Scoop’s second Hager document release

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, November 15th, 2015 - 98 comments
Categories: democracy under attack, Dirty Politics, journalism, Media - Tags:

Following on from its earlier release Scoop has uploaded further documents filed in the Hager v Attorney General case.  The documents include Hager’s affidavit, various other affidavits, police disclosure and some exhibits.

Discussion is building about why police resources were put into the case at all.  An affidavit by former Police Controller Wayne Stringer expresses surprise at the way the case was handled.

At paragraph 7 of his affidavit he says this:

I am very surprised to see how much effort and police resource has been devoted to this case.  The Counties-Manukau office routinely deals with large volumes of very serious crime, including murders, rapes, and crimes of violence and child abuse.  Offenders in such cases, unless caught, have the potential to continue to cause extremely serious harm.  Police have limited resources, and in my view rightly prioritise these crimes.  In my view, the offence under investigation here, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose, is a much less serious offence than many others the police are called upon to investigate.  Had I been in charge of the office, I would have accorded it a low priority.  The amount of time and resource expended in this case seems to me to be akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

At paragraph 14 he says:

I note that the search of Mr Hager’s house must have been very expensive for police.  It involved five officers and a computer expert.  Two had to be flown down from Counties-Manukau.  Expense is always a factor in policing decisions.

Stringer was also surprised at the heavy involvement of Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Burgess.  He is a member of the Police’s executive and is Wellington based.  His active involvement in this investigation appears to be well out of the scope of his norman duties.  We are not talking here about the great train robbery.  Slater’s initial complaint was to him.  He appears to have taken an active interest in the investigation and was consulted with before the decision to make the application for the search warrant.

And in a case resembling the great disappearing online Herald story there is a print article by David Fisher that does not appear to have made it online at all.  Given the significant constitutional and political implications in this story you have to ask why.

Herald article Slater Fisher Hager

Finally if you wish to contribute to Scoop’s ongoing sustainability you can donate to the Scoop Foundation.

98 comments on “Scoop’s second Hager document release ”

  1. Tory 1

    You left out the best part which is the identity of the hacker is known by at least 3 others so perhaps there is going to be a full revelation of all information rather than selected editing of some information
    http://www.donotlink.com/hcse

    [Took out whale oil link and inserted donotlink link – MS]

    • Pascals bookie 1.1

      err, everyone already knows that Hager, Nippert, and Fisher had contact with Rawshark. the only revealing in there is how silly the cops are.

      • Neil 1.1.1

        Don’t forget that John Key made a public statement saying he knew the true identity of the hacker Rawshark.

        • tracey 1.1.1.1

          I believe the police eventually spoke to the liar in chief who told the police it was just someone telling him they knew. I assume the LIC told the police who the someone was….

    • savenz 1.2

      I guess more than 1 police officer is getting concerned with the politicalising of police and abuse of government resources instead of concentrating on the police charter to fight crime and not be used political errand boys. And Slater can hardly even be considered a guy to go all out for – apart from being on txting terms with the PM.

    • tracey 1.3

      Yeah the best part isnt the misuse of police resources at all

      🙄

  2. Chooky 2

    “Discussion is building about why police resources were put into the case at all.”

    …it was clearly political and orders came top down from the jonkey nact government…can this be proven?

    • tracey 2.1

      It is heartening that this police officer swore that affidavit.

      Was cou ties manukau that assisted Collins with helpful figures for her Papakura newslettef?

      • Macro 2.1.1

        ummmmm yes it was!
        ohhhh dear.
        IPCA investigation for a wet bus ticket on the back of the hand you think?

  3. Georgey 3

    Tory
    They also missed out that Stringer is a stooge of Hager’s as well as being David Parker’s staffer.
    Nah…none of that would have clouded his view at all.

    • mickysavage 3.1

      So what? Someone used to work for a Labour MP and this means that their views should be ignored?

      Besides his comments match my experience and that it is almost impossible to get the police to do anything unless it is serious crime and this is not.

      And the police inaction over the Rachinger claims that Slater hired him to hack this site complete with texts and evid nec of bank deposits are in stark contrast to their behaviour over Slater’s claims.

