Open mike 01/05/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 1st, 2016 - 85 comments
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openmikeOpen mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

85 comments on “Open mike 01/05/2016 ”

  1. b waghorn 1

    Lprent the only way I could access the standard was to come via the web cache.

    [lprent: I was replacing a increasingly noisy cooling system on the my main server last night. Noisy partly due to load from the ever increasing base load of readers and a hot climate change enhanced el nino summer. But also (as I discovered) partially to do with it starting to fail.

    While I was at it, I upgraded the case to one with more (and larger) fans, more space for large disk arrays for my own arrays and those of The Standard and shifted to larger and therefore slower fans to limit the impact in my 51 square meter apartment which the computer shares with my usually patient partner Lyn. Noise from a computer isn’t exactly conducive to continued patience and domestic harmony.

    The bits all arrived yesterday morning, so I set about it at 0100. Problem was that I found I was missing some crucial standard motherboard lugs that had been removed for the previous cooling system and appaear to have departed in the usual junk clear outs. So I changed cases anyway to move the drives and fans. Then I put in the old CPU cooler. Looks like I caught it just in time.

    The server had been running continuously for 85 days wen I shut it down. After the move the pump sounded like it was crumbling bearings on startup, and the CPU was shutting itself down immediately after startup.

    So this morning it was off to PBTech to by a new version of the same old motherboard, so I could grab the lugs and put them on the old motherboard. Since they opened at 0930, I didn’t get it up and running until 1130, and put it on the network at about 1200. ]

    • Naki man 1.1

      I had the same problem

      • greywarshark 1.1.1

        TS has been off all morning as far as I can tell. And catching webs – what do I know about that? I use a vacuum cleaner for that myself.

        What I do want to go on about is the cheek of Dept of Trade and Enterprise using Maori term explanation as a means of promotion. Te Reo is an important thing in itself and when one wants to know tikanga it should be given by a Maori site.

        I was looking up Nga Mihi and what do I get – a come-on from Trade and Enterprise. and find two sites under their aegis about it. Get out of Maori concerns you pushy obnoxious government department. I don’t want either money-oriented pakeha or Maori using Maori tikanga to advance and advertise themselves.

        • Chooky 1.1.1.1

          ‘Daily Blog’ doesnt seem to be functioning properly either…

        • Sacha 1.1.1.2

          Pakeha with a capital, please. We are an ethnicity like samoan or korean.

          • greywarshark 1.1.1.2.1

            Ooh thanks Sacha. I wondered what tone your comment would be – had the feeling it would be negative.

            Try not to be so (lower-case) sensitive. You might get called tauiwi or something and imagine that is a big affront. These days with capitals for some things and lower case for others, which I don’t agree with but no-one asked me how I felt about the changes, I suggest you just truck along trying for a better New Zealand and stay staunch on that topic.

            • Sacha 1.1.1.2.1.1

              If it’s an ethnicity, it has capitals. Tauiwi is a broader grouping like manuhiri so it doesn’t.

    • b waghorn 1.2

      Going above and beyond as usual then,!
      Does pbtech sell lugs for a huntaway as the ones on mine appear not to be working.

      • greywarshark 1.2.1

        Sounds like a real dog.

      • lprent 1.2.2

        Having worked on farms for a while, I tend to find that huntaways that don’t work tend to have a short life expectancy. Doesn’t matter if they lug or not. Although a bad lugging is often operator error, usually due to incoherence.

        While culling dogs and operators does seem like the neat solution, I generally suggest that trying to water down the operators neat solution while working usually helps. Besides that helps with the hospital and ACC bills as well as they less liable to contribute to farmbike accidents.

        😈

        • b waghorn 1.2.2.1

          There’s no bad dogs just bad training, and you’re right about acc , a mechanic told me once how a large number of bike repairs are due to fools chasing dogs on quads.

    • ianmac 1.3

      Brilliant work there Lynne. The absence for a few hours shows how important the Standard is to us all.

