Polity: Minimum wage rises do not cause unemployment

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 16th, 2014 - 48 comments
Categories: Economy, minimum wage, wages - Tags: , ,

polity_square_for_lynnReposted from Polity.

There was a fascinating review of new research into minimum wages in The Age last week, written by the Sydney Morning Herald’s business editor:

When the Fair Work Commission announced a 3 per cent increase in the national minimum wage to more than $640 a week – or almost $16.90 an hour – from last week, employers hinted it would lead to fewer people getting jobs and maybe some people losing theirs.

And to many who’ve studied economics – even many professional economists – that seems likely. If the government is pushing the minimum wage above the level that would be set by the market – the “market-clearing wage” – then employers will be less willing to employ people at that rate.

That’s because market forces set the market rate at an unskilled worker’s “marginal product” – the value to the employer of the worker’s labour.

Almost common sense, really. Except that such a conclusion is based on a host of assumptions, many of which rarely hold in the real world. And over the past 20 years, academic economists have done many empirical studies showing that’s not how minimum wages work in practice. They’ve also developed more sophisticated theories that better fit the empirical facts.

The reason the “higher minimum wages cause more unemployment” argument is so influential is that it is based on Econ101 models. Because so many of us took Econ101, they are intuitive.

The basic Econ101 (perfect competition) idea is that with heaps of available workers and heaps of firms hiring and price being the only bargaining chip and perfect information everywhere, firms will end up paying workers exactly what they are worth. If a worker demands more than that, they get fired and can’t find another job anywhere. If a firm pays less than that, all their workers quit for better jobs across town, and they cannot hire anyone else.

That, obviously, is a cartoonish fantasy world.

In the real world, it’s a bit more complicated. In most low wage sectors of the economy, firms are better equipped than workers to handle employment interruptions.1 And this has big implications for the impact of wage laws such as the minimum wage.

For example workers, who often face tight household budgets, cannot afford to go without getting paid for more than a couple of weeks. Beyond that, there are real consequences for their ability to house and feed their families. Firms, on the other hand, can often carry a temporary labour shortage without it crippling the enterprise.

This means firms are more powerful than individual workers in pay negotiations, with the result that the eventual pay rate ends up below the perfect competition equilibrium. (There are plenty of other, similar, fictions in the low-wage labour market, most of which point in the same direction – more power for the firms, less for the worker.)

This is where things get interesting:

If firms are paying workers less than their marginal value to the company, then a government demand for higher wages should not lead them to lay anybody off, so long as the new minimum wage demand is not higher than the worker’s marginal product.

The key calculation for the firm is not “do I have to pay this person more than I did last week?” It is “do I have to pay this person more than they contribute?” If a firm pays $14 an hour to people who produce $20 an hour of productivity, then raising the wage rate to $15 an hour won’t cause anyone to get the sack.

That is what the Australian research quoted in The Age / SMH has found.

Earlier this year, more than 600 US economists – including seven Nobel laureates – signed an open letter to Congress advocating a $US10.10 minimum wage. They said that, because of important developments in the academic literature, “the weight of evidence now [shows] that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers”.

The first such study, published by David Card and Alan Krueger in 1994, compared fast food employment in New Jersey and Pennsylvania after one state raise its minimum wage and the other didn’t. They did not find a significant effect on employment.

Since then, many similar US “natural experiments” have been studied and have reached similar findings. In Britain, the Low Pay Commission has commissioned more than 130 pieces of research, with the great majority finding that minimum wages boost workers’ pay but don’t harm employment.

This may appear alien to many of us, who have had “if the price goes up, the quantity demanded will fall” beaten into us since high school.

But the world is not nearly as tidy as that, allowing the community to protect the dignity of low-wage workers without costing them their livelihoods.


 

  1. For some very high wage workers, however, the opposite is true.

48 comments on “Polity: Minimum wage rises do not cause unemployment ”

  1. shorts 1

    the world would be a better place if we stopped listening to economists – end of story

    • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1

      Disagree, rather: their advice comes with a large confidence interval.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.2

      The big problem with economists as that they have NFI WTF the economy is focusing solely upon the the movement of money to produce a profit. This is why our economy is destroying the Earth’s environment and the economists tend to whinge about how much it’s going to cost to stop doing that.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 1.2.1

        The problem with Economists is that they tend to make wild sweeping generalisations that ignore individual circumstances and ethics.

