Naming the game

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 pm, August 12th, 2014 - 78 comments
Categories: dpf, election 2014, making shit up, same old national, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: ,

It’s been interesting to watch the nats and their busy little helpers working away at branding the election campaign as a nasty one.

It’s been disappointing to watch the media falling for it so hard.

Like every election there’s been some nutters defacing billboards across the entire political spectrum. But a couple of weeks ago the two main nat proxies – David Farrar and Cameron Slater started running up defaced National Party billboards with the clear intent of making National the victim.

It makes sense. When your opponent brands themselves positive and you need to suppress their vote the best thing to do is throw around the mud. Thus we’ve had Farrar and Slater desperately linking anything they can that make it look like the campaign is nasty.

And their handlers did a good job of it. Start with some vandalised billboards, then drop a video, then a stupid comment you’ve sat on for a while from a random moron candidate and voilà, you’ve got a narrative.

The irony is, of course that the people driving that narrative are some of the nastiest operators on the web, you only have to look at Slater’s rape culture attacks on Tania Billingsley to see how far these creeps will go to protect their political masters.

But of course the media doesn’t really get irony. So we’ve seen journalists repeating the Nats’ lines verbatim, and Rawdon Christie giving Key a free pass on linking a video of a bunch of drunk kids he picked up from Slater’s blog with the Internet Mana party.

And just on that, imagine if Laila Harre or David Cunliffe had commented on how Slater’s rapey posts were a bad reflection on John Key. Despite the fact there’s a close link between Key and Slater, and that most journalists know this, if only because they’ve been the targets of it, I don’t think any presenter would have let that pass.

And that’s the problem right there. Because until the media start calling National on this shit instead of playing along with it we’ll continue to see the election campaign being about sideshows and distractions. Because the last thing National want to talk about is what actually matters.

78 comments on “Naming the game ”

  1. disturbed 1

    Got it in one.
    Only solution.=have all affected opposition parties call for a united forum voice where they will call for an enquiry into Government interference in the electoral process by the media bias inside public media.

    Just as the electoral Commission did with the Planet Key song video today, as it was called an political advertisement, so is all the bias throw to us from TVNZ and RNZ.
    What’s good for the goose is good for the gander too.

  2. Ad 2

    At the end of their second term, National are never going to be able to wash themselves clean in the mind of the great majority of voters. They have the political aura of PigPen. So I wouldn’t worry about hygiene of any variety this election.

    National are trying to say that the others stink just as much, and if we’re all that muddy, you may as well pick the one with the cutest squeal. Problem is, few vote on the basis of mud coverage alone. Very few Joe-public buy that after any second term of any government. It’s simply not a winning tactic.

    “Protect New Zealand” and “Vote Positive” are both superior themes that allude to greater hygiene, not less. National doesn’t need another Kumeu – it smelled too bad.

  3. fisiani 3

    Oh for goodness sake stop playing the victim. Go on Kiwiblog and see if you can find a single poster advocating or defending hoarding vandalising. You will not find one. This blog is filled with fanatics not just advocating and defending but also justifying criminal damage by claiming that National have brought it on themself. Any feminists reading this will recognise the crap of this wife beating logic. ‘she asked for it”, Enough is enough…..get my meaning!!!!

    • One Anonymous Bloke 3.1

      Says nothing about Cameron Slater’s abuse of grieving families. Is inconsolable over damage to some billboards.

      Your double standards are showing, trash.

      • Gosman 3.1.1

        Does that mean you support vandalism of election billboard s?

        • Pascals bookie 3.1.1.1

          Only idiots give a shit about it.

          • minarch 3.1.1.1.1

            +1 its really is a non-issue, there only billboards FFS

            the majority of the vandalism will be done by youth being youth

        • You_Fool 3.1.1.2

          I do, all vandalism of election billboards is fine in my books, doubly so if it is actually intelligent or entertaining.

          Does that mean I get to call Slater nasty now?

