Chinese Capital in the Pacific

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 19th, 2022 - 26 comments
Categories: China, debt / deficit, Economy, International, Nanaia Mahuta, Pacific, uncategorized - Tags:

It would be tidy for New Zealand and Australian leaders to blame China’s debt within Sri Lanka for its collapse, so that they could scare Pacific Island nations back into the fold. It would be wrong.

A lot of good came out of the Pacific Island Forum and in particular the 2050 Blue Pacific strategy, and some big new diplomatic investments by the United States.

But in this interview with Jack Tame, the Minister of Foreign Affairs traverses a lot of ground, but from 9.20m discusses how mindful the government is about the collapse of Sri Lanka.

You’ll be aware that the way New Zealand funds is largely by grant funding. We would like to see the opportunity of development partners to look towards greater coordination of its efforts,” said Mahuta.

“I’d say there’s a level of indebtedness that sits across the whole of the Pacific to financial institutions, including the way in which China has funded into certain countries.”

The minister described it as a “key area of vulnerability that should be addressed, and we need to find different ways to work together on the challenges that sit within the Pacific.”

Sometimes, however, it’s better to see what’s on the ground causing civil unrest before reaching for blaming other countries. The Pacific Forum was Chaired by a person who had led coups in Fiji. Its own multiple coups were caused for the most part by native Fijian-origin military and paramilitary groups seeking to ensure Indo-Fijians didn’t achieve parliamentary rule.

In the Solomon Islands, troops and police from Fiji, Australia and New Zealand have been invited in several times over the past decade to restore order after inter-ethnic fighting broke out. It stems from a really poorly handled internal decision to switch recognition of Taiwan to that of China, which cut off critical Tainwanese aid to parts of the Solomon Islands. It’s complex but aid withdrawal was at its base. The US stepped in with massive replacement aid but the cack-handed damage was done.

Further back, in 2006 New Zealand and Australian troops were invited to secure Tonga’s main city and airport after massive riots. Tonga has a messy and multi-layered relationship between authoritarian monarchical rule, feudalistic restrictions of political rights, cultural patronage, massive inequality, and a very low wage economy. Their path to greater democracy was and is very, very hard.

In none of those examples did Chinese state loans cause civil unrest. Nor in any of them was New Zealand out of the picture.

And so to Sri Lanka. Certainly China financed a billion dollar port+airport at Hambantota, but then accepted a lease of the property in place  of much of the repayment. At 99 years it’s more like a equity-for-debt swap.

And of course it was in Rajpaksa’s constituency, ‘nuff said. But the lessons out of Sri Lanka that New Zealand can draw are simpler, and little to do with how China forms debt agreements within Pacific island states.

The first lesson is very very few small states will ever have the headroom to massively slash income taxes, as the Sri Lankan government did in 2020. VAT was halved from 15% to 8% and many other taxes minimised. Well, state got no money. Fiscal deficit soared to 11% of GDP. Those lenders that had hung in there for a long time like the IMF were just shown empty pockets. No party that promises massive tax giveaways can also promise that the state will stay stable.

The second lesson for New Zealand is that the fastest thing we can do to stop layabouts on the streets looking for trouble, is get them jobs here. Developed countries like us have that power. Talk a lot less about medium term hero projects for climate change and more about dollars and cents to get cash into small island villages. We will need the workers particularly in horticulture, until such time as we get much greater harvest mechanisation. We caused stress through shutting them out during COVID.

A big lesson for countries that are striving their way out of subsistence and poverty is that they will stop getting access to highly concessional loans from the IMF and World Bank – so that’s the point where very kind lenders or donors like New Zealand, Australia and China need a whole bunch less suspicion of each other and a lot more coordination of what they are actually funding. Surely the PIF can do an actual job of coordinating that rather than complaining.

Sri Lanka’s farmers also give New Zealand a much more direct lesson, namely: you can’t force organic farming on farmers and banning fertiliser imports. When Sri Lanka’s government tried that to decrease import costs, rice and tea harvests crashed 20%.  Dilmah Director Malik Fernando gives a sense of how Sri Lanka is continuing to rebalance tea production and tourism amongst the crisis:

Tourism continues without any untoward incident. Citizens have been protesting the government’s mishandling of the economy. Demonstrations have been peaceful, barring a few at the start where protesters were dispersed by the police. Sri Lankans from all walks of life came together peacefully and demanded that the government step down. The entire cabinet resigned. There is a strong sense of unity. Tourists have also joined the protests in some places. Although it may look worrying in the news, there’s no risk whatsoever to tourists.”

