Daily review 28/11/2023

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, November 28th, 2023 - 51 comments
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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 …

51 comments on “Daily review 28/11/2023 ”

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  1. SPC 1
    28 November 2023 at 5:47 pm

    It is rare for me to agree with ACT MP's, current or former, so when it occurs one must note the occasion.

    The Pharmac funding model prioritises savings on the upstream costs of medicines rather than the downstream impacts and costs to patients and their families, the wider health system and the economy. The cost of medicines should only be part of the decision calculation.

    What the model doesn’t adequately consider is the cost of not treating people, such as the personal and societal burden of inability to work and the impact of chronic diseases on other, more costly health services. The list is long.

    https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/nz-news/350119373/pharmacs-failed-culture-overdue-shake?utm_source=stuff_website&utm_medium=stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuff

    It has astounded me that Treasury has never determined the cost of Pharmac on the health system. People not well treated at the primary level soon become a cost at the secondary level – for mine it ruined the finances of the health boards (all that dialysis that could have been avoided with better drug treatment of diabetes earlier – and it took so long for us to change course).

    Then there are all those on benefits, because their health was compromised.

    If ACC was managing Pharmac they would intervene to get people back work capable because it would reduce their future cost.

    The role of Pharmac has to be connected to some intelligent management as per reducing impost on the health and welfare system of people's health conditions not being well managed. Reducing the cost on Pharmac is not the same thing as reducing the health and welfare costs on the rest of government – nor of doing the right thing by the people concerned – that word well-being.

    That said the same thing applies with reducing addiction to a product that contains a carcinogen, and some focus on a healthy standard of housing and processed food (rules as per adding sugar and salt). Even investment in affordable access to prescriptions, dental care, access to primary health and provision of healthy food in schools.

    • satty 1.1
      28 November 2023 at 5:53 pm

      Agreed, I’m not sure how this reconciles with ACTs / Coalition (of Chaos) smoking policies:

      the downstream impacts and costs to patients and their families, the wider health system and the economy

      Maybe, they are just hypocrites.

      • SPC 1.1.1
        28 November 2023 at 6:05 pm

        The property owning middle class want their cancer drugs, the profile of nicotine addicts is largely (some libertarian chaos capitalism junkies excepted) otherwise.

        A parallel, they champion free speech but want criticism of Zionist nationalist excess condemned as antisemitism.

        It’s about who they have affinity for and those they could not care less about.

        Big corporate tobacco (tick), business owner retailers (tick) – indigenous poor to be ethnically cleansed of their identity, lives and place here. With no identity here – the high rents and low wages mean they are economically better off migrating to Oz.

      • satty 1.1.2
        28 November 2023 at 6:09 pm

        Additional thoughts… maybe we should prepare a list of industries (companies) that probably did their best funding the election campaigns of "The Coalition":

        • Tobacco
        • Oil/Gas
        • Pharmaceutical
        • Real Estate
        • Industrial Farming / Food
        • Car dealerships (we don't really have a car industry as such)
        • Banks (?)

        We should consider most/all of those industries "drug dealers" working with products that increase dependencies / addictions.

        • SPC 1.1.2.1
          28 November 2023 at 6:29 pm

          I'd add employers (limited MW increases – no Fair Pay Agreement/Industry Awards).

          And landlords

          And also the pay day loans industry

          And also tobacco, liquor and gambling retail outlets in low income neighbourhoods.

        • Ad 1.1.2.2
          28 November 2023 at 8:51 pm

          Bruce Jesson was the last one to draw a map of all the company directorships and how they all interrelated. He did it back in the late 1980s. Of course they still exist.

          Anyone who underestimates Luxon's preparation to fully alter power is going to be gravely mistaken.

    • AB 1.2
      28 November 2023 at 7:06 pm

      There is likely to be some truth in that – but I'm not sure exactly how Pharmac makes its decisions. I would doubt very much that it is made purely on the grounds of cost or some narrow definition of clinical efficacy. Health economics is a mature and pretty sophisticated affair, so Pharmac must surely consider downstream lifetime costs?

      I think your comments are bang on about the preventative medicine space though – how much money would the health system save on diabetes drugs and dialysis if every household had access to healthy food not stuffed with sugar, and crap fizzy drink producers had to pay the actual social cost of their products?