          • shorts 3.1.1.2.1

            Myself and the family are big fans of the defaced billboards, the local body elections are a particular highlight – racist and nazi bullshit earns a fail

            Quite impressed with some parties and how quick they are to replace and fix their vandalised billboards

    • This is one feminist who thinks it’s a bit shit of you to compare Zetetic’s post to “wife-beating logic”. As far as I can tell Zet isn’t justifying the vandalism (would love to know how you read that from his post), just pointing out the hypocrisy of nasty operators like Slater crying foul over some spraypaint.

    • BLiP 3.3

      I love how you apply classic CrosbyTextor tactics – accuse others of what it is you are doing yourself. In this case, its that poor ole nice Mr John Key who’s playing the victim yet all the while enabling his minions to victimise others. This year is a bit of a twist on the 2008 National Ltd™ nastiness kicked off when John Key mocked Helen Clark’s childless state: que social media “hairy legged lesbian bitch troll from Leningrad” tirade. I can only guess as to why the MSM has bought into this year’s National Ltd™ narrative of being the victim. It only has to examine John Key’s Question Time behaviour over the last six months to identify the source of the nastiness. There is, of course, the usual considerations to keep in mind when observing the performance of an indolent, under-funded, and largely cowed MSM, plus the fact the bulk of the MSM is driven by the rampant greed of foreign-owned multinationals. Truth becomes a sacrifice to Mammon. A more nuanced observation of the MSM’s viritual felatio of John Key might lead one to consider its acceptance of the victim-narrative helps ease its collective cognitive dissonance. As facts overwhelm the three-year-long narrative of John Key being the most popular prime minister ever to have walked on water, it must have been a bit of jolt to see a bunch of rowdy students chanting that which most rational New Zealanders believe. The idea that the “Fuck John Key” message was a spontaneous outburst of anger and frustration at National Ltd™ is just too uncomfortable a fact to reconcile what the MSM has been telling its consumers for years.

      As the burning effigy and billboard vandalism . . . hmmm, false flag much? Just askin’.

      • Bill 3.3.1

        There was a certain momentum gathering behind quite humerous and thoughtfully sabotaged billboards. And of course the National Party billboards were the ones having their message turned upside down to the greatest extent. How convenient then to have all billboard alterations become synonymous with anti-semitism. A set up? I suspect so.

        And I think it’s a shame that Labour and the Greens didn’t focus their condemnation on anti-semistism rather than getting all po faced about general billboard graffiti.

        • weka 3.3.1.1

          The GP probably feel obliged to focus on criticising the billboard graffiti given that last time the partner of one of their staffers organised some.

    • Murray Olsen 3.4

      You’re better off comparing it to an abused wife who takes self defence classes and beats the shit out of the wifebeater next time he touches her. He asked for it.

  4. disturbed 4

    Shit I couldn’t believe it, I watched for the very first time the first session of seven sharp tonight and we saw the idiot Mike Hosking beginning what is called a “fact check” where he is going to check various MPs even the PM on whether they lied or not.

    Then (as I almost feel of my chair) he sends his assistant out with proof from Last night’s Helensville debate where he showed Key saying “that’s why the Government has worked on bringing the prison population down….and she holds up a graph showing that of static numbers of prisoner population currently, so Key lied again to his own electorate a definite no no.

    He will tonight be conjuring up some lame excuse no doubt.
    Wonders never cease. worth a watch.
    Fisiani the natz fanatic will have to spin very hard to absolve his or her leader. that s officially now Keys 151st lie.

  5. Gosman 5

    Considering a number of people here have basically stated people who have been caught doing so are legends it is a bit rich to try and claim that it is just politics as usual. I have never seen that sort of attitude before.

  6. disturbed 6

    Zetetic, I agree the media does need a kick up the butt, and start asking hard question’s of this shabby NatZ floundering policy sinking us all in red ink.

    If Treasury released these statistics that during the last six years or so the crown debt has gone up over four hundred percent ratio to GDP surely the clowns at our public funded media should be asking these charlatan’s on our behalf why?
    Instead they are running around and up there own arses asking stupid questions about billboard vandalism? Is this a jail offence no.
    Is deceiving the pubic and keeping secrets like this from us the taxpayer we say yes.
    Treasury report.
    Crown debt rises from 2008 at 6% ratio to GDP to 26% ratio to GDP in 2013.

