Condescending Catherine Beard on TPP

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, February 18th, 2015 - 51 comments
Categories: Economy, trade - Tags: , , , ,

Grrr, Catherine Beard, a director of ExportNZ, appears to be an ideological idiot who is too stupid or driven to realise her own degree of ignorance. Her puff piece for the TPP in the Herald this morning has nothing about the TPP. It just says “trust the negotiators”. Huh? They are the problem. They aren’t exporters and they don’t run businesses.

I’ve been involved in exporting from NZ for more than 35 years in everything from manufacturing to software. And I’ve worked on farms in  my youth. I’ve always been a great supporter of free trade deals – right up until I started looking at the TPP.  In my view, from the published details, the Trans Pacific Partnership deal is a restraint of trade deal.

Everything we currently know about this secretive deal indicates that we won’t get anything more than token agricultural access, that there is unlikely to be any significiant differences beyond what we have in our access to markets for other goods and services, and we’re likely to have some significiant reductions in the free trade we already have in NZ and outside.

Catherine Beard’s opinion piece has the flavour of it is that of an idiot mouthing religious maxims without any understanding of the ritual words mean.

Those questioning the value of free trade agreements could do well to examine the results achieved by New Zealand’s other agreements, and consider what we would miss out on if we were not included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

And so on for the entire article.

So where is the detail? We simply have no idea what we would miss out because virtually no information is available. The entire TPP process has been done in overwhelming secrecy with only a few bits of drafts released.

The bottom line is that there is no country that stands to benefit more from free trade deals than New Zealand.

Our major export categories and businesses of scale are from the agricultural sector, which is where you’ll also find the biggest tariffs and barriers to trade around the world.

And so far it looks like there is no change to those barriers apart from a few token ones. The biggest potential markets, in the US and Japan, appear likely to do at most a bilateral deal that can be what is possible to get through the diet and congress.

Those who raise doubts over the net benefits of free trade agreements in New Zealand tend to take a Chicken Little view of the world, and think of all the potential worst case scenarios. Sure, our negotiators have to hold firm to ensure the best outcomes for our economy overall in areas like intellectual property, investor state disputes mechanisms, environment and health and safety.

But they have proven competent at getting good results in the past, and can do so for the TPP as well or why would we sign the deal?

They did well because the deals were largely hammered out in public view. People who were interested pointed out problems and issues. Sure they made the whole thing messy with chicken little, but they also meant that every exporter, importer, and professional body knew what was happening long before the deal was signed. They put in their contributions. They had input and so the deals were pretty well balanced.

This deal doesn’t have any of that. “Interested parties” have been defined by the negotiators. Across the world those selected appear to have been very carefully selected from the free trade ideologues like Ms Beard appears to be or those who stand to gain. They are not shown much of the drafts. They are shown the bits that they are likely to agree with. It is in other words a propaganda exercise.

If and when disputes arise with our trading partners, they will need to be managed. All our free trade agreements include mechanisms for managing any disputes should they arise. This is what businesses around the world do every day of every week of every year. Governments can help us by removing barriers to trade.

Ah yes, and those mechanisms are? At this point they look like an excuse for international lawyers to drag cases out for years while extorting the maximum in fees to come to an arbitrary decision in a settlement extorted by the party with the deepest pockets. In short they are the bloody silly american frivolous  litigation system. Perhaps Ms Beard should explain why we want that here?

The public and exporters, are unlikely to find out what is in this deal before it is signed by the executive. Sure it will go in front of parliament for a few days, but they can’t prevent the executive from signing it and then approving it.

Basically NZ should drop out of this deal and go back to what it was negotiating  prior to the US getting excited about joining in. Bilateral and smaller multilateral deals that actually produce results and don’t have the degrees of obsessive secrecy that the TPP has been running under.

