Open mike 16/08/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 16th, 2022 - 73 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open 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 …

73 comments on “Open mike 16/08/2022 ”

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  1. Ad 1
    16 August 2022 at 6:50 am

    Can we cut the bullshit and get back to running the country please.

    • AB 1.1
      16 August 2022 at 12:02 pm

      Right wing ideology attracts sociopaths and left(ish) wing ideology attracts self-imagined messiahs. Who didn't know that already?

  2. Jimmy 2
    16 August 2022 at 7:39 am

    I've run out of popcorn! Bought a whole lot when Uffindell was happening, but now need to re-stock due to Sharma.

  3. Jimmy 3
    16 August 2022 at 8:41 am

    I didn't realise Uffendell was that distressed. Sharma certainly isn't as he seems to be on the offensive.

    • Mac1 3.1
      16 August 2022 at 8:54 am

      "Sharma also said he has fallen into a cycle of depression and had begun to contemplate suicide". https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/mp-sharma-unleashes-fresh-wave-allegations

      Illness of this type is not a popcorn event but a time for friend, family, collegial and professional support- to have time off, to rest and rebuild spiritually.

      Ardern offered the best advice that I could have had in my times of depression- "…. Gaurav is a valued member of the team, " and "we want to make sure he is getting the support he needs," she said.

      What Churchill referred to as 'the black dog" is not enjoyable.

      • logie97 3.1.1
        16 August 2022 at 1:45 pm

        Just saying.

        Would it not be a an opportunity for "openness" for the caucus to invite the journalists who have been posting on this story to be in on the forum?

        It seems to me that, while the source of information for the press is Mr Sharma alone, the journalists carrying the story should have complete access to the deliberations.

        Otherwise the Labour Party will remain at the mercy of whatever Mr Sharma has to say next. If he loses to the caucus, he will continue to pursue his side of the story and feed the media continually. On the other hand, if he is seen to be treated fairly and reasonably, the press would have to cover and examine his statements accordingly.

        • Louis 3.1.1.1
          16 August 2022 at 6:54 pm

          "the journalists carrying the story should have complete access to the deliberations"

          God no! that would be madness.

    • Bearded Git 3.2
      16 August 2022 at 9:22 am

      The Herald has seized on Sharma's sad rant to deflect from the Uffendell disaster. Talk abut false equivalence.

      • gsays 3.2.1
        16 August 2022 at 10:11 am

        Similarly there is a lot of talk about Sharma around these parts and not a lot of korero about Lorck.

        • Sacha 3.2.1.1
          16 August 2022 at 1:13 pm

          Maybe Lorck has not been running her mouth off to media?

          Meanwhile I note there is a dedicated discussion about Sharma rather than duplicating it here.

          • gsays 3.2.1.1.1
            16 August 2022 at 1:29 pm

            My observation was more about what folk like to talk about, not what the various bullies/victims have to say.

            If Lorck has done what has been alleged, it's not surprising she is keeping her head down.

            • Louis 3.2.1.1.1.1
              16 August 2022 at 1:41 pm

              The claims are being investigated, so neither Lorck nor the Labour party can talk publicly about it. Hard to see how moving furniture and being a one time sober driver constitutes bullying.

            • Sacha 3.2.1.1.1.2
              16 August 2022 at 3:43 pm

              My observation was more about what folk like to talk about…

              Conversations tend to rely on things being published. No publicity, no discussion. Pretty basic.

      • Grantoc 3.2.2
        16 August 2022 at 3:36 pm

        Bearded Git

        The rest of the media ran with the Sharma story in the same way that the NZ Herald did.

        And I dispute that any of the media (including the NZ Herald) 'seized on Sharma's sad rant to deflect from the Uffendell disaster'.

        More like Sharma saw an opportunity to take advantage of a story about MPs' and their apparent bullying of others to air his own grievances about being bullied in the Labour party caucus.

        Unfortunately for Labour and its acolytes (Except for Sharma, who appears to be reveling in the media spotlight) the Uffendall story got put to bed by the Nat's (for now at least), and the media turned to the emerging Sharma story. Sharma seems dead keen to keep on stoking it up – even as I write this.

        You have to also say that Sharma has proven to be a pretty shrewd tactician in all this too, and seems to know how to manipulate the media to his own ends.