    • john 6.1

      Reminding us yet again that planet left is so far off this planet they’ve never even heard of the global financial crisis.

      • Descendant Of Sssmith 6.1.1

        If it was a crisis why did we get such ridiculous spending such as bailing out Wanganui Collegiate who could have sold their assets like this government sold ours, funding of useless parenting programs (still waiting for an evaluation of these), billions spend on roads that made no economic sense (still waiting for a list of businesses setting up in Northland after the road is built), tax cuts, a large increase is security staff for the PM, massive increases in expenditure on expensive consultants, …..

        Didn’t appear to be in crisis mode really – seemed to be in spend, spend, spend mode, panic pants on fire mode maybe, look after mates mode more likely.

      • thatguynz 6.1.2

        Oh you mean that Global Financial Crisis that ex-banking colleagues of our esteemed Prime Minister engineered through derivatives and re-hypothetication? Regrettably for you I would wager that there are a number here who are infinitely more well-versed in it than you so feel free to debate away. Please regale us with your wisdom.

        • john 6.1.2.1

          So many weak arguments tonight – this time a pathetic attempt to link Key’s career years earlier with the responsibility for the global financial crisis many years later.

          It just looks so desperate to try link anything so weak and tenuous.

          • Draco T Bastard 6.1.2.1.1

            this time a pathetic attempt to link Key’s career years earlier with the responsibility for the global financial crisis many years later.

            John Key himself has said that he was responsible for management of these toxic financial systems which caused the GFC when he was at one of the banks he worked for.

          • thatguynz 6.1.2.1.2

            You fatuous muppet. You really don’t read before you type do you. If you don’t think that bankers caused the GFC, (which incidentally hasn’t actually finished) who DO you think caused it?

  7. Grantoc 7

    I suppose Cameron and Farrar organised the Dotcom drunken idiots video and for the Nats billboards to be vandalised.

    And they clearly hacked the Labour Party candidate’s Facebook page putting up the comments on Shylock and comparing him to Key.

    Because had they not done this there would have been no story for the right wing media to get their teeth into.

    Of course that’s what must have happened. There couldn’t possibly be any other explanation.

    Besides mocking Jewishnerss is so cool these days. And only the Nats are this cool

    • felix 7.1

      Meh, apart from a bit of uncalled-for anti-jewish (or was it anti-banker?) language, none of that shit is even worth a story.

      Kids saying fuck the pm? And what? Where have you been all your life?

      • Anne 7.1.1

        It was anti-banker. According to someone on the Panel today the fellow has admitted not knowing much about Shakespeare…

        I don’t know what they teach them these days but history and literature apparently has a much lower priority than it did when I was at school.

        • Draco T Bastard 7.1.1.1

          There isn’t enough time to read all of the literature ever produced and Shakespeare isn’t the only great writer.

          • Murray Olsen 7.1.1.1.1

            Yeah, all Shakespeare ever did was take a whole heap of well known sayings, add a few more words, and made plays out of them.

            I actually believe the Labour guy when he said he didn’t know who Shylock was. I’d bet on more than one person in the NAct cabinet not knowing either, at least at the time.

        • Tracey 7.1.1.2

          is he mixing up shylock with shyster?

          It was still stupid.

      • BLiP 7.1.2

        . . . anti-jewish (or was it anti-banker?) . . .

        I’m not sure it was either. The term “Shylock” is a common sobriquet for those in the Mafia who run the loan-sharking operation. In that context, and bearing in mind the criminal actions of the outfits John Key worked for, it seems appropriate and not worth all the fuss. After all, John Key has claimed to be Jewish, Christian, and agnostic depending on which audience he was addressing at the time so religion is hardly a matter which concerns him except for expediency. That his minions are writhing with offence seems a tad contrived. I mean, where was their outrage when John Key was telling racist jokes . . .

        . . . The good news is that I was having dinner with Ngati Porou as opposed to their neighbouring iwi, which is Tuhoe, in which case I would have been dinner . . .

