Open mike 18/03/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:44 am, March 18th, 2015 - 168 comments
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168 comments on “Open mike 18/03/2015 ”

  1. tc 1

    With the porkys and taxpayer spend piling up in northland granny does her best to help the NACT again with a lead on Len brown and no politics section immediately visible online.

    It’s as if parliament wasn’t sitting and nothing of political merit was occurring….

    • ScottGN 1.1

      All the media outlets have downgraded their politics sections in the wake of the election. TVNZ doesn’t even have a politics tab you can click on anymore, it’s all just jumbled up with the rest of the NZ news.

    • freedom 1.2

      tc- On the home page, the NZH link to their Politics section now appears on the far right hand side about 4/5ths the way down, just above the Puzzles and Games section –

    • Draco T Bastard 1.3

      The MSM in NZ seem to have become a diversion from politics and politicians rather than reporting on them and holding them to account as is their job.

      • tc 1.3.1

        Who can blame them when goff fuels speculation about a mayoralty bid rather than turn the blowtorch on NACT over Northland pork barrelling, Lui 25K donation, Sabin, Troop deployment etc etc

      • Incognito 1.3.2

        Indeed. David Fisher wrote a compelling objective and analytical article about the recent Snowden revelations in the Herald and it appeared online yesterday afternoon http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11418653

        However, the Herald gave it as little attention as possible and although the comment section is open not one comment has appeared yet. It never featured in the Politics or Opinion sections where it rightfully belongs. Why?

        A quick search online suggests that it has not been picked up by anybody, which is odd IMO.

        I think it is very good article that raises very good questions that need to be pondered and discussed by many.

  2. Incognito 2

    Crown limousines cost $68 per hour http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11418839

    Does this mean the limo drivers are on the minimum hourly wage and zero-hour contracts with no set tea- or toilet-breaks? Are they unionised? Perhaps now is a good time to negotiate better employment terms …

    • RedBaronCV 2.1

      And if the negotiations stall then they could ..well head for wellington sans passengers who will have a long walk/ bus ride if they are lucky to the nearest airport.
      Althogh I’m not so sure that the sight of a lot of rich limo’s tooling cabinet ministers around will bring out the vote in their favour

  3. My two cents on “Prince” Harry’s timely visit during his “gap” year!

  4. Ergo Robertina 4

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11418814

    New research from Otago Uni shows a common ointment used to treat child skin infections is worsening the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
    As well as a general wake-up call about antibiotic resistance, it’s another reason not to rely on being able to treat the symptoms of poverty rather than its causes.

  5. swordfish 5

    Here’s a remarkably precise re-enactment of the free-for-all fist-fight we’ve just witnessed on The Standard over the last 2 days regarding Julian Assange.

    Re-enacted by the Sheffield Townswomen’s Guild, starring Mrs Elsie Osselthwaite as TRP, Mrs Patricia Wesleydale as Chooky, Mrs Audrey Bycroft as OAB and Mrs Ena Daniels as CV. And – in a brief but memorable cameo – Mrs Petulia Ramsbottom as Les…….

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

    Due to ill-health, Mrs Millicent Holdsworth was unable to play Stephanie Rodgers throwing a heavily-loaded (rape-culture-enabling) hand-grenade to start the fight off (so they had to make-do with a whistle).

  6. philj 6

    Government is listening to retail lobby group and will tax on line purchases 15%, possibly in this term. National, the big brother government that increases tax and reduces services.

  7. Polling in the Israeli election closes in a few minutes. The final polling had the rightwing party Likud neck and neck with the the left wing (and awfully named) Zionist Union. They are both at around 25% of the vote. So both will need other parties to form government in a system that, like here, is proportionally based and also involves getting 61 seats in a 120 seat parliament.

    The initial results will be known in an hour or so, then coalition building begins.

    Live updates here:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31913781

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/mar/17/israel-elections-netanyahu-herzog-voters-coalition-knesset

  8. Lanthanide 8

    If A Prominent New Zealander has their name suppression extended tomorrow, will WhaleOil follow his previous form and break the suppression order, in public interest?

    • rawshark-yeshe 8.1

      somehow I doubt he is willing to inflict that much pain and hurt on Key in northland …
      and if it involves children as ‘personal matters’, perhaps even Slater may be a little kind. Doubt he wants back in court quite so soon, and also he is a ‘real’ journalist now, isn’t he ?

      • Ergo Robertina 8.1.1

        ”and if it involves children as ‘personal matters’, perhaps even Slater may be a little kind.”

        Something for commenters on TS to keep in mind as well in respect of any comment on this issue.

        • rawshark-yeshe 8.1.1.1

          Just for clarity, I was referring solely to breaching name suppression by Slater … we know that no-one here is going to do that.

    • Puckish Rogue 8.2

      He hasn’t broken name suppression since he got fined, in fact hes very strict on anyone even hinting at it

      • Lanthanide 8.2.1

        Pity, because this truly would be in the public interest, unlike the other ones he chose to expose.

        • rawshark-yeshe 8.2.1.1

          Personally, I am sure it will come but likely not from Slater.

          Dirty secrets hidden for three elections* in our tiny land with less than 1.5 degrees of separation and Australia just over the ditch ? And Winston on an absolute roll ?

          It must come out. Our whole citizenry has the right to know what this
          vile Key government has been willing to cover up and who it is they are willing to harm.

          * Two general elections and the current one.

    • felix 8.3

      Nope. Slater has been spreading fud for the Nats over this.

      He’s published at least two posts this month in which he insinuates that what the Nats are covering up is “wife-bashing”.

      While awful enough, that’s fucking nothing compared to what pretty much everyone knows they’re really covering up.

  9. Colonial Rawshark 9

    West’s cognitive dissonance grows as Saudi Arabia decapitates 45th person

    That’s since the start of the 2015. Not sure how many of stonings of women have been carried out in that same time frame but I think that’s an additional number.