        A bit like this comment thread.

    • Tom Jackson 1.3

      Google the Second Best Theorem. Economics is quite reasonable. It’s just that people tend to ignore that theorem and treat marketisation as an ideal.

      • blue leopard 1.3.1

        It is economists who have pushed ‘marketisation’ as an ideal.

        • Tom Jackson 1.3.1.1

          No it isn’t. It’s some economists, and those people should know better.

          Economic analysis is incredibly useful in many situations. It also has limits. The Second Best Theorem expresses one of those limits (an extremely important one).

          It’s simply true that a perfectly free market would be perfectly efficient: that is a mathematical proof. But the perfectly free market premised in that proof could never exist in reality. But just because a perfectly free market is perfectly efficient, it does not follow that an almost perfectly free market is almost perfectly efficient, or that making any market freer necessarily makes it more efficient. To argue that it does is to commit a basic logical fallacy. Yet this is the fallacy that the free market maniacs commit on a regular basis.

          Sure, in some cases marketisation increases efficiency, and in others it doesn’t. We can’t establish that on the basis of abstract models – we have to do actual, empirical research. Once you accept this, economic analysis stops looking like bullshit and starts looking like part of common sense.

          • framu 1.3.1.1.1

            i would say its MOST economists – well the ones the public hears from anyway

            “It’s simply true that a perfectly free market would be perfectly efficient:”

            theoretical or real?

            in reality thats hogwash – and to a point that anyone using it in any fashion, theoretical or otherwise should be ashamed

            • Tom Jackson 1.3.1.1.1.1

              theoretical or real?

              This shows that you didn’t even read my post.

              Once more with feeling. Yes, it is mathematically proven that a perfectly free market is perfectly efficient. This was proven back in the 1950s. It’s an important conceptual discovery.

              But the Second Best Theorem (proven not long after) shows that you can’t apply this to the real world as an ideal to be approximated to. It’s fallacious to claim that because a perfectly free market is perfectly efficient, that increasing market freedom generally increases efficiency.

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_second_best

              WTF is wrong with you? Here you have standard economics explaining to you exactly why free market fundamentalism is wrong, and not only wrong, but logically fallacious in a completely glaring way, and you won’t accept the admission.

              • Draco T Bastard

                I came the conclusion awhile ago that economics, as it’s taught in schools today, is nothing more than a justification for capitalism. I came to this conclusion because of the many false assumptions and logical fallacies that are taught as gospel in economics. Then throw in the simple fact that it just doesn’t work.

                A few people accumulating all the wealth must result in:

                1. A return of feudalism and
                2. An increase in poverty for the many

                Now you come along and say that the perfect free-market can’t exist and approximating it won’t result in better efficiencies. So, why isn’t that taught as economics 101? Because it obviously needs to be.

                • Tom Jackson

                  I think it’s still taught to economics majors. YMMV.

                  • Draco T Bastard

                    Something so critical needs to be taught right at the beginning. But I suppose saying This is the model that we’re teaching and, BTW, it doesn’t work probably wouldn’t get too many students in to pay fees.

                  • Yeah this is critical enough it needs to be in a 101 course, as it completely overturns the conclusions you’d come to in applying economics properly.

              • framu

                which proves you didnt read my post – so WTF is wrong with you right back atchya 🙂

                “in reality thats hogwash – and to a point that anyone using it in any fashion, theoretical or otherwise should be ashamed”

                i accept the admission – im actually agreeing with you, sort of

                my point is that the first theory is such monumental bullshit that there shouldnt even be the second best theory to start with.

                “Yes, it is mathematically proven that a perfectly free market is perfectly efficient. ”

                i dispute this – a made up theory might have been proven using math – but thats got nothing to do with markets, people and economies does it – so why does ANY economist give it the time of day in the first place?

                its like expecting scientists to have a theory for turning lead into gold thats been proven mathmatically, but which doesnt actually work, having to use a second theory to tweak it. When they should have just thrown the first theory out the window.

                theres tons of old scientific theories that have been proven to be wrong – do we see scientists hanging on to them and insisting they are still relevant?

