Assessing Labour’s Mana result

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, November 21st, 2010 - 93 comments
Categories: by-election, democratic participation - Tags: , ,

Labour can be reasonably pleased with the Mana result. The majority is small but that does not mean anything for the wider party. To win Labour had to overcome 1) a weak candidate 2) a ferocious Key-centred National campaign 3) a threat to its left 4) a media narrative that damned it thrice over, and 5) a very low turn-out.

A 1,000 vote majority is not huge but that is no reason to think that Mana has suddenly become a marginal seat and it is certainly not a bad omen for the Labour Party as whole going into next year. The factors that worked against Labour in the by-election will not be present again with the same force at the general election:

1) Kris Fa’afoi was not stellar by any means. He appeared to lack conviction in his public appearances and to be repeating lines from others too much. That’s, perhaps, the inevitable result of going from newsman to press sec to candidate in record time.

Fa’afoi was not the asset in the campaign that, for instance, David Shearer was in Mt Albert. But he now has 8 months to get the measure of his new position and he will. A quick learner with good underlying values, Fa’afoi will grow as an MP and will be a much stronger player come the general election.

2) Even the Tory rag the Trans-Tasman made a point of how hard the Nats were running in Mana. For National, this by-election was about testing the durability of their one asset – John Key. Hekia Parata pretty much hid in the background. Her job was simply to laugh when Key made a joke. Often, media coverage had a comment from Key vs a comment from Fa’afoi.

Make no mistake, National was seriously hoping for an upset result.

Fa’afoi won’t be up against Key in 2011. It will be just him vs Parata. National is not going to expend so much of their one asset’s time in Mana again.

Parata also got endorsed by United Future and the Maori Party. Again, don’t expect that in 2011.

3) Matt McCarten will be disappointed with the 816 votes he won. It’s less than 4% and it came from him campaigning directly and intensely, if only for three weeks. I don’t think it will kill the idea of a new Left Party but it’s a set back.

Most of those votes must have come from Fa’afoi, which nearly halved his majority. McCarten won’t be running in Mana next year.

4) There are essentially three election media narratives. The first is the train wreck/deserved defeat (Bill English, Don Brash, Melissa Lee, Labour 2008). The second is the heroic underdog (Celia Wade-Brown, Len Brown, Winston Peters and Jim Anderton in the old days). The third is the nailbiter.

They all worked against Labour in Mana. The media narrative of Goff’s leadership as a train wreck was established almost before the poor bugger had got into the big seat and hasn’t (yet) been wiped by the closing polls. As Goff’s man, Fa’afoi’s campaign was always tainted with that – notice all the articles about how he had to win a huge majority or it would be a defeat for Goff. And Parata got to play the underdog because she never really had any chance of winning. Her coverage was almost entirely sympathetic. The nailbiter that was created as a media narrative further dis-stablised Fa’afoi as the de facto incumbent.

That it was such a boring campaign that small mistakes would be picked up on by the media desperate for something resembling a story and the only ones were made by Fa’afoi’s side didn’t help.

5) Turn-out was incredibly low at less than 50%. National wanted it that way, of course. We all know a low turn-out hurts Labour the most. Low turn-out alone has cost Fa’afoi thousands in his majority, and that will be reversed next year.

Bear in mind, too, that Parata’s supposedly successful campaign actually saw her win fewer votes this time than she did in 2008.

So, the Labour election organisation had to overcome all these obstacles. And they did, convincingly in the end. It was a game with the conditions stacked against them, albeit one fought on home ground.

Of course, next year Fa’afoi and the local party will have to succeed without so much support from the rest of the party but they’re now up-skilled and ready.

One thought on Parata. She’s one of several new Nat backbenchers who is so full of themselves they are already talking about being PM some day. This is her third defeat in an electorate race but I doubt that will knock the chip off her shoulder.

r0b update:

One thing missing from all analysis I’ve seen so far. Yes, Winnie Laban has a 6,000 vote majority in 2008. But that was a personal vote. Looking at party vote Labour’s majority was just 2,500 (Mana was never a safe Labour seat it was a safe Laban seat).

So take Laban’s personal vote out of the picture in the by-election and the Labour candidate starts with just a 2,500 majority. By election turnout 65% compared to 2008, so reduce the expected majority to 1,600.

And Faa’foi actually got 1,080 of that, campaigning against the PM. Bloody good result for Kris and for Labour!

93 comments on “Assessing Labour’s Mana result ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Graeme Edgeler 1
    21 November 2010 at 10:17 am

    5) Turn-out was incredibly low at less than 50%. National wanted it that way, of course. We all know a low turn-out hurts Labour the most.

    We all assume a low turnout hurts Labour most. The assumption is false. It is probably the case that a low turnout hurt Faafoi in this case, but low turnout hurts both parties at different times. The low turnout in 2002, for example (76.98% vs 84.77% for 1999 and 80.92% in 2005) hurt National much more than it hurt Labour.

    Low turnout generally hurts the losing party – the party whose voters don’t have enough reason to come out. In 2002, this was National voters staying away, in 2008, it was Labour voters staying away.

    • Marty G 1.1
      21 November 2010 at 10:27 am

      in exceptional circumstances, rightwing voters stay away – 2002, Mt Albert – but in general it is people in Labour’s core demographics who are less likely to vote.

      • Graeme Edgeler 1.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 12:52 pm

        yes … but that happens anyway. Turnout among Labour’s core demographic is lower (than National’s) at both elections with high overall turnout and those with low overall turnout.

