Daily Review 14/12/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, December 14th, 2017 - 115 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

115 comments on “Daily Review 14/12/2017 ”

  1. millsy 2

    We should be wary of Seymour’s bill. I know of two people, who are impeccably credible who believe that their loved ones were euthanized unofficially at the local hospice. Were this bill to pass, we will hear even more and more whispers.

    Bill English has no right to complain either. He helped implement health reforms that essentially restricted access to health care for the poor and vulnerable who so suddenly cares about.

    • BM 2.1

      We should be wary of Seymour’s bill. I know of two people, who are impeccably credible who believe that their loved ones were euthanized unofficially at the local hospice

      And the problem with that is? you’re in hospice because you’re going to die.

      If I was dying and in pain and someone could end it all painlessly and in a way that didn’t cause stress to my family, then I’d gladly take that opportunity if it was offered.

      Far better for your family then stumbling across you having bled out from slitting your wrists or any of the other multitude of ways you can end your life.

      • Fireblade 2.1.1

        [deleted]?Do humanity a favour.

        [Nope. No place for that shit. Don’t do it again.] – Bill

      • I feel love 2.1.2

        Agree with BM here, and of course they do it in Hospices, are people that sheltered from reality? It’s always as a last resort, it really is. All Seymours bill is going to do if passed is add more bureaucracy, ironic really coming from ACT.

        • Draco T Bastard 2.1.2.1

          All Seymours bill is going to do if passed is add more bureaucracy, ironic really coming from ACT.

          Not if you have a look at their actions rather than their listen to their words. Their bills always increase the bureaucracy – just usually upon poor people.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1.3

        We should be wary of Seymour’s bill

        Of course we should: everything else ACT has done is toxic.

        This is the party that says their betters “shouldn’t be allowed to breed”: their end-game is a death camp.

        • BM 2.1.3.1

          Are you one of the Sky Pixie fan club?

          • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1.3.1.1

            Nope. I’m kind-of ambivalent about euthenasia. On the one hand it seems reasonable that people should be able to ‘die with dignity’, and on the other hand, ACT and the National Party author rhetoric that supports eugenics, and pass laws that kill poor people.

            So perhaps some sort of quid pro quo should be arranged.

      • Foreign waka 2.1.4

        BM- you are missing the point. “Unofficially euthanized” implies no consent – this is eugenics or you can call it murder. Since when is that OK?

        • BM 2.1.4.1

          “Unofficially euthanized”

          To me that means

          “Doc I’m in excruciating pain 24 hours a day, I just want it to end is there anything you can do?”

          Who would have a problem with that?

          • Grafton Gully 2.1.4.1.1

            Just ask them not to replace the drip bag and/or stop drinking.

            • greywarshark 2.1.4.1.1.1

              I have read about the not eating/drinking. It is surprising how long it takes to die. Our bodies are programmed to keep us going, our faithful servants, and won’t give up when we want them to.

              If we could get a thoughtful, thorough legal pathway that enables us to go when we want to, how good that would be. Something arranged, but in the background for when we chose, the will made, the accounts and policies to hand, and with family informed and involved and those who wanted, to be there at or around the time. Being there with someone dying is always hard, but if someone wants to go before everything shuts down, or the pain became too intense, you all could talk and reminisce and hold hands, and cry and share feelings and understand that it was just a bit shorter time than otherwise and easier for you all.

              Seeing that living to 50 was a big thing at one time, how can it be regarded as natural to keep being revitalised with hospital visits, transfusions etc etc
              so people can live to 90 and beyond. And it is unpleasant and gruesome to read of the visions that come into people’s heads because others want choice of time to die, ie talking about Nazis etc.

              Just ensure that there is plenty of opportunity for people in the Choice of Death groups to be involved in drawing up draft legislation to go before the Select Committee and then sort out the objections of those who want to speak, as to where they are coming from. Some people will argue about everything because they refuse to consider it. They should state that at the beginning of any objections and disagreement.

              There are some so assiduous at deciding other people’s lives for them that they will hold protests outside the hall where a speaker about euthanasia is invited to a meeting. Learning and thinking is not allowed in their minds. The prejudice of such people is absolute and they want to force their own ideas and objections on to others. They should have the right to their own extended old age, but not insist that others cannot do what they want and be given the right and opportunity to do.

                • greywarshark

                  Thanks Draco. It’s good that there are some people thinking about this matter and seeing that, with careful legal processes spelling out the basics and properly supervised, it could turn out to be a boon for old people.