        . . . wattaguy.

        • BLiP, I don’t think it does anyone any credit to keep insisting that Shylock is a reference with no Jewish overtones. The Mafia didn’t start using it just because they liked the sound of it, and I really doubt that anyone using it in New Zealand in 2014 is just an aficionado of American-Italian crime syndicate slang.

          • felix 7.1.2.1.1

            I strongly disagree.

            It is not at all unusual in our culture to use language with no knowledge whatsoever of the history or etymology involved.

            Having avoided Shakespeare for most of my life, the first time I recall coming across the word “shylock” was in the film Get Shorty. It had no racial or religious overtones. Since then I’ve heard it in the same context in other films.

            That doesn’t make me “an aficionado of American-Italian crime syndicate slang”, it just means I’ve had more exposure to 20th century films than I’ve had to renaissance literature, and I hardly think I’m particularly unusual in that regard.

            Now I don’t think I’ve ever used the word myself, but if I had, I would definitely not have been aware of the connotations. If Gibson is guilty of anything it’s that he repeated someone else’s criticism without finding out what it meant, and that’s a bit dumb.

            • Stephanie Rodgers 7.1.2.1.1.1

              This was John Key’s excuse for saying someone was wearing a “gay” red shirt: “oh, whoops, there I go using words to convey meaning without knowing their meaning.”

              And to be honest, you can’t have it both ways: either Shylock is a totally innocuous term which doesn’t have anything to do with Jewish stereotypes or Steve Gibson was a numpty for using the word without understanding it referred to a Jewish stereotype.

              I would also note that of course the word had “racial and religious overtones” in Get Shorty, you just didn’t recognise them.

        • minarch 7.1.2.2

          mmmmm

          nothing like some puha and pakeha 🙂

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgbPwbsE0oM

    • karol 7.2

      It’s interesting how some of the once were totally anti-PC people, have now become more PC than thou…!!!??

      When did some rightee last criticise lefties for being “PC”?

  8. vto 8

    I really don’t think the media matters. The disaffected and stomped on have been mobilised by the “fuck john key” chant and now the gates are wide open. They have found a voice and it is being screamed loud and clear, no holding back.

    Poor old older establishment generation don’t quite know what to make of it so they discredit it. Ha ha, so easy to spot. Who cares about their vote. Wont make one iota of difference to the outcome as they vote blue winston anyway. No difference … nup

    Times have moved. The youth don’t read john Armstrong or the herald or even watch breakfast chunder.

    Good to hear all people speaking – no matter their style.

    John Key lies and cheats
    Youth chants and defaces

    whoop de fucking shit

  9. Sable 9

    The mcmedia haven’t “fallen” for anything. They are as complicit as the rest of Keys lackeys.

    Consider for a moment “who” they are and “who” they represent. Big business with strong ties to political parties that further their capitalist agenda. In other words, National….

    Look no further than Australia if you want a template for what we have here in NZ. The mainstream media are “dirty”, time to stop being so bloody naive…

  10. Weepus beard 10

    Haha, the hate speech merchant’s website is going into meltdown again.

    http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2014/08/internal-notice-commenters/

    This is the prime minister’s mouth piece, remember.

  11. john 11

    This is such a transparently tenuous attempt to blame those attacked for the attacks.

    It is as pathetic, as it is weak.

    It has desperation written all over it.

    • gobsmacked 11.1

      No, the people to blame are the people who carry out the attacks.

      So who has been defacing billboards with disgusting anti-Jewish graffiti? Do you know? I don’t.

      Was it drunk idiots? White supremacists? Paid-up members of the Labour party? Young Nats under orders to create a story?

      Again, I don’t know. But, like Rawdon Christie, Corin Dann and too many so-called reporters, you seem to have decided who was responsible, without evidence, and conveniently connect the billboards with things or people that aren’t connected.

      If anyone has information, they should provide it. If they don’t, they shouldn’t invent it. That’s called a smear.

      Dirty tactics indeed.

      • john 11.1.1

        You say nobody knows who damaged the billboards.

