At home with David Cunliffe

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 pm, May 12th, 2014 - 117 comments
Categories: leadership - Tags:

A really nice piece from Campbell Live tonight. It’s useful to see the leaders of political parties at home. It gives a better sense of who they are than the stage-managed set pieces and soundbites we usually see them though.

And from the Campell Live piece it’s clear that David Cunliffe is the kind of decent bloke you’d want to be looking out for our interests. His wife Karen is extremely accomplished too. A perfect couple.

Looking forward to his chat here tomorrow evening.

Recommended viewing.

 

117 comments on “At home with David Cunliffe ”

  1. Mike the Savage One 1

    So far I had some doubts about David Cunliffe, but the Campbell Live visit to his and his wife Karen’s home, and the rather friendly conversation and general presentation have given me a more positive impression of the man leading Labour.

    His wife’s environmental passions do add to a positive flair about the Cunliffes. They will have their challenges too, I am sure, but I have gained more trust in David after seeing the program. He is not the smart acting “fake” John Key often is, David is actually a somewhat natural, and soft guy, who I would rather have as leader than the present PM.

    But then again, such shows performances may also be seen a bit like staged performances, are they not?

    At least David is able to be a reasonable contender for the job. Things may look up.

  2. Tamati 2

    Cheesy as anything. I can see why he was reluctant to do it in the first place. The last thing I want to watch when I’m cooking dinner is politicians cooking dinner.

    • Kevin Welsh 2.1

      Is that you John?

    • karol 2.2

      Did you watch the CL segment, then?

      Did it show Cunliffe cooking?

      • David H 2.2.1

        I saw him beating the batter for pikelets for the sons afternoon tea. As for food it was Fish n Chips and a beer while waiting. How more down to earth can you get?

        • karol 2.2.1.1

          Yes. I meant he wasn’t cooking dinner as Tamati implied.

          • Tracey 2.2.1.1.1

            good catch karol. i didnt watch it, was out, and didnt watch key. hence iha e no comment on it. tamati however

    • Mary 2.3

      Maybe you’re more into watching a prime minister wave cooking utensils abusively in front of their spouse’s face?

  3. Clemgeopin 3

    it was a very nice interview, just as those with Key, Hone and Norman were. Cunliffe and his wife,Karen, were very impressive. They responded very well to the questions when addressed.
    A great idea from Campbell Live to show our leaders in a different setting.

    • David H 3.1

      I have watched all of the At home with the leaders.

      Key well that looked forced sausages and eggs at his ‘beach house’ and the thing with the ponytail had me cringing.

      Hone Hawaria at their home. I have been watching Hone grow as a politician over the years now when he speaks people of all races listen.

      Russel Norman. At their home (and mung beans for Campbell) a good joke. I didn’t know he was married to Anna Paquins sister. The Greens have grown into a political force (no matter what Key shouts and blusters I think he’s scared)

      David and Karen. Well what to say. Nothing like what he has been portrayed by his opponents on both sides of the house. You can see the upbringing of the parsons household, gentle and quiet, non of the I’m important persona, that you get with Key. And to think David nearly followed his fathers choice of vocation. Lucky for NZ he didn’t.

      Now we have the rest to look forward to. Next Jamie Whyte.

  4. Kiwiri 4

    Lovely!

    I like that very much!!!

  5. Will@Welly 5

    Labour’s secret weapon. Karen – environmentalist, and look at the way she is able to turn her hand to virtually anything. Hens, bees, neighbours dropping off scraps in return for eggs, jam maker, pikelet maker. you name it she does it. None of this la-de-da farmers market $$$15-00 a pop an egg brigade for the Cunliffe’s.
    And I’d like to see John Key around a bee hive. It’d take more than an itsy tiny smoker to take the sting out of them if they knew he was around.

    • Ad 5.1

      She has stood by him through all the shit – much of it internal.
      So she’s David Cunliffe’ secret weapon, rather than Labour’s.

    • Rosie 5.2

      Behind every Great Man is a Great Woman! (but not one to be in that Great Man’s shadow, so better still, beside every Great Man is a Great Woman) Karen Price is a very impressive woman.

      Have really enjoyed seeing Rus Le Roq, Hone and David in their home settings, where their personal self can come to fore and they express their humanity differently from the political setting they operate in, which is normally the only way we can view them. It’s good to see where those individuals are coming from, as well where and how their foundation beliefs are formed.

