Nick Smith must resign

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 pm, July 28th, 2014 - 66 comments
Categories: national, scoundrels - Tags:

Nick Smith’s got it wrong – again.

In a severe insult to irony he threatened bully-boy legal action against anyone who might call him a bully.  And he did try and bully Fish and Game out of their statutory obligations – the papers released to Radio NZ from the meeting show as much:

But notes obtained by Radio New Zealand News from the meeting where Dr Smith is accused of making the comments quote him saying its “perks of being a statutory body could go” if it continues to behave like a “rabid NGO.”

“I’m a fan of Fish and Game” however the legislation “requires a tweak,” the notes say.

The notes say Dr Smith referred to billboards erected by Fish and Game in Canterbury asking: “Irrigation – how much is too much?” as a “problem politically.” The notes say Dr Smith told council members “not to be noisy” and “when you cause trouble you burn goodwill.”

It’s the word of at least 5 – plus official notes – against the word of a politician who’s been caught lying before; just who are we meant to believe?

Nick Smith can only ever have been back on probation after his interfering in ACC for a friend, and his reputation for muzzling DoC over Ruataniwha shows a distinct precedent to what we have here.  And that’s before we go further back into his troubled past.

He should resign his ministerial warrant and never be let near one again…

66 comments on “Nick Smith must resign ”

  1. Sacha 1

    The guy is temperamentally suited to running a roadside vege stall, perhaps. Plenty of proof he’s not cut out for governance roles, that’s for sure.

    • Clemgeopin 1.1

      A job of a lolly pup man on a road repair spot wearing his Speedos would suit this nut. Gerry could be his assistant or substitute at times. Did you read about Nick Smith dissing fat people/politicians today? What is wrong with these National cabinet ministers? They are losing it! Time to go.

    • Tom Jackson 1.2

      Nah. Some customer would mistake him for a potato and turn him into chips.

  2. disturbed 2

    This shows how corrosive this Government really is on it’s members.
    Just watch this last parliament sitting this week, as the corrosive behaviour in Parliament resumes for the final time this week before the election.
    I get so upset after watching the snide remarks passed by Key and Co instead of actually answering the questions with a civil tongue, and Key is the worst.

    This constant combatant sniping is denigrating the whole parliamentary system and seems to be destroying formerly good National Party citizens, who did bat for what we are doing now, speaking out for our rights to freedom of democracy and free speech to fight for our future, and our families.

    I feel sorry for Nick also but it is the National clobbering culture that is at the heart of the reason why so many M.P.’s are going off the rails now.

    I would be driven mad by having to sit through years of this constant snipping at each other, and some just aren’t made out for this arrogant new political climate that has now evolved.

  3. Jrobin 3

    Disturbed….interesting comment. This term could be seen to be National’s equivalent to Rogernomics. A complete sell out to global corporate agendas and neoliberal theft. I’m not a fan of National anyway but do see your point about the downward spiral.in terms of ethics and democratic principles..

  4. lurgee 4

    I suspect Key will not be accepting any resignations, a month out from an election. But Mr Smith might find he needs to ‘pay more attention to his constituency’ shortly afterwards.

  5. Saarbo 5

    Nothing on this on TV3 news last night and framed weirdly in NZ Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11300504
    National biased media are playing this down.

    • Rosie 5.1

      I watched out for the Nick Smith show on 3News, but nothing. It would have only been a week after the Gerry Brownlee barge through the restricted security area gag and maybe they thought that airing the Nick Smith fiasco, would be a bad look for their friends in Government.

      Gotta look out for each other eh.

    • Bearded Git 5.2

      +1 saarbo.

      Espiner did a great job on the Nick Smith Fish and Game fiasco on Morning Report yesterday.

      The way the Herald, Dom Post, tv1 and tv3 have played this down really shows their agenda.

      • shorts 5.2.1

        nothing to do with agenda – unless you mean they won’t be pushing a RNZ story cause they missed their exclusive and gotcha, ie they don’t own the story

        reflects sadly on our crappy media… but not due their alleged political bias I’d say

        • Olwyn 5.2.1.1

          I don’t agree shorts. Think about David Cunliffe’s failure to remember an 11-year-old letter and his apology for being a man. These non-events were treated as the only game in town, with everyone’s stories about them feeding off everyone else’s. In comparison, when a National MP does something genuinely wrong, it gets reported, and that’s that. The actual misdeeds of Smith, Collins, McCully, Brownlee, Hauiti, etc, are treated as mere incidents, and no inferences are drawn from them. It may be more to do with deference to power than a conscious agenda, but that is what happens.

