Open mike 31/08/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 31st, 2021 - 188 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

188 comments on “Open mike 31/08/2021 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Ad 1
    31 August 2021 at 8:22 am

    The anxiety levels in west Auckland from simultaneous level 4 lockdown and a flood require free distribution of 6 deep chocolate marijuana cookies to everyone.

    • Sabine 1.1
      31 August 2021 at 8:31 am

      The chocolate is fine, but the weed is illegal no matter the need.

      But this is my old neighborhood, and waking up the news today was hard and sad.

  2. Jester 2
    31 August 2021 at 8:54 am

    Difficult interview for Grant Robertson on One ZB. Poor bloke is spinning like a top. Why didn't Hipkins front for this?

    Grant Robertson denies that the Government delayed vaccine shipment (newstalkzb.co.nz)

  3. Drowsy M. Kram 3
    31 August 2021 at 9:26 am

    Encouraging news in the midst of considerable catastropfizing over vaccine supplies:

    Covid 19: Government closing in on a ScoMo-style deal for extra vaccine supply [5 am, 31 August]

    And here’s an interesting ‘conversation’:

    We’ve all grown tired of lockdowns, border closures and other restrictions. So the promise of a freer life, when 70% and then 80% of Australians aged 16 and older are vaccinated, feels like a beacon on the horizon.

    Prime Minister Scott Morrison, some premiers, and leading public servants have promised us at 80% we can live “safely” with COVID-19, or come out of our “caves” in the PM’s parlance.

    The narrative is one of Team Australia and we are “all in this together”. But are we really?

    https://eveningreport.nz/2021/08/31/opening-up-when-80-of-eligible-adults-are-vaccinated-wont-be-safe-for-all-australians-166818/

    • tc 3.1
      31 August 2021 at 10:49 am

      WA premier climbed into that stupid comment from popup Scotty.

      WA's aren't living in caves and have a mining economy keeping Oz going thanks to effective border controls.

      Lets all play covid weakest link with the country appears the scomo play backed by wuperts media.

    • Gypsy 3.2
      3 September 2021 at 11:37 am

      "That seems a hyperbolic judgement, "

      Mildly.smiley.

      The fundamental problem with socialism is that it contradicts the most basic human instincts. Ultimately the self contradictions contained within it's ideology begin to eat away from within, and the state is then forced to introduce draconian measures to ensure it's ongoing survival. The evidence is the array of socialist states that have broken down under the weight of failing economies and brutal authoritarianism.

      Socialism failed in the 20th century, and it is failing in the 21st century. At best it is an illustration of why we should never give the state any more power than is necessary to ensure the worst excesses of the free market are curtailed.

      As to inequality – there was (and remains) substantial inequality in socialist countries. Much of this was hidden by poor record keeping, and took many forms.

      There are nine democratic socialist countries currently. (Although some of those would be disputed – many have some form of private ownership and investment). When compared to the number of countries that have market economies as their political preference, perhaps that tells a story in itself. But those DS countries have far from eliminated inequality. Venezuela has substantial inequality. Ecuador rejected socialist policies in favour of the free market, affirmed again earlier this year. And so it goes on.

      Ultimately it is mixed market economies that have been the most successful, with the democratic process determining the precise mix of state and private engagement.

  4. Morrissey 4
    31 August 2021 at 9:38 am

    Australian commentator claims that military occupation brought women's rights to Afghanistan; Jenny-May Coffin fails to challenge a single thing she utters.

    Breakfast, TVNZ1, Tuesday 31 August 2021, 8:20 a.m.

    Jenny-May Coffin assumed her most concerned face this morning and interviewed, via Skype, one Jane Caro, billed as a "social analyst" from the Hunter Valley, NSW. Jane Caro averred that women in Afghanistan had only had the chance to dress freely and live a full life in the last twenty years, thanks to the country "being occupied by the United States, and its allies like Australia." [1]

    That is untrue. The secular Daoud government, which came to power in Kabul in 1978, instituted sweeping reforms, including especially equal rights for women and universal education. [2] The United States and Great Britain, instead of praising and supporting this, worked assiduously with extremist Muslim groups to embark on a campaign of terror and sabotage against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, for no other reason than that the Daoud government was endorsed by the Soviet Union. This U.S.-sponsored terror and sabotage started six months before the Soviets sent military aid to the beleaguered government.

    Jane Caro either knew this, and was simply lying with her claim that women's rights only arrived with the U.S. military invasion, or she was ignorant of the very fact of the Daoud government, in which case she should not have been commenting on anything to do with Afghanistan. Instead of challenging Caro's nonsense, Jenny-May Coffin merely nodded gravely and tried to look concerned. sad

    [1] https://www.theage.com.au/national/get-rid-of-the-prisoners-by-shooting-them-australian-commandos-tell-of-war-crimes-20190910-p52prl.html

    [2] https://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/05/asia/gallery/afghan-women-past-present/index.html

    • Ad 4.1
      31 August 2021 at 9:58 am

      Check out all those women and children flying back into Kabul at the moment. Not.

      And those mighty drivers of female liberation: the mighty Communist coup in 1978. Then the late 1979 Soviet invasion. Female liberation!

      History of women's rights in Afghanistan:

      https://origins.osu.edu/print/67

      • Morrissey 4.1.1
        31 August 2021 at 10:04 am

        So you think that the U.S. decision in 1978 to organize and arm the extremist Muslim opponents of women's rights was the right one?

        By the way, Scott Levi is almost as dodgy a source as poor old Jane Caro. This sentence from his potted history is a model of mendaciousness: “In the mid-1980s, the United States (and others) began to supply the Mujahidin with financial support and military equipment.”

        In fact, as Scott Levi—but maybe not Jane Caro or Jenny-May Coffin—knows perfectly well, the United States was arming and supporting the Mujahidin long before the mid-1980s.

        • Ad 4.1.1.1
          31 August 2021 at 10:31 am

          I tell you what, I'll do a post on the top 20 biggest US boots on the ground interventions and you can armchair your chinwags until the cows come home.

          • Byd0nz 4.1.1.1.1
            31 August 2021 at 10:43 am

            Well that post would read like horror story of fascist proportions, the only good place for American boots on the ground, would be in the ground buried deep deep down.

    • millsy 4.2
      31 August 2021 at 10:39 am

      Yes, if the US military gave a shit about women and girls, it would have marched into the White House and arrested Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

      Also would have lined outside every abortion clinic in the USA and used lethal force on any Bible bashing bigot that even looked like they were going to harrass staff and patients.

    • Treetop 4.3
      31 August 2021 at 11:26 am

      Do you think the US can work with the Taliban when it comes to diplomacy?

      A line has been drawn militarily between the US and the Taliban after 20 years.

      What position do you think ISIS-K will have in Afganistan?

      • McFlock 4.3.1
        31 August 2021 at 6:15 pm

        If I understand the politics of Afghanistan correctly (doubtful) and to sufficient granularity (also doubtful), ISIS-K are to the Taliban what the Taliban were to the rest of the Afghan Mujahiddeen.

        • Treetop 4.3.1.1
          31 August 2021 at 10:16 pm

          I meant to say ISIL-K. This group came from Syria and Iraq and Pakistan kicked them out.

          I think Pakistan is the country which will have influence in Afganistan.

          • McFlock 4.3.1.1.1
            31 August 2021 at 10:44 pm

            Really depends on the region within the "country". A lot of the problem is based on fixing "borders" that overlap multiple cultures and ethnic groups (for a given value of demographic granularity), and then expecting centralised policy and control.

            Wait until we read about the US giving intel to the Taleban to target ISIL-K because that would hurt [insert country here's] influence in the region. Unthinkable now, but complex situations make strange bedfellows.

            • Treetop 4.3.1.1.1.1
              1 September 2021 at 8:16 am

              Today is September the 1st. It will be interesting to see if peace will prevail. Hopefully lessons from 1 September 1939 will be learnt. Interesting that America did not enter World War 2 until the bombing of Pearl Harbour 7 December 1941. America did support their allies with war supplies prior to Pearl Harbour.

