.
        The Tories will use the “Swift Boat” techniques

        We should have a two pronged approach to the Tory attacks:

  5. ghostwhowalksnz 5

    I notice the media in Australia have already started chasing Abbott across a carpark !

    The honeymoon didnt last a fortnight ( except for Murdochs papers who now bury boat arrivals away from the front page)

  6. One Anonymous Knucklehead 6

    Hooten was outed as a liar, a recidivist mendacious wretch almost at the same level as our lying Prime Minister, by his own emails. That he still gets work indicates just how deep the rot goes in what passes for right wing intellect.

    Shame on his enablers.

  7. yeshe 7

    C’mon Mr Hooten .. going to show your face to apologise here for all the rubbish you posted about this? Yeah ? Nah.

  8. karol 8

    Hooton still there – made an apology of sorts – switched off.

    Boycott RNZ!

    • weka 8.1

      But Karol, you missed the bit where Hooton claimed Lianne Dalziel was part of the ABCs and is on the right of the Labour party, and then talked over the top of Mike Williams when he tried to correct Hooton that Dalziel is a Cunliffe supporter.

      😉

      • Bill 8.1.1

        I wouldn’t say the general fear and uncertainty in Hooten’s voice was palpable if it wasn’t.

        • weka 8.1.1.1

          His veneer of “I’m a reasonable person, you should listen to me” is most definitely slipping. That must have professional implications for him (hence the fear I guess). In the bit about Dalziel he sounded like a control freak.

      • Chooky 8.1.2

        +1 Weka….Hooton Possum is either 1) losing the plot ( stress or Alzheimers?)

        …. because at the end of the commentary he asserted quite forcefully that Lianne Dalziel ( soon to be Mayor of Christchurch) was a part of the ABCs ….( when everyone in Labour knows she was a staunch Cunliffe supporter and Shearer demoted her to the back benches)

        ……or 2) Hooton is still an unrepentant spinner/liar ….and continuing with his evil ways

        He certainly didnt take a step backwards and apologise when challenged by Mike Williams on this fact…he wanted his quick end spin to stand!…. imo

        • karol 8.1.2.1

          Well, I’m glad someone is monitoring Hooton’s anti-democratic propaganda.

          “Political commentator”? Yeah right.

        • MrSmith 8.1.2.2

          “he asserted quite forcefully that Lianne Dalziel ( soon to be Mayor of Christchurch) was a part of the ABCs ….( when everyone in Labour knows she was a staunch Cunliffe supporter and Shearer demoted her to the back benches)”

          Clearly another lie and he should be made to apologize again (not that the last one was much cop). So email RNZ and complain people.

      • Saarbo 8.1.3

        Yes, this proves that Hooten is not only a liar, but he is stupid as well. Dalziel’s affiliations are very well documented, I was quite surprised that he didn’t know that.

      • Rodel 8.1.4

        Yeah but I wish Mike Williams had been a lot more forceful.
        Like say condescendingly..’but Matthew, that’s yet another lie …when will you stop trying to feed misinformation?
        or perhaps… “Matthew. shut the f*** up”.
        I could go on….(bit ashamed to say I heard it as I usually change stations on Mondays)

    • CnrJoe 8.2

      gettin there – i wrote to 9-noon saying if Hooten is to be kept on (pushing his brand) then Bradbury should be up against him

      • lurgee 8.2.1

        Not sure having two blustering idiots will really help much. Hooten is making a fool of himself and the last thing we need is someone to make the left look stupid.

        Interesting to think about how many lefties have filled that slot over the years. Hooton has been there for ages. Nothing else to do, nowhere else to go. A sad little man trying to make himself seem important.

        • Rodel 8.2.1.1

          lurgee
          I agree with your comment about 2 blustering idiots not really helping.say Hooting and Bradbury…..nah! I just change stations…..

  9. McFlock 9

    Has hootle mctootle learned to qualify his snide little lies with the phrase “false or exaggerated claims” in order to merely imply lying, rather than outright making a demonstrably false accusation?

    What an obnoxious little shit he is.

    • Rogue Trooper 9.1

      “I thought to myself: I am wiser than this man; neither of us probably knows anything that is really good, but he thinks he has knowledge, when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think I have.”

      -Plato Apology (prickly and fluffy at the same time).

      • Rodel 9.1.1

        RT
        Check out on Google the ‘Dunning- Kruger effect’…Incompetents don’t have the competence to realize that they are incompetent, wheras real competents (if there is such a word) tend to underrate their own performance.

  10. bad12 10

    The pathetic little sniveler Hooten resorts to new-speak in defense of Slippery’s National Government,

    Crony capitalism according to the paid shill of right wing spin is now ‘Behaving Informally’, Hooten’s reference reeks of wads of used twenty dollar bills being passed around in plain brown paper bags…

  11. blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 11

    Lolz,

    “Of course, this little kerfuffle is hardly the biggest issue facing the nation”

    Oh really? NZ is in desperate need of a government that actually understands the importance of democratic principles and actswith them in mind. If this is not achieved our conditions shall severely degenerate on many fronts. (Consider Greece)

    Good and accurate information from the media would assist this process, however, despite this being nearly non-existent in NZ, hopefully more and more people are realising how very little our interests are being pursued by this current government, that more closely resembles a circus.