      • SPC 1.2.1
        28 November 2023 at 7:35 pm

        No Pharmac is as the former ACT MP says. It's a known known.

        It took years of people pointing out that the cheaper diabetes 2 drug they provided resulted in people going onto dialysis loss or work capability/cost to health boards. In another case the more costly drug allowed people to remain employed and yet …people had to organise to bring some intelligence into the equation.

        IP and Pharmac.

        An analysis led by researchers in Britain found that a year’s supply of the drug could be manufactured at an estimated cost of just $5,700.

        https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/health/cystic-fibrosis-drug-trikafta.html

        https://www.cfnz.org.nz/news-and-events/latest-news/we-did-it-trikafta-to-be-funded-in-aotearoa-by-april-2023/

        Sure some on the right just wanted drugs for middle class people – cancer drugs etc when it impacted on those they knew.

        • Ed1 1.2.1.1
          28 November 2023 at 9:00 pm

          I had understood that they maximised the impact on patients for the lowest possible cost – if a new drug is more effective than an older one, that may cause a drop in price that means the slightly less effective drug gives better results per dollar – hence why we often get requests to fund latest treatment. The answer to that problem is to increase funding, but not surprisingly all governments find Pharmac (and those that sell drugs) will use as much money as they are given. The bulk purchasing model has served us well; having a government intervene over a well publicised wonder drug puts a government in a difficult position. National are inclined to find examples where there are not many patients to push spending more for political purposes – it seems Nicola Willis did not realise the political difficulties involved.

  2. Anne 2
    28 November 2023 at 6:46 pm

    Well, its coming thick and fast:

    Andrew Shaw, a television veteran who served on the board of NZ On Air, has resigned after criticising Winston Peters.

    In a post on LinkedIn, Shaw called Peters “malicious” and thuggish. Shaw’s comments were in response to Peters’ ongoing attacks against reporters, which stem from the NZ On Air administered Public Interest Journalism Fund.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/301016371/live-nz-on-air-board-member-resigns-after-calling-winston-peters-malicious

    The meme: under no circumstances must you tell the truth, even in your capacity as a private citizen.

    • Robert Guyton 2.1
      28 November 2023 at 7:00 pm

      Tuesday night challenge: Who said this?

      “Peters attack's independence of media. He's not truthful. He's not accurate. He's malicious and he is here on behalf of international tobacco. His return is the worst of this gang of thugs."

      Anne, you're not allowed to play 🙂

      • bwaghorn 2.1.1
        28 November 2023 at 7:47 pm

        Winston's first scalp said it, how long can luxon hold together a coalition with a deranged old man ,

        • Tony Veitch 2.1.1.1
          28 November 2023 at 8:04 pm

          I have the impression, perhaps wrongly, that Luxon will be a travelling PM – "promoting the interests of NZ overseas," for two reasons:

          First, to avoid QT in the House as much as possible – even his ego won't be able to cope with the hammering it'll get, and

          Secondly, to distance himself as much as possible from the infighting within his cabinet, and not only between Winnie and Davie.

          He's already begun distancing himself from Winnie's outrageous statements.

      • SPC 2.1.2
        28 November 2023 at 8:26 pm

        I have not come to facilitate Shaw's redemption, for Shaw was not entirely honest himself.

        National opposed the reduction from 6000 to 600 tobacco outlets in parliament saying it would facilitate a black market (cost it tax money from poor people who did not vote National).

        And this was in the NACT coalition agreement

        "Repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022 to remove the requirements for denicotinisation and the reduction in retail outlets."

        The three stooges were in it together.

  3. Ad 3
    28 November 2023 at 7:56 pm

    OK yes it's sad but it would have been great if Labour had moved this fast in 2017.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/northland-regional-council-chair-geoff-crawford-elected-at-explosive-meeting/YD4U4GPDARHUFF73BFE5HOVG6Q/

    So many decades of experience and leadership trashed.

  4. SPC 4
    28 November 2023 at 8:18 pm

    International embarrassment

    1. The Kiwi bird stops being monogomous and starts dating Australasian imports just because they are now popular
    2. Having a Health Minister called “Shane Cigaretti” and a Finance Minister called “Nicotine Willis”.
    3. Being represented overseas by a raptured bald man with waxing and waning wings on each side.