        When you’re talking about overall turnout affecting the result, it’s the changes from the norm that are important. If at an ordinary election turnout in National’s demographic is 85%, and Labour’s 70%, the fact that at some National’s turnout has dropped to 75% while Labour’s had stayed steady is bad for National, even though “their” turnout may still have been higher.

        It’s not about right-wing or left-wing people staying away from the polls, it’s about right-wing and left-wing voters who would ordinarily vote staying away. And this affects both parties at different times.

    • lprent 1.2
      21 November 2010 at 11:23 pm

      It definitely does hurt Labour far more often than National.

      In the 2002 election, from the canvassing and the results, I suspect that the tory vote did get out. But a lot of the soft tory vote voted for Labour rather than voting for the Nats who were in quite a disarray. The turnout was pretty low overall but we also saw a lot of Labour voters not vote that election because it looked like a forgone conclusion.

      Melissa Lee – well poor candidates don’t get good votes in electorates – especially mine.

      The vote in Mana has an incredibly low turnout even for a by-election. Looks to me like that was the single biggest factor overall.

  2. felix 2
    21 November 2010 at 10:46 am

    The factors that worked against Labour in the by-election will not be present again with the same force at the general election:

    1) Kris Fa’afoi was not stellar by any means. He appeared to lack conviction in his public appearances and to be repeating lines from others too much.

    Do I need to spell out the problem here?

  3. joe bloggs 3
    21 November 2010 at 11:00 am

    All that angst about McCarten splitting the vote on the left came to nothing.

    Only 800 votes for McCarten yet Labour’s majority was slashed from 6,000 to 1,000.

    A 6.5 point swing away from Labour and a 6.7 point swing towards National.

    Frankly, Eddie, you’re over-analysing again. The numbers speak for themselves. Faafoi and Labour were slaughterated and barely hung on by their fingernails to what was once the safest of Labour seats.

    Goff’s strategy of parachuting Faafoi in backfired. Bet he doesn’t run that risk again.

    All the cloth-cap smugness on The Standard and Red Alert about Parata being in the house while Faafoi and co were out treading the pavements? Hollow words.

    Here’s your victory Eddie – it’s already up on Wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory

    • Eddie 3.1
      21 November 2010 at 11:48 am

      Parata won fewer votes this time than in 2008. Do those numbers speak for themselves too?

      Or do they require some analysis?

      • gingercrush 3.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 12:08 pm

        And that is one of the most stupid statements to make. Of course her numbers were lower it was a fucking by-election. Jesus christ. More importantly her percentage numbers were much better.

        • Eddie 3.1.1.1
          21 November 2010 at 12:14 pm

          and to understand why that happened, you need the analysis I did above.

          your buddy joe bloggs was claiming the numbers speak for themselves, as you say, that’s stupid

      • joe bloggs 3.1.2
        22 November 2010 at 8:35 am

        A 6.5 point swing away from Labour and a 6.7 point swing towards National.

        No analysis required there, Eddie, just a handful of paper towels to wipe Labour’s blood from the floors.

        • joe bloggs 3.1.2.1
          22 November 2010 at 8:52 am

          and three more numbers that also don’t require a hell of a lot of analysing to point out the caning that Labour just received – in a mid-term by-election, no less:

          Total electorate vote was down by 27%
          Hekia Parata’s vote was down 15%
          Labour’s vote was down by 36%

          despite Labour putting MPs on every street corner

  4. ak 4
    21 November 2010 at 11:36 am

    Well done to all those who turned out delivered the win for Labour. It’s quite evident that NACT poured massive resources into this after being severely stung in the Local Body rout, and going by the prepared celebrations and statements, probable that their internal polling indicated victory.

    Only off-the-cuff comment from NACT is the classic Keydubya howler: “Sometimes losing is winning, and this is one of those”.

    Lesson for Labour: turn-out is everything, so start earlier and work even harder. Shoe-leather and face-to-face is the antidote to apathy.

  5. Bill 5
    21 November 2010 at 11:38 am

    Maybe Labour are happy.

    But what about Labour supporters? Seems to me that with Goff arguably fronting a ‘National Lite’ Labour Party and Key arguably fronting a ‘Labour Lite’ National Party, that many people won’t see anything substantial to hang their vote on. In such circumstances, votes fall on personality based platforms.

    Skip the fact that Key is seen as more personable than Goff. Are Labour supporters happy for the Labour Party’s perceived point of difference degenerating to be not much more than that which might determine a ‘happy campers holidaying at the seaside’ popularity contest?

  6. SHG 6
    21 November 2010 at 11:41 am

    Mana just went from being a safe Labour seat to being a knife-edge marginal with a New Guy. Labour will have to campaign hard for it 2011, and those are resources which are dearly needed elsewhere.

    • Eddie 6.1
      21 November 2010 at 11:46 am

      you’ve missed all the reasons why it won’t be marginal next year.

      • Daveski 6.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 12:38 pm

        And eddie you’ve missed the key point here, I suspect quite deliberately as it contradicts your core narrative and one that many here subscribe to.

        By elections are traditionally difficult for the current Govt – people have the freedom to expression dissatisfaction without upsetting the apple cart.

        For the opposite to happen in the safest of safe Labour seats surely deserves some more robust analysis.

        Does this bode well for National?? Possibly not as it is after all a one off.

        Does this bode well for Labour. Hell no. The result from a Labour perspective was as convincing as your spin effort.