    Conversely, this issue is also a most important one for those who are benefitting (world-wide) from the degeneration of democratic principles and are turning the place into their own personal gambling arena. With this in mind, such ‘elements’ very much don’t want any country to improve their democratic expression. Which may well occur under a Cunliffe led Labour.

    Hooton’s lies do nothing for NZ getting a decent government and everything for those creating the above-mentioned scam.

    “Not the biggest issue facing NZ”?

    Very much connected with the single-most biggest issue facing not only NZ but the rest of the world. FYI Mathew-lies-damn-lies-Hooton

  12. Tracey 12

    As long as mike w says hes wrong hootens credibility is gone on rnz bit if the papers keep running the lies.

    ive added 9 to noon to my other radio boycott, veitch

    • Ron 12.1

      I give up on RNZ once Morning Report finishes. Cannot stand Ryan she is in the same class as Hill and I refuse to listen to either. As for the afternoon rubbish God forbid that anyone would listen to the hyped up excuse for a programme.

      • Rodel 12.1.1

        Ron
        Can’t agree with you. Ryan, Mora and Hill are good value. Try radio ritalin for a change.

  13. Yes 13

    [deleted]

    [lprent: already banned, and now permanently,. ]

    • Anne 13.1

      mr d c has already fronted and proved the facts nitwit. If anyone sues it will be mr dc who does the suing. Now go away again because this blog site is for people who are cognisant. Yours is called Whale Oil Beef Hooked.

    • mickysavage 13.2

      Well Hooton (twice), Radiolive and Radio NZ have all apologized. I think there might be something in this …

  14. Virginia Linton 14

    His voice gets very high when he’s challenged. Laughed out loud when he insisted Lianne was an ABC. It’s a shame to boycott when the entertainment is this good. Until you remember this is RNZ and to realise it has lost its magic dust of journalistic integrity is like finding out there is no Santa. Astronomically Bad Call, RNZ.

    • Marksman 14.1

      You know with regard to RNZ,I really think the rot set in when they became Radio New Zealand, “National “.I’m getting good at hearing whistles.If I had my way Ryan would be gone and Mora too.Neither of them can hide their political sympathies very well,and Mercer would be gone because basically, he’s hopeless,he wouldn’t know a decent segue if he fell over one.Even Brent Edwards seems to have gone to the imbedded dark side,shades of Al Morrison there.As a very long time supporter of RNZ,I am deeply saddened that it has come to this,and I dearly hope that our new Labour Govt will take an axe to this right wing stench that is eminating from Broadcasting House.Just saying.

      • Chooky 14.1.1

        @Marksman…I quite like Kathryn Ryan and her Nine-to-Noon slot….and I don’t think she is a Nact at all …quite the contrary…she has given very good ammunition to the Left if they choose to listen eg I heard about Goldman Sach’s review of Kiwi Bank from her programme

        Hooton is ‘fun'( He certainly lets one know how the right wing are thinking and where they want to spin and this is not a bad thing….fore-warned is fore- armed

        …BUT Hooton must be kept under control….AND he must be hauled in every time he tells lies and half truths…and spins…..I am not sure if Mike Williams is the person to do it, although I enjoy hearing what Mike Williams has to say

        ….Maybe Mike Williams could be alternated with someone with a lot more battery acid…enough to floor Hooton, anyway!

        • Rodel 14.1.1.1

          Chooky
          I agree with you.I like.Ryan. She’s OK but could be a bit more assertive and Jim Mora is good lightweight pleasant entertainment.(Mora is a bright person). The Irish who sometimes stands in for him is a rightist bigot…She loved referring to Phil Goff as Phil Gaffe , thinking she was so clever.
          We’d perhaps like them to come down harder on right wingers but I think they’re reasonably neutral and do their job well of providing reasonably balanced infotainment.

          I do wish they’d get someone other than Hooten though. He’s soooo predictable, superficial and quite frankly ho hum here we go again…. same old same old..love the desperate shrieking though. But how do your floor a low brainer who has actually made some money but doesn’t know his intellectual limitations. I know a few like that.

      • Ron 14.1.2

        One can only hope for a new vision for Radio & Television in NZ. Re Hill she is the perfect example of the word “Enui” she seems too disinterested to even bother withe her programme.
        Somewhere I remember reading that she claimed she did not bother reading the books of the authors she is interviewing. Why bother with the interview if that is correct
        Ryan is not much better. I would like to see someone like Mary Wilson front the 9-noon session weekdays, and maybe bring Laidlaw into Saturday morning slot.
        I know there is a major review going on at the moment so lets hope that something useful comes out of this review.

      • lurgee 14.1.3

        In my occasional email exchanges with Jim Mora he always come across as quite reasonable and not rightwing.

        You have to remember neither he nor Ryan are running politics / hard interview shows. They are discussion shows. They are not there to interrogate their subjects but to let them speak. If Mora started giving his panellists a hard time they simply wouldn’t participate. Ditto the politics slot on 9 to Noon.

