Disarming New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, December 7th, 2019 - 39 comments
Categories: crime, gender, police, violence against women - Tags: , , , ,

I didn’t closely follow the details of the recent debate about the arming of NZ police (specifically the trials of having permanent armed patrols), because the progressive position seems a no brainer: civil society requires the least amount of force needed by those in position of power, and the voices of marginalised groups most likely to be shot should be heeded. If police are increasingly at personal risk then put resources and political will into solving the problems that underlie increasing community violence.

I did however start thinking about the ‘creep’ of the normalisation of armed police in NZ and whether we have gone so far now that it will be hard to stop. Apparently armed police on the streets has been happening for a while in some places, notably in Christchurch (pre the Mosque murders). Arming decisions were being made by local Commanders on an as needed basis, and there appeared to be little oversight or keeping of records of what was being done.

This week three issues in the media prompted me to think more deeply.

The first was the 30th anniversary of the Montreal mass shooting, where a man entered a university, told the men to leave the room and shot the women. At the time it was almost impossible for reporting to present this as a gendered, anti-feminist crime, but there has been plenty of analysis since of both the misogynistic agenda of the shooter (the women were engineering students) and the sexism that prevented reporting of this.

The second issue was an opinion piece by a senior Massey University lecturer published by Stuff this morning, that started with this,

This country has been lucky that we haven’t had to deal with an angry, unstable father shooting up a courtroom because of the Family Court’s reckless treatment of fathers in child custody disputes.

The unarmed security guards at the entrances of most courts aren’t enough to deter a father who can’t see his kids and has nothing to lose because of harmful decisions by the Family Court.

Of course, I am not advocating that action, and if you are thinking about it or have thought about it – stop – and get some help.

He then goes on to make a case about the mistreatment of men seeking custody of their children by the Family Court. Unfortunately his argument is based on a single example where the man is seen wholly without responsibility for the situation, and instead of talking about the complex range of issues involved in Family Court disputes, his piece comes across with the subtext of ‘if you want to murder the people making decisions about the well-being of your kid, get some help, but really you’re justified in your feelings’. It’s hard to see this as not an endorsement of the man-alone, oblivious to the needs of others, macho character that so many New Zealand men are socialised into (and which needless to say underpins much of the problem that men face in Family Court)

This is an astounding thing for Stuff to publish in a country that had its first modern era political mass murder a mere ten months ago. But thirty years on from the Montreal shooting we’re obviously still not that good at understanding gendered terrorism. 

The third news item was about the gun owners who placarded outside a primary school that the Prime Minister was opening in protest at gun control laws coming in after the Christchurch Mosque shootings. Their legitimate concerns about the data breach from the gun buyback website were conflated with their objection to the partial gun ban legislation.

I have no idea if they understood the symbolism of their protest or were oblivious to it, but either way it’s mindblowing that a political pro-gun lobby group acted in a way that linked guns of the kind used to murder Muslims in NZ by a white supremacists with a primary school, given the now routine shooting of children in schools in the US where such weapons are allowed.

Some threads here. Guns don’t shoot people, men do. If you don’t know the relationship between white supremacy and male supremacy, now would be a good time to go look that up. You can also look at the relationship between domestic violence and lone shooters.

The police have long pushed for the right to arm themselves, which is not hard to understand, but society is meant to have control of that and I’m not sure we do now. Even the parliamentary left tends to authoritarianism when presented with increasing violence.

The other connection I am making is we now have a political right hellbent on Trumpian politics and actively fomenting social discord that creates the kind of conditions for escalating violence towards Māori, Muslims, women, but also at and by the police. We are incredibly fortunate to have Jacinda Ardern as PM and the ways she is pushing back against some of this social engineering including internationally, but there are still serious problems seeping through the culture.

I don’t think the left’s traditional strategy of pushing for ethical positions in politics and society with the hope that more people will adopt progressive positions is now sufficient. I’m no longer convinced that we will inevitably win. In all these cases we have increasingly marginalised men, often now being encouraged, who are finding political sanction for their sense of confusion or simmering outrage.

I’m not arguing here that they are right. I’m saying that making this a war between progressives and the emerging alt right and alt left is dangerous. We need to keep up our strong activism around values and how society organises, but we also need to build bridges with the parts of society increasingly marginalised. Yes, even gun owners. I’m not talking about the likes of the Christchurch mass murderer, or the white supremacists that cheered him on, or the dedicated MRAs. I’m talking about the people they are recruiting as we speak.