        The story's got nothing to do with 'false equivalence'.

  4. Anker 4
    16 August 2022 at 11:07 am

    If Sharma's claims about bullying are accurate (and I don't know if they are), then this is very bad and will likely sink the ship. Just my opinion of course

    • alwyn 4.1
      16 August 2022 at 11:27 am

      As soon as the lynching has been organised and the Caucus meets Sharma will "be gone by lunchtime" as somebody once said. Well in a month anyway.

      The PM will announce that he will be expelled from the House in her most kindly manner. As the song goes. "The Caucus made me do it. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it". Then she will tell him he has to go and about the middle of September tell the Speaker he is out.

      • Jack 4.1.1
        16 August 2022 at 11:42 am

        A good summary.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 4.1.2
        16 August 2022 at 11:46 am

        As soon as the lynching has been organised and the Caucus meets Sharma will "be gone by lunchtime" as somebody once said.

        Might "somebody" be a former Gnat leader – perhaps one Don Brash? He's all heart.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/don-brash-gone-at-lunchtime/4INSDMPA3VY7CFF22FJS4DN6LE/

        You could be right re Sharma – not unlike Jami-Lee? Another one bites the dust?

        https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/08/national-s-previous-scandals-under-scrutiny-after-sam-uffindell-amits-to-violently-assaulting-boy-at-school.html [Jami-Lee Ross, Todd Barclay, Hamish Walker, Andrew Falloon, Jake Bezzant, and (my personal favourite) Merv ("I'm that confused") from Manurewa]

      • bwaghorn 4.1.3
        16 August 2022 at 12:09 pm

        I'm going to bet you one imaginary chocolate fish that Ardern doesn't expell him, wrap him up in cotton wool thick enough to protect everyone and deselect him next election is my reckons

        • alwyn 4.1.3.1
          16 August 2022 at 12:38 pm

          "wrap him up in cotton wool".

          I really don't think that is possible. She has got to keep him quiet and I don't think he is going to do that voluntarily for another 14 months. I don't think he will go quietly unless he is fed a scalp. Would Ardern drop Kieran McNulty onto the back benches to appease him? I think that that would be the minimum he would take. The alternative is to promote him but I can't see that happening.

          The only way I can see to get rid of him is to tolerate another month of his complaints and then have him out of the House. He isn't like Louise Wall where a well paid sinecure will shut him down. He is very highly qualified and can immediately get another job that will pay him far more, and is far more prestigious, than what he has now.

          At the moment though I think his pride has been very badly dented by his treatment by people he, justifiably I would think, believes are not nearly as capable as he is. He wants utu.

          • Drowsy M. Kram 4.1.3.1.1
            16 August 2022 at 1:00 pm

            He wants utu.

            No shortage of NZ pollies wanting utu, but be careful what you wish for wink

            Ross response created seed of destruction for Bridges [25 May 2020]
            He [Jones] says it’s too early to say how new National Party leader Todd Muller will perform…

          • Louis 4.1.3.1.2
            16 August 2022 at 1:03 pm

            You appear to have forgotten what started this. What about the staff that complained about Dr Sharma's repetitive controlling and bullying behaviour? A mp doesnt get put under management and is barred, albeit temporarily, on hiring staff, for nothing.

          • LibertyBelle 4.1.3.1.3
            16 August 2022 at 3:05 pm

            "Would Ardern drop Kieran McNulty onto the back benches to appease him?"

            Not a chance, IMHO.

          • Louis 4.1.3.1.4
            16 August 2022 at 3:54 pm

            "Would Ardern drop Kieran McNulty onto the back benches to appease him?"

            On what grounds? Why should the PM do that?

            • alwyn 4.1.3.1.4.1
              16 August 2022 at 4:05 pm

              Why? Why don't you just reread the sentence you are quoting? I am not suggesting that she should, and much less than she will. I do think it would require something like that to shut him up for the rest of his time as an MP.

              • Louis …
                16 August 2022 at 6:49 pm

                I did read what you wrote, hence the question. So you're suggesting the PM should throw a minister under a bus just to appease Sharma?

          • Robert Guyton 4.1.3.1.5
            16 August 2022 at 5:42 pm

            How wrong can a man be!