                  Someone still feeling good could organise a great party and invite old friends, people from school, all the family, the present friends and acquaintances and have a bang-up party uniting everyone in a social event very pleasurable to remember. (Should have some music too.)

                  Enjoy your money instead of hobbling around getting less mobile and savvy and saving it to spend on aged care and sit in a chair waiting to die.

        • weka 2.1.4.2

          “Unofficially euthanized” implies no consent”

          People really shouldn’t use the term euthanasia when they mean murder. “Unofficially euthanized” to me implies an unspoken about arrangement between the patient and whatever staff they can get to help them. That’s not murder and it doesn’t help to conflate the two.

  2. JC 3

    Wording on a plaque unveiled in Greymouth has raised the ire of a West Coast regional councillor….

    “(To mark the completion of council leading a re focus of the District to a sustaianable economy after a reliance on extractive industries)”

    He suggested taking a delegation to Council calling for its removal or he might even “rip it off myself”.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/councillor-irked-wording-plaque

    Perhaps a conflict of interest…. just maybe…

  3. weka 4

    Peter Aranyi‏ @onThePaepae

    This does get worse & worse. — A Golden Bay couple suing police for being wrongly targeted in a 1080 blackmail investigation have been shocked to discover their home was bugged.

    https://twitter.com/onThePaepae/status/941173725990346752

    The couple believe the police used terrorism laws to bug their home and take samples for DNA testing.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 4.1

      Given the death-threats etc that have been levelled at eg: DOC employees, “1080 activism” probably does fall under the “definition” of terrorism.

      Yet another reason why the Terrorism Suppression Act isn’t fit for purpose.

      • Bill 4.1.1

        Well, since taping a free give-away demo tape to buildings around town that people can take away is…

        https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/charge-laid-over-bomb-package

        • One Anonymous Bloke 4.1.1.1

          He’s been charged under Section 307 of the Crimes Act: “Threatening to destroy property”.

          The TS Act is a different animal entirely. Check out Section 4, for example: the loophole clause for state actors.

        • McFlock 4.1.1.2

          To be fair, if the tape had been labelled as a giveaway and the “poem” had been about rainbows and unicorn farts, it probably wouldn’t have drawn the same response.

          ISTR the charges were dismissed (might be wrong), but even so the response was proper. Especially as the problem with those situtations is that even if you’re sure the person who called it in had had too much coffee that day, if you take it casually and it turns out to be real, your arse is on the block.

          • Bill 4.1.1.2.1

            It wasn’t the only give-away tape. Others had been put up and taken by people with no problem.

            The response was bullshit. It’s an expression of a nasty and aggressive fearfulness.

            The lesson (it would seem) is never to take the piss out of that nasty, aggressive fearfulness because…well, it gets all nasty, aggressive and fearful.

            And yes, the case was stopped. But not before it had driven some poor bastard up the wall.

            • McFlock 4.1.1.2.1.1

              Oh, others had been left without problems, so that’s fine then. Bollocks.

              And if it was supposed to be a piss take, then he got the exact response he was after because he knew what the reaction would be.

              I’d just been under the impression that he was a pretentious jerk who didn’t consider the reactions of people who were unfamiliar with his status as an “underground” artist, and take an out-of-place package with violent text attached to it simply at face value. Your position seems to be that it was a satirical commentary on bomb scares made by something that looked like a bomb, and everybody who thought it looked like a bomb was being foolish because it wasn’t a bomb even though it was supposed to look like one?

              • Bill

                Never a punk then McFlock (back in the day)?

                Never ripped the piss out of social “norms” then?

                Nah. Guess not. Just as nasty, fearful and (defensively) aggressive as that which deserves “ripped” – a cotton candy wrapped liberal though and through.

                • McFlock

                  If he was taking the piss about a society of fear, he knew what reaction his packages might provoke.

                  And it’s not like people have never set bombs in NZ before, for whatever reason.

                  • Bill

                    Do fuck off on your “he should have known and complied with norms” bullshit.

                    And the last time a bomb was targeted in such a way as to take out random members of the public was… when?

                    • McFlock

                      I don’t care if he complied with norms. I just don’t think he should get sympathy for being arrested when he should have known he might cause the bomb alert that occurred. Jump into the tiger cage if you want to make a statement, but people shouldn’t blame the tiger if you get eaten.

                      Trades hall bombing springs to mind. Low incidence / high consequence events are by definition both. And if someone goes “is that a bomb, it looks supicious”, are you volunteering to wander over and take it apart each and every time?