    • dv 1.4

      Thank you Lynn

  2. ianmac 2

    I think it has just now been reset b waghorn.
    A very good write up about Annette King in the Herald though it quickly slipped down the order of contents.
    “She’s a veteran politician who has achieved that rare thing: respect from both sides of the house. Nicholas Jones reports.”

    I have always been an admirer of Annette when in her early days as an MP she was often picked as a future PM. I guess Helen rose at a time when had she not, Annette could have.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11631541

    • Rodel 2.1

      Annette King, like Helen Clark is very impressive and charismatic when you meet her face to face.

      • Chooky 2.1.1

        ..yes I agree…both Helen Clark and Annette King are impressive and charismatic politicians because of their competency

        ….although Helen Clark’s intellect is very far ranging and she is more to the Left ,I think, than Annette King

  3. greywarshark 4

    After looking at the shocking video that Adam has put up it would be helpful to your soul and also bring some pressure to bear on disgraceful vicious powerful groups to join Amnesty International. They have been intervening for decades in a small way to prise open the tight regimes that lock up or kill people around the world with success, so it’s not only a good thing to do, it very often helps.

    Auckland next AGM. Saturday 28 May

    Local Region:
    Auckland
    Location:
    Potters Park Events Centre – within the Auckland Deaf Society Building at 164 Balmoral Road, Balmoral, Auckland

    Event Start:
    28 May 2016
    Time:
    Please arrive between 09.15am and 09.40 – meeting begins precisiely at 09.45 and finish at 17:00
    Price:
    $20 students, $25 for all others
    Phone:
    0800 AMNESTY
    Email:
    annual.meeting@amnesty.org.nz

    https://www.amnesty.org.nz/
    https://twitter.com/amnesty?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International
    Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article “The Forgotten Prisoners” in The Observer 28 May 1961,[4] by the lawyer Peter Benenson. Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilise public opinion to put pressure on governments that let abuse take place.
    edited

    • save NZ 4.1

      +1 Speaking of human rights violations….

      http://www.salon.com/2016/04/30/they_deserved_to_be_tried_george_w_bush_dick_cheney_and_americas_overlooked_war_crime_partner/

      “They should all be tried: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and America’s overlooked war crimes
      What the CIA did to Abu Zubaydah was barbarous. That his torturers have gone unpunished is an American tragedy”

      “Zubaydah’s story is — or at least should be — the iconic tale of the illegal extremes to which the Bush administration and the CIA went in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. And yet former officials, from CIA head Michael Hayden to Vice President Dick Cheney to George W. Bush himself, have presented it as a glowing example of the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” to extract desperately needed information from the “evildoers” of that time.

      Zubaydah was an early experiment in post-9/11 CIA practices and here’s the remarkable thing (though it has yet to become part of the mainstream media accounts of his case): it was all a big lie. Zubaydah wasn’t involved with al-Qaeda; he was the ringleader of nothing; he never took part in planning for the 9/11 attacks. He was brutally mistreated and, in another kind of world, would be exhibit one in the war crimes trials of America’s top leaders and its major intelligence agency.”

  4. Macro 5

    Welcome to the future; India bans daytime cooking as early heatwave already claims 300 lives.

    • Poission 5.1

      In perspective 300 deaths over a month. is around a magnitude less then those that die from snakebite.

      http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Snake-bite-fatalities-are-under-reported-in-India/articleshow/11000299.cms

      • Macro 5.1.1

        bullshit!

        “Any exceedence of 35 °C for extended periods should induce hyperthermia in humans and other mammals, as dissipation of metabolic heat becomes impossible. While this never happens now, it would begin to occur with global-mean warming of about 7 °C, calling the habitability of some regions into question. With 11-12 °C warming, such regions would spread to encompass the majority of the human population as currently distributed. Eventual warmings of 12 °C are possible from fossil fuel burning.”

        http://www.pnas.org/content/107/21/9552.full.pdf

      • greywarshark 5.1.2

        How f.cking dismissive Poission. We can do without you too.

