Open mike 16/05/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 16th, 2015 - 45 comments
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45 comments on “Open mike 16/05/2015 ”

  1. this one is about the british labour party, – and the new zealand labour party..

    ..both lost/mired in a swamp of failed neoliberalism – both of them..

    http://whoar.co.nz/2015/labour-is-in-deep-crisis-and-trite-guff-wont-save-it-ed-this-about-the-british-labour-party-and-the-new-zealand-labour-party/

    • weka 1.1

      More link whoring without content from phil. Here’s the direct link to the Guardian article on the British Labour Party.

      http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/15/labour-history-leadership

      • phillip ure 1.1.1

        more lying-attack from weka – my link contains my comments/references to nz labour party..

        the guardian article is the foundation-stone i work off..

        u.r talking complete shite..

        ..it must be a day ending in a ‘y’..

        ..my record here shows i direct-link when i have nothing to say – and via me when i do..

        ..and the above that you whinge about – is most certainly the latter..

        (how about you apologise/withdraw for this blatant/provable-lie:

        ‘More link whoring without content from phil.’..

        ..that is a total fucken lie/false-accusation..)

        • Kevin 1.1.1.1

          Then why not include both links Phil? Those that are interested in what you have to say can go to your site and those who are not can go directly to the source.

          • phillip ure 1.1.1.1.1

            ok..i’ll do that..

            u.r shortlisted for todays’ good-idea award..

            ..i’ll give readers a whoar-contagion-free option as well..

            (it will also relieve them of the pressure of that extra click..

            ..’oh..!..the humanity..!’..)

        • weka 1.1.1.2

          “my link contains my comments/references to nz labour party”

          Yes, but they don’t actually say anything.

          Here’s the translated version from dog’s breakfast to English,

          Labour is in deep crisis – and trite guff won’t save it

          phil: this about the british labour party – and the new zealand labour party

          Guardian: The party’s leadership contenders seem unaware of the size of the task ahead of them – and what is required to tackle profound long-term social change.

          phil: This is about the british labour party – but it is also about the new zealand labour party. They find themselves in similar thralls, and if looking for local ‘trite-guff’ you need look no further than the rcent speeches from andrew little and grant robertson, aspirational-bullshit-on-a-stick – both of them

          Sorry, but ‘NZ Labour are naff and have a big job ahead of them, like UK Labour, just look at Robertson’ hardly counts as content.

          Draco’s been calling you out on the link whoring, this is just another example.

          • phillip ure 1.1.1.2.1

            can anyone else hear a low-pitched whine..?

          • phillip ure 1.1.1.2.2

            so ..by yr posting of that content…you clearly admit yr claim of ‘no content’ on my part was a total lie on your part..

            ..you just don’t like the content of that content..

            ..there is a difference..

            ..are you intellectually-capable of differentiating between the two…?

            …is there an adult nearby who cd explain it to you..?

            • weka 1.1.1.2.2.1

              I’ve made my point, not going to rehash it.

              • that’s the whole thing about you weka..

                ..you so often have no bloody ‘point’..

                ..and this is one of them..

                ..so you can tell an outright/blatant/provable-lie about me..

                ..and when called on it..

                ..you refuse to further discuss the subject..?

                ..r u fucken kidding me..?

            • Realblue 1.1.1.2.2.2

              Yes, it’s your bubble slowly deflating.

          • The Murphey 1.1.1.2.3

            Q. What is it that concerns you about the linking ?

  2. Ad 2

    Mayor Brown’s decision to accede to government pressure and sign some transport accord similar to the Housing Accord is dangerous.

    Auckland Council – together with every other council in the country – has just gone through a statutory process over the last three months to mandate a transport programme, and put their bids up to the National Land Transport Plan. It was the largest local public consultation ever done in New Zealand. This nationwide plan will be announced on June 30th. The evaluation of priorities is set and agreed between every council and the New Zealand Transport Agency. The law detailing this massive process – the Land Transport Management Act – was only revised last year.

    Central government cannot override the process that it has just asked every other elected body in the country to undergo, because all bids are in, all Council rates are set, all roading and public transport contracts are ready to go for the new financial year.

    Nor can any Minister change this process without changing the law.

    If central government wants to change Auckland’s transport priorities, it should have done so as the plans were being formed. In case we forget, Auckland Transport is one of the largest commercial entities in the country, commanding about $14billion worth of assets, running a system using about 40% of the country’s transport budget and about 60% of Council’s budget. Not even the Prime Minister can hold up his hand and command this supertanker to stop.