        I’m fairly sure if either host started ripping into Bryan Edwards, Chris Trotter or Mike Williams, people here would be complaining about UNFAIR it all was.

        I think there is just too much whining from the left about how UNFAIR it all is and how the (yawn) MSM are NASTY and BIASED. As I said the other day, journalists are only interested in one thing – getting the story, first (that might actually be two things) and Labour / the wider left has to make sure it is the story and in a good way. Rather than giving Hooten space to bleat about some fanciful and possibly slanderous delusion of his, Labour should be dominating with new stories about COOL STUFF.

        I’m worried the gloss will wear off the Shiny New Leader PDQ if there isn’t some interesting COOL STUFF to maintain the profile boost. There is a corrupt and ineffective government to attack, why are we playing rope-a-dope and letting an imbecile like Hooton land blows?

        • karol 14.1.3.1

          I’m worried the gloss will wear off the Shiny New Leader PDQ if there isn’t some interesting COOL STUFF to maintain the profile boost. There is a corrupt and ineffective government to attack, why are we playing rope-a-dope and letting an imbecile like Hooton land blows?

          In case you haven’t noticed, Cunliffe and other opposition MPs are in the MSM news about issues like power prices, house prices and asset sales. This Hooton stuff, is not front page news. It is a rear guard action aimed at circulating negative spin a bit below the level of he MSM, with the hope of it gaining momentum in the future. It needs to be exposed for the misleading propaganda that it is.

          Meanwhile other significant issues are getting serious attention: asset sales, TPP, poverty, social security, etc.

        • Marksman 14.1.3.2

          Really? Lurgee, I happen to listen to RNZ from 5.15 am till sometime between 9 and 10 pm everyday so there is very little that happens on air that gets past me.Both Ryan and Mora are rightwingers if perhaps with a small R,Ryan can,t flick her South Island farm girl past and Mora’s been in the minor celebrity industry for so long it’s second nature,living in Pt Chev also helps.
          Don’t get me wrong,I enjoy the format of both shows and I learn very interesting things from them both ,but, when the shit hits the fan I know which way the both of them will jump.Anyway lets re;visit this topic a month out from next years election and see who is right.

  15. Huginn 15

    I read Hooten’s piece for the NBR before it went behind the pay wall. He used it to continue his story that David Cunliffe lied about his involvement with Fonterra. It isn’t an apology.
    The same goes for his words on Nine to Noon.

    He is using these ‘apologies’ to continue his attack on the Cunliffe’s character.

    • Chooky 15.1

      @ Huginn….well David Cunliffe does surround himself with good lawyers…

      I would think…let Hooton have his say and then threaten whatever MSM outlet that allows untruths unchallenged with a legal warning unless they allow David Cunliffe with 10 minutes time to rebut and talk about the real issues ….

      …..that way David Cunliffe scores a penalty goal in the public eyes …..and as well educates the public on his personality and the policies and direction of the new Labour Party and the next 2014 Labour /Green coalition government.

      I would also think that Mike Williams should be alternated with someone like one of Bomber Bradbury’s guests…..eg Selwyn Manning ? ….who can really put the heat and acid on Hooton

  16. McFlock 16

    It’s needed repeated amendments because DC keeps overestimating tory comprehension skills.

    “Totally dodgy”? -it really is conspiracy bullshit.

    Questions need to be asked: for example, did you stick a pencil all the way up your nose while in primary school, or is your qualification for joining the kiwiana-birther charge simply that you’re 8th-generation inbred? We need answers! Release your medical reports!

  17. ghostrider888 17

    Gold!

  18. Chris 18

    DC has a VC???

  19. tc 19

    Exactly and Hooten will continue to get his RNZ slots to continue this type of spin.

    RNZ has shown its up for the axe now, true colours cant be hidden behind the obvious agenda with booting bomber whilst keeping the holler man.

    Its all about the message in the CT world, accuarcy isnt the issue the message is and having plenty of outlets to position it as reasonable, authoratitive and hammer it is the end game here.

    This is what MH is deployed to do, get used to it with DPF playing the ‘reasonable’ hand.

  20. Pascal's bookie 20

    “Hooten has nothing to apologise about.”

    Yeah, he just apologises for laughs. As does RNZ and RadioLive.

    And Hoots was so confident of his claims that he spent his NBR column repeating them, oh no, he didn’t do that at all. passing mention without actually saying what he said at all. Almost like an editor had a ‘watch your bloody step, fuckstick’ conversation with him.

  21. Ramsay 21

    One quibble.

    The “explaining is losing” concept while essentially accurate, is not a Whale Oil invention, however much he might claim it. As a political rule of thumb it was formulated decades ago – dating back to the 80s at least with Reagan saying: “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • At a glance – Does CO2 always correlate with temperature?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    8 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    8 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    8 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    10 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
    13 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
    13 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
    13 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
    14 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
    15 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
    16 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
    18 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    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
  • 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
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 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
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 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
    11 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
    13 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
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T10:44:16+00:00