        • Eddie 6.1.1.1
          21 November 2010 at 12:50 pm

          by elections don’t traditionally have the pm out there shaking babies and kissing hands every day either.

          he’s spent more time on mana than the economy in the last month, and all he gets is a reduced majority due to low turnout

          • Bob Stanforth 6.1.1.1.1
            21 November 2010 at 2:13 pm

            Lets test that statement Eddie. “the pm out there shaking babies and kissing hands every day either.”

            So, the whinging on here when Key was overseas “on holiday” , does that mean he flew back to Mana every single day? Or is it time for someone – maybe me – to call bullshit on your statement.

            Yes, National worked hard, good on them; Labour won the seat, barely; good on them. As your Mr Goff said, this by-election was a chance for the electorate to make a statement to the Government. Appears to me that happened. They also appear to have made a statement to Labour, but then your hilarious spin provides me and most of the thinking electorate with evidence of that, and the fact that you really cant handle the truth. 🙂

        • Fisiani 6.1.1.2
          21 November 2010 at 7:46 pm

          The talk over the summer barbecues after this stunning result will be about the inevitability of the popular National goverment winning Nov2011 on the back of a resurgent economy, rising employment, better information about education and a glorious World Cup win for the All Blacks.

          [You are rapidly wearing out your welcome fisi. Another of these idiotic, content-free trolls and you will be out of here…RL]

          [lprent: agreed. The only thing I find funny about F these days is predicting how sycophantic his comments will be the next time. But he seems to have lost all trace of any critical analysis – which makes him rather pointless to have around on a political blog. ]

          • Colonial Viper 6.1.1.2.1
            21 November 2010 at 7:53 pm

            about the inevitability of the popular National goverment winning Nov2011

            Actually a July election is more likely, one that National is going to lose as their economic directionless becomes clearer month by month.

            Oh, unless the whole Botany situation falls over in which case a May/June election is up.

  7. Sean Brooks 7
    21 November 2010 at 11:45 am

    Surly the Labour party is concered with this

    • swordfish 7.1
      21 November 2010 at 6:55 pm

      Blimey !, I mean Blimey, Blimey !!!

      I’ve got so much to say about these results, so much suburb-by-suburb analysis to spew out over the next few hours, and so many completely, utterly wrongheaded assumptions by one or two people to put right. In fact I’m becoming so overly-excited I’m beginning to understand exactly how Nick Smith felt after being made deputy leader…rapid eyelid movement, gibberish chatter, hysterical laughter… But, for the moment, just 2 points:

      (1) R0b is ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY ON THE MONEY !!!

      It’s what I, and one or two others like Phil Quin, have been arguing for 6 weeks now (me, on a number of blogs, but especially The Standard, Quin on his Irredeemable blog). The benchmark is NOT Laban’s 6100 Candidate-Vote majority (and even less the 7000 figure that some people have – for reasons known only to themselves – been throwing about with wild abandon), the TRUE BENCHMARK is THE 2008 PARTY-VOTE.

      Labour won that, as R0b so rightly points out, by a mere 2500 votes over National. Taking into account the lower turnout, that means the TRUE BENCHMARK – the majority one should expect for Fa’afoi all things being equal – is 1700. Not 6100, not 7000, but 1700. (R0b says 1600, but I think he’s overlooked the special votes in his calculation). I calculate turnout as (i) 68.5% of the 2008 Mana turnout and (ii) 55.9% of all registered voters (Although I’m basing the second calculation on the 2008 master roll).

      I haven’t analysed the usual special-vote pattern yet, but I guess it’s common knowledge that the Greens tend to do particularly well with this vote. I also suspect the incumbent Party (the Party that wins the Candidate-Vote) does well. Wouldn’t be surprised then if Fa’afoi’s majority creeps up to 1200 or a little more.

      (2) Which leads me to my second objective:….. shameless self-promotion:

      2 weeks ago (reiterated again on Friday, the day before the by-election) I predicted on Quin’s Irredeemable blog that Fa’afoi would win by 1200 votes. Also got the Green (Logie) vote right and the % margin between Fa’afoi and Parata right. And once the special-votes are counted, I’m expecting my predictions for Fa’afoi and Parata’s raw number of votes to be very close: I predicted: Fa’afoi 11,100…….Parata 9900.

      My mistake, however, was to over-estimate Matt McCarten’s vote. 2 weeks ago, I said 1400, and unfortunately on Friday I upped it to 1800. Bad, bad mistake.

      But generally, I’m feeling pretty bloody satisfied with my predictions. Perhaps, without knowing it, I’ve become a forceful and ruthless campaign strategist with the midas touch when it comes to the deeply cynical dark arts of electoral calculation. Then again, perhaps not.

      • mickysavage 7.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 7:04 pm

        Well done Swordfish. I have enjoyed your sophisticated analysis of the electorate which reads like someone who lives in and breathes the area. Have you thought about contributing your skills the party as a whole?

      • r0b 7.1.2
        21 November 2010 at 11:57 pm

        Hey swordfish, I knew I’d read those party figures somewhere but I couldn’t think where to look for it. Must have been you. So a late hat tip and thanks! Good work on your predictions…

  8. Gotham 8
    21 November 2010 at 11:49 am

    I would be interested to know what people think of the Green’s performance in the election. Here’s my amateur political commentary on it:

    I think the result should be a bit worrying for some people in the Greens. Considering the amount of time, effort and resources which went into the campaign, I am not impressed that we couldn’t pull off any increase from the 2008 general election result.