      • veutoviper 3.1.1

        Georgey and Tory are just parroting a post and comments this morning on a certain Dunedin-based blog on Stringer. DoNotLink is useful.

        As a caregiver to four parrots, my apologies to all parrots. Parrots are smarter than these two trolls.

        EDIT – make that three trolls – ppw also.

    • mary_a 3.2

      @ Georgey (3) –

      Evidence to support your claims please.

  4. Tory 4

    Chooky, perhaps Police involvement has been driven by individual personal agendas
    http://www.donotlink.com/hcse

    [Replaced with donotlink link – MS]

    • Pascals bookie 4.1

      mate, WO is an admitted fantasist who talks things up. that was own sworn testimony the AG investigation of Collins. He is not what investigators call ‘a reliable witness’.

      WO has gone pretty quite of late about his claim that he knows for sure who Rawshark is. That was going to be the big lanch of FreedNZ his mighty MSM busting media venture that has died on the old vine. Then it was going to be in his fantastic book that reveal once and for all the evil plotters against him, but nope, didn’t happen.

      The list of possibilities for who Rawshark could be has grown considerably rather than narrowed given how slack WO’s security was. Loads of rumours about how weak a password was that he used for multiple purposes. Using your screen name plus a few digits? oh dear. Still hacking to crack it, but doesn’t take any sort of genius.

  5. Tory 5

    Georgey, this gets better every day 🕵🕵

  6. proud poppy wearer 6

    Labour are donkey deep in this dirty politics, the snivelling creep Hagar and his enablers will be covered in much of the same muck that they’ve been flinging around.

  7. CnrJoe 7

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11350276

    John Armstrong – 5:00 AM Thursday Oct 30, 2014

    The Prime Minister believes he knows who hacked Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater’s computer and produced the source material for Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics, according to a new edition of a recently published biography of John Key.

    In a new chapter in John Key: Portrait of a Prime Minister devoted to this year’s election campaign, Mr Key is quoted as saying: “Someone phoned and told me who the hacker was, but other than having a look at this person, I thought, ‘Oh well … nothing will come of it. Life goes on’.”

  8. Anne 8

    Don’t let’s beat about the bush. The police were instructed to pull out all stops in their hunt for Rawshark and to look for evidence against Hager that could be used to discredit him. And we know the instruction originated from John Key although his involvement will have been heavily covered up from possible public exposure.

    He has now surpassed Rob Muldoon as New Zealand’s most venal and corrupt prime minister. But like all psychopaths, he knows how to turn on the superficial charm and the fools -including some in the media – fall for it every-time.

    • proud poppy wearer 8.1

      Nutter

      [Back up your comments with facts or you will find your commenting ability is terminated – MS]

      • DoublePlusGood 8.1.1

        You can’t address the argument with a rebuttal, so you say she’s a nutter? That’s pathetic. Try harder.

        • Paul Campbell 8.1.1.1

          I agree poopy wearer shouldn’t be claiming that Key is a nutter without proof …. Let’s start with his ponytail fetish ..

        • proud poppy wearer 8.1.1.2

          Why would anyone need more than a comment of ‘nutter’ to someone who suggests that we live in a corrupt police state with the PM ordering the police to do investigations on his behalf.

          Detest Key and his political party all you want but to suggest we live in anything but a fairly benign democracy is the stuff of fantasy.

          • Lanthanide 8.1.1.2.1

            So what is your explanation for why the raid on Hager took place, when a senior police officer has said, had he be in charge, he would have prioritised the raid very lowly.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1.1.2.1.1

              *crickets*

            • Thinking Right 8.1.1.2.1.2

              The ‘senior police officer’ you quote is an ex Police Officer, has been a friend of Hagar’s for 20 years, is a past employee of David Parker, and obviously wear Hagar tinted glasses.

              For propaganda to be effective it must be seen to come from a reliable and trustworthy source – unfortunately this fails on both counts.

              • stever

                “For propaganda to be effective it must be seen to come from a reliable and trustworthy source”

                You jest, surely!?

              • tracey

                Why do you think Slaters home and office werent searched by police after he published personal info obtained from a hard drive whose ownership slater didnt verify?