This is a both/and position that is predicated on civil society being at heart about the relationships between people and the kinds of community we engender as a result.

39 comments on “Disarming New Zealand ”

  1. Grey Area 1

    Thoughtful piece Weka, well done.

    The first time we were told the arming of our police was a police operational matter, I thought: WTF! When did we give them that amount of power?

    Never, I think but now it just gets repeated unchallenged as a given. The police will decide when and how often they carry lethal force.

    The same police who are overseen (especially in the use of that lethal force) by the Independent Police Wet Bus Ticket Authority.

    How often the policing arm of the state is armed should be a decision of the state not a state agency (or at the very least a joint decision). In the same way armed forces are supposed to be accountable to elected politicians.

    Sometimes I look up in this country I was born and have lived my life in with a puzzled look in my face because I don't recognize it.

    • weka 1.1

      I was shocked when I found out that armed police were on the streets regularly in Chch, and that it was a decision made locally and no-one seems to have tracked how much it was happening. I think I only found that out earlier this year (a month or so before the Mosque shootings).

      • Pingau 1.1.1

        This was probably mostly in response to the shoot out on Eveleyn Cousins Avenue in late February in which there was another person thought to be involved. There were a couple of other incidents also around this time in Christchurch involving guns &/or violence – there was definately a change with seeing armed police about after the shoot out on Eveleyn Couzins Ave. Possibly the police treat this kind of incident as a training event for the interim but at the time, if I remember correctly, the Police said there was an increase in gun/weapons violence (in Christchurch).

  2. Ad 2

    While gang numbers continue to rise in NZ I'm quite happy for the Police to arm up.

    Hearing gangs bleat at Select Committee about their right to open carry was pathetic.

    • weka 2.1

      I'm sure you would be happy Ad, given (I assume) you're not on a cohort likely to be shot.

      Armed gangs and police, both in macho mode, what could possibly go wrong?

      Nek minit you're in a traffic jam with cops and robbers shooting each other and bystanders.

      • Ad 2.1.1

        Arm yourself with some facts about the issue, and inhale before you make sweeping assumptions about me Weka.

        The NZPolice do reports every year in which they evaluate every time they had to use force beyond an empty hand. It's called a Tactical Options Report.

        In 2018, of more than 3.6 million formally reported interactions between Police and public, staff reported 4,398 events where tactical options were used.

        There was a 3% decrease in the number of times Police had to use a "tactical option" from the previous year.

        Yup, a 3% decrease.

        When faced with a violent situation, Police only used their taser 24% of the time, and of that 24%, 80% of those times it wasn't actually used. Just the threat is enough.

        The Police fired a gun seven times out of that 3.6 million interactions.

        https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1911/S00109/police-tactical-options-research-report-for-2018-released.htm

        And as a result the New Zealand public overwhelmingly trust our Police.

        • weka 2.1.1.1

          not sure what your point is there Ad. Are you saying that those figures somehow demonstrated that arming the police won't increase shootings?

          "And as a result the New Zealand public overwhelmingly trust our Police."

          Again, that's a certain section of society. There are other sectors that don't have a good experience of the police and don't trust them.

          Where's the sweeping assumption about you? If you belong to a group more likely to be targeted by police or more likely to be shot, then why not just say so?

          • Ad 2.1.1.1.1

            You started your article as you said with no engagement with the detail about the Police arming debate. Alarmists such as yourself should seek out facts on how weapons are used by Police, and why, and how they are reviewed.

            Presumably you are aware that there will be a full review of the use of the mobile armed units in 6 months' time.

            The "certain section of society" is from the "Police citizens satisfaction survey", which has been going for a while and you can track it over years. Of course, if you are a crim you aren't gong to ever be satisfied with the Police. It's to be expected.

            With so few people shot by Police every year either as a raw numeral or as a percentage of interactions with the Police, few can draw inferences about whether they are likely to face a Police officer with a gun. So nor should you.

