The media bloodbath

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, April 16th, 2015 - 52 comments
Categories: accountability, journalism, Media, news - Tags: , ,

A much discussed piece by Scoop’s Alastair Thompson yesterday:

An Investigative News Media Blood Bath |500 Words

Last week was a bad week for NZ Media. And for much more than just the announced “review” of Campbell Live.

One of NZ’s best newspaper editors Tim Murphy resigned as editor of the NZ Herald. According to sources he decided to go over differences in opinion on how the editorial side of NZME. was being managed by its CEO Jane Hastings.

Murphy sent in a reply which is appended to the post, in which he denies any dispute with Hastings.

I am going because it has been a long, long run of responsibility and with a whole lot of new things happening and about to happen it is the right time to let a new voice come in.

Back to Thompson:

For working journo’s the other shocking public news in the week was the decision of Phil Kitchin to take up a job with Paula Bennett in the Beehive.

The reason this news is notable for media old-timers is that Phil is also a complete legend of investigative journalism – probably the longest serving investigative reporter in the Fairfax stable – he is responsible for a bunch of huge Scoops, the biggest being exposure of the rape culture being perpetrated inside the Police Force and the case of Louise Nicholas.

Bit Phil is not the only leading Fairfax investigative journalist who has left the publisher recently.

Michael Field – who recently published an in-depth expose of fisheries abuse in the Pacific Ocean – has resigned.

Scoop understands he was effectively forced out in the fall-out which followed a legal threat from a Kiwi businessman and one-time a minor Russian oligarch – Stephen Jennings – who has recently got himself into a spot of bother in Africa. You can read the apology here.

Dig a bit deeper at Fairfax and you discover that in the space of a few months they have lost several more senior reporters.

According to inside sources the driving force behind this has been the rise of Stuff the Nation as a priority for the organisation. Hank Schouten, Tim Hunter and Tim O’Donoghue have also gone, and legendary sports editor Trevor Mckewen apparently walked out when he saw what was happening. …

Go read the full piece at Scoop for plenty more.

Other “journalists” however are trying to sweep the headline event, the attack on Campbell Live, under the carpet. Here’s an anonymous editorial in The Herald (my money is on John Roughan):

Hard-hitting journalism alive and well

There has been much hyperbole in the reaction to a review by broadcaster MediaWorks of its evening current affairs show Campbell Live. … Critics’ knees jerked. An end to serious journalism. The demise of the last journalist who cares. The last nail in a coffin for news, public interest and political accountability. An act of political string-pulling to advantage the Government and de-fang the left.

Mostly exaggerated.

Even John Campbell, as professional and accomplished as ever amid the publicity storm, would likely cringe at the over-reactions.

Actually no, Campbell has repeatedly thanked his supporters.

He knows numerous journalists within his own company will continue to provide strong disclosure journalism holding the powerful to account. The team on what was 3rd Degree, who illuminated the injustice against Teina Pora; Patrick Gower and a press gallery team which puts the bite on allcomers; and a wider newsroom which has marked 3News as a feisty, if idiosyncratic, pursuer of stories which matter.

With respect to those doing good work (a list which does not include Mr Gower), they aren’t doing what Campbell Live does.

Beyond MediaWorks, fine public interest journalism is undertaken on competing television stations, radio, in newspapers, magazines and in all kinds of places online. It is trite to view Campbell Live as the sole holder of that important flame. It belittles so much else that is of value. …

And more with the straw-person exaggerations, and so on and so on, move along folks, nothing to see here. Or is there? John Drinnan suggest that there is more to come on events at TV3…

Well, despite the best efforts of our anonymous spinner, this is clearly a difficult time for NZ media. New technologies are disrupting the industry, commercial imperatives are becoming ever more naked and destructive, experienced and committed journalists are retiring, being sacked, or giving up. Privately owned media will not in the future have a hope of delivering large scale quality news services in this country. If we think that matters, then a strong publicly funded media presence is the only way forward.

52 comments on “The media bloodbath ”

  1. tracey 1

    “Even John Campbell, as professional and accomplished as ever amid the publicity storm, would likely cringe at the over-reactions.”

    As if to prove the point Scoop is making, the anonymous editor didn’t actually ask Campbell for his reaction to that notion before writing his editorial.