              • mickysavage

                Care to day how what he said is wrong? Under your analysis no one with a friendship or a political opinion will ever be able to comment on anything.

          • Treetop 8.1.1.2.2

            PPW wake up, the cops even lie to politicians.

            I’d personally like to see a number of cops ranked from inspector to assistant police commissioner explain some of their lies to politicians.

            One of the biggest lies which is repeated is that the matter has been investigated and that there is no new evidence. This happens when you take a police complaint to an MP and the complaint has been under investigated because the cops have covered up wrong doing by one of their own or they have misled a politician/s.

            File after file of mine has gone missing by the police.

      • Ffloyd 8.1.2

        You’re quite right ppw. Key is a Nutter.

      • ropata 8.1.3

        opium poppy smoking destroys critical thinking faculties in the prefrontal cortex

        • proud poppy wearer 8.1.3.1

          So does Key derangement syndrome amongst the commenters at the Standard apparently.

      • proud poppy wearer 8.1.4

        [Off to moderation you go. Will let through comments where you are not abusing anyone and trying to actually debate the merits – MS]

        • Anne 8.1.4.1

          Well of course dear boy – you are a boy aren’t you? There are degrees of psychopathy. Not all of them run around shooting people you know. Some at the lower end of the scale can be quite reasonable at times. It’s when they start feeling threatened they turn feral. We saw an excellent example of it with Key just last week.

          But I guess you can’t comprehend these things because you are obviously in the bottom half of the NZ IQ scale.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1.4.2

          That’s because this is a Left wing blog dedicated to political debate, not your toilet paper.

          • proud poppy wearer 8.1.4.2.1

            I’m surprised you know what toilet paper is with all the dung you post on this site.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1.4.2.1.1

              I tell you what: you keep up the vacuous one-line insults, and I’ll keep on pointing out factual inaccuracies and laughing at you, and we’ll see who lasts longest.

            • tracey 8.1.4.2.1.2

              How old are you?

            • lprent 8.1.4.2.1.3

              If you don’t like it here, then leave.

              Continue with this kind of behaviour, and I will start acting like a provost. I am sure that you are familiar with that.

      • Murray Simmonds 8.1.5

        “proud poppy wearer” gets that from his beloved hero – who, in the House of Reps often used to refer to certain sectors of the opposition as “loonies”.

        All cast in the same mold, I suspect. Or should that be “the same mould?”

    • meconism 8.2

      fixed it for you MS> If you are going to be fair about these things this should also go here.

      [Back up your comments with facts or you will find your commenting ability is terminated – MS]

    • Treetop 8.3

      “He has now surpassed Rob Muldoon as New Zealand’s most venal and corrupt prime minister.”

      What really got to Key, was the fact that Key was challenged outside of the debating chamber on an important issue (human rights) and Key had a big reaction in the house following being challenged.

      Muldoon accused Moyle of being picked up by the police in the house on 3 November 1976 regarding an incident which occurred on 17 June 1975. (Muldoon sat on the incident for 16 months). Key accuses Labour of defending rapists and murders.

      The question I have for Key is:

      Do you know how many murders, sex offenders or those convicted of aggravated crimes have been deported from Australia to NZ in the last 12 months?

      And

      What has your government done to ensure that these criminals are monitored and supported?

      The full police evidence into the handling of the Moyle incidents were put in lock up for 25 years by the attorney general when part of the inquiry was released in mid April 1978 and still remain locked up.

      Self interest by a PM in a police matter = a police state.

      Wayne Stringer is so right when he states that the resources put into Hager are not JUSTIFIED. I would like to add that the police once again are not prioritising their time trying to solve homicides or sexual assaults which heavily impact on the community.

      If some of these top cops want to play a part in politics I suggest that they stand for parliament and tell the executive to not interfere in the day to day running of the police and to also ask for the police budget to be increased.

      • tracey 8.3.1

        Exactly. Rapists and murderers have been deported fr years…. Key made people think it was new.

