Child poverty reduction

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 5th, 2018 - 65 comments
Categories: child abuse, child welfare, class, jacinda ardern, labour, poverty, wages - Tags:

It’s likely that the new Child Poverty Reduction Bill will get through its third reading by the end of this year. Here’s the text.

There’s a pretty good chance now that National will also support this bill. When it comes to the final vote on the floor, it would be good to see unanimity and ensure that this set of measures is carried forward into future budget frameworks for future governments. It’s helpful that in 2015 the previous government joined with all United Nations members to commit to the Sustainable Development Goals that include “halving poverty rates for all ages by 2030, based on national measures.”

You can see the full set of organisations who joined together to push this as a united front through the Select Committee stage.

Just to remind ourselves of the facts of the matter, between 150,000 and 290,000 children are currently living in poverty or hardship, with around 80,000 in more severe hardship.

Across their lives that means they are more likely to have a hard time at school, find it harder to get a job, earn less, and get sicker. Work is a great start to a cure – but if work was going to fix it we would have to ask why is poverty so persistent in children when unemployment is so low, and where there are good welfare supports in terms of subsidies for child services and direct transfers to working parents. Work isn’t enough to cure this.

New Zealand ranks poorly internationally when child hardship rates are compared with rates of our overall population; we’re worse than any European country.

Half of all children in poverty are Maori or Pasifika.

The big political test is that the Prime Minister herself has made herself accountable as a Minister for achieving the targets within the bill. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I will quite happily slag off this government for its deficiencies, but political courage in facing child poverty is now not one of them.

There are four primary measures:

  1. Low income before housing costs
  2. Low income after housing costs
  3. Material hardship
  4. Poverty persistence

There’s a whole bunch of subsidiary data to support that, but it will deliver robust, internationally comparable data to get a good picture of the impact of policy decisions on the lives of children.

The Bill also requires the Government to develop a comprehensive strategy that will set actions across Government that enhance and promote the wellbeing of children in New Zealand and deliver the outcomes to meet the child poverty targets.

Measures are but a part of it, because next comes the resources to do the actual job. That means targets. Those targets are:

  • Reduce the proportion of children in low income households (using the before housing measure) from roughly 15 percent of all children to 5 percent. This reduces the number by more than half from 160,000 to 60,000.
  • Reduce the proportion of children in low income households (using the after housing costs measure) from roughly 20 percent to 10 percent. This is a reduction of 90,000 children from 210,000 now to 120,000.
  • Reduce the proportion of children in material hardship from between 13 and 15 percent now to 7 percent. This reduces the number of children in this group from 150,000 to 80,000.

Now, sure, there are reasons to be cynical about overarching measures. Wellington is an elephant’s graveyard of dry bones from dead programmes, all of which claimed to be essentially across everything and were of course all the most important thing since the invention of the wheel. But this is a core Labour and coalition policy. This is bedrock Labour stuff.
Previous Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Bill English had his own framework ready to roll – and there’s still a residual sense of exactly how much better this framework will be compared to the wheel that was already invented. Hopefully they will just suck it up and vote.

I am sure there are a few of us who can regale of a New Zealand childhood when sections were large, society was cohesive, education and health were free, and unionised workers brought back wages that families could live by.

This is not that country any more.

So to address it we are getting leadership from the top.

To give a sense of the focus Prime Minister Ardern is bringing to our terrible child poverty statistics and how she is inviting the entire world to hold her government to account on them, here’s the text of her first major international speech:

Of course we have still to await the full framework of Minister Robertson’s new budget framework around wellbeing that will again focus on poverty reduction to see how all of these targets will get funded. Or indeed how they will all make sense to the different Departments and arms of government. But everyone has to wait for budget day. One further thing that helps tilt the field towards measuring the right things is the alterations to the purpose of the Reserve Bank, which Robertson is also guiding through the House at the moment.

What we will have is a full legislative framework to emphasise how important a goal this is for government, how it is holding itself to account over it, how important a priority it is for the government, and it will be one that is broadly accepted across Parliament. That is a great way to end the Parliamentary year.

65 comments on “Child poverty reduction ”

  1. Antoine 1

    Strategies and targets are all very well, but don’t feed or house kids. For that you need actual money in the families’ hands. If the goal was to put money in the families’ hands, this could have been done this year without bothering with the Bill.

    A.