            The people who might run into a Police officer having to restrain them with a gun are the criminals who carry them and use them against lawful citizens. Which is why you get this kind of horse-shit from the "Mongrel Mob Kingdom" at Select Committee.

            https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12289324

            most crime has been trending down in New Zealand for a while – except violent crime and drug crime and violent crime caused by drugs. It's gangs who cause both of that in New Zealand. We won't ever wipe them out, but we should rip their weapons off them.

    • McFlock 2.2

      Well, here's the sort of policing I think everyone wants to avoid: police officers in a shoot-out in traffic, the hostage and a bystander are killed, while police used occupied vehicles of citizens as shields.

      You routinely give someone a tool, then the use of that tool becomes routine.

      • weka 2.2.1

        this is some next level shit. Even allowing for not being able to see everything or know all the factors, there's some serious fucked up there.

        NZ should be fiercely protecting having an unarmed police, not letting it slide towards crazy.

        • weka 2.2.1.1

          Apparently UPS vans are all trackable so it's not like they even needed to be chasing it.

      • Ad 2.2.2

        One person killed out of 3.6 million interactions with the Police and the public, and one out of 4,398 incidents in which a Police officer had to reach for any kind of tactical weapon.

        You can work out the percentages and the likelihood for yourself, but for 2018 it goes 1/3,600,000 and 1/4,398.

        Can anyone guess how many times gang members pull weapons on the New Zealand public last year? The citizens of Kaitaia, Wakatane, New Plymouth and Whanganui will be able to tell yo. We are well overdue giving Police the faster ability to bring a stick to a gunfight.

        Every single gun should be ripped out of every single gang members' hands. By force from the Police if necessary. That's how to make New Zealand safer from guns.

        • weka 2.2.2.1

          upping the ante.

          Or, we could address the social issues underlying gang violence.

          "One person killed out of 3.6 million interactions with the Police and the public, and one out of 4,398 incidents in which a Police officer had to reach for any kind of tactical weapon."

          That's a really weird use of stats.

          • Ad 2.2.2.1.1

            Weka, focus, and stop confusing the issues. Your article is about weapons being see by Police and how that's apparently a bad thing.

            The statistics are indicating the proportional use of tactical options by the Police. They are not the gun nuts you think they are.

            The Police are not going to eradicate gangs. They will seek to decrease their harm.

            Eradicating gangs is a great idea, and those who want to should give it a go. In the meantime, we deserve to be protected from them by the Police.

            • weka 2.2.2.1.1.1

              "Your article is about weapons being see by Police and how that's apparently a bad thing."

              No, it's not.

              I don't think eradicating gangs should be the goal and protecting the public from them doesn't require that. I don't think police are gun nuts. I think it is you who has misunderstood what I wrote and what I believe.

              • Ad

                You used one speculative opinion from an academic who provided no facts, just lazy mouthing-off masquerading as anxiety.

                Then you used a link to your own opinion about a US gun instance.

                Then something about a massacre in Montreal.

                You will be better understood if you use facts about New Zealand

                Then link it to actual policy, about New Zealand

                That's where you will generate understanding.

                • adam

                  Sheesh Ad – you'd be glad you're an author, with that level of mansplaining going on.

                  Saying you want to violently deal with the people you threw out of society – is a bit much. You reminded me of all the other technocrates I know, basically shit scared 24/7.

                  I'd recommend reading Bertrand Russell's "The Conquest of Happiness" I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes.

                  "A little work directed to a good end is better than a great deal of work directed to a bad end, though the apostles of the strenuous life seem to think otherwise."

        • McFlock 2.2.2.2

          Firstly, my link was where we don't want the police to end up. If you think police being so fixated on having a gunfight that they use civilians as human shields is acceptable, I'm not sure there's any point of common reference upon which to build a discussion.

          Secondly, the position that only a few police contacts out of millions result in an death sort of misses the point: only a few is still a few too many. Because some of those deaths, even in NZ, are innocent people, and some of those deaths could have been prevented by better, and more patient, police.

          One of the things I liked about the AOS of old was that they waited people out: their focus was on everyone's safety, including the offender (most of whom are just having a really bad day, rather than being movie-style sociopaths).

  3. Henry Filth 3

    Out of idle curiosity, what effect will permanently-armed price have on the prevalence of crime.

    Will there be fewer burglaries, for example?

    Or fewer armed criminals?

    Presumably theres some analytical work been done on the benefits of armed police.