51 comments on “Condescending Catherine Beard on TPP ”

  1. freedom 1

    One positive from that opinion piece is that of the 89 comments published only 2 are in support of the TPPA. Could be kiwis have really begun to take notice that TPPA is not free trade – No matter how many times Catherine Beard uses the phrase

    • Brendon Harre 1.1

      Quite right Freedom. I think we would have a much more productive discussion about trade deals if we dropped the propaganda.

      This propaganda starts with the description -‘free’ trade deal. If the ‘free’ part is dropped and TPPA is just referred to as a trade deal this completely changes the debate. If negotiators had to use actual words rather than meaningless ideological words like ‘free trade’, they would actually have to report what trade rules are changing and how that benefits the wider economies of those involved.

      • freedom 1.1.1

        Discussing TPPA, without openly admitting it is not a free trade deal, is like describing human reproduction without mentioning genitalia

        • ghostwhowalksnz 1.1.1.1

          Just another version of the old ‘Empire’ preference trade deals NZ had before the war

          • greywarshark 1.1.1.1.1

            gww
            It is not that “Just another version of the old ‘Empire’ preference trade deals NZ had before the war”, as I understand it. They did not take our sovereignty and we got such benefit from them that it weakened our own entrepreneurial outlook. In a way we have fallen into the same trap with the milk powder.

            When the CEO at Fonterra before this one was put in his appointment was criticsed because of his expertise was mainly in commodities.

            Now with TPPA it would be worse. There would be such stringent controls over things we want to do now, things planned, and things that we might want to do in the future if the Yanks could show that they might have done it, would be goneburger for us. And I’m not sure that it isn’t already but one keeps on thinking and working for a better NZ where there really is a level playing field for income and jobs and opportunities and wages and reasonable services.

            Oh by the way did everyone hear that the business/Council lobby in Napier have worked out that they can get part of a rail system going to Wairoa which will carry logs and should be viable for a foreseeable number of decades. Now they just need some finance for it. There should be a fund available to assist the regions with their particular business centres, someone like a central authority that could act for the country’s good. Oh yes, that’s the government isn’t it. Well all’s set isn’t it for Napier and their rail system.

            • disturbed 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Yes thanks GWS,

              we were stoked as we have worked for this for Three years now and HBRC have finally realised that the Port of Napier they operate was loosing freight from Gisborne now winging its way through dangerous winding roads through Gorges to Tauranga 200 kms further away than the Gisborne to Napier Port so they are backing rail finally.

              Funny how when we are bleeding with loss of Export freight and jobs in production of produce export commodities the local Councils do step up to help us while the ominous cloud of TPPA hovers above us all.

              Good on HB Regional Council we salute you.

              Here is todays vote result.

              Support in principle for Napier-Wairoa Rail line proposal
              Wednesday, 18 February 2015, 2:44 pm
              Press Release: Hawkes Bay Regional Council
              Support in principle for Napier-Wairoa Rail line proposal
              Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Corporate & Strategic Committee is recommending Council supports in principle a proposal to lease the mothballed Napier to Gisborne Rail line from KiwiRail.
              The line was mothballed in December 2012, after storms earlier in the year caused severe damage, which is expected to cost close to $4 million to repair. Council commissioned a business case late last year on whether leasing the line was a good investment for the Council and the region.
              An interim business case was presented to today’s Corporate & Strategic Committee meeting recommending Council supports the opening of the rail service from Napier to Wairoa to move logs from a hub in Wairoa to Napier Port, subject to a number of conditions, including lease terms which are suitable to both KiwiRail and HBRC.
              KiwiRail set a deadline of 1 March 2015 for the Council to make a decision on whether to lease the line, and at today’s meeting Councillors agreed in principle.
              The Committee is recommending a final deadline of 30 June 2015 to resolve all outstanding issues between KiwiRail and HBRC, confirm an operator and private investors and to get a more definitive indication of how much support there is for the proposal from Wairoa forest companies.
              It was also recommended Council Chairman Fenton Wilson liaise with all interested parties, including Council’s investment company HBRIC Ltd, the Napier Gisborne Rail Group, Napier Port, and other transport interests and KiwiRail to enhance the prospects of the initiative succeeding.
              The recommendations will be considered at next Wednesday’s full council meeting.