                    • Bill

                      I don’t care if he complied with norms.

                      Yes you do. You reckon it’s fine for there to be consequences meted out in instances where norms aren’t followed and – as seems pretty obvious from your comments – you condone the fearful culture of disproportionate response that has built itself up around those norms.

                      The Trades Hall bombing wasn’t quite random, was it? (And i asked about instances of random targeting – non-targeted in other words)

                    • weka

                      Hang on, it’s appropriate to treat it as suspicious and take appropriate action (so call the bomb squad).

                      It might even be appropriate to initially arrest the man as part of the investigation (although without knowing more detail, that still looks like overkill as opposed to interviewing him).

                      But trying to charge him with threatening to damage property? That’s either stupid or trying to teach him a lesson. Neither of those are appropriate uses of the law. That action also appears to be suppression of artistic expression and political dissent.

                    • Bill

                      “…what the photo that’s been circulated doesn’t show you is not only that the album’s supposedly threatening cover poem is in fact signed by L$D Fundraiser – a Google term which brings enough hits to work out its a musical project, to say the least – but the poem was actually hand typed onto sheets pulled out from the artist’s expired passport, which traditionally has the number stamped on every page.”

                      http://dunedinsound.com/blog/extended-thoughts-on-lsd-fundraiser/

                    • weka

                      Interesting article, thanks.

                      Re the bit you quoted, I suppose it depends how much of that was remotely visible to the policy. The ODT photo isn’t very clear but it looks like the poem only, not the attribution or other detail.

                    • McFlock

                      How do you know the trades hall bombing wasn’t random?
                      More to the point, wasn’t the building the lsd thing was attached to close to or actually the gay bar formerly owned by that publican who skipped town and had some shady connections? Not so random now, is it, if you want to project intent onto the site of the incident.

                      And how the fuck is anyone supposed to know the pages had passport numbers without getting up really close and personal to a package that someone else had worries about? They’re suypposed to take it apart before they cordon off a safe perimeter in the middle of town? Oh, let’s let people walk past the suspicious package until we’ve googled every line of poetry. And hand-typed actually is a red flag.

                      Fuck norms, that jerk should have known someone might shit a brick over it. You reckon it was satire, so that means he did know. I think he was probably just a jerk with no thought about how members of the public might interpret his action.

                      As for the article, the idea that the police “should have pretty readily identified” an underground artist possibly assumes much about your average police officer’s connection with obscure music genres and modern art.

                    • Bill

                      Who said anything about satire?

                      It was a way of getting music out to a broader audience. Was kind of working too by all accounts. (Tapes taken, no bomb squads called.)

                      Aren’t passport pages obvious enough from a distance? I believe NZ passports, in common with others, have pretty damned obvious watermarks, no? And who-ever belled the cops had, it seems, got suspiciously close enough to read the signed off lyrics…on watermarked and numbered pages.

                      What gay bar? What publican?

                      What suspicion? You trying to say that other people who had taken previous tapes were careless idiots, who were just plain lucky that some mad bomb crazed person hadn’t assigned far more strategic significance to the Octagon given its geometric similarity to the Pentagon? 🙂

                      Fear, it seems does strange things to thought processes, common sense and judgments, aye?

                    • McFlock

                      People who took the tapes, yay for them. They picked a strange packet off a random place and it turned out to be a tape from an underground recording artist who is world famous but not in Dunedin, rather than containing drugs, used rubbers, or a bomb.

                      That doesn’t mean that the people who thought “that shouldn’t be there. Gosh, that note is threatening, better call the cops” overreacted. The cops aren’t qualified to second-guess that decision, that’s bomb disposal’s job. All the cops do is cordon a safe distance and wait for the experts, whatever their personal suspicions.

                      I’ll tell you the story of that publican when we next run into each other in the supermarket. It’s pretty funny, for a given trail of debt…

      • weka 4.1.2

        I think it was probably more the threat to put 1080 into baby formula, but “1080 activism” isn’t terrorism and that’s the problem. The couple are anti-1080 activists and appear to have been investigated because they’d written letters to Fonterra before. Not illegal letters, just letters. FFS. One would hope the police had more to go on than that. but then there’s the Tūhoe raids.

        • McFlock 4.1.2.1

          I suspect the police would have been following the traditional model of more widespread movements, where the small “direct action” cell is given logistical and intelligence support from a larger group, which in turn exists within a larger group of generally sympathetic people.