    Just remember: ISIS are the bad guys.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-17/45-beheadings-2015-%E2%80%93-us-ally-saudi-arabia-set-top-2014s-record-decapitation-level

    • Where did ISIS come from?

      “My book shows how the US and Western European countries have fostered and put to work different kinds of “Islams” during the last two hundred years—pan-Islamism, jihadist forms of Islam, and liberal forms of Islam, depending on the period and the tactical and strategic goals they sought; sometimes they foster these different varieties at the same time to serve different agendas. The question of the Caliphate, which became a major concern for European colonial powers, would not subside until the eve of World War II. The book goes into details about Western designs about who the Caliph should be, what authority he should have, and what ethnic background he must have.

      We see, for example, how at present the US and Western European countries are fostering two kinds of “Islam” simultaneously, a jihadist form that targets those who resist the US order and its Israeli and Saudi proxies—beginning in Afghanistan, but also in Arab countries with regimes that resisted US diktat (though recently jihadists like ISIS, who were made possible by the support of the US and its allies, have partly gone off script in their Iraqi and Libyan incarnations and have themselves made use of the Caliphate, at least at the titular if not the institutional level)—and a liberal form of Islam that the US could tolerate, which Arab and Muslim governments and an army of Arab and Muslim intellectuals and journalists and a political and economic class espouse and push for in the name of modernization, human rights, and a new/neo liberal order. The latter form of liberal Islam was also supported by the British in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; hence British celebrations then and ongoing American celebrations today of thinkers like Qasim Amin, Muhammad ‘Abduh, the already-mentioned al-Kawakibi, ‘Ali Abd al-Raziq, and scores of others.”

      http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/21067/new-texts-out-now_joseph-a.-massad-islam-in-libera

      • Gosman 9.1.1

        Would be interesting to see where you place Islamic government on your Marxist take on historical development of civilisation.

  10. Hami Shearlie 10

    Why oh why did Andrew Little come out straight away and agree with John Key’s idea to charge GST on overseas online purchases?? This could be a real vote-loser with the public. So why not just say that Labour would look at it and leave it at that? Labour could claw that lost GST back easily by raising the tax rate on the wealthy! And leave the public’s wrath on Key’s back! After all it’s his idea – maybe he wants the money to pay for his new flag and probably other little hobby-horses he has in the pipeline – And how much is this to do with the TPPA? So many questions the mainstream media will never never ask. Still it does give ammo to the left today in Parliament over Key’s appalling inability to work out 15 percent GST on an i-tunes song worth $1.39 – and here he was laughing at the Green leadership candidates some of whom did not know the exact unemployment rate etc! Shouldn’t his GST gaffe be front page news in the Herald? David Cunliffe wearing his red scarf sure was!

    • Philip Ferguson 10.1

      The whole point of GST is that it’s a tax which hits working class people hardest – and not just because we spend more of our income on necessities, but because unlike income tax it comes out of our wages, whereas generally workers’ income tax is a deduction on surplus-value. This is why GST was introduced and why the most economically right-wing prefer higher GST and lower income tax.
      See: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/understanding-gst-and-tax-policy/

      I’m not surprised that Little isn’t opposed to what Key said. Labour brought in GST.

      Moreover, GST is 15% – 12.5% was introduced by Labour! First Labour made it 10%, then they increased it to 12.5%.

      GST is, essentially, a Labour Party tax.

      Phil

      • Colonial Rawshark 10.1.1

        It’s appalling. Labour supporting a tax which hits the bottom 50% of NZ disproportionately.

      • Draco T Bastard 10.1.2

        +1

        Simply speaking, GST was introduced so as to allow the government lower taxes upon the rich with no thought whatsoever on the harm it does to the poor. If Labour were serious about helping the poor they’d be talking about dropping GST.

        • Gosman 10.1.2.1

          Yes please. Drop GST and raise income taxes. It would be good to see the left lose another election.

        • greywarshark 10.1.2.2

          dtb +100
          I think GST is quite a useful tax that throws a wide net and could be used much more effectively to fund infrastructure and so on where business and enterprise is happening and therefore needs facilitating services and improvements. My belief is that it should not be 15%, and I suggest half that would make a useful tax, with an element of distribution like this – 7 1/2% with 5% going to central government and 2 1/2% to the local authority.

          Although it is a tax that hits everyone equally, it has an unequal effect on the rich than on the poor. I get something mended and pay the government 15% on that, it might be only $4 but that would buy a nice coffee which I forego most days while watching my budget, someone comfortably off can buy new and afford the 15% without making a hole in their ample funds.

          So bring it down as I have suggested, that would be fair to everyone.
          edited

          • Rosie 10.1.2.2.1

            And if we didn’t have GST at all your coffee would only cost $3.40 instead of $4 🙂

            Other area’s where GST sucks up valuable dollars, my examples:

            Weekly grocery shop: Up to $45
            Landline/broadband monthly approx $15
            Power monthly :Approx $18
            Doctor’s visit: $6
            Unfunded medicines per month average: $10
            Quarterly rates bill $87
            Weekly petrol: $7

            Just a few random examples off the top of my head, the cruellest and most unfair being groceries.

            Get rid of GST all together and the retailers won’t be complaining. People with a bit of extra coin in their pocket are going to spend it in the shops. Get those shoppers off line and into the stores by removing GST. Shops get busier, hire more staff, increase wages, boss has greater profits, Put the profit into NZ businesses not over seas ones. Everyone’s happy.

            More than that, people will be able to afford to get extra food in their weekly shop or improve the quality of the products they buy. Once again this will lead to increased turnover. Why should a necessity such as food be taxed? Thats sick!

            Along with low wage rates and the high cost of accommodation in our cities GST is an added unfair burden and surely contributes to poverty.

            Get rid of it. Replace with a FTT, CGT and increase the income tax on the highest earners

            • greywarshark 10.1.2.2.1.1

              @ Rosie
              Sounds nice, I can see a double rainbow behind that printed in big letters on a roadside billboard. But GST has been set up, it’s in place and it provides a good base of taxation to do things with and everybody has to contribute.