              • greywarshark

                @ disturbed
                Time for a short celebration for your group I hope. And then dot the is and cross the ts by June. I heard that the deadline had been March but you want more time to get the plan and effective financials carefully worked out. It’s a different case than if it was a casino!

                Then is there something that you can do to protect yourselve against some wily plan to undercut the price of rail and get some advantage or subsidy to transport logs by road? Some sort of cost on the odometer travel over the roads? There are such p.icks out there, they think it is smart to undercut if they could find advantage that you had not considered for the scenario, even if it made the rail non-viable. There is monopoly money to be made for trucking firms if the rail became expensive or something happened to the lines or consignments. I’m such a suspicious so and so, but human deviousness is always to be reckoned with.

              • millsy

                Thatsgood about about the line, but I’m not really keen about the desire to push the deadline back. I understand the need to get things sorted, but the longer the line is out of action, the harder it is to get back into action, especially with the lycra brigade wanting it.

                • greywarshark

                  @ millsy
                  Don’t say that the ‘bikers’ want it. I get pissed off at the vogue for kowtowing to the sacred bicycling fraternity. I hate not being safe on what used to be pedestrian ways and seeing a cyclist whizz by who I hadn’t heard though I have good hearing. Knowing if I had made a sudden decision to change my position while on a path, I would have been hit and be lying dazed, scratched, bruised and perhaps with broken bones hard to heal at my time of life. And perhaps be subject to invective from the also hurt biker.

                  Adults and children can quietly and fast, be upon you in milli-seconds. There are fewer places to take a relaxed, healthy walk where you don’t have to be aware and anxious of these speedsters. Bugger them. They are pests like fruitflies and have to be watched before invading the whole country.

        • Brendon Harre 1.1.1.2

          Sorry Freedom I’m confused. There were too many double negatives in that sentence. My position is I think all ‘free trade’ deals are actually just ‘trade deals’. They are simply negotiations about the rules of trade. The trade deal may be positive or negative depending on the rules.

          So Lprent is right, lets stop the secrecy, so we can judge whether this TPPA trade deal is a positive or a negative.

      • Tracey 1.1.2

        Propaganda is not required if facts will do the trick.

    • Tracey 1.2

      and Wayne Mapp mischievously uses that phrase too. Especially mischievous given he knows it is not “like” the other “free trade agreements”. Unless he doesn’t, which is also a worry.

  2. Philip Ferguson 2

    Interestingly, Karl Marx preferred free trade to protectionism in his time. He thought it speeded up the contradictions of capitalism.

    In Britain, the working class movement of the early 1800s was allied with the free traders because protectionism pushed up the price of bread, crucial to working class subsistence, and simply allowed the big British landowners to make huge profits.

    After the repeal of the corn laws the interests of workers ceased to coincide with the interests of any of the capitalists.

    Phil

    • Sans Cle 2.1

      Interesting point about free trade over protectionism (to bring the revolution closer, in Marx’s eyes). However, Marx did not have the value of hindsight to see how the capitalist system’s very clever mechanism of self-protection has manifested over the last 150 years. These are largely in the forms of private property rights (our rules), and more creatively in the form of cross border rules (e.g. globalisation and specific rules governing transactions, a.k.a. the TPPA).

      It is the rules we need to change……and this government is not giving the general public ANY chance to influence this rule set, given the secrecy of negotiations and lack of public input.

    • Brendon Harre 2.2

      That is a very insightful comment Philip and readers should think deeply about it.