    • Ad 1.1

      You treasure what you measure

      • Antoine 1.1.1

        (slightly underwhelmed look)

        A.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 1.1.2

        Compared to National’s ‘measure once, cut twice’ approach to feeding and housing kids; for nine years! How did we get to here?

        To be fair, just a year ago English was talking a big game on child poverty reduction (similar to Key’s 2007 warning about NZ’s housing crisis), so he knew what was going on. Wonder if any National party opposition MPs are paying lip service, or is their focus elsewhere?

  2. Draco T Bastard 2

    Just to remind ourselves of the facts of the matter, between 150,000 and 290,000 children are currently living in poverty or hardship, with around 80,000 in more severe hardship.

    The market is about resource distribution. Available resources go to where they can be afforded thus it can readily be seen that poverty is an inevitable result of the market working as designed.

    Poverty is not a ‘market failure’ but is inherent in a market system.

    If we want to cure poverty then we need to get rid of the market system for essential goods and services. Such would include all natural monopolies and at least a healthy basket of food to be freely available.

  3. Antoine 3

    Drowsy – how did we get to where??

    A.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1

      How did we get to ‘our’ current levels of impoverished, hungry “kiwi kids”?

      After nine years of tax cuts for the rich, selling public assets including state houses, and generally running down the capacity of public services (health, education et al.), National apparently ‘awoke’ to the poverty problem a little over a year ago, when the former PM made some ‘serious’ commitments during the election campaign – better late than never?

      https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/bill-english-goes-big-promise-lift-100-000-kiwi-kids-poverty

      D.

      • millsy 3.1.1

        I really think you need to go back to the 1991 benefit cuts, market rents for state housing and the ECA for the root cause. Everything went to shit after that.

      • Antoine 3.1.2

        > National apparently ‘awoke’ to the poverty problem a little over a year ago, when the former PM made some ‘serious’ commitments during the election campaign

        I believe English was always more compassionate than Key

        A.

        • Antoine 3.1.2.1

          So, Drowsy, after a year of a Labour-led Government, how are “Kiwi kids” (as you describe them) better off?

          A.

          • lprent 3.1.2.1.1

            As Ad pointed out earlier…

            You treasure what you measure

            On of the major hassles with the existing system was that since 2008 the way the figures are calculated and the data collected has been regularly screwed with (in the Paula Bennett style) and gotten progressively slower to compile. At present I don’t think that what we know about last years figures has been released – you may have to wait

            So when we are looking at poverty based on “national measures”, then consider what Ad pointed out in the post (charatibly I’m only assuming you didn’t read it closely enough)

            Just to remind ourselves of the facts of the matter, between 150,000 and 290,000 children are currently living in poverty or hardship, with around 80,000 in more severe hardship.

            I think that one was the figures from somewhere in the government and the other was the Unicef estimates based on published data. Because we know that National likes to have fudge numbers to support their lack of effort (I think that lie about the numbers method that Nick Smith so loved is pretty well known). So a large part of whatever is done is to make sure that the calculation and the collection to produce a robust method to measure the performance of both this government and those of the future governments full of the same types of lying bastards who let this happen already.

            • Antoine 3.1.2.1.1.1

              > I think that one was the figures from somewhere in the government and the other was the Unicef estimates based on published data.

              The key point is that they are different measures of poverty. 150,000 is absolute poverty (‘material hardship’). 290,000 is relative poverty (below 60% of the median income, I think).

              By all means let’s have improved statistics, but let’s also remember that kids can’t eat statistics.

              A.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.2.2

          “Kiwi kids” – there’s a whole website! I did not claim that “kiwi kids” are better off.

          https://kiwikidsnews.co.nz/bill-english-resigns-leader-national-party/

          Compassion in action, or inaction?

          D.

          • Antoine 3.1.2.2.1

            > I did not claim that “kiwi kids” are better off.

            After a year and a bit of Labour-led Government, Kiwi kids are not better off?

            Is what you’re telling me.

            Ad, do you agree with Drowsy on this?

            A.

            • McFlock 3.1.2.2.1.1

              They might very well be a little bit better off now. Who knows – the data isn’t out yet.

              But making child poverty a measure of government performance, like GDP and unemployment? This will significantly improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids within a few years.

              • Antoine

                Measures, targets and strategies leave no one better off except bureaucrats. Actual action on the ground helps people. My point is that the action could have been taken before (instead of?) passing the Bill.