    But what is to come will be worse

    A nation holding its breath waiting for the Guardian, or the BBC, or worse American late night TV to do a once over of the rest of the policies of the coalition.

    • Pat 4.1
      28 November 2023 at 8:24 pm
      1. A nation holding its breath waiting for the Guardian, or the BBC, or worse American late night TV to do a once over of the rest of the policies of the coalition.

      Really?

      Id suggest most couldnt give a toss what those offshore think…they are concerned about the reality of their day to day lives, not how some ill informed foreign journo wishes to spin it.

      • SPC 4.1.1
        28 November 2023 at 8:31 pm

        It would be the well informed one that would most embarrass "brand New Zealand" for the government its people elected.

        And dismissing critics, as ill informed, is what apologists for a regime would insinuate.

        • Pat 4.1.1.1
          28 November 2023 at 8:38 pm

          Those that matter to NZ (inc) do not base their decisions on MSM reporting….they base it on RoI….and the likes of the Guardian/ BBC CNN are so far behind the curve that they dont figure.

          • SPC 4.1.1.1.1
            28 November 2023 at 8:43 pm

            You seem to be confusing voter behaviour here with our brand reputation abroad – which does have consequences.

            Wait till they do a look at our Paris Accord position and our waterways.

            Grist to the mill for the buy local campaigners and those supermarkets that greenwash.

            Consider the selling of fish caught by bottom trawling as an example.

            • Pat 4.1.1.1.1.1
              28 November 2023 at 8:50 pm

              Voters dont care about foreign MSM reporting, they care about hip pocket.

              Hip pocket is impacted by foreign investment/ investor perception of NZ….and that does not rely upon MSM reportage…as said MSM reportage is at best lagging if not totally erroneous.

              If we are going to suffer from the likes of CC implications it will occur long before it appears in the MSM.

              • SPC …
                28 November 2023 at 8:55 pm

                Maybe just confused about what the issue I was raising was.

                • Pat …
                  28 November 2023 at 9:12 pm

                  Possibly… though you did say

                  "A nation holding its breath waiting for the Guardian, or the BBC, or worse American late night TV to do a once over of the rest of the policies of the coalition."

                  I doubt anyone is bothered about what the Guardian has to say about NZ especially when there are many issues that will receive magnitudes of more clicks….we simply are not as important/influential as we like to tell ourselves.

                  • SPC …
                    28 November 2023 at 9:28 pm

                    It can be guaranteed that local media will re-publish the articles here.

                    But the real impost is in the impact on the New Zealand brand – nations have reputations, and they have an intangible value.

                    But for our exporters and those who market their products (whether here or abroad) there is a cost to all this.

                    A nation of polluted waterways, taking little action as per the Paris Accord, catering to the dirty tobacco industry, giving the fingers to UNDRIP, policies of by and for the landlord class – will face up a problem when exporting because foreign consumers may well ask are these products from a clean and green place?

                    • Pat …
                      28 November 2023 at 9:35 pm

                      And when (and if, because we are not the only ones failing on the environment) the impact of that hits the wallets of Kiwis then they will take notice….meanwhile the foreign MSM can write what they please as we are too busy trying to house and feed ourselves.

                    • SPC …
                      28 November 2023 at 9:56 pm

                      The thing is, it is the right wing alliance farmers have with the landlord class vs tenants and employers vs workers which is the driver of the high rent low wage society (and perpetual migrant worker replacement of exiles to Oz).

                      But this victory for farmers will come at a cost in their export markets, when this is all reported in foreign media – and thanks to the tobacco story, that will soon follow.

                    • Pat …
                      28 November 2023 at 10:05 pm

                      Perhaps …but again, nobody will place any import upon it until such time as it happens….if it happens.

    • Anne 4.2
      28 November 2023 at 8:29 pm

      John Oliver or Stephen Colbert most likely candidates.

      • SPC 4.2.1
        28 November 2023 at 8:38 pm

        The ones of most concern would be Jimmy Kimmel (he accused his own wife of dive bombing Hawaii on a flight there) and Seth Myers or the Daily Show et al (in the is there anything as bad as Trump in the rest of the world segment).