    Hasn't there?

  4. barry 4

    There is no doubt that in jurisdictions where police are routinely armed there are more shootings by police and more shootings of police.

    There are a number of reasons, and you can always argue that causality goes the other way. But it seem to be true that police behaviour is influenced by their being armed. They approach situations differently. Where an unarmed cop may call for back up and a negotiator, a cop carrying a weapon is more likely to confront an offender.

    It is also true that the presence of a weapon (whether held by police or an offender) makes the situation escalate a lot more rapidly. Everybody is a lot more tense.

    A cop carrying a gun has fewer options than an unarmed cop. If the cop points his/her gun and says "freeze" or whatever NZ cops are taught to say and the offender doesn't comply and advances on the cop then there is no option but to shoot. They cannot run away, or attempt other means to defuse the situation.

    There is also doubt about the training of the average cop. The AOS has special training not only in handling weapons, but also in negotiation and when to back off. Most cops are not expecting to get into the situation and are likely to panic.

    I don't understand why police would want to be armed. Most of them are devastated when they do have to shoot someone and carrying a gun makes it much more likely.

    • miravox 4.1

      “There is no doubt that in jurisdictions where police are routinely armed there are more shootings by police and more shootings of police”

      It seems obvious, but it’s not necessarily true in western democracies. EU countries like France, Netherlands and Austria etc. are routinely armed don't have higher rates of killings by police officers than NZ. Nor does routinely-armed Australia: NZ 2017 rate was 4.2/million; Australia's was 1.7.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_by_country

      It seems like it's the culture and (as you mention) probably the training is crucial in making sure armed police use tactics to defuse a situation before reaching for a gun.
      https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2017/11/under-fire/

      My feeling is that NZ police have an aggressive policing culture and would more readily use their weapons so I’m not keen either on having armed police units regularly patrolling in NZ.

  5. alwyn 5

    I find it difficult to see the connection between the demonstration by gun owners and the rather terrifying prospect of having Police routinely carrying, and using, firearms.

    From what I can see in the news the protest at the school was peaceful, on the other side of the road from the school and there were no weapons present. They went there because it was a place where the PM would be present and in a public place. It appeared to be simply a protest and no violence was threatened to anyone and no-one was inconvenienced.

    It certainly appeared to be a quite different affair to the quite violent attacks on politicians, including James Shaw, John Key, Pita Sharples, Don Brash and Stephen Joyce in recent years or the attacks on various electorate offices of MPs from a number of parties that have occurred. These included shots fired at Hone Harawira's office and firebombing of the offices of John Key, Nick Smith and Anne Tolley.

    I would be very loath to see simple demonstrations like the one of the gun-owners treated as anything other than a simple demonstration that should be every New Zealander's right. It might embarrass the Prime Minister and the Minister of Police but so what?

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12212635

    • weka 5.1

      the connection is the cultural shift going on. I don't think it's a coincidence that NZ is looking at arming its police at the same time we are having gun lobbyists outside a primary school. If you want some cause and effect link, I guess the Chch shootings have led to the govt being more amenable to armed police as well as the gun lobby being pissed off about the new gun laws.

      I don't give a fuck about the gun lobby embarrassing the PM. I care that they think it appropriate to stage that protest outside a school. Would love to know how the discussion around that decision happened. There were plenty of other places they could have protested instead.

      This isn't about the gun lobby being violent, it's about how the gun lobby participates in the cultural shifts happening and what responsibilities they have. However if you want to run a line that gun owners are all law abiding citizens and therefore aren't a problem you might want to consider where the Chch shooter was getting his target practice.

      • alwyn 5.1.1

        Apparently it was at a private gun club.

        https://www.news.com.au/world/inside-new-zealand-mosque-gunmans-secret-haven/news-story/5d1db62e291dee456e06d10a31faead

        At least one person who had seen him there made a complaint to the Dunedin Police before the Mosque attack and the Police said they were not concerned.

        However I certainly do not think that his actions can really be considered to be typical of the vast majority of recreational shooters in New Zealand.

        You are being quite unreasonable in suggesting that I am claiming that gun owners are all law abiding. There really are black swans you know. However there is an approach that says that all gun owners are rogues because some are. It is equally erroneous although it seems to be a belief that a few people hold.