          • shorts 5.2.1.1.1

            there is obvious bias in the opinion pieces – given most come from tired old white guys (or upper middle class white woman) the obvious bias is tired old white guy world view – tending to be right wing (herald loves the ACT) and pro business, old business at that

            I’m not sold on the pro national line, though it seems so doesn’t make it so. Agree to the deference to power – if its the right sort of power (old white guy styles)

            In saying that, if I have a point it is those on the left shouldn’t continue with the “its not fair” line against the media – its a waste of time and only serves to make the left look childish and as it won’t change things for the better (not without a robust state broadcaster nad broadcasting ethic, its a poor tactic

            • Olwyn 5.2.1.1.1.1

              It is true that whinging doesn’t help much. However, bearing in mind what is actually happening, and what we are up against, is worthwhile.

            • karol 5.2.1.1.1.2

              The left is damned either way. Too many in senior positions in the MSM are out to damage the left, especially Labour.

              They say it’s folly to declare war on the MSM during an election – but, the MSM has already declared war on Labour and/or the left.

              • Macro

                +100
                When the Left eventually do hold the reins again the obvious bias of the media has to be addressed.
                There is no such thing as a democracy where the people are uninformed.

          • Rosie 5.2.1.1.2

            +1 Olwyn @ 10.30am

      • Saarbo 5.2.2

        Yep, BG..

        Espiner is starting grow on me, must have realised his job is to challenge power rather than jump on the gallery band wagon…he’s getting better. Im back listening to Morning Report.

        • felix 5.2.2.1

          Yep I’ve sensed that too. Maybe rnz has rubbed off on him rather than the other way around as expected (intended?)

    • disturbed 5.3

      Saarbo,
      Nothing on TV3 today, but TV1 did a bit with Nick at midday at Parliament and Nick said “I get a lot of flack from Farmers and others and did not warn to pull funding from Fish & Game.

      Eyes roll.

      Temporary memory lapse affecting all National M.P’s so what are they putting in their brandy hip flasks?

      We are watching you!! Next please.

  6. vto 6

    Agree that Nick Smith must resign…

    for bullying
    for threatening
    for lying about his speech to RNZ
    for stepping way outside the rules and conventions for the purpose of partisan political gain

    It was appalling behaviour for a Minister. He shreds not just his own credibility and that of his government, but also the credibility of the government as an institution in NZ.

    The government is out of control at the moment – drunk on the power in its hands. We see it in Chch too.

    Nick Smith must resign.

  7. tc 7

    So teamshonkey go into the campaign with smith, brownlee, collins, mccully all with recent issues to go with their prior issues.

    Then we have claudette, phil, paula, pansy,aaron, richard with some known some unkown issues and paula still serving after a wilfull breach of privacy.

    Complemented by ministers like bridges, guy, foss I hope someone in opposition reminds NZ of the ‘higher’ standards on planet key and that they are working for NZ’s elite and overseas owners. Those who dont get paid off and sent on their way.

    • disturbed 7.1

      Don’t forget the biggie as well, Maurice Williams property manager!!

      The ex maverick that killed DYI on your very own homes.

      Yes its the handyman for a rich Neighbours such as the non English speaking Chinese zillionare who bought the house Maurice Williams worked on! is he a registered builder under his new regime?

  8. Tracey 8

    This is common but what is unusual is there are notes verifying it. I have been in meetings where I have been told by a “crown entity” that (as they paid me a cheque for work done on a seperate matter), that I must see how it is hard for them to pay me for one thing when I am challenging them on another. I was representing a client challenging a decision not to appoint. The message was clear. If I wanted more work I needed to not do other work which upset them.

    I also know of meetings where a less powerful party to a “negotiation” asked to record the meeting so everyone could have accurate noes later and enable them to focus on the meeting. The CEO of this Crown Entity made an angry move toward this person and said “that’s not how we do things here”.

    The thing about all this kind of behaviour is that it is common, but hard to prove and take action upon.

    You frequently here politicians saying they dont interfere in crown entities cos they are independant. That is bollocks and most people are too scared to challenge it.