    Mayor Brown could remind the government of how it complained that Auckland Council is spending too much on the centre of the city. This government’s sole direct economic development investment is precisely in the centre of the city: the Sky City Convention Centre. The government needs to be called out on this.

    Mayor Brown could also remind the government that if they don’t like heavy rail investments, they should do the decent thing and subject their motorway projects – at a fair discount rate – to the same scrutiny and be prepared to reallocate that funding if it serves Auckland’s growth needs.

    I hope this is depoliticized quickly by getting officials to agree the evaluative criteria on such things as:

    – benefit discount rates
    – the projected growth of Auckland
    – the projected housing demand of Auckland
    – the value of congestion in benefit evaluation
    – the role of public transport in stabilizing and decreasing road congestion
    – the set of means towards highest productivity of the road corridor
    – the balance between congestion and productivity
    – the value of access and choice

    We should not have got to this point, but since we have, we should negotiate hard.

  3. i think as part of a longterm suite of solutions to aucklands’ inevitable growth wd be a fast-train to whangarei..(that cd stop at warkworth and wellsford..)..wd work..

    ..to many the choice of sitting in an internet-friendly train for the same time they wd spend in a traffic-jam from the outer suburbs of auckland – wd be a no-brainer..

    ..it wd also help tourism in whangarei/the north..as the trip itself wd be a tourist attraction..wd take tourists into the heart of whangarei..(which most now byepass..)

    ..and wd feed those tourists further north..

    ..plus whangarei gets all those support-industries for the tourists etc..

    ..what’s not to love about all that..?

    • greywarshark 3.1

      @ phillip u
      Sounds good. And introduce a toll on the expensive holiday highway so it pays something towards its cost and that money can help fund the railway that will push people further north.

      And part of the services could be a drive-on freight carriage on the train that will carry cars and trucks right through to Whangarei.

      There could be a performance of Maori poi and singing that passengers could enjoy as part of the North experience and to be a point of difference for the trip. They could be strolling players going through the carriages, and be ambassadors for the Maori of the north. This could be paid for by the local tourism bodies in the North towns, not by the railway. It would be a symbiotic arrangement between KiwiRail and the North.
      edited

  4. greywarshark 4

    This morning on Radionz – some great interviews.
    First with a woman who offers much background on the wars and battles that constantly break out in the Middle East and elsewhere.
    And secondly with another woman whose name is Sara from Bangladesh who is an activist there and is under pressure from thugs.
    The link will go up soon. I’ll try to get back and put up the one to the Thieves of State author below.

    8:15 Sarah Chayes; corruption and security
    Sarah Chayes is an expert in kleptocracy, anti-corruption, and civil-military relations, with ten years’ experience in Afghanistan. She is a former NPR correspondent, and special adviser to the chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, and is currently a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program and the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment. She helped set up the Arghand Cooperative in Afghanistan which produces hand-crafted soap, and her new book is Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security (W.W. Norton).
    Photo: Kaveh Sardari

  5. SMILIN 5

    Just dandy our Rockstar Economy well yes if you look at the price of participating in the “club” a bit like premiere tickets to a supergroup way out of most peoples price range and at a minimum a stretch for most
    So “yes” we have a rockstar economy a bit like the last days of Rome and Money for Nothin OR Nothin for your money except pay the piper
    A bit like how Id like to see this govt “I cant Dance and I cant Talk the only thing I like about it is to finally see John Key walk ”
    OUTTA HERE

  6. Chooky 6

    Zukerberg has plans to control internet …and Zukerberg is in trouble for privacy violations in Europe

    https://nofakeinternet.org/?src=157762

    ‘No respect for users, no precise answers:’ Facebook privacy policies slammed by Belgian watchdog’

    http://rt.com/news/259029-facebook-ingnores-privacy-laws/

    “A Belgian privacy watchdog says that Facebook is flouting European privacy laws by tracking people without their consent, including those who have not even registered with the social networking site.

    The Belgian Privacy Protection Commission (CPVP/CBPL) launched the scathing attack after carrying out an investigation into the US tech giant’s practices. Preliminary recommendations were published on Friday.

    Facebook would not explain in detail how it uses the data it collects from individuals online and there are also problems with plug-ins, some of which can affect people who don’t even have a Facebook account, the commission said. One of the plug-ins under scrutiny was the ‘Like’ button…..”