    What worries me personally, as a Green member, is that there is so much emphasis on pulling in the ‘mainstream’ vote. But, it appears to me that we lost votes to McCarten – so, we lost votes to a more left party, not a more centrist one. This is going to be an even bigger concern if McCarten pushes ahead with a new left party.

    The bigger crisis was averted, it would have been DISASTER if McCarten had beaten Logie. But although I was pretty impressed with Logie and what I saw of her campaign, I am concerned that didn’t translate into a bigger vote.

    • Shane Gallagher 8.1
      21 November 2010 at 1:16 pm

      Well – look at it this way – even as a Green party member I would hesitate to vote for a Green candidate if it meant that a National party candidate would get in. We spend a lot of time hammering the “Party Vote Green” message out there so people are not really used to voting for Green candidates this way. And Jan got the same percentage (apporx) as Michael Gilchrist did in 2008 so I don’t think that is a bad result at all, esp. as there was a drop in the Labour vote.

      Which by the way is not good – no matter how you spin that out. They should have run a strong left wing candidate (like Matt McCarten) except that I doubt that there are many in the Labour party. They should have used this to test run the next election with a strong left wing agenda but they tried to play safe. Playing safe will lose them the next election.

      • Gotham 8.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 2:53 pm

        I agree – I think the left (and especially Green-left) need to get bold about their campaigning before the next election.

        I am sick of lack-lustre, pandering to the masses politics. It would be great to see a bit of inspiration for once.

        I just hope there is a lot of behind the scenes discussions on why the Greens’ campaign in Mana wasn’t a success, rather than all this ‘happy with the results’ bs. Being ‘happy with those results’ will definitely lose us the next election.

    • Rebecca 8.2
      21 November 2010 at 6:40 pm

      I think the Greens did well – Jan is an excellent candidate and she did well to maintain third place and hold the votes in the face of the Matt McCarten campaign. And yes, I am one of those Green party voters who voted for Faafoi, and bloody glad I did looking at the results. Jan deserves a good list place – she\’s done very well and would make a great MP.

  9. Redbaron77 9
    21 November 2010 at 11:52 am

    The turnout was down by 11,669. An analysis of the raw pollings figures show Kris and Hekia were both affected by the lower turnout however it hit Kris harder. In particular Kris was 7673 from Winnie’s 2008 vote (securing only 57.5% of the 2008 Labour electorate vote) whereas Hekia was 2,598 down on her 2008 poll or 78.2% of her 2008 vote. Whilst some of Winnie’s 2008 vote may have gone across to Hekia it also suggests is that a considerable proportion of Labour’s vote did not turnout yesterday. This should be able to be confirmed from a cross-analysis of the polling booths; against the 2008, 2005 results. If the lower vote for Labour and Kris is due to voter’s staying away this question then is why did they fail to go to the polling booths yesterday?

    • Anne 9.1
      21 November 2010 at 12:30 pm

      While there maybe the odd exception to the rule (eg. Mt Albert where there were special factors at play), Labour voters have historically stayed away from by-elections in larger numbers than National voters. Add to that the recently held local body elections which caused voter confusion, and the fact that most knew their vote wasn’t going to change anything anyway, then you had a recipe for apathy.

      As has already been said, the only lesson for Labour (which they know anyway) is that they have to work twice as hard as National to get their people out to vote – especially in by-elections.

    • pollywog 9.2
      21 November 2010 at 2:10 pm

      If the lower vote for Labour and Kris is due to voter’s staying away, the question then is, why did they fail to go to the polling booths yesterday?

      cos they couldn’t bring themselves to vote for someone disconnected from their community and they sure as hell weren’t going to vote for national instead…

      ..faced with a choice between the lesser of 2 evils, they chose to do nothing.

      apathy FTW !!!

    • mickysavage 9.3
      21 November 2010 at 5:30 pm

      I have had a really rough go at the booth by booth changes in turnout. For the most National supporting booths the by election vote was 83% of the 2008 vote, more marginal 72%, marginal to moderate Labour 66% and the bedrock Labour 75%. Certainly there is evidence that the drop in turnout in the wealthier areas was lower than in the marginal areas although the turnout in bedrock Labour areas suggests that the party machinery was working well.

      One other comment, many Kiwis use their MMP votes consciously to support the party and the MP that they want. Do not read too much into this result as far as party support goes.

      • swordfish 9.3.1
        21 November 2010 at 8:32 pm

        Interesting booth-by-booth turnout analysis, micky. I’m just about to begin a little similar analysis myself, though with a focus on the candidate vote percentages on a suburb-by-suburb basis.

        • mickysavage 9.3.1.1
          21 November 2010 at 8:47 pm

          Mine was rough and ready just to get a feel for what happened. Booth by booth they are all over the place but grouping them together gives a bit more clarity. You should submit yours to the usual suspects.

  10. ghostwhowalksnz 10
    21 November 2010 at 12:31 pm

    Will the National supporters be making the same arguments when the numbers for Botany are announced.

    There it is their majority that will be under attack.

    Could it be some are using every trick to avoid a bye election.
    They only have to get her to stay till late march and the problem will go away

  11. just saying 11
    21 November 2010 at 12:43 pm

    Prediction: the specials will take the McCarten vote comfortably over five percent.

    This from an unknown (to most locals) outsider in three weeks with stuff-all resources.