              A lower rate will ensure that every citizen is putting into the putea without being scalped, and the Taxpayers Union which has a sort of sacred, special tang about it can go suck their iceblocks. They willl be made to admit that their idea of being special and different and somehow better is just a bunch of Minties, whose moment has gone. It can be reiterated that we ALL pay tax through GST, so CRACT shut the f…up. But the tax take must be smaller, like I suggest 7% or so.

              Don’t think of wiping it until the FTT and the CGT come in. The income tax of course ought to be going up anyway, starting from down at the bottom, 5% to $20,000 and then progressing up by 10% every $20,000 to 40%. After that 45% marginal.

              And make sure they pay, and no lambasting people with cumulative interest if they don’t, but just threaten seizure of assets if they don’t keep to their schedules and strt carrying it out. Treat them like gang members if they just won’t do it.

              • Rosie

                Sounds nice, would be nice for sure!

                7% would be better than 15% but to my mind, it has to go, it has to be phased out, after CGT and FTT’s and increased tax on high incomes are soundly in place (Ha! I remember when GST came in. I was at my first job at DEKA, when I was 17. I thought it was unfair, even back then).

                And about “everyone contributing”. This isn’t fair either. Unlike income tax, that one income tax paying individual then, can potentially go on to supply additional tax to the government on behalf of others, not just themselves – They are paying taxes for those in the household who aren’t earning, such as babies and children, or supporting a partner who isn’t earning, so the heavy burden of GST is increased on that one individual. All the tax on all the goods and services purchased for those non earners comes from one individual. Think of those poor aching shoulders!

                Tax is being squeezed out of zero earners. It has to come from somewhere so falls back on the main earner for the household.

                There are multiple ways in which GST is unfair.

                As for those minties 🙂 they can go jump. Leave them to bleat about FTT and CGT instead.

                • greywarshark

                  They have had their moment as far as I am concerned.

                • greywarshark

                  @ Rosie
                  I was looking at it from a fairer tax approach so that bennies would be paying 12% ta all up. Naturally the crazy secondary tax would be stopped and people would be encouraged to earn and keep their government services if wanted.

                  But looking at GST from a different viewpoint, the beneficiary pays it on most of his/her transactions which goes to the government. Then the government probably pays that out in accommodation allowance to the landlord of the house/flat being tenanted by the beneficiary. That is instead of increasing state housing in purpose built people friendly and
                  affordable state ccommodation, it goes out of the bennies hands and into the landlord’s hands. Who responds to this vicious circle by keeping the rents rising whereby the accommodation allowance goes up again.

                  • Colonial Rawshark

                    The politicians are being cowardly and placing the hardest taxes on the people with the least power while facilitating a transfer to from the poor to the landed gentry of the landlord class. Usual fucked up behaviour from the “left” and the “right.”

                    Especially when you consider that the Crown is sovereign and does not necessarily need to collect in electronic NZD in order to spend electronic NZD.

                  • Rosie

                    Yep +1 to that Warbs

            • Murray Rawshark 10.1.2.2.1.2

              +1 Rosie. Lower income people pay GST on everything they earn, because they spend all their money to survive. 15% for them.

              Someone on $100k might spend $50k on living costs, with the rest invested in property. Let’s say they get a capital gain of $50k a year. 5% GST for them.

              Get rid of it. It’s a gift to globetrotting scumbags with houses in Hawaii and keeps the poor stuck in their poverty.

        • Rosie 10.1.2.3

          “If Labour were serious about helping the poor they’d be talking about dropping GST.

          Amen to that.

          • les 10.1.2.3.1

            not sure about that ,GST catches big spenders too ,increasing tax on very high earners and closing down loopholes would be more productive imo.If you think about all the financial devices ..tax havens ,trusts ,etc..they only are for the benefit of the very wealthy ..a small % of voters.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 10.1.2.3.1.1

              This I agree with: taxation isn’t the answer to a high GINI: it’s an answer. Predistribution is preferable.

              It all comes down to value of life (all life) and work. Let’s set a high value on them.

            • Rosie 10.1.2.3.1.2

              @ les. Got no problem with introducing a sales tax on luxury goods for the big spenders 🙂

              • les

                and a bit more ..Rosie…tax avoidance is an industry patronised by a very few to the detriment of ..many.

              • Colonial Rawshark

                an assets tax including a land tax is where a truly progressive party would be looking. Get rid of GST on the portion of any item under $50.

            • Draco T Bastard 10.1.2.3.1.3

              GST catches big spenders too

              No it doesn’t. Due to GST the bottom decile pay nearly as high a percentage of tax as the top decile. And some of those big spenders are also shaping their finances through businesses and trusts so that they can minimise the the GST that they pay.

              GST is massively regressive.

              • les

                really..so when rich prick goes to the wine shop and spends a few thousand its all down to company expenses..hope not ,but probably..

                • Colonial Rawshark

                  A thousand bucks spent on fancy wine is still only fuck all proportion of the rich prick’s $250K per annum income.

                  Compared to someone who blows $100 out of their $600 wages on scrumpy, gin and Woodstock bourbon.

                  The ordinary wage earners gets smashed with GST way harder as a % of their income. One in six dollars they earn gets GST’d just on that transaction alone. For the rich prick its only one in two hundred and fifty dollars that they earn which is subject to GST. Big difference.

      • les 10.1.3

        how does income tax not come out of ‘our wages?

    • Gosman 10.2

      The Green Party contenders were far more ignorant than not knowing the exact unemplyment rate. Some didn’t know what the current inflation rate or what the OCR was. I’d expect any politician should have a clue about those two economic measures given they drive so much of our economic framework.

      • greywarshark 10.2.1

        Gosman no doubt you knew the exact employment rate and the ratio in different regions one to another. You are keen and interested in winkling out inaccuracies.
        I suggest you offer your sterling services to the UNACTS and don’t waste your talents throwing pearls to wee, wee, wee the swine at TS.

