What deal do we get?

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, July 30th, 2014 - 94 comments
Categories: act, MMP, national, national/act government, united future - Tags:

So Key’s announced his deals, without so much as a cup of tea.

Epsom’s National voters who can bear the smell of the serially corrupt ACT party are to hold their noses and ignore Goldsmith.

Ohariu’s National voters who are looking for an outdated model with a track record of bending over his principles for a ministerial wage can be Dunne over.  If they’re not over Dunne.

Do Espom’s voters so lack entertainment that they want to see what happens next?  After a perk-buster that likes perks and a tough on crime advocate who likes the soft option on his crimes; followed by a Brash stabbing that resulted in a conservative leading a liberal party and being found to be liberal in his interpretation of electoral donation law. Actually that does seem a good show… if only the running of our country wasn’t so badly affected by this comedy Act…

It seems unbelievable that Ohairiu’s voters won’t be United by their desire to see the Future of Peter be Dunne out of Parliament.

But seriously – these deals resulted in policies foisted upon us last election that National didn’t want to own.

Charter Schools have cost us many millions, with money being thrown at them as they corrode our formerly world-leading education system, but they weren’t anywhere in the last campaign.

After Act’s resounding 1% of the vote, and with many options of who they could go in coalition with, they held Key over a barrel and demanded the policy that had been the centrepiece of their campaign … or National used them as a fig-leaf to give us charter schools, one of the two.

So what will National force on us unannounced through these deals this time?  Are they willing to give us a clue?

94 comments on “What deal do we get? ”

  1. Tracey 1

    Really? he would give such a high impact policy to a party that gets less than 2% of the entire vote? Surely you jest?

  2. Puckish Rogue 2

    Its MMP and Nationals doing what it has to do for the good of the country so suck it up and get over it

    • Dave 2.1

      Hahahaha surely you don’t believe that? Can you name me one policy that has helped NZ? With some of that stuff that usually goes with it, what is it called again, yeah, proof, that’s the one.

    • Tracey 2.2

      I agree that it is part of MMP.

      It was expected it’s not a shock. I do think having done such a deal National (or which e
      ever party makes the accommodation) ought to tell the nation which parts of the minor party’s policies it will consider adopting for a deal. It may only be prepared to accommodate one or two, so tell us 5 that you would consider, then you retain your negotiation stance post election.

      To me that approach is the corrollary to pre election accommodations.

    • fender 2.3

      Nah it’s MMKey!

      Spat out and sent to Hawaii is all he’s in for, do hope you’ll get over it after he’s gone.. 🙂

    • You_Fool 2.4

      It is MMP in so much that NACT are trying to break it so that the public get sick and tired of their games, but somehow blame MMP instead of the parties doing the breaking, and call for a change in system.

      • Puckish Rogue 2.4.1

        If parties (and Labour wern’t shy about using MMP in this way when it suited them) can run rings around the system then the system needs to change

        • fender 2.4.1.1

          Failing to implement the recommended changes put forward by the Electoral Commission are the “rings” National are using.

          National never improve anything do they, they’re a very regressive bunch of fools..

          • Puckish Rogue 2.4.1.1.1

            The ends justifies the means

            • fender 2.4.1.1.1.1

              I take it that’s a quote from Judith… you should use these things: ” “

            • Tracey 2.4.1.1.1.2

              I do think having done such a deal National (or which e
              ever party makes the accommodation) ought to tell the nation which parts of the minor party’s policies it will consider adopting for a deal. It may only be prepared to accommodate one or two, so tell us 5 that you would consider, then you retain your negotiation stance post election.

  3. Chooky 3

    +100 good post ….in answer to Tracy

    …the PR for Charter Schools is run by Catherine Isaacs of ACT, former wife of
    Roger Kerr and owner of Awaroa PR Company a lobby group to the NACT government and government departments…like Education

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870578

    http://www.act.org.nz/posts/author/catherine-isaac

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Isaac

    http://www.awaroa.com/

    http://www.awaroa.com/services.html

    Research could be done on the clients of this company which include the oil industry, issues connected with the environment eg 1080 ?…and overseas companies

  4. greywarbler 4

    ACT this morning going on about our laws being race based and that is “abominable”.
    These right wingers are so destructive to the democracy that we have painstakingly built that they deserve the opprobrium that Nats handed out to communists. The extreme right and the extreme left have surprising similarities of approach.