        Which conflicts with your statement that the people being blamed aren’t connected to it.

        And your statement that I have decided who is responsible for the billboards, is made up fiction.

        I’ve never blamed or insinuated anyone for the billboard damage.

        I know that the Internet Party is responsible for putting up a hate video – they said so themselves.

        I know a Labour MP is responsible for antisemitic and nasty tweet. Cunliffe has told him off for it.

        • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1.1

          I know that the Internet Party is responsible for putting up a hate video – they said so themselves.

          That wasn’t a hate video no matter how much you wish to term it as such.

          • john 11.1.1.1.1

            You’re delusional – not many things that would be more hateful.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1.1.1.1.1

              How about mocking and abusing a grieving family while being egged on by the Prime Minister? Where does that feature on your hate-ometer?

            • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1.1.1.2

              Anger, yes, hate – no.

            • Tracey 11.1.1.1.1.3

              Revealing the name of a sexual abuser leading to identification of the victim, against her wishes, and causing her more sufferkng?

              Telling a victim of crime you would apologise if you knew her name, so she lifts her own suppression, and you say attempted rape and bungling by the govt isnt serious enough?

            • minarch 11.1.1.1.1.4

              did you not notice all those young men and women in that video were smiling and laughing

              not really a sign on much hatred going on

        • Tracey 11.1.1.2

          You must have hated the homophobic attacks on clark and her husband. Probably putyou off voting right.

      • Tracey 11.1.2

        Plus 1

  12. McGrath 12

    The left are complicit by their silence with the anti-Semitic overtones and abusiveness of this election. That tosser Gibson and his ‘Shylock’ comment, effigy burning by the Left, and the calls of “F John Key” are not exactly what you call “Vote Positive”…

    I always thought that anti-Semitism was a Europe disease. I didn’t expect to see the Left import it into New Zealand. Leadership is needed by the Left to reign in their more “enthusiastic” supporters…

    • gobsmacked 12.1

      As you know perfectly well, shouting “fuck John Key” has nothing to do with anti-Semitism.

      One is rude. The other is racist. That basic difference is not hard to grasp, unless you are desperate to smear.

      Anyone who voted against Helen Clark is a sexist pig, FACT. (See? Anyone can play this stupid game).

    • Descendant Of Sssmith 12.2

      I thought the right mocked individuals apologising on behalf of a group yet here you are wanting this to happen.

      Inconsistent much?

    • There has not been “silence” about Gibson being a tosser, the effigy burning was not “by the Left”, and you seem to be confusing a chant at an Internet Party event with the slogan of the Labour Party campaign.

    • tricledrown 12.4

      M cGrath so who’s your daddy

    • Tracey 12.5

      You know that labour party isnt imp, right?

  13. disturbed 13

    We have got to admire the youth today.

    They are our future and can’t be denied a voice.

    They all remind me of me in my younger days’

    So we Elders will be alongside each other when we storm the bastille gates and bring out the bureaucrats and those against the people.

    Always this when the rich and powerful take our liberty and freedom from us all that our forefathers fought and died for on foreign battlefields so must we in their honour and memory.

    Welcome all you young partisans we ain’t dead yet.

  14. anker 14

    John, Grantoc McGrath and all you others squealing about the bill boards. Maybe the left only apologize when its something “serious” We don’t see defacing bill boards as that serious. Having said that, I do see the anti-semitic views as serious.

    And on that note I am sorry about any Anti-semitic expressed in the campaign. Whoever they came from as other than the Labour guy (who says he didn’t realize the implication of the term Shylock and has apologize profusely and is on his last warning) we don’t know who did this stuff. Left? Neo-nazi’s? I don’t believe the culprits have been found

  15. Blue 15

    If I thought any of the right-whingeing was genuine, I’d say have a cup of concrete and harden up. But it’s not, so I won’t.

    It’s pretty transparent what the right is up to – they have no policy to talk about and they need to feed the chooks something. And trivial bullshit goes down so well with our MSM.

    If anyone is waiting for the media to call them on their crap I would suggest not holding your breath.