      Wouldn’t want to see too much more though. Beyond that it could become voyeuristic and their lives at risk of being trivialised.

  6. Shorts 6

    I want to see more of the man Campbell filmed….

    That was a stunning piece, anyone who sees it will know why Cunliffe is a man to vote for! And wow his wife…. She was totally awesome!

    More of this please camp labour

  7. Stuart Munro 7

    I like him. He’ll make a great PM. Some of his coalition partners are pretty good too. Just as well, because there’s a lot of work to do.

  8. her 8

    How does having an education, a job, bees and chickens make you aggressive?

    He really is a little creep.

  9. Ad 9

    Post probably better titled “At home with Karen Price”

  10. Belladonna 10

    It was a lovely show and seems to have been well received by the media who seem at long last willing to speak positively about David. Karen is a real asset and came across as an impressive woman. I still need to hear Labour offer more help to low income people before I commit to Labour though. Beneficiaries are still not being offered much by Labour unlike low and middle income workers.
    Surely Labour need these votes and cant afford to ignore them.

    • karol 10.1

      Harawira’s at home on CL, was also excellent, showing him to be genuine, down-to-earth, and committed to helping Maori and all those on low incomes.

    • Mary 10.2

      How ever pleasant Cunliffe came across on tele last night won’t change the fact that Labour is not a party for the poor. As we’ve been constantly told for a long time now, Labour is a party for workers. Labour has of course always said that it’s a party for workers, it’s just that now when they say it beneficiaries are excluded. Once upon a time the distinction wasn’t made because unemployment was correctly viewed in structural not personal terms but Labour’s been sucked into believing right-wing generated propaganda that’s corroded our values as a nation so Labour too must now treat the poor with hatred and disdain because, after all, that’s what the general population believes so why not?

  11. amirite 11

    Good on David, he was somewhat subdued, taken away from the spotlight by his amazing wife – and it seems that he didn’t mind that at all. Much more natural than his performances in the House which sometimes sound too much like sermons.
    Just be yourself, David.

  12. Harry Holland 12

    I’m slightly embarrassed to confess that something as ‘soft’ as this has probably sealed my vote for Labour at my first election since resigning from 15 years of Green Party membership.

    • karol 12.1

      Russell Norman’s CL at home was retty good, too., Showing how committed he is to his poitical values. But Norman had already developed more of a strong public persona.

      • yeshe 12.1.1

        Hi Karol … these CL pieces seem to have ignored Metiria as Greens co-leader .. do you have any idea how the decisions are made in GP about this ? Recently it seems Metiria is only sometimes remembered as co-leader, and it irks me !

        • karol 12.1.1.1

          I am not a Green Party member. I have no idea how those decisions are made. But, as I show in my post today, Turei has had Campbell Live into her home fairly recently and generally got quite a bit of coverage for that. Tried to counter the tendency to treat Norman as de facto leader in my post today.

    • Mary 12.2

      Oh no! Why did you give up on the Greens?

      • Harry Holland 12.2.1

        I didn’t give up on them entirely Mary. The days after the split from the Alliance were fun. The greenviews mailing list was lively and open (a bit like the standard is today) but these folks are now professional politicians and I find it harder to relate to Norman, Turei, Clendon, Delahunty, Hughes etc compared to the sense of brotherhood I felt with Fitzsimons, Bradford, Locke, Tanczos, Kedgeley, Ward. Since I find it harder to relate to them leaving was inevitable – not keen to put billboards on my house, make phone calls, deliver pamphlets, and scrutineer for folks I’m ambivalent about.

        • Mary 12.2.1.1

          I guess I see hope in the Greens and Mana because I see no hope with Labour, have given up on them 110%, feel nothing but disdain towards them because of their blatant hypocrisy when it comes to the poorest among us, abandonment of traditional values and so on. Can’t take one word seriously because they’ve backtracked on everything since the early 1990s, have made things worse to boot with no evidence they’ll change and every indication we’re in for more of the same. Just sick of them.

  13. vto 13

    Yep, it came across well. But some 2c says that if looking for the edge over Key in the upcoming campaign then David should get some colour in his cheeks. Go fishing on a sunny afternoon once a week for an hour or so. Stand on a riverbank or seashore. Get the suns reflection off the water. The resulting freshness and outdoor glow will leave Key and his pasty lack of muscles in the dust.