    A Jewish man in Germany experienced the fascist thinking around WW2 and was among the last few Jews alive in his city and on his way to extermination when the city was firebombed which upset the Nasty industrial death machine. After WW2 the communists took over, and their administration and bureaucratic approach were almost a mirror image of the other,

    He kept constant diaries during the war that are a priceless testament to the human soul and its travails in this often shitty world. I can dig out info if someone wants it.

  5. Rodel 5

    The future under Key?
    1. Sale of Kiwibank to Australian interests(or anyone).
    2. Commercialization and sale of Radio New Zealand.
    3. Increased funding to private and charter schools.
    4. Knighthood for Mike Hoskings and John Banks.
    5….?

    • Wayne 5.1

      Rodel,

      It will only be item 3, probably 10 to 15 charter schools. Not exactly the end of 2,500 state schools.

      As for 1 and 2, this will not happen. John Key has been quite specific on that.

      The reality is that tiddler parties dependent on the National lifeline only get small things. And most voters understand that.

      So if the Nats get to lead the govt, to all intents and purposes it will be a Nat govt, with trifles to the support parties. Obviously they have to get something, but it is not much.

      For instance I have no idea what Peter Dunne got in this last term. And Act got 5 charter schools with about 500 students out of around 600,000 school kids.

      • Rodel 5.1.1

        Believe John Key?????Ha!

      • framu 5.1.2

        “but it is not much.”

        no – just unannounced policy that is part of a global movement to make money out of a tax payer guaranteed revenue stream and de-unionise teaching at the same time, plus you get to hand pick your own ideologically stacked board to evaluate the success of said secret policy

        you trying to claim that charter schools is just a little tid bit given to the act party to keep them quiet and that it wont grow from there, or that its not part of a bigger longer game is so stupid that your either deluded or bullshitting

        ever heard of G.E.R.M. wayne?

      • Tracey 5.1.3

        Peter dunne got a big pay packet to nod when he was told to.

        • Draco T Bastard 5.1.3.1

          Don’t forget that he also got mention that he was a Very Important Person.

    • David H 5.2

      You mean a pardon and early release from jail for John Banks

    • David H 5.3

      KDC goes to bed in AK wakes up in Jail in LA.

    • dialey 5.4
      1. removal of anti-nuclear policy
  6. Tiger Mountain 6

    “The war on the poor” via Paula Rebstock and her vile assistants was also a National hidden plan made out to be one of ACT’s little gifts. For several years according to the Household Labour Force Survey there have been more people unemployed than in receipt of an unemployment benefit due to the recasting of WINZ into a sadistic punishment system for the vulnerable rather than the once social security ‘net’.

    Of course one benefit–WFF has not been attacked yet because middle class ‘kiwi battlers’ are often aspirational Nat voters and not to be disturbed. The unaccountable aspects of the supercity were also courtesy of ACT.

    What next from the dirty filthy torys?
    –all out war on unions, particularly teachers
    –local government further restricted
    –carte blanche mine it, drill it, exploit it
    –more surveillance cameras and snooping
    –private prison expansion
    –PPP expansion particularly toll roads

    • Steve Wrathall 6.1

      The “unaccountable aspects of the supercity” were due to ACT? Like the racially reserved seats? No ACT opposed them.

    • greywarbler 6.2

      @ Tiger Mountain 11.12
      the recasting of WINZ into a sadistic punishment system for the vulnerable rather than the once social security ‘net’.

      This is an example of the vicious grinding down of NZs by a smug, cunning revolutionary group. First abandon the economic level playing field for workers here, while proclaiming the opposite, destroying employment-rich business adding to the NZ economy and the jobs that went with them, then blame people who can’t find jobs in the vacuum created by the government’s deliberate policies. Those who enable and encourage this practice are beneath contempt.

    • Adrian 6.3

      More RMA reform, and if they only need Act to get it through it will be dire.

      • Steve Wrathall 6.3.1

        Letting people do what they want on their own land (subject to common-law prosciptions on harming others), without having to pay megabucks for resource consents…What’s not to like?

        • Tracey 6.3.1.1

          do you have children?

        • Lloyd 6.3.1.2

          When you ask “liberals” in Auckland what they really want, they want the rules of the low density suburbs they live in maintained and they get quite upset at liberalisation of planning rules, whilst the ‘left-wingers’ tend to be much more receptive to altering the district plan to allow a property owner the ability to erect more dwellings on their patch of land. If you explain to a Browns Bay resident that RMA reform means that their neighbour will be able to put four more dwellings on their section, you might find RMA reform is very unlikable.