  7. As you guys have been aware of my stance on Medical Cannabis due to my blogging, I would like to announce we are taking it to the next level as a charitable trust.
    Please check out our website and consider helping fund this new angle on the issue of Medical Cannabis.

    http://unitedincompassion.org.nz/2015/05/15/united-in-compassion-seed-funding-give-a-little/ Please donate to advance the cause of Medical Cannabis in NZ.

    • goodonya..!..i’ll do a story/link to yr fundraiser..

      ..have you had any luck lobbying dunne..?

      • check the video on the front page of our website….

        • phillip ure 7.1.1.1

          r u talking abut the story that links thru to the tvnz story..?

          ..if so dunne has left himself an exit the size of a barn-door..with his insistance in reinventing the wheel – and that it be ‘proven’ to him – the efficacy of med-cannabis..

          ..from your talking to him – is this true – or will seeing all three of sanjay guptas’ vids be enough for him..?

          ..if the former – he can just delay for forever – which is what his big-booze paymasters will want..

          ..do you know which it is..?

          could/should we be mildly optimistic..?

        • phillip ure 7.1.1.2

          you might want to push this dunnes’ way..

          ‘The first article to hit the web examines the cannabis treatments for child epilepsy – as a likely path toward legalisation.

          ‘The drug’s ability to reduce seizures in some children – has softened opposition to research – and may someday lead to changes in government policies.”

          Who can argue with a natural, effective way to help children suffer less?

          It works’.

          http://whoar.co.nz/2015/national-geographic-loves-weed-so-much-theyre-devoting-an-entire-print-issue-to-it/

  8. Colonial Rawshark 8

    BRICS + Germany pivoting to Asia

    Pepe Escobar again raises points that you will not hear in the corporate MSM.

    Germany now exports 50 percent of its GDP. It used to be only 24 percent in 1990. For the past 10 years, half of German growth depended on exports. Translation: this is a giant economy that badly needs global markets to keep expanding. An ailing EU, by definition, does not fit the bill.

    German exports are changing their recipient address. Only 40 percent – and going down – now goes to the EU; the real growth is in Asia. So Germany, in practice, is moving away from the eurozone. That does not entail Germany breaking up the euro; that would be interpreted as a nasty betrayal of the much-lauded “European project.”

    What the trade picture unveils is the reason for Germany’s hardball with Greece: either you surrender, completely, or you leave the euro. What Germany wants is to keep a partnership with France and dominate Eastern Europe as an economic satellite, relying on Poland. So expect Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy to face a German wall of intransigence. So much for European “integration,” it works as long as Germany dictates all the rules.

    The spanner in the works is that the double fiasco Greece + Ukraine has been exposing. Berlin as an extremely flawed European hegemon – and that’s quite an understatement. Berlin suddenly woke up to the real, nightmarish possibility of a full blown, American-instigated war in Europe’s eastern borderlands against Russia. No wonder Angela Merkel had to fly to Moscow in a hurry.

    Moscow – diplomatically – was the winner. And Russia won again when Turkey – fed up with trying to join the EU and being constantly blocked by, who else, Germany and France – decided to pivot to Eurasia for good, ignoring NATO and amplifying relations with both Russia and China.

    http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/04/4088

  9. The Murphey 9

    http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/11/mexico-suspends-infant-vaccines-after-two-babies-die-and-29-fall-ill

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/world/americas/mexico-vaccinations-suspended-after-infant-deaths.html?_r=0

    http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/10/world/americas/ap-lt-mexico-deadly-vaccine.html

    Mexico’s public health system has suspended infant vaccines and begun an investigation after two babies died and 29 became ill in an impoverished community in southern Mexico.

    The Mexican institute for social security says six of the 29 babies are in grave condition after receiving vaccinations for tuberculosis, rotavirus and hepatitis B

    Northshoreredoc’s preferred ‘debunk site’ had this to say

    http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2015/05/14/no-vaccine-reactions-didnt-kill-several-children-in-mexico/

  10. The Murphey 10

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-is-too-tolerant-and-should-interfere-more-in-peoples-lives-says-david-cameron-10246517.html

    Britain is too “passively tolerant” and should not leave people to live their lives as they please just because they obey the law, David Cameron has said.

    At the National Security Council today Mr Cameron unveiled a series of measures that he said would crack down on people holding minority “extremist” views that differed from Britain’s consensus.