    • Sabine 5.2

      Quote from Marco link : At least 300 people have died of heat-related illness this month, including 110 in the state of Orissa, 137 in Telangana and another 45 in Andhra Pradesh where temperatures since the start of April have been hovering around 44C.

      That’s about 4-5C hotter than normal for April, according to state meteorological official YK Reddy. He predicted the situation would only get worse in May, traditionally the hottest month in India.” Quote end.

      yes, right, let’s talk about snake bites.

      seriously can the National Party Groupies get any less creative?

    • Chooky 5.3

      On the subject of weather:

      Weather ( drought , global warming) implications for corporate farming , mono-cropping and Monsanto bio-engineering genetic modification elimination of biodiversity?

      This article in New Scientist is interesting ( but you have to subscribe or buy a copy for the full article…sorry):

      ‘Rain makers: How high-flying bacteria could control the clouds’

      https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23030690-400-rain-makers-how-highflying-bacteria-could-control-the-clouds/

      ” Microbes in the clouds seem able to hijack the weather for their own good, summoning drizzle and downpours. Can we use them to control where rain falls?”

      …”The skies are alive with microbes that could be hijacking the weather”

      [plant pathologist]”Sands’s proposal that drizzle and downpours are summoned by microbes living in the clouds didn’t go down well with atmospheric scientists…”

      [ French National Institute for Ag Research]…”Morris now suspects that a series of wheat rust epidemics may have played a part in creating the Dust Bowl conditions that plagued the North American prairies in the 1930s.”…

  5. Chooky 6

    ‘New McCarthyism: Is London’s ‘anti-Semitic’ scandal a move against Jeremy Corbyn?’

    https://www.rt.com/op-edge/341478-new-mccarthyism-corbyn-antisemitism/

    …”It is precisely this international solidarity that Israel and its supporters fear most, for it confronts the assertion that Israel stands as a beacon of civilization and progress whose existence is under threat. This is false. The only people whose existence is under threat when it comes to this question is the Palestinians. In this regard, Israel’s Jewish character is not the issue, its apartheid character is. And a world in which apartheid is allowed to exist is not a world worth living in.

    Finally, on Ken Livingstone specifically, we are talking about a politician who has spent his entire life raising his voice against and fighting racism. In fact, it would be impossible to identify a politician in the UK who has done more to stand up for the rights of minorities. It is a record that has earned him the enmity of a significant section of the political class and right wing media establishment. To see him labeled anti-Semitic is an absolute travesty of justice, as is his resulting suspension from the Labour Party he has served so loyally and with great distinction over four decades.”

    • One Two 6.1

      Big lies remain fiercely defended

      They won’t be contained much longer

    • save NZ 6.2

      Good link Chooky. Also liked this extract…

      “This is why, despite the very real existence of anti-Semitism and the obligation to confront it whenever it arises, the heart of the matter driving this issue in this context is not anti-Semitism but apartheid – namely, the system of apartheid that underpins Israel and its subjugation of the Palestinian people and their human rights and right to self-determination. By way of a reminder we are talking about the illegal military occupation of the West Bank, the existence and expansion of illegal Jewish settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the ongoing siege of Gaza; the latter involving the collective punishment of its 1.6 million inhabitants, along with periodic military assaults and the slaughter of men, women, and children.

      Any one of the aforementioned would result in an uproar of condemnation from the so-called international community, with calls for sanctions and political isolation to be applied. The fact that there are multiple grounds for Israel to be so condemned and yet it is not and, moreover, receives unparalleled political, geopolitical, and economic support from Western governments, constitutes a lamentable case of hypocrisy and double standards.”

    • Bearded Git 6.3

      Agreed x1000 Chooky. I’ve been listening to BBC Radio 4 reporting of this the last couple of days and it is clear the BBC is part of the “get-Corbyn-out-by-any-means” brigade. The so-called anti-semite position of Corbyn and allies (actually fair-deal for Palestinians position) is being used as an excuse.

      The give-away is all the people protesting that the issue is not about the Labour Party leadership; oh no, never.