      I would argue the rural land owning gentry which was exploiting the working class in the 1800s had the implicit support of the political establishment until the reforms started by repelling the Corn laws (laws that at the time limited trade in grain) and continued with by liberal politicians who introduced various egalitarian reforms, for example by giving the working class and woman the vote.

      Unfortunately the egalitarian reforms have waned and exploitation has returned. I think today that exploitation has moved into the urban areas. The FIRE (Finance, insurance and real estate) industries have the implicit support of the political establish to exploit the working class. Joseph Stiglitz in his critique of Piketty discusses this here.

      http://www.salon.com/2015/01/02/joseph_stiglitz_thomas_piketty_gets_income_inequality_wrong_partner/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

    • greywarshark 2.3

      Thanks Phil F
      I have often read of the Corn Laws and that they were important but did not know just what the story was.

  3. Gosman 3

    Aren’t most international negotiations carried out with a degree of secrecy? Certainly it is the norm for trade negotiations I believe.

    • r0b 3.1

      Not necessarily:

      http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1502/S00163/tppa-secret-while-eu-releases-ttip-documents.htm

      TPPA secret while EU releases TTIP documents

      Thursday, 12 February 2015, 5:00 pm
      Press Release: Professor Jane Kelsey

      ‘Trade minister Tim Groser has repeatedly claimed that negotiations for agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) are never conducted in daylight. That is simply not true.’

      ‘There are many such instances, including the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that involved six of the TPPA parties,[1] where draft negotiating texts and other documents have been released. He has ignored the inconvenient truth and continued to assert his position as fact’, says University of Auckland Professor Jane Kelsey.

      ‘The European Commission (EC) has now conclusively just put the lie to such claims’.

      Professor Kelsey has just published two papers analysing recent developments in the negotiations between the European Union and the US called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) which parallel those for the TPPA.

      One contrasts the obsessive secrecy that continues to envelope the TPPA with the inquiry by the EU Ombudsman into transparency and public access to TTIP documents[2] and the EC’s subsequent decision to release a raft of its own negotiating documents with.[3] The second outlines the Ombudsman’s reports and the EC’s responses. [4] …

      • Gosman 3.1.1

        I stated most and at this point the release of information around the EU -US trade deal seems to be a proposal rather than actual release. The point being the usual standard on International negotiations (not just trade ones) is that they are carried out with a degree of secrecy.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 3.2

      Yes, that’s discussed in the post. English comprehension 101?

    • lprent 3.3

      There are degrees of secrecy about specific details – usually those that are being argued to the fine print at the time. But usually the broader details are easily available and widely discussed through the trade mags and the like.

      However this one has been such that it has been impossible at the official level to distinguish even the general principles. Most of the information that is out in place are leaks. Sometimes in clear bits of misinformation.

      It is a whole different level of secret to *any* trade agreement I have seen before.

      Perhaps you’d like to give examples of others NZ has been involved in that have similar levels of secrecy?

    • r0b 3.4

      The details of the agreement are secret from we the people, from the American congress, but not from American business:

      https://wikileaks.org/tpp/pressrelease.html

      Since the beginning of the TPP negotiations, the process of drafting and negotiating the treaty’s chapters has been shrouded in an unprecedented level of secrecy. Access to drafts of the TPP chapters is shielded from the general public. Members of the US Congress are only able to view selected portions of treaty-related documents in highly restrictive conditions and under strict supervision. It has been previously revealed that only three individuals in each TPP nation have access to the full text of the agreement, while 600 ’trade advisers’ – lobbyists guarding the interests of large US corporations such as Chevron, Halliburton, Monsanto and Walmart – are granted privileged access to crucial sections of the treaty text.

      Tim Grosser has stated that the reason the Nats are keeping it secret in NZ is that they don’t want pubic debate:

      https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20141030/16291028989/new-zealands-trade-minister-admits-they-keep-tpp-documents-secret-to-avoid-public-debate.shtml

      Don’t be content to be a mushroom Gosman.