    • Chooky 8.4

      +100 Anne…well said

  9. Tory 9

    PPW. +1👍

    • tracey 9.1

      +1

      Is one more than the number of murderers and rapits Key said were amongst the kiwis on christmas island

      +1 is one more than the number of times slaters home and business ha been raided by police after he published info from a stolen hardrive or one wrongly given to him

      +1 is 1 more than the number of times you or ppw have read the documents released from this case

  10. ianmac 10

    I have read through the Hager affidavit and noticed this which signal’s a possible political/police connection although impossible to prove.
    Oh.Sadly I cannot copy and paste. One word per line.
    Anyway para 157 and 158 interesting.
    And the Conclusion para 167-171 interesting.
    The case is finished and the publishing of the judgement has been imminent – for a while. Hope it is just the Court delay and not another one where the report is sent up the chain for approval or “modification.” Paranoia?

    • RedBaronCV 10.1

      Hi Im – are you able to give document no and page no for those para’s

    • joe90 10.2

      I cannot copy and paste. One word per line.

      Highlight – “search google for” – opens a new tab – copy from new tab search bar – should paste okay.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 10.3

      157. There is a pattern in New Zealand politics of politicians attacking the messenger when they are caught out doing things they preferred would not become public. After Dirty Politics was published, I received a series of personal attacks from the Prime Minister John Key and others. By deciding to raid my house, the Police made this worse. The implication to some sections of the public was that there was something criminal about my legitimate occupation.

      158. Also, I cannot help feeling that the Police have subjected me to more rapid
      and intrusive action than is normal. I naturally compare the actions against me to investigations of more serious crimes such as the “Roastbuster” rape complaints. In most media or political cases, the Police err on the side of not laying charges and certainly do not tum up unannounced to raid houses or offices. I cannot think of a single other case involving media where the Police have acted so intrusively. I do not understand why I appear to have been treated differently.

      167. Thus my concerns about the Police search are fivefold. First, I have a professional obligation to protect the confidential source who provided me with information I used in the book Dirty Politics.

      168. Secondly, I have an obligation to protect the confidentiality and privacy of all the other sources (and colleagues’ sources) relating to whom notes, materials and contact details were in my house at the time of the search.

      169. Thirdly, I cannot expect sources to help me in the future if they are not confident that I can hold information and work on stories without the Police arriving at my house and searching for the identity of sources. A general public perception that confidential sources are not secure, to which a Police search of my home obviously contributes, poses a serious practical risk to my work.

      170. Fourthly, a high profile decision to legitimise the Police search of my house will also have a general effect, affecting the ability of other journalists to do
      their jobs.

      171. Lastly, this search has had a direct and damaging effect on me and my work. It has caused me practical difficulties and interfered with my ability to do my work. It was greatly unsettling at the time and has since caused me great concern. It was, in short, a serious and, in my view, completely unwarranted, invasion on my private and work life.

      Awaiting the judgement with interest.

      • tracey 10.3.1

        ” 157. There is a pattern in New Zealand politics of politicians attacking the messenger when they are caught out doing things they preferred would not become public. After Dirty Politics was published, I received a series of personal attacks from the Prime Minister John Key and others. By deciding to raid my house, the Police made this worse. The implication to some sections of the public was that there was something criminal about my legitimate occupation.”

        Also being done by posters in this thread. The right throwing alotof sunday resource at this thread

        • NZSage 10.3.1.1

          I thought that too Tracey.. seems recently there are a high number of right wingers on The Standard. I have no problem with right wingers offering reasoned argument but clearly many of them are simply trolls out to hijack threads and topics.

          I’ve also noted the number of right wing comments in the online MSM receiving far more “thumbs up” or “likes” than has historically been the case.

          Now our comrades on the right will try and put that down to a change in public opinion and the love of John but things don’t change that quickly.

          Could it be the right is trying to win back Social Media from the left by devious/technical means, could it be the online MSM themselves manipulating the comments or both?

          Just speculating like….

      • Treetop 10.3.2

        Can anyone tell me what the police have charged Hager with?

        Can anyone tell me why Slater’s home has not been forensically raided like Hager’s was?
        (Were Slater’s home to be raided the police would probably not like what they found and would they reveal any information were it to potentially ruin a politician?)

        The Hager raid could just back fire on the PM like what Muldoon did to Moyle (asked the police for the contents in the Moyle police file).