                A.

                • McFlock

                  Yeah, I call bullshit on that.

                  Action without a strategy is fine if you’re thinking about tomorrow’s headlines.
                  Action without targets is fine if you don’t care whether your action actually achieves anything.

                  If you want a long term achievement rather than a quick nibble around the edges, you make a plan and you assess the effectiveness of the actions you take as part of that plan.

                  • Antoine

                    But you can hardly expect people to be super impressed until you actually start implementing the plan.

                    A.

                    • McFlock

                      Are you concerned about actually eliminating child poverty, or do you just want to “super impress” people?

                      Joyce promising off the cuff in an election debate to halve child poverty was the latter.

                      Putting child poverty targets into law is the former.

                      It’s the beginning, nowhere near job done. But at least a government has finally addressed the actual job to do, rather than farting around for twenty or thirty years.

                    • Antoine

                      WTF

                      You are saying that “putting child poverty targets into law” is “actually eliminating child poverty”??

                      A.

                    • McFlock

                      Fair call, I spoke imprecisely.

                      It’s part of the process of achieving actual change and ensuring that change is sustained.

                      Let me put it this way: if Labour fail to report, or fudge the targets, or fail dismally, even the current opposition could fucking nuke Ardern for a half-arsed job. It’s like last year’s goals listing in this year’s employee performance appraisal: it’s right there for everyone to see whether the goal has been achieved. No need for lobbyists and activists to follow up about when the poverty data will be released so they can publicise it.

                      Accountability is the first step to a competent job.

                    • Antoine

                      This seems reasonable.

                      A.

                  • Antoine

                    For another example, see e.g. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/109102908/mental-health-and-addiction-inquiry-vague-in-parts-and-needed-to-deliver-more-to-provide-meaningful-help

                    “In 2017, Mental Health Commissioner Kevin Allen appeared before a select committee stating an “urgent need for action” rather than another costly review. We already know the solutions, he said.

                    In a letter backing up his submission he said: “Funded treatment and care options for the approximately 17 per cent of people with mental health needs who do not qualify for specialist services are limited.”

                    An inquiry is an easy promise because it stalls time – it will be 17 months since Labour came into power by the time the Government formally responds in March.

                    While we waited for the results of the inquiry, it would have been useful to increase funding to Mental Health and Addiction Services, but the Government opted to wait until the inquiry was released. It would have been useful to test out pilots programmes.”

                    A.

                  • David Mac

                    To stand the best chance of success, any goal, regardless of what it is, must be SMART.
                    Specific
                    Measurable
                    Attainable
                    Realistic
                    Timely

                    • Antoine

                      My view is that the three goals Ad quotes have the S, M and T but fail on the A and the R.

                      What time frame are they for, by the way? By 2019, by 2025, by 2050…? Ad doesn’t say.

                      A.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.2.2.1.2

              For the benefit of A., who seems selectively hard of reading, I made no claims as to whether or not “Kiwi kids” are better off now than they were a year ago.

              After a year and a bit of Labour-led Government, Kiwi kids are not better off [Drowsy]?

              Is what you’re telling me [Drowsy].

              A., you left the question mark off the end of your second question, but my answer to that question is ‘No‘.

              Could you clarify the problem that you have with (understanding) my comments?

  4. Kay 4

    Benefit levels across the board HAVE to be raised, no arguments, no working groups, opinion polls, being more freaked out about potential vote losses at the next election.
    As an additional bonus it will also make a significant difference to the lives of seriously ill and disabled, and anyone who needs social welfare support even short term.
    Anyone who wants to argue with this, then perhaps undertake a cost benefit analysis of how much poverty contributes to avoidable hospitalisations and run-ins with the justice system and work out which will cost “the hardworking taxpayer” less. (Big hint- it’s the raise)

  5. Michael 5

    Increase core welfare benefits; cap rent; make GP visits free of charge by prohibiting top ups; provide breakfasts in schools; increase minimum wages – and do it before Christmas. Otherwise, this government’s as full of shit as the last.

    • Antoine 5.1

      Before this Christmas??

      You’re a bit hopeful

      A.

