Salmond on the ravages of neoliberalism

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, July 16th, 2016 - 44 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, human rights - Tags: , ,

2013 New Zealander of the year Dame Anne Salmond was written another excellent piece in The Herald:

Balance needed after ravages of neo-liberalism

No one should be surprised if there is a crisis of mistrust in politicians in New Zealand, and across the Anglo-American world. For the past 30 years, they have been pursuing a philosophy that strikes at the heart of trust and integrity in public life.

The rise and spread of neo-liberalism since the 1980s has been a remarkable phenomenon. At its heart, it is based on a simple, utterly amoral idea ” that of the cost-benefit calculating individual. Life is understood as a competitive struggle among individuals. Each seeks to minimise their costs and maximise their benefits.

Once this idea is accepted, a compelling logic unfolds. Those who seek to maximise their benefits are entitled (even required) to minimise their costs ” in particular, those costs that benefit others, since the contest is competitive.

If life is understood as a struggle among cost-benefit maximising individuals, the idea of a fair and harmonious society retreats, even vanishes. As Margaret Thatcher famously said, “There is no such thing as society.” If one studies human history, however, driven as it is by collective achievement, it is clear she was wrong.

The idea that there is no such thing as society, however, has many practical implications. If the aim of life is personal success, those who have failed are at fault and must bear the consequences, those who lose their jobs, for instance, or the homeless.

Once the pursuit of individual advantage takes over, many of our collective institutions are corroded. Truth turns to spin or lies. Justice becomes the preserve of the privileged. Ideas of democracy and “a fair go” seem outmoded. In the name of progress, we sacrifice the future of our own children and the planet. …

Strong words, and true. Read the whole piece in The Herald.

44 comments on “Salmond on the ravages of neoliberalism ”

  1. Paul 1

    The ravages of neo-liberalism in the Anglo-American world.
    I Daniel Blake.
    A very powerful film. Watch it and weep as you observe how these neoliberal ******** have destroyed our society.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEPQ9FYU0U

  2. jcuknz 2

    When I came up with the concept during my early days of ACT membership that ” a responsible society needs a responsible populace to work ” it seemed to describe the situation then.
    Recently it stuck me that another way of deciding what help people get would be to assess how responsible a citizen they are ….do they look after their state house, do they smoke P, do they ignore contraception … just to suggest a few obvious points.

    While I agree that the country has been heading the wrong way as Anne Salmond points out one should appreciate that it is the adult victims are as much at fault as anybody and of course it is the children that suffer … by their existence and by the carelessness of their conception.

    I gave up ACT membership a decade ago.

    • “how responsible a citizen they are” – based on what YOU think

      “the adult victims are as much at fault as anybody” – says YOU

      Seems with statements like that that you still think like an ACToid and therefore completely miss the point of the article.

      • Fustercluck 2.1.1

        Every radical since Marx was a baby has been lamenting the failure of the lumpenproletariat to take their revolutionary responsibilities on board.

        While I would certainly tweak jcuknz’s statement to fit my personal understanding, and while I consider that the 0.01% bear primary causal responsibility for the state of affairs globally and in NZ, (rather than the poor) it is reasonable to assert that if the poor handled matters differently then matters would indeed be different.

        Since change is unlikely to come from the 0.01%, it will fall to the lumpen to improve their situation. Whether you are Trotsky or Ayn Rand in your perspective this is still true. And it is certain that a bunch of intellectuals will not bring about the change they claim to desire (and thus give up their own privileges).

        A “responsible” (to use jcuknz’s word) poor/working class will be far more effective in bringing about change than any other force and is in fact a necessary precondition for real change.

        Pregnancy rates and P use are poor indicators of class responsibility and I differ with jcuknz in this regard but I bet we could find common ground in the assertion that taking personal responsibility for bringing about change would be a good step for all those outside he 0.01% to take.

        Or to put it another way, don’t shit on the former ACT member who is coming in from the cold, instead find common ground and continue with the real work ahead!

        • marty mars 2.1.1.1

          Well what an eloquent dissertation there fus.

          How would you decide on how ‘responsible’ a person is and be therefore allowed entrance into society and be able to receive ‘help’ in the form of support from other citizens via the state? What would disqualify someone from being considered ‘reasonable’?

          js used some examples straight from the mindnumbingly dismal right wing ‘personal resonsibility’ handbook – those examples tar that person with the ACT brush imo and therefore there is no common ground apart from breath – combating rubbish is the REAL work.