    “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens ‘as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone’,” he said.

    Q. What on earth are they up to in Britain ?

  11. The Murphey 11

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/comment/11602399/Ban-cash-end-boom-and-bust.html

    Having everyone’s account at a single, central institution allows the authorities to either encourage or discourage people to spend. To boost spending, the bank imposes a negative interest rate on the money in everyone’s account – in effect, a tax on saving.

    Faced with seeing their money slowly confiscated, people are more likely to spend it on goods and services. When this change in behaviour takes place across the country, the economy gets a significant fillip.

    This article appeared on the same day as reference to the David Cameron ‘ Just because you obey the law does not mean we will leave you alone ‘ speech

    I believe the agenda is now undoubtedly clear however I also believe it is desperation which has forced the brazen openness into the mainstream proper

  12. Philip Ferguson 12

    “After all the hype about economic recovery in the United States, quarterly data relating to the rate of growth, deficit and productivity are ringing alarm bells throughout the world.

    “In March 2015, the US recorded its biggest monthly trade deficit since the 2008 global financial crisis, fuelling concerns that the economic contraction in the first three months of the year might signal more serious problems. The deficit recorded for goods and services rose to. . .”

    full at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/us-capitalism-more-stagnation-than-recovery/

    Yassamine is a British-based Iranian marxist. See our interview with her on repression and resistance in Iran at: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/repression-and-resistance-in-iran-interview-with-yassamine-mather/

    And see her fascinating account of the aftermath of the Iranian revolution (she was in the Fedayeen-minority organisation): https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/marxism-and-the-iranian-revolution/

    • Colonial Rawshark 12.1

      The Iranian theocratic form of government has held up far more effectively and robustly against US empire sponsored military and economic attack on the country than any fractious leftist government could have.

      • Philip Ferguson 12.1.1

        Maybe, maybe not.

        However, not so good news for the Iranian masses.

        Phil

  13. Clemgeopin 13

    Dick Quax, a right wing disgrace. What a dick!

    Auckland Councillor Dick Quax on social media had an outburst where he suggested to a member of the public it may have been better if they were never born!

    Quax says he regrets his remarks and was “too quick off the mark” in responding to a post from a Facebook user who called him a nutter, and later accused him of having a mental breakdown.

    The comments were made after Quax posted a link to Facebook in support of the charter school system, to which Josh Phoenix replied saying ‘religious nutcases brainwashing children is not education’.

    Quax then fired back with the comment: “If my generation – sounds like the title of a song – made one mistake it’s providing more welfare so that lazy and intolerant people like Josh Phoenix can their spew their hate of anyone’s views that differ from their own on social media. It may have better had your mother remained a virgin”.

    Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/dick-quax-regrets-facebook-outburst-2015051517#ixzz3aGh2NMDG

  14. Morrissey 14

    “War crimes? Apartheid? There’s no apartheid going on.”
    If Nazi Germany had had talk radio, it would have sounded like Howard Stern.

    This depressing example of braindead blithering, extreme prejudice and hatred was broadcast in August last year, as Israel systematically slaughtered thousands of trapped people in Gaza, bombing hospitals, schools, mosques and private homes. Note that Stern does not even try to argue his case; it’s nothing but recycled clichés, bizarre inversions of reality and ad hominem bluster.

    Howard Stern RIPS Anti-Israel Celebs Again, Debates Callers – 08/11/14
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Xbxh5pQF0

    He obviously does not know much about the subject, but as we’ve seen from so many radio talk jocks and politicians, that doesn’t stop him from sounding off on this subject….

    “All the ####ing radical nuts…. It’s a shithole, it’s a desert, but the Jews have turned it into something… They’re getting bombed every day…. They’re defending themselves…. Why can’t people see it… Those two idiot actors, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, you don’t hear them say word about Ukraine… As we know they people they’re fighting use children as a human shield. It’s old-fashioned antisemitism, you know that. You’re living in a shithole… That ####er Javier Bardem…Ahhh, I tell ya the whole worlds NUTS. Javier Bardem should stick to banging Penelope Cruz. Jon Voight shamed Penelope Cruz. These maniacs don’t say a word about anything else. All of a sudden they become spokespeople. Jon Voight kind of gets it. It shows you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get it. ”

    Suddenly, out of the blue, Stern starts talking sense for a couple of minutes, about Global Warming.