      PS This is not the kind of Government that would cap rents on private rentals

  6. Puckish Rogue 6

    I’m assuming child poverty and such like has improved, I mean in the run up to the last election you were getting plenty of stories in the media about kids going to school with no breakfast and families living in cars but now, a year on, and those types of stories are only occasionally seen so it must be sorted

    *No sarcasm was used in the making of this post

  7. patricia bremner 7

    With all that has begun in one year, it is sad that this is not more acceptable to you all.
    Personally I thought getting this legislation across the line would assist in meeting other goals, as children benefit when the adults do
    Why the degree of disenchantment is so marked when PM Ardern has put her reputation on achieving these goals, I’m not sure.
    Perhaps some want revolution, forgetting that the children would hardly gain from that scenario.
    Thanks Ad for this, I think it is a great end to the year. The Coalition has done well.
    There will always be more to be done but this has been a year of improvements. imo.
    To make that plain I have doubled my regular contribution to the Labour Party, and have sent gifts to both the Greens and NZFirst .I hope others do the same. We do not want National in.

    • Antoine 7.1

      > Why the degree of disenchantment is so marked when PM Ardern has put her reputation on achieving these goals, I’m not sure.

      Goals are no guarantee of performance. Look at how Kiwibuild is going.

      A.

    • Antoine 7.2

      (Afterthought:) Patricia, do you actually believe that this Govt will achieve any of the three targets Ad lists above? If so, which one and how will they do it??

      A.

      • patricia bremner 7.2.1

        I think that once this is passed into law, the budget will have practical measures in place to achieve it. How? Well we await that don’t we? I trust the PM and the team.

        • Antoine 7.2.1.1

          > I trust the PM and the team

          Can’t imagine why, at this point.

          Do you wanna make a wager? Say, if 2 or more of the targets are achieved you win, if none then I win, otherwise it’s a draw?

          A.

  8. patricia bremner 8

    Antoine one hitch in Wanaka is hardly a fail.

  9. In February 2016, 44% of Accommodation Supplement (AS) recipients were receiving the maximum payment, up from 25% in February 2007.

    ·In June 2016, almost all renters receiving the AS spent more than 30% of their income on housing costs, three in four spent more than 40% and half spent more than 50%

    Now I know that’s not ‘The Children‘, its pesky ‘adult’ poverty, and politicians consider that a hard sell, but still, unless we agree to slash rents for the lowest end of the market, we will still have POVERTY.
    We can increase benefits and child payments*, and Accommodation Allowances and Minimum Wage all we like; as anyone who has rented for any length of time knows, those increases are simply taken away by almost perfectly matched increases in rent.

    So if this aim is serious, lets break the news to the population that house values and rent increases need to not only stop, but be scaled back, and that from now on fair livable wages (and benefits) will be the way to maintain our life styles.

    * I was once tersely informed by Susan St John that “Working for families is a payment for children”, NOT for covering the rent, but meantime, back in the real world, for the poorest rent comes first..

    http://communityhousing.org.nz/resources/article/report-on-household-incomes-in-new-zealand-

    • McFlock 9.1

      Yeah, housing costs are a major problem.

      The other issue is how we halve child poverty (because that will address a lot of adult poverty, too). We need to get the poorest out of poverty, not just nudge 100,000 kids over an arbitrary line by giving their families another $20/week, leaving the most disadvantaged still in abject levels of poverty.

      • David Mac 9.1.1

        Yep, we don’t send kids to work, it’s entirely parental or care-giver poverty.

      • Antoine 9.1.2

        > nudge 100,000 kids over an arbitrary line by giving their families another $20/week

        WHich probably wouldn’t even work, as when you give the $20/week, the arbitrary line moves upwards

        A.

        • McFlock 9.1.2.1

          Not if it’s a proportion of the median.

          • Antoine 9.1.2.1.1

            Depends on how you give it, and how it flows on to other households. For instance if you increase the minimum wage and benefits, then other wages and salaries will also move up, etc etc.

            A.

            • McFlock 9.1.2.1.1.1

              Except that any subsequent movement would have elasticity issues. And the entire proportionality thing: at the simplest level an increase for <0.5 of the population will not increase the incomes for the majority by the same amount. Mathematically impossible.

              • Antoine

                Yes, these are the kinds of issues that arise.

                Anyway, I agree with your original point that giving a small amount of money (each) to a large amount of people is not going to be transformational. You need to be focused.

                I also suspect that providing better public services (particularly education) is more likely to be transformational than just handing out cash.

                A.