          • Fustercluck 2.1.1.1.1

            Or you could have looked at the positives in his post and helped with the rest. I proposed no responsibility drafting gates for entrance into society. That is your gloss on my words. Until the poor take responsibility for their future, either in the form of bourgeois voting, or in the more effective form of proletariat revolution, the elite will continue to exploit them with impunity. The ACT version of personal responsibility is antithetical to this but jcuknz seems to be trying to emerge from this ideology and I am willing to give support to thiis.

            Putting words in people’s mouths as you have done Marty Mars is rubbish. Jcuknz at least spoke for themselves.

            • marty mars 2.1.1.1.1.1

              I asked a couple of questions which you chose not to answer. The rest of what I wrote is self explanatory.

              I can’t see where I put words in your mouth so horrifyingly – which ones were they again.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1.1.1.1.2

              Until the poor take responsibility for their future

              And there you go, transmitting the narrative as though it’s a given, that all the assumptions in its fully-laden pack are completely truthy.

              Slow clap.

              • Fustercluck

                I read mmars questions as rhetorical rather than serious…since I proposed no such thing I had no such proposal to make.

                If the oppressed refuse to rise up (I am pissed off that Mana didn’t do much better and I am grumpy that my vote for the Maori party in their first election was so horribly wasted…these incipient movements had much potential that was ignored by those too alienated by previous “choices” to participate in elections) then they wear some of the responsibility for their oppressor’s success. If the masses to do not man the barricades, or take to the hikoi, or whatever, then the pricks in corner offices will rule with impunity.

                If your plans for cultural evolution do not include executing every current or former right-winger then you must engage in dialogue, hopefully with a reasonable dialectic approach. Getting shitty with a former ACT member or insisting that the elite are solely responsible for their privileges does nothing to help.

                Insisting that the poor bear no “responsibility” (with all the various shades of meaning that that word can have) is to deny them the power to force change.

                One day the poor will seize power (by whatever means was necessary, hopefully without blood in the streets) and they will wonder (as the elites and their lapdogs flee) why they waited so long to throw the rascals out. In other words they will wonder why they did not take responsibility for their future for so long and why they let the thin veneer of power that the elites exploit hold them down.

                • One Anonymous Bloke

                  the oppressed refuse to rise up…they wear some of the responsibility for their oppressor’s success.

                  Exactly, that’s what I’m saying: the entire narrative is all about apportioning blame and punishment.

                  It’s obscene. Right wing political parties can’t exist without it.

                  • Fustercluck

                    Right wingers are all about blame being apportioned, mostly blaming the poor for being victims of the system they designed to rip them off. This is indeed obscene.

                    This does not absolve every person of the responsibility to rise up against this system of exploitation, at least in their own way.

                    The right wing blames the poor for being poor.

                    The revolutionary blames the poor for putting up with that bullshit.

                    Different shades of “responsibility” and there is room there for the evolution of the ideology of a former ACT member into an awareness of the need to help the poor to “responsibly” assert power in their own best interests.

                    • This is what jc said

                      “Recently it stuck me that another way of deciding what help people get would be to assess how responsible a citizen they are ….do they look after their state house, do they smoke P, do they ignore contraception …”

                      This really look like an empowerment statement for the poor to you?

                      It is ACT 101

                    • Fustercluck []

                      At least he(or she) resigned from ACT! Engage in productive dialogue rather than returning to the same label over and over. Jc is obviously moving at least some distance from ACT 101. Why not try to develop on that rather than just condemn them? Can’t you see that this is why some coming in from the right wing think that leftists are equally insufferable ideological pricks?

                    • The point is by his own words he is not moving. He is using present tense. He can believe what he wants but my experience is that that position is not comparable with my view. Is there any other confusion in your mind about this cos it is getting tedious for me having to type this for your benefit.

                    • RedLogix

                      @ fus

                      Thank you … my sentiments as well.

                      If your plans for cultural evolution do not include executing every current or former right-winger then you must engage in dialogue, hopefully with a reasonable dialectic approach.

                      Nails it. Politics is the art of discovering what hidden values you both share and then building the compromise you can both allow to deliver on them.

                    • Fustercluck []

                      Whew! Sanity!

                    • jcuknz

                      To answer MartyM’s comment following this I think despite my upbringing I have been a socialist since I read “The Responsible Society” and I saw ACT, founded largely by ex Labor MPs, as a better solution than The Alliance … Labor has never been one of my voting options.