          • blue leopard 1.3.1.1.2

            If you wish to posit that a discipline is sound – then that discipline needs to be invulnerable to its most extreme adherents. It would need to have solid safe-guards set up so that it is not captured by some of it’s nuttier disciples. This has not occurred with economics.

            In the last 30 years the most extreme and fairly well proven wrong theories became mainstream in economics. That is why the GFC came as such a ‘shock’. (What was that question the Queen asked again?) The GFC was actually a predictable outcome for ‘some’, however there weren’t enough of those ‘some’ to make a blind bit of difference.

            So I therefore correct you – there were some economists who were taking their discipline seriously and an entire foolish herd that led us galloping off the cliff.

            ….And as I understand it that there hasn’t been a huge shift in economic approaches since the GFC – and that was 6 years ago now – so I take it that ‘herd’ still holds sway.

            • Tom Jackson 1.3.1.1.2.1

              If you wish to posit that a discipline is sound – then that discipline needs to be invulnerable to its most extreme adherents.

              Untrue. Almost no discipline would satisfy this criterion.

              Just because some economists let their politics get in the way of their discipline does not mean that the discipline itself is wrong or distorted.

              The only relevant question is this: does standard economic theory hold that we must marketise as much as possible in order to increase efficiency as much as possible?

              The answer is no.

              Hence, you should direct complaints to particular economists or groups of economists rather than impugning the discipline itself, which doesn’t actually claim what you think it does.

              • blue leopard

                I think I see where you are coming from but, no, I really disagree with what you are attempting to put forward – you appear to be omitting to acknowledge that the entire main stream expression of the discipline was taken over by nutters over the last 30 years.

                I would cite many scientific disciplines as not having had this occur.

                Economics may very sluggishly be responding to the last massive crisis but it is starting to look like it is too captured by those that stand to gain hugely by misinforming us all to come clean as quickly as we need it.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  Yes, peer review is slow, and it’s the best thing we’ve got, and you’re forgetting the large bodies of people who are not economists with vested interests one way or t’other.

                  • blue leopard

                    Yes, those vested interests who are not economists, yet who can happily cite mainstream economists because mainstream economists have been so happy to sell-out….(or so it would appear)

                    Are you saying there is a peer review system in economics OAB?
                    If so, that surprises me – that the entire lot of them went rabid all over the same time – amazing!

                    • One Anonymous Bloke

                      Market fundamentalism is practiced in so many countries you can count them on one hand. Mainstream? Pfft.

                    • KJT

                      Part of the problem is that “social science” is a misnomer.

                      This gives the fallacious impression that how society/economies works can be proven with the same certainty as “science”.

                    • blue leopard

                      What is your point OAB?

                      Are you being sarky?

                      Or are you going to explain to me that our country didn’t just sell out half of our nationally owned power companies in the name of the greater ‘efficiency’ that partially privatizing them will provide?

                • Tom Jackson

                  I would disagree with this. The public perception of economics has been taken over in this way, but economists themselves are somewhat of a boring lot.

                  It doesn’t change the fact that absent a firm refutation of the Second Best Theorem, market fundamentalism is nuts.

                  • blue leopard

                    …yeah they are all so boring they fell asleep in front of the t.v. while their discipline became entirely corrupted and irrational…or what? They were too busy counting numbers to notice?

  2. Draco T Bastard 2

    For example workers, who often face tight household budgets, cannot afford to go without getting paid for more than a couple of weeks.

    Most can’t afford to go without work for more than a couple of days.

    But the world is not nearly as tidy as that, allowing the community to protect the dignity of low-wage workers without costing them their livelihoods.

    And the best way to do that would actually be a Universal Income that provides a living income. This would free up the labour market that governments and businesses keep saying they want. Of course, it would also shift the power to the workers as they’d now be able to tell the business owner to go stuff themselves if the business owners were being an arsehole.

  3. Tracey 3

    this is a great analysis of income inequality and class warfare. It is worth a watch

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfgSEwjAeno

  4. blue leopard 4

    Great post.

    The issue needs to be addressed from the other angle too:

    What is ‘viable’ about a worker being paid wages that don’t cover living costs? Such a scenario is completely unacceptable.

  5. SPC 5

    Of course not, since the global market arrived – the price competitive jobs have already gone.