    Just a thought, you know – at the top it is the smallest things that tip the pendulum. And when seen alongside storys like this by Campbell Live it could really add up.

  14. anker 14

    I like the fact that here is a couple who are obviously very well off, but are not engaging in the trappings as such. Time spent at home is growing veges, feeding chooks, tending to bees etc. All really wholesome, non-commercial stuff. Its the way many of us of a certain age were brought up, before things became a lot more (unfortunately), materialistic. I think that speaks volumes about who the Cunliffe’s really are. Two INCREDIBLY bright NZders who have done well, and sure have a flash house, but still live the old values (like scraps for eggs, old style NZ community).

    • Awww 14.1

      I like that too.

      Really enjoying the series with the leaders, makes me feel more optimistic about our future.

      • Mary 14.1.1

        I’m looking forward to seeing Jamie Whyte.

        • Mary 14.1.1.1

          I want John Campbell to ask Whyte why he talks the way he does.

          • phillip ure 14.1.1.1.1

            @ mary..heh..!

            ..it’s called rand-speak..

            ..and the general contempt for all others he wears on his sleeve.

            ..that’s his own addition/affectation..

            • Mary 14.1.1.1.1.1

              Yes, the way he conducts himself makes him his own worst enemy. How on earth anyone would vote for him is beyond comprehension. Am looking forward to hearing what he’ll have to say after the election.

              • and he is the best they have got..!

                ..where is their candidate..?..what’shisname..?

                ..do they have him locked in a room somewhere..?

                ..or is he still hiding behind hedges..’?

                ..waiting to jump out and scare people..

                “..hi..!..i’m what’shisname..!’..

    • karol 14.2

      Yep. And Karen can pilot planes, too.

      • Rosie 14.2.1

        There’s no end to her talents! Never mind David Parker as Deputy Leader. When Mr C is away on PM’s business oversea’s Ms P can jump in the Cessna, head to (the other) Beehive, run the country, whilst simultaneously battling environmental crims!

        • tinfoilhat 14.2.1.1

          I’ll think you’ll find Karen has been fighting for rather than against environmental crims.

          • Clemgeopin 14.2.1.1.1

            Please confine any fair or unfair criticism that you may have directed at the politician, Mr Cunliffe, but leave his wife and family alone, as that is completely wrong and unfair. I hope you understand that.

            • tinfoilhat 14.2.1.1.1.1

              “Please confine any fair or unfair criticism that you may have directed at the politician, Mr Cunliffe, but leave his wife and family alone, as that is completely wrong and unfair. I hope you understand that.”

              I was responding to the comment above where Rosie suggested that the person in question battled environmental criminals which is completely untrue. I would also comment in the same manner if the partners of the Green party politicians were portrayed untruthfully for political purposes.

              • Rosie

                I was being playful tinfoilhat. 🙄

                I’m guessing you did watch the show last night where Karen Prices work as an environmental lawyer was discussed. I’m not sure how you get the impression that she is somehow supporting those organisations or businesses that as a result of their business operations the environment is compromised and damaged.

                • tinfoilhat

                  “I’m guessing you did watch the show last night where Karen Prices work as an environmental lawyer was discussed. I’m not sure how you get the impression that she is somehow supporting those organisations or businesses that as a result of their business operations the environment is compromised and damaged.”

                  Oh I don’t know perhaps her published CV misled me ?

                  http://www.chancerygreen.com/index.php/what-we-do/10-our-people/14-karen-price

                  • Rosie

                    Alright alright Tinfoilhat. You posted at the same time (see post below), I thought that maybe I should do a google search and sure Karen Prices’ work history is easy enough to find.

                    No need to be sarcastic.

                • Rosie

                  Er, a brief (and hopefully momentary) pause in my enthusiasm. Ms P has represented the reprehensibles’ and not so much the environmentalists.

                  http://www.chancerygreen.com/index.php/what-we-do/10-our-people/14-karen-price

                  Still, her work is her work at not that of her husband’s, our new PM after 20th September.

                  • Rosie

                    Further to the above: Our work doesn’t always define us, nor are our roles fixed.