              • McFlock …
                1 September 2021 at 6:21 pm

                WW2 isn't the model.

                "The Great Game" is. SSDCentury.

                US, Russia, China, India (to screw with the Pakistanis), Pakistan, Iran, and a couple of others all playing silly buggers with guns, bombs, money, and suchlike. Get as much power as they can to get resources and bleed the others while not bleeding too much oneself.

    • AB 4.4
      31 August 2021 at 11:35 am

      If a journalist's first instinct in recent days hasn't been to dig out a short, potted history of Afghanistan from somewhere on the web – they shouldn't be in the job. They'd do this because they'd know that we all live inside history – history is not 'was', but 'is'. They don't necessarily need to draw any particular conclusion about Afghanistan in the 1970's-80's from such a shallow dive – but you'd expect them to know some of the facts and be able to put them on the table as a challenge to an interviewee. I guess the mistake here is to believe that Jenny-May is employed as a journalist. She's not – this is breakfast tv and it's about having congenial hosts that are liked by a target demographic and deliver eyeballs to advertisers. A decent non-commercial tv channel might help.

  5. Stephen D 5
    31 August 2021 at 10:57 am

    So the coup is complete. National is now run by the evangelist right of the party.

    From today’s NZH.

    ”Overall, the select committee reshuffle moves the caucus' liberal MPs to less powerful and less high profile committees.

    In the case of Muller, the move is to be expected. Retiring MPs are often shuffled into less high profile roles.

    Moving Willis from finance and expenditure is a significant step, given the committee's prominence, influence, and power.

    Bishop's relative demotions are to be expected. His previous select committee positions were commensurate with his role as shadow leader of the house.”

    • roblogic 5.1
      31 August 2021 at 1:19 pm

      The word is Evangelical and they aren't all one thing, just like adherents of the several other faiths and cultures elected to represent NZ in Parliament.

      A culture change in National is badly needed — but not the current Trumpish path they seem to be heading down.

      • Incognito 5.1.1
        31 August 2021 at 1:26 pm

        The National Party is what the GOP was to Trump?

        Here’s a little quiz question for you all: who is the NZ Trump?

        • roblogic 5.1.1.1
          31 August 2021 at 1:43 pm

          John Key seems to be the most recent example of a cult of personality, propped up by a cynical right wing establishment, attempting to appeal to the working class, but in reality doing a lot of underhanded stuff.

          National is looking for another Muldoonish strong leader to bully NZ into submission. They are engaging in GOP style obstructionism and Fox news talking points with no basis in reality (aka. lies).

          Someone with a media profile and who appears plausible? Mark Richardson would be my guess

  6. Gypsy 6
    31 August 2021 at 11:02 am

    Today is 47 years since the death of Norman Kirk.

    Growing up in a suburb of Auckland heavily dominated by state housing, I remember the affection in which he was held by my parents friends and neighbours.

    • Byd0nz 6.1
      31 August 2021 at 11:14 am

      Yes. One of our greatest Leaders.

      His Superanuation scheme would have been the saviour of NZ if Muldoon had not destroyed it, Local Bodies could borrow from it with very low interest rates.

      Good on you for reminding us of Big Norm.

      • Patricia Bremner 6.1.1
        31 August 2021 at 11:39 am

        I remember being proud of our Government and Kirk's stand against nuclear activity in the Pacific. Our lone frigate accompanied by a flotilla of concerned Kiwis.

      • alwyn 6.1.2
        31 August 2021 at 2:30 pm

        " Local Bodies could borrow from it with very low interest rates.".

        That is one of the main problems with all these schemes. You get a great big pool of money that is supposed to provide for the retirement income of the general populace and the thing that almost always happens is that politicians decide to try to use it to pay for schemes that simply waste the money.

        I was never a great fan of Michael Cullen but at least he tried to keep the so-called Cullen Fund away from the reach of short-sighted politicians who saw it simply as a slush fund to pay for their fanciful dreams. Spend it on Public Transport, or cycleways, or anything else that they like the look of rather than on something that will build the value of the fund and actually provide a retirement income for people who are forced to belong to it. After all, those politicians will be long gone when people discover there is really nothing there to pay super people were promised.

        The Muldoon scheme, although far too generous and starting at too early an age had a rational basis to it. Make it Universal and pay it out of current taxation. There is no incentive for political zealots to try and plunder the fund because there isn't one.

        • KJT 6.1.2.1
          31 August 2021 at 2:45 pm

          Saving for super has always been an oxymoron.

          As most of the money paid to pensioners, is immediately spent back into the local economy, and it is a charge on a share of local resources especially current goods and services, PAYGO makes more sense. Same as it does with ACC.

          Muldoon made sense on that one.

          The idea that Labours super scheme would still be in existence now, without being plundered and/or privatised by the later Neo-liberals, as they did with almost everything else, is a nice fantasy.

        • solkta 6.1.2.2
          31 August 2021 at 2:49 pm

          Paying it out of the current taxation was the irrational part of Muldoon's scheme. The country's fertility rate had halved and stabilised. It was obvious that the boomers would be a large demographic bubble. Ignoring that amounted to intergenerational theft.

          • KJT 6.1.2.2.1
            31 August 2021 at 2:53 pm

            The "intergenerational theft," meme started by those who want to privatise super, is self serving bollocks.

            Where do you think pensioners spend the money they get. And who benefits from the resulting employment and economic activity?

            https://thestandard.org.nz/the-myth-of-retirement-savings/

            • solkta 6.1.2.2.1.1
              31 August 2021 at 2:55 pm

              Wealthy people receive super too.

              • KJT …
                31 August 2021 at 3:01 pm

                They do.

                Which is why we still have it.

                Though, in a just world they would be paying much more in tax than they receive in super.

                • solkta …
                  31 August 2021 at 3:21 pm

                  There are a lot of people who are moderately wealthy. They have enough to live on from other means and super is just extra for overseas holidays and alike.

                  • KJT …
                    31 August 2021 at 4:50 pm

                    Which is an argument for wealth taxes, not for removing or cutting universal state super.

                    • solkta …
                      31 August 2021 at 4:57 pm

                      We were discussing whether Muldoon's scheme was rational, it wasn't.

                    • Nic the NZer []
                      31 August 2021 at 6:15 pm

                      Your thinking about retirement savings like an individual, you need to think about it like a government if you want to say something about super annuation.

                      The appropriate income for retirees is not determined by taxation revenue, its more or less what the govt thinks appropriate (as are taxation decisions). There are no hard fiscal constraints on these decisions, just a bunch of opinions on what is fair.

                      If you want an analogy imagine your household has a chore roster and a bunch of weekly privileges for participants. Last week you recorded 2 chores per member per day (which is like retirement payments, though its for chores) and you cancelled those at week end and handed out rewards (this is taxation). Now in your world you might think if there were more chores to do you would be financially unable to do them (even though your tax rate is 100%). But obviously in reality you can just record more chores next week, your not limited in what gets recorded, or if thats perceived as fair, and so on.

                    • KJT …
                      31 August 2021 at 5:25 pm

                      http://kjt-kt.blogspot.com/2012/06/on-new-zealands-retirement-income.html?m=1

                      ,"The finance industry have been creaming their pants, for a return to the halcyon days, before the tax rebates were removed from superannuation savings. When they got to play with our money for free, and the negative returns and high charges were ignored, because of tax payer subsidies. Egged on by the neo-liberals who prefer the elderly, the unemployed and the sick to starve in the streets, as an incentive to scare working people into accepting starvation wages, while they continue to get 17% increases in wealth, the finance industry is dreaming of getting more of their sticky hands on our wealth, with private super funds. Since the 70's they have been constant in the meme that we cannot afford super. A meme that has been driven entirely by the self interest of those, who are too wealthy to need super and too mean to pay taxes, and a greedy finance industry. Unfortunately, it is true, that if you repeat bullshit often enough, even those who should know better come to believe it. We cannot afford super is code for, "we should leave our elderly to beg on the streets". So that wealthy people can pay less tax and the finance industry can again lose our savings for us".