Now, granted he’s entitled to his advertorial spin, but he points to a very simple lesson for New Zealanders: the easiest thing you can do to build up a small island state is go there on holiday. Take your family and NZ$5-$10k and buy everyone some happiness. Stop scolding farmers about how to produce, and instead help them diversify their economy. After all it worked here.

None of the above examples of disruption had a Chinese debt trap as their cause. All of them have solutions that don’t necessarily require more loans or more grants for whatever reason. Our New Zealand government needs a whole bunch less political suspicion about sovereign loans, a whole bunch more focus on actual jobs that give Pacific Island families cash in hand, and actually an acceptance that – just as New Zealand did in the 1990s real estate market – Chinese money is a permanent part of our picture.

26 comments on “Chinese Capital in the Pacific ”

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  1. Stuart Munro 1
    19 July 2022 at 10:29 am

    Well your opening thesis is pretty sound, that China's involvement in Sri Lanka, if not benign (and lets face it, foreign investment is never entirely benign), does not appear to have been a major factor in the debacle that saw there government flee the country to avoid the natural and evitable consequences of their gross irresponsibility.

    China's expansion of interests into the Pacific thus far is more of a threat to competing predatory financiers than to the security of the region. And as long as they proceed carefully, and do not take advantage of the moral flexibility of of small state politicians too often, that's really none of our business. Incremental change, as opposed to the breakneck folly of Roger Douglas and his accomplices, is normal, and, because it allows the time for political responses and reviews, it is invariably more legitimate. Xi has appointed himself president for life, but thirty years on a less bellicose leader may control China, and the internal issues that have always been the major focus of that state are likely to keep him or her busy enough without strange dreams of conquest.

    The fastest thing we can do to settle things down in Sri Lanka is of course to impose a 10% annual property value tax and ship them the money as development aid. Ridiculous? Yes of course – as ridiculous as flooding NZ with even more migrants while we're still struggling to assimilate the extra million people MBIE asininely let in over the last two decades. These unskilled workers will take 30-40 years to work their way through the belly of the beast and allow wages to reach a natural equilibrium – until that time NZ workers have trouble enough keeping roofs over their heads without subsidizing the more egregious failures of foreign politicians.

    Nor should we derive excessive generalizations about the adaptability of farmers or the prospects of environmental reform from what seems to be an unremarkable instance of elite incompetence. The fastest growing (in value) sector in food are those products that are organic or sustainably produced, ideally both. Typically in the realm of 30%. NZ farmers are poised to swoop on that fat profit potential as soon as they get the sclerified old brown Fed crew's boot off their necks.

    • psych nurse 1.1
      19 July 2022 at 11:24 am

      I was in Sri Lanka in 2019 soon after the bombings, we must of been about the only tourists there, the tourist industry was in utter despair. But the astounding thing was the eight lane highway from Negombo to Colombo, built by the Chinese using Chinese prison labour according to the Taxi driver. He said the locals only realized when no locals were employed and all the cats, dogs and lizards disappeared from the streets as the labourers were not fed. There was also a massive port being constructed in Colombo all on a form of buy now pay later. Its obvious now the debt has been recalled and the Chinese will extract their pound of flesh.

      • RedLogix 1.1.1
        19 July 2022 at 11:36 am

        built by the Chinese using Chinese prison labour according to the Taxi driver.

        Yes – I have seen something similar myself working in Panama. We had a group of about 100 Chinese laborers doing light mechanical worlk (installing insulation and the like) who we treated like something out of concentration camp movie. One morning I thought to take a video of it from a distance – and was very quickly shut down by one of their white hat guards. They knew damn well what they were doing was fucked up. Or North Koreans.

        I was told the workers were likely forced labour taken from some very poor region in the interior.

        • joe90 1.1.1.1
          19 July 2022 at 12:32 pm

          My brother said much the same about routine air frame rebuilds in China. Hundreds of workers in crammed into deafeningly loud, sweltering and poorly ventilated fuselages being pushed along by stick-wielding overseers. Little wonder they have the record turn-around times so beloved by airlines.

        • Adrian Thornton 1.1.1.2
          20 July 2022 at 9:51 am

          Interesting to note that the industrial and manufacturing component of the post war Western Capitalist ‘democratic’ ideology you defend so vigorously on this forum has been enabled to grow over the past few decades almost exclusively through the exploitation of those very same workers…and many other exploited nationalities of course…as we all know, capitalism sees no colour in its endless search for profit….

          So correct me if I am wrong, but I don't seem to remember any problems with China and Chinese workers being issued from the West when they being outrageously exploited by all western countries including New Zealand for huge profit…but now that they are a perceived challenge to Western (mainly US) economic hegemony, we are expected to suddenly forget all that history from literally yesterday, and regard them as the biggest threat to our way of life today…FFS.

