National’s campaign video and Eminem

Written By: - Date published: 1:01 pm, August 20th, 2014 - 69 comments
Categories: election 2014, john key, national, same old national - Tags:

National may have struck a problem with their campaign video.  The soundtrack sounds suspiciously like Eminem’s song “Lose yourself” which was the lead song in the movie 8 Mile.

National has had this problem in the past.  In 2007 a DVD was created about John Key which had a song which sounded like Coldplay’s Clocks.  After a complaint the DVD was withdrawn.

Maybe National has learned and did get the Artist’s approval to use the song this time.  Even if it did you have to wonder at the choice of song.  You see it is all about a rapper who is ready to publicly perform and who chokes, a bit like National seems to be doing now.

Here are some of the lyrics:

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs,
But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down,
The whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out
He’s choking how, everybody’s joking now
The clock’s run out, time’s up, over, bloah!

Perhaps this is how John Key feels every time that Dirty Politics is raised …

Anyway here is a video of Lose Yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF5WZ64bnIo

And here is National’s campaign video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fny_d0snCk0&list=UUWdJ3BxqWopIdJ7J_BNu1zQ

69 comments on “National’s campaign video and Eminem ”

  1. hoom 1

    Fascinating symbology on several levels in that choice.

    Perhaps per http://thestandard.org.nz/dirty-politics-roundup/ they would do better with Les Mis sounding tracks…

  2. Tracey 2

    They wouldnt choose a song called “Lose yourself”?

    • jaymam 2.1

      OK, which one of you chose the music? You know perfectly well that the Nats are tone deaf and don’t listen to Eminem anyway and wouldn’t know the title of the song. “Lose yourself”! That’s a bit obvious. You won’t get away with this again.

    • Thinker 2.2

      Possibly the person who keeps track of the ‘real’ political polls…

  3. infused 3

    It’s not the song, otherwise youtube would have blocked it straight away.

    It’s an altered version, which actually gets around the issue. The mistake previously was putting it on a DVD.

    • framu 3.1

      its really one for the lawyers

      if you listen to the first chord change on the opening guitar riff the nats one goes down where eminem’s goes up

      very slight stuff – but it usually is all it takes to get round such legalities

      Its a rip off – but most likely a legal one

      • Enough is Enough 3.1.1

        If they purchased the music under licence (as the fat bald conductor has claimed) they should be fine.

        Any decent lawyer will include an indemnity against infringement of third party ip rights.

        I am guessing the Nats will have petty good lawyers with an address on Shortland street.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.2

      I’d say that it sounds enough alike to say that National have been plagiarizing – again.

  4. yeshe 4

    Key is so bad at reading from the autocue it makes him look even more shifty than usual … and that’s hard to do !

    And I read somewhere this morning they are pushing a ‘blue’ economy.

  5. Not a PS Staffer 5

    Yes it is a direct rip off.
    I listened to Eminem from 30 seconds for 30 seconds. Then listened to the National Party 30 second ad! It is a direct match.

    Eminem’s publishers, Eight Mile Style LLC, are a litigous lot too. This gets better!

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2013/05/21/shady-dealings-eminem-publisher-sues-facebook/

    • dv 6.1

      From the stuff article apparently they have bought the rights
      “National Party campaign manager Steven Joyce said the music had been bought and licensed through an Australian-based organisation which had full rights to it.

      Interesting turn of phrase Australian based organisation!!!

      Why not just name it?

      • lprent 6.1.1

        Perhaps the name of the company has a bit of a problem

        Crosby Textor perhaps?

        • hoom 6.1.1.1

          Exactly the name that popped into my head lol.

          • Bob 6.1.1.2.1

            Yip, they are widely used in the advertising world, it is no different to the tracks used on The Block NZ last season which were all similar sounding tracks to chart hits without having to pay the huge licensing fees.
            National TVC sound tracks….focussing on the issues that matter to NZ’ers, or maybe it is the fact that the ad strikes a chord (excuse the pun) so the left are panicking already!

  6. Bill 7

    Given it’s altered somewhat, maybe we could say that Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” is renamed as Key’s/ National’s “Getting Lost”?

    Apt that National’s version is slower….kinda plods along in comparison. Also apt that (arguably) both Eminem and Key/National have lost their gloss and are now widely seen as has-beens?