    I read the Scoop article yesterday (h/t fellow author) and despaired. I then read some comments in (Open Mike I think) about opting in or out of voting and how we can exercise our democratic rights and I thought… “we” (individually and then collectively) have to put our money where our mouths are (and if we don’t have spare cash, our time) and really support those outlets we consider serve democracy.

    Scoop may be one answer to that. Making sure when we see or read stuff in the media we find offensive or whatever we actually complain. Stop viewing/reading certain media. They say they are rating driven so we can always vote with our feet, our ears and our eyes. If McDonalds or anyone else is treating workers badly let’s stop helping them reach a profit and tell them why. The last part is crucial.

    It’s hard to walk the talk. Not impossible.

  2. vto 2

    One. That privately owned media are incapable of proper news should not be a surprise….. and it isn’t of course. They are owned by some of the richest people on the planet who are heavily involved in partisan geopolitical actions around the globe

    Two. Most people do place a status on the “news” in private media and give it a credibility that is misplaced due to the lack of knowledge around media ownership and associated conflicts of interest which render their news entirely subjective.

    Three. The Fair Trading Act outlaws misleading and deceptive conduct in trade.

    In light of the above three facts it seems to me there should be an obligation of disclosure on private media to outline their ownership and that ownership’s various interests….. Front page, full details, full history, links in support…

    Otherwise it is a terrible joke.

  3. James Thrace 3

    “Stuff the Nation” you quote. Is that a Freudian slip or what from Thompson? If not, it’s certainly rather apropos of what Fairfax are perceived to view the Nation as. STUFF THE NATION indeed.

  4. James Thrace 4

    Vto: You will find that the Fair Trading Act is unlikely to cover fictional news stories published by papers. That’s for the journalism council, if one has teeth and even exists anymore.
    Nay, the best thing to do is order a breakup of the monopoly of print media. Nationalise the printing presses. Allow local newspapers to print for pennies at the govt owned printing presses. Get back to local papers. NZH, Press, Waikato/Otago Times and Dom would still be daily metro papers, but the rest would local. Then, and maybe then, we might get some critical discourse in this Nation.

    After all, NZME and Fairfax between them have editorial control of 89% of the local rags.

    • vto 4.1

      The Fair Trading Act is very wide reaching and certainly catches the media. It catches everyone and everything. Everyone and everything except the politicians funnily enough – politicians are the only ones permitted by law to engage in misleading and deceptive conduct.

      If a media outlet holds itself out as objective but is not then it is in breach of the Act. So how easy is this to establish? Do they hold themselves out as objective? Yes. Are they objective? No.

      Done

      • tracey 4.1.1

        FTA is a consumer protection vehicle (as you know). What is the loss suffered by the consumer in terms of the Act and what remedy would be applied in terms of the Act?

        What representations have they made to you before you purchased their product? You need to be able to show evidence of their claims as well as their breaches.

        What if it were free? What was your loss from their false claim? Must be quantifiable.

        https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/fair-trading-act

        “Penalties under the Act

        If a trader contravenes the unfair conduct or product safety provisions of the Act, criminal penalties may apply.

        Companies can be fined up to $600,000 and individuals up to $60,000, plus costs.

        Traders also risk being prosecuted by the Commerce Commission for failing to comply with consumer information standards and rules relating to door-to-door sales, extended warranties, layby sales and auctions. Penalties for breaches are limited to $10,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a company.

        The commission has the option of issuing an infringement notice where a trader hasn’t given consumers the required information about their rights in relation to door-to-door, extended warranty and layby sales. The maximum infringement notice fine is $2000.

        Infringement notices can also be issued for breaches of a consumer information standard and where an online trader falls to disclose that they’re “in trade”.

        Traders who contravene the Act may also face civil penalties. The range of penalties includes injunctions, orders to issue corrective advertising and awards of damages.”

        vto

        It doesn’t cost you to make a complaint, so give it a go but you first have to prove their representation to you, then that they breached it… and the damage

        • vto 4.1.1.1

          Sure, understand that and ran it through mine mind before posting. Have done battle under the FTA in the past and it is surprisingly simple.

          Representation, breach and loss is the thing being purchased – news. Representation of objectivity, breach in lack of such by way of political positions, loss being not receiving what is paid for, namely objective news. We buy te newspaper daily – out-and-out consumer. Exactly what the FTA is designed for.

  5. Sable 5

    New Zealand journalism like its Australian and UK counterparts is considered some of the most biased and trashy in the world. Personally I do give two hoots what the hacks do. I wont be reading their neo lib bullshit anytime soon.