          Land owners would have more certainty of decisions and cheaper resource consents if the government strengthened the RMA with more National Environment Standards. Setting reasonable NES with good environmental outcomes would be a win-win situation, So called RMA reform inevitably is a way to let individual Councils set their own standards which means that overall resource consent costs must rise – a really dumb idea. RMA reform is usually really unlikable when examined closely and most of the persons calling for reform don’t understand the law and where the costs are generated. They just want to do environmentally damaging things without paying anything.

          Conversely the NES set must have good environmental outcomes. The water NES proposed where you can’t wade in water meeting the minimum standard is just stupid.

        • Minarch 6.3.1.3

          you randroids really crack me up

          you should just “go galt” and do u all a favour

      • Bearded Git 6.3.2

        If the Nats get back the RMA will effectively be gutted, and so will our precious landscapes.

    • Liberal Realist 6.4

      “What next from the dirty filthy torys?
      –all out war on unions, particularly teachers
      –local government further restricted
      –carte blanche mine it, drill it, exploit it
      –more surveillance cameras and snooping
      –private prison expansion
      –PPP expansion particularly toll roads”

      +1 and some additions to your list.

      Firesale privatization of;

      Primary & Secondary Education
      Health Care system

      And the removal of national sovereignty by way of the TPPA or if that fails a bilateral deal with the US that is equally shafting for NZ.

  7. Steve Wrathall 7

    Charter schools have been “mentioned” by ACT ever since our formation in 1994

    • meconism 7.1

      Wow, have you vile fuckers been around that long?

      • Tiger Mountain 7.1.1

        Way too long for many, always seemed a party of individuals on the run from something, pushing an economic line that has had unpleasant consequences for the majority where ever someone took it seriously from Chile and NZ 1984 to austerity saddled Europe.

        As for strange, I remember Donna Awatere Huata’s then husband Wi assaulting Sue Bradford outside one of their Auckland conferences in 1995. And all that Business Round Table and Gibbs stuff. Hilary’s eyes on the sign above the brothel. Hide, perk buster turned trougher. Don–15%–Brash. Garrett ID lifter. And now Whyte?

        • greywarbler 7.1.1.1

          @ Tiger Mountain 12.41
          Whyte sounds mechanical. Someone wound him up and he has battery support as well. Using sustainable technology!

          You might have wondered where the Six Million Dollar Man went to when the tv series finished. I heard a whisper about this, and on the quiet they worked further on him in the lab and turned out Whyte.

          Remember the starting lines of the $6 million series (with larger horizons now to be called the Six Trillion Dollar Man)::
          Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

      • Steve Wrathall 7.1.2

        You obviously aren’t reading your “positive” election signs. Don’t worry, no-one else is either.

    • framu 7.2

      “mentioned”

      but as policy?

      the fact you arent calling it “policy” is the give away methinks

    • David H 7.3

      21 next year.. You can give the Key to the door to John Banks.

  8. disturbed 8

    Chooky,

    You shut the NAT parrot up, good for you, if Puckish Rogue is representative of National’s blind following we really need to get rid of the evil Nat’s’ before we sane free thinking folk get infected by their blindness.
    Examples of Nat’s reckless behaviour:

    So teamshonkey go into the election campaign with Smith, Brownlee, Collins, McCully all with recent issues to go with their prior issues.

    Then we have Claudette, Phil, Paula, Pansy,Aaron, Richard with some known some unknown issues and Paula still serving after a willful breach of privacy.

    Complemented by ministers like Bridges, Guy, Foss. Williamson.

    I hope someone in opposition reminds NZ of the ‘higher’ standards on planet key and that they are working for NZ’s elite and overseas owners.
    Those who don’t get paid off and sent on their way.
    They are trying to re-groom this failed despot also: Maurice Williamson. – Don’t forget the biggie as well, Maurice Williams property handyman/Manager!!

    The ex maverick that killed DYI on your very own homes.

    Yes it’s the handyman for rich Neighbour’s such as the non English speaking Chinese zillionare who bought the house

    Maurice Williams recommended next door to him and offered to work on!

    Is he a registered builder under his new regime?

    • Puckish Rogue 8.1

      🙂

    • northshoredoc 8.2

      Whilst not wishing to comment on Puckish Rogues lack of insight or otherwise, I’d caution you against lining up with Chooky as a sane free thinking person as some of his/her utterances on things medical are from the twilight zone.

      I do realise that this lack of insight in a certain area may not translate across to the political arena but they were pretty out there.