    Of course Smith should resign… he should have been sacked last night by the Pm of the highest ethical standards

  9. Lanthanide 9

    Btw, it was Nick Smith’s member’s bill that set up IPENZ originally. IPENZ has since been shown to have no teeth and hopeless legislation, where they are powerless to do anything about Alan Reay since he resigned from the organisation.

  10. Kiwiri 10

    Bloody hell.
    I am in two minds about this.
    Nick Smith is the greenest Nat MP imo.
    Another Nat twat replacing him would be even more awful.
    What to do? Vote out the whole Nat bunch on 20 Sep!
    A candidate – any candidate! – from Labour, Greens or Internet Party would be immensely better than Nick or his gang of thugs attacking our environment and the guardians of our environment.

    • Bearded Git 10.1

      Smith is very good at greenwash…..and bullying.

      The fact that he is the greenest cabinet minister and yet is willing to threaten to destroy Fish and Game, an independent organisation that is not publicly funded, simply for doing its job which happens not to suit the pollution economy supported by Key and friends, says everything about this government.

    • Richard 10.2

      Heard a Fed Farmers rep on National Radio saying Fish & Game should work with dairy farmers to allow them to intensify dairying without overly harming waterways? Why should the anglers of this country pay their licence fees to help the dairy farmers get richer? Why should they be subsidised? Isn’t the onus on them (dairy farmers) to come up with solutions or limit their activities if they will (or already have) degrade our waterways?

  11. rich the other 11

    Great idea , Nick should resign and make way for Simon Bridges , the two portfolios should be more closely aligned .
    This would be a great move for regional development .

    • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1

      Oh that’s a sure-fire winner, I hope you succeed in getting National to support it.

      • Lanthanide 11.1.1

        No! Simon has to keep his powder dry for when he tacks a crack at the leadership, which I expect will be about as successful as Blinglish’s short tenure.

  12. Lionel 12

    Agree with Disturbed.How long will it be into their 3rd term that the Nats will implode don’t think they are far away from tanking hence why the election is September not November Key and his PR Spin Doctors know
    this.

  13. ianmac 13

    Water cleanliness showed up as an important election issue recently. So I guess National want to dampen any discussion about it.
    Will there be room for Dr Smith’s valedictory speech this term?

    • fender 13.1

      “Will there be room for Dr Smith’s valedictory speech this term?”

      Should be! There’s Tau Henare’s time slot who said his favourite part of parliament was the goings on in the chamber but declined to give a valedictory saying it was a “waste of time”.

  14. NZJester 14

    This is standard National tactics.
    Bully someone and then claim the ones calling you out on this are bulling you. You just harp on to Nationals friends in the media that you are the victim in all this and have them write a piece vindicating you and demonizing your accusers and victims.
    National Government Tactics 101:
    Independent orginisation will not do what you want? Threaten to tweak the legislation to force them to do what you want.
    Minister done something wrong? Set up a commission of people loyal to you with a mandate that can only find one of the ministers underlings guilty of the crime. Also make sure any report will not see the light of day till after the election.
    Don’t like the statistics? Cherry pick what you can out of them and make up figures yourself as needed to prove your point.
    Statistics can not be cherry picked to say what you want them to or can easily prove your figures are made up? Mark them as highly confidential and not for public release or shut down the organisation that collects them. After all no statistics means you can make up your own and not be able to be proven wrong.
    Your opponent starting to go up in the polls? Call in your pet bloggers and release a smear campaign to them, But tell them to wait till John has time to hop on a plane out of New Zealand first so he is harder to reach for comment about it and can pretend to know nothing about it.
    Something big will eventually come out in early October showing just how bad the NZ economy is doing under your Government? Call an early election for September so you can try and get voted back in before it is known so you have 3 more years to let it blow over, or prove it was all the oppositions fault.
    Get caught with your hand in the cookie jar stealing cookies? No problem you just go crying with you fist still full of cookies to your friends that the nasty person scared you when they told you to take your hand out of the cookie jar.
    Punched someone in the face? Say you are the victim as they smashed their face into your fist and injured your hand.

    • Bearded Git 15.1

      And now Key has said this today (from interest.co.nz):

      “Swimmable is a very, very high and expensive goal. If we were to make that the national standard it would have an enormous impact on the cost for rate payers — billions I think,” Key said.