      • Hami Shearlie 10.2.2

        But unlike Key on finance, they don’t portray themselves as experts on unemployment rates! Key asked Goff to “show me the money” – well, come on John, “Show us the exact GST amount” – any moron can work out 15 percent GST on $1.39 – but maybe John Key isn’t just “any moron” – Maybe he’s a gold-plated “special and exclusive” kind of moron??

        • greywarshark 10.2.2.1

          Hami Shearlie
          It probably is the case that yek never thinks about anything so small as that bit of money. He deals in millions of dollars after all. He doesn’t have to know the minor details of odd dollars and cents. When you have lots, you just put it all on your credit card and pay up each month. No wonder the poor man couldn’t do the sums in his head, it’s peanuts to him where he lives on Planet Key.

    • Bearded Git 10.3

      @ Hami Shearlie
      mmm I doubt very much if GST on online purchases hits the bottom 20% of income earners Hami. In the real world they can’t afford to buy tablets/cameras/SD cards online, just food at the Supermarket and often second-hand clothes.

      It follows that Little is right to support this as online-purchase GST is likely to mostly tax the better off, thus increasing the tax base for potential social spending.

      Are you sure this isn’t just a complaint because, like that silly woman on The Panel last night, you buy things online and don’t want to pay more?

      • Hami Shearlie 10.3.1

        15 percent gst wouldn’t stop me buying anything online as I already save so much and can actually buy things like narrow fitting shoes at the same price as all the others instead of paying $500 for narrow italian shoes – All I am saying is why share the burden of the public’s anger with Key when you don’t have to – I think this could blow up to be a very sore point with many kiwis – especially young people who buy much more online than anyone else and who usually don’t vote at the moment – this might give them a real incentive to vote against National – but if Labour come out publicly and stand beside Key on this from the get-go, then those young people will decide to not vote once again. Sometimes silence is truly golden, at least for a time, long enough for the public to associate Key and National with this unpopular idea.

    • Murray Rawshark 10.4

      “Why oh why did Andrew Little come out straight away and agree with John Key’s idea to charge GST on overseas online purchases?”

      I can’t think of any good reasons. Little continues to disappoint. Is his view of economics so dismal that he thinks of GST as leftist because Labour introduced it?

      • the pigman 10.4.1

        Ehm, don’t you think that not doing so rather advantages overseas, Delaware/Cayman/Taxhavenian multinationals from obtaining a ~15% cost advantage over kiwi retailers trying to peddle their wares online in NZ?

        Let me know if I’ve missed the obvious…

        • Murray Rawshark 10.4.1.1

          Kiwis who spend all their money to survive each week would have 15% extra to spend if gst were dropped on everything. Not all, in fact probably not much of that, would be spent overseas. Kiwi retailers prices would drop as well and they’d still be competitive. I think you missed the fact that I am totally opposed to consumption taxes. Maybe I should have made it obvious.

          • the pigman 10.4.1.1.1

            I getcha, in which case we agree, GST should be abandoned uniformly as a regressive tax system.

            • Colonial Rawshark 10.4.1.1.1.1

              Or put in place a 25% GST on the portion of all items sticker price over $50

              That essentially means that all items in a supermarket would be GST free.

              (just messing with ideas now)

      • les 10.4.2

        probably because he supports an even playing field ,and it affects smaller business more than large multi national retailers.

        • Murray Rawshark 10.4.2.1

          Yeah, Douglas and Prebble talked about the good old level playing field a lot. They forgot to tell us that the workers’ team would have its legs broken before the game and, if they were still doing ok at half time, their arms as well.

          • les 10.4.2.1.1

            luv it!Douglas and Prebble would be the biggest turncoats in NZ political history.

  11. Philip Ferguson 11

    Interesting dissection of Hillary Clinton’s claims to be a progressive and a feminist:
    Hillary Clinton and corporate feminism:
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/hillary-clinton-and-corporate-feminism/

    Phil

    • b waghorn 11.1

      I would think any real feminist would have little respect for a women who kept her man after finding out he was fiddling with young women.

      • greywarshark 11.1.1

        Part of her version of feminism might extend to fiddling with young, or old, men (If she’s not ageist). There is plenty of pluck in us old folks and there’s hope for us yet.

  12. Michael 12

    https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dRhvHyjgvcCWgJ9O16En4EkIjFI=/800×0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3514038/07-knesset_blank_exitpollslogo.0.png

    Israeli exit polls are out! The centre-left Zionist Union and rightwing Likud are each estimated to get 27 seats. Netanyahu has called it a victory, but it is premature and still there is a chance of a left-wing victory.

    One possible scenario is a coalition/alliance between Zionist Union (centre-left), Meretz (left-wing), Yesh Atid (centre), Kulanu (centre), and with support from the Joint List (Arab parties). These parties, as far as I know, have all indicated a preference for a Zionist Union-led Government. That combination would give 67 seats, or a majority.

    So hopefully, hopefully, hopefully that is the case and Bibi is not PM anymore. It would be a much more progressive and pro-peace Government.

    Hopefully everyone can cooperate and it doesn’t end up a right-wing victory..

  13. http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/67433115/israels-netanyahu-declares-victory-in-tight-race

    Oh dear. Benjamin Netanyahu has declared victory in the Israeli election. I guess in the worst possible terms Palestine now knows where it stands with Netanyahu.

    http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/1.647212

  14. esoteric pineapples 14

    I see that according to the “Lions of Rojava” facebook page, Turkey is right now aiding ISIS fighters in fighting the northern Syrian Kurds who have established democratic cantons in the part of Syria they control.

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lions-Of-Rojava/290140627860127

    • Colonial Rawshark 14.1

      And there have been more reports of ISIS positions getting air supplied…

  15. Gosman 15

    http://qz.com/362275/why-venezuela-is-the-worlds-worst-performing-economy-in-three-charts/

    For all you Venezuelan apologists out there here is a good break down of the key problems in that country and what they are caused by (Hint: it doesn’t have anything to do with US economic sanctions).

    • Molly 15.1

      Not exactly an unprejudiced, objective source as your link Gosman. Try harder.

