To arms!

Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, October 18th, 2014 - 49 comments
Categories: iraq, labour, Syria, war - Tags:

To arms!

  1. We are about go to war partnered with multiple armies, none of whom is a champion of any of our democratic values of fairness, equality, human rights, or impartial justice. The war has no clear objectives, no extraction plan, and there are no threats to our national interests. We will follow the USA, whose 22 years of Middle East wars have all been unmitigated disasters.
  2. One in ten of us is about to be evicted from our state house home and put into the streets. (Guessing an average of 6 occupants per state house times 68,125 state houses equals 409,000 dispossessed.)

We talk about Labour’s needs for policies and leadership.

Four people vie for Labour’s leadership but none speaks out, at least not loud enough to get the mainstream media’s attention.

Enough words! We need an action plan spearheaded by a credible opposition.

What must we do to halt these catastrophes?

Amakiwi

49 comments on “To arms! ”

  1. Rawmadness Natshark 1

    What do you suggest. That will do anything at all to make them behave differently. That’s legal.

    • wekarawshark 1.1

      make who behave differently?

      • Rawmadness Natshark 1.1.1

        You know, THEM, despots, dictators, National.

        I presumed by the reference to selling state houses the poster was talking about the party that intends that catastrophe. National. Although the poster could be talking Labours uselessness currently in opposition I’m more inclined to hate National first.

        • wekarawshark 1.1.1.1

          k, that THEM. I thought you might have mean the incredible opposition 😉 Or the people we need to take to the streets.

          • Rawmadness Natshark 1.1.1.1.1

            Not them, they don’t need attacking they have themselves for that. 🙂 didn’t the only general they had get booted by the cooks?

            With them squabbling the poster is right, we need action at street level this is what happens when MSM squishes the only thing keeping the ruling party in check.

            Frankly guerrilla units and blowing up substations is a nightly dream at present. Lucky for me waking and facing works, a quick draw back into reality.

  2. blue leopard 2

    Excellent post, so succinct, so to the point.

    I especially like your first point, very, very succinct.

    Is it illegal to suggest civil disobedience?

    • blue leopard 2.1

      While it may not seem entirely related I think it might be a good idea for people to be very picky about who they give their money to (where possible) companies that support war-mongering or support or spread right-wing/neo-liberal values need to be shunned. Money is all they care about, so removing their income might be good start.

      Support businesses with good attitudes, who pay their workers well.

      Do not be silent when people you know express mindless propaganda. Do not be rude or cross, just gently inform them or challenge their assumptions.

      I plan to write to my Labour electorate MP and tell them how unhappy I am with the way Labour MPs have behaved since the election.

      If everyone started doing this type of thing, things could shift.

      Not saying larger, more organised actions aren’t required, am just making suggestions that people can start doing straight away.

    • “Civil disobedience is not our problem. Civil Obedience is” Howard Zinn

  3. Ad 3

    There is nothing you can do to stop it.

    Don’t burn out on a sisyphean and thankless task.

    • Ad that is a counsel of despair that would have left us in the stone age.
      There certainly is something that can be done about it.
      The Left needs to coordinate its activities and organise.
      I don’t mean only the Labour Party left but Mana and the left in the Greens.
      If Little gets elected it will be because the membership and affiliates outvotes the ABCs in caucus. That will reflect a mandate from the membership and the unions to focus on the needs of Labour’s traditional base – the blue collar working class.
      Opening up a policy debate on the economy, jobs, conditions, pay, taxes etc is the best way to start.
      It means defining what workers need to happen rather than have the constant refrain “funds allowing” dictated by the neo-liberals and Treasury.
      If Little insists on Caucus appointing Mahuta on pain of being demoted or even kicked out of the cabinet lineup, that strengthens the focus on workers needs as Maori are concentrated in the working class.
      ABC holdouts need to be backbenched and de-selected.
      Whatever middle class NZ thinks of this is beside the point, they are in Key’s camp anyway.
      It is the disenfranchised working class who have to be encouraged back into the unions and politics.
      In other words Labour needs to return to Labour and cease conciliating with Capital.
      Of course if either Parker or Robertson win the leadership, then the Left may wither and Labour get stuck in the swamp of middle NZ to die.
      But even that would not justify a counsel of despair.
      Before the Labour Party came along to put a dampener on the labour movement in 1916, there was as Red Fed that emerged out of the Arbitration unions to take direct industrial action to win workers demands.
      So long as Capital needs Labour for its profits, Labour has the potential to organise and demand its fair share, and failing that, take over production and plan it for need and not profit.
      Like the stone age, catastrophe in our age will not be met with resignation.