        • alwyn 4.1.4.1
          16 August 2022 at 6:44 pm

          She would appear to not care what he might say. I guess that she is betting on the idea that he will not put up with the loneliness of his future in parliament and that he will quit of his own accord.

          I don't think he will go quite so quietly but I don't know him so perhaps she is right. We shall see.

          • Louis 4.1.4.1.1
            16 August 2022 at 6:51 pm

            That's just your opinion not based on any facts at all.

            • alwyn 4.1.4.1.1.1
              16 August 2022 at 8:05 pm

              Of course it is my opinion. Have I ever said anything that makes you think I have some special insider status? I assure you I am not a bosom buddy of the PM and someone in whom she confides her secrets.

              Are your comments here about what may happen in the future based on anything else? Have you ever heard of Niels Bohr? He was one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. One of his immortal comments was “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future!”.

              About the only thing I have found to be reliable when predicting what politicians will do in the future is to assume that whatever they do will be the thing that is best for them. There are very few occasions when that assumption will lead you astray.

              • Louis …
                17 August 2022 at 3:22 am

                No, and I never thought you were, but you are inclined to write your opinions as though they are facts, when they are not. The rest of your comment is a bit of a tedious rant.

                • alwyn …
                  18 August 2022 at 5:47 pm

                  The comment you are complaining about causes you to object that is "just you opinion" Now you appear to be complaining that I write my opinions as if they are facts.

                  Well that comment contained 64 words. It included

                  "She would appear", "I guess that", "I don't think" and "perhaps she is right".

                  How much more do I need to put in to make you realise that they are only my opinions?

      • mikesh 4.1.5
        16 August 2022 at 7:03 pm

        Can she constitutionally expel him from the house given that he was elected by the people of Hamilton West? He hasn't actually been convicted of a criminal offense.

        • alwyn 4.1.5.1
          16 August 2022 at 7:15 pm

          Yes she can. Have a look at the 2021 bill.

          The original waka jumping bill of 2001 didn't allow it but the later one that Labour put through, alone, in 2021 applies to all MPs.

          • Belladonna 4.1.5.1.1
            16 August 2022 at 8:13 pm

            However, I'd be very surprised if Ardern did.
            The last think Labour want is a bye-election, especially in a seat they'd be likely to lose, and with a possible independent MP who would take it as a god-given opportunity to grandstand.

            Suspending him from caucus is a very canny move, politically. He's completely sidelined, and unlikely to get any media time, once he's emptied his shot locker of allegations – think of how ineffective JL Ross was in the same situation; but she doesn't have to risk fallout from a distracting bye-election campaign.

            • alwyn 4.1.5.1.1.1
              16 August 2022 at 8:20 pm

              The December date is particularly cunning. She can advise him that she plans to evict him from the house about the time the House rises in mid-December. Then she can put the boot in in mid-January while everyone is still on the Summer break.

          • alwyn 4.1.5.1.2
            16 August 2022 at 8:14 pm

            I apologise. I should have offered you a link to the bill.

            https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2017/0006/latest/DLM7478605.html#DLM7478606

            Clause 55(A).1 says it applies to all members who were elected as representatives of a party, which includes Sharma.

            Clauses 55(C) and 55(D) say what she has to do. It would take about a month to action as he gets 21 working days to say why he is a good boy.

    • Louis 4.2
      16 August 2022 at 1:09 pm

      To date, Dr Sharma has not offered up any proof to his claims. But what about the staff that have complained about him?

      • LibertyBelle 4.2.1
        16 August 2022 at 7:24 pm

        'Proof' is an unreasonable expectation when dealing with claim and counterclaim. However Sharma's claims are not without varying degrees of support.

        His claim that caucus members (excluding him) were invited to meet last night, and did in fact meet, have been verified.

        His claim that there is bullying within the Labour Party and Parliament is at least supported by screen shots of text messages, until those are either verified or discredited.

        And at least one other Labour MP has claimed "there were bullying issues within the party, as well as Parliament".