      • Chooky 8.2.1

        ever heard of Fascist doctors?…you do your profession a disservice…that is if you really are a doctor and a New Zealander…which I doubt ….you certainly are NOT insightful or a free thinker

        • northshoredoc 8.2.1.1

          😕

          • One Anonymous Bloke 8.2.1.1.1

            Northshoredoc’s point stands, as Chooky’s right wing* diatribe attests.

            *abusive, messenger shooting, nationalist.

            • Chooky 8.2.1.1.1.1

              ?…first time i have ever been called right wing…i wonder where you are coming from?

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                I’m coming from the fact that abusive ad hominem Nationalism is right wing behaviour, as is anti-science gibberish.

        • srylands 8.2.1.2

          “I do realise that this lack of insight in a certain area may not translate across to the political arena but they were pretty out there.”

          It does translate. Anti vaccination nuts are always general nuts.

          • Chooky 8.2.1.2.1

            @ srylands …you are a way off topic…as is northshoredoc(sic) and One Anonymous Bloke.

            …the topic was John Key’s National Party partner the Act Party which represents and spearheads big business from overseas in New Zealand

            ….I take it that you are all very sensitive about this Post and are right winger trolls trying to create a diversion!!!!!and are doing your best to character assassinate anyone who posts on the Standard not to you liking as a “nut”

            As you and northshoredoc well know the multi billion dollar vaccination business has been thrashed many times on this site…

            and amongst so called “anti vaccination nuts ” are quite a few doctors , scientists, immunologists and those who are experts in the study of vaccines ….the numbers increase with each passing year and the more Mothers who are educated with tertiary qualifications choose and gain confidence to speak out after watching the undocumented side effects in their children and the ineffectiveness of measles vaccines …it was my own doctor who advised me NOT to vaccinate the children…i ignored this advice to get them into a university creche…much to my regret.

            ( I am not “dumb” and I am not “mad” or “crazy” as Northshoredoc has accused me of being many many times…nor am I an “Anti vaccination nut” or a “general nut”…. ….but the crazed name calling and denigration response from you and northshoredoc makes me think you are working for vaccination industry and have a vested interest in it

        • srylands 8.2.1.3

          Oh so it is spreading. Someone is insightful and suddenly they are not who they say they are and (gasp) not a New Zealander.

          • Chooky 8.2.1.3.1

            in my experience New Zealand doctors are open to discussion on vaccination

            …they are respectful of women and Mothers opinions and they advise and they give evidence for their advice

            …in my case I had doctor who advised against vaccination for very young babies and children and who gave me unsolicited huge amounts of medical evidence to read …i have always had respect for this doctor …even although in the end I went against this doctors advice out of expediency

            northshoredoc( sic) has done nothing but denigrate me as “dumb” or “mad”…every time i open my mouth on vaccination…that is why i dont think he is a New Zealander or a doctor ….and that maybe he is profiting from the multi billion dollar vaccination industry

            • northshoredoc 8.2.1.3.1.1

              “..in my experience New Zealand doctors are open to discussion on vaccination.

              …they are respectful of women and Mothers opinions and they advise and they give evidence for their advice”

              Yes they certainly are.

              “…in my case I had doctor who advised against vaccination for very young babies and children and who gave me unsolicited huge amounts of medical evidence to read …i have always had respect for this doctor …even although in the end I went against this doctors advice out of expediency”

              Not sure what relevance that has ?

              “northshoredoc( sic) has done nothing but denigrate me as “dumb” or “mad”…every time i open my mouth on vaccination…that is why i dont think he is a New Zealander or a doctor ….and that maybe he is profiting from the multi billion dollar vaccination industry”

              I have tried many times to engage you on the subject of vaccination and have produced numerous peer reviewed articles which support the safety and efficacy of vaccination as delivered in NZ, in response you have provided anecdote, unscientific and unsupported opinion and linked to websites that promote outright lies to denigrate and drive people away from vaccination.

              For the record I am a New Zealand citizen and a practising local registered medical practitioner who has no shares or any financial interest whatsoever in vaccinations

            • srylands 8.2.1.3.1.2

              “that is why i dont think he is a New Zealander or a doctor ….and that maybe he is profiting from the multi billion dollar vaccination industry”

              Good grief. He denigrates you as mad for a good reason.

              Because you supply links to bullshit propaganda on vaccination – propaganda that kills – you think this guy is not a New Zealander (oh the horror!) or worse he has financial interests in drug companies.

              At least Coling Craig with the moon landing thing is a harmless twit. Your views kill children. You really need to get a grip.

              • vto

                your policies killed 29 men at pike river arsehole. actual policies, not just views.