                      I repeat my assersion that mindless idiots on the left immediately labelled it as far right and unfortunately the mud stuck and Sir Roger and I, for two I can think of , simply dropped off. My views have not changed from a disgust at stupid left wing name calling and a hope for common sense in a helping hand for those in need. With the practical common sense measures suggested needed for a few who queer the pitch of those desperately in need of help.

                      So in no way am I ‘coming in from the cold’ which is an arrogant belief in their rightful thinking. … I have been my particular brand of socialist from way back, probably longer than many who find fault with me. Around 1964 when that book crystalised my thinking.

                    • Thank you jc. I am pleased you have clarified – I think you and I were on the same page. We can accept difference and we aren’t frightened of it or pretend it’s not there and THAT is how honest debate can occur imo.

                • gnomic

                  “One day the poor will seize power (by whatever means was necessary, hopefully without blood in the streets) and they will wonder (as the elites and their lapdogs flee) why they waited so long to throw the rascals out. In other words they will wonder why they did not take responsibility for their future for so long and why they let the thin veneer of power that the elites exploit hold them down.”

                  What colour is the sky on your planet? Or can I have some of what you have been smoking …. perhaps on reflection forget that request.

                  The poor (whomsoever they may be) are never going to seize power in NZ which is presumably the context you are talking about. They wouldn’t know how, even if they could get off the couch, stop smoking P, eating junk food, playing video games, and engaging in endless procreation. Given a wildly unlikely scenario in which the rabble overthrew the state, no way they could actually run the nation aside from some sort of post-apocalypse anarchy.

                  Presumably I must have missed some very subtle satire in your comments?

                  Not that i support the ‘elites’, they are destroying mother Earth in a stupid and selfish fashion. But they are not going to be displaced by the poor, and even if they were the Marines would soon land to restore order.

    • North 2.2

      Giving up ACT membership a decade ago has obviously done fuck all to remove the stain on your soul occasioned by that membership.

      • RedLogix 2.2.1

        That’s not called for. jcuknz is making a perfectly fair point. There are indeed two sides to this coin ” a responsible society needs a responsible populace to work ”.

        All the evidence of the history of socialism shows that when the state subsumes the rights and responsibilities of the individual the outcome is always awful.

        Equally when collective responsibility is abandoned and individuals are urged to compete and worship neo-liberalism’s ‘greed is good’ credo – the outcome is also predictably awful. You are soaking in it.

        Let me quote Dame Salmond from the OP:

        . For this reason, neo-liberalism is sometimes described as one of humanity’s worst ideas, along with communism, whose hypercollectivism is the flip side of neo-liberalism’s hyperindividualism.

        I ask we set aside the usually unhelpful habit of binary thinking; and start to frame this as a mutual interdependence between society and the individual.

    • ankerawshark 2.3

      jcuknz…..glad you gave up your ACT membership. May I suggest you watch a tv programme (on demand) called “why am I” It is about the study of over 1000 children born in Dunedin in 1972. It may alter your ideas about adult responsibility

      There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there. About how what determines persistent criminals i.e. those people who are in prison for serious offences through out their lives is a gene + a history of child abuse and mal-treatment.
      Heart breakingly in the final episode they talk about what they have found about children who grow up in poverty. That even if these children do well (work, law abiding and all that) latter in life, it doesn’t counter balance the negative health outcomes they will have latter in live. Growing up in poverty weekens the body. And it isn’t corrected if these kids do well.

      Its an amazing study and an amazing programme. The responsibility that you mention lies with us and the politicians we elect. If we elect politicians who work to ensure children do not face poverty and are housed properly, if we elect politician who rather than having a get tough on crime stance work to find solutions to the gene/child abuse combination that is responsible for hardened criminal behaviour, we can improve outcomes for future populations. WE ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT. NOT THE INDIVIDUAL

    • Nic the NZer 2.4

      The ACT mentality is well known but is based on the assumption that sufficient jobs and social goods like housing are created to meet demand without the govt intervention. Unless sufficient jobs are created some must be unemployed and when insufficient jobs are created then blaming the unemployed is victim blaming.

      Somewhat ironically its the govts success in creating sufficient such social goods (so that those without must be themselves to blame) which fosters the attitude on display in your comment.

      But this hardly justifies the ACT ideology and its failure to deliver on its promises.

  3. jcuknz 3

    never mind fellows the truth often doesn’t go down well 🙂

    But I am aware that for those at the bottom of the heap it is often easier to act irresponsibly for the brief relief it brings. They are the ones which need a helping hand, ‘tough love’ ? so absent today. Seem to remember ‘helping hand’ came with ACT too, to me anyway.