        I was strongly in favour of getting rid of military style automatics but the Government and the Police don't seem to be stopping there.

        • weka 5.1.1.1

          you're missing the point. I'm not talking legality. I'm talking culture. Obviously there was at least one gun club who tolerated gun violence culture. I don't think this will be so in every gun club in NZ but I'd be surprised if it was the only one.

          Bear in mind that many gun owners in NZ are buying their guns from a seller with a dodgy past and a disdain for attempts to create safety in NZ and a disregard for the trauma of what happened in Chch.

          Gun lobby people are operating in this context. The political choices they make eg protesting outside of a school, are on them and they can be rightly criticised for that.

          I'm not singling out gun owners here. I'm pointing to gun owners, the police, the right and the left. We all have responsibilities in what happens next.

      • Ad 5.1.2

        The gun lobby is losing.

        You must have noticed the operational and legislative changes already underway.

        • weka 5.1.2.1

          they're losing that legislative battle. I'm concerned about what they do next and how they choose to be part of societal change.

          • Ad 5.1.2.1.1

            They are losing both a legislative battle and an operational one: the buyback is massive, and the handover of weapons will continue for a long time. It's very much the same as after the Port Arthur massacre in terms of policy and public response.

            Check out the massacres before Port Arthur. It's bracing.

            Check out the number of gun massacres in the 23 years after that very similar regulatory response. Most people shot at one time after that: 7. All in one family.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_Australia

  6. wayne 6

    Weka,

    Can you seriously suggest that Simon Bridges et al (being in your view formenting Trumpian politics) are "creating the conditions for escalating violence against Maori, Muslims, women…"?

    In general terms crime is actually decreasing in New Zealand and has been for many years.

    I think this sort of article is not helpful in a serious discussion about crime in New Zealand. Crime in New Zealand is not due to Trumpian politics, the causes are much deeper. And lie in social dislocation, which over the last 50 years has led to an inexorable rise in gang crime. But nevertheless crimes rates have actually dropped over the last 20 year. Possibly now crimes are more concentrated into certain types of crime.

    • Incognito 6.1

      Trumpian politics also lies in social dislocation IMO and is on the increase.

    • weka 6.2

      I'm not talking about crime here Wayne, I'm talking about the shift in society around guns and gun violence in the context of modern polarisation of society. Data sets appeal to some, but I'm thinking that while I as a Pākehā living in rural NZ didn't see the Mosque shootings coming, Muslims did. They were talking about the increasing problems with Islamophobia in NZ for a long time and weren't being listened to. We know that the government services tasked with preventing such crimes weren't paying attention either. From the left the view is angry and grim given all the years the state spent spying on activists because of concern for economics.

      I'm glad we are in agreement about social dislocation but I assume we don't agree on the causes. I'd place neoliberalism squarely at the centre of that. The confluence of neoliberalism with rising fascism is what scares me now and that's what I'm naming when I talk about trumpian politics and culture.

      As for the right's responsibility in this, I'm still somewhat surprised at old school conservatives not being willing to push back against the excesses of neoliberal culture. Even worse, that there is either active or passive endorsement of Trumpian politics. Tell me this, are you watching what is happening with the alt-right in NZ? How about the alt-left? Do you understand the connections between MRA culture and those? Then with white supremacy? What do you think about the radicalisations happening?

      How about the evolution of the dirty politics crew to take advantage of the NZers who are feeling emboldened by the rise of Trump?

      Maybe this all sounds far fetched to you but I would ask you to consider that might be because of your relative position in society. I guess you could then look at the parachuting of Luxon into the National Party and whether having a fundamentalist on the rise is an intentional power play or happy coincidence.

      You're objection to the post seems predicated on the idea that there is no trumpian play by the right. I'm sure we can argue over that over time, because I'll keep naming it as I see it happening.

      • Wayne 6.2.1

        Weka,

        Modern style gangs have been in existence for over 50 years. Neoliberalism (as the left would have it) can hardly be the principal cause. You will be aware of Muldoon working with the gangs in the 1970's. The gangs had thousands of members by then and were involved in very serious crime. I know because I did some legal aid cases (along with about 20 lawyers) for gang members charged with offences arising from a huge riot in Panmure around 1980.

