The whiff of corruption follows McCully around

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, April 19th, 2016 - 89 comments
Categories: accountability, corruption, national - Tags: , , ,

Odd isn’t it how the whiff of corruption follows McCully around – ‘Numerous donations’ by hotel founder to National Party, but no conflict

During the 2014 election, Scenic Hotel Group founder Earl Hagaman donated $101,000 to the National Party. A month later, the company won a contract to manage the Niuean Matavai Resort, heavily funded by the New Zealand government. Last year, $7.5 million in aid funding was announced to expand the resort.

A clear conflict of interest.

A hotel group that won a contract to run a Niue resort has denied any conflict, despite its founder making “numerous donations” to political parties.

“I mean, it’s not first time he’s donated to the National Party and he’s made quite numerous donations to the ACT party over the years as well.

“From the hotel’s perspective, we’re politically neutral. We actually don’t play any bias towards any political parties.”

Made similar donations to Labour and The Greens? The claim of no bias is laughable.

A conflict of interest “is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial interest, or otherwise, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of the individual or organization.” Clearly the motivation of the National Party could possibly have been corrupted by a $101,000 donation. The denials are as worthless as the claims of neutrality.

89 comments on “The whiff of corruption follows McCully around ”

  1. Keith 1

    The stench of corruption is coming from the National Party. McCully is merely a loyal drone in the organisation doing as he is told.

    • ianmac 1.1

      McCully has the reputation for going off on his own agenda. Remember as soon as he became Foreign Minister, his stopping the Pacific Welfare fund and choosing to back chosen businesses like the Scenic Hotel Group. Robbing the people to pay a few. Same approach as the IMF in Vietnam post-war. The most that the Vietnamese locals got out of the upmarket hotels, was as gardeners and laundry staff.

    • whateva next? 1.2

      Exactly what I was going to say too. +1 Keith

  2. Rolfcopter 2

    I’d suggest seeking comment from Ross Ardern… I’m sure he could clear it all up for you.

    Contact his daughter to set it all up.

    • jbc 2.1

      I think in all the excitement of the chase, this little detail has been overlooked.

    • leftie 2.2

      Why Rolfcopter? Whats he got to do with McCully shoulder tapping one of National’s donors for a multi million dollar govt contract?

      • Smilin 2.2.1

        It appears to me that the Gnats do nothing by the book of Democracy or the laws of accountability only that which accommodates the free market which detests govts of any kind telling them what they can do

  3. Rosie 3

    Great to hear on rnz this morning that the Labour Party have asked the Auditor General to investigate. Good to get the ball rolling. Now perhaps sources of mainstream news, might actually pay attention and report on it. There was no mention on shrub or stuffed of this amazingly dodgy series of two linked events.

    Or is this this behaviour is so commonplace now that it doesn’t warrant a mention?

  4. Myrtle 4

    Definitely the smell of corruption here which worries me. What worries me more is the continued lack of response from the NZ population at large – ponytail pulling, flag embarrassment, Saudi sheep deal, Oravida corruption and more – this is becoming the norm and it seems that National and John Key is loved more and more.

    • adam 4.2

      Myrtle

      It’s only about a third of the population which are hard core National party fanatics. Only about a third of the population that accept amoral behaviour, as normal.

      So it’s not a bad figure when you think about it. It’s not the 55% you read in the papers or see on the TV, it is actually a smaller figure. It is only about a third.

      But if history tell us anything, a third of the population can do some really really bad things.

      • NZJester 4.2.1

        Actually it is less than a third of the population.
        It is only a third of the eligible voters.
        There is a large proportion of the population not eligible to vote as they are below the legal voting age or in prison.

        Those running small to medium sized businesses in New Zealand are screwing their own businesses by voting National.
        Under National a lot of their potential customers do not have the money to buy the goods they sell so while they pay less tax on their profits, the loss in profits are more than the money saved from the tax cuts National bribed them with.
        National believes in trickle-down economics that has been shown not to work as the rich spend none of the extra cash they get and the economy goes stagnant.
        Put the money into the hands of the workers however and it all gets spent working its way up the chain so that businesses get the capital they need to grow and the customers to support that growth and the economy is no longer stagnant.