          The thing I find endlessly intriguing about the Liberal class is how crazily and outrageously racist they often are, yet they seem to genuinely not even notice it…sort funny and annoying at the same time.

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.2.1
            20 July 2022 at 10:03 am

            Fuckwit.

            It was of course Chinese owned and operated contractors who were charging these poor sods out at Western rates – and paying them sfa.

            The exploiters here are Chinese. Shove your racism …

          • Tiger Mountain 1.1.1.2.2
            20 July 2022 at 10:18 am

            I know it is pathetic Adrian –$80 branded T-shirts for sale in Auckland, made for cents in Bangladesh by exploited workers with horrifically toxic dye methods, latest iPhone “designed in California” made in China.

            US companies “ran away” for cheap labour long ago. That is why I am an internationalist–“Neither Washington, Moscow or Beijing”.

            Obviously Russian and Chinese workers have to get organised in numbers, but so do US workers–and look what happens when they try to at Amazon and Starbucks!

            • RedLogix 1.1.1.2.2.1
              20 July 2022 at 10:27 am

              latest iPhone “designed in California” made in China.

              Well take heart – skilled labour in China is now quite expensive. Even Apple who have repeatedly doubled down on their commitment to Chinese manufacturing are re-considering.

              The bell-weather on this is automation. Investment in both SE Asia and the US is exploding for two complementary reasons – many US based companies are re-shoring their manufacturing as fast as they can in order to regain control and certainty over their supply chains. In order to do this both US based and Asia based entities are investing hard in automation in order to contain soaring labour costs.

              The calculus many companies are now making is that even if Asia remains cheaper on a per unit basis – China now presents an unacceptable sovereign risk to the whole Asian region and reshoring is the best bet in the long run.

            • Adrian Thornton 1.1.1.2.2.2
              20 July 2022 at 3:38 pm

              @Tiger Mountain +1
              "That is why I am an internationalist–“Neither Washington, Moscow or Beijing”

          • Adrian Thornton 1.1.1.2.3
            20 July 2022 at 3:35 pm

            I might well be a fuckwit RL, but at least I am not a racist fuckwit.

            • Jenny how to get there 1.1.1.2.3.1
              21 July 2022 at 8:32 am

              But you are a genocide denier, and an open supporter of fascist style Russian backed dictators.

              Which would sort of contradict your statement that you are neither Moscow, Washington or Beijing.

              [Your comment adds nothing to the debate and only attacks another commenter without any substance even when that other commenter’s comments are infuriating you because of their tone, style and/or contents. This flaming has got to stop. Take a week off and next one will be doubled – Incognito]

              • Incognito …
                21 July 2022 at 9:11 am

                Mod note

                • RedLogix …
                  21 July 2022 at 10:16 am

                  Nah. I'm fed up with AT's blatant lying as well.

                  • Incognito …
                    21 July 2022 at 10:54 am

                    Aren’t we all?

                    Still, anybody who just attacks the messenger without any (other) substance in their comment can expect to be moderated, at least, and possibly receive an educational ban. As a reader, commenter, and a moderator of this site I’m fed up with those personal slurs, pot shots, attacks, et cetera. No matter how tempting it is to lash out at an infuriatingly obnoxious commenter and no matter how much the other ‘asks for it’ and/or ‘deserves it’, and trust me, I’m also ‘tempted’ a lot …

                    Collectively, we can choose to lift the tone and quality of the comments here and I’d like to think we [can] do this without heavy-handed moderation. But patience is wearing thin with some, obviously, and the time of kind warnings, gentle nudges, and soft moderation is coming to an end.

    • RedLogix 1.2
      19 July 2022 at 8:28 pm

      A country run as a family business. In a word – nepotism.

      • Stuart Munro 1.2.1
        19 July 2022 at 8:43 pm

        Yes I saw some of that in Shanghai – construction worker camps with ash piles outside them.

        "Bonfires?" I asked my host.

        "Funerals".

  2. bwaghorn 2
    19 July 2022 at 11:28 am

    “”Sri Lanka’s farmers also give New Zealand a much more direct lesson, namely: you can’t force organic farming on farmers and banning fertiliser imports.””

    I hope the greens are paying attention, just on the off chance they have some real power next year.

    • barry 2.1
      19 July 2022 at 4:50 pm

      The narrative is about the government of Sri Lanka wanting to to go green. In reality it was the government refusing to use foreign reserves to pay for chemicals. Going green is not just about stopping using chemicals and the Green party is not advocating for a cold-turkey on them.