    Want real journalism take a look at the Keiser Report on RT.

    • halfcrown 5.1

      “Want real journalism take a look at the Keiser Report on RT.”

      Well said or Cross Talk

      • Colonial Rawshark 5.1.1

        I actually wish they would make Cross Talk into a 45 minute show; it’s too short and rushed at the moment.

        I find the interviews done on Sophie & Co and Worlds Apart (both RT) also very good. And they aren’t afraid of interviewing people with a pro-US, pro-EU or pro-NATO bias either.

    • Linda 5.2

      That is a very good program and people he interviews are well informed like Chris cook predicted the oil crash Max can be over the top but he puts things in away that is understandable and he doesn’t sugar coat of santise anything

    • Phil 5.3

      New Zealand journalism like its Australian and UK counterparts is considered some of the most biased and trashy in the world.

      Hyperbole, much?

      Look at some of the blatantly propagandist and openly corrupt activity that passes for journalism in countries ruled by African and middle eastern despots. Or the appalling conflicts of interest between Indian politicians and their media.

      New Zealand has room to improve, no doubt. But to call our journalists “some of the most biased… in the world” is to do them a terrible disservice and suggests your world view so narrow you may as well be looking through the slot in your letterbox.

    • RedLogix 5.4

      Yeah nah – the Aussie media for all it’s obvious faults is still way ahead of NZ.

  6. esoteric pineapples 6

    Just checked with a highly reliable source and they say there was a dispute over editorial control between Murphy and Hastings.

    As for Phil Kitchen – funny choice to go from being an investigative reporter to working for Paula Bennett, which is essentially working for John Key who has done as much as possible to neuter the media?

    • tracey 6.1

      Perhaps the pay and working conditions were better? Haven’t a few good journalists passed over to the Dark Side before?

      • saveNZ 6.1.1

        @Tracey

        The problem is there seems to be only one paid dark side.

        It’s the diversity that is missing in MSM.

        Same company connections keep popping up.

        • saveNZ 6.1.1.1

          Classic Crosby textor borg style. Take them in, and turn them into the machine of the Nats. Poor Guy he must have a really big mortgage!

  7. Colonial Rawshark 7

    Public funding of media is necessary, but insufficient.

    Publicly funded media is only a fraction of the answer. There needs to be far more to it than that, including publicly supported independent media.

    The whole package has to be structured to be independent of direct political control and political funding. The reason I say that is because we have seen how governments can utterly undermine 100% publicly funded media like the National Programme and RNZ.

    • tracey 7.1

      NZ is small, very small. Then you shrink it to journalism/media and it is even tinier. It is very hard to ensure true political independence but also be able to account for taxpayer money and its use. There are Crown Entities which are supposedly independent of MInisters but I am sure others know of very hands on Ministers in some of these entities, and Board Chairs appointments reflect the Minister’s preferred direction for the Entity. Sport has been one of these in the past. More under McCully than Mallard. Like many things it would work if both government Ministers and people appointed had ethics which they adhered to regardless of the behaviour required by law.

    • Chooky 7.2

      CR +100…agree…publicly funded …INDEPENDENT media

      • tracey 7.2.1

        and how will you ensure accountability and oversight while maintaining independence?

        • Chooky 7.2.1.1

          ….well why not independence in journalism?

          …. isn’t the judiciary supposed to be independent?…and the police?…( admittedly in the best scheme of things)

          …and the public service also used to have some measure of independence ( we are not supposed to be a banana republic)

          …..what keeps their ‘reputation’ of being independent?…appeals to independent tribunals?

          How does independent journalism (eg.the BBC and television) operate in Britain?

          • tracey 7.2.1.1.1

            Police and Justice systems are governed by regulations and laws that cover so many aspects of their daily work. Journalism far less so. Not saying it can’t be done but it would be very expensive and Farrar, right before CL was “reviewed” spread his version of the world through an unsubstantiated research project designed to make people think there is no bias in NZ media.

            • Chooky 7.2.1.1.1.1

              agree it would be difficult….but possible….the media is also governed by regulations, laws eg….libel, slander etc…

              ….they would have to make a commitment to being open and accountable and adherence to principles of journalism best practice eg….right of replies, counter interpretations, open about bias…and in final resort appeals to a tribunal.