    • Tracey 3.5

      and are most signed with the terms still a secret from those who elected the negotiators?

  4. Tom Gould 4

    Beard is simply a functionary spinning what her masters require of her. She is as much under the yoke of the ‘golden rule’ as any of us – he who has the gold makes the rules. Ignorance is her choice.

  5. Ad 5

    TPPA is this government’s greatest international failure. New Zealand started these talks with a handful of countries. We have lost all the original bargaining power we had.

    Labour’s international agreements from its last term have been revolutionary – particularly the China free trade deal.

    Key will simply never have the gravitas to be a statesman that can win New Zealand international influence. It’s not in him.

    There’s good comparison between New Zealand’s rapid negotiating decline in TPPA and New Zealand joining a military coalition in Iraq without UN mandate.

    Key simply doesn’t have the skill to promote the interests of New Zealand in any multilateral engagement. This weakness puts New Zealand and New Zealnders at risk.

    • The TPPA has nothing to do with free trade.
      Marx didnt live to see capitalism become transformed from its ‘competitive’ stage to in its highest, imperialist stage where the world was divided between imperialist oppressors and colonised oppressed countries.

      Its a continuation of neo-liberalism – the policy of the US to overcome its crisis of falling profits by breaking down national barriers to US corporations buying up what is left of the scarce resources they need to survive.

      Its an attempt by the US to complete the neo-liberal counter-revolution and impose a system of US monopoly on the weaker powers of the Pacific basin who have used their state sovereignty to resist US corporate monopolies.

      That is why the TPPA takes the form of bullying the weaker states in the US imperialist bloc to remove all sovereign barriers to US corporates buying up all forms of property from state to IP to re-colonise the weaker powers as sources of cheap labour and raw materials.

      This is what is happening to NZ today. NZ has gone from a settler colony with limited self-governing independence from imperialist Britain, to a servile client state of the USA, and a neo-colony of Chinese imperialism.

      The TPPA has nothing to do with ‘comparative advantage’ (the basis of the theory of free trade) and everything to do with monopoly state capitalism.

      Were Marx alive today he would recognise that imperialism arose out of the limits of market competition between capitalists to develop the forces of production, giving rise to state monopoly capitalism, producing waste, destroying everything that it touches, and threatening the end of human civilisation and most of the living species on earth.

      Anything that mobilises the federation of international freedom fighters against this destructive death star would be actively supported by Marx.

      • Sans Cle 5.1.1

        I agree – and to further your point, if the TPPA were about comparative advantage (or if any trade deal were about comparative advantage, for that matter), we would have freedom of both labour and capital, not just capital.
        But we don’t!
        We let our capital run riot around the world – footloose and fancy free, getting return on investment and profits from every-which-place it can, and from every-which-time period (think futures trading, and profiteering on things that are not in existence yet, insurance markets etc etc etc……all the financial instruments that brought on the global financial crisis).
        We put restrictions on our labour movement around the world.
        So the theory of comparative advantage is a red herring…..defunct from the outset.

        What we are left with is capital moving around the financial markets globally, returning profits (and super-normal profits), in the interest of capital stock holders only.

      • Murray Rawshark 5.1.2

        Aotearoa is also very subservient to the interests of Australian capital, seeing that’s where we borrow from to fund the housing crisis. Australia in turn is becoming a neo-colony of China economically even as they maintain their diplomatic, cultural, and military subservience to Washington.

        • Sans Cle 5.1.2.1

          agree – fund the housing crisis and gift Australian banks the fat off Aotearoa’s land (quite literally). Profits from dairy sector are paying the mortgages of the NZ dairy farmland bought/exchanged in the last 20 years.
          If banks are a necessarily evil in our economy, why at least are they not NZ banks?

          I wonder what the outcome would be if China and the US really did begin an economic tug of war for Australia and NZ?