        • Louis 4.2.1.1
          17 August 2022 at 3:36 am

          Of course proof' is a very reasonable expectation Libertybelle, particularly when the claims are defamatory and slanderous. I thought everyone would know that. It is irrelevant that he has support from some, he still needs to back himself with the proof. It was an informal meeting. He didn't attend the formal caucus meeting on Tuesday, despite setting a time that would suit him. The anonymous screenshots with no dates didn't do anything to support him. "And at least one other Labour MP has claimed" again not verified. You seem to have forgotten what got Dr Sharma in this position, his controlling and bullying of staff and his refusal to correct his behaviour.

          • LibertyBelle 4.2.1.1.1
            17 August 2022 at 7:53 am

            No proof is not reasonable, evidence is. The media (not Sharma) has provided evidence via eye witness testimony of another MP. You can choose to ignore that if you wish.

      • alwyn 4.2.2
        18 August 2022 at 5:49 pm

        How much proof have you seen for the Politburo's claims that he is the bully?

  5. Ad 5
    16 August 2022 at 11:10 am

    A Westpac economist gets so, so close to giving this government and the Reserve Bank some credit for our absence of economic crisis when so many countries are in deep trouble ahead:

    Westpac Economic Overview, August 2022 – Pushing Through | Scoop News

    'Tourists are starting to return to New Zealand, which means we’re getting more value out of our natural assets. And the resumption of migration will help to address skill shortages in some areas, if not economy-wide.”

    • Poission 5.1
      16 August 2022 at 11:31 am

      Same old BAU analysis,when the elephant in the room is still inflation.Zoltan Pozsar poses the problem as such.

      “The aim of today’s dispatch is to highlight risks to the peak hawkishness view. We won’t be forecasting. We’ll be observing. And you’ll draw your conclusions.

      Thus, with slight exaggeration, the low inflation world stood on three pillars:

      first, cheap immigrant labor keeping service sector wages stagnant in the U.S.; second, cheap goods from China raising living standards amid stagnant wages; third, cheap Russian gas powering German industry and the EU more broadly. U.S. consumers were soaking up all the cheap stuff the world had to offer: the asset rich, benefiting from decades of QE, bought high-end stuff from Europe produced using cheap Russian gas, and lower-income households bought all the cheap stuff coming from China. All this has worked for decades, until nativism, protectionism, and geopolitics destabilized the low inflation world…”

      https://advisoranalyst.com/2022/08/03/zoltan-pozsar-war-and-interest-rates.html/

      The arguments coming out of Europe and the US are that a lot of the cheap stuff coming out of China is settling in warehouses,as thoughtful people who work for a living prioritise their spend to shelter and food.This in turn has seen order books falling in China as well as domestic consumption there drop,as the property bubble inverts.Hence commodity prices fall….

      • Ad 5.1.1
        16 August 2022 at 11:58 am

        Always good to hear another bankers' view, even if it's not relevant to New Zealand.

        I do have a preference to be optimistic that more of the world that affects New Zealand will stabilise than be destabilised in the next year. My entirely unrealistic reasons for this are:

        • The markets that hold New Zealand up are holding up. They are: China, United States, Australia and Japan. Pessimism on inflation and employment hasn't been warranted. People very much want what we make and are buying. Commodity prices esp dairy and other foods are through the roof. Our doors are open again.
        • The government is responsive. It is funnelling money into benefits and projects on such a scale that wage increases are at least decreasing the impact of inflation.
        • The real estate economy is cooling due to clear policy directions, both RB and government. I have no idea if it will last. I'm taking it as a stabilising signal for now. Mortgagee sales aren't rising too much. Same with bankruptcies.
        • We are 5 months into the Russian Ukraine invasion and 3 years into COVID, without a 2008-scale recession. NZ has had approximately 1 crisis every 2 years since 2008. Previously we would have a recession at least once a decade. That tells me the NZ economy and the developed world economy is more robust than the stories are telling us individually.
        • Poission 5.1.1.1
          16 August 2022 at 5:14 pm

          China yesterday cut its rate by .10%,unemployment has increased,and the building developers have been hung out to dry ( CCP policy is housing is not an investment,but some where to live) mortgage holders do not want to pay developers as they are at risk of not seeing completion,and a significant downturn in the worlds largest market for property and construction.

          Here the RB is the reason for house price decreases and as the increase in recent purchasers selling at a loss increases (0.7 to 1.9%) following interest hikes almost surely.

          Adding stimulus to a hot economy is always inflationary, unsustainable,and adds debt costs that will be difficult to recover.