  12. Olwyn 12
    21 November 2010 at 12:58 pm

    Under the present circumstances, with wages dropping, prices rising and employment increasingly precarious, along with the public vilification and harassment that attends unemployment under a right wing government, Labour should be more concerned about the low turnout than the comparative percentages. Even if it is common for by-elections to generate a low turnout, this ought not to be the case in this particular area and under these conditions. It suggests that Labour’s message failed to come across as compelling enough to fire up potential voters. Len Brown’s Auckland campaign is the one to learn from: Len did not offer salvation from all of life’s woes, but people did trust him to take their concerns seriously, and to do what was possible to meet them, within the scope and capacity of a mayor. People responded by caring whether he won or not, and voting for him.

  13. r0b 13
    21 November 2010 at 12:59 pm

    One thing missing from all analysis I’ve seen so far. Yes, Winnie Laban has a 6,000 vote majority in 2008. But that was a personal vote. Looking at party vote Labour’s majority was just 2,500 (Mana was never a safe Labour seat it was a safe Laban seat).

    So take Laban’s personal vote out of the picture in the by-election and the Labour candidate starts with just a 2,500 majority. By election turnout 65% compared to 2008, so reduce the expected majority to 1,600.

    And Faa’foi actually got 1,080 of that, campaigning against the PM. Bloody good result for Kris and for Labour!

    • ak 13.1
      21 November 2010 at 4:33 pm

      Extremely pertinent point r0b – ta. Chuck on Matt’s votes (almost all from Lab) and allow for the lower turnout, and it’s quite a gain to Labour – also explains why NACT went so hard, and emphasises the importance of candidate er mana when both sides go hard on the ground. Take off the Hekia factor and it’s an even further gain to Lab.

    • mickysavage 13.2
      21 November 2010 at 6:57 pm

      And National’s incessant comments that the seat was safe was designed to drive down turnout in the hope they would then sneak through. If you add McCarten’s votes to Faafoi he did ok.

  14. deemac 14
    21 November 2010 at 1:13 pm

    McCarten managed to make a popular policy – the $15 minimum wage – look like a marginal idea. Genius.

  15. BLiP 15
    21 November 2010 at 1:20 pm

    Labour can be reasonably pleased with the Mana result. The majority is small but that does not mean anything for the wider party.

    If that’s the sort of casual arrogance of Labour, there goes 2011.

    • Craig GlenEden 15.1
      21 November 2010 at 2:18 pm

      How’s that arrogance Blip? Me thinks you suffer from an inferiority complex, like the little brother complex.

      • BLiP 15.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 3:11 pm

        I perceive arrogance in the statement that a significant drop in votes in what should have been stroll in the park is “meaningless”. It implies that Labour finds there’s nothing to be learned from the experience in Mana. I disagree.

        I’m not sure what you mean about my alleged inferiority complex. Sure, I’m disappointed with the Green vote, if that is what you are referring to? However, the disappointing result is to be expected given the Greens’ abandoning core principles in some sort of naive attempt to please the media, cross boundaries, and appeal to the twin-set-and-pearls gardening group constituency. If anything, McCarten scooped up much of what should have been our vote. Good on him.

  16. Fisiani 16
    21 November 2010 at 1:50 pm

    Correct Blip .I laughed out loud when I read those opening lines.

  17. millsy 17
    21 November 2010 at 2:13 pm

    The spin on this from both sides is rather disconcerting.

    National are behaving like England did back in 1997 after losing by ‘just’ 17 points to the All Blacks, with our Great and Glorious Leader painting it as a vote of support for the governments policies.

    Meanwhile, in the Labour camp, they dont seem to see that bringing in outside candidates who look as if they want to build their CV’s more than anything else is in actuality a turn off for the voting public.

    In any case, a win is a win and a loss is a loss, and that is what matters. It would have been way worse if Labour had lost this one. Now Kris needs to prove himself as an MP, and show his people that he deserved their votes – his re-election campaign starts tomorrow.

    • Rex Widerstrom 17.1
      21 November 2010 at 11:28 pm

      Meanwhile, in the Labour camp, they dont seem to see that bringing in outside candidates who look as if they want to build their CV’s more than anything else is in actuality a turn off for the voting public.

      The problem they have is that the people making the decisions are living in a bubble (maybe the same one Litea Ah Hoi kept advising us to blow away). The old line about politics being showbiz for ugly people holds true; they see themselves as celebrities, not servants, and thus think the only people suitable to join them at the top table are other celebrities.

      It’s asking more than just that they take a long look at what makes a good candidate, it’s asking them to fundamentally re-evaluate their own status. And I don’t see it happening. Ever.

      (And, as Herodotus points out below, the above is equally applicable to National with their fatuous courting of boofhead sports “stars” etc.)

      • M 17.1.1
        22 November 2010 at 11:44 am

        ‘The old line about politics being showbiz for ugly people holds true; they see themselves as celebrities, not servants, and thus think the only people suitable to join them at the top table are other celebrities.’

        Rex, that should get the Nutshell Award.

  18. Santi 18
    21 November 2010 at 2:28 pm

    I’m delighted to see the ridiculously low number of votes McCarten got. It’s a pathetic display from a pathetic candidate.

    Time for the delusional Matt to bugger off national politics.

  19. DS 19
    21 November 2010 at 2:31 pm

    >>>Labour voters have historically stayed away from by-elections in larger numbers than National >>>voters.

    Exactly. Even in by-elections where you see a big swing against National (1998 Taranaki-King Country, 1994 Selwyn, 1992 Tamaki, 1980 East Coast Bays, 1978 Rangitikei), the vote doesn’t go to Labour – it goes to third parties.

    By-elections, due to turnout, are practically meaningless in trying to read the tea-leaves for a general election.