      NZ’s gdp at 31st March 2014 is $227 billion*. Surely a quarter percent of this per year over the next 10 years (that is approximately $5.7 billion over this period) would be worth spending to make our rivers 99% swimmable?

      *Statistics NZ

      • vto 15.1.1

        Key is on another planet. The fact he thinks it is “very very expensive … billions” provides evidence of how much cost farmers have dumped onto the public instead of carrying it themselves.

        Key has admitted that farmers have dumped billions in cost on ratepayers and the public.

        Farmers need to man up and own this. It is the farmers who need to pay this cleanup cost. Bloody cowards. Shitting in the rivers my children swim in – what arseholes.

        • Lanthanide 15.1.1.1

          Farmers appear to be getting record payouts, in the billions of dollars, at present.

        • srylands 15.1.1.2

          Your children should swim in the ocean or in chlorinated swimming pools.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 15.1.1.2.1

            S Rylands says Fish & Game deserve “a good kicking”. He’s projecting.

            • vto 15.1.1.2.1.1

              yes he is getting a bit close to the bone too

              and should watch out things don’t jump out from the screen at him

          • ScottGN 15.1.1.2.2

            How long though until the fucked up rivers fuck up the oceans and the publicly subsidized chlorinated swimming pools all go, because of course, they were just a ‘nice to have’?

          • ropata 15.1.1.2.3

            lying randian

            why don’t your children swim in open sewers?

  15. vto 16

    This entire issue is summed up the fact that Fish & Game have now called for the resignation of their own Minister.

    Nick Smith did exactly as F&G claimed in that meeting, and that conduct is a resignation offence 100%. Smith is outnumbered about 6:1 on the he said she said stakes.

    The chap being threatened with defamation should sue Smith for defamation – get the matter well into the public arena and the courts.

  16. Michael 17

    And Smith must be the only Nat who has any interest at all in environmental matters. After all, he did can those mad proposals to put monorails and dig tunnels all over Fiordland. His outburst against F&G is all the more interesting – and I have no doubt the facts are those reported by F&G – because it might point to the amount of pressure Smith is under from other Nats who want to put the RMA through the shredder. I wonder, too, if its a coincidence that the Nats will have been soliciting donations from fatcats who hate the very idea of smelly Greenies interfering with their absolute property rights – even “vanilla” Greenies like the ones at F&G? As for Smith’s actions at ACC, if only he did sort those bastards out. Instead he stuck his oar in only on behalf of a female “friend”. His successor, Crusher Collins, has done more to bring ACC bureaucrats to heel than all the Labour Ministers put together. It’s just a shame, although not unexpected, that Crusher doesn’t give a fuck about people disabled by personal injury. OTOH, I have enjoyed watching her lash the bureaucrats, thereby giving them a small dose of their own medicine.

  17. srylands 18

    Nick Smith is right. Fish and Game are primarily a regulatory body funded by compulsory levies. They can’t attack the government or the dairy industry. If they want to do so they can join the green Taliban or green peace. How has Nick Smith acted unlawfully? He was simply stating the obvious. Fish and Game were asking for a good kicking. Stop defending them.

    • vto 18.1

      idiot.

      read their legislated mandate.

      so wrong.

      hence why Smith must resign.

      edit: you’ve been drinking haven’t you

      • Srylands 18.1.1

        Idiot. I don’t drink. You are rude.

        • vto 18.1.1.1

          piss off.

          i have no time for people who advocate for policies which have a direct and detrimental effect on the community around me.

          go swim in a poison river arsehole.

        • McFlock 18.1.1.2

          Revelation of the day: Sslands is a bigger dickhead while sober than most drunk people were when I used to kick them out of bars.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 18.2

      Sells faith based policy to willing buyers. Advocates violence against New Zealand citizens. The best place for dairy effluent is S Rylands.

      • Srylands 18.2.1

        It is srylands. You are treading on very thin ice you are hole.

        • felix 18.2.1.1

          You write like the haiku of a defective machine, S Rylands.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 18.2.1.2

          S Rylands you’re already swimming in metaphorical filth, some actual filth might offer you some perspective of the effluent you call your career.

    • ScottGN 18.3

      Funny then that it’s Nick Smith that’s ended up with the good kicking eh? When the going gets tough Nick Smith always manages to blow a fuse.

      • Clemgeopin 18.3.1

        Probably has mental issues. May be we need to be careful not to light his fuse. But hey, he seems to light them up himself! Bugger!