    The ones remaining are transfer cost jobs or domestic economy service sector jobs – meaning higher wage costs are transferred to business cost onto the consumer.

    The risk to these jobs comes from technology replacement or displacement of transferable service sector jobs (offshore call centres and accounting) not from a higher MW.

    The debate is not about jobs so much as between those for a higher MW and a living wage vs the middle class who object to higher tax (higher public service pay) and rates cost (higher council wages) consequences of this (or consumer cost). The middle class already enjoy the lower cost of imported goods from the loss of local working class jobs but are not used to the well being of the poor being factored into decision-making.

    • Tracey 5.1

      There is also the casualisation of the work force to consider. Increasing numbers in casual work = no holiday pay, no sick leave, on call, no guaranteed hours or days. I know several people who have three casual jobs to try and get a full time wage. Some weeks one or more of the jobs has no work. These people arent on benefits so dont show on those stats but are strugglingon a wing and a prayer.

      • SPC 5.1.1

        And most will still be hit with secondary tax and will be entitled to tax refunds – routinely overtaxed.

    • blue leopard 5.2

      The middle class already enjoy the lower cost of imported goods from the loss of local working class jobs but are not used to the well being of the poor being factored into decision-making.

      True.

      This really shows how the entire theory of ‘everyone going after their own self interests works to benefit all’ is failing miserably.

      The middle class continue to object to the poor being factored into decision-making at all through the convenient propaganda coming from the elite (I guess) that it the poors’ own fault that they are poor.

      It is like noone ever played musical chairs when they were children.

      The middle class rail against any form of assistance to the poor, yet receive direct benefits from that welfare themselves.

      Those on welfare, however find it increasingly difficult to lift themselves out of the rut because unless they happen to score a well paying job they are fairly well much stuck in a poverty trap.

      ‘Well go and get an education’ we hear the middle class cry.

      It must be mentioned that it is getting harder to raise oneself out of such poverty traps by education because a majority of New Zealanders keep voting in parties that remove the ability to take up education such as this government has. And education is becoming less of a fix-all as far as gaining a job goes because more money is being made on money than productivity. Making money on productivity is less ‘viable’ as far as profits go these days. So to hell with creating jobs.

      Whilst people continue to be so receptive to faulty ideas, lies and propaganda I guess we are simply left to sit back and watch what a complete sham the whole idea of ‘everyone following their self interests is a sufficient principle to create a society that serves us all’ by witnessing the whole thing collapse with the backdrop of the cries of the ‘middle class’ fueled by the elite screeching about how hardly done by they are because they have to pay prices that allow for wages that cover workers’ living costs or pay higher taxes.

      May as well just start stocking up on popcorn for the event -be quick though – the spectacle has already begun.

      • Draco T Bastard 5.2.1

        And education is becoming less of a fix-all as far as gaining a job goes because more money is being made on money than productivity. Making money on productivity is less ‘viable’ as far as profits go these days. So to hell with creating jobs.

        And all of that is why we had all those rules about importation before. It forced jobs to be created in new sectors as increasing productivity reduced jobs elsewhere.

        It really is possible and economic for a country to be fully self-sufficient needing only to import and export the knowledge from R&D.

        • blue leopard 5.2.1.1

          …yeah…it really is possible if the members of our society weren’t so taken with the idea that the poor are victims of their own poor choices rather than what is really the case – that of being victims of foolish self-interested and/or short-sighted government, business, and the-most-privileged-people-in-our-societies’ choices.

  6. aerobubble 6

    Going to the mall today. Its going to cost more to get there, as they are placed at a distance and are large places to get round. Whats more, they are glitzy places, and of course I’m paying more to go to this sparklingly new looking facade. Basically as a consumer I’m supporting the retail space owners property value, and a lot of PR firms, distributers networks etc. So of course I’m going to believe an economist who says that every extra dollar someone on minimum wage earns extra an hour isn’t going to boost retail asset prices, isn’t going to lead to more people being employed to come up and ask if I need anything, or be sucked out of my wallet electronically. No, the idea doesn’t mess with the propaganda, that we are regaled by, relentlessly, that sees the vast bulk of our spending already maintain these temples to consumerism. Please, anyone with an ounce of sense knows that power supports itself, that wealth will inevitable speak louder and drown out the poorer voices. And as we see in economics, the idea that unemployment rises if the minimum wage rises is straight out of the mouths of wealth holders rather than the retailers who want consumers with more cash to spend (as they are so good at getting us to part with it buying crap).