                    I got thinking about a family friend, a lawyer who worked for the Crown in the early days of the Treaty negotiations – he represented the Crowns interests. Did that make him opposed to the right of Maori to have stolen lands returned to them? No. He was interested in the cultures of others and understood the power colonial governments had over indigenous peoples, around the world, and was supportive of moves for such people to reclaim their lost lands and traditional ways. He was a good person who had inclusive social values

                    None of this is relevant though as it’s David Cunliffe people are voting for, not his wife.

      • So what we’re really saying is David and Karen are the political power couple you’d most want to have on your team when the zombie apocalypse comes?

        • Rosie 14.2.2.1

          Now there’s an idea Stephanie. Of course, Ms P will be fully prepared for such an event should it arise. I bet there’s a well stocked zombie apocolypse “Go Bag” in the hall way cupboard, should it be required in such an emergency.

    • Rosie 14.3

      +1 anker. They are a family who can demonstrate that the acquisition of wealth does not need to equate to flashy shows of materialism and excess environmentally damaging consumerism.

      Unlike another “leader” we know.

    • ianmac 14.4

      Yes anker and it must seem to lay to rest the idea that somehow the Cunliffes are lolling around in luxurious splendour as per the Key dig at David’s address.

    • Chooky 14.5

      +100

  15. TightyRighty 15

    definitely the worst house on the street. how could anyone not see they represent the kiwi battler.

    • Tiger Mountain 15.1

      Money bags ShonKey seems to attract support (too much) from the aspirational bennie basher section of “kiwi battlers”. Are personally well off people allowed to represent the less well off or not? Come on Tighty, what say you.

      • TightyRighty 15.1.1

        I have no problem with it at all. My problem lies in david cunliffes ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth. He pretends he’s some working class boy with deep ties to the movement, when all he really is a political opportunist. I can see the propaganda minds at work in the war room, john key has been successful, so lets let david be seen to be successful but we’ll balance it out by getting some workers in to plant a vege patch to add the down home touch. well played, well played.

        • Colonial Viper 15.1.1.1

          David Cunliffe is no doubt a very capable politician. Being able to “talk out of both sides” of the mouth is part of a core corporate skillset; it’s one reason why Key and English would have preferred the far less experienced and less articulate David Shearer. The Left is very lucky to have a capable leader like Cunliffe in its midst.

        • karol 15.1.1.2

          Talking out of both sides of his mouth is one of Key’s major skills. He often does it with the same utterances – seeming to say one thing, but literally meaning another. And as for his state-house-to-PM line of success, claiming he understands ordinary Kiwis’ experiences?….

        • framu 15.1.1.3

          “I have no problem with it at all”

          yes, such a non issue that you and the rest of the NZ birthers keep bringing it up

          your entire complaint is that hes too wealthy to represent the kiwi battler. ie: hes faking it

        • Murray Olsen 15.1.1.4

          Do you have any evidence that David Cunliffe or anyone else got workers in to plant a vege patch? I doubt it somehow, but your politics of envy is making you look even uglier, TR.

    • RedLogix 15.2

      Yes I can see how that’s a really bad look TR. If you are going to represent most New Zealanders I’d agree – you have to get rid of the mansion.

      And possibly the bach in Hawaii as well.

  16. tinfoilhat 16

    Is this how banal NZ MSM coverage of the election and politics is going to become ?

    Stage managed pieces with the respective ‘leaders’ ?

    Honestly what conclusions anyone could come to about the things that really matter from this rubbish is anyone’s guess.

    Let’s all remember that the Auckland mayor had a number of puff pieces about what a wonderful religious chap and family man he was prior to the last couple of elections, that’s about all these pieces by Campbell live are worth.

    • Craig Glen Eden 16.1

      John Key whole persona is media made ( 36 million to media works insured that) not just his political one. The RWNJ really dont want people to see what a great guy Cunliffe ACTUALLY is. It was a really nice piece that only card caring Nats would dislike.

      • tinfoilhat 16.1.1

        “It was a really nice piece that only card caring Nats would dislike.”

        Well as I’m a card carrying Green and dislike these puff pieces i guess you’re wrong on that one.

        • Colonial Viper 16.1.1.1

          But as a card carrying Green and someone actively engaged in politics, you do understand and accept the importance of media puff pieces during an election year, right?

          • tinfoilhat 16.1.1.1.1

            Oh indeed CV, it doesn’t mean I have to approve of the practice however.