    • Colonial Rawshark 3.2

      There is nothing you can do to stop it.

      Don’t burn out on a sisyphean and thankless task.

      It is a moral duty to let the decision makers know the vent of our civil displeasure.

      • Ad 3.2.1

        Protesting about the world means you are not in power.
        Better to choose a work/that can change the world.

        Marx’s sentiment still holds that the point is not merely to interpret the world, the point is to change it.

        • Colonial Rawshark 3.2.1.1

          Hard to pick if you’re in an idealistic mood, or a pessimistic mood these days.

          You change the world by resisting and minimising the damage and the rate of damage that the power elite can do to us. Today, tomorrow, ten years from now. Chile, South Africa, East Germany, Argentina, Burma, all have such stories of resistance.

          Or is the dream to become the power elite ourselves, or to overthrow them and replace them with another?

          If one truly wanted to change the world, I am fairly confident that party politics is a poor way of doing it. I suspect that Marx would agree (never having ever formally studied Marx).

        • blue leopard 3.2.1.2

          What you say isn’t any reason not to protest, Ad

          I think your idea re choosing work that helps change the world is a good one, but why does protesting and having an ethical job have to be mutually exclusive?

          I really don’t know what is going on in this country – the lack of logic that people are basing their arguments on is becoming distressing to me.

          I am guessing this is symptomatic of a highly propagandized population.

          The ability to challenge those holding power is one of the strengths of the democratic system. Please, there is no debating that. It is a fact.

          Sadly, I fear we are fast losing this strength because so many people appear to be of the view that protest and challenging power is an aberration.

          Ten words to remember:

          >>That.We.Can.Protest.Is.A.Strength.Of.Our.System<<

  4. Tracey 4

    marching made us nuclear free

    marching got us homosexual law reform

    but enough have to care. we need leaders who make us care

  5. Dex 5

    There might be no threat to our national interest, but that sort of selfish, insular attitude is at odds with our wider obligation we have simply as humans to not sit back and watch thousands of innocents get massacred by fanatics.

    So what do you propose we do instead?

    • blue leopard 5.1

      @ Dex,

      Yes, you are correct, we should have acted long ago over the fanatics who have been creating the problem for decades by destroying thousands of innocent peoples’ lives and cultures.

      We shouldn’t have remained silent over these actions:

      http://williamblum.org/books/rogue-state

      http://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope

      I’m really unsure how we can help this problem now, but I think we should be extremely cautious about joining in with the people who have been creating massive problems for so many.

    • AmaKiwi 5.2

      There IS a threat to our national interest.

      Try to imagine yourself in the position of a Muslim from the Middle East. Your country/region has been exploited by Europeans for over a century. In the past 22 years their leader, the USA, has left an unimaginable path of death and destruction.

      You don’t have their high tech weapons, but you do have guerrilla freedom fighters willing to commit suicide to kill them.

      New Zealand joins the fight and New Zealanders become fair game. I would say that is clearly a threat to our citizens.

    • Colonial Rawshark 5.3

      So what do you propose we do instead?

      1) “bombing for peace” is a stupid idea, and has almost always resulted in more civilian deaths, not less. That you believe in bombing for peace marks you out as being either stupid, or propaganda affected. Or both.

      2) we are being lied to as to the level of commitment required to clear out ISIS. It will take years and it will take over 100,000 western troops on the ground. Does this sound familiar.

      3) we were utterly lied to as to the state of the Iraqi Army: we were told that the western mission was to get Iraqi security forces to “stand up” on their own two feet. Years later, tens of billions of dollars invested later, it is an utter corrupt disaster.

      4) Western actions have already caused over a million excess Iraqi deaths. Roughly half from western sanctions during Saddam’s time, and roughly half in the last 10 years. Why do you want us to cause more deaths?

