English still whining

Written By: - Date published: 12:51 pm, December 6th, 2017 - 58 comments
Categories: bill english, election 2017 - Tags: ,

Surprise surprise – Bill English is still whining that that 44.4% should really be counted as 50.1% –

Comments on that tweet are blunt – “He’s gutted he can’t round his way up to a majority. What a tosspot”. “Breaking: Opposition Leader Does Not Understand How MMP Works”. And the Nats are trying to rewrite history –

Ha hah. They also have a bridge they’d like to sell you.

These gems are from the post election conference at Parliament today, here’s more tweets from Newshub covering the event –

58 comments on “English still whining ”

  1. Bill English has presented his election review, saying “nearly 1/2 of NZers didn’t vote for what they got, and don’t like how they got there”.

    Yes, I’m quiet aware that many National and ACT voters don’t like democracy.

    Peter Dunne has issued a challenge to the new Parliament: “Seize the moment, change the constitution, and make the next head of state the president of the republic of NZ”

    Didn’t realise that Dunne wanted us to become a republic.

    Tend to agree with him as well. Still, it’s something that needs to be put to referendum and not just implemented from the top.

    Te Ururoa Flavell says he is still shattered from the election. And shattered with the results. “Despite all the gains we got for our people, we got owned”

    That probably has something to do with you working with National to make the majority of people worse off.

    • tc 1.1

      I thought Flavell was just stating facts;

      “Despite all the gains….” for elite iwi , “……we got owned” by national since 2008.

    • tracey 1.2

      I wonder who he has in mind for the first President 😉

      He seems to have lots of ideas now he is no longer in govt with power to do them.

      • Matthew Whitehead 1.2.1

        He built his whole career on never getting out on front of the issues. Of course he suddenly shows some residual courage as soon as he’s out of office.

    • Matthew Whitehead 1.3

      The Republic thing needs more than a referendum. It needs active participation and agreement from New Zealanders, and thorough debate on how. Nobody wants to turn it into the John Key Flag Options.

    • Ed 1.4

      When your party represents the interests of the 1%, of course you don’t like democracy.

  2. Tricledrown 2

    Crying in Beersies sindrone.
    Droning Drongo from Dipton.
    Who is going to replace this 2 time looser.
    He didn’t get MMP the first time he was leader and still doesn’t get it.
    Voting blocks .
    His comment after the election saying Winston is a Maverick was a dumb idea he could have been PM.
    He could have hung the leakers out to dry and been PM.
    But that would have been a hollow vicTory.
    Can we believe Joyce.
    Bennett Eagleston etc.
    Eagleston was the fall guy.
    Not enough to appease Winston.
    I suspect Paula Bennett was the leaker given her form.
    Younger with leadership asperations waiting for another election cycle with Bill English in charge was to much.

  3. Tricledrown 3

    Double Dipping
    Double dipped out.

  4. tracey 4

    Was English in the Bolger government which ruled with 35% of the vote?

  5. Lost whatever small respect I had for English when he ducked and weaved, lied re Todd Barclay case. No leadership skills what so ever. A wooden ventriloquist doll with no personal confidence unless told how to react. How this guy retains any amount of respect is beyond me – just a privileged person who somehow hung on due to blue seat in Southland – willing to support the great big lie. He’ll be gone soon absolutely no doubt. A journey man way beyond his capabilities with a nasty streak. Quite pathetic really.

    • How this guy retains any amount of respect

      He’s rich and, for many, that’s all that matters.

    • Loop 5.2

      blinglish is little different to key or any other national politician as far as honesty or integrity goes. I can’t remember a Labour government showing such churlish, poor form in or out of government. The opposition just sickens me. Long may they be in opposition!

  6. D'Esterre 6

    “Bill English is still whining…”

    Who’s that again?

  7. Sparky 7

    Neither of the big parties seem to understand how MMP works. The Nats seem to have a problem with the basic math and Lay-bore seems to think having an alliance means having a mandate to push deals like the CP-TPP even though its partners voters said a clear “no” to it and they need that support to stay in office.

    • The Nats seem to have a problem with the basic math

      The Nats know how it works and they don’t have a problem with basic maths. What they have problem with is that they didn’t win, This seems to be because they believe themselves to be winners and thus deserve to win and so everyone should simply vote for them because everyone is supposed to support winners, i.e, them.

  8. Tanz 8

    English is one hundred per cent right, and actually, this is not how MMP was sold to us.
    MMP was supposed to give small parties a voice, but not to actually let one of them choose the government. So NZ First voters, all seven percent, get their views represented, whilst National voters, who outpolled both Labour and the Greens, do not. Stuff MMP it is a farce.
    Labour would be just as unhappy if the shoe had been on the other foot and they as the highest polling party had been sidelined. But then when does Labour ever play fair.? At the end of the day though, numbers don’t lie.