    • It isn’t the truth – when you understand that then a debate may be worthwhile but until then…

    • North 3.2

      [RL: Deleted. Too far, pointless abuse.]

    • One Anonymous Bloke 3.3

      Can you even see the assumptions these ideas are based on?

      How about you check every single statement of fact you think is true – in the best spirit of skepticism, go and see if you can falsify any of them.

      “Personal responsibility” is a vicious self-serving lie, for example. It is manifestly so, and yet the entire body of dogma you espouse rests upon it. Oops.

      • RedLogix 3.3.1

        “Personal responsibility” is a vicious self-serving lie, for example.

        If you are using the terms ‘personal responsibility’ as a bit of short-hand jargon to mean the kind of victim-blaming the right uses to shame and silence it’s critics then I’m on board with you.

        And in a wider context I’ve no problem with modern research which demonstrates how human behaviour is mostly a complex product of genetics, parenting, socialisation, culture and expectation … factors which are all beyond our control or responsibility.

        Yet none of this wishes away the fact that located somewhere in a top corner of our neo-cortex is a little bit of us that gets to make choices. Moral choices mainly. For too many humans its an evidently flabby and under-exercised bit of our brain, but that only makes a case for taking it out for a decent walk more often.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 3.3.1.1

          Oh it isn’t just the victim-blaming – it rewards the already lucky as it punishes the less fortunate.

          As for this assertion that choice exists in some meaningful way, your third paragraph argues against that. Is your fourth fully supported by Neuroscience?

          • RedLogix 3.3.1.1.1

            Neuroscience is still struggling to define, much less locate the locus of consciousness. Some have suggested that self-awareness is just a delusion and we are entirely nothing more than a wet mess of blind, unthinking reactions.

            If you want to argue that, then all notions of accountability vanish. Nothing anyone does, good bad or indifferent means anything.

            Because despite the scientists notable lack of success in explaining consciousness, the irony is that ultimately in order to explain the overwhelming evidence nd experience that humans (and probably all life to some degree) are self-aware … they may have to resort to invoking that age-old idea of the non-material soul after all.

    • Guerilla Surgeon 3.4

      Actually research has shown that poor people do in fact make very “responsible” decisions on the whole. Largely because they have to. The problem is, that lack of resources often makes “responsible” decisions almost impossible.

  4. jcuknz 4

    I do not remember getting much other than dogma from you Marty so debate is pointless … maybe with more sensible folk that come here?
    You ignore the first two paras since there is no question regarding their validity and snipe at a couple of points which you don’t like.
    Seems to me you are closer to the irresponsible right than I am…. originally I saw ACT as a viable socialistic approach …. but by the time the extreme left had convinced people they were far right and those people joined ACT .. well I left.
    A case of giving a dog a bad name … typical splitting of the labor party … when the dog was a good one founded by ex labor ministers who saw a different path.

    • If you reply under the comment a conversation can begin

      The dog was a dog and is a dog and that is why it was identified as a dog and treated as a dog – it was a dog!!! Now what creatures live on dogs sucking their lifeblood whilst pooing and leaving a mess?

      just fucking with you jc – every dog had its day 🙂

    • North 4.2

      What ??? The fault for ACT being a bunch of criminals and fantasists rests with the Left ??? Yes, apparently, according to JWankNZ. That’s when the beautiful relationship formally ended. Still a filthy gang member though with absolutely no social responsibility or conscience.

      [RL: I’m no more a fan of ACT than you are, but this is pointless abuse that is not needed. Last warning.]

  5. Jack Ramaka 5

    Neoliberalism has left the country in a mess which has to be rebuilt, neoliberalism has kicked the bottom 50-60% of the population in the guts, look what the free market ideology has done to the Auckland Housing Market.

    Unfortunately society is not equal and people down at the lower rungs of the ladder actually need some State assistance to survive otherwise they turn to other sources of income to survive such as criminal activity and drug dealing etc

  6. Bill 6

    Brian Gould has penned a very good piece on the effect of neo-liberalism on the current UK Labour Party. Sadly, it applies very much to the NZ Labour Party too.

    That (neo-liberalism) is the world in which most members of the PLP have grown up and fashioned their politics. By definition, they seem themselves as the vanguard, the thinkers and the professionals in the party. They are convinced that they know better, and their experience of the electoral and parliamentary battle convinces them that this is so.