      Both the site and this particular author come from a very limited perspective.

      • Gosman 15.1.1

        Play the ball not the man. If you have a problem with the facts presented please advise where they are wrong. Simply stating I don’t like the political bent of the target source is a lazy way to argue.

        • Molly 15.1.1.1

          You are right, but you often choose very limited perspectives – on another country, in particular Venezuela – and I don’t understand your obsession with it.

          Given that the last few democratic elections have been considered to be quite rigorously conducted, are you just commenting on the policy of a sovereign country using outside sources for the sheer joy of it, or are you actually fascinated with how external commentators view alternate economies?

          An interesting topic would have links to Venezuelan sources from both the minority right wing, and existing governing left on a singular topic. Then it would be worth reading both articles to start a discussion.

          • Gosman 15.1.1.1.1

            I am fascinated how many left wingers use examples like Venezuela as examples the world should aspire to when the populist regime in power starts out. Then when it all turns to custard they blame external forces for the failure rather than the economic policies that were implemented. This despite it being obvious to anyone with any nous of understanding around economics that this is what happens following those sorts of economic policies.

            • McFlock 15.1.1.1.1.1

              What, like how neolibs touted Ireland and Iceland as success stories because of low corporate taxes and money trading in the early 2000s?

              • Gosman

                You mean how Ireland has bounced back strongly after undertaking austerity?

                http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/ireland-economy-growth-european-union

                • McFlock

                  lol oh it’s back in the good books now is it? Not one of the PIIGS any more?

                  Amazing how well an economy can grow when the EU bails it out.

                  • Gosman

                    And it undertakes a period of austerity to get it’s books back in order.

                    • Colonial Rawshark

                      Rubbish. Austerity degrades, distorts and destroys societies. Ireland should never have given away its currency sovereignty and it should never have let property and banking speculators get away with rampant cronyism and corruption.

                      One main reason that Irish unemployment rates have been decreasing is that unemployed people have been fucking off out of Ireland.

                      Yet another neoliberal way to get the “books back in order.”

                    • Oh, that must be why the Irish Finance Minister is getting out of stocks and into real world Gold then! Because he has such faith in the Irish recovery. Not!! 🙄 😆

                    • McFlock

                      🙄

                      One of those things throws money into an economy and boosts gdp.
                      The other simply extracts money from the poor and further shuts down the real economy in order to temporarily prop up the computer-chip betting market “economy”.

    • tricledrown 15.2

      Wall Street Journal offshoot publication
      Rupert Murdoch owned.
      Oil prices plummeting heavy sanctions have nothing to do with their situation.
      Murder Rate nothing to do with American war on drugs causing inflated prices for illegal drugs making it more profitable for drug lords who control vast areas of Venezuela.
      Previous Right wing dictatorships propped up by the CIA,s profiting from the Drug trade to Run South American covert ops.
      Is why Venezuelans don’t trust the US.
      The Murdoch Press happy to give only one side of the Story.

      • Gosman 15.2.1

        Please name me one economic sanction imposed by the US which has led to the shortages of common goods in Venezuela. I am pretty confident you won’t be able to because there has been no economic sanctions like this imposed.

        • Paul 15.2.1.1

          The deliberate lowering of oil prices by the Saudis in cahoots with the US.

          • Gosman 15.2.1.1.1

            This hurts US Oil producers just as badly. I also note you haven’t produced any evidence that the US has worked with the Saudis on this or explained why it would necessarily cause shortages of key goods. Other oil producers aren’t suffering shortages of items like toilet paper or medicines.

            • Colonial Rawshark 15.2.1.1.1.1

              Venezuela has been a US target since they nationalised their oil industry and kicked Exxon & co. out. Economic sanctions are simply there to destabilise the nation.

              • Gosman

                What economic sanctions?

                • Murray Rawshark

                  Here you go, Goosestep, straight from the US Embassy in Caracas (the capital of Venezuela):

                  http://caracas.usembassy.gov/business-faq.html#9

                  • Gosman

                    Ummm…. you do realise these are for defence items i.e. weapons and ammunition. They are not for goods like toilet paper. Please tell me how these sactions lead to shortages of goods.

                    • felix

                      You had nearly 10 hours to read those few short paragraphs.

                      In May 2011, the State Department imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), for delivering at least two cargoes of reformate, a blending component for gasoline, to Iran between December 2010 and March 2011. The sanctions prohibit PDVSA from competing for U.S. government procurement contracts, from securing financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and from obtaining U.S. export licenses. They do not, however, apply to PDVSA subsidiaries nor prohibit the export of crude oil to the United States.

                      The sanctions generally preclude the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from financing or underwriting projects in Venezuela. However, in 2013 President Obama issued a vital national interest waiver to authorize these entities to finance programs critical to U.S. foreign policy interests.

                      The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has also imposed sanctions on various designated Venezuelan businesses and individuals. You can find information regarding Venezuela-related OFAC designations at the following website:

                      http://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Pages/Office-of-Foreign-Assets-Control.aspx

                      U.S. citizens and residents considering trade with Venezuela may wish to seek the advice of experienced legal counsel, given the range of economic sanctions potentially affecting such transactions. See the section on Commercial Disputes and Legal Resources below.

                    • Gosman

                      Again you have no example of how sanctions are causing the specific shortages. My understanding is that the recent announcements are targeted sanctions on specific members of the Venezuelan regime. In this regard they are no different to those imposed on Zimbabwe in the early 2000’s. The Zimbabwe regime also blamed these sanctions for the collapse of their economy. Of course there was no evidence for this there just as there is no evidence in the case of Venezuela.

                    • felix

                      I don’t give a fuck about that. I was replying to this:

                      “Ummm…. you do realise these are for defence items i.e. weapons and ammunition.”

                      It’s bullshit, and it shows you didn’t read the link, and it amuses me to highlight your pompous patronising tone now and then.

                      Good day, fucko.