    Incidentally, in case anyone is curious, a Government *has* gained a seat in a by-election off an Opposition in this country before. It last happened in 1921 (Reform gains Auckland East at the expense of the Liberals), but it has happened.

  20. gobsmacked 20
    21 November 2010 at 2:44 pm

    DS is right.

    Selwyn was a great by-election for the Alliance. Taranaki King-Country was a great by-election for ACT. They each came a very good second, and then … nothing happened. Not for the parties, nor for the candidates. Nobody even remembers the names of their heroic runners-up. They certainly aren’t in Parliament today. (But here’s the thing – those by-election winners still are. The loser gets headlines for a day, the winner gets a career for decades).

    Hekia Parata will remain a list MP, and will now start searching for a safe National seat. She’s not stupid, she knows there’s no job security in coming second.

    Was Mana a good result for Labour? No. A total contrast to Mount Albert. That was a dream result for Labour, and … it had no effect whatsoever on wider public opinion. The polls didn’t move at all.

    So, not very good, and not very significant. Um, that’s it.

    • J Mex 20.1
      21 November 2010 at 3:37 pm

      I’m with you, Gobsmacked.

      This is bad for Labour insofar as they would have liked to do much much better against National. It is not bad for Labour insofar as it is absolutely irrelevant as to their performance in next years election.

      National should be justifiably happy with their result. I doubt there was one person in NZ that thought National would win. However, there would be few that picked it being so close. In that regard, better for National than Labour. Relatively insignificant otherwise.

  21. M 21
    21 November 2010 at 3:02 pm

    Happy the left triumphed and Labour got the necessary scare it needs courtesy of Matt but Kris will really need to work his butt off over the next year.

    I don’t know that Kris is going to

    • Anne 21.1
      21 November 2010 at 3:36 pm

      Why M?
      I had the distinct impression that Kris Faafoi worked his butt off in Mana, but the media chose to give more publicity to Key and Parata smiling and waving to anything that moved.

      Faafoi by his own admission was new to the political game, and as he said on Q&A this morning “it was a steep learning curve”. He comes across to me as someone of intelligence and integrity, and I believe he will work hard to gain the confidence and the support of the Mana voters.

      • M 21.1.1
        21 November 2010 at 4:00 pm

        Anne

        Submitted comment before I’d finished post in error as I was trying to concentrate on something else at the time as well – here’s what it should have read:

        Happy the left triumphed and Labour got the necessary scare it needs courtesy of Matt but Kris will really need to work his butt off over the next year.

        I don’t know that Kris is going to set the electorate on fire next year given the negativity surrounding his selection shoe-in and it may be that he is perceived as having a too-polished, well-practised patter and maybe not enough grunt. I think Phil also suffers from the same perception as not having enough grunt.

        Phil after his speech at the conference needed to keep up the momentum and he needs to get as many media releases as he can, after all Key will do just about anything for a smile and wave photo-op short of lying down on railway tracks so why shouldn’t Phil be out there?

        Kris and Phil need to display some mettle, not being out and out nasty but showing that they are not to be trifled with and need to have some good ripostes that give their detractors nowhere to go.

        • Anne 21.1.1.1
          21 November 2010 at 5:18 pm

          We’ve all done that with much gnashing of teeth at our own stupidity 😉

          • Anne 21.1.1.1.1
            21 November 2010 at 5:24 pm

            @M
            You won’t believe this mate but I’ve just done the same thing. Jeepers!

            Wanted to add that I agree wholeheartedly with your latter comments. Goff in particular needs to up the ante from now on. Too bad if he upsets a few people along the way. It’s time for the risk taking to start!

  22. Herodotus 22
    21 November 2010 at 4:30 pm

    I hope that these 2 by elections are the last of fly in, party appointed canditates. How can an electorate feel connected with “their” local Mp. Sure with boundary changes there are cases for the MP not to be able to vote for themselves.
    Or celebrity canditates head hunted by head office case in mind Anton Oliver. (I remember Marc Ellis was mentioned in despatches with Don Brash) http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3427685/Political-parties-woo-former-All-Black-Anton-Oliver
    Labours disconnect with the people is still remains unanswered. Nat are the same.
    From what I have read there was no policy why we should vote for Lab only why we shouldn’t vote Nat. Labour by default is not the answer.

  23. Tanz 23
    21 November 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Te Atatu will be interesting, won’t it. Time for some more women candidates, as Audrey Young pointed out, to even out the score. Or a safe bet for Phil Twyford, still looking for a seat? What an interesting political year this has been.!

  24. smhead 24
    21 November 2010 at 5:29 pm

    I’m waiting for the pictures of david shearer and darien fenton walking down the street on election day knocking on doors and telling voters to go vote faafoi.

    Eddie forgets labour threw everything at holding mana. So stupid of goff to call it a referendum on the government and then get egg on his face when there’s a huge swing to the government. By elections NEVER swing to the government. Except this one. Faafoi is a nice guy but he was only there because he has a brown face and close to goff. We’ll never hear from him again.

    • lprent 24.1
      21 November 2010 at 11:48 pm

      smhead: You’re an election idiot aren’t you….

      You can’t tell people who to vote for on election day – it is illegal in the electoral act. All you can do is to help get people to the polls. Of course there is an art in selecting who you want to go to vote…

      BTW: I’m guessing the sm means small? right?

  25. dad4justice 25
    21 November 2010 at 6:57 pm

    TV presenter or politician, what’s the difference ? Both feed from the same trough.