  7. shorts 8

    Its a “soundalike”

    “Sound-alikes are usually made as budget copies or “knockoffs” of popular recordings. The cost of writing and recording a new song that sounds similar to a popular song is usually negligible compared to the cost of royalties for playing the original recording or the licensing fees to record a cover version. If the sound-alike recording is dissimilar enough to avoid infringing the original writer’s copyright, the user of a sound-alike can evoke the spirit of a song, or sometimes make listeners believe that the work being played has been recorded by a particular artist, without the expense of engaging a highly paid artist.” wiki

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-alike

    while legal its a pretty shitty practice – worse in this case they couldn’t even use a NZ firm or composer to do the knock off – always the aussies eh national

    I guess this was all done via their ad agency with little national input

    I hope the opposition parties can keep it kiwi (ie pay a local musician some money)

    • just saying 8.1

      Finding ways of breaching copyright = theft.
      Now where have I heard that before?

      • shorts 8.1.1

        not so much breaching, more legally getting around. I’d suggest its seriously unethical, given the music is then virtually always used for solely commercial purposes…

        I’ve seen a few people tweeting the ad to Eminem’s official twitter – will be interesting to see if his camp responds, even if legal there is the chance his camp or himself will take offence and say so, he’s not adverse to telling it as he see’s it… to put it very mildly

        it really is a golden age

    • ghostwhowalksnz 8.2

      Overseas costs are NOT counted in their election spending budget.

      There will be a lot of spending by National ( covertly) in Australia. Wouldn’t be surprised if they do phone banking out of Australia.

  8. just saying 9

    I think it’s no coincidence – the whole song is aggressively “aspirational” and the song and the mood is catchy and familiar. Very sharp and clever marketing. I hope it backfires on them.

    I like Eminem sometimes, though many don’t for good reason (misogyny racism etc…) but I think he’s got something to say about young men who grew up like he did and there often a lot of complexity, and self-awareness.
    Anyway, the song continues:
    (A warning – some may be offended by some of the derogatory language about women)

    The soul’s escaping, through this hole that is gaping
    This world is mine for the taking
    Make me king, as we move toward a new world order
    A normal life is boring, but superstardom’s close to post mortem
    It only grows harder, homie grows hotter
    He blows. It’s all over. These hoes is all on him
    Coast to coast shows, he’s known as the globetrotter
    Lonely roads, God only knows
    He’s grown farther from home, he’s no father
    He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
    But hold your nose ’cause here goes the cold water
    His hoes don’t want him no more, he’s cold product
    They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
    He nose dove and sold nada
    So the soap opera is told and unfolds
    I suppose it’s old partner but the beat goes on
    Da da dum da dum da da

    No more games, I’ma change what you call rage
    Tear this motherfucking roof off like two dogs caged
    I was playing in the beginning, the mood all changed
    I’ve been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
    But I kept rhyming and stepped right into the next cypher
    Best believe somebody’s paying the pied piper
    All the pain inside amplified by the fact
    That I can’t get by with my 9 to 5
    And I can’t provide the right type of life for my family
    Cause man, these goddamn food stamps don’t buy diapers
    And it’s no movie, there’s no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
    And these times are so hard, and it’s getting even harder
    Trying to feed and water my seed, plus
    Teeter totter caught up between being a father and a prima donna
    Baby mama drama’s screaming on and
    Too much for me to wanna
    Stay in one spot, another day of monotony
    Has gotten me to the point, I’m like a snail
    I’ve got to formulate a plot or I end up in jail or shot
    Success is my only motherfucking option, failure’s not
    Mom, I love you, but this trailer’s got to go
    I cannot grow old in Salem’s lot
    So here I go it’s my shot.
    Feet, fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got

    [Hook]

    You can do anything you set your mind to, man

    • Karen 9.1

      Parts of it look like something Whaleoil may have written.

      • just saying 9.1.1

        Hence the “backfiring”.

        edit:
        Interesting the overtly masculinist tone in both the ad and the song. I believe there is a token woman aboard the boat, but basically it’s a specific kind of pitch imo.

        • hydey 9.1.1.1

          As for cynical ol’ me, I notice that the blue boat’s cast appears to be all white, while the left boat hash a splash of diversity.