    • Kay 9.2

      +1000 Siobahn. Containing rental costs would be half the battle won but a significant raise in benefits and minimum wage still has to happen. Might I also suggest that, since it’s obvious no government seems to have the guts to reign in/regulate the power companies that instead they remove the GST from all power bills. 15% of an average bill can buy a fair bit of food (or go straight into the rent).

    • A 9.3

      +what she said.

      Poverty isn’t limited by age. If anything children in need are supported better because parents sacrifice food for themselves, and charities step in.

    • RedLogix 9.4

      So if this aim is serious, lets break the news to the population that house values and rent increases need to not only stop, but be scaled back

      Totally. House prices and incomes have become badly misaligned. This is a problem for both renters and homeowners alike. (If your mortgage free it’s been a windfall, but this was only a question of timing, who was in or out of the market before prices began rising.)

      Buying a home was never easy. My father worked three jobs (one full-time, another doing part-time auditing and another working the totes at Greenlane) , my mother full-time teaching for many decades. It took them a long time to pay off what these days would look like a trivial mortgage; I still recall the party they had when they finally discharged it.

      Yet I know for a fact that the home they purchased when I was ten years old, recently sold for about 140 times (that 14,000%) more than what they paid for it. That’s fucking insane.

      The problem for NZ is that we are a safe and desirable place to own property, and unlike Australia we don’t have limitless amounts of land. We also have a messed up tax system. As a result of a complex mix of factors we find ourselves in this mess. Over the years we’ve discussed here many, many aspects of this problem. Many people have made insightful and useful contributions.

      In my view Morgan and the TOP party’s Capital Asset Tax (and other reforms) would have gone a long way toward repairing the govt policy distortions that have played their part in this mix. However most people couldn’t see the message for the messenger and that was that.

      Sure a real-estate collapse would be satisfying for a while, but eventually the same toxic mix of underlying factors would kick back in. It’s my opinion that while we like to moan about the housing price problem, we don’t actually want to do anything to fix it.

      • Antoine 9.4.1

        We need to go to the fundamentals. We need to reduce the demand for housing and/or get better at delivering it (as a package – land, permits, construction and infrastructure to serve). Anything short of that is just rearranging deckchairs.

        Part of this may be an attitudinal change about what kind of housing people seek. I am not sure that the fixation with the standalone house with section is particularly helpful.

        A.

  10. Cynical Jester 10

    National being open to supporting it tells us everything.

    Labour needs to increase pensions and benefits. They won’t because theybelieve in everything national believes in but with a nicer smile.

    All we are gonna get is the same kinda statistical musical chairs bs labour and national have done over and over again like with unemployment levels (both parties tell us they’ve lowered the unemployment rate when in reality they’ve just put people on different benefits) they will find a way to change the criteria of what poverty means.

    The little bits they do will be about as successful as changing the culture of WINZ staff has been and or they will simply teach kids how to be more competitive so they can adapt to neoliberal society and if they are lucky they might get a banana.

    No money will go to the parents to feed these kids because that’s not the neoliberal way and meanwhile while labour is afraid to mention poverty that doesn’t have the word child before poverty our fellow kiwis will continue to starve and freeze to death on our streets. Our mental health departments will continue to be underfunded and our men will continue to kill themselves at the highest rates in the world.

    The first labour govt gave every kiwi during the depression an Xmas bonus Jacinda would have to hold a few working groups and committees.

    This govt isn’t remotely different than the previous one which again wasn’t remotely different than the previous one

    The rich get rich. The poor starve and the media tell us how happy we should be for the rich.

    Also ….when is Labour/NZF going to keep their promises to cut immigration. I don’t see how continuing to flood the country with National supporters helps Labour’s reelection chances. I didn’t support this policy but labour made a big song and dance and a lot of labour leaning people are waiting for numbers to start being reduced and they haven’t

    • Antoine 10.1

      > when is Labour/NZF going to keep their promises to cut immigration. I don’t see how continuing to flood the country with National supporters helps Labour’s reelection chances

      What is with that? I thought if there was one thing that Labour, NZF and Greens all agreed on it was cutting immigration – and yet here we are.

      A.

  11. Chris T 11

    “This govt isn’t remotely different than the previous one which again wasn’t remotely different than the previous one”

    Pretty much

    • Antoine 11.1

      And this will continue in the future, I think, until we have some kind of fairly enormous crisis.

      Both sides know they have to court the centre to get re-elected.

      A.

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    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
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