        Moyle was never charged with an offence.

        • tracey 10.3.2.1

          The sergeant doesnt explain ghe process he went through to decide.

          A. Whether to invrstigate and
          B. What resoures it warranted

          If he did it was at the end of his affidavit.. i didnt read that far

          • Treetop 10.3.2.1.1

            “The sergeant doesnt explain ghe process he went through to decide.”

            Accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose is what is being investigated, I am not sure if this is what the charge is? FFS if anyone feels that Hager has defamed them they should take a civil case out against him. The problem for me is the misuse of police resources by the police and that political interference may be involved. Were this to be the case, Hager needs to add a chapter to his Dirty Politics book.

            • tracey 10.3.2.1.1.1

              Lynch says he knew hager had written a prior political book. Is he referring to Dirty Politics?

  11. Smilin 11

    Obviously there was an extreme emergency to find the data concerning individuals and whatever communication could be there from them or associates that could be linked to any govt facilities also being specific to certain key individuals in the govt

  12. NZJester 12

    Strange they never put all that effort into finding out about a real crime of the burglary of an office that resulted in Slater receiving a stolen hard drive and a set of file cabinets full of paper documents from that burglary. Why is it they are not using as much resources for that crime to find out who committed that physical theft to hand over those records to Slater to then print an attack article on the target of that burglary?

    Why also is it that they did not charge Slater for receiving actual physical property and seize it all back with a search of his premises?

    • Treetop 12.1

      My answer to your question is ignorance is bliss. The crazy thing for me about what could be on Slater’s computer is that he would not use it against a government politician unless he really had to, to save his own arse and that he would not be ruined for spilling the beans).

      It must be real lonely being in a position which is untenable.

      Nixon and Watergate comes to mind with your comment of an office being raided.

  13. veutoviper 13

    I have been slowly wading my way through the second set of court documents released by Scoop. My impressions so far (including from reading the first set) is that there are a lot of anomalies, contradictions etc in the Police’s MO in this case and in their evidence as presented to the court. This includes some basic checking and editorial errors in the evidence that I would not expect to find in final documents presented to the court. Usually such documents are checked by many pairs of eyes …

    Some of these errors are quite funny,as well as being basic.

    For example, Felix Geiringer, one of Hager’s legal team, has tweeted a mistake in the Police transcript pf a radio interview at page 598 onwards in this document – https://t.co/U2bdrOQ2dY. This is stated as being a transcript of an interview with Mike Hosking on Radio Live on 17 August 2014.

    It is in fact a transcript of this interview by Wallace Chapman of Hager on RNZ on 7 October 2014! Oooops.

    https://t.co/O1eMwBGG8X

    Similarly, earlier in the overall document starting at page 71, there is a Police transcript of an interview of Hager by Sean Plunket on Radio Live on 14 August 2014. Halfway down page 78, the indentifiers of SP and NH get reversed and remain that way almost to the end of the interview.

    Inconsequential but makes for fun reading – but again a basic lack of proof reading that should have been picked up long before the transcript was submitted in the Police evidence to the court.

    • tracey 13.1

      Odd indeed. I wonder what the legal costs have been for we taxpayers?

      • veutoviper 13.1.1

        Very high, I suspect, in terms of the resources assigned to the raid and investigation – as well as preparation for and legal representation in court. Hence Wayne Stringer’s comments in the hard print Herald article in the post. (Full article can be read on Scoop – on the link to the second set of documents).

        And for a bit of light relief on this subject, I laughed at this tweet on the Police task sheet for information on Rawshark’s suppposed trip to Vanuatu – https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo/status/665377440215072769

        At the time, my immediate reaction to R’s mention of going to Vanuatu was that it was a blatant red herring – as unlikely as Alpha Centauri.

        EDIT – actually, having now looked at that Te Taipo Twitter account, it is well worth reading with a lot of IT analysis of the IT aspects of the police raid ….