                    • Murray Rawshark

                      Ah, so now that we find some sanctions, you want other ones. For that, you should talk to FJK. He can tell you “Yes, those are some sanctions, but I can always find other ones.”

        • Colonial Rawshark 15.2.1.2

          Please name me one economic sanction imposed by the US which has led to the shortages of common goods in Venezuela.

          The US uses multi-prong tactics to destabilise Central and South American nations. Even the press corps and State Department press secretary knows it:

          http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-16/caught-tape-state-departments-psaki-smirks-about-us-policy-supporting-coups

          • Gosman 15.2.1.2.1

            So no specific examples of economic sanctions just a loose reference to a general approach the US possibly takes in dealings with South American countries.

            • les 15.2.1.2.1.1

              do some research on U.S interventions in Guatemala,Honduras and all other central and Sth American nations ,usually on behalf of business corporations.Freedom and democracy do not figure.

              • Gosman

                Just as I thought. No evidence of sanctions causing shortages just a general argument that the US is working against the government because it has done something like this in other nations before.

                • Tracey

                  how excited you must be to have started a thread about how right you are about Venezuela from a certain premise and now satisfied yourself you were right . Enjoy you day.

    • b waghorn 16.1

      Link doesn’t seem to be working

      • Clemgeopin 16.1.1

        Works for me.
        If still no, then may be you could try it in the 3 news website and see if it works there for you. .

    • Puckish Rogue 16.2

      No wonder shes not going to win, why vote for her if your party and leader don’t support her

      • b waghorn 16.2.1

        Moderately cleverer than something your mate fisiani might post but only just. 3/10

        • Puckish Rogue 16.2.1.1

          I guess i could have gone with something about how it really shows what Labour thinks about the heartland, rural communities of NZ

          • b waghorn 16.2.1.1.1

            You do have a point ,but you first post is either showing you’re thick or you’re mischief making and I prefer your average mischief maker to at least attempt to be clever or funny ,preferably both

          • Murray Rawshark 16.2.1.1.2

            Labour might just think that the rural communities are too important to leave with NAct, and have decided not to sacrifice the people, and especially the children, of Northland on a sectarian altar. Good on them.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 16.2.1.1.2.1

              Seriously?

              It’s symbolism. Useful, certainly, but substantive?

              If Labour is confused about that they’re worse than useless.

              • Murray Rawshark

                I don’t think they are confused, nor do I think they are not supporting the candidate. That should become obvious later on. Yeah, I’m serious.

  16. ScottGN 17

    Radio NZ is reporting that a roading advocate group in Northland claim the National MP for Whangarei Shane Reti has bullied them in an effort to shut them up ahead of the by-election:
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/268939/dusty-road-group-claim-bullying

    • b waghorn 17.1

      If that’s true and the proof is concrete we should be expecting another bye election in a couple of months surely.

    • freedom 17.2

      The Transport Minister was asked about this yesterday so I would imagine there is more to come http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/51HansQ_20150317_00000007/7-transport-infrastructure%E2%80%94investment-in-northland

      Phil Twyford : Has he been advised that the Pipiwai Tītoki Advocacy for Community Health and Safety Group, which is campaigning to get more money spent sealing Northland roads, allegedly received a threatening phone call from his colleague Shane Reti telling it to tone down its demands or it would not get what it wanted?

      Hon SIMON BRIDGES : I am not aware of that. I am aware of the general project. It is one that I think does need looking at. Of course, if we did that, the other side would accuse us of pork-barrel politics. On this side of the House we have got strong voices inside Government who can make a difference on projects that matter to people in the north.

      Ron Mark’s comments at that part of QT are also worth noting
      Ron Mark : I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Could I ask you to have a look at that transcript and pay some attention particularly to the first supplementary question, which is virtually an identical supplementary question to one I asked the very same Minister last week. The problem is that the answer he gave here is different from the answer he gave last time.

      http://thestandard.org.nz/how-much-is-nationals-northland-panic-costing-the-taxpayer/#comment-987204

      • Skinny 17.2.1

        Twyford has really struggled to get traction on Transport and Housing, two plum portfolios that any capable front bench MP should be able too. Maybe DC should be given one of them bringing him back up to the front bench.

        • ScottGN 17.2.1.1

          I think Twyford has done ok on housing actually. He can take some credit for the government never really being able to front-foot this issue. Though I accept the main reason they struggle with this is their ideological blindness.

    • rawshark-yeshe 17.3

      would be good to hear her recording of the call …. smart woman !!

    • Clemgeopin 17.4

      From your link:

      “Whangarei dairy farmer Alex Wright said Whangarei National MP Shane Reti rang her last week and told her the Pipiwai advocacy group should keep quiet for the next two and a half weeks – or risk getting nothing.

      In the call, which she recorded, Dr Reti said he had been working behind the scenes to help the group, but warned her that could be jeopardised if the group continued to agitate and send what he called threatening emails to MPs.

      Ms Wright said she was taken aback by Dr Reti’s call, and felt bullied.

      But Dr Reti said he was trying to help the group – not bully them”

      The behaviour from that MP is appalling. In fact, a BLACKMAIL!

      He needs to be sacked from the party immediately. It is worse than the ‘Do you know who I am’ stupid offense by the drunken bravado of Aaron Gilmore! Aaron’s were drunken words where as, Reti’s threat is very serious BLACKMAIL! No doubt about that.

      • b waghorn 17.4.1

        Bloody right he needs sacking stand over tactics are the realm of gangs and crooks.

      • Tracey 17.4.2

        he was trying to help them by telling them to back off til after the election cos his higher ups were getting embarassed and when embarassed the basis of their decision making changes.

        i hope that clarifies it.

        • ScottGN 17.4.2.1

          Dr Reti (for I believe he is a doctor of some sort) has since issued a statement saying he could have handled his communications with Alex Wright better. The higher-ups are shitting on him.

      • greywarshark 17.4.3

        These days well paid people expect to get their salary, once employed, as a right whatever they do. They have to have performance pay to goad them into doing their job. And if they fail and have to leave they get compensated for someone exerting authority over them.