                    • KJT …
                      31 August 2021 at 5:25 pm

                      In your opinion.

                    • solkta …
                      31 August 2021 at 5:42 pm

                      Surely in your opinion too if you think it needs a wealth tax to make it work. That is not something Muldoon would have considered. Muldoon was reckless, and not just with this.

                    • KJT …
                      31 August 2021 at 5:56 pm

                      In Muldoons time there were wealth taxes.

                      It was later Governments who replaced taxes on the better off, I paid 63% top rate, with GST on the poor.and there were inheritance and other wealth taxes since removed.

                    • solkta …
                      31 August 2021 at 6:43 pm

                      Oh, so you are talking higher paye and inheritance not a comprehensive wealth tax.

                      There was also free tertiary education and universal student loans and help to buy your first house and lots of other stuff. If all those settings had been left in place we would still have been in the shit once the boomer bulge came through to retirement age. Muldoon ignored this because it would not be his problem. He could have set up a Cullen Fund back then to deal with it, but he didn't.

                    • KJT …
                      31 August 2021 at 7:40 pm

                      You are not understanding the point.

                      The requirements to live, for people who can no longer work, do not change whether it is paid for by, "savings" current taxes or Government super funds.

                      We eieither allocate enough resources for the elderly to live from current production and services, or we leave them to live in poverty.

                      Private "savings" including Government funds investing in things that don't increase capacity are the most expensive way to provide for super, as there is always extra creamed off by outside interests. From current taxes is the cheapest way.
                      As is making it universal.

                      Muldoon was right on this one, even though he was wrong in so many others

                    • solkta …
                      31 August 2021 at 7:47 pm

                      From my perspective you don't get the point. You just sound like another entitled boomer to me.

                    • KJT …
                      31 August 2021 at 8:35 pm

                      Thanks for the unthinking meme.

                      It has fuckall to do with generations. And everything to do with the wealthy screwing people in all generations.

                      Memes like that are just playing into their hands.

                      I will get super anyway. Provided my health after decades of shift and manual work lets me last that long.

                      I want it to be there for future generations.

                      I know if we give it up now, they will never get it back.

                      Which is why I fucking well fight for it. Along with decent wages and working conditions for those coming after me.

                    • solkta …
                      31 August 2021 at 9:13 pm

                      If you want to keep it then a good place to start would be to acknowledge that Muldoon was reckless in not taking account of the boomer demographic bulge and that this has made it unfair for younger generations. But just disregarding that does not put you in a strong position.

                    • roblogic …
                      31 August 2021 at 9:38 pm

                      Muldoon had many failings, but Universal Super wasn't one. It shows that a UBI is a necessary and humane response to the unrestrained capitalism that has ruined the lives of working Kiwis for a generation.

                      Yes we can afford it, and morally we must do it.

                  • McFlock …
                    31 August 2021 at 8:50 pm

                    The other issue is whether it's cheaper to go near-universal or regularly audit everyone's income – including "non-wealthy" people who pay a peppercorn rent to live in the mansion of a family trust, etc.

                    And the repercussions of a system that lets people in need be declined because they didn't keep up with the paperwork.

                • bwaghorn …
                  31 August 2021 at 6:08 pm

                  I saw a smug old coutt on tv the other night 89 years old living the life in the mount, reckoned he didnt need super but took it because it was his right, now hes had 29 years of super so hes only only probably 10 ish years away from getting super for as long as he worked. Given the age was 60 when he would have received it .

                  • KJT …
                    31 August 2021 at 8:44 pm

                    How much tax is he paid and is paying?

                    Did his work, including what he does in retirement contribute to society?

                    I know another who retired at 60 with the Muldoon pension. He continued and still does, carry on with his former job, social work and remedial reading for school kids. At 90 he teaches, unpaid, carving and remedial reading at the local school. He would not be able to do this without the pension.

                    • bwaghorn …
                      1 September 2021 at 12:27 pm

                      I have know way of knowing that, I know an 86 year old who crowed to me how little tax he had paid in his life, very wealthy man he is , paid alot of interest to banks though, he said.

                  • Jester …
                    31 August 2021 at 10:13 pm

                    Winston Peters took the pension didn't he?

            • alwyn 6.1.2.2.1.2
              31 August 2021 at 3:05 pm

              A most interesting post.

        • Nic the NZer 6.1.2.3
          31 August 2021 at 5:48 pm

          The Cullen fund is just as much a political football as anything used on local government. Thats why the National government makes a repeated point of not paying in and the Labour a point of paying in.

          This comes to a head when its (presumably) eventually drawn down to reduce the budget deficit caused by demographic shifts, at which point we get to see who in govt likes having a pool of money up for investment to back their profitable investors rhetoric.

          We should not of course mistake it for savings because (as is more obvious these days) the govt can't really save in the currency it issues, and just gets the RBNZ to issue more spending as needed anyway. Apparently it even likes to keep 'saving' while also having urgent spending needs anyway (like its borrowing to fill up its savings account) demonstrating that the saving aspect of this is just something for the plebs to believe.

          • Tricledrowni 6.1.2.3.1
            1 September 2021 at 2:51 pm

            Returns on the Cullen fund are much more than the cost of borrowing or printing and have been right through the life of the fund.plus the tax take from the profitable investments are higher than the contributions.

            • Nic the NZer 6.1.2.3.1.1
              1 September 2021 at 4:31 pm

              Just what is the marginal cost of printing, btw? Seems to be basically zero since its all electronic these days and if it wasn't then that cost can be printed in (I will claim borrowing is similar enough).

              So it turns out that the govt is good at investing profitably given a cost of funds which is up to them. In fact as I highlighted this is just a gimmic to convince the plebs that the govt is a worthy funds manager. Well you appear to be convinced anyway.

              • Tricledrown …
                2 September 2021 at 12:04 pm

                Nic just printing money is not the answer to everything.The $30 billion of QE given to our banks recently to keep liquidity in the financial sector worked in that area but has lead to the banks funding only safe investment causing massive inflation in the housing market and massive increases in bank profits.

                • Nic the NZer …
                  2 September 2021 at 3:53 pm

                  Thats not how QE works. People who say QE causes house price inflation, and actually understand QE are making a counterfactual of the country running a lockdown with no wage subsidy support. That could easily have caused a recession and associated house price slump, but its obviously not something you do as govt to target house prices. If the govt doesn't do QE (or any of their more unusual self funding options) but still does the wage subsidy, then they would pay more for their deficit (and less to themselves) but house prices would have jumped just the same, with the same people having the same access to wage subsidy and period of incentive to jump into the market. Ultimately the recent buyers decide what level of price rises they will borrow, this is not centrally planned.

                  It is certain that banks could have done the same lending with or without QE, their lending is basically constrained by the stream of credit worthy customers coming in the door, nothing more.

                  Having got that out the way, you seem to support the use of QE to stuff funds into the Cullen fund, rather than not using as much of the self funding mechanism. All I'm highlighting is that the self funding mechanism is always there, so any fiscal constraints (or prudent investor policies) you impose on the country are always voluntary and self imposed. Sometimes you may do things voluntarily for the marketing, sometimes this is called virtue signaling.

                  • Tricledrown …
                    2 September 2021 at 5:06 pm

                    Nic When you have a recession looming bank deposits dry up bank lending becomes harder to get. Govts buy all the banks bad and poorly performing debt as in a recession businesses stop paying loans and Bill's the banks stop loaning to businesses ,banks struggle to borrow money to lend deposits dry up.so govts print money and lend it to banks , at the moment •25% so the govt profits .In exchange the reserve bank takes over banks under performing loans freeing up the banks to lend to safer clients .The banks during these times are preferring to lend for bricks and mortar than to businesses as business loans are far riskier.