        • Sabine 4.2.1.1

          this:
          Those running small to medium sized businesses in New Zealand are screwing their own businesses by voting National.

          one of the reasons i give when asked why i don’t vote for National is simply that, I need customers that have discretionary income and well with Income Inflation, high rents, increased GST, and the likes people have no money left for discretionary spending.

          But it’s all good, rich people can buy up some more houses, surely that wealth will trickle down on us, in the form of an Accomodation Supplement maybe?

          • Colonial Viper 4.2.1.1.1

            NZ business owners ain’t dumb. Why is it that Labour have never explained this alternative economics to them?

            • Sabine 4.2.1.1.1.1

              actually mate, this business owner is Labour because its in her interest.

              so go cry a river elsewhere, i have no use for you.

            • Smilin 4.2.1.1.1.2

              Alternative economics? isnt that what happened when JK got elected ?Total free market control and paying themselves to bs the nation that it was all necessary -120 billion in debt 4 ever

            • Colonial Viper 4.2.1.1.1.3

              You may think that your fellow SME owners are dumb, but actually, they ain’t.

              Or maybe it is because you are arrogant enough to think that you know your fellow SME owners best interests better than they do.

              You don’t.

        • Expat 4.2.1.2

          NZJester

          A perfect observation of the real world economics for small businesses in NZ, and as Sabine confirms, high unemployment has a negative impact on small businesses and ends up flowing through the whole economy, increasing unemployment, and so the spiral continues on, relatively low pay rates exasperate the situation.

          Historical, global economic data for the last 200 years and across 40 countries, clearly shows that economies have been the most prosperous during periods where wealth distribution to the “many” has prevailed, and the funny thing is, the businesses also increase their profits, a win win for all, the only thing holding us back is the ideology of trickle-down, which they know doesn’t work, but there are great financial benefits for a few privileged.

          • Colonial Viper 4.2.1.2.1

            well, there is no political ideology in NZ which makes these distinctions, and which is happy to make a clear statement that the top 0.1% are earning too much while the bottom 80% are earning too little.

            • Expat 4.2.1.2.1.1

              Oh, Dunedin must be a very, very, very small town, or are you one of the privileged few, certainly the Nats made the distinction back in 2010 when they altered the TAX regime, which gave a distinct advantage to a few, or do you disagree with that.

              • Colonial Viper

                Did you read my comment? It said that there is no alternative political ideology to the one National is selling right now. At best there are mildly different versions of it.

          • Smilin 4.2.1.2.2

            Yes trickle down is the opposite in fact a ruddy great dam liable to burst

      • Colonial Viper 4.2.2

        But if history tell us anything, a third of the population can do some really really bad things.

        Come on mate, what the fuck. Are you going to compare this third of voting kiwis with those people who helped Mussolini or Hitler or Lenin or Mao Tse Tung take power?

        • alwyn 4.2.2.1

          “Are you going to compare this third of voting kiwis with those people who helped Mussolini or Hitler …..”.
          He just did CV. An idiot to be sure but I think he really does think that way.

          • Colonial Viper 4.2.2.1.1

            I know very good, very smart people who vote National. The Left appears to be losing touch with what politically motivates people in this country, turning ordinary Kiwis with different political views into some kind of caricatures to be taken the piss out of.

        • adam 4.2.2.2

          Actually I was trying to avoid a Godwin.

          And when did I start speaking for the left?

          My point is, a small groups of people can do bad things at the expense of the rest of society. When we have an electoral system which is effectively anti democratic it will always be a small group of people doing what they like.

          In times past, but maybe you don’t remember, when someone won an election they ruled for the whole country, not just their faction. And if that means I’m out of touch – so be it.

          • BM 4.2.2.2.1

            John Key is probably the most centered PM we’ve ever had.

            The fact that you can’t see that speak volumes about how politically blinded you are.

            • Expat 4.2.2.2.1.1

              BM

              “John Key is probably the most centered PM we’ve ever had.”

              I suppose if you call a pony tail pulling PM as being centered, but normalising this behavior only serves to lower morality of the whole of society, but then who needs morality any way, right.

              • BM

                This pony tailing pulling has been completely blown out of proportion, I realize it’s probably not one of his best moments, but, It’s not like he did anything really freaky.

                No offence to the woman involved but she’s just one of the thousands of people the PM meets every week, he probably didn’t actually realize he’d done it before.