  5. Ad 5
    28 November 2023 at 8:39 pm

    Of much greater long term negative effect on NZ will be the repeal of the new RMA in this upcoming Parliamentary session.

    That's years and years of legal work, thousands of submissions, whole Departments drafting it, endless select committee reports and debates .. and of course an entire building and infrastructure industry prepared for its implementation.

    It will take at least two years to legislate a new one.

    I'd predict this degree of legislative and legal uncertainty will put a real chill through the construction industry until they put their own replacement through.

    • SPC 5.1
      28 November 2023 at 8:54 pm

      It would be quicker to amend it. They could do that next year – keeping changes there is agreement on.

      One thing I did not like about the RMA was the city wide nature of it, it upended urban planning as we knew it. Areas around transport spines and areas that had the infrastructure for it should be prioritised for growth/building up.

      The problems of intensification in areas with poor drainage etc would have been a landscape leaky home – insurance disaster.

      • Ad 5.1.1
        28 November 2023 at 9:58 pm

        I thought the Metropolitan Urban Limit worked pretty well in Auckland. When it went, Auckland just ballooned out. The last guy in the Auckland region who can claim lineage to that is Mike Lee.

        Back in the day…

        • SPC 5.1.1.1
          28 November 2023 at 10:08 pm

          And Auckland also once had an urban plan (pre Super City) that prevented building on land flooded early this year.

          And we changing building rules (onto leaky homes) and reduced focus on apprenticeships for a long period.

          Seldom has a first world nation chosen the course of a cover up of a decline to second world nation status, rather than to prevent it.

          It seems the haves have determined on another course, whereby they are catered to and an order of rule is built to preserve that privilege.

          We are becoming a South American ruling over and ruled over class divide second world nation. And any organised resistance will be called a "socialist revolution" that our security partners will help to prevent.

          The worry about Maori is just a diversion to give it white populist support – the GOP southern strategy.

  6. Ad 6
    28 November 2023 at 8:47 pm

    So the question to ask for this Parliamentary sitting is:

    Did National prepare for power enough to have names and CV's ready to go to replace all the big public sector boards:

    – ACC, Transpower, EA, TEC, NZTA, Commerce Commission, Pharmac, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court judges, Police Commissioner, local government commissioners, Head of Armed Forces, Governor General, NZOnAir, all the University Chancellors, State Services Commissioner, HRC, AgResearch, Hortresearch, Pamu, Reserve Bank governors, NZTE, TVNZ and RNZ boards, key diplomatic appointments … right down to the Walking and Cycling Commission …

    … of course many will claim that only DPMC vetting is the true gatekeeper of appointments, but a good forceful government who wants to tilt power and get stuff done fast will present their own list of qualified candidates and sweep the field.

    • SPC 6.1
      28 November 2023 at 9:14 pm

      Some have better tenure protection than others.

      https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2016/0048/latest/DLM5759479.html

      Protection of Judges against removal from office

      A Judge of the High Court shall not be removed from office except by the Sovereign or the Governor-General, acting upon an address of the House of Representatives, which address may be moved only on the grounds of that Judge’s misbehaviour or of that Judge’s incapacity to discharge the functions of that Judge’s office.

    • Ed1 6.2
      28 November 2023 at 9:27 pm

      From an organisation that I regard as the most recent incarnation of dirty tricks, albeit with a carefully managed public face – even after a change of government there will be a desire to keep them going for their ability to raise funds for 'research' rather than political party purposes, and to fund 'non-political' activities such as 'independent' polling, the organisation will continue, but I wonder whether some of these names will appear in Ministerial offices etc . . .

      Jordan Williams – Executive Director & Co-founder ; Laurence Kubiak – Chair ; Hon. Ruth Richardson – Board member ; Chris Milne – Board member ; Hon. John Boscawen – Board member ; Jim Rose – Research Fellow ; Callum Purves – Chief Operating Officer and Head of Campaigns ; Michelle van der Veer– Funding and External Relationships Manager ; Sara Leckie – Office Manager & Development Officer ; Ray Deacon – Economist ; Connor Molloy – Campaigns Manager ; Oliver Bryan – Investigations Co-ordinator ; James Ross – Policy Adviser ; Alex Murphy – Researcher ; Rhys Hurley – Research Intern ; Noemi Leinfellner – Research Intern ; Dan Merry – Research Intern ; Regan Sayer – Research Intern ;

      Do the Opposition parties have "non-political' organisations to ask a myriad of FOI requests? – including what advice Willis received on the tobacco policy changes)? In the last few years it has been clear that many MPs and others were being fed large numbers of 'concerned citizen' FOI requests to keep the public sector busy – the new Government may benefit from similar scrutiny . . .