            • Colonial Rawshark 7.2.1.1.1.2

              I don’t have all the answers but I do know that decentralising control and funding out of Wellington is critical.

  8. dukeofurl 8

    THis I found interesting from the Scoop story

    Email from Colin Espiner PR Chief at Sky City:

    “I’ve never met, spoken to or emailed Tim Murphy. Or Jane Hastings for that matter.

    The PR chief of Sky City, a former leading journalist, has NEVER spoken to the editor of the major newspaper in the same city as its major casino. ?

    Im not saying hes not telling the truth , but something doesnt make sense about that.

  9. ” If we think that matters, then a strong publicly funded media presence is the only way forward. ”

    Or we can rely on a vigilant proportion of the population (many on this site, who no doubt are not mutually exclusive of paid media and other sectors of the economy/society) along with altruistic and very time-generous moderators and host (thanks Lprent).

  10. Chooky 10

    Great Post..thanks…it is in reality a stifling of Democracy

    …in all of this there is an opportunity for online sources like the Standard to take up the gap/slack left by the abdication of responsibility of this John Key Nact government for public funding of high quality , lengthy News and Investigative journalism and Current affairs

    • Sans Cle 10.1

      This site (The Standard) proves that pure “public goods” don’t have to be publicly funded. It also got me thinking about private goods being publicly funded e.g. State house sales:privatization in general; Also, private goods are rarely privately funded (we need a mechanism to communicate new private goods e.g. Advertising, which is reliant on historic publicly funded goods through building of communication-infrastructure)….and perhaps more generally, this is the crisis that NZ’s media sector are facing: they thought their industry could be privatised completely, giving themselves a monopoly on advertising revenue…..and are kicking back against it.

  11. AmaKiwi 11

    In the 1970’s Woodward and Bernstein were the Washington Post reporters who unearthed Nixon’s Watergate crimes, which permeated the highest levels of the US government. It took them SIX months of investigating before they produced their first printable story.

    It is unimaginable that today a privately owned / for profit news company would fund two reporters for six months without them producing a useable single story.

    Investigative journalism has changed. I have no idea if anything will replace it. Big Brother is not complaining.

    • tc 11.1

      yes and the amount of resources required behind just one TV current affairs reporter is a similar situation, researchers, producers, crew, lawyers to ensure libel and other laws aren’t breached and stories can take months also.

      There is no payback in terms of ads/sponsors for quality news and current affairs so it has to be done as a publicly funded independant service.

      Abbotts is now attacking ABC/SBS as they call it like it is and western govts can’t have that anymore.

      you want quality and objective reporting then it has to be isolated from all commercial/profit based influences.

    • saveNZ 11.2

      +1

      It is all part of the plan to rid society of decency and replace it with consumerism and fluff on the surface and mass surveillance and control underneath.

      Those speaking out about injustice (i.e. normal journalism) are out.

      The fluff doctor CEO’s redesigning this media landscape are ex entertainment managers, cinemas, travel agents, movie production, stock brokers, gambling, (if you can consider it entertainment).

      The brokers aka John Key are selling out the country while the MSM entertains us.

  12. James 12

    3 News certainly doesn’t do what Campbell Live does. Looking at their RSS feed just now, they have seven sports-related articles and three local news articles. The only unusual aspect is that normally half of them are entertainment-related, examining the lives and careers of important figures such as Miley Cyrus and Jay Z. Since MediaWorks NZ is owned by an Australian private equity firm which is necessarily more interested in pursuing dollars than “stories which matter”, their indifference to investigative journalism is only natural.

    …[A] strong publicly funded media presence is the only way forward.

    Let’s not forget that “publicly funded” needn’t mean “taxpayer funded”. Media Lens has an interesting perspective on the subject:

    Many readers are aware, on some level, that the profit motive distorts and cheapens every last thing offered by a ‘mainstream’ media system that in fact represents the extreme viewpoint of 0.1% of the population.

    Any given journalist might not give a damn about antagonising the White House, BP, or the Royal Family, but he or she knows that the host media does and must care. So all corporate media output marinades in an environment of ‘caution’, ‘respectability’ and self-preservational second-guessing. ‘Je suis Charlie Hebdo’ aside, write or say anything construed as ‘offensive’ or ‘outrageous’ by the wrong people, and a vast state-corporate, reputational wrecking ball can be mobilised. Anyone can be made a pariah, and journalists and corporate media entities cannot afford the consequences. . . .