  6. Ad 6

    I seriously expected a Key government would be able to cut highly favourable deals for exporters and NZ domiciled multinationals. In at least his first two years I really wanted him to do as well as Clark at it.

    Key is just a klutz with public to private sector deals.
    After Lord of the Rings – which was a Labour gift – he hasn’t landed a deal of any note. And there’s nothing on the horizon this term apart from the sad old America’s Cup.
    He needs to retire from the field as simply “the popular guy”.

  7. leaf leroux 7

    The same Catherine Beard that shilled relentlessly for climate polluters for years and years?

    Definitely got NZers wellbeing at heart in this public-spirited editorial. I’m sure she’s not being given a free hit to express a narrow lobby group opinion.

    The herald would never do that….

    She’s not an ideologue lprent. Just someone willing to accept money to be the mouthpiece for interests harmful to the common good.

  8. English Breakfast 8

    “Little said China is a powerhouse economy. “Do we want to be part of it or not? Many people say yes, we need to be in there. We have something they want, which is dairy and food but the risks need to be mitigated as much as possible and the agreement goes some way to doing that,’’ he said.

    “As for the future of manufacturing; the FTA hasn’t made the risks any greater.’”

    http://www.bilaterals.org/?hidden-hooks-emerge-in-china-fta

    11 July 2008, by one Mr Andrew Little.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1

      Obviously you can write, and reading is a skill.

      The USA demands restraint of trade, the supremacy of shareholders over citizens. Trash ignores that, and pretends it’s all about “free” trade 🙄

  9. greywarshark 9

    Women who get good managerial positions and then come out with this propaganda feed the memes about women lacking intelligence. Just when as time has gone by, one would think the tale would have been demolished.
    Those questioning the value of free trade agreements could do well to examine the results achieved by New Zealand’s other agreements, and consider what we would miss out on if we were not included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

    A bio of Catherine Beard – under Phil O’Reilly Business NZ so what do you expect eh?

    Catherine Beard – Executive Director (Business NZ)
    Catherine Beard joined BusinessNZ in January 2010 to head up its ExportNZ and Manufacturing sectors.
    The dual role involves overseeing considerable changes to our services as we expand our manufacturing and international trade functions. These will be reflected in our online presence and training.
    Catherine has a wealth of experience in government relations and communication on behalf of industry associations, and is a champion for New Zealand manufacturers and international traders.
    Catherine comes from the Greenhouse Policy Coalition where she was Executive Director providing strong advocacy on behalf of industry to communicate their business challenges to politicians, policy makers, the media and the public.

    What a bunch of toe-licking women we are getting in the top jobs connected with politics. (UNACT ones that is). Metiria Turei certainly doesn’t fit that on the Green side, despite the putdown by yek relating to making decisions on the GCSB referred to in BLIPs post.
    By the way Metiria, don’t smile all the time, males can get the idea you are all sugar with no steel. There’s a nice natural face serious photo on google that is equally good.

    • Tracey 9.1

      Metria needs to be harder and female executives need to be seen to be smarter so as not to feed the bullshit that female executives are stupid?

      • greywarshark 9.1.1

        Any executives male or female in NZ need to work at making smart decisions Tracey.
        Women who are trying to get through the glass ceiling on their own merits are not helped by being compared to those making erroneous statements as quoted.

        And Metiria’s PR image is as important as anyone else’s. And some result in different responses to others. There is constant thought in the political world about how the public view and react to politicians.

  10. Paul 10

    It’s interesting how people like Beard, with extreme minority opinions never fail to get their views aired.
    The Herald.
    A rag serving the needs of the corporate elite.
    Don’t buy it.

  11. Tautoko Mangō Mata 11

    If Labour wanted to raise the minimum wage, with an Investor-State Dispute Settlement ISDS contained in a TPPA Agreement, this may result in a lawsuit.