      5) Purely militarily: there are no achievable conditions for success nor viable exit strategy from Iraq that are visible.

      Question – what the fuck do you propose, apart from going into Iraq, guns blazing?

      • blue leopard 5.3.1

        I would like to see a written and signed document from the US expressing a commitment not to go into foreign countries with their destabilizing psych-ops missions including no longer doing their schemes of training of freedom fighters. Along with this, I would like to see laws put in place to make it illegal for any private companies to do the same. These laws would have to be established on both national and international levels.

        That would be a good start, in order to show that there is some serious acknowledgement, from the perpetrators going on, as to the causes of these problems that the rest of the world keeps on having to go in and ‘fix’.

  6. Michael 6

    Labour’s strategy, under whichever figurehead it picks, is evidently to keep silent on every issue involving social justice until enough of the middle classes get tired of John Key and decide to give that nice man from Team B a go instead. Not such a bad idea if the waiting time is cushioned by 150K a year from taxpayers. Taking the moral high ground and displaying leadership is risky and, besides, the middle classes don’t like it.

    • Colonial Rawshark 6.1

      Well, we now have a Security Council seat!!! Maaaaate! Surely Grant Robertson will advocate that we take a strongly anti-war position.

  7. Heather 7

    The silence from the left is deafening! where are any? voices in opposition to anything? It is hard to believe that there is nothing, nothing, nothing about so many things that have happened over the last week, state houses and child poverty to name just two.
    I am ashamed.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 7.1

      Jane Fonda on the screen today,
      Convinced the Liberals it’s ok,
      So let’s get dressed and dance away the night…

  8. lonelyavenger 8

    I’m not in favour of joining the war but have to disagree that none of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy or the Netherlands share our democratic values.

    The absurdly concocted figure of 409,000 evictees is complete rubbish given Housing New Zealand only accommodates about 200,000 people.

    • Colonial Rawshark 8.1

      I’m not in favour of joining the war but have to disagree that none of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy or the Netherlands share our democratic values.

      White Christian nations dashingly madly back into the muslim Middle East. BTW which of these “democratic” governments have asked their citizens what they think of leaping into war?

      Were us Kiwis asked by our “democratic” government?

      • Dex 8.1.1

        So we have a democratically elected government taking a lawful course of action for which they have a mandate, we have an army of volunteers willing to partake in said action, and we have a situation where military intervention is the *only* action that might save thousands of innocent civilians, men woman and children just like us, from being the victims of another Rwanda.

        You sound like the type of person who would look the other way if you saw a woman being bashed on the street because it’s not in your interest to intervene. Those aren’t left wing values, if anything that’s conservative teaparty thinking.

        • Instauration 8.1.1.1

          “military intervention is the *only* action ”
          Wrong – lets start with sanctions on Saudi Arabia and UAE – Qatar, and those other nations that have supported and exported this terror on Syria. Danny be damned.
          Yes – we must also stop the flow of Puntlandish mercenaries – to both sides.

        • Colonial Rawshark 8.1.1.2

          So we have a democratically elected government taking a lawful course of action for which they have a mandate

          Where is the UN Security Council approval for foreign armed action.
          Where is the Iraqi government approval for foreign armed action.
          Where is the Syrian government approval for foreign armed action.

          Seems like you’re full of shit from the start.

          You sound like the type of person who would look the other way if you saw a woman being bashed on the street because it’s not in your interest to intervene. Those aren’t left wing values, if anything that’s conservative teaparty thinking.

          You sound like the kind of person who thinks that dropping a 1000lb bomb on that woman in order to “save her” is left wing and justified.

          Dick.

      • Instauration 8.1.2

        I’ve read that Syria is the 8th Muslim nation that Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has bombed during his tenure.
        Looks like a Crusade – probably is.

    • AmaKiwi 8.2

      The people who do not share our democratic values are Assad, the various groups fighting him, ISIL, the Iraqi government.

      In the beginning, who trained, armed, and financed Al Qaeda? The CIA.

      The US poured weapons and money into Al Qaeda to defeat the USSR in Afghanistan. Which of these warring factions is any more democratic than Al Qaeda was when the US backed them 30 years ago?