                • Smilin

                  You really are takin the piss in such a right wing bitch of a way .Whats your next line dont hit me ?

                • Expat

                  BM

                  ” but, It’s not like he did anything really freaky”

                  You can’t be serious, it must be the normalising.

                  “No offence to the woman involved but she’s just one of the thousands of people the PM meets every week”

                  Some of the victims were young girls, not women, but hey, that’s not really freaky, is it, at least, not for a PM.

            • UncookedSelachimorpha 4.2.2.2.1.2

              KDSDS

            • Whateva next? 4.2.2.2.1.3

              Self centred

    • MARY_A 4.3

      @ Myrtle (4) Absolutely agree.

      You say in your final comment ” … and it seems that National and John Key is loved more and more.”

      Is he?

      Or is what we are being told and expected to believe?

      Subliminal manipulation of the citizenry’s thought processes more like it!

      • whateva next? 4.3.1

        And I would love understand exactly how this “polling” lark works, such power for such irrelevant data, which seems to sway those who “aren’t sure who to vote for”

  5. roy cartland 5

    Of course they’re corrupt – how else could they stay in power? They simply do not represent the best outcome for most people.

  6. Pete 6

    The PM every now and then utters his famous words, “The people “aren’t silly.”

    So there’s a pile of horseshit. It looks like that, it smells like that, you poke a stick in it and it acts like that. And McCully and Co. say it’s a lovely pavlova, all tasty and sweet.

    The PM every now also utters his famous words about being, “Open and transparent.”

    So I’m not silly and to me it’s openly transparent that the Niuean Matavai Resort business is a load of horseshit.

  7. alwyn 7

    The Labour Party is going to have an interesting time if they try and follow their new found principles should they become the Government at some time in the future.
    They will have to refuse to negotiate employment conditions with any union which makes donations to them. I presume the seamen on the Cook Strait ferries are represented by the Maritime Union. Obviously we will have to regard any improvement in their pay as being a pay-off for the donations the union has made to the Labour Party. Corruption in other words. No negotiations with your union, comrades.
    I wonder if they get anything from the PSA or the Education unions?

    On the other hand I suppose Grant, who is likely to be the leader before they ever get back into Government will find some reason to see it as “different” than Little Andy seems to pretend.

    I think the only reason Labour is bellowing about this is that they are trying to scare the hell out of anyone thinking of donating to National. Make a donation and we will smear you is their philosophy. They hope that they can then drive National out of the game.

    • ropata 7.1

      As usual, the Nat fanatic has no moral justification for the latest scandal, and goes off on a rant against Labour

      • alwyn 7.1.1

        The only actual scandal here is a typical Labour Party response of throwing smears around and trying to destroy the reputation of anyone who doesn’t worship them.
        Just like Little and his smear of John Shewan in Parliament the other day. Andy has clearly been taking lessons from Trevor Mallard, hasn’t he?

        • Draco T Bastard 7.1.1.1

          There’s no smears being thrown around – just very, very valid questions.

          • alwyn 7.1.1.1.1

            Yes dear. You stick to your beliefs, weird though they may be.

            • The Other Mike 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Do you EVER address the content in the OP? Or just come here to type BS anti Labour Party rants?

              Seems so.

              Just another effing troll.

              • alwyn

                The person who made the original post brought up the other parties, in particular the Labour Party and the Greens. They appeared to be complaining when they said
                “Made similar donations to Labour and The Greens? The claim of no bias is laughable.”

                They then talked about conflicts of interest.
                “Clearly the motivation of the National Party could possibly have been corrupted by a $101,000 donation”.
                I am merely curious how, should they get back into power, they are going to handle their own conflicts of interest if negotiations between the Government and Unions take place?

                • Draco T Bastard

                  What sort of negotiations take place between government and unions?

                  I’m pretty sure that none of the unions run hotels.

                  • alwyn

                    “What sort of negotiations take place between government and unions”.
                    Pay negotiations you silly boy.
                    I would assume that members of the Maritime Union, who were quite generous in their donations to the Labour Party, represent the crews of the Railway’s owned Cook Strait Ferries.
                    Conversation “We’ll give you $100,000 toward your election fund. In return we expect all our members to get 10% pay increases next year”. “Done, we need the money”.
                    I think the probability of it happening is exactly on a par with the probability of what people here are fantasizing about having occurred.
                    I doubt if Jacinda and her father are terribly amused though.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Last time I looked, the government doesn’t actually have anything to do with setting the wages of Kiwirail’s workers.