            • Craig Glen Eden 16.1.1.1.1.1

              Well Ive re posted Russel Normans at home piece with John Campbell to because I think its important that people get to know a bit about him as well. While I can appreciate your anti stance lots of voters want to see this soft media stuff.Sadly the left have been to slow to recognise that it is this stuff that has meant John Key has stayed so popular for so long, even when he and the National government have been straight out corrupt in my view, people still think Key is ok.
              At the end of the day what many on the left dont understand is we have to win and to win you have to campaign smart, imagery and narrative is important, you can have the opinion that its not right ( soft Media) but voters who like it dont give a shit what you think. In Cunliffes case people have been feed a narrative that he is not liked and that he is a rich smarmy bloke bla bla. So it was particularly important that people got to see David Cunliffe in a different setting being who I know he and many others know he is.We need a Labour/Greens Government in my view and if that means some soft media so be it.

              • Colonial Viper

                Sadly the left have been to slow to recognise that it is this stuff that has meant John Key has stayed so popular for so long

                Yep. Too many on the Left think that Policies and Issues are the be all and end all of peoples voting decisions.

                • karol

                  For some of us, it’s not that we aren’t aware of how media puff pieces influence voters, it’s that we think there needs to be a shift to more focus on policies and values – the puff pieces, infotainment approach is out of the “neoliberal” playbook, and tends to work to reinforce their underlying values.

                  • Craig Glen Eden

                    “Neoliberal play book” call it what you want their will always be a large chunk of voters that want this stuff and if the left dont get better at it we will have the nice MR Key until he decides he wants to move on.

                    • karol

                      Infotainment has always been around. However, the “neoliberal” corporate media shift has resulted in it becoming very dominant. Team Key and the Nats generally, would rather focus on this stuff, personality politics, smears etc, than on actual policies and issues. If Kiwis knew more about Nat policies, and their impact on NZ, they would find it far harder to get elected.

                      Of course, a certain amount of “kissing babies” has long been part of political campaigning. But, if the left allow it to remain dominant, the values of corporate-led, middle class supporting, individualism will continue to permeate politics.

                    • Colonial Viper

                      Well if the Left want to play a different game it better get its own media channels up and running…I know you know this because you have put significant thought into the issue.

                      Labour should have been facilitating soft media MSM coverage on Labour’s front bench over the last 6 months. By this stage in the election cycle, voters should then be entirely comfortable with who DC etc are as ordinary Kiwis SO that the issues can then take prominence.

                  • Populuxe1

                    It’s less that it’s “out of the “neoliberal” playbook” and more that the neoliberals consciously make a virtue of not patronising ordinary people for wanting to see politicians in a human and accessible light. That’s probably why they tend to be quite successful at monopolising politics in the OECD. Russel and Hone can see the utility in it without suggesting the masses are morons even if you cannot.

                    • framu

                      “not patronising”, or “leveraging peoples behaviour for their own end”?

                      they arent doing it to be benevolent – they’re doing it to get power and influence, and i would suggest that what the punters in punterland think doesnt really matter beyond buying into whatever idea is being spread

                      that attitudes not owned exclusively by the right of course

                      all it is is advertising and marketing – and advertising and marketing is almost always about manipulating your audience

              • Ad

                DC is getting that.

      • Murray Olsen 16.1.2

        I don’t like any of them. With the Key one, I didn’t even like the subject matter. I see at as a banalisation of politics, but I also know when I’m in a minority and just have to live with stuff I don’t like.

  17. Don't worry be happy 17

    David Cunliffe you make me proud. Karen Price, you rock.

  18. Enough is Enough 18

    You think that wasn’t stage managed?

    • RedLogix 18.1

      Everything on TV (or any media for that matter) is stage managed to some degree.

      But what you could ask is; do you think the whole show was a fake? Do you think that the things you saw this family doing were simply made up? That none of the things you saw were parts of their ‘real lives’?

      And if you are going to make that argument, do you have any evidence to support it?

      • Enough is Enough 18.1.1

        Stage Managed does not mean fake.

        It was more stage managed than the daily press gallery scrum that Cunliffe faces when he gets random questions thrown at him. In that situation he has no preparation and has to act on instinct. That is when we see the real Cunliffe.

        Last night was a pre-recorded documentary that he had weeks to prepare for.