  26. JRM 26
    21 November 2010 at 9:09 pm

    “National are behaving like England did back in 1997 after losing by ‘just’ 17 points to the All Blacks, with our Great and Glorious Leader painting it as a vote of support for the governments policies.”

    England did a lap of honour to thank the supporters for coming as they were playing at Old Trafford, an area of Manchester United football stronghold where rugby visits by the national team were few and far between.

    They weren’t celebrating a win, they were thanking the crowd.

  27. Jeremy Harris 27
    21 November 2010 at 9:28 pm

    I think this post is polishing a turd really…

    I don’t think there is going to be too much champagne being downed at Labour HQ tonight…

    • Colonial Viper 27.1
      21 November 2010 at 9:36 pm

      I don’t think there is going to be too much champagne being downed at Labour HQ tonight…

      Probably a Speights or two mate, well earned at that 😛

    • Jeremy Harris 27.2
      21 November 2010 at 10:48 pm

      Not if Tizard is there… She likes a bit of the champahs…

    • lprent 27.3
      21 November 2010 at 11:33 pm

      Beats me where you get these ideas. I’ve never seen champagne at any Labour party function.

      Perhaps you were talking about the Nats?

      • Colonial Viper 27.3.1
        22 November 2010 at 12:13 am

        Hey doesn’t Lindauer = champagne?

        Oh on reflection, probably not 😛

      • Jeremy Harris 27.3.2
        22 November 2010 at 12:31 am

        I’m guessing it’s only on the menu when the taxpayers are paying for it then…

        • Colonial Viper 27.3.2.1
          22 November 2010 at 12:36 am

          No doubt, but I wouldn’t begrudge Key serving tax payer funded champagne to Clinton at their recent BBQ.

        • Jeremy Harris 27.3.2.2
          22 November 2010 at 12:46 am

          I do…

          Surely he should have said, “I’m sorry we’d offer you champagne but for a $200 bottle we figured someone on the minimum wage would have to work 60 odd hours to earn enough for us to take the taxes to pay for it”…

          That’d shut her up, unless socialism is just a ruse to get access to the trough..?

        • lprent 27.3.2.3
          22 November 2010 at 7:57 am

          Ah, but you were quite specific about Labour HQ. Now you’re slithering off into diversionary tactics talking about Judith.

          Perhaps you should be looking at the hundreds of thousands that Bill English has rorted from taxpayers for his house, or that Rodney attempted to rort while on a baby making exercise.

          But with your typical tory lack of proportionality, you are concerned by a bottle of wine (not from champagne) by a minister who from memory was associate minister of the arts – who do drink the stuff.

          Do You realize how much of an ignorant idiot it makes you look?

          • Jeremy Harris 27.3.2.3.1
            22 November 2010 at 2:47 pm

            I’m not a tory, I dislike the Nats, probably more than you…

            Feel better now you’ve thrown all the toys out of your cot..? Do you realise how much of an ignorant idiot being an ignorant idiot makes you look..?

            • lprent 27.3.2.3.1.1
              22 November 2010 at 4:24 pm

              I didn’t say Nat. Tory is more general to the whole spectrum to the conservative right of the economic/social political sphere. It is more of an attitude than a political party.

              What I do notice about tories like yourself is that they tend to lack a sense of proportionality. That was what I was pointing out with a bit of a needle embedded.

              • Jeremy Harris …
                22 November 2010 at 5:43 pm

                You attack anyone who doesn’t agree with you, the domain of those who lack the depth of argument to even attempt to change minds and is worried everyone will find out…

                The point was about whether Labour would be celebrating much over the result, the answer is seemingly a resounding, “no”… The commenting then headed off in a tangent because I used the word champagne, possibly quite flippantly, I could see CV was implying that no one from the left would ever drink anything so extravagent, so I brought up Tizard…

                I enjoy debating CV because he has a brain but you had to come in with your abusive, mindless, over sensitive bollocks and waste my time…

                If you really think I approve of English’s or Rodney’s rorts your as stupid as you are boorish, if you don’t realise that I understand that English’s effective theft of over $30,000 is many orders of magnitude larger than Tizard spending a few hundred dollars on wine you are dense, I didn’t bring those things up because they have nothing to do with the conversion at hand, if I lack a sense of proportionality then you lack a sense of relevancy, according to you on a post about Labour’s results in a by-election I should have posted:

                “I disapprove of Bill English’s double dipping uncovered two years ago and Rodney using tax payers money to take his girlfriend to the UK eighteen months ago”…

                • lprent …
                  22 November 2010 at 6:20 pm

                  …no one from the left would ever drink anything so extravagent, so I brought up Tizard…

                  You used a classic troll line. It was done in the typical way to divert a thread (inadvertent or not). When challenged you attempted to avoid…. All classic troll behaviors.

                  If you hadn’t noticed (or haven’t read the policy), I land really hard on people doing troll behaviors on this site.

                  Sometimes I warn them. Sometimes I ban them. And sometimes when I have time and I feel that they’re merely drifting into irritating behaviors then I will needle them about whatever they said. The objective is that they get to an apoplexy as fast as possible by doing the classic troll behaviors of misconstruing, misinterpreting, diversionary tactics, unsubstantiated assertions, and even misinformation. It is a very ungentle warning about behaviors that draw my attention.

                  It wastes less of my time to do it by example of what it leads to (ie flamewars) rather than explaining nicely. It is also more fun and it allows me to exercise skill-sets that would otherwise get rusty (ie how to be a nasty sysop). It is also public which means that I have to do less of it in the future for other people reading the thread.

                  Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do some training.