    • “Is London’s ‘anti-Semitic’ scandal a move against Jeremy Corbyn?”

      In short – yes. There’s no other explanation that isn’t bullshit.

  6. Macro 7

    Overlooked in all the other rorts – McCully stuffs it up again In Tokelau.
    Have we ever had a more corrupt and incompetent government?

    • Incognito 7.1

      Murky McCully will never come clean; it’s not in his nature.

    • Sabine 7.2

      Quote from your link

      Quote: “Murray McCully awarded the contract to build the Mataliki to a company in Bangladesh, overlooking a bid for it to be built in New Zealand by local boat builders.” Quote End.

      This is what pisses me off the most, what the fuck? This is NZ Taxpayers money going leaving NZ, creating no jobs here, funding absolutly nothing, but a company in Bangladesh.
      And than it goes wrong. And the money is lost, shit was produced, and the Taxpayer gets to shell out for replacement and the likes.

      Go ahead and tell me that National does it fucking better.

    • save NZ 7.3

      Shocking. Thanks for the link. More wasted ‘aid’. What a joke this government is!

      National would never award to NZ boat builders, that would create jobs and produce a quality product in NZ. Better to go with the cheapest even if it does not work at all, is over budget and does not arrive on time.

      Idiots!!!

    • Draco T Bastard 7.4

      “Murray McCully awarded the contract to build the Mataliki to a company in Bangladesh, overlooking a bid for it to be built in New Zealand by local boat builders. This is typical of an increasingly arrogant and out-of-touch Government who should back Kiwi businesses.

      “So far the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been very reluctant to release details, despite the amount of taxpayer money used, and is refusing to release documents under the official information Act.

      IMO, the government should always buy NZ made unless whatever is needed can’t be produced in NZ in which case the government needs to make it possible to produce in NZ.

      This government has probably been the most secretive that we’ve had for some time. And the more we hear of the rorts and fraud that this government carries out the more it becomes obvious why they manipulate the OIA.

  7. joe90 8

    I’m no fan of our Penny but there’s something very unsettling about Slater, or one of his minions, stalking her and posting images of her property.

    • save NZ 8.1

      @ Joe90

      I hope she lays a police complaint. Stalking anyone, especially mayoral candidates should be investigated.

    • greywarshark 8.2

      One wonders where the spawn of privilege will stop.

      • joe90 8.2.1

        Closing comments on the article suggests the slobbering oaf may have realised he’s over cooked things.

        • Rodel 8.2.1.1

          Slater? Does he still exist? Shame that.I don’t wish anyone any harm but his existence is a blight on a decent race of people. i.e – us Kiwis.

  8. adam 9

    Seeing as it May day – including a wonderful piece on Lucy Parsons – one of my hero’s.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apc9oyol7HM

  9. Paul 10

    Brilliant talk.
    Brilliant book. ‘How Did We Get into This Mess?’

    ‘ George Monbiot is one of the most vocal, and eloquent, critics of the current consensus. How Did We Get into this Mess?, based on his powerful journalism, assesses the state we are now in: the devastation of the natural world, the crisis of inequality, the corporate takeover of nature, our obsessions with growth and profit and the decline of the political debate over what to do.

    While his diagnosis of the problems in front of us is clear-sighted and reasonable, he also develops solutions to challenge the politics of fear. How do we stand up to the powerful when they seem to have all the weapons? What can we do to prepare our children for an uncertain future? Controversial, clear but always rigorously argued, How Did We Get into this Mess? makes a persuasive case for change in our everyday lives, our politics and economics, the ways we treat each other and the natural world.’

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Tc8Yv92Mk

  10. save NZ 11

    scary stuff…

    You don’t know if that’s beef: The animals mixed into your meat might shock — and disgust — you
    Meat substitution scandals are becoming more common: When researchers test meats, they often find unexpected things

    http://www.salon.com/2016/04/30/you_dont_know_if_thats_beef_the_animals_mixed_into_your_meat_might_shock_and_disgust_you/

    • b waghorn 11.1

      I bought meat patties in Scotland into he 90s , it had 50% pork 20% beef 20% chicken and 10% other meat!!! It paid not to think to hard while we chowed down.