                    So around the world where QE is being used house prices are inflating because it's easy to get a loan on an asset that is rising and can be repossessed in any mortgagee sale as opposed to a business ,creating house price bubbles around the World.

                    If govt printed money to fix productivity problems ie housing shortages I would be ok with that but even that needs careful managing as we see in NZ ,we have shortages of construction materials ie timber for construction and Labour for construction so causing inflation .

                    It's easy to believe that pressing a button and printing billions can solve problems instantly but it rarely does and when it works iit s in times of low inflation and no supply constrictions.

                    • Nic the NZer …
                      2 September 2021 at 6:38 pm

                      Your model of bank lending is demonstrably wrong. In practice, including in NZ banks don't face a reserve shortage constraint and its part of official policy that they won't. Thats what the OCR is about, as long as a bank is in good standing it can always (if the interbank market doesn't do it cheaper) borrow reserves from the RBNZ (at the OCR) should it need to in order to settle. As long as Paul Volker isn't central bank head then the bank can still pass on the interest rate difference there profitably.

                      We need another basis for additional bank credit drying up in this case. Of course this is obvious enough, during a recession you look a lot harder at a potential borrowers income and adjust the assessment of likely repayment. It also helps if there is a security attached to the loan, like a house.

                      This also explains why doing QE in spades has never worked as advertised, e.g the largest monetary policy intervention in history was unable to avoid a recession in the US (and other countries).

                      Of course NZ didn't escape from conventional policy very far so you should be contrasting QE against NZ recession (due to lack of lockdown fiscal policy intervention to offset domestic saving rate increases) because those are the alternatives the govt considered. In considering NZ I would say it worked so far, and with a bit of luck this lockdown it will keep working (the obvious point being its actually the sufficient fiscal policy working, even if the NZ govt was only willing to do that when self lending via QE).

    • roblogic 6.2
      31 August 2021 at 11:35 am

      +1. When Labour lived up to its name.

      https://youtu.be/kvIqHFBofx8

    • Herodotus 6.3
      31 August 2021 at 11:49 am

      a song to remember being on topic from ebony

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJv_DfMZ7jU

    • Peter 1 6.4
      31 August 2021 at 1:39 pm

      And the last of the real Labour party.

      • alwyn 6.4.1
        31 August 2021 at 2:56 pm

        Indeed yes. Norm was of course strongly opposed to allowing freer access to abortion and to homosexual law reform. If he had lived, and he could have easily still be head of the Parliamentary Labour Party right through to the early 1990's I don't think you would have seen the progress that was achieved after he died.

        That would, I suspect, have been more in line with the attitudes of the union-led, traditional, Labour Party than some of the people in leadership roles today.

        • roblogic 6.4.1.1
          31 August 2021 at 4:56 pm

          Unfortunately "Progress" in the 80's also included a fire sale of precious state assets and irresponsible deregulation, leading to the crash of '87 and an extended recession

          • Gypsy 6.4.1.1.1
            31 August 2021 at 5:22 pm

            You're right, mistakes were made. But painful as it was, the transformation of the economy in the 1980's was absolutely necessary. The strength of our economy since, and it's resilience to an array of economic and natural shocks since, is evidence enough.

            • KJT 6.4.1.1.1.1
              31 August 2021 at 6:06 pm

              FFS. Are their really people who still believe that myth.

              The ,"reforms" that bought us from level pegging with Oz to 30% behind were a self inflicted disaster!

              Some things had to go, such as the ,”social welfare for sheep” though noting that farming subsidies cost almost as much now. And the taxes on nascent industry such as the caravan tax.

              • Gypsy …
                31 August 2021 at 8:08 pm

                You seem to be confused. The reforms of the Labour government in the 1980's transformed the NZ economy from a controlled economy that was close to defaulting on it's overseas obligations to one that has survived multiple economic and natural shocks. Our businesses compete with the very best in the world, and our economic performance has attracted numerous accolades.

                Ultimately the decision is the peoples. Since 1984, the only governments elected have maintained the broad thrust of the reforms of the 1980's. The floating exchange rate, lower personal taxes, GST, monetary policy, independence of the RB the list is long and those reforms have served us well.

                • KJT …
                  31 August 2021 at 8:15 pm

                  Bollocks.

                  By the way no party has actually given us a choice in rolling back the Neo-liberal ," unfortunate experiment".

                  Even when we voted Labour out after only two terms because of our only self inflicted recession, And the destruction, National continued with it.

                  The only one of the people that did it, who had the guts to admit they were wrong was Bolger.

                  Never mind the fucking Reserve Bank Act, which punishes those of us who keep the country going with higher interest rates whenever wages and the economy shows signs of getting off the ground.
                  There are good reasons why voters wouldn’t have a bar of the party of those who carried out the reforms, ACT, until memories have faded of what they did.
                  Meanwhile we still get unthinking BS that you have just repeated, trying to justify destroying so many lives, by pretending it was "necessary".

                  • McFlock …
                    31 August 2021 at 8:29 pm

                    On at least one policy, the nats explicitly lied: Lockwood Smith signed a pledge to cancel the nascent student loan scheme when campaigning, then skyrocketed fees and expanded the loan scheme while minister for education. That's the one I remember, there were no doubt other instances where the nats promised one thing and did the opposite. Not, like, weasel words. Explicit lies.

                    Decision of the people, my arse.

                    • Gypsy …
                      31 August 2021 at 10:02 pm

                      The student loan scheme was not not introduced until 1992. And it was certainly not part of the economic transformation Labour engineered in the 1980's.

                    • McFlock …
                      31 August 2021 at 10:38 pm

                      Maybe it was fucking fees then.

                      yup:

                      As opposition education spokesman in 1990, Smith promised to remove the Labour Government's tertiary tuition fee of $1250, if elected. Once in office, he kept this promise on a technicality: he shifted the burden of charging fees for courses from the government to the institutions, who then had to charge even higher tuition fees due to decreased government funding.

                      Not so sure about the "technicality" bs, either: his signed pledge never said who charged the fee. His government increased student fees, the liar. I guess that's why there's no footnote for the "technicality" claim.

                    • Gypsy …
                      1 September 2021 at 10:01 am

                      Fees for tertiary education did not begin with the 1980's reforms. And after the reforms, the government continued to fund a large slice of the cost. So you might get third time lucky?

                      It's also real stretch to conflate tertiary fees with wider monetary reform when considering voter preference. The economic reforms were introduced at pace almost immediately upon the election of the Lange government in mid 1984. The tertiary sector reforms were not introduced until the late 1980's. The only election the Lange government won on the back of the economic reforms was in 1987, at which both major parties increased their % of the popular vote, Labour by 5%.

                    • McFlock …
                      1 September 2021 at 6:16 pm

                      quick look at your link: "The standard tertiary fee was created." When? 1989-1990.

                      That was a major increase in course costs and the threshold for user pays. Who cares if the govt continued to pay some. It should pay all, for a variety of reasons.

                      It's also real stretch to conflate tertiary fees with wider monetary reform when considering voter preference.

                      Fair call, that's just the issue that was important to me at the time. Is it the only policy about which they lied (or, to use tory spin, used a "technicality")? Well:

                      The National Party was performing strongly — its leader, Jim Bolger, spoke repeatedly of "the Decent Society", saying that the reforms were doing significant damage to the social fabric of the country.

                      Did fuckall about that, didn't they.

                    • Gypsy …
                      2 September 2021 at 10:00 am

                      "Did fuckall about that, didn't they."

                      And yet they were re-elected in 1993 and 1996.

                    • McFlock …
                      2 September 2021 at 4:31 pm

                      And yet they were re-elected in 1993 and 1996.

                      Well, the first was under FPP, so they got an outright majority of seats with 1/3 of the vote (52% voted for Labour or the Alliance), and the second relied on them going into coalition with a party that only 15% of whose voters wanted them to keep national in power.