          Reminds me of Key’s subtle race-baiting (Winston! Hone! Metiria!) from 2011.

        • felix 9.1.1.2

          I believe there is a token woman aboard the boat, but basically it’s a specific kind of pitch imo

          Yep pretty much a beer ad. Or maybe nutra-grain.

    • coolas 9.2

      “You only get one shot at it so don’t blow the opportunity, don’t blow, don’t blow”

      Whoever chose the ‘Lose Yourself’ re-mix has either a wicked sense of humour or is uncannily predictive.

      “Make me King as we move into a New World Order”

      Absolutely pure dead brilliant!

  9. Steve Wrathall 10

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10403045/National-channels-Eminem-in-election-ad
    “National Party campaign manager Steven Joyce said the music had been bought and licensed through an Australian-based organisation which had full rights to it.

    The party had also undertaken its own checks to ensure there were no copyright issues.

    “Some people are saying it’s similar and that and that’s fine for them but it’s just a commercial track which we’ve used in the campaign.”…

    So it seems they do….own it (they’ll never, ever let it go)

    • Tracey 10.1

      letsseexwhat eminems people say, for some reason i dont trust a fact just cos it came from national 😉

    • tricledrown 10.2

      Steven Choice lyrics above video schaudenfraude!
      What choice eminem playlist for National
      Mockingbird!
      Monster under my bed!(very Muldoon esque Pinko’s under the bed)
      Rhiana Love the way you LIE!
      Cleaning out my closet!
      Priceless

  10. crocodill 11

    It would’ve been an effective ad, reaching the people they want to reach, if they had edited the… nah why tell them. How odd, the National party have just proven they don’t know how their supporters think.

  11. Tel 12

    ROTFLMAO… so who are all those people flailing about in the WHALEBOAT?

  12. TheContrarian 13

    Someone on kiwiblog has commented

    “Ah, Kiwis. Looking one way whilst moving in the opposite direction”

    which could easily read:

    “Ah, National. Looking one way whilst moving in the opposite direction”

    Amusing

  13. Ant 14

    I hope Labour pip the Nats by using ‘Who Da Neighbors’ for their next campaign vid.

    • alwyn 14.1

      The could get their leader to do the words.
      David C does a pretty good PI imitation I am told, so he should be able to do this.

  14. Rodel 15

    Good Labour video. Positive and sincere.

    Key reading the cue words and speaking in a monotonous wooden tone .He can’t fake sincerity.
    Trouble is he did that last election campaign and won.

  15. adam 16

    The music

    Lose Yourself

    Written by Eminem (as M. Mathers), Jeff Bass (as J. Bass) & Luis Resto (as L. Resto)
    Produced by Eminem
    Performed by Eminem
    Courtesy of Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records

  16. Hanswurst 17

    I think calling it plagiarism is a real stretch. The musical content is exceedingly basic. The elements that are the same, a quaver repetition in the guitar and the (nearly) identical chord-progression, a couple of chords in D minor, are so elementary as to be impossible to copyright. There is a somewhat similar use of string patches towards the beginning of each, but that, too, is rather generic. The actual substance of the intellectual property for Eminem would be the mix, the delivery and the lyrics.

    Claiming this to be plagiarism is basically like seeing a sentence reading, “This is a ginger cat,” and claiming that it plagiarises another sentence elsewhere that reads, “This is a grey cat”.

    Two things do leap out at me about National’s soundtrack, though. One is that the string patches are tuned slightly flatter than the guitar, which makes it sound as though it were produced by a couple of dicks in someone’s garage. The divergent tunings are clearly a metaphor for National, in which the right hand at the moment doesn’t appear to know (or want to be seen to know) what the left is doing. The other thing is that the music is clearly similar enough to do an Eminem-style parody of National’s video – if, of course, one isn’t concerned about its getting banned by the Electoral Commission.

  17. Tracey 18

    did anyone catch barry sopers party political broadcast for key and the nats on prime news?

  18. Sable 19

    Maybe they could have “borrowed” from Celine Dion with a twist singing: The Bullshit Goes On and On while Key, Collins and co stand on the deck of the sinking Titanic (renamed the Kiwi Economy)…

  19. Graham 20

    I see david cunlife said he has no contacts with any bloggers
    That must hurt Greg

    • freedom 20.1

      oh Graham, you really should consider a new hobby,
      or at least get some original material before your soul jumps ship and asks for asylum.