        • Belladonna 5.1.1.2
          16 August 2022 at 8:01 pm

          I can't contribute to the analysis – but my gut reaction hopes you are right.
          Recessions are really bad news for the vulnerable in society.

          Stabilization is a much better forecast/outcome.

    • pat 5.2
      16 August 2022 at 6:04 pm

      Bank economists (especially) should be ignored….they talk their book.

      Jawboning is the major tool of bankers , including central.

      What they wish and what occurs are often two different things, especially when the financial pressure is applied.

    • weka 6.1
      16 August 2022 at 2:21 pm

      what's your point? Are you trying to suggest that the claim is the vaccine prevents covid? I can't believe you are that stupid, so what are you trying to do exactly?

      • Mac1 6.1.1
        16 August 2022 at 2:49 pm

        I think she has argued that infection can come from sources outside of the family.

      • Rosemary McDonald 6.1.2
        17 August 2022 at 11:52 am

        Goodness me weka…full noise on the insults, eh?

        In my opinion, only the willfully blind (or stupid) would fail to see the irony of the quadruple jabbed CEO of Pfizer not trusting the efficacy of one of his products and instead rushing for the further protection of another one of his products.

        The other product being of similar dubious efficacy.

        https://time.com/6205355/paxlovid-rebound-longer-courses-covid-19/

        In the original studies submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization, Paxlovid’s drugmaker Pfizer found that rebounds happened in 1-2% of patients—the same rate as in the placebo group.

        Dr. David Ho, professor of medicine and director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University, is studying Paxlovid rebound and believes the prevalence is likely higher. “In my own experience, I have now counted 15 friends, family members, and colleagues who have taken Paxlovid, and over half have rebounded,” he says. Though that’s not a scientific tally, “physicians with large COVID-19 practices will tell you that it’s not rare.”

        And while we're at it…there's a prospective study out of Thailand on the effects of Albert's 'vaccine' on the hearts of young recipients. (FYI.."prospective" means they got baseline measurements from the trial participant before they received the vaccine… to rule out any pre-existng heart issues.)

        And it's not looking good. At all.

        https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202208.0151/v1

        Cardiovascular effects were found in 29.24% of patients, ranging from tachycardia, palpitation, and myopericarditis.

        Triple vaxxed nurse educator youtuber, (formerly staunchly pro vax plus) has an explainer video here for those who can't be bothered downloading and reading the paper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekTR0w2M9-U .

        Back in the day, weka, when there was actual medical science being done instead of whatever the fuck is going on at the moment…any hint that a pharmaceutical product could cause such an effect in a population group that is at almost zero risk from the target pathogen would cause an immediate suspension of that product in that demographic.

        Immediate.

        In the study group…the rate of actual diagnosed myopericarditis was 1 in 300 second doses.

        A tad higher than the experts claim.

        https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/some-perspective-on-vaccine-side-effects

        (56-69 cases per 1000000 second doses)

        At the very least….adolescents receiving mRNA vaccines should be monitored for side effects

        And yet there is no legal requirement in NZ for reporting of Pfizer vaccine adverse effects.

        Do you not think this is strange?

    • Macro 6.2
      16 August 2022 at 2:33 pm

      Friend of ours, who for her own reasons, chose not be vaccinated is now fighting for her life in intensive care in Waikato Hospital.

      Take care – this is not a mild illness for the 60+ brigade, and is not a respecter of persons, no matter who you are.

      • LibertyBelle 6.2.1
        16 August 2022 at 2:52 pm

        Agreed. My 80+ mother has covid, and is thankful for the relatively mild symptoms and her 2 boosters.

    • Robert Guyton 6.3
      16 August 2022 at 5:45 pm

      Did you view the anti-vaxx documentary, Rosemary? I missed any commentary from you.

  7. Rosemary McDonald 7
    16 August 2022 at 3:03 pm

    Hey, this Twitter thing is loaded with interesting stuff…bring on more rainy days.

    https://twitter.com/KevinBardosh/status/1529837611082055680?cxt=HHwWgICgyfXMibsqAAAA

    This is one for those who still claim the vaccine mandates were perfectly justified in terms of Public Health initiatives.

    Actual Public Health experts from around the world disagree.