                  • Jeremy Harris …
                    22 November 2010 at 9:27 pm

                    Ha ha, so you deem anyone who doesn’t share your point of view as a troll and then, because being a troll is so reprehensible, you go straight and push your personal nuclear troll button… Nice logic there…

                    I do note you have no response for the body of my last post – pathetic… Hard to believe your a mod and that you are is a sad commentary on this blog…

                    • lprent …
                      22 November 2010 at 9:55 pm

                      No.

                      I did answer about the substantive part of your comment. I’m really only interested in your behavior. I really couldn’t give a shit about your juvie philosophies and I haven’t seen anything you’ve written that is particularly interesting. Mostly looks like stuff I thought about before you were born. Hell I’ve been probably been moderating out the anti-social from before you were weaned. It is pretty tedious watching the same old tactics wheeled out by every newbie…

                      But you’ve been warned. It will be interesting to see if you earn yourself a Darwin award. Arguing with the sysop or any moderator about their site rules isn’t exactly a good indicator. We get tired of making the effort really fast.

                    • Jeremy Harris …
                      24 November 2010 at 2:42 pm

                      Warned for what, my imaginary troll behaviour..?

                      I don’t dispute your right as an admin to moderate posts, I dispute your ability to do rationally…

                      [lprent: The rationality is to protect this site from rubbish comments that cause flame-wars or people who don’t add to the conversation. This makes having to read the site more pleasant for all concerned – especially for the moderators who have to read it all of the time. The secondary objective is to reduce the amount of work required to achieve that objective.

                      Neither objective means that we have to or indeed should be nice whilst doing it. In fact the opposite is true. We should be outright nasty when infractions or suspected infractions are detected. This reduces the workload because it stops people lawyering the system and encourages people to self-moderate well within the bounds.

                      We’re reasonably consistent about what we don’t want to see (and I suspect that I’m probably the most consistent moderator in style) and generally we don’t give a shit about what you think should be permissible. There are many other sites available so you can probably find your own level without problems (read No you must..).

                      This is our site, we make the rules, and our measure of success is the steadily rising numbers of interesting comments that we read. You don’t do the hard work required to make the site work at its various levels. That makes you a guest and a relatively recent one still learning the local culture. Act like one and I’ll ignore you when I’m moderating. Don’t and as a moderator I’ll either torment you or ban you to protect the site depending on what I feel is an appropriate use of my time.

                      It is your choice, and incidentally arguing about it is wasting my time. ]

  28. happynz 28
    22 November 2010 at 7:00 am

    From the media reports it would seem as if Labour had lost the seat. The images I saw on the box were of celebrations by Hekia Parata and a smiling (what else) John Key.

    Weird…

  29. pollywog 29
    22 November 2010 at 8:59 am

    if Fa’afoi he were a white ex TV journo and former press secretary who jumped on the Labour bandwagon pretty late in the game, would he still have gotten in on the ‘safe’ Labour seat buzz ?

    would the media have ridden him harder…would the voters ‘connect’ with him even less…how much of the vote was because he was brown rather than he was ‘Labour’ ?

    does it matter that he’s appears brown in skin only with no real connection to the electorate ?

    i wonder how Mana would have voted if Parata were also a Pasifikan male, except one who lived and worked and socialised there.

    one can only assume Mana got the MP they deserve. i reckon they deserved more, regardless of the party the candidate represents.

    if National sourced a local candidate and said, ‘look Hekia, you’re 3 and 0 in the batting stakes, time for a spell on the bench cos you got a safe gig on the list team anyway’…

    …we’d find out how much being brown, male and local truly means to Mana when deciding who they want repping for them in the big house, and Fa’afoi, Goff and Labour would be in for a rude awakening

  30. tankyman 30
    22 November 2010 at 11:30 am

    They say perception is reality.

    The perception everywhere apart from here and red ablurt is that Nats have done very well. Labour – not well at all.

    See Audrey Young in the Herald “Some in Labour who should know better are creatively suggesting that Labour actually did better in the byelection than the last general election, despite having its majority slashed from 6155 to 1080.

    From three senior figures has come the suggestions that Kris Faafoi winning 47 per cent of the candidate vote on Saturday was a better result than the 43.9 per cent party vote that the party got in 2008, when Winnie Laban stood.

    That is like comparing raisins and sheep droppings.”

    Sorry guys – spin it all you like. Its not working anywhere at all apart from people who want to believe you. Labours Mana results is nothing short of a total FAIL!

    *spam word “wonderful” – and it is.

  31. Tiger Mountain 31
    22 November 2010 at 7:34 pm

    Unlike wankyman above I say reality is reality, and Mana has elected a Labour MP. Various thoughtful qualifications and examinations of that result have occured in this post and subsequent comments. To have JFK (John fucking Key, must stop using that term) parked up in Mana for days on end holding hectoring Hekia’s hand looked more the fail.

  32. randal 32
    24 November 2010 at 11:48 am

    the perceptiuon is not the reality.
    the dompost have had two ediorials in the last two days trying to minimize the Mana result.
    they just cant handle getting a licking and they bleating up large.
    when leighton smith opines on his radio show that national look like being a one term government then the fat is well and truly in the fire.
    this government is made up of the inept and the last known remains of neanderthal man.
    thats why they dont let the backbenchers be seen in public but the truth is they are on the way out because while they may have the numbers they dont have any brains.

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 hours ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago

  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    10 hours ago

  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    11 hours ago

  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    23 hours ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;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:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-09T04:55:42+00:00