  18. Clemgeopin 19

    ‘NICK SMITH’S crude intimidation of the Fish and Game Council points to the bleakest of environmental futures should National be re-elected on 20 September.’–Chris Trotter.

    It is now considerably clearer than 60 percent of New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and streams that there are no serious points of environmental resistance in John Key’s Cabinet. For 20 years Smith has been attempting to convince voters that he is, indeed, one such point of resistance, one brave voice raised in opposition to the milk-before-water lobbyists of Fonterra and Federated Farmers. Now we know that it is not true.

  19. Peter 20

    So, only a matter of weeks out from an election and the top 5 headlines in the Standard are attacks on National politicians. Not the slightest whiff of policy discussion or vision that could help to restore the electorates faith in the Labour Party. Face it – the Labour party has failed – much like the left wing bloggers – to articulate any policy that differentiates it from the National government. The timidity of Cunliffe has not only been disappointing but infuriating. And in the place of courageous leadership we have the endless attacks on National MP’s for matters so trivial I start to think I’m watching a Monty Python sketch. I some times wonder if there is anyone on the left who actually knows what policy looks like. John Keys government has out maneuvered the Labour Party on nearly every front – Healthcare, Education and the economy – and made it look insipid and unconvincing.
    Labour is National-Lite there is no question in my mind or that of the voting public.
    Sue Bradford has got it absolutely right – the left lacks any sort of coherent policy forums and vision and has been reduced to a bunch of whining bores that the NZ electorate is wholeheartedly ignoring.
    This election is lost and afterwards there needs to be some serious blood letting from the top of Labour Party.

    [lprent: Between Labour, the Greens, and for that matter NZ First and Internet Mana party there are maybe one or two policy releases every two or three days. Authors write on them as they feel fit. But at best it isn’t likely that there are more than one or two posts per day in them. But we usually do between 5 and 10 posts per day. Oh that leaves a shortfall of what? 4 to 8 posts per day? So we write about the news. Often foolish dorks like Nick Smith falling over their tongue or Bill English being a spineless hypocrite as usual.

    If you want extensive writing on policy, then I suggest that you look at the links in the political party feed on the right. They usually manage to do a few more than we do about policies. After all that is what they are paid for. Whereas unlike the blogs of right, we don’t get paid by any one including any money from political parties or any other organizations.

    However you obviously haven’t read our policy have you? Banned for 8 weeks for trying to tell us how we should run our site. I really can’t be bothered with lazy whining fuckwits like you who are too stupid to read the about. Go off and start your own site if you want to set the rules you want to a blog to operate under. ]

  20. BruceTheMoose 21

    Resigning from his ministerial post is one thing, but he sure needs to give the drinking. He looks like shit.

  21. Graham 22

    The region with the poorest water quality is auckland it’s not exactly a power house of the dairy industry.
    In canterbury the two most polluted rivers are the avon and the heathcote again not in prime dairy areas
    I have been involved with Ecan and water user groups since 1995 in regards to the Ashburton system
    The biggest polluter there was the town sewerage system now that’s fixed it’s now the black back gulls as they nest in the river beds
    4 years ago I was leaching 35g of n a kgms
    Today it’s 21 g of n a kgms
    The target is 12g of n a kgms which we have 10 years to achieve
    In the real world we have to employ people but also look to the future and these steps are already underway.
    But if you want perfect water the city waste water systems and roads need to be redisgned
    Every time it rains the tar we use for our roads gets into the waste water systems and in most urban centres the overflows go into our harbours or streams
    No fisherman in his right mind would eat a fish from the Avon but they line up side by side to catch fish from the waimaki,rakiai ,Ashburton and the waitaki

  22. Graham 23

    A few years ago there was a federated farmers president who’s name I forget that was constantly attacking labour , greens, fish and game but that’s all lovely for the activists but he achived nothing.
    At the same time Bryce Johnston at fish and game is responsible for farmers reducing acces to hunters and fisherman
    Sometime people are too long in their positions and fresh people can get the desired results
    The current management of fish and game aren’t getting results

  23. philj 24

    xox
    To Shorts, re. tiptoeing around the issue of media bias. Would you say the same if it was fascism? Nick Smith has done it again. Let’s face it. He’s the best they have got. Poor and dodgy shonky government .

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    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 ...
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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 ...
    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
    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
    4 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
    9 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
    11 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
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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