    It may sound like wild fantasy, but we can imagine a collective of high-profile writers and journalists willing to detach themselves from corporate and state media, and to place themselves entirely at the mercy of the public.

    Two points would be absolutely key for the success of such an initiative: journalistic output should be completely free of charge to the public, a gift; and it should be openly presented as a declaration of intellectual war on the corporate media. Not in any vindictive way – the intention would be to offer an example of honest journalism based on selfless generosity as a contrast to the compromised, greed-based corporate media.

    Imagine if George Monbiot, John Pilger, Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, David Peterson, Jonathan Cook, Mark Curtis, Glenn Greenwald, Nafeez Ahmed, Robert Fisk, Naomi Klein, Russell Brand, Michael Moore, Julian Assange, Chris Hedges, Sharon Beder, Seumas Milne and others rejected the media moguls, billionaires, parent companies and advertisers, and offered their work completely free of charge from a single media outlet. Would the global public be willing to support such a group, such a cause, through donations? The answer, we think, is blindingly obvious. . . .

    We believe the internet makes the global outreach and required level of donations achievable. The support would be vast, if the journalism was free, and if it offered a genuine, uncompromising challenge to the corporate stranglehold.

    • tracey 12.1

      Thanks for that perspective. Appreciate it in light of “conversation” going on higher up.

  13. Rolf 13

    Dying media is nothing specific for New Zeeland. The problem is all the time, “who pay the piper chose the tune”. If the funding is public, the politicians will be in like a rocket to protect themselves and get their version out and the same for officials. This was the Soviet and the early Chinese model. A paper like the Herald does not publish anything unless they have the writer’s home address. “We know where you live mate, you don’t say anything wrong will you, you may get unpleasant visits”. The way to go is to protect the writers, private people and journalists, from powerful people who today use methods as “defamation” lawsuits, threats from officials, invent “regulations”, using the courts as leverage, then find ways for them to get the message out, without being threatened and at the same time make web media financially and technically accessible.

  14. Maui 14

    “According to inside sources the driving force behind this has been the rise of Stuff the Nation as a priority for the organisation”

    Geez-ez, so let’s use ordinary kiwis to write stories on what they think is important in their everyday lives as the basis for a news/entertainment organisation. Do readers seriously give a sht about what their neighbour thinks about what is wrong with the police, or how they got their baby through teething. Makes me want to run far, far away.

  15. saveNZ 15

    Jane Hastings – the same companies and connections keep popping up

    Hastings joined TRN as chief executive in September 2012 from Amalgamated Holdings where she was general manager, entertainment Australia and New Zealand.

    Hastings was previously general manager group sales, marketing and cinemas at Sky City Entertainment Group.

    Oh NO, no wonder news is now considered entertainment – we thought it was just John Key but now CEO of NZME previous experience is running cinemas (think Warners) and Gambling.

    We don’t need news! People might start to know what is going on!

    They sure as hell don’t want real journalists either!

  16. Hateatea 16

    The opinion of our esteemed (!) Prime Minister on publicly funded broadcasting / television
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/67802231/key-would-people-watch-publicly-funded-broadcast-tv

    The fact that television in the New Zealand that I grew up in was serviced only by publicly funded TVNZ or whatever it was originally called, says that New Zealanders did and would watch it.

    It was that that gave us Brian Edwards and the Forsyte Saga as well as Peyton Place and Fair Go.

    I watched Prime Ministers, Ministers of Labour called to account and a very young Winston Peters discuss the Hunua recount.

    It was the drive to make our public broadcasters pay their way that has led us to the place we are now where pleasing the advertisers view of demographics is more important than quality, variety, topicality and honesty.

  17. Phil 17

    television in the New Zealand that I grew up in was serviced only by publicly funded TVNZ or whatever it was originally called, says that New Zealanders did and would watch it.

    Aye, there’s the rub… You grew up in a New Zealand serviced only by publicly funded television because there was ONLY publicly funded television in New Zealand.

    Communication costs, both in terms of an individual’s access as well as the cost of production, have fallen dramatically in the last few decades and the number of mediums we can use to access media have exploded.

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    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    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
    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 ...
    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
    7 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
    12 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
    14 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
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 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
    6 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
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    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 ...
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  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    7 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,” ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    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 ...
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  • 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 ...
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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