  7. SPC 7

    The ability of an employer to import workers suppresses the market wage in the domestic economy – it prevents shortages increasing wage price.

    Also the inability of a worker to leave a job voluntarily and get income support means they are dependent on the availability of another job to push up the wage for the job they are in – as the economy has a RB with the prime function to suppress wage price demand by keeping a reserve of unemployed workers, this is virtually impossible.

  8. Jrobin 8

    DTB, yes in theory. But wouldn’t everyone have to swallow a big drop in living standards? Every pragmatic politician knows this would be electoral suicide. People are too selfish to change. Isn’t this the crucial missing link in all radical solutions. Look at Capital gains as an eg. Its taken years to start to be accepted despite the damage to the economy.
    Middle Nz would never vote for such perceived radical solutions so they won’t happen. Unless you can organise a monarchy with you as head. I’m not being sarc, democracies mean change is incremental.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      But wouldn’t everyone have to swallow a big drop in living standards?

      No. I figure it would increase living standards while also increasing sustainability and using our economy better.

      Middle Nz would never vote for such perceived radical solutions so they won’t happen.

      An interesting point but middle NZ didn’t actually vote for the radical policies that we got from the 4th Labour government on wards. Before that we did try to be as close to self-sufficient as possible and we had one of the highest living standards in the world.

      • KJT 8.1.1

        No country in history has had a successful economy, without a healthy internal economy.

        Sacrificing an entire economy for the export success of one commodity has never worked for more than the short term. A problem that many oil producing countries are well aware of.

  9. Jrobin 9

    You mean manufacturing cars here and so forth? 1970’s do you mean? But we also paid farmers massive subsidies to keep them economic. Might work for manufacturing from wool, wood, meat, dairy, trains, some tech. But would consumers wear the increases in consumer goods. Admittedly this would be good for the planet if you could sneak it by voters, but could be a one term govt and then be reversed. I guess what you are implying is that you don’t tell them what your policies are at Elections. Is this really ethically justified? Sounds like what National are planning to do this time. They re keeping radical policies quiet so as not to frighten voters. Interesting to consider anyway.

    • KJT 9.1

      We are still paying massive subsidies to farmers, as well as sacrificing workers wages, and the rest of the economy for them.

      • KJT 9.1.1

        As for keeping radical polices quiet to get votes. Labour in 1984. National in 1990 and National, now.

        The problem with our revolving absolute dictatorship.
        We can change the names, but not the policies.

    • Draco T Bastard 9.2

      1970′s do you mean?

      No, not the 1970s. Things have changed and we have learned more.

      You mean manufacturing cars here and so forth?

      We could manufacture cars here. Producing a car here doesn’t cost any more than producing it elsewhere and then shipping it here. In fact, it would use less resources because it would no longer need shipping. A factory in China really doesn’t cost any less to run than the same factory in NZ. Things is, back in the 1970s we didn’t actually manufacture cars here – we assembled them but they were manufactured elsewhere.

      But we also paid farmers massive subsidies to keep them economic.

      We didn’t pay them subsidies to keep the economic – we paid them subsidies to keep them financial. There’s a big difference. Producing more and more sheep/cows/farms here isn’t economic.

      But would consumers wear the increases in consumer goods.

      Haven’t seen anybody complaining about increases in consumer goods yet.

      I guess what you are implying is that you don’t tell them what your policies are at Elections.

      I’m a firm believer in democracy and in that I believe that the people should be consulted, costs and benefits shown and then they vote on it – we don’t leave it to the government.

  10. JonL 10

    Michael Reich and Arindrajit Dube examined employment in several hundred pairs of adjacent counties lying on opposite sides of state borders, each with different minimum wages, and found no statistically significant increase in unemployment in the higher-minimum counties, even after four years. (Other researchers who found contrary results failed to control for counties where unemployment was already growing before the minimum wage was increased.) They also found that employee turnover was lower where the minimum was higher.

    http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers/157-07.pdf

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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
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  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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  • Minister’s Ramadan message
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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