    Then it’s back to the mad pro-Israel rhetoric. He lets someone called Melrose Larry Green do the talking for him. Melrose Larry Green sounds just like Stern as he shouts down a caller called Hamzi: “You wanna LEARN? Israel is defending itself….” (11:30)

    At 16:00 it goes from disgusting to comical, as he plays a moronic tribute to him by Sarah Palin–“Israel is our only friend over there.”

    At the 21:00 mark, a caller named Ken from Florida remonstrates with Stern, reminding him that not all American Jews support Israel. Stern puts this down to “liberal guilt”, then launches into another ignorant rant that would make Leighton Smith blanch, before shouting Ken down: “Shame on you Ken. War crimes? Apartheid? There’s no apartheid going on. What part of defending yourself do you not understand? By the way, Ken’s calling in from Seminole country, from Florida. ####ing bullshit artist, self-loathing Jew, as far as I’m concerned… Notice that the Arab countries are not saying much about what Israel is doing. These ####ing Hamas guys are so out of control that they’re glad Israel is cleaning out the rats nest.”

    et cetera, ad hominem, ad absurdum, ad nauseam…..

  15. interview on ‘focus on politics’ on national radio..

    ..hear little asked about poverty –

    – and how he answers by saying labour will support entrepeneurs..

    ..he does a duck and weave worthy of a champion limbo-dancer..

    ..to avoid answering the actual question..

    (and slack-journalism on the part of the interviewer – for not pressing for an answer..)

    ..and you reckon my depictions of where little/labour (national-lite/fuck-the-poor!) are at aren’t accurate..?

    ..really..?

    • felix 15.1

      What was the question?

      • phillip ure 15.1.1

        a generalist question around what wd labour do about poverty..

        littles’ answer was a re-run of clarks’ deserving and undeserving-families riff/routine..

        ..he banged on about how labour has always encouraged people to transition to work..

        ..you should be able to hear it on the rnz website – and to my ears little sounded more like the president of the small business association..

        ..than a labour party leader..

        ..and once again – the whole thing is that aspirational-bullshit politicians of all stripes so overindulge in..(and expect us to believe..)

        ..you could almost have a drinking game around every time little uses one of those entrepeneurial/business-buzzwords/phrases..

        ..you’d be pretty pissed by the end of the interview..

  16. Philip Ferguson 16

    It’s a wet miserable weekend where I am.

    Good time for some meaty socialist educational reading:

    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/education-for-anti-capitalists/

  17. joe90 17

    CNN’s Weed 3.

    Dr Sanjay Gupta docu series on cannabis

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QnVHxOPEbqc

  18. weka 18

    I’m surprised it’s lasted this long given its relative redness.

    Government to Close Dunedin

    Late last night the New Zealand Government announced it will be closing the city of Dunedin. With hindsight, people should perhaps have seen this coming when the decision was made to close the Dunedin hospital kitchen, and provide hospital meals and meals-on-wheels for the Otago area from a kitchen in Auckland. However, it was not until Dunedin was left off the itinerary for the government’s climate change targets consultation (which included smaller centres such as Gisborne, Rotorua and Invercargill), that the somewhat dim-witted denizens of Dunedin finally clicked to what was being planned.

    Today, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce revealed that Otago University is to be closed. He explained the university is no longer necessary, as the government has signed a new contract for Lincoln University to provide distance-learning for people in Otago and Southland via a Skype link-up to church halls in Balclutha, Ohai and St Bathans.

    Prime Minister John Key said he understood that Dunedin had been a traditional homeland for Pakeha people for some time, but that did not make living there a legitimate lifestyle choice. The decision to close Dunedin will be announced in due course through all major New Zealand newspoapers, except the Otago Daily Times.

    With Auckland house prices rising so fast that only people on high incomes can afford to buy into even the cheapest suburbs, floodwaters closing arterial roads in Wellington, and the middle of Christchurch continuing to resemble a massive petanque court, and now the closure of Dunedin, Poseur magazine is warning Hamilton residents not to get too smug about their city’s fortunes, because they alone are doomed never to be hip.

    https://canofwormsopened.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/government-to-close-dunedin/

    • Maui 18.1

      Maybe then they could put that flash stadium with the roof onto a few barges and ship it up to Auckland where it should of been in the first place.

  19. @Onoudid 19

    If you type a youtube users account name, into google earth, while it’s in approximate correct local, it does strange, interesting, things…

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  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 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
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days 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
    3 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
    5 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
    5 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
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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