                      Whereas the government does directly appoint who’s getting money directly from the government to run a government subsidised hotel.

                      So, what we have here is you trying to build up a false equivalence so that you can scream LABOUR DID IT TOOOOOOOO!!!!

                      You’re pathetic really.

                    • alwyn

                      You really are stupid aren’t you?
                      You claim “Whereas the government does directly appoint who’s getting money directly from the government to run a government subsidised hotel”
                      The Government appointed a committee who chose the organisation who got the contract to run the hotel. They included the current High Commissioner to Niue and a very senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with a former High Commissioner Mark Blumsky.
                      At KiwiRail the Government appoints a Board of Directors who are responsible for the activities of the company, including the wages and salaries paid.
                      In neither case is the Minister directly involved.

                      You then claim that I am somehow doing this so “that you can scream LABOUR DID IT TOOOOOOOO”.
                      I have never done that have I? I am merely pointing out that if Little is claiming corruption in this case he will have to either accept that accepting donations from organisations dealing with any part of the Government means he is guilty of corruption or he will have to refuse all such contributions.

                      There isn’t any corruption in the hotel situation. The only whiff of corruption is the dreadful smell arising from the fast decomposing body of yet another failed Labour leader. He is sitting there in Parliament awaiting the final dagger in the back from Gracinda.

                      You’re pathetic really.

        • ropata 7.1.1.2

          Bizarre stuff. The masters of dirty politics & smear attacks are on the 9th floor of the Beehive, you seem to be projecting your (lack of) morals onto others.

          Labour is doing its job of _opposition_ and calling the govt to account. I know people like you don’t like sunlight.

      • Draco T Bastard 7.1.2

        +1

        A rant that doesn’t even connect to the topic except through, painful, illogical, convoluted spin.

  8. Puckish Rogue 8

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11624603

    The Matavai is owned by the Niue Tourism Property Trust on behalf of the Government of Niue, which owned the resort before then. That arrangement was put in place in 2011 to ensure oversight of the aid investment New Zealand was putting in. Mr McCully appoints the trustees who are Ross Ardern (NZ’s High Commissioner to Niue and father of Labour MP Jacinda Ardern), Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy secretary Jonathan Kings and former High Commissioner Mark Blumsky, who was formerly a National MP and now lives in Niue.

    Throw enough mud and hope some of it sticks…bit Dirty of Labour but its not like its unusual for them

    • adam 8.1

      yes dear

    • Magisterium 8.2

      …Mr McCully appoints the trustees who are Ross Ardern (NZ’s High Commissioner to Niue and father of Labour MP Jacinda Ardern)…

      aaaaaand there it is. Every time.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 8.2.1

        I’m curious as to how you think he’d know about a $100k donation to the National Party.

    • Keith 8.3

      A 100k donationn at least to the National Party by a very astute businessman who is then awarded a multi million deal by National was actually revealed by RNZ and on its own it stinks like a rotten corpse. On top of every other dodgy dirty deal done by National it is well past mere coincidence! Its now an episode from The Sopranos. Labour have quite rightly picked up on it, why the hell wouldn’t they?

      And I’ve got to love the deflection to Jacinda Aderns father. Did he get paid off too because if so he should be facing the music but somehow that’s just fuel to the fire for this damning behaviour. But one thing is for sure, anyone like Adern, who is associating with National will be thinking right now is why they got the job!

      Corruption is not acceptable or tolerable or something anyone should turn a blind eye to. Why do Nat suppoters see no evil here?

      • Puckish Rogue 8.3.1

        Because, as of yet, there is no corruption here. Why do lefties believe you don’t have to prove anything as long as you have enough allegations?

        Now if corruption has been shown then you and all the other mouth breathers will have a point but if nothing comes out will the lefties apologise?

        Doubtful

        • ropata 8.3.1.1

          there is a sordid pattern here that’s obvious to everyone but you

        • Stuart Munro 8.3.1.2

          As you know perfectly well PR, McCully as a cabinet minister is required to be consoicuously proper in his dealings: not merely not corrupt, but demonstrably not corrupt.