    National won the popular vote over Labour and nothing can change that. Next election Winston Peters will not be there to save Labour. Roll on 2020, this election was just a waste of time con, and a slap in the face to a transparent, fair democracy. Not to mention a slap in the face to the majority voters, who voted National. That was not a vote for change, it was a vote for the status quo, or Labour would have outpolled the Nats. They did not. Half of NZ First voters wanted National also, hence NZ First is already well below seven percent and very near below the threshold, already. Yay. Sir Richard Prebble is right, MMP is a flawed farce. This will be the election that finally, finally gets MMP reformed, or even better, replaced, (eventually).

    • Ed 8.1

      You are a sore loser, Tanz.

      • In Vino 8.1.1

        Tanz – face it. National’s so-called popular vote was not that at all. It was well below 50%. Nobody else wanted to go with National, so that is where they stayed. Fair and square.
        The current coalition Govt is the majority, not the lonely under-50% National whingers. Eat it, digest it, then shut up.
        Want another immediate election, Tanz? Seen the latest polls? Do you think Billshit English would have half a chance of winning with Jacinda giving him daily lessons in how to speak, reason, and convince? NZ first could well become irrelevant, but not in a way you would like.

        • Tanz 8.1.1.1

          National’s internal polling is very robust, they are on track to outpoll Labour once again next time. NZ First will be gone, and possibly the Greens. So it will be no mates Labour.

          I knew Ardern wasn’t up to the job, there is no substance at all, she is all about slogans and soundbites. Clark runs circles around her as a PM, and so does Emglish. Anyway, the people endorsed English over Ardern, and they will again.
          This willl be a one term government, already its looking shaky.

          • Ed 8.1.1.1.1

            This is really quite sad, tanz.
            You lost.
            Being a bad loser is not a good look.
            Have a little more self-respect.

          • McFlock 8.1.1.1.2

            They might “outpoll” Labour.

            But that is irrelevant.

            The fact is, most voters rejected National and anyone likely to go into coalition with them.

          • tracey 8.1.1.1.3

            Yeah you never used terms like Helengrad or Alan Clark, you admired and respected Clark when she was PM.

            Your comment about slogans and hollow betrays you. For 9 years you extolled it from Key’s mouth.

      • Tanz 8.1.2

        So Ed, if it had happed the other way around, and even though say Labour outpolled National but were sidelined by a small seven per cent party, you’d be ok with that and just put it down to MMP? Somehow, I doubt it, and the biased MSM would be screaming from the rooftops also. we’d be hearing how its against our convention and against natural justice, from the editorials to the front pages etc, and especially from the very left biased tv and radio commentators. But since they have an outcome that suits them and their agendas, they are silent as stone. Democracy is not owned by the voters in NZ, it is owned by the media and Winston Peters. Not a sore loser, i just like fairness. If Labour had won the election, I wouldn’t care.The whole thing is a farce, read letters to the editor etc, there is much dissent out there re a coalition of losers govt.

        • Ed 8.1.2.1

          Thought this brief video might help you understand our system of government.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamSJ_yguqc

        • Pete 8.1.2.2

          Tanz, In your opinion that wasn’t how MMP was sold to us. Lots of things in politics end up to not be how they were sold to us. Like elections and the part GST has played in them.

        • Tricledrown 8.1.2.3

          So Tanz National relied on Winston in 1996 then double crossed Winston, again in 2007 National targeted Winston before the election.
          Key said he wouldn’t go into Coalition with Peters 2 elections in a row then changed his mind and still didn’t go with Winston.
          So National ran out of partners not thinking the Maori Party would collapse and Labour shut Dunne out.
          Stephen Joyce​ is who you should be nlaming Tanz he lost the Northland byelelection and didn’t have a plan B infact he destroyed plan B maybe thinking Labour didn’t stand a chance.
          Lame blame gaming Tanz
          Stop crying in your Beersies Tanz.
          Maybe it’s Nationals plan to loose this election and continue to attack Winston.

        • McFlock 8.1.2.4

          As I recall, I was pretty pissed at Winston in 1996. But I was pissed at Winston. I never tried to pretend the process was illegitimate or abused, or that anyone had a right to be preferred coalition partner.

          I was pissed because he gave the impression he’d do one thing, and did the opposite.