  9. Chooky 9

    lol…Puckish Rogue …your smiley face makes me laugh…however i hope your side does NOT WIN!

    • Puckish Rogue 9.1

      We all want whats best for NZ, where we differ is who can do it the best

      • greywarbler 9.1.1

        lolx100

      • Weepus beard 9.1.2

        @ PR 9.1

        Sorry but that is not what those from the ideological right claim at all.

        Their (your) road to truth and happiness is based on personal responsibility and self reliance. By definition this means “I want what’s best for myself”, and then presumably “everything else will fall into place”.

        The opposite is true of the ideological left. Their (our) path to social justice and a happy society is collective responsibility, or “I want what’s best for all of us”.

        • newsense 9.1.2.1

          Correct- and the best way to get what’s good for me is to claim that it is good for everyone…

      • One Anonymous Bloke 9.1.3

        How will you measure who does it best Puckish Rogue? Put your money where your lip service is.

        If you can’t think of any benchmarks I’m sure there are some lying around somewhere. I’m picking you won’t like per capita GDP or employment levels or government debt or child poverty or PISA scores or higher wages so what then?

  10. Tautoko Viper 10

    Bulk funding of schools, hence Novopay takeover
    Vouchers for education
    Performance Pay for Teachers

    • greywarbler 10.1

      @ Tautoko Viper 1.26
      Are you saying that the working end of the education system is being set up as a Little Red Riding Hood setting off to do their good deeds in a good, normal way but is to be an innocent sacrifice to the Big Bad Wolf that is going to gobble up our good and honest practitioners?

      • Tautoko Viper 10.1.1

        Yes. This war on education started in the 1990’s.
        I have kept a copy of “extracts from SSC letter to Schools Consultative Group.
        ” dated 9 July 1993
        Title: Furthering Education Reforms.

        Subheading 1. On the purpose of bulk funding as a cost-reduction mechanism

        Subheading 2. On the intention to replace a national contract with locally negotiated site contracts.

        Subheading 3: On the contractual model of education delivery

        Subheading 4: On the purpose of advancing IT in schools.
        14. Telecommunications in education is indeed an exciting development but, if it is not to become an additional and potentially very large expenditure in the Education budget, it must be recognised for what it is: an alternative to books, equipment, buildings and teachers for the achievement of knowledge and skills.”

        Ground Hog Day if Nats win!

  11. disturbed 11

    We free minded people are able to see though the mind games Nat’s are using.
    This is similar to the mind control techniques used over the German public by Goebbels storm troopers to prepare them for Hitler’s radical plans.

    First they must believe in the leader with fanaticism and say it long enough until it become the belief system.

    Right wing brain washing and that is what we all are witnessing here.

    We are still outside the belief system and see through the hollow messengers of teamkey.

    Of course when the economy begins to fold as is now occurring we will see these sad folk vanish into thin air.

    $40 Billion NAT’s have borrowed and now it has left our grandchildren with a huge debt and no assets to fall back onto to ease the next depression.
    Crown debt ratio to GDP in 2008 was only 6%
    2013 it stands at record 26% (Treasury statistics)

    Remember:

    Key said as he gave us the “promise not to make us all tenants in our own land”.

    He will be somewhere else by then.

    He has already warned us all several years ago on TV that “when every gets negative I’m out of here.”

    He will be outside the country where we cant reach him.

    He cant face the music, it’s not in his DNA.

  12. Chooky 12

    ‘ACT show their true racist colours’

    By Martyn Bradbury / July 30, 2014 / 18 Comments

    “At some point ACTs low poll ratings were going to have to force ACT to stop pretending to be some free market under grad fantasy and get them back to their true purpose as a political vehicle for racist suburbanites whose selfishness directs all decisions…..

    • Lloyd 12.1

      Act wants one set of laws for all the country.

      Bloody good idea.

      When compensation is awarded to Iwi they should get 100% return of the value of lands and other assets taken by the crown, not the 10% maximum that has been given out in treaty settlements so far. Lets hear ACT arguing for a retroactive increase of all settlements so far paid out by the crown to be increased to a 100% pay-out within six months. After that is sorted then maybe some of the other supports given to Maori specifically could be removed from the statutes.

  13. Chooky 13

    Just how crazy is ACTs Whyte Supremacy?

    By Martyn Bradbury / July 31, 2014

    “Two reasons why Jamie Whyte’s claim that Maori are as legally privileged as 17th Century French Aristocracy is possibly the most stupid thing anyone has ever said…

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    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
    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 ...
    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
    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

  • 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
    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
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