          Here is an anomalous payment and a massive pro quo apparently for that quid. It lies with McCully to demonstrate that it is not another instance of the bribery which he has chosen as his hallmark.

          Bribing Shane Jones to leave Labour (bit of an own goal frankly)
          Bribing a sheik on the forlorn hope of a free trade deal
          and now overpaying for hotel management.

          Are you really desperate enough to claim McCully didn’t recognise the impropriety? Hard to believe the dirtiest party ever would know dirt when it saw it.

          McCully Nuie.

      • Nick K 8.3.2

        Except……..the contract wasn’t awarded by the government.

        • Stuart Munro 8.3.2.1

          Direct from Cabinet Club then?

          Just when you think the Gnats could stoop no lower they’re out there limbo dancing under snake’s bellies in wagon ruts.

  9. Puckish Rogue 9

    Due c’mon you gotta be quicker than that, I mean a half our difference in posting just makes you look like one of my groupies 🙂

  10. McFlock 10

    Dunno what Scenic Circle is on about.

    The CoI has nothing to do with them – it’s whether McCully’s appointees had any motive in giving preference to a business owned by a major tory donor.

  11. Magisterium 11

    Ahahahaha one mention of Jacinda Ardern’s connection to the Niue deal and everything comes to a screaming halt.

    COMMENCE OPERATION SWEEP-UNDER-CARPET

    • McFlock 11.1

      Nah, people like to have lunch without dealing with unnecessary stupidity.

      You’re a legend in your own mind.

    • Tautoko Mangō Mata 11.2

      Altogether now…….
      Chorus
      Labour did it too, mate
      Labour did it too.
      We inherited it from Labour
      So what else could we do?
      If ever we’re in trouble
      And the news has turned to pooh
      Then it’s time to plug the same old line
      “Labour did it too!”

    • Draco T Bastard 11.3

      But we’re not actually talking about an Jacinda Adern connection. The connection is with her father and I’d be surprised that they even talked about it.

      The other person on the board is an ex-National MP which gives us two connections to National. That connection makes the corruption even more probable.

  12. whispering kate 12

    I agree with Keith about the stench which follows McCully around, it happens too often, the Saudi deal was corrupt and still hasn’t been resolved and the truth revealed. Now with the Nuie deal with the resort. If the founder of Scenic Hotel Group had no idea about the contract does he not have any oversight on what is going on , he shouldn’t be allowed to be in control of a business. It seems Hagaman is doing what the PM does, doesn’t want anything which is dodgy touching him so he “sees nothing and knows nothing”. And the donation of $100K, nobody gives a donation to a political party and doesn’t expect kick backs of some kind. How dodgy is that. The MSM need a kick up the proverbial and should be ripping this disgusting deal apart. Some hope.

    Old cynical cops/dectectives always agree and say that there are no coincidences in crimes, where there is smoke there is fire. How they are going to cover all this corruption up beggars belief. Deflect with stupid sound bites like the “first family” in China in the news and paper probably, like they always do.

  13. Repateet 13

    Are all MPs responsible for their parents?

    Carmel Sepuloni got it in the neck for what her mother did. Now Jacinda Arden is being dragged into something because her father is associated with a deal in Niue which has had questions asked about it.

    And some cretins are trying to distract from the issue by implying if any crap has gone on, through that Arden link it somehow casts aspersions on the Labour Party and minimises any wrong doing there might be from National party people.

  14. Once Was Tim (and in fact never was Tim) 14

    “The whiff of corruption follows McCully around”

    Christ Almighty – it goes a frikken sight deeper than McCully who probably only succumbed to his own naivety, aided and abetted by that Chez Longe upholstery material cladded vixen; know-it-all member of something we used to call a 4th Estate – now more aptly described as the ass-licking Thorndon bubble press gang. (Most of whom don’t/can’t see the medium/long term). Just another Rosemary McCluck lookalike aspiring to claim their rights to a higher class (otherwise known as social climbing wankers)

    …… NOW we have our dearest Leader, John Key (side-by-side with knock-kneed Adonis son Mex – whose beauteous presence pervades as much social media as he and his acolytes can muster) suggesting he’s ‘open’ to an extradition treaty (provided of course, ewwmun roights britches en the deth penty don’t figure in such an arrangement).
    Apparently there are 50 on a list (that is 50 that are known of presumably)

    They reap what they sow. I wonder jst hear relexed he’s gunna b when he reterns home on Earforce 1. (John – you really must get that 757 repainted!)