    • weka 11.2

      Another good reason to relocalise our food supply. Shorten the supply chain and the quality of food improves.

    • McFlock 11.3

      It didn’t particularly bother me, but that pork in the collagen being labelled “Halal” is outright fraud.

      Every so often I seem to cook some cheap cuts that seem to provide their own braising water, and that sucks, but I have a mate who shifted to the US a few years ago and she was completely unimpressed by their supermarket bacon – practically wetter than a dishcloth.

      I’m a bit of an omnivore though – mildly curious as to what rat would taste like. But then maybe the old joke that everything tastes like chicken is because “chicken” has a little bit of everything…

    • joe90 11.4

      Remember kids, when in Otago/Southland don’t eat the meat

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_meat_adulteration_scandal#Compass_Group

      • Andre 11.4.1

        If beef eaters acquired a taste for horse (and kangaroo) instead of beef, methane emissions from livestock farming would drop significantly.

        So you could look at it as Compass trying to do their bit on the sly to counter global warming. Or not.

        • alwyn 11.4.1.1

          If you ate Kangaroo instead of beef you would never go back to cattle.
          Kangaroo is a wonderful meat. It is tender and has low fat and is very easy to cook.
          When I lived in Australia we used to eat it in preference to any other of the red meats. Unfortunately the supermarkets stopped selling it. Customers were apparently complaining about them selling poor little Skippy.
          I hadn’t realised that you got less methane emissions from horses than cattle though. Is the difference significant?
          I might try horse next time I am in France. There are butchers who sell only viande de cheval.

          • Andre 11.4.1.1.1

            As far as I can put together from the various sources, it seems that horses (and roos) emit about 1/3 the methane per day per kg bodyweight. It’s because they’re not ruminants. So from a global warming perspective, a cow out in the paddock is very roughly about the same as an average car, a horse is about a motorbike. I don’t know if that crude first approximation comparison needs to be significantly adjusted for differences in growth rates, feed requirements, carcass yields etc.

            Pigs and chickens are also much better at converting their feed into bodyweight/protein with much lower emissions than cattle. Sheep and deer are a little bit better than cattle, but since sheep and deer are also ruminants there’s not much in it.

  11. greywarshark 12

    A quick quip from quirky Terry Pratchett

    I think perhaps the most important problem is that we are trying to understand the fundamental workings of the universe via a language devised for telling one another where the best fruit is. Terry Pratchett
    Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/terry_pratchett.html

  12. Draco T Bastard 13

    A Better Bus Network for Auckland: The case for urgent attention to the city’s bus issues

    Executive Summary

    Auckland’s bus network has failed to deliver at a high quality during the increase in passenger numbers in March of 2016. Major changes are required to restore the confidence of Aucklanders in the bus network and ensure its reliability.

    Over 1000 responses were received from bus users on the issues they experienced using the bus network from a combination of convenience and snowball sampling over the course of March.

    With public transport accounting for 27 per cent of journeys into the area in 2013, it’s empirical that the issues of buses turning up late, the overcrowding of buses, buses not turning up and extremely long waits for buses, be addressed as soon as possible by Auckland Transport.

    This is a problem that can be solved if Auckland Transport accepts the recommendations made by this policy briefing to add double decker buses for peak trips, extends the peak frequency time for increased bus services, increases the all day frequency of buses and increasing the speed and investment into new bus lanes.

    I’d like to point out that I think that Auckland Transport is actually doing quite well considering the fundamental under-funding of public transport over the last 50+ years because of both central and local governments insistence on more bloody cars.

  13. ianmac 14

    This could reshape the destiny of Iraq and maybe the end of the US “democracy” let alone NZ involvement in the training.
    “Protesters stormed Iraq’s Parliament in a dramatic culmination of months of demonstrations, casting uncertainty over the tenure of the country’s leader and the foundations of the political system laid in place after the 2003 US-led invasion.”
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11631747

    and,”If Iraq PM Abadi fails to survive chaos, fears for US Isis plan
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11631777

  14. joe90 15

    A rather Christ like Christian has passed.