  9. Ad 9

    Dave Brown, the arm waving rhetoric is a weak response. As is Amakiwi.

    Lay out a few concrete steps.

    • BM 9.1

      The left needs to develop some really good chants and do a few street protests.

      Maybe even a hikoi !, a hikoi for state housing, my God, I can tell you now once the masses see people marching in the streets they’ll rise up and join them.

      Power to the people!

    • AmaKiwi 9.2

      @ Ad “the arm waving rhetoric is a weak response”

      I wrote the post because I am looking for your ideas and advice. Springboks tour and anti-nuclear were before my time. Last week Chris Trotter had a piece about the Watersiders strike and how the government acted like Stalinists, suspending all freedoms in order to break the strike. And the people did NOTHING.

      I am hoping we are more that that.

  10. SPC 10

    The leadership race is doing nothing for Labour so far.

    The first New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll since the NZ Election shows

    National at 43.5%, down 3.54% since the September 20 Election).

    National support drops after each election

    Labour is at 22.5%
    Greens (17.5%, a new record high) their support falls at the election

    NZ First support is 7%
    Conservatives 5%
    Internet-Mana Party 1%

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1410/S00170/national-slips-labour-hits-lows.htm

    • Colonial Rawshark 10.1

      Getting rid of Cunliffe is Labour’s inspirational move to win back voters, according to the likes of Robertson, Shearer and Parker.

  11. George Hendry 11

    Tena tatou katoa.

    Thanks Amakiwi for this post. A start needed to be made in developing these ideas.

    I recommend the post by Dex at 8.1.1 as a concise illustration of the problem we face.

    # “So we have a democratically elected government …”

    Not necessarily. Unless you have personally counted every vote. They might be deceiving us. They are known for this.

    #”…taking a lawful course of action for which they have a mandate…”

    Asset sales justification was that it was stated before election. Joining coalition could have been too, there was plenty of time. Waiting till after election = by surprise = no mandate.

    #”…we have an army of volunteers willing to partake in said action…”

    No. I didn’t volunteer, and I wasn’t asked. Citizens whose participation is taken for granted are not their ‘elected leaders’, who have a track record of not putting their own lives on the line in these situations.

    #”…and we have a situation where military intervention is the *only* action that might save thousands of innocent civilians, men woman and children just like us, from being the victims of another Rwanda.”

    Interesting comparison, as I understood it was NZ’s lobbying on the Security Council that, while not preventing that bloodbath, helped establish the relative stability that has held since then. Not sallying off into a multilateral hit squad.

    Three definite errors and one possible one.

    Second paragraph – ad hominem but still flawed analogy.

    Not remotely similar to seeing a public local bashing and wondering whether to intervene myself. More like hearing of one out of my reach in a distant city and being asked to support a group of known thugs going to sort the alleged attackers out.

    The Blum books cited above identify the known thugs as, unsurprisingly, the same as those leading the latest gang. If National knew it was right to support the crusade it would have trumpeted it before the election, an unrivalled chance to landslide in. It knew it wasn’t, so it didn’t.

    And no, this is not a criticism of ordinary US citizens. How could it be when most of their ‘democratically elected’ government’s shenanigans were behind their back and therefore not with their explicit consent. Could this be the case here, or can we trust how ‘the news’ is chosen?

    The US government’s track record as detailed in the Blum books must mean that if the US army wants to be involved it is not to save innocent civilians, as this is neither what the US army does (it slaughters them wholesale) nor what it is for (always, without fail in the president’s words to ‘protect America’s interests’ whatever they might be and whether or not they can be made to require the overthrow of another sovereign state).

    I’ll pause here…yes I do have several ideas of what to do but decided to make this about what not to do and why. Meanwhile troll up, troll up! and I”l let your response decide whether I’ve said my fair share already.

  12. SPC 12

    I don’t think the UN operation in collective self-defence of a member state (Kuwait) 22 years ago was wrong or a failure.

  13. SPC 13

    At one level the declaration of an Islamic State in areas occupied by the group now of that name is in breach of the territorial integrity of both Syria and Iraq.

    However at the moment both are failed states.