      You can deliberately misquote Labour’s leader to your heart’s content but that won’t change the reality of what he actually has been saying and how the very public contact Mr Cunliffe has had with bloggers is a thousand spin doctors away from the backroom manipulations fostered by National.

      • mickysavage 20.1.1

        Good comment Freedom. It is weird how trolls equate contact with people who blog with agreement that Cameron Slater’s particularly distressing world view is somehow appropriate.

    • lprent 20.2

      Not really. You’re assuming that all of the contacts Greg has with Cunliffe are as a blogger. They aren’t.

      I was blogging for the whole of 2008 and at the same time doing volunteer work for Helen Clark in her electorate. We worked together often. However I don’t think that we said more than a few sentences about the blogging.

      But we said quite a lot of sentences about her home computer system which got an upgrade, and even more about the progress of canvassing.

      You really do have a rather simple minded view of the roles that people have each other. Just because you view Greg as a blogger doesn’t meant that that is how others view them. People have different roles.

      Not all of us are as useless at being diverse human beings as Cameron Slater is, and only really have one use to people. Such socially crippled and mono-dimensional people are (fortunately) pretty rare.

  20. felix 21

    “That fat german actually seems to have got a lot of kids interested in voting. This could ruin everything”

    “Yeah, the bastard. Well if they must vote, is there anything we can do to get them to vote for us? What about rap, kids like those rappers don’t they?”

    “Hmm, that could work. Got to be one of the proper ones though.”

    “What, a black one?”

    “Fuck no, I mean someone American.”

    “Oh yeah, of course.”

  21. karol 22

    Does the narrator in the Nat video have a bit of an Aussie accent?

  22. freedom 23

    New Zealand is overflowing with amazing musical talent
    but somehow National hasn’t noticed, again.

    That said, and all things considered,
    FVEY (five eyes) by Shihad would probably not have been their soundtrack choice this election 😉

    Doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the rampaging message-fuelled goodness though

    https://soundcloud.com/shihad/sets/fvey/s-Um3jS

    recommended volume: max²

  23. Redzone 24

    At the ad agency pitch:
    Looks kind of elitist in a private school privileged kind of way, and very white middle class … Its Perfect! says key I’m relaxed.

    And the music… IP infringement? yeah nah.I don’t know. might check it, might not. I’m comfortable says key .zzzzzz

    • Thinker 24.1

      What really got me is there was no ACT, Maori Party, or Peter Dunne in National’s boat, but in the opposition’s one there’s Labour, Green and, presumably, Hone in the purple shirt.

      Talk about double standards.

      Or, are they trying to suggest they go into coalition with other parties, then grab all the seats in the boat for themselves, while the opposition works as more of a collective.

      If you look very closely, just as the boat starts rowing, you can see the coxwain say “Australia’s that way, chaps”…

    • Thinker 24.2

      “And the music… IP infringement? yeah nah.I don’t know. might check it, might not. I’m comfortable says key .zzzzzz”

      Look, they googled it and it was sitting there, unprotected, on someone’s website. Everyone knows if it’s sitting unprotected on someone’s website then you can download it and do what you like with it. It isn’t breaking any laws or anything.

  24. Graham 25

    Funny a lot of labour adds have used stock pics from agency’s
    One was from a USA school
    That’s ok remember to keep it positive guys

  25. Graham 26

    Also your mate ms pagini named on national radio 3 Labour Party staffers who haved blogged on the standard
    But that’s ok everybody knows there isn’t any abuse here

    [lprent: Tell me, was Clint a Labour party staffer when he was blogging here. Come back when you can prove that he was. Because there is no foul in being a blogger as a ‘civilian’.

    Staffers don’t author here (unlike Whaleoil) because of the potential conflicts of interest. We even frown on them commenting here except under their own names when we detect them doing so. Generally they don’t.

    But if you can’t show that Clint was blogging here as a staffer, then you now have a permanent ban with no possibility of amnesty. I view for being a making implications about legitimate activities by past authors for the purposes of disrupting their current employment goes far beyond the being your usual lousy behaviour.