      • bwaghorn 2.1.1
        19 July 2022 at 8:49 pm

        Didn't suggest they where but ,I'm sure there's a couple of em that'd love to shut down modern farming forthwith, so just thought I'd preempt them 🤔

  3. Obtrectator 3
    19 July 2022 at 12:35 pm

    "The first lesson is very very few small states will ever have the headroom to massively slash income taxes, as the Sri Lankan government did in 2020."

    Careful how you construct your sentences. I took that to begin with as implying Sri Lanka did have the said headroom. (It didn't, of course, as further reading made abundantly clear.)

  4. barry 4
    19 July 2022 at 5:01 pm

    I am off to the Cooks next week to support their economy. I am not expecting that my tourist dollars will actually result in many jobs for the locals, and I expect that tourism will be having many negative effects on the environment and wealth distribution. I suspect that tourism is only a small part of the answer to the economic problems.

    There is a need for climate change resilience work. Tsunamis in Tonga and storms in the Cooks recently have demonstrated the vulnerability of the islands, and local labour can be used to maintain defences, build up water infrastructure etc.

    RSE labour and remittances from NZ-based family members allow people to buy imports.

    Spending a lot of NZ/AUS/US/Chinese money does have down sides as it causes inflation and imbalance. Imports drive out local enterprise. Prices rise and the people without foreign income suffer.

    I agree that Chinese loans are not the problem. The problem is the failure to establish sustainable industries (e.g. fishing) that can employ people and sustain a truly local economy which earns enough to support the whole population.

  5. Maurice 5
    19 July 2022 at 7:55 pm

    We must remember that "Chinese Money" is in effect recycled US Money that went from the US to China in exchange for Chinese Manufactured products. That is why China has a huge US Dollar surplus which can be utilised for the Belt and Road expansion

    Very much a US own goal?

    • pat 5.1
      19 July 2022 at 8:05 pm

      And most of that USD earned by China went straight back to the US.

      • Maurice 5.1.1
        19 July 2022 at 9:37 pm

        A lot of it used to buy US land, commercial enterprises and other 'hard' assets

        2nd own goal?

        … and quite major investments here too

        From MAFT website: https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/asia/china/

        Investment from China including Hong Kong into New Zealand reached NZ$10.6 billion in 2018. After Australia, China is New Zealand’s second largest source country for foreign direct investment, representing almost 10% of our total FDI stock. Chinese investment extends across a range of sectors including primary industries and forestry (30%), infrastructure and commercial development (20%), and manufacturing (15%). Chinese investors are the largest foreign investors in primary products exports, waste management, electrical whiteware, and tourism infrastructure. New Zealand’s limited overseas direct investment in China is mainly concentrated in the dairy sector.

        • pat 5.1.1.1
          19 July 2022 at 9:44 pm

          China is the largest creditor to the US government with over 1 trillion of US Treasury Securities

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    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
    4 days 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
    4 days 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
    4 days 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
    4 days 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
    4 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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Jolisa
    4 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
    4 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    7 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 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. ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 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. ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week 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
    1 week ago

  • Tourism on the table for Pacific Ministers’ meet-up

    Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Young people report on family and sexual violence

    The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour.  The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • $18 million being invested in the victims of crime

    The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Landmark phonics check in te reo Māori

    For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • New sea walls safeguard Ōpōtiki’s transformation

    Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kitmap to improve access to science infrastructure

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Driving the uptake of low emission heavy vehicles

    The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech on replacing the Resource Management Act

    Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Replacement for the Resource Management Act takes shape

    Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Tough laws pass to make gang life uncomfortable

    Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New levy rates set to ensure continued funding of FENZ

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026.  “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Police allocate Officers to Beat and Gang Units

    The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units.  An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres.  This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Consultation begins on significant updates to the biosecurity system

    Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Wānaka community to benefit from new overnight health service

    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home.  “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Preventing potholes with data-driven technology

    The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • GDP data shows effect of high interest rates

    Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • NZ to host first Fiji, Australia trilateral trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • NZ hosts Annual CER Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend.  “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government proposing changes to jury trials

    The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Business key to regional economic dialogue

    Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • More funding for Growing Up in New Zealand study

    The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Tough targets for charter schools will raise achievement

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • NZ votes for Middle East resolution at UN

    New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says.    “The Israel-Palestine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Honouring the legacy of New Zealand’s suffragists

    Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    4 days 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Targets data confirms rise in violent crime

    The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Asia Foundation Board appointments announced

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.  Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Endeavour Fund projects for economic growth

    New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Social Services Providers Whakamanawa National Conference 16 September 2024

    Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Parihaka infrastructure upgrades funded

    The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

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