                      Again, decision of the people? Bullshit.

                    • Gypsy …
                      2 September 2021 at 7:07 pm

                      "Are you talking about the actual website that was developed in a mixed economy, or the infrastructure and protocols that were developed with US government funding?"

                      Actually I wasn't specifically thinking about the website, but I'll take that. Here's what happens when roblogic puts a comment up:

                      1. R types his comment on a device device designed and built by private enterprise.

                      2. R types his comment in a word processing/capture system designed and built by private enterprise.

                      3. R sends his message via a connection a medium called the internet, which is a collaborative creation of public and private actors.

                      4. R's message is transmitted via a communication medium in which the infrastructure and distribution is owned and operated by private enterprise.

                      5. R's message is displayed on a website that has been built by private enterprise.

                      …etc.

                    • Gypsy …
                      2 September 2021 at 7:11 pm

                      "Well, the first was under FPP, so they got an outright majority of seats with 1/3 of the vote…"

                      Which was still more than any other party got.

                      ".and the second relied on them going into coalition with a party that only 15% of whose voters wanted them to keep national in power."

                      Which they could do because they won 34% of the party vote compared with the next party who only won 28%.

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 7:32 pm

                      Steve Wozniak would not approve of this bullshit. You're conveniently ignoring the essential role of public education, laws that protect intellectual property, the role of publicly funded NASA and CERN in kickstarting Silicon Valley, the assembly at Foxconn in China, supply chains that are dependent on infrastructure and the rule of law, public libraries, state funded electricity and telecoms networks (especially in NZ), public toilets, a public health system (without which I would probably be dead)

                      What is the use of a bunch of fucken bankers from Wall St or the City of London in any of that? Capitalists are worse than useless, they are a drain on productive society

                    • McFlock …
                      2 September 2021 at 7:42 pm

                      what rot, on both counts. The internet is built on the back of US govt research, and the WWW was invented by employees at a govt run research consortium. Heck, even today not all companies are necessarily "private enterprise" – Huawei comes to mind.

                      As for the elections, in 1993 the will of the people was a Labour-alliance govt, and in 1996 the majority of people voted for parties that had promised an end to the National govt. Now we can debate whether Winston or Anderton screwed the deal, but don't go thinking Bolger continuing as PM was the people's decision (on a majority level). It wasn't even the wish of the majority of people who voted NZ1.

                    • Gypsy …
                      2 September 2021 at 10:09 pm

                      "The internet is built on the back of US govt research, and the WWW was invented by employees at a govt run research consortium."

                      That may have been it's origins, but then:

                      As the network grew, the Department of Defense began to find it difficult to know who even was using the network; this gave rise to serious concerns over security. Therefore, in the early 1980s, researchers and the private sector took over much of the development and expansion of the Arpanet, which then became the internet. During this period of innovation, developers and inventors typically turned over their technology to the public domain.

                      "As for the elections, in 1993 the will of the people was a Labour-alliance govt"

                      You don't know that, simply because that was never explicitly on the ballot.

                      "…and in 1996 the majority of people voted for parties that had promised an end to the National govt."

                      More people voted for National than any other party. More people supported that party's policies than any other party.

                    • McFlock …
                      2 September 2021 at 10:44 pm

                      Literal tomes have been written about the elections in the 1990s and what polling and electoral returns indicated about what the people wanted vs what they got.

                      As for singing the praises for the free market, DARPA still created the internet, and CERN still developed HTTP just like 3m wouldn't be making velcro without NASA $$$.

                      Bored now, others can play with this tool.

                  • Gypsy …
                    31 August 2021 at 9:55 pm

                    The Greens have offered an alternative economic policy for several elections. What’s the highest vote % they have obtained?

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 7:57 pm

                      What's the % of people who voted for successive governments to flog off State assets?

                      Bugger all.

                      And yet your rogernome mates sold everything, including Grandma and the kitchen sink.

                      But hey, at least John Key made us chuckle

                • KJT …
                  31 August 2021 at 8:27 pm

                  It has taken us decades to struggle out if the damage caused in the 80's and 90's.

                  Unfortunately so much of it is irreversable, or like the privatisations and power "reforms" to expensive to reverse.

                  • Gypsy …
                    31 August 2021 at 10:00 pm

                    We have enjoyed decades of prosperity as a result of those changes. If things were so bad, the changes would have been reversed. Successive Labour and National governments have kept the basic mechanisms of those changes in place.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 9:55 pm

                    "Meanwhile Democratic Socialist/ Actual Socialist, rather than totalitarian countries that say they are socialist, regimes are our most succesful States to date."

                    And yet you can;t name one. There are actually not many 'Democratic Socialist' states. Venezuela's one. And among that list, I'd hardly describe them as 'our most successful states to date'.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 9:58 pm

                    "Countries with large State investment in the economy are the most successful."

                    You're confused. If they have high state investment, then they have an element of private sector investment. That's not socialism.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 10:00 pm

                    "Have a look at the proportion living in poverty and their GDP"

                    In 1989, in the death throws of socialism in the USSR, poverty was 20%. In the USA at the same time it was 12%. Socialism destroys everything in it's pathway. Freedoms. Economic prosperity. People.

                    • KJT …
                      2 September 2021 at 10:59 pm

                      Again you prove you have NFI what Socialism is.

                      As deluded as the US republicans. Whose views you are parroting.

                      Why did I know Venezuala would be mentioned. Neo-liberal apologists need a new script. They always forget to mention their low tax, small state nirvana's Haiti, or Somalia.

                      If,as one of your fellow parrots accepted, that the degree of socialism in a country is determined by the State share of the economy. Venezuala is less Socialist than the USA, which has a State share over 40%. Of course the problems with Venezuala have nothing to do with any sort of ism. But simply the USA "squeezing their economy until it bleeds". Because the USA cannot afford to have an example on their door step, of a country which puts it's people, not it's billionaires, first.

                      You still forgot to tell me what the percentage living in poverty in Russia was from 1917 compared to 1960.

                      You could also look at the USA from the 1950's when they had Socialist policies like the GI bill, the reason behind their explosion of innovation after WW2, and 90% taxes on millionaires, compared with their current decline and steep increase in people living in poverty, since their equivalent of Rogernomics

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      2 September 2021 at 11:13 pm

                      Socialism destroys everything in it's pathway.

                      That seems a hyperbolic judgement, if indeed "In 1989, in the death throws of socialism in the USSR, poverty was 20%." Only the most one-eyed ideologue could equate ‘20% poverty’ to "detroys everything", but maybe I'm misinterpreting your evidence and/or PoV?

                      Democratic socialism might attempt to if not reverse then at least put the brakes on the unsustainable concentration of (ludicrous levels of) wealth in capitalist 'societies'. Who really believes this concentration of wealth is a net benefit to society?

                      Inequality in the U.S. is much more than a moral disgrace [1 Sept 2021]

                      If one aspires to extreme wealth then go for it – whatever floats your yacht. But it seems so pointless and short-sighted – an own goal.

                      Why poverty in New Zealand is everyone's concern
                      Liang describes poverty as a "heritable condition" that perpetuates and amplifies through generations: "It is also not hard to see how individual poverty flows into communities and society, with downstream effects on economics, crime and health, as well as many other systems. Loosen one strand and everything else unravels."

                      A Kete Half Empty
                      Poverty is your problem, it is everyone's problem, not just those who are in poverty. – Rebecca, a child from Te Puru

                • roblogic …
                  31 August 2021 at 8:42 pm

                  It's been great for the 1% and their mission to plunder our public assets.

                  NZ is now the least affordable country in the OECD.

                  Rogernomics is a disgusting lie and a betrayal of all that Labour once stood for.

                  • Gypsy …
                    31 August 2021 at 9:58 pm

                    It's been great for the vast majority of New Zealanders. Labour pulled us kicking and screaming into the real world. Without them, we would have been buried by the increased globalisation that followed.