          That’s different to complaining that you won your leg of the relay, so you should get the trophy even though two or three of your mates didn’t finish their legs of the race, but the team with three or four people cooperating together all completed their bit of the job.

          Or maybe it’s a bit like the US guy at the Vietnam peace talks who stated that the yanks won every battle they fought against the Vietnamese. The response he got was “That may be true, but it is also irrelevant”.

          So slow clap to national for being the highest polling party. Full credit to the coalition for realising that democracy now requires people to cooperate.

          • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2.4.1

            As I recall, I was pretty pissed at Winston in 1996. But I was pissed at Winston.

            Most of the country were pissed at Winston in 1996 after he went with National.

            But nobody complained about the electoral system.

        • tracey 8.1.2.5

          Go back and do some research. There have been times when what you suggest happened. Do your research and tell us how outraged the media were on Labour’s behalf. But you wont. Evidence will undermine your supposition.

          NZF did not determine this Government. Labour and National did.

          Now, stop treating it like a game and give Democracy the respect you bemoaned is lacking.

        • Loop 8.1.2.6

          I feel betrayed by the voters of new zealand for the previous 3 terms under national. As you correctly state Tanz, the media are part of deciding the government and in this superficial world we live in “pretty” wins. john key was “pretty”, charismatic unethical, immoral, law breaker(as are a lot of the politicians in national) and deceitful, but all that counted to the voters was that oohh, ahhh loverly smile. AAAnd, I think you’ll find MSM still has a bias towards blinglish. every descision labour looks at making, MSM look to blinglish for a comment or opinion, like it really counts. not.

    • greg 8.2

      well tuff tanz

    • Incognito 8.3

      What you’re trying to say, I think, is that MMP was supposed to give small parties a voice, but not to actually let one of them choose the government because that would be the ‘prerogative’ of the highest polling party (AKA winner of popular vote or the party with a plurality). In other words, you want FPP.

      Contrary to popular belief elections and MMP are not about the parties but about the voters, the people who elect their representatives in a democracy. Under MMP the common situation is that a minority of votes will be represented by the Opposition. It doesn’t matter whether the Opposition is comprised of one big, a few medium, many minor parties or some mixture thereof.

      So many people are so party-centric that it almost becomes a fixation; too much tribalism and partisan politics are the result.

    • English is one hundred per cent right,

      No, he’s lying.

      and actually, this is not how MMP was sold to us.

      Actually, this is exactly how it was sold to us and what I voted for.

      MMP was supposed to give small parties a voice, but not to actually let one of them choose the government.

      No, that would be you Making Shit Up because reality isn’t conforming to your delusional biases.

      So NZ First voters, all seven percent, get their views represented, whilst National voters, who outpolled both Labour and the Greens, do not.

      Their views are represented in parliament. And I certainly don’t recall you complaining that Labour’s, NZ1st’s and the Greens’ views weren’t represented in the last government.

      Stuff MMP it is a farce.

      Why? Because it didn’t deliver what you wanted?

      That’s democracy – even our highly restricted system of it.

      National won the popular vote

      No they didn’t. That would be you Making Shit Up again. Labour, Greens and NZ1st have the popular vote.

      this election was just a waste of time con, and a slap in the face to a transparent, fair democracy.

      No, this election was a reasonably fair election – despite National rorting the system.

      Not to mention a slap in the face to the majority voters, who voted National.

      THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS DID NOT VOTE NATIONAL.

      And no matter how many times you tell yourself that lie it won’t change the fact that National LOST.

      Half of NZ First voters wanted National also

      And that would be another lie.

      All indications that I’ve seen over the last few years is that a majority of NZ1st voters preferred Labour.

      Sir Richard Prebble is right, MMP is a flawed farce.

      Richard Prebble, like John Key, is lying scum. Just like you in fact.

    • tracey 8.5

      When Bolger won with 35% no one on the Right squealed. You actually have outlined beautifully your misu derstanding MMP. To make your argument you needed false assumptions such as

      Winston decided

      Er no, Labour and National decided.

    • tracey 8.6

      One party getting more votes than another is not the point and even under FPP was not the point.

      Who gets 61 seats is the point.

      It really is that simple.

      Labour has a longer history than National of getting higher vote count but not getting Treasury benches so your argument

      What if labour had 44.6% is addressed by history

    • Lucy 8.7

      Hilary won the popular vote in the US and she didn’t win, Labour in the UK won the popular vote and they didn’t win. Under democracy in its many forms most have a way of ensuring that the most popular do not win the most seats. Its only a problem when born to rule parties lose the stack!