          So those two probabaly weren’t suspected of doing anything directly, but as active members of that population they would have networks of less prominent active people who could in turn be surveilled, and there would be good odds that they are within one or two degrees of separation from the direct action cell..

          • weka 4.1.2.1.1

            There are shit loads of people in NZ who are one or two degrees of separation from other people who commit crimes. There’s a problem if we are now saying that is sufficient reason to covertly surveil someone.

            • McFlock 4.1.2.1.1.1

              But that’s not the level of connection we’re talking about. They were active in that area, people who did the direct action probably had support of some sort, and the people most active would be the people most likely to provide that support.

        • marty mars 4.1.2.2

          I think they will win in court. The police went overboard in their response based on flakey thinking imo. This couple are really least likely in just about every way you could imagine.

    • greywarshark 4.2

      Did the police search for products that could be used for euthanasia while they were at it? That was something else they were looking into a while ago. They could kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

    • James 4.3

      On this instance- I think the police were correct to bug them. If they were the baddies and police didn’t do everything possible and babys were poisoned- you would be complaining about that.

      They were obviously a reasonable suspect.

      Also – they have no idea about if it was granted under the terrorism act – they are guessing.

  4. Carolyn_nth 5

    Bye bye Mike…. from 7 Sharp…. And there is now dancing in the streets!

    • Ed 5.1

      Hosking said it was “always good to leave on your own terms and at your own time, often a rare trick in media”.

      Don’t believe him.
      Think he could see the writing on the wall.

      • ianmac 5.1.1

        A couple of weeks ago there were rumours that Hosking was in talks with management. Wondered if that suggested a “cooling”?
        Anyway they will no doubt exchange them for more frothy populist fare.
        Glad to see Hosking go. Will he still have those awful daily homilies on Herald which were often disguised with false headers?

      • BM 5.1.2

        Wouldn’t surprise me, the left doesn’t really do free speech.

        If we have politicians deciding who’s on TV then TVNZ days are numbered.

        Public TV should never be the propaganda wing for whoever is in government.

        • Ed 5.1.2.1

          Good job.
          TVNZ have been a nest of right wing vipers for too long.

        • fender 5.1.2.2

          “If we have politicians deciding who’s on TV then TVNZ days are numbered.”

          Strange you jump to that conclusion, don’t remember you doing the same when Campbell got shafted.

          • BM 5.1.2.2.1

            Private TV station they can do whatever they please.

            • Ed 5.1.2.2.1.1

              TVNZ?

            • fender 5.1.2.2.1.2

              Yeah private propaganda is fine eh, even if they borrow taxpayers money when no banks are willing to lend to them.

              • BM

                NZ made good coin from that deal, the interest rate was far above what the banks were charging.

                Of course, private propaganda is fine, christ that lefty fuckwit Campbell had his own show for ten years.

                What probably sunk him is that he forgot he was the employee and thought he could do whatever he wanted.

                Those sort of people are toxic to a business and have to be removed, which he was.

                • fender

                  Risky loan to the money losing shambles that is TV3. But National has a special relationship with TV3 and many of its employees.

                  I find it odd that you only condemn State propaganda and not all forms of it.

                  • BM

                    I find it odd that you only condemn State propaganda and not all forms of it.
                    Do you consider Campbell live left-wing propaganda?

                    • Ed

                      John Campbell is not socialist. He is like a Democrat.

                      Do you consider Garner, Young, Richardson, Gower, Tame, Trevett, Smith, Dann, Mora, Watkins……right wing propagandists?

                      There are so many more neoliberal voices than socialist voices in the media.

                    • fender

                      “Do you consider Campbell live left-wing propaganda?”

                      No, he’s a proper journalist, something you seem to have little to no respect for.

                  • Ed

                    He likes right wing propaganda- thestuff we hear all the time

                  • Carolyn_nth

                    It’s worth reading Wayne Hope’s briefing paper on the history of NZ media ownership – about how public service media has been marginalised, and finance corporations now rule the roost.

                    The newly elected government has promised to advance the principles of public broadcasting in a multi-platform environment, by supporting Radio New Zealand. But what about the rest of our media environment? Will Cabinet address the obvious shortcomings in media competition law? This would require some understanding of how transnational concentrations of media ownership damage democratic principles and our national identity.

                    • Ed

                      We need to take back the airwaves for democratic control.

                    • ropata

                      +1 the problem with “private” media is that is is run for profit so its reason for existing is selling stuff to people. And the biggest thing they are selling is Capitalism itself. So any left wing viewpoints will end up very marginalised. Private media is allowed to transmit only those messages approved by its corporate masters.