                  • Gypsy …
                    1 September 2021 at 9:42 am

                    "capitalism is an unsustainable model…"

                    NZ's economic changes in the 1980's rebalanced the mixed market away from being dominated by state intervention to a greater degree of free market involvement. Capitalism will evolve, but it is firmly entrenched across the world, including in those countries in which command economics had failed. It is sustainable, and it isn't going away.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 9:33 am

                    "The "vast majority" I think you mean the top 10%. Everyone else has gone backwards."

                    Do you have any evidence that 90% of NZérs have 'gone backwards'? Increasing inequality can still mean everyone is better off.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 9:54 am

                    "what planet have you been on? the global economy has been melting down, "

                    No, it really hasn't. Capitalism self corrects. It is an evolving model, and in virtually every country in which it is deployed it is simply one of two components of a mixed market economy.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 10:58 am

                    "Of course, you can basically eliminate the working class from statistics if you take "averages". The top 10% wealthiest socioeconomic strata owns over 50% of the wealth so yes "kiwis are getting wealthier" might be true in a very stupid and selfish way, but all the gains are going to a tiny elite few.

                    We could have a discussion about inequality, sure. But I was addressing Stuarts specific claims.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 11:15 am

                    "capitalism looks good during the growth phase then it turns into a darwinian contest red in tooth and claw. no social conscience whatsoever"

                    Economic systems don't have 'consciences'. That's the reason I would never advocate for unfettered capitalism.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 12:33 pm

                    "Are you Don Brash?"

                    Good grief no. I'm not arguing rising inequality is a good thing. I'm simply saying that rising inequality does not mean the majority of people are not better off. Free market policies have been an important contributor to lifting large numbers of people out of poverty around the world. It seems almost churlish to argue against the economic progress NZ has made using similar policies.

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 12:46 pm

                      Yes even Marx observed the power of the profit motive. But he also recognised that capitalism corrupts democracy and causes widespread suffering & oppression of workers, and financial crashes

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 1:21 pm

                      BTW the industrial revolutions of China and Russia were state driven and lifted people out of poverty more effectively than strategies based on wage slavery and attacking workers

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 3:25 pm

                    "But he also recognised that capitalism corrupts democracy and causes widespread suffering & oppression of workers, and financial crashes"

                    Capitalism co-exists with democracy. Capitalism lifts people out of poverty. It is alternatives, socialism most notably, that enslaves people. It is no coincidence that most obvious socialist economies have been accompanied by totalitarian regimes.

                    "BTW the industrial revolutions of China and Russia were state driven and lifted people out of poverty more effectively than strategies based on wage slavery and attacking workers"

                    Russia is proof positive that state commanded economic progress is unsustainable. In both Russia and China, the most progress towards economic freedom and prosperity has come with the adoption of the free market.

                    Remember to, it was Stalin who drove the industrial revolution in Russia. He also just happened to have killed up to 20 million of his fellow citizens (depending upon which historian you believe).

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 3:55 pm

                      I wasn't talking about painful political revolutions and bloodshed. But if you want to go down that track, capitalism is responsible for colonisation and mass impoverishment of billions, ongoing slaughters, and the destruction of life itself by insane profit driven policies that rely on destroying rainforests and filling the Earth with oil pollution

                      It is a cancerous ideology that cannot be sustained.

                      Socialism is democracy in action, the clue is in the name. Decisions are made for the good of society not only in the interests of a remote aristocracy

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 4:50 pm

                    "It is a cancerous ideology that cannot be sustained."

                    So you've been arguing. On a forum invented within a free market economic system.

                    "Socialism is democracy in action, the clue is in the name. Decisions are made for the good of society not only in the interests of a remote aristocracy"

                    Tell that to the close to 100m people killed in communist/socialist regimes.

                    • McFlock …
                      2 September 2021 at 5:58 pm

                      On a forum invented within a free market economic system.

                      Are you talking about the actual website that was developed in a mixed economy, or the infrastructure and protocols that were developed with US government funding?

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 7:10 pm

                      "100m people killed in communist regimes"

                      A silly comment. By the same token I must assume that capitalists support fascist warmongering and mercantile Empires plundering the wealth of nations and genociding the natives

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 7:34 pm

                    "A silly comment. By the same token I must assume that capitalists support fascist warmongering and mercantile Empires plundering the wealth of nations and genociding the natives"

                    You claimed that under socialism "Decisions are made for the good of society…". That's a nonsense claim when you consider the lessons of history. Historians estimate around 100m people lost their lives in those societies.

                    Socialism destroyed the Soviet Union. In 1989, tens of millions of soviet citizens lived in poverty – around 20% of the population. (In 2018 it was 12%).

                    In most socialist regimes, individual freedoms are ruthlessly repressed. Religious and political liberty is stamped out, in fact socialism destroys the human spirit, and in the end that is at the heart of why it fails.

                    • KJT …
                      2 September 2021 at 9:27 pm

                      Funny idea of what Socialism is.

                      Meanwhile Democratic Socialist/ Actual Socialist, rather than totalitarian countries that say they are socialist, regimes are our most succesful States to date.

                      Or they were until so many bought into the "free market", low tax, Globalist religion.

                      Even the USA exists courtesy of the largest State funded welfare organisation on earth. Their military. Without that State funded transfer of wealth they would collapse. Which is why they need the constant wars with Eastasia and Westasia.

                    • KJT …
                      2 September 2021 at 9:52 pm

                      Srylands? Or yet another Echo!

                      Open mike 04/08/2013 « The Standard

                      "Srylands statement of course comes from the laffer curve idea.
                      That expansion of Government provision of services always displaces the private sector.

                      If that was really the case then you would expect the countries with extremely large State shares in the economy to be the worst off. Which is obviously not the case.

                      Countries with large State investment in the economy are the most successful. Some States manage with no private sector at all. (Not what I would recommend though).
                      Every one from Singapore to Norway, Germany and Denmark.
                      Countries which have high State spending either/or both percentage wise or per capita.
                      How are your low tax, small Government countries doing? Srylands".

                    • KJT …
                      2 September 2021 at 9:56 pm

                      If you insist that The Soviet Union was "Socialist" however. Have a look at the proportion living in poverty and their GDP, compared with the UK in 1917? as against the same comparison in 1960?

                      Indeed have a look at the rise in proportion living in poverty in NZ, from the time of your great Neo-liberal “Reforms”..

            • Stuart Munro 6.4.1.1.1.2
              31 August 2021 at 8:22 pm

              There was no alternative?

              With our wretchedly incompetent treasury wonks that's probably mostly true – one trick ponies on their best days.

              Had they a ghost of a clue about how to do their job however, policies would have been very different – and we'd have recorded growth in excess of real estate inflation occasionally.

              No-one is lining up to hire NZ's 'economic miracle' workers, in fact they're a global joke.

              • Gypsy …
                31 August 2021 at 10:17 pm

                The fundamental changes to the economy in the 1980's prepared our economy for globalisation and competing with the world. It was a significant driver on our shifting trade reliance on the UK.

                No-one is lining up to hire NZ's 'economic miracle' workers, in fact they're a global joke.

                You are quite wrong. Our economy is far from perfect, but for a relatively small economy, the management of our economy by successive governments has been recognised internationally.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  1 September 2021 at 6:53 am

                  And yet our supposed miracle workers never achieve growth over 3% (underlying inflation), much less produce the 'rising tide that lifts all boats' which was the excuse for all their cruel and ineffectual policies.

                  NZ finance ministers are not recruited by the IMF or the World Bank – even with the politics those institutions prefer a plausible veneer of competence – they are lucky if they can get a job at Woolies.

                  It is fair to describe NZ's reigning economists as conservative, backward, myopic, and regressive – and since you seem to be their fanboi, you suffer by association.