      • solkta 8.7.1

        I think the US electoral system has a problem. They do not have one person one vote but rather votes allocated to states regardless of population. The individual does not actually have a constitutional right to vote for the president.

    • Loop 8.8

      That whining sounds very bill english. are you an alter ego?

    • Paul Campbell 8.9

      Tanz: It’s like rugby, MMP elections in NZ are a game of two halves, if you win the first half but come to the end of the second half with fewer points than the other team, you have lost the game.

      Complaining that because you won the first half the whole game should have been awarded to you is just plain sour grapes, but saying that the rules of the game require it is telling porkies too

    • NZJester 8.10

      The Majority of voters get their views represented. The majority of New Zealand voters voted against National. The small parties National used to hang on to power in the last couple of elections where just National puppets with no real say, just being used as a way for National to introduce its less popular policies while claiming the policies belonged to someone else. The Maori party who helped prop them up paid the price for helping betray most of the people who voted for them.

    • Thinkerrr 8.11

      Better buy a pair of brown trousers before 2020, Tanz…

    • AB 8.12

      MMP is behaving entirely as expected and desired – it’s delivering GOVERNMENTS that have the support of over 50% of those who voted. (Disregarding the wasted vote for parties that didn’t get into parliament).
      Its purpose was to end the anti-democratic FPP absurdity of parties becoming governments with huge majorities and near-dictatorial powers on much less than 50% of the vote.
      Undoubtedly we will see another attack on MMP from the right.

  9. NewsFlash 9

    Tanz

    ” Not to mention a slap in the face to the majority voters, who voted National.”

    You obviously are suffering from the same National party funded education that dildo Joyce had cos neither of you don’t appear to be particularly good at MATHS, for your benefit, 44.6% is not a majority and the 55.4% who did vote for change just happens to be a majority.

    Democracy, dictionary definition, for your benefit.

    “a government by the people; especially: rule of the majority”

    The only statement you have provided that is correct is this one

    ” English is one hundred per cent right”

    Yeah, right winged, 100%

  10. greg 10

    they still cant cope with the fall from power the born to rule nacts just cant understand why 55.4 percent of us booted them out of office. they be-leaved the cooLade key feed them on the rock star economy well to bad

  11. Ed 11

    This thread could be titled Tanz and Bill English still whining…….

  12. Bearded Git 12

    Its 44.4% not 44.6%

  13. cleangreen 13

    National have been already ‘brainwashed’ and are now “talking heads” only parroting what the they have been programed to say.

    We are fighting a new kind of political system more akin to andoids taking over the world now sadly.

    We must learn to treat the ‘new Opposition Party’ only as a bunch of foriegn objects sent to disrupt civil order, and therefore must be dealt with orderly, as the old ‘National’ Government did to us freedom fighters for democracy.

  14. Cinny 14

    The pamphlet that nick smith sent out to nelson and tasman voters, claiming nats won the election, turns out it has a little survey thing to fill in and post off.

    If you’ve still got your pamphlet, then write on the survey the truth.. national lost the election.. then free post it away.

  15. Mickey Boyle 15

    While I dont agree with you on most of your comment Tanz, I do agree with you in your premise that this will be a one term government. Hopefully Jacinda and James can implement some comprehensive policy in this term, I dont have alot of faith in this however, but it is still early days.

  16. Thinkerrr 16

    Don’t knock Blinglish’s thinking too much. He’s helping the new government.

    If he had come out of the election with the opinion that he no longer had the numbers or friendly smaller parties to form a government, he would have goe through his shadow spokespeople’s roles with a fine tooth comb, weeding out the spent forces and bringing in some fresh, young talent, hungry for a chance at government in 2020. Life would be a bit harder for the new government.

    Instead, he feels robbed. He feels he actually won the election, but it was stolen from him.

    And for that reason, he believes his tired pack of old faces still have the charisma to pull poular opinion, so he hasn’t made many (any?) changes to the old lineup.

    At some point, the strategists will work that out, roll the Dipton Dynamo and the new person will sack the old guard and replace it with fresh horses. Until then, the government should make the best of the opportunity, rest a bit, build a cohesive team of the three parties in government, because this time won’t last forever.

    Also, use the time to get the news out that neoliberalism failed, not a) hasn’t been given enough time, or b) not been fully implemented. Failed. And, yes, there always was an alternative, we just weren’t allowed to speak about it or give it a name.

    Currently, National has two vulnerabilities. One is temporary, being the trotting out of the old guard that they believe is still popular. The other is permanent and that is that they have adoptec neoliberalism to the core of their being, and neolibralism has failed. Don’t waste the chance to deal to them on these factors.

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  • 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

  • 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
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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