  15. Mathew 15

    No surprise here re corruption. McCully is currently aware that there is a cop at the Bangkok embassy who was arrested in nz and was allowed to leave by the police without going to court. He has done nothing, despite all of the noise he made over the Malaysian diplomat

  16. Magisterium 16

    One almost feels sorry for Little now. So many own goals, so many bombs going off in his face.

    Jessica Mutch: How do you think the trustees were involved in this, one of them obviously the father of one of your front bench MPs? How do you think he’s implicated in this?

    Andrew Little: Well the issue isn’t the trustees, I don’t care about the trustees, what I care about is the fact that somebody who donated over a hundred thousand dollars to the National Party one month later gets a contract to run a hotel and then several months later gets seven and a half million dollars. That’s got to be investigated.

    Jessica Mutch: You’re saying that you don’t care about the trustees but yesterday you did say that you’ve got all the trustees appointed by the Minister, you were questioning their position of being there. Has that changed now that the attention has come that it is Jacinda Ardern’s father ?

    Andrew Little: There is only one issue here and that is a large donor to the National Party…

    Jessica Mutch: How do you feel about indirectly implicating and some would say smearing the father of one of your front bench MPs?

    Andrew Little: Well apart from that being one of the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, I would be failing in my duty as the leader of the opposition if having seen a large donor to the National Party…

    Jessica Mutch: You did say though that the deal stinks, do you not think that that reflects poorly on him?

    Andrew Little: The fact that a large donor to the National Party donated over a hundred thousand dollars…

    Jessica Mutch: Was it an oversight, did you forget about the link with Jacinda Ardern’s father? Did you know about it yesterday when you came out so strongly and spoke about it?

    Andrew Little: I would be failing in my duty as the leader of the opposition if I didn’t actually draw attention to and ask for an assurance about a donor to the National Party donating…

    Jessica Mutch: Isn’t it messy though that Jacinda Ardern’s father is involved in this?

    Andrew Little: New Zealanders are entitled to an assurance from this Government when one of their biggest donors gets a Government contract a month later…

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/answer-question-mr-little-labour-leader-gets-repetitive-wont-straight-ardern-link

    • framu 16.1

      im keen to hear how this link to the labour party via an MPs father has any significance

      cmon – explain it. Why does it matter so much that you and others are focusing on that?

      • Magisterium 16.1.1

        Andrew Little just accused a NZ High Commissioner of corruption. That’s, you know, a Thing. The fact that the commissioner is also the father of one of a front-bench Labour MP is just a bonus.

        Once again, Labour leadership looks like it just races shit out the door half-finished, half-thought-out, with implications and consequences never considered.

        HEY WE’RE NOT SAYING THAT THE HIGH COMMISSIONER STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN, WE’RE JUST PUTTING IT OUT THERE, WE JUST WANT TO HAVE A DISCUSSION

        • One Anonymous Bloke 16.1.1.1

          What would the HC know about the National Party’s corrupt arrangements? This comes back on McCully and his sleazy money-laundering boss.

        • framu 16.1.1.2

          why is labour and jacinda ardern responsible for the actions of her father?

          why are you and so many others latching on to what is probably the smallest issue in this case?

          its pathetic

  17. Descendant Of Sssmith 17

    Ahh the influence of both Kinloch and McCully surely resulted in this:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/5055820/Queries-over-2-4m-parenting-contract

    http://werewolf.co.nz/2012/04/public-office-private-gain/

    Wonder what research has been done into the effectiveness of these courses. I’m still waiting for mine to arrive.

    And of course their was PEDA as well.

    http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/06/new-zealand-govts-4-8-million-package-for-pacific-eda-questioned/

    and there’s putting an irrigation system by Amy Adams farms, the port infrastructure being built on Carter land, the p[re-election threat of sacking Ecan, …………..

    Co-incidences all.

    Maybe this needs updating from depression to corruption.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HVogejKx_c

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    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
    3 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
    6 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
    7 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
    7 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
    7 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
    8 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
    9 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
    11 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
    23 hours 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
    1 day 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
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day 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
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • 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
    5 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
    7 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
    7 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
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
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  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
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