  14. seeker 14

    Malcolm Burgess comes up again and again as a government apologist and a guy that appears to espouse the 60’s and 70’s arrogant, small minded, blinkered and bigotted type of policing.e.g. his refusal to see any possibility of the innocence of David Bain from compelling evidence of finger burns on 3D (TV3) and his biassed comments on the unfortunate journalist that left his equipment on john key’s tea table.
    I wish someone would investigate his suspicious behaviour or at least start a ‘Blip’ list on him. Maybe my two examples could start it.

  15. tracey 15

    Does anyone know if Lynch gives a definition for

    ” … serious crime investigations or investigations of an
    otherwise sensitive nature….” which require a higher degree of oversight.

    • Treetop 15.1

      You have got me thinking, what is going to happen to Rawshark when they find him?

      Rawshark could be a savant for all I know or a 13 year old or they could live in the North pole with Santa.

      • tracey 15.1.1

        Well with all those resources they couldnt find him….

      • Mark Stevens 15.1.2

        Around the time of the last election both Rawshark and Jason Ede disappeared off the radar within a week of each other. Tell me if I’m barking up the wrong tree…..

        • tracey 15.1.2.1

          You are barking up the wrong tree. Ede had to disappear to save his master and was nicely compensated in a cushy new job.

          Rawshark went cos of the heat coming on to out him. Also he was acting from anger at somehing slater did. Ede was a paid lackey doing whatever got him were he wanted to be, imo. Rawsharks was more personal.

          So for me completely different modus operandi.

  16. Incognito 16

    For some reason I’ve always had difficulty believing the official line that they were trying to find information that could lead them to Rawshark. My suspicion was and still is that Hager was the intended target all along. Perhaps Nicky Hager is too modest and humble to fully appreciate his own role in all this; Hager is certainly not stupid or naïve but he does not have an ego the size of KDC’s.

  17. ropata 17

    wtf police… you ought to know better
    threatened Hager with jail time for not giving passwords

    @onThePaepae pg 34 https://t.co/osbH9Y7rUt pic.twitter.com/VtE08pZkRa— Rangi Kemara (@Te_Taipo) November 15, 2015

    • ianmac 17.1

      The note seems to be split on two different pages? Sure it is the same statement linked together?

  18. Paul Campbell 18

    Reading back through here it’s pretty obvious that a year on a lot of people on the right are still pretty worried about the possible ramifications of the whole dirty politics scandal … That so many should spontaneously show up here over here to comment on this one issue shows that they feel vulnerable here.

    A good reason if ever I saw one to not leave the issue to die.

    • tracey 18.1

      Yup. Hager’s name presses all kinds of buttons… and the lengths gone to ilence him are very telling. What Hager reveals they do not want their supporters to know… luckily for them some of their supporters still dont want to see.

  19. Karl 19

    Anyone who knows what Hager was working with at the time of the raid has no doubt that finding Rawshark was not or at least a very minor reason for the raid.

    The incredible harassment of sources since has been extraordinary. The suppression of that harassment is doubly so.

    I don’t just want to see virtually the entire National front bench to resign; I want to see several of them prosecuted (legally speaking) and to go to prison.

  20. Northsider 20

    NOTES ON THE COPPER WHO DID KEY’s DIRTY WORK.
    Malcolm Burgess meets with Key when wearing his “International Services Group” hat.

    Assistant Commissioner Investigations, NATSEC & International
    Malcolm Burgess MNZM

    Assistant Commissioner Investigations, NATSEC & International is responsible for the National Criminal Investigations Group, the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand (OFCANZ), Financial Crime Group, International Services Group and Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Secretariat.

    The Investigations and International Group leads the prevention, investigation, disruption and prosecution of serious and transnational crime. It also leads liaison, overseas deployment and capacity building with international policing partners.

    Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Burgess was appointed in June 2011 after two years as Director of OFCANZ, based at Police National Headquarters in Wellington.

    He joined Police in 1976 and held uniform and CIB positions including area commander for Nelson and Hamilton cities and Detective Superintendent Southern, based in Christchurch. In 2005 he studied in Britain under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Aotearoa Fellowship.

    Promotion material and arse licker supreme

    http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/structure/commissioners-executive-commanders

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    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    10 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    11 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    14 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    16 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    17 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    19 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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
    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
  • 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
    4 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
    5 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    8 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
    13 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
    15 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
    15 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
    5 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
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  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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