  19. Chooky 19

    just watched that interview ….and what a fabulous New Zealand couple!…they are both absolutely perfect to lead New Zealand!!!….love them both and their back garden and bees and pets….and John Campbell was very good also!!!! Awesome!!!!,,,,thankyou for posting it here

    ….i have to admit i have resisted watching any of these television at- home interviews because i have thought it an invasion of privacy and in the end it is the policy that matters…..but now i am going to have to search for the Campbell interviews with the Russel and Metiria and Winnie and Hone…

    ( but i don’t think i will watch Keys or Craig or Whyte…call me biased ….one has to be selective as to what trash one puts in ones noggin these days)

    • Stephen 19.1

      I think you should watch the Key one as well. I did. It was a good performance and showed why he is still personally popular.

      Understanding his appeal is crucial to developing a strategy to counter it. Pointing out his failings and flaws has not been a winning strategy for the opposition over the last five years and longer. If we don’t understand what other people like about him, then we can’t communicate effectively with those people.

      Imagine you have a boyfriend or girlfriend and you love them a lot. One of your close friends, someone with your best interests at heart, tries to reason with you, explaining why they’re no good for you and the relationship will end in tears. Do you a) say “thanks for opening my eyes, I can see I need to dump the beloved and start again” or b) get pissed off with your friend for slagging off the beloved?

      At the moment, the PM has a such a relationship with the NZ public that he could eat a baby on TV, and 55% of viewers would agree with the fawning coverage that admired how stylishly that cheeky chap can eat a baby, not like those other politicians who wouldn’t be up to baby eating.

      The joy of the Williamson and Collins problems (and hopefully more to come) is that they attack the Nats at their weak point, taking out people who are not popular and loved, while indirectly placing Key under more strain and letting the public draw their own conclusions about his judgement and choice of friends.

    • idlegus 19.2

      same, i’ve found them to be nauseating & banal. but jeez i’m glad ppl got to see that side of cunliffe, & wow! karen price, what an amazingly warm & talented person!

      • Chooky 19.2.1

        100 idlegus…”karen price, what an amazingly warm & talented person!”….and David Cunliffe was as i expected…he will be a great New Zealand Prime Minister!

        • idlegus 19.2.1.1

          & davids facebook page has had an upsurge in ‘likes’ since last night, & after the horrorshow week(s) national has had, great timing too!

  20. Ant 20

    Must be hard to cope with the tabloid standard set now. Good on them for protecting the privacy of their kids.

  21. Brian 21

    Both David and Karen came across as warm, pleasant, caring and interesting people. David seemed both genuine and wonderfully devoid of the slick, smarmy, media training Key demonstrates and hints of naivety were charmingly refreshing. Thanks to them both for letting us in on a little of their, understandably cherished ,private territory.

    Without doubt the next Prime Minister of New Zealand !

  22. Scotty 22

    The Cunliffes were brillant.
    Their lifestyle was in stark contrast to Keys’ cold empty shell of a trophy ‘beach house’ existence.

  23. Rose 23

    The best part for me was when David said, “I’m here to help.”
    Lovely couple.

  24. Delia 24

    Karen is cool.

  25. Aux 25

    “Was your childhood idyllic…?” I turned I off after that feckless question. Cunliffe should have clocked the fucker between the eyes as a reply. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, or maybe a complete arse, but the Campbell team fawning was as sickening as the inescapable syrupy depression I feel when yet another cultural cut-out reaches ascendency and tries to sell change. Reminded me of when everyone fell in love with the great kiwi bloke called John Key.

    Is this it? The whole cult of personality turning round once more along exactly the same lines? I refuse to vote for anyone like David Cunliffe (the political construct, the man himself is none of my business), or his party’s policies, or anyone sold by Campbell Live. In fact I might place a moratorium on my voting until a candidate that isn’t totally ruined by aspirant culture turns up. Just my personal taste, you understand.

    • Tracey 25.1

      shiver

    • Ad 25.2

      Can understand your aversion to media framing.

      Few are immune to it. If you are, I hope you add to weighing up the policy contests on their merits alone.

  26. felix 26

    So over in sewer(s), the rats have convinced themselves that David and Karen don’t really have a garden or chooks or bees, but they were all cunningly installed for the interview.

    Just upthread our friend Tighty says the same thing.