    The cause in Iraq is the US regime change and or its failure to deliver an Iraq that the two minority groups can can co-exist in with the majority rule of southern Iraqi Shia. It was a great mistake of the Americans not to install a federal structure, allowing the Sunni and Kurds and southern Shia regional self-government. In fact they should liberated the south and Kurdish north in 2003 and brought them self government then, and brokered a federal arrangement with the Baghdad regime, That would have been a so much cleaner and simpler an intervention.

    The cause in Syria was the takeover of the Arab Spring in Damascus by the Sunni Islamist opposition within Syria that had rebelled in the past and been put down by the secular state (a cover for the Shia Alawite control of the Baath party) military. Thus the words of support for the democratic opposition and ultimately support for the FSA created an environment in which the Sunni Islamists to resort to the gun and receive external support this time.

    And as Turkey had replaced secular government control of the military with a Moslem party regime they supported the same in Syria. And the Gulf states wanted to support a Sunni majority regime in Syria, to balance the Shia majority one in Iraq.

    This created an environment in which Islamic State could separate the areas it held in Syria for itself and move into the Sunni Arab areas in the north and west of Iraq. While leaving its al Qaeda brethren in the al-Nasra Front with the rebels fighting the Syrian government.

    Presumably it considered its attacks on Kurds in Syria and Iraq and Islamist nature would win it the tolerance of the Kurds enemies in the Moslem government states of Turkey and Iran. Neither have any problem with using military force to realise their goals and certainly won’t be intervening because of any humanitarian concerns.

    All in all, it’s now a mess. And one in which al Qaeda can say that 13 years after 9/11 they are winning the conflict in the ME with the USA.

    The Taleban could be back in power in Afghanistan, al Qaeda groups occupy large areas of Syria and Iraq. And for some time it would appear both Syria and Iraq will remain failed states. So much for the claim of that guy on the aircraft carrier that democratic regime change had been realised and this would be a new dawn in the region.

    The Americans are in need of advice because they got it wrong in 2003, (remember foreigners who said so then were portrayed as anti-American) and what an irony that one of the few Americans who did so is now presiding over the aftermath. And his regimes efforts to make the earlier policy work has been their undoing..

  14. Ad 14

    So Amakiwi. Hereis a practical thought for you.

    Buy a series of flats. Form a trust. Rent them out to poor families at the lowest cost you can afford. Form a trust off it. Become an NGO. Become the start of a movement with very little rhetoric..

    It’s ducking hard work. It helps people. Its real. They are for sale now from the state.

    I’ll even help you.

    • AmaKiwi 14.1

      Thanks, Ad. But I am not into real estate speculation and not about to start. My field is community organizing, which is why I ask what can people do.

      To learn community organizing I went to a place where people had no qualms about expressing their outrage through collective action. I know the smell of tear gas. I’ve marched through the city with protestors as far as the eye can see in every direction. I’ve looked into the faces of cops who are on the verge of unleashing their German Shepherds and battering me with their clubs. We were able to change the government.

      But that’s not the NZ way. What is? The only tactics that work are ones that come from the protestors themselves.

  15. Andrea 15

    Ad: you might want to check out Habitat for Humanity.

    I agree with you: neither of these moves can be ‘stopped’. There’s no trim tab on this super tanker and it takes a lot to stop it. Just the right size to be ignored as it slithers from the harbour.

    It has been mentioned that people marched in protest against apartheid and nuclear-powered vessels/armaments. True. We weren’t such a fragmented, fearful, brainwashed bunch in those days. Governments actually sort of listened – or the occasional effective politician. Declared wars were recent, then. People remembered, instead of changing channels to miss the nasty bits.

    Now? We need to brew up modern responses: Occupy Mk II, or III. Biggest hazard? All the bandwaggoners who will use it for publicising their own issues.

    Is there enough power and coherence in ‘social media’ to minimise this long-standing problem? Is there any group that can plant the seeds and tend them without ripping apart like the poor old Labour Party?

    Will we back and sustain whoever gets to front the movement? Or let them be hung out as a target for sneers a la John Minto? Perhaps we can look after our ‘brave boys (and girls, of course) better this time…

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    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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