                  It is one of life’s little ironies that Muldoon has been redeemed, not by his own miserable efforts, but by the inadequacy of his successors.

                  • Gypsy …
                    1 September 2021 at 9:37 am

                    "NZ finance ministers are not recruited by the IMF or the World Bank"

                    Hardly a robust way of assessing NZ's economic reforms. But as a certain irony, one of the 'fanboi's' of NZ's economic performance is none other than the IMF's Christine Lagarde, Lagarde was the MD of the IMF, and was the Minister of Finance in France.

                    • alwyn …
                      1 September 2021 at 11:00 am

                      She is still going strong.

                      She is currently President of the European Central Bank. Since 2011 she has been in the top 10 of the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. In the last couple of years she has been at number 2, second only to Angela Merkel. That is one impressive lady.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      1 September 2021 at 7:01 pm

                      Hardly a robust way of assessing NZ's economic reforms

                      Oh I agree – the increased wealth of median NZers would be the obvious data point, but of course that's seldom reported – being negative.

                      But this was your shoddy criterion – the views of foreign colleagues:

                      the management of our economy … has been recognised internationally

                      The peers of the Chicago Boys in Chile were reasonably satisfied with them – it was the people they robbed and impoverished that were obliged to put them in prison where they and their Rogergnomic colleagues belong.

                  • Gypsy …
                    1 September 2021 at 9:15 pm

                    "Oh I agree…"

                    Yet you used it as your chosen measure.

                    "…the increased wealth of median NZers would be the obvious data point, but of course that's seldom reported – being negative."

                    Why is that the 'obvious data point'? For starters, "data on wealth is far worse than data on income – the Government gathers a lot less data on wealth."

                    However I was able to find this comparison between 2015 and 2018:

                    "Median household wealth increased from $289,000 to $340,000. In 2015, 8.3 percent of Kiwis households had more than $1.5 million in net wealth; in 2018, 12.5 percent of Kiwi households were in that group. Fewer households held between $100,000 and $500,000 in wealth and more households held assets worth over $500,000."

                    So that was a transitionary period over two governments in which median wealth did increase.

                    "…the views of foreign colleagues…"

                    I never mentioned 'colleagues'. I'm referring to informed international critique. Which includes one of the people who fit YOUR criteria of moving from a FM position to employment with the IMF!

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      1 September 2021 at 9:25 pm

                      Oh really – "informed international critique is it?"

                      Let's see some then – and it had better be critical, not yet another empty paen to the fallen gods of mammon.

                      You are the fellow trying to justify the epic failure which is Rogergnomics – well, as your neoliberal kin put it:

                      Show us the money!

                      Most expensive electricity in the world
                      Fastest growing inequality in the OECD
                      Most expensive housing relative to income

                      You and your corrupt economist fellow travellers have a truckload of explaining to do – and frankly, we don't want any more excuses – only the improved outcomes they’ve lied about for getting on for four decades now.

                      The time for excuses is over – they are only ever a plea in mitigation – they don't exculpate the fraud that was perpetrated on NZ, that you for some reason are exerting yourself to defend.

                  • Gypsy …
                    2 September 2021 at 9:49 am

                    "Let's see some then…"

                    I gave you one – someone you surely approve of because she is one of your chosen few – FM's who have 'graduated' to employment with the IMF.

                    You make a lot of claims yourself, Stuart. Few, if any, are supported by sources. So let's have a look at your latest claims:

                    "Most expensive electricity in the world"

                    Not even close.

                    "Fastest growing inequality in the OECD"

                    Not according to the OECD.

                    "Most expensive housing relative to income"

                    Wrong.

                    • roblogic …
                      2 September 2021 at 10:37 am

                      Of course, you can basically eliminate the working class from statistics if you take "averages". The top 10% wealthiest socioeconomic strata owns over 50% of the wealth so yes "kiwis are getting wealthier" might be true in a very stupid and selfish way, but all the gains are going to a tiny elite few.

                      Low income Kiwi households struggling with unaffordable housing, OECD report says | Stuff.co.nz

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      3 September 2021 at 6:52 am

                      You still have fundamentally failed to substantiate your claim, that NZ is better off for the imposition of Rogergnomics.

                      That massive raft of corruption fundamentally pivoted the NZ civil service away from its core functions, to chase spurious crap.

                      So there is more expensive electricity somewhere – big whoop – your clowns still massively increased the price for ours, further emiserating our poor oppressed and cheated citizens.

                      You massively increased inequality – never mind the rest of the world, the lazy unproductive speculator class cleaned up here, massively eroding productivity – and this was the work of supposedly professional economists? For shame!

                      And your property piece is nonsense – fudged by the insertion of a square meterage factor that is neither here nor there. The crucial feature of housing is not its meterage, but that owner occupiers are able to escape rental costs which a landlord class inflate pretty much as and when they chose.

                      Home ownership is lousy in NZ now – you have taken us back to 1951 levels.

                      I guess it's a hard thing for corrupt public servants to understand, but a fundamental baseline is that you are supposed to leave the country better than you found it.

                  • Gypsy …
                    3 September 2021 at 10:57 am

                    "So there is more expensive electricity somewhere – big whoop – "

                    The point is you have made a number of claims in this exchange that are simply false. That's either sloppy of dishonest, and pretty much discredits anything else you say.

                    • KJT …
                      3 September 2021 at 11:07 am

                      Like your claim that Rogernomics "made the majority of New zealanders better off".

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      3 September 2021 at 5:49 pm

                      Oh please – lying doesn't concern you at all – you just endorsed Key's lie about ripping off state assets.

                      Besides, menkurt slave of the odious right, you have yet to show us the money – ie validated your dishonest position on Rogergnomics.

                      Show us some proof, my little cabbage, or come clean that you were lying all along.

          • Gypsy 6.4.1.1.2
            2 September 2021 at 9:50 pm

            "You're conveniently ignoring… "

            Nothing. Every one of the things you cite were built as part of the governments investment in a mixed market economy. And paid for out of taxes generated by the private sector.

            • KJT 6.4.1.1.2.1
              2 September 2021 at 10:17 pm

              They are paid for out of work done, by everyone in society whether public or private.

              Taxes and all Money, are just the way we decide to allocate resources.

              • Gypsy …
                2 September 2021 at 10:30 pm

                "They are paid for out of work done, by everyone in society whether public or private. "

                Yes, public servants pay tax. Your point?

                • KJT …
                  2 September 2021 at 10:34 pm

                  Tax is a proportion of the earnings from the work someone does.

                  We allocate a part of our work earnings to pay for Government services.

                  It does not magically appear from private business, out of thin air.

          • Gypsy 6.4.1.1.3
            2 September 2021 at 10:11 pm

            "What's the % of people who voted for successive governments to flog off State assets? "

            A lot, as it happens. In 2011, the Key government went to the election specifically promising asset sales. They received 48% of the votes.

            • KJT 6.4.1.1.3.1
              2 September 2021 at 10:19 pm

              Over 80% of New Zealanders polled, didn't want the assett sales to go ahead.

              The idea that a Government is elected on just one policy, is rather comic.

              • Gypsy …
                2 September 2021 at 10:28 pm

                "Over 80% of New Zealanders polled, didn't want the assett sales to go ahead."

                We don't elect governments from opinion polls.

                • KJT …
                  2 September 2021 at 10:30 pm

                  Yes we don't really have Democracy. Which is a shame.

                  If we did, the “Unfortunate experiment” which you are spruiking for, would have been nipped in the bud in 1993 if not 1987, when the foolishness of it was apparent..

                • Stuart Munro …
                  3 September 2021 at 7:04 am

                  Sooner or later NZ is going to punish a government that lies on that scale.

                  It won't be pretty – but it will be just.

  7. weka 7
    31 August 2021 at 11:32 am

    Tricledrown, if you are reading this, here's how to get your commenting privileges back:

    1. reply to this comment.
    2. next time you open a TS page, look at the Replies tab in the right hand side (on a computer), and you will see a reply from me.
    3. reply to my comment.
    4. Do this each time you come to TS.