    Veolia, the giant French-based transportation company, is suing Egypt for raising its minimum wage, which would mean higher pay for workers at the Alexandria bus company it owns and thus lower profits. ”
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-cohen/report-from-berlin-global_1_b_5588169.html

    Of course, Catherine Beard would have no problem with that since she would hardly be supporting any political party that might want to raise the minimum wage, but why should any foreign corporate be given the right to pressure our government to maintain the lowest possible minimum wage.

    You will not sign up to this in our name, Tim Groser.

    • millsy 11.1

      Of course, Wayne Mapp is now on record is saying that corporates being able to sue governments is just fine and dandy..

  12. Macro 12

    I particularly “enjoyed” this sentence:

    Those questioning the value of free trade agreements could do well to examine the results achieved by New Zealand’s other agreements, and consider what we would miss out on if we were not included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

    It shows just how little she understands. The results of these “free” but not fair are:
    a. greater unemployment – exported off-shore to China, India and Indonesia,
    b.lower incomes for middle to lower income workers competing with off-shore cheap wages.
    c. cheap but unreliable imports at the expense of quality.
    d.a loss of national power (the ability of a country to support itself and its sustainability – an import factor in times of international conflict).
    e. a national culture that now regards “self” as the most important factor in any decision -either political or social.

    Catherine Beard obviously displays the last characteristic completely as do many other NZers. They can only see the supply of cheap imports – the latest iPad or other electronic toy or flash car complete with bluetooth and Navman or whatever as being the quintessential object of the “good life”. They do not see the social consequences of this selfish attitude in the slightest. It is to this greed that Key panders, but it leads to increasing misery for our nation.

  13. Murray Simmonds 13

    Yep. A couple of Queensland Fruit Flies turn up in Auckland in a year or two from now and guess what? The pitifully small amount of access we might have been able to negotiate under our shiny new Trade Agreement will be out the window like a shot as the all-powerful USA lobby swings into action. Or miniscule traces of herbicide or ‘possum poison’ or whatever turn up in a consignment of NZ beef or lamb and again the great American clobbering machine will swing into action.

    There will be nothing, repeat NOTHING in this treaty/agreement for NZ if we sign up to it. The ‘agreement’ will be about as “free” as the free AKL Conference centre we were promised. Yeah, Right!

    Who do the proponents of the free trade agreement think they are kidding (apart from themselves, that is)?

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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary plan halted
    The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Cutting all that dam red tape
    Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track.  “Dam safety regulations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Drought support extended to parts of North Island
    The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Passage of major tax bill welcomed
    The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Lifting economy through science, tertiary sectors
    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government announces Budget priorities
    The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.  The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government to consider accommodation solution
    The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government approves extension to Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
    Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                         “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
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    3 days ago
  • $18m boost for Kiwis travelling to health treatment
    The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.   “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM’s Prizes for Space to showcase sector’s talent
    The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Concerns conveyed to China over cyber activity
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government.     “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry
    Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function.  The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Brynderwyns open for Easter
    State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Speech to the Infrastructure Funding & Financing Conference
    Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Parliamentary network breached by the PRC
    New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • NZ to provide support for Solomon Islands election
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • NZ-EU FTA gains Royal Assent for 1 May entry to force
    The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union.    “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • COVID-19 inquiry attracts 11,000 submissions
    Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says.  “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Families to receive up to $75 a week help with ECE fees
    Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Unlocking a sustainable, low-emissions future
    A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Chief of Army thanked for his service
    Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders
    25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government commits nearly $3 million for period products in schools
    Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech – Making it easier to build.
    Good morning, it’s great to be here.   First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.  I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Pacific youth to shine from boost to Polyfest
    Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • 2024 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships announced
    ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Breast Cancer Foundation – Insights Conference
    Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Kiwi research soars to International Space Station
    New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Planning Institute
    Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Support for Northland emergency response centre
    The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed.  “Northland has faced a number ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Celebrating 20 years of Whakaata Māori
    New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Some commercial fishery catch limits increased
    Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

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