        I presume the Left pins the New Zealand origins of neoliberalism to the reforms of 1984 onward, now 35 years ago. In fact Muldoon tried to stop neoliberalism prior to that. In my view he was wrong to do so, but that is really another argument.

        By the early 1980's there were many thousands of gang members, I imagine a similar proportion of the population as now.

        The causes of gangs is much more tied to the social upheavals of the 1960's, including the extremely rapid urbanisation of Maori. That process hugely damaged traditional iwi structures. While there were still lots on manual jobs in the 1960's through to the 1980's, there was also a deep social dislocation that occurred at that time.

        I spent 4 months in the early 1970's working at the Carters sawmill in Maramarua. There were quite a few gang members (mostly on the fringes of the gangs) employed at the site. The social disruption that is talked about so much these days had well and truly emerged 45 years ago.

        • weka 6.2.1.1

          When I talked about neoliberalism and social dislocation I wasn't referring to gangs so much as the impact on society generally of things like increasing the gap between the well off and the poor (in the context of the time frame you mentioned of the last 40 years). But sure, gangs predate that and have their origins in colonisation, and Māori say the solution is in addressing that. I believe them. I think that arming police does nothing to resolve that and in fact makes the problem worse.

          The point about Trumpian politics in NZ isn't that it suddenly created problems that lead to crime. It's a relatively recent phenomena that is taking advantage of the social dislocations you and I are referring to and doubling down on it. Trump is a gift to the authoritarian right because it hands them a tool that creates a kind of loop of disenfranchisement and agitation that supports the empowerment of that kind of politics. It's not traditional right and as I said, I find it odd that old school conservatives either don't see what is happening or endorse it. The right will look back on the past decade in the same way that the left looks back on the 80s.

  7. greywarshark 7

    Edit
    There is a creep in the carrying of guns by police. They have been given tazers to use as well. There is an aim to prevent crime rather than just respond to reports of it and requests for help.

    It seems that there is a more pervasive police presence and desire by the state to punish as the way to treat people with anti-social behaviour; not enough rehabilitation and much recidivism through not providing enough reinstatement work post-prison.

    Police are driven I think to achieve to targets and it would be better if the state actually lessened this approach. It would be better if improvements were looked for through appropriate welfare assistance, having meaningful jobs on projects such as Task Force Green to keep people working with adequate pay. Restore educative support and training. Closing the boozers earlier and alcohol bans then at dairies and supermarkets would help too. The drug and gun culture that has grown is in parallel with the lack of reliable work and pay to keep the young men occupied in useful work that pays, instead they take up crime as their job. Break the cycle and there won’t be need for needing guns so often.

  8. McFlock 8

    I’m no longer convinced that we will inevitably win.

    One thing that cheered me up a little bit when the fascists seemed to be really winning in 2016/17 was the thing that there is no "win" state. All we can do is swing the pendulum a little bit. But even if we brought about an absolutely blissful society (communist, democratic socialist, social democratic, whatever), it is still a purely transitory state before the wheel of history rolls on. It's not like a ref blows a whistle, calls time, and the nazis/capitalists have won.

    But things have improved on thirty years ago. Yes, there's a big swing back (especially in the US), but the left are mobilising, too.

    • weka 8.1

      this does seem to be what happens in Western democracies at least. I suppose within that I had seen the development of progressive social values as something that would be more enduring eg we've seen conservatives in NZ become more socially liberal. Not that I think that's a guarantee, it's obvious that gains made by women for instance are not that stable. But I had been assuming that while we might swing back and forth between economic political positions, the gains made in progressive values would be be, well, progressive within that.

      That back and forth thing is another reason why I believe that building relationships across difference is so important. I'm also tending to think that identity politics has reached a zenith and that if we don't focus on relationship building we risk losing it all. This is an issue of strategy more than values.

      How do you see the left mobilising?

      • McFlock 8.1.1

        antifa more active.

        The 2018 wave.

        Even #metoo.

        The Democrat candidates' dialogue being largely Bernie 2015/16.

        The UK is more sharply divided, with the left having less middle ground positions.

        Serious proposals like cgt/ftt/robinhoodtax entering the discussion. Maybe not implemented yet, but they're getting to the table.

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    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    7 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    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
  • Funding hole for tax cuts growing by the day
    The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Luxon’s brave climate change promise
    The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles  and that ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    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
    23 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
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  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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