    Of course this will be ignored by most of you. A pity, because it contains serious warnings for the future viability of Public Health initiatives.

    Again I will provide this…. a very serious and considered discussion amoung public health experts and staunch vaccine proponents…but I doubt if many are ready yet.

    A precis, for the closed minded and/or the lazy.

    'If you're going to take the extraordinary step of imposing mass vaccine mandates on a wide population you had better make the sure vaccine works.'

    • Drowsy M. Kram 7.1
      16 August 2022 at 3:37 pm

      …for the closed minded…

      Snort laugh – there are (at least) two sides to every 'story'. Some choose to lurch loudly away from consensus expert opinion for their own reasons, but that's not for me.

      Evaluating potential unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports [29 July 2022]

      Summary box

      • In a recent article published in this journal, Bardosh et al. set out to ‘outline a comprehensive set of hypotheses’ for why COVID-19 vaccine policies (namely, vaccination mandates and passports) ‘may cause more harm than good’.

      • The authors’ treatment of the potential unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policies contains several shortcomings that may mislead, rather than assist, the ethical evaluation of such policies. Among others, these include drawing conclusions that are not supported by the hypotheses they adduce, mischaracterising potential unintended consequences, and raising concerns related to key ethical concepts without fully articulating the rationale or justification for those concerns.

      • Investigating and evaluating the potential unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policies is crucial; however, in doing so, we must be careful not to overstate the normative weight of hypothetical unintended consequences and resist the temptation to arrive at policy prescriptions based on those grounds alone.

      • Sacha 7.1.1
        16 August 2022 at 3:44 pm

        …drawing conclusions that are not supported by the hypotheses they adduce, mischaracterising potential unintended consequences, and raising concerns related to key ethical concepts without fully articulating the rationale or justification for those concerns.

        Does sound familiar.

    • DB Brown 7.2
      16 August 2022 at 3:37 pm

      "Data availability statement

      There are no data in this work."

      Bout says it all really. But they drag up every talking point they can to make a case out of the nothing data they present.

    • SPC 7.3
      16 August 2022 at 3:40 pm

      Maybe the real learnings were

      1. recognise infection immunity
      2. end mandates once the vaccine no longer prevents infection and onward transmission.
      3. then move onto to screen access to buildings (temp checks and rat test if high) and regular workplace testing.

      Social harm is going to occur whatever policy is applied. The variable for a nation was health policy based on what level of spread could be safely managed, given the health profile of a people and the capacity of the health system.

      As for future planning – better ventilation in schools etc.

  8. SPC 8
    16 August 2022 at 3:32 pm

    The UK Labour party continues its narrative, the left is antisemitic, it is not … and so should be in government. It's the one thing it and the UK media can agree on, not having a left wing government.

    https://twitter.com/troovus/status/1559236966251724801

  9. aj 9
    16 August 2022 at 6:37 pm

    ….the left is antisemitic….

    The 4-part series 'The Lobby' by Al Jazeera Investigations is essential viewing to help put context around the destruction of Jeremey Corbyn's Labour Party. Can be found on YouTube (about 25 mins each part.)

    Also Chris Williamson's recent publication of "Ten Years Hard Labour"

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  • Business confidence sliding into winter of discontent
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    16 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the coalition’s awful, not good, very bad poll results
    Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    17 hours ago

  • New HOP readers for future payment options
    Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    18 hours ago

  • 2024 Reading Summary: April (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 day ago

  • At a glance – Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline'
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Road photos
    Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
    The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago

  • NZDF is still hostile to oversight
    Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    Holding On To The Present: The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    Stuck In The Middle With You: As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • A clear warning
    The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    Buzz  from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example.  This shows National down ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    It Takes A Train To Cry: Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    Chris Trotter writes –  New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    Mr Bombastic: Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • “Comity” versus the rule of law
    In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Aotearoa: a live lab for failed Right-wing socio-economic zombie experiments once more…
    Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder. In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    1 week ago

  • Water is at the heart of farmers’ struggle to survive in Benin
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére Sosou Market gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • At a time of media turmoil, Melissa had nothing to proclaim as Minister – and now she has been dem...
    Buzz from the Beehive   Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    Good evening –   Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure.  The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
    The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
    The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
    Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
    Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
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