                    • greywarshark

                      Not long ago the Australian government swept away the last of their limiting laws on media ownership so now one person/family/corporation can own or influence it all.

                      Someone I was reading recently said that Murdoch himself had been largely the death of real journalism.

                    • Carolyn_Nth

                      AKA, The “Murdochisation of the news/media”.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 5.1.2.3

          I agree. Comical Ali was more impartial than Hoskings.

        • Ed 5.1.2.4

          Hosking was the propaganda wing for John Key

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z0hJbmeogm4

        • weka 5.1.2.5

          Wouldn’t surprise me, the left doesn’t really do free speech.

          If we have politicians deciding who’s on TV then TVNZ days are numbered.

          Public TV should never be the propaganda wing for whoever is in government.

          Is that self-satire? if so, it’s quite good.

        • bwaghorn 5.1.2.6

          wonder if Jacinda said ” i want the rightwing bastard gone”

        • Draco T Bastard 5.1.2.7

          Wouldn’t surprise me, the left doesn’t really do free speech.

          Yeah we do. I just don’t think that people on TV should lie and misinform as many of the commenters do.

          Public TV should never be the propaganda wing for whoever is in government.

          true. It should give facts and informed opinion. Something that hasn’t happened in NZ for some time and so it’s become a fact free area that propagates RWNJ ideology.

        • JC 5.1.2.8

          Like the last 9 years!

      • Sabine 5.1.3

        National stopping to supplement his wage 🙂

    • mauī 5.2

      Mike Hosking is super stoked about NZ’s new PM Jacinda Ardern

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV-zfur0Fx8

    • millsy 5.3

      Probably a quiet word in the Koru lounge to have a quiet word to Hosking

    • greywarshark 5.4

      Out on the street? Toni is going to spend more time with her family. Hosking’s family will probably be very tired of him soon and beg someone to give him somewhere to talk his head off.

      If Hosking could see the writing on the wall he must be drinking too much. It would be a bad sign that he could see I should think.

      On the other hand. A countervailing move – would he act as media guru for Jacinda, if she would have him? Sort of like getting a skilled burglar to advise insurance companies on suitable locks and anti-burglary devices. Most of the RW are mercenaries only interested in money. He might be worth getting. But no, he would probably end up like Phil Quin, knowing just enough to be a fly in the ointment for ever, and cunning as a rat causing trouble and aggravation and misinformation.

      • Chris 5.4.1

        “He might be worth getting.”

        To see even the tiniest bit of something positive in that guy surely means you’re way off course. FFS.

        • ropata 5.4.1.1

          Yep, Hosking is a toxic little twerp who hates Labour so screw him.

          He’s also quite thick, has almost no education, and makes no effort to inform himself before one of his drunken rants.

  5. UncookedSelachimorpha 6

    The Gates of Hell must be ajar – RNZ report:

    “TVNZ said it would release the new hosts of Seven Sharp in January.”

  6. Dv 7

    John Key a nd his son

  7. Pat 8

    Larry Elliott (Guardian) makes a straightforward case for a decisive step to the left…. Id like to wholeheartedly agree and his case is compelling ….then I recall that the Nats after 9 disastrous years of austerity and incompetence still managed almost 45% support at the election and I wonder if the populace hasnt been programmed for self harm…

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/14/governments-control-capitalism-class-war-right-undermine-workers

    • greywarshark 8.1

      Sort of bulimic you think. Swallow everything, have too many drinks on the strength of the political news, spew, and start the cycle again? It seems to me that the process must be similar to the above, as otherwise how could the Gnats carry on and ride above the pile of horse manure they constantly meet.

  8. silvertuatara 9

    With Hosking leaving Seven Sharp….perhap’s John Key’s Brighter Future is now just around the corner…..but thanks of course to Jacinda, Winston and Shaw.

  9. JC 10

    I realise this is not Bills awa … think he said he’d gladly swim in the nearby Oreti…. perhaps he could come down to wade…

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/99821147/three-people-hospitalised-after-swimming-in-mataura-river

  10. greywarshark 11

    Fonterra should make farms using irrigated water provide swimming pools for the
    public drawn from their upstream flow so that wherever you go in Canterbury and Southland there is a place to cool down and swim provided by a grateful farmer ensuring that there is recompense to the public for any loss of amenities suffered because of the farmer sequestration of this precious resource.

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    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

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