    The peacemaking legacy of Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

    Daniel Berrigan, the Jesuit priest and acclaimed poet who for decades famously challenged U.S. Catholics to reject war and nuclear weapons, died on April 30 at the Murray-Weigel Jesuit Community in the Bronx, New York. He was 94. He was a Jesuit for 76 years and a priest for 63 years.

    http://americamagazine.org/issue/poet-and-prophet

  15. ScottGN 16

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11631811

    “Trade officials, in their “NZ Inc India Strategy”, once hoped New Zealand would ship $2 billion of goods to India by 2015.

    Instead, the value of goods exported to India annually has fallen since 2011, from $900 million to $637 million last year.”

    So FTA or not that’s another fail then Mr Key?

  16. Pat 17

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/79176677/no-performance-targets-for-fletcher-eqr-until-2015

    and….

    “Fletcher did not guarantee that any accredited contractor was capable, the agreement said, which effectively waived the firm of any liability for substandard work.”

    Great work if you can get it.

    • joe90 17.1

      Over beers a bloke told me had he known how badly things would turn out he would never have agreed to the Fletcher fix, He’s in the trade himself and was initially quite keen to take the cash and do the work himself but under duress, harassed, he reckoned, he felt he had no option but to accept their proposal.

      Crony capitalism at it’s best.

      • Pat 17.1.1

        you can guarantee the cash offer would have been insufficient in any case

  17. Herodotus 18

    Something to ponder
    If our PM on a salary of $452,500
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11408306
    Would pay PAYE of $140,245
    https://brc1.ird.govt.nz/web-determinations/screen/Tax+on+Annual+Income+Calculator/en-GB/summary?user=guest
    Yet if he donated all to registered charities he would be refunded at a rate of 33.33% or $150,818 ie a net tax refund of $10,517 so our pm also is someone who pays no income tax. 🤑 Based on this premise
    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/04/almost_half_of_britons_pay_no_income_tax.html

  18. Tautoko Mangō Mata 19

    An argument used to promote TPP by the former Trade Minister, Tim Groser and being trotted out regularly is that “without agreements such as the TPP, New Zealand would be shut out of markets and become the Greece of the South Pacific.”
    DEAN BAKER from the Center for Economic and Policy Research addresses this same argument in relation to the US.

    This may be an effective sales pitch for these deals, but it has nothing to do with reality.

    The United States already had plenty of trade before NAFTA, CAFTA and the other trade deals, just as it already has a huge amount of trade with the TPP countries.

    These deals are about putting in place a set of rules that favor some groups and disadvantage others. A major part of NAFTA was the investment chapter that puts in place safeguards to ensure that Mexico’s government will not confiscate U.S. factories or restrict their ability to take profits out of Mexico.

    This made it easier for companies like General Motors to set up assembly plants in Mexico. This was good news for General Motors’ efforts to boost profits. It was not good news for U.S. autoworkers who lost jobs.
    ……
    In short, when we debate the merits of the TPP and other trade deals, we are not arguing about trade. We are arguing over specific rules that are intended to favor some interest groups at the expense of others. Making trade the issue is a deliberate distraction.

    http://www.goupstate.com/article/20160501/OPINION/160509997/-1/661415jyb.com?Title=Point-America-had-trade-before-these-pacts&tc=ar

    • Pat 19.1

      +1…..
      “Making trade the issue is a deliberate distraction.”…..aint that the truth

  19. I am hearing on The Daily Blog that an American warship may visit in November.

    Does that mean they have finally come clean on which ships are nuclear and which are not, or has National undermined the nuclear legislation by stealth?

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/29/to-the-barricades-kiwis-key-is-letting-a-filthy-us-war-ship-into-our-waters-rage-and-prepare-to-fight-now/

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  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    10 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    12 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    13 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    15 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    17 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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