  7. adam 7
    28 November 2023 at 10:31 pm

    Very impressed with how Winston Peters at his age, was able to get down on his hands and knees to suck corporate cock.

  8. SPC 8
    28 November 2023 at 10:40 pm

    Shane Cigareti earned his new moniker

    when he claimed that vaping would be the governments primary tool for reducing the numbers of smokers and thus maintaining a large number of retail outlets for sale of a cancer causing carcinogen and maintaining the level of nicotine in the product to maintain the addiction were secondary issues.

    Reti said the prime minister had already raised concerns about how the proposed legislation would have impacted on the black market and how it would focus crime on those retail outlets which were allowed to continue to sell cigarettes.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/11/28/health-minister-defends-plan-to-scrap-smokefree-legislation/

    This is evidence that the smoking plan was National Party policy and fully embraced by their ACT and NZF partners. They all received international funding. From examplar to turncoat before the world media.

    Meanwhile The Civilian Beehive today reported that most vapers had never smoked. And most who had smoked gave up because of the cost and or via nicotine patches. And that the British American Tobacco taskforce concluded that the best way to promote addiction to nicotine in the 21st C was to promote vaping as a way to reduce the numbers of smokers. And to maintain their original product, by warning governments of the risk of a black market and loss of tax revenue – that would undermine their ability to finance health care or tax cuts (whatever was the more important to their political brand).

    • SPC 8.1
      28 November 2023 at 11:56 pm

      With utter and total contempt for the opine of Shane Cigareti comes an Oz push

      to phase out recreational vaping completely.

      Vaping has been marketed as a way to quit smoking, but Australia's health minister says it has created a "new generation of nicotine dependency".

      "All Australian governments are committed to working together to stop the disturbing growth in vaping among our young people," said Mark Butler, the federal health minister who is leading the ban.

      Importers and manufacturers supplying therapeutic vapes will also have to comply with tighter government regulation concerning the flavours, nicotine levels, and packaging of their products.

      Experts have warned that not enough is known yet about the long-term impacts of vaping.

      Research from Johns Hopkins University has linked the practice to chronic lung disease and asthma.

      And in Australia, scientists who have studied the liquids used in vapes have warned that they contain "a suite of chemicals" known to impact lung health.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67550685

      • Michael P 8.1.1
        30 November 2023 at 7:50 pm

        Yea…nah

        Vape liquid here contains Propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, flavoring, sometimes water and nicotine is optional.

        The glycerin and glycol are both alcohols and are very common in many different foodstuffs, cosmetics, etc.

        Flavoring is what it says, same as all foodstuff flavorings.

        Water is water

        Nicotine isn't harmful in the dosages involved, other than it is addictive. So is sugar, exercise and a myriad of other things.

        Essentially you're inhaling flavored water vapor or steam, which surely is way less dangerous than breathing in carcinogenic burnt carbon, etc from burning tobacco (plus a whole heap of added chemicals which the tobacco companies don't have to list)

        I have to just add that of course prohibition has never worked, for anything, ever, in the history of humankind. Prohibition just generates massive amounts of income for organized crime along with the associated crime such as violence, theft, prostitution, etc. You'd think people would have cottoned on to that one by now, we've had around 10,000 years or more.

        • SPC 8.1.1.1
          1 December 2023 at 4:40 am

          We will be able to observe the comparative track of vaping use levels in the two countries as Oz reduce the addictive element in the product.

          Personally I have no problem with obstructing the death merchant corporations from continuing to profit from nicotine addiction. Nor of removing them and other organised crime groups from buying politicians, exploiting addiction and or a black market.

    • bwaghorn 8.2
      29 November 2023 at 5:50 am

      Migrants own the corner store cancer shops, there's votes in selling death.

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    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
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