        When a group being helped by a politician makes some democratic comment that isn’t favourable well that isn’t showing proper respect and gratitude to their patron. This polly is in exactly the same position as if working in a private firm. He doesn’t need to do anything for them and has helped out of the goodness of his heart.
        He has put himself out to do some work for them, and the ingratitude! It’s appalling.

        They apparently think that government should be working for the people. They don’t understand there are many, many things that must be done by pollies who have to prioritise, to meet Party obligatons.

  17. ScottGN 18

    And in the same midday report Steven Joyce has been forced to concede that some of the 7000 so-called jobs he claimed were created in Northland are actually in neighbouring electorates.

  18. greywarshark 19

    Interested in systems enabling cheaper and better house construction in NZ. Keep an eye on innovators and idea producers like this.
    http://www.prefabnz.com/
    http://www.kiwiprefab.co.nz/

    and a few more
    http://www.kiwiprefab.co.nz/
    http://www.keithhayhomes.co.nz/
    http://www.modprefab.co.nz/

    I’m not saying you should like them but someone has to think about housing and get behind affordable housing and understand different types. The government seems to have stopped thinking about housing and establishing intelligent renewals and city dense designs back in the 1960’s – 50 years later look at the mess we are in.

    BRANZ seemed a bloody waste of money when it came to leaky house design and concepts, with its net gains being non-existent. I hope it is different now but if it was reformed to help property speculators it is just a subsidy for them.
    Here is a report that is supposed to be from them but comes from first light studio, whatever they are.
    http://firstlightstudio.co.nz/report-on-prefab/

  19. greywarshark 20

    CR
    I see in the DomPost that they are worried after ebola that measles is coming in. It is so contagious that vaccines are a must they think. And a large group of children are at risk.
    So this is where vaccination is essential isn’t it. When there is an emerging situation like this it is a prophylactic that can be given a tick. They fear the measles epidemic, and they fear the unpreparedness of the medical system depleted and exhuasted after ebola will not be able to cope.

    Another debilitating disease – that of drug running.
    This poor woman was abducted and allegedly beheaded by those in the drug business as a warning not to interfere with them. Illegal drugs and huge profits is resulting in Mexico losing its soul. The pope says that Mexico is being punished. I don’t know if the right people are getting it though.
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/mexican-mayoral-candidate-reportedly-decapitated
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/mexico

    And while it’s handy here is the latest from Oz via the Guardian.
    * Federal police confirm they have accessed journalists’ metadata
    http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/17/federal-police-confirm-they-have-accessed-journalists-metadata
    * Senate blocks university deregulation for the second time
    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/17/senate-blocks-university-deregulation-for-the-second-time

    • Colonial Rawshark 20.1

      I see in the DomPost that they are worried after ebola that measles is coming in. It is so contagious that vaccines are a must they think. And a large group of children are at risk.
      So this is where vaccination is essential isn’t it. When there is an emerging situation like this it is a prophylactic that can be given a tick.

      Well, linking ebola and measles together is a deliberate, but rather transparent and unimaginative tactic.

      • Chooky 20.1.1

        +100 CR…”linking ebola and measles together”….is pathetic!…one is a deadly disease , the other most of us had as children…. and our parents and grandparents had as children….and we surbvived and lived long and well

      • McFlock 20.1.2

        indeed.
        Measles is much more contagious than ebola.

        • Colonial Rawshark 20.1.2.1

          CORRECT

        • greywarshark 20.1.2.2

          @ McFlock
          I got the impression that measles was more contagious than ebola. And making out that it’s some sort of cunning plan to sneak vaccinations in under the pretext of heightened anxiety after ebola is not a good look from you CR.

          • weka 20.1.2.2.1

            In the absence of context (no link) it’s not a bad assumption to make. Not that there is a conspiracy, but that this is just the natural way that some people think. It’s unclear however whether it’s a journalist or health authority.

            • greywarshark 20.1.2.2.1.1

              @ weka
              No link? I put three in at 20. Surely there was something there that was informative.

          • Colonial Rawshark 20.1.2.2.2

            GWS: not a good look from ME? I’m not the major news outlet which posited ebola and measles in the same piece.

            • McFlock 20.1.2.2.2.1

              Measles killed 145,000 people globally in 2013.
              Ebola in 2014? Not so much.

            • greywarshark 20.1.2.2.2.2

              CR
              I thought they made a good case for being careful about measles. But what do I know?? And my conclusions though I thought they were reasoned ones, just show my ignorance clearly. I’m afraid this matter will always be one of those black holes down which thought is sucked and vanishes.

  20. The Chairman 21

    Increasing GDP leads to foreign-owned companies in New Zealand making bigger profits:
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/67433238/foreign-firms-profits-push-out-nz-current-account-deficit

    • greywarshark 21.1

      @The Chairman
      Thanks for that. That must send a clear signal to those RW and business oriented types who chorus that we need more foreign investment.

      It’s like an awful addiction – a giant Ponzi scheme. The more we get, the less advamtage there is because if it helps us do more business successfully, then the increased flow of profits out of the country ups our current account deficit. Then that is easiest met by getting more foreigh money invested in the country.

      That media piece seems to scotch the idea and I suppose business types will admit they are wrong and look at the whole system again for change. Or perhaps not.

  21. Ergo Robertina 23

    Fairfax moving to branch office model for newspapers.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1503/S00610/fairfax-media-rolls-out-new-newsroom-model.htm

    ”Fairfax Media New Zealand is rolling out a new model for its newsrooms nationwide and regional newspaper editors are disappearing in favour of regional editorial managers based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch….
    ”The changes, trialed in Southland, are being rolled out nationwide in coming months.
    ”The roles disappearing are expected to be editors in smaller regional centres.
    ”Under the newsroom changes journalists will edit each other’s stories more.”

    The last point in particular is disturbing – even if they had the time, reporters are not trained for the very different role of sub-editing.