    I don’t think I could ever type enough rolleyes…

  27. ScottGN 27

    Got to work today to be told by one of my more National-enamoured colleagues that, while it wouldn’t change his vote (nothing would, let’s face it) he could see plenty of people warming to DC after the CL piece which apparently was awesome. I nearly had to sit down for a minute.

  28. finbar 28

    Now theres a thing we do not know,thirty years of intelect and knowing.What a revolation.Solid also..

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    Note: An earlier version of this article noted Levy was a “party time Health NZ commissioner” - this has been updated - forgive my Freudian slip.Dr Lester Levy is charging $320,000 a year to be a part time Health NZ commissioner. Rachel Thomas reports that Levy is still teaching 2 ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    15 hours ago
  • Postcard from Sydney: Southwest and City Metro extension

    This is a guest post from Sydney reader Nik Clement After 2 years in Auckland I moved back to Sydney just over a year ago. While in Auckland, I went to the opening of Puhinui station and used it a fair bit, living in Manukau Central and being able ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    18 hours ago
  • Tolling revolt brewing in National heartland

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 18:Locals gathered in Woodville last night to protest at the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s decision to toll the new road linking the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay, saying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    19 hours ago
  • Government directs Te Puni Kōkiri to conduct Māori Language Week in English

    The coalition government has issued a directive to Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, instructing them that – in the interests of clear communication – they are to conduct this year’s Māori Language Week primarily or exclusively in English. The directive is in line with the Government’s policy ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • Government celebrates fact that New Zealand’s healthcare is so good people are queuing up for it a...

    At yesterday’s post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, flanked by his Health Minister Shane Reti and someone we can’t independently verify was a real sign language interpreter, announced that he had some positive news for the country. “Alright team, I’m just going to hand over to uh, Dr. Shane, ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • Heartwarming: Thoughtful driver uses indicator to tell you what they’ve just done

    It’s 4:10pm in the morning, and you’re in the middle lane heading north on the great southern motorway of our nation’s capital, Auckland. There are no cars directly in front of you, but quite a few in the lane to your left. Suddenly, without warning, a black ute enters your ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • NPC teams will now be allowed to actually use the Ranfurly Shield in play

    Following decades of controversy, the governing body of New Zealand rugby, New Zealand Rugby, has ruled that the team currently holding the Ranfurly Shield may once again use it in play during the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The ruling restores the utility of a prize that for many years was ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    1 day ago
  • Climbing out of the hamster wheel

    I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • More Notes From Stinky Town

    Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Make it make sense: why axe valuable local projects?

    Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation  into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
    2 days ago
  • Driving blind at higher speeds

    An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • 2024’s unusually persistent warmth

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink My inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
    2 days ago
  • National plan for 2000 more Kiwis a year in prison

    Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • I Found a Note in a Tree

    Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Politicians need to lift their game

    Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago
  • Police say they won’t respond to bomb threats anymore as ‘it’s never anything’

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    2 days ago
  • A dysfunctional watchdog

    The reality of any right depends on how well it is enforced. But as The Post points out this morning, our right to official information isn't being enforced very well at all: More than a quarter of complaints about access to official information languish for more than a year, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: The threat of a good example

    Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    3 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    3 days ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    4 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    4 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    4 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    4 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    5 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    5 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    6 days ago
  • What it is

    I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A government-funded hate campaign

    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    7 days ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    7 days ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    7 days ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

    Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been soaring high with his hubris of getting on and building motorways but some uncomfortable realities are starting to creep in. Back in July he announced that the government was pushing on with a Northland Expressway using an “accelerated delivery strategy” The Coalition Government is ...
    1 week ago
  • Never Enough

    However much I'm falling downNever enoughHowever much I'm falling outNever, never enough!Whatever smile I smile the mostNever enoughHowever I smile I smile the mostSongwriters: Robert James Smith / Simon Gallup / Boris Williams / Porl ThompsonToday in Nick’s Kōrero:A death in the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital.A sad homecoming and ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

    Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

    Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Inside the public service

    In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

    This is a re-post from This is Not Cool Here’s an example of some of the best kind of climate reporting, especially in that it relates to impacts that will directly affect the audience. WFLA in Tampa conducted a study in collaboration with the Department of Energy, analyzing trends in ...
    1 week ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

    The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

    It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024.  First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today.  Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

    Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment.   The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.  “I would ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

    Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

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