    What they do not seem to know, however, is the extent to which their views have been conditioned by the neo-liberal revolution, unannounced, that has taken place around them for the past 40 years. It has, after all, created the world they know. They are unaware, not only of this, but of the fact that for many Labour voters, the harsh realities of the “free” market have not produced an appreciation of its supposed virtues but a sense that no one understands or cares about the losses they have suffered as a result of its ministrations.

    • RedLogix 6.1

      Only someone born before about 1970 can understand the extent of the change that was ushered in by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and that had been prefigured in the writings of Hayek and Nozick and Milton Friedman.

      How true is this. While I think we are all a bit naturally nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ we fondly paint picture of in our memories, I’ve never advocated a great leap backwards to them. There were plenty of ‘bad old times’ as well.

      But in the 70’s we were on a path, one with much potential and promise … and it was path abruptly aborted in 1980. Stolen from us by the neo-libs. As Anne Salmond says, hyper-individualism is every bit as bad an idea as the hyper-collectivism it arose in response to.

      Time to firmly bury BOTH of these very bad ideas and start work on something a lot more nuanced, complex and organic.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1

        the hyper-collectivism it arose in response to

        I beg to differ: making slaves of people has been going on for millennia. Collective responses are inevitable because they’re pretty much the only ones that work.

      • Bill 6.1.2

        That hyper-collectivism she mentions was imposed. Personally, I’ve never had any time for that, just as I’ve never had any time for individualism. Been trying to bring a shovel to bear on both the ideas for quite a few years Red 😉

        If you want something nuanced, complex and organic, may I recommend you give democracy a birl?

        • Colonial Viper 6.1.2.1

          Highly decentralised democracy, preferably, and both in the private sector and the public sector.

          • Bill 6.1.2.1.1

            There would be neither a public sector nor a private sector as we now know them. I mean that in terms that neither could possibly/logically exist in the context of a democracy.

  7. jcuknz 7

    ankerawshark 2.3
    16 July 2016 at 11:43 am
    You have a simplistic view about responsibility which is individual and collective.
    The individual covers things like not pooing on what society provides for you which I specified a few matters while the collective maybe is voting for the right people to organize society.

    I do not need to watch a TV program to appreciate how an irresponsible society ends up due to a lack of responsibility of its members.

    The sad thing about today is that while the government is moving to greater responsibility a few members of our society are spoiling it and I fear the right wingers in National will gain the upper hand and kill off what progress has been made. Will not affect me unduly as I do not have too many years left but I feel for future generations.

  8. Justathought 8

    The phenomenon labelled “neoliberalism” is a trend in economic policy, it is not an ideology”, “no-one is a ‘neoliberal’ (except in a very specific uses of the term in the US and Germany): there are, however, people who undertake or support neoliberal” reforms”.

    “What is called “neoliberalism” is best understood as economic liberalism in the context of welfare states (or otherwise significantly interventionist states). Indeed, liberalising reforms have often been undertaken by centre-left governments in developed welfare states precisely to make the welfare state more sustainable.”

    “With the expansion of Western welfare states in the 1960s (increasing obligations on the state) and the collapse in productivity growth in the early 1970s (decreasing underlying rates of economic growth), the stage was set for a wave of liberalizing economic reforms in Western countries.”

    “Such reforms rest on treating public policy as something other than intentions + resources => outcomes. Those whose politics (indeed, often their sense of identity) rests on the conspicuous compassion of their intentions tend to resist such changes. Typically by attacking the alleged intentions of such policies. Often without bothering to do any serious research into what advocates of liberalizing reforms actually say or believe. Telling such people that “neoliberalism” in the Western democracies was about preserving the sustainability of welfare states is likely to get a very hostile reaction, since it deprives them of their sense of superior intentions (and the characterizing of those with different policy prescriptions as having patently “evil”, and thus inferior, intentions)”.

    “Yet it is clearly the case that keeping the welfare state sustainable was fundamental to the “policy coalitions” that supported liberalizing reforms. It is no accident that deregulation in the US got underway during the Carter Administration, that the Hawke and Lange governments in the Australia and New Zealand were liberalizing governments and that the first bout of liberalizing reforms in Australia was under the Whitlam Government”.

    “Which is my basic difficulty with the term ‘neoliberal’: it takes the historical context out of events.”

    http://lorenzo-thinkingoutaloud.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/neoliberalism-and-laissez-faire.html#0

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    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
    5 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
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • 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,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • 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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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