    People like Josie Pagani, Cameron Slater, and you are the kind of fuckwits who make blogging under pseudonyms a near requirement for everyone. Vindictive arseholes chasing people in their jobs years after blogging for no particular reason apart from that you can do it. ]

  26. Lloyd 27

    Don’t forget, the Greens are always “flakes” and that ACT is set up to be a sensible neo-liberal group more right-wing economically than the Nats. (This means that donkey can claim to be at the “centre-right” when he is discussing economic policy that Adolf Hitler might have thought was excessive). We will not look at the incredible screw-ups that have been involved in the ACT brand….

  27. infused 28

    I do find it amusing that this post has more comments than Labours video post… which is the main post on the site.

    Also, that this blog has posted story after story since dirty politics broke about the book/emails etc.

    It shares a common trait.

    I hope someone on the left realises that this isn’t actually a good thing.

    The longer this goes on, the more people will tune out. I’m betting the next few polls will not show National going down for this reason.

    Keep it up.

    [lprent: While I am glad to see your concern for this site, please don’t let it concern you. We will do what we think is best for our site. Since we’re getting between three and four times the number of people reading the site as we had a week ago and more than double the page views, I suspect that you are terribly wrong in your delusions. John Key is merely assisting with our growth as people get pissed off with his repetitive and boring diversions.

    Comments have virtually nothing to do with readers or page views. The second largest post in this past year was rocky’s “Dirty Politics: The Brestapo” with a mere 89 comments. It also has had the largest number of unique viewers and is still rising. I’m picking it will surpass the post about Simon Bridges acting like a dickhead on Campbell live. The third was “An honest man?” which has had no comments over the last year.

    But sadly the next time I see you make any similar self-martyrdom statements (see the policy) about how we should run our site, then I will regretfully grant your implied wish to be booted off the site for some time. While I regard it as a stupid way to try to start a flamewar, my real concern is for your wellbeing. I really fear that you are going the way of a mindless drone. Removing you from the temptation to make repetitive statements from your script may save what remains of your mind.

    Please continue with whatever you think is best… (same for anyone else wanting to make faux concern statements about our welfare). I will express my concern for your wellbeing in my own fashion. ]

    • infused 28.1

      I’m not telling you how to run the site. I’m making an observation and comparison to the msm.

      My comments were more of a general sense. Not really just this site. Something i’m noticing everywhere. While this saga goes on, the policies from every party are getting buried, or if discussed, only briefly.

      I’m touched at your concern.

      [lprent: Of course you were. Making a general observation when it concerns this site is exactly the same as making a personal comment about me. After all that is what the policy says. You are addressing the sysop. You have had your warning and in my view even lied about your intent in your response. Please continue… ]

      • infused 28.1.1

        “Making a general observation when it concerns this site is exactly the same as making a personal comment about me.”

        That doesn’t even make sense, considering the line ‘this site isn’t a person’ you throw around.

        Just cut to the chase and ban me. You will see what you want to see.

  28. Fee 29

    I wonder if that national boat will spring any leaks.

  29. McFlock 30

    if the boat represents the national party, it might be the first honesty in a nat ad in years:
    mostly men, not many dark people, and a whole lot of pulling to move in the opposite direction.

    • Hanswurst 30.1

      […] it might be the first honesty in a nat ad in years:
      mostly men […].

      Mostly upper-class twits, perhaps? Looking at the handling of Dirty Politics by Key and the wider front bench, I think that video is a better reflection of the opening phases of National’s campaign than the boat-race fantasy in their campaign ad.

      • Stuart Munro 30.1.1

        Meh – the NZ commercial stream were never upper class – they’re the C grade at best. Adam Smith recognised that class requires sensibility – the Gnats suppress theirs.

        They want to pretend to govern a democracy without talking to or helping their people.

        Adjusting for inflation National never produces growth. They chase technical success – but economies are emergent properties of human populations, not capital sums. Make the people fail and the economy will not prosper, however good it may look on paper.

  30. Donald 31

    John Key palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
    There’s vomit on his sweater already, Judith Collins spaghetti
    He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop Lochinver station
    But he keeps on forgetting what Cameron Slater wrote down,
    The whole crowd goes so loud
    He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out
    He’s choking how, everybody’s joking now
    The clock’s run out, time’s up, over, bloah!

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    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
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 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
    7 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
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    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
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  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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