    If you can do this, I will then talk you how to get your commenting privileges back.

    Mods have spent a lot of time this year trying to get you to respond to moderation comments. The reason you can't comment at the moment is because you failed to respond in June and I got sick of chasing it up.

    • Tricledrown 7.1
      1 September 2021 at 1:43 pm

      Ok Weka no problem I couldn’t reply because the box to type in comment wouldn’t open.

      • weka 7.1.1
        1 September 2021 at 4:07 pm

        Hi Td. There's a long history of problems with your commenting. There are two to look at right now.

        1. you don't use the Reply list, so when we moderate you are missing our messages. The first thing I need to know is if you understand how to use it. Please reply to this comment and let me know. If you don't know how to use it, that's ok, I can tell you, but I need to know if you do or don't.
        2. please look at this comment https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-08-2021/#comment-1812844 and see how there is a typo in the user name. This means the system treats you as a new user and holds back your comment for approval by a mod. This creates work for the mods. It has been explained to you many times. Please reply to this comment tell me what device you are using. I will try and help you figure out what is going wrong.
        • Tricledrown 7.1.1.1
          2 September 2021 at 10:29 am

          I f 'd up again I have serious disabilities with impaired eyesight and have only barely one finger on my typing hand 1 finger on the other so it's very hard to get things right all the time.

          • weka 7.1.1.1.1
            2 September 2021 at 11:43 am

            Thanks for letting me Td, we can work with that.

            Can you please let me know if you can see the Replies tab on the upper right hand side of the page?

  8. Cricklewood 8
    31 August 2021 at 2:02 pm

    Starting to look like Trudeau miscalculated calling a snap election. Not that suprising really I'm sure voters aren't that impressed given they're in the midst of their 4th wave and it looks very much like it was called because polls had his party thinking they would get a majority.

  9. weka 9
    31 August 2021 at 3:25 pm

    Can someone please do me a favour. Reply to this comment, and I will put the comment in trash and see if I can bring it back again.

  10. Andre 10
    31 August 2021 at 3:58 pm

    In 'murica, they get thousands turning up to storm the halls of government.

    Here in Nu Zillun we get one Karen outside the council office in Kaikohe.

    The "passionless people" indeed!

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/covid-19-coronavirus-delta-outbreak-northland-police-make-two-arrests-as-little-pockets-of-silent-protestors-gather-around-the-region/DG6WRRGG6WTNXHRWCIHKIBR4TI/

  11. georgecom 11
    31 August 2021 at 4:22 pm

    This covid lockup has had to be the most tedious yet, longer mentally than any of the others to date. The 'novel' corona virus is proving anything but, 'tedious and tiresome' corona virus I am finding. I wondered about how we might shape the present and future covid responses. Auckland has carried much of the burden on lock downs, far more than any other region. They have the majority of MIQ facilities and have been hardest hit in the 3 lockdowns post the big one last year.

    For that matter I wondered when Auckland is under level 4 or 3, and a level higher than other provinces, whether it's fair to add an extra 1% gst to transactions in other provinces that could be funneled to Auckland businesses to help pay rents and wages until such time they dropped to level 2. So when there are unequal level 4 and 3 lockdowns imposed regionally, the regions at a higher alert level receive some form of relief payments. Funded by a 1% in GST in regions at a lower alert level, eg level 2. The regions that can return to some semblance of normality provide economic relief for the hardest hit areas.

    In terms of any purpose built or purpose adapted future MIQ facilities. Seems to me time some other provinces did some of that heavy lifting. Maybe time to locate dedicated facilities in Dunedin or Christchurch or Palmerston North. The Central and Southern regions can have a turn doing the work. Palmy seems a reasonable option. A military airport that can take large jets and a reasonably sized city with health facilities.

    • roblogic 11.1
      31 August 2021 at 8:47 pm

      I am more miserable than I have been in years. Solitary confinement & isolation are psychological torture. L4 is some OTT bullshit. I feel for those who are dying alone because of these inhumane conditions

      • McFlock 11.1.1
        31 August 2021 at 8:59 pm

        Yeah, it's tough. You got someone to talk to over phone or video? It's not the same as face to face, but at least you get to use your voice.

        • roblogic 11.1.1.1
          31 August 2021 at 9:15 pm

          Yeah just got off a Zoom call thanks. Feeling a bit better. Life is really out of balance right now

          • McFlock 11.1.1.1.1
            31 August 2021 at 9:34 pm

            yes

          • mac1 11.1.1.1.2
            31 August 2021 at 9:37 pm

            Stay in there, Roblogic. Thanks for your kind words the other day. Poetry and music, playing the blues, help when the black dog starts barking. Just been reading some of my verse, written when going through treatment for cancer.

            One sonnet, written as I travelled to Picton on my way to resume radiation therapy for prostate cancer ends.

            "Sorrow is for the present, /waiting to proceed from known past/ to a future not yet seen or sensed.

            Present sorrow, prescient pain, / Fear is human of unknown gain.

    • McFlock 11.2
      31 August 2021 at 8:57 pm

      Definitely agree about spreading things out – especially away from urban concentrations.

      Find a nice picturesque area, and build a 500+ room facility with decent airflow control and the ability to separate cohorts. Do spa areas, tennis courts, gyms, all that shit. Have it store medical supplies like PPE. Run it as a hotel with close access to skifields etc, and use it as a quarantine or evacuation facility if we need one. Heck, it might even make money as a hotel.

    • Gabby 11.3
      31 August 2021 at 11:12 pm

      It feels more tedious because of the unremmitting drumbeat of whinging about it. I quite like it.

  12. Pataua4life 12
    31 August 2021 at 5:17 pm

    Just thought I would check

    Warkworth to Hamilton 178.3km

    Warkworth to Kiataia 253km

    • Molly 12.1
      31 August 2021 at 8:16 pm

      Most people living near a big city travel in and bounce back on the same trajectory.

      Travelling through Auckland is a small percentage. Met people at Akld hospital that travelled from Whangarei for treatment. Auckland serves Northland in many ways still.

  13. Gypsy 13
    2 September 2021 at 12:27 pm

    "Can you demonstrate another nation with a median house price to median income ratio in excess of 20?"

    That measure is valid, but it does have the problem of not including changes in interest rates. I have looked and can't find any long term comparisons based on median measure, which is surprising considering I would have thought it was a meaningful measure.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • NZ’s trans lobby is fighting a rearguard action
    Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    7 hours ago

  • Your mandate is imaginary
    This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    12 hours ago

  • 14,000 unemployed under National
    The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    15 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Discontent and gloom dominate NZ’s political mood
    Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    15 hours ago

  • Taking Tea with 42 & 38.
    National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    16 hours ago

  • Beware political propaganda: statistics are pointing to Grant Robertson never protecting “Lives an...
    Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”. As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    16 hours ago

  • Winding back the hands of history’s clock
    Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    16 hours ago

  • Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
     Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    17 hours ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
    The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say.  “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
    Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
    Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Speech – Eid al-Fitr
    Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government saves access to medicines
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff.    “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Pharmac Chair appointed
    Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Taking action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
    Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says.  “Every day, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New sports complex opens in Kaikohe
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Diplomacy needed more than ever
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.    “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address, Buttes New British Cemetery Belgium
    Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service.  It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – NZ National Service, Chunuk Bair
    Distinguished guests -   It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders.   Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
    Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia.   Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • PM announces changes to portfolios
    Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New catch limits for unique fishery areas
    Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
    The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Overseas decommissioning models considered
    Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
    Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order.  “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
    Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024
    Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing  At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin    Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho    Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.    I am delighted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government to introduce revised Three Strikes law
    The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New diplomatic appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions.   “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says.    “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and Somalia
    New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today.   “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho Collective
    Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale.  “It is good ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Supporting better financial outcomes for Kiwis
    The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-05-01T16:30:41+00:00