    • McFlock 23.1

      Agreed.
      I have a nodding acquaintance with document production (not on a daily publication basis, though). One reason our team is successful is that we actually do have people who will spend an afternoon mulling over the precision of phrasing or the difference between an em dash and an en dash. I tend to be oblivious to that sort of thing, and the conversations do my nut in, but on the other hand I have skillsets that they do not. Like switching the computer off, then on again.

      Frankly, I’d rather headbutt a pencil than have daily discussions on topics such as whether the building was evacuated or merely the building’s occupants were evacuated. I suppose that with a big enough news story aka “disaster” both might be true…

      • weka 23.1.1

        “Frankly, I’d rather headbutt a pencil than have daily discussions on topics such as whether the building was evacuated or merely the building’s occupants were evacuated”

        That shouldn’t actually need discussion.

        • McFlock 23.1.1.1

          I would have given a more specific example, but if some of my colleagues participate here it might have made staff meetings a tad uncomfortable 🙂

          Another example would be that I almost wrote “it amazes me how many pages can be written on the most nuanced turns of phrase”, but then realised that if that sentence had been considered for publication we would have spent fifteen minutes discussing the merits of “it amazes me how many pages can be written regarding the most nuanced turns of phrase”, with at least one person in favour of “on” because of space requirements and another person adamant that “on” is misleading because nothing is literally written on a turn of phrase, and then someone else would wonder whether the plural should be “turns of phrases” or whether “expressions” should be used instead.

          Those are the days I long for a return to security, with ice-cold rain down the back of my neck and most problems essentially revolving around “refer issue to someone else, run away, or stop person hitting me”.

          • weka 23.1.1.1.1

            lol. Ok, I have to ask, are the staff meetings full of self-deprecating humour and wit, or is that completely serious?

            • McFlock 23.1.1.1.1.1

              That’s pretty typical of some of the discussions, but fortunately not every week.

              And there are funny moments, too – all in all it’s a pretty good team I work with 🙂

    • weka 23.2

      ”The changes, trialed in Southland, are being rolled out nationwide in coming months.”

      They’re getting rid of the Editor of the Southland Times? I bet that’s going to go down well. I also seem to remember the current editor being fairly outspoken on a number of issues, so that would be a loss not just for Southland but for NZ journalism.

      Hmm, this would seem to contradict the Fairfax announcement, a new editor of the ST was appointed yesterday.

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/67425662/New-editor-for-Southland-Times

      • Ergo Robertina 23.2.1

        Good spotting, I hadn’t seen that. That is a bit confusing.
        I see Joanna Norris is quoted as South Island editor-in-chief, a title I haven’t heard before, so maybe the on-site editors will be less autonomous.

  22. Penny Bright 24

    So folks – there was never a planned Puhoi to WELLSFORD motorway.

    That was just ‘made up’,and in my view, a blatant election lying ‘BRIBE’.

    The planned motorway was from Puhoi to WARKWORTH.

    There is 19 kms between WARKWORTH and WELLSFORD.

    WARKWORTH is in the Rodney electorate (and comes within the Auckland ‘Supercity’).

    WELLSFORD is in the Northland electorate.

    Seems that Winston Peters is owed an apology?

    ________________________________________________________________________________________

    Steven Joyce answers the ‘Puhoi to Wellsford’ roading ‘bribe’ question today in the House:

    3. Roading, Auckland—Pūhoi to Wellsford Route

    [Sitting date: 18 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:3. Text is subject to correction.]

    3. DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First) to the Minister for Economic Development : Does he stand by his statement to RadioLive ’s Duncan Garner yesterday, in respect of starting the Pūhoi to Wellsford Motorway , that “2016 sounds like a pretty good date to me”?

    Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development): I thank the member for his question, and I absolutely do.

    The New Zealand Transport Agency expects construction of the Pūhoi to Wellsford motorway to start in late 2016 and to take around 5 years, which is fantastic for the people of Northland. Pūhoi to Wellsford will open up Northland to economic development and tourism by providing a critical link between Northland and the rest of the country.

    Yesterday I happened to be in the north of Northland, and they were telling me it could not come soon enough, which is why it is important they support a good local who understands the needs of the north and who does not just fly in and fly out on his helicopter.

    Denis O’Rourke : Can the Minister please tell the House when the board of inquiry was held on the 19 kilometre Warkworth to Wellsford section of the Pūhoi to Wellsford motorway, which is vital to the economic future of Northland?

    Hon STEVEN JOYCE : That part has not yet happened, as the member may have noticed. Pūhoi to Warkworth has, and it is expected to start construction next year, which is very exciting. And I remind the House that before this Government came along, the commitment of the other side was to stop a four-lane motorway in a paddock outside Pūhoi and never extend it further.

    Denis O’Rourke : I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The question asked whether the Minister would tell the House when the board of inquiry was held. That was not addressed at all.

    Mr SPEAKER : It certainly was addressed. He said it has not occurred for that particular section, and then referred to the section that it had been. The question has been addressed.

    Phil Twyford : Can he confirm the New Zealand Transport Agency’s advice that at this stage, in respect of the route between Warkworth and Wellsford, there is no indicative route available and no start date for construction; if not, is he announcing that a route has been set and a start date has been confirmed?
    …………………….
    _________________________________________________________
    http://www.parliament.nz/…/3-roading-auckland%E2%80%94p%C5%

    Penny Bright

  23. JanMeyer 25

    Checking out the NZH and Stuff websites from a wee stint in Europe and what is leading the national news three days in a row? Something about a couple of utter nobodies bullying another nobody on some unwatchable “talent” show. Call me a snob but no wonder some of us still suffer from “cultural cringe”

  24. greywarshark 26

    @JanMeyer
    I think the background to the matter is a racist comment thrown at someone performing by one of the judges. There are just a few standards left that people on tv and radio have to consider and the comment violated them. I have not had tv for a while now so it’s largely gone over my head. But 18 year olds and those stuck in a time warp of that mental age have got agitated on the subject.

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    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    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
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    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

  • 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
    5 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
    7 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
    8 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
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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