    • Anne 15.1

      What amuses me about all this right-wing gnashing of teeth over non existent anti-Semitism in the campaign is that throughout history it’s always been the the right-wing fascist types and white supremacists who indulged – and still indulge – in it.

  16. outofbed 16

    Just got back from a Billboard check round
    Most billboard damage is to Nationals .
    But then they have three times more then any other party so its not surprising.
    I must confess I am getting sick of seeing Keys smug shot everywhere.
    Mainly because I start humming

    You can’t hide your lying’ eyes
    And your smile is a thin disguise
    I thought by now you’d realise
    There ain’t no way to hide your lying eyes

    Rather annoying as I am not an Eagles kinda guys

    Love New Zealand!

  17. outofbed 17

    Just got back from a Billboard check round
    Most billboard damage is to Nationals .
    But then they have three times more then any other party so its not surprising.
    I must confess I am getting sick of seeing Keys smug shot everywhere.
    Mainly because I start humming

    You can’t hide your lying’ eyes
    And your smile is a thin disguise
    I thought by now you’d realise
    There ain’t no way to hide your lying eyes

    Rather annoying as I am not an Eagles kinda guys

    Love New Zealand!

  18. geoff 18

    CORPORATE MEDIA

    Just how deep do you believe?
    Will you bite the hand that feeds?

  19. Charlieboy 19

    And chief stirrer Farrer dresses up as Jimmy Saville, yes the well known paedo, and no one says anything. Go figure! Ohh, it was just a joke!

    • minarch 19.1

      are you serious ?

      not just any pedo, but “the UKs most prolific pedophile”

      not to mention a necrophiliac…

      that was a VERY bad choice of costumes !

  20. fisiani 20

    What part of criminal damage to National hoardings is acceptable? This is not a few random scrawls , this is an orchestrated hate campaign around the country to target and prevent the National Party from having their freedom of speech. Positive people should not damage National hoardings. People who love New Zealand should not damage National hoarding. Thus the people who damage National hoardings are people who are negative and do not love New Zealand.

    • redfed 20.1

      It is a beat up. In South Auckland the damage is no worse than it has been for many years, in fact the level of damage is probably less than it has ever been.

      The trouble with social media is that you have one billboard defaced somewhere and a photo taken and then it gives the impression of mass defacement going on. There must be hundreds of National billboards in the country. The odd defacement is not evidence of anything.

      Besides Labour’s are being hit too. This is random damage, not some conspiracy of which you have no evidence of.

    • minarch 20.2

      “People who love New Zealand should not damage National hoarding. Thus the people who damage National hoardings are people who are negative and do not love New Zealand.”

      thats actually quite a chilling attitude to read….

      your starting to sound a little hysterical now

      or possibly a little Orwellian….

      what would you suggest we should do with these seditious bas@3rds that offend the great leader so ?

    • karol 20.3

      During the 2011 election many of David Cunliffe’s billboards around New Lynn were graffiti-ed with that very lame and puerile, school yard, added letter to his name.

      It’s not just anti-Nats that damage billboards.

    • framu 20.4

      “People who love New Zealand should not damage National hoarding. Thus the people who damage National hoardings are people who are negative and do not love New Zealand.”

      WTF?!

      take your thought police bullshit somewhere else

  21. Charlieboy 21

    Yep, damage to hoardings is unacceptable,all hoardings should be left alone. This includes the creepiest damage I have seen, someone has taken to cutting out chunks of Jacinda Ardern’s face. She has made light of it,but it does mean there is some nut out there with a very sharp knife attacking pictures of a woman’s face. A very negative person.

    • framu 21.1

      yes – one group of hoardings i drive past has all the labour and mana faces removed, on a daily basis – but the nat ones are fine.

      Could it be that this sort of thing has gone on for years to all election hoardings and the right are acting like a bunch of pathetic victorian moral crusaders with no sense of reality?

      quick someone get the smelling salts!

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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
    9 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
    12 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
    12 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
    12 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
    13 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
    14 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
    15 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
    17 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 ...
    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
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    5 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
    10 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
    12 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
    13 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
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