Food security in New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 6:12 am, March 14th, 2018 - 28 comments
Categories: food, human rights, Maori Issues, poverty, welfare - Tags: , ,

Standardista Macro writes:

An excellent article on Tui Motu on food security in New Zealand.

CHRIS FARRELLY reflects on the hope of the City Mission to realise the Maori proverb: Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou, ka ora ai te iwi. With your food basket and my food basket, the people will be well.

For the three weeks leading up to Christmas, hundreds of people queued for food parcels every day outside the Auckland City Mission. Some slept on the footpath overnight, waiting up to nine hours in all weathers — in the glare of the public and the media — on one of Auckland’s busiest streets. They were days of shame, questioning, generosity, gratitude and pain. In those three weeks the Mission gave out 4,677 food parcels — 64,000 individual meals.

Each individual in the queue was part of a greater family unit. There were always children involved somewhere. Usually they were waiting at home with another family member, but sometimes — desperately — they stood in line with their mothers.

Food Insecurity

Next to the Salvation Army (nationwide), the Auckland City Mission is the second largest charitable distributor of food in New Zealand. Through our assessments and research last year, we learned that for families receiving our food assistance on average each family member had just $21.94 per week available for grocery items, including toiletries, cleaners and other items. That is $3.13 per day.

This is food insecurity and food poverty and it is widespread. The University of Otago 2016 Food Survey estimates basic weekly food costs are $64 per week for a man, $55 for a woman, $67 for an adolescent boy, $40 for a five-year-old and $27 for a one-year-old.

Food insecurity is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food on a day-to-day basis, and an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, for example, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, begging or stealing as other coping strategies.

The rest of the article examines the responsibilities of Central Government – which as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, recently noted – that governments are in danger of failing in their duty “to project” under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (IESCR), which states that all citizens should have access to an adequate diet without having to compromise other basic needs.

As the article points out – the problem of food insecurity is especially difficult for Māori and in complete contravention of the country’s obligations under Te Triti.

In our country Te Tiriti o Waitangi offers an added dimension of protection for Māori and protection of their treasures — of which food is one of the greatest. We cannot focus on food insecurity without addressing the terrible reality that those suffering most are Māori, and as such Te Tiriti is being violated. And the problem has deep-seated roots; in his book Whaiora Professor Sir Mason Durie has linked food insecurity for Māori to early colonial policies.

It was this very real canker that lies at the heart of our society that lead Metiria Turei to campaign on the real need to eliminate poverty in this country. We need to continue to press hard for social justice to roll down like a river, and in doing so –

As we address the unjust issue of food insecurity in Aotearoa New Zealand, we must ask what gifts are we bringing in our food basket and how can we enable others to contribute in a way that restores voice, dignity and mana.

I recommend reading the whole article here.

28 comments on “Food security in New Zealand ”

  1. savenz 1

    It doesn’t help that the price of a cauliflower is now $6 and that much of our productive food land is now going into housing that people on local wages can’t afford, or even have reliable public transport to and from.

    Retirement villages seem to be mostly rip off schemes run by shareholders for maximum profit to exploit the elderly, not actually designed for the average Kiwis to retire to.

    You also have to wonder what is the point of increasing the population into a low wage low job economy with average wages and productivity stagnant or falling, but still the government believes somehow all the restaurant ‘manger’ workers, low level IT workers, truck drivers and so forth in industries that are declining and require government wage subsidy will somehow grow wealth after 30 years!

    We are attracting less skilled people into NZ not more skilled!

    God knows where the carbon and green tech is going in ‘clean, green, NZ’, at this rate with our RMA laws helping people like James Hardie push out trucks daily driving about our cities mining our resources, or other corps taking aquifer water, or death trap mining and fracking for oil exploration, we will be known as the dirty island in the pacific.

    Likewise poverty being linked to the rise in P which is now cheaper and easier to get than ever!

    Land should be used more productively around the cities to make food that places like city mission can harvest from for example. Similar to allotments.

    These days you can be prosecuted for grown a fruit tree on the verge outside your house by Auckland transport (but still expected to mow it). That’s how punitive and bizarre our country has become under the quasi business COO structures which are a joke.

    • Macro 1.1

      Actually community gardens are springing up all over the place. There is one just 100 metres up the road from where I live. Transition Town Thames has taken to planting fruit trees on the berms around town as well and in the parks and reserves – especially in lower decile areas. These are early plantings so they still a couple of years to go before full fruit production – but they are a start.
      To see just how these community gardens are going take a look at these images Here:

      • weka 1.1.1

        Cool link.

        I’m heartened by the number of schools that have orchards or gardens too.

    • Venezia 1.2

      ” Retirement villages seem to be mostly rip off schemes run by shareholders for maximum profit to exploit the elderly, not actually designed for the average Kiwis to retire to.”

      Savenz….you have summed it up clearly and concisely. I have seen first hand the predatory systems of the Retirement Village industry here in CHC, after one company bought out half of the previously Trust-run, community focussed rest home my Mother had bought into. One of the conditions of the sale was the the new partner run the show, so staff were sacked forthwith, announcements were made that” things would be better” in the future and new staff were flown in from AKL to impose the new systems. I am still gobsmacked at the indecent haste and outrageous greed displayed as the new owners pressured the sick elderly daily to sign new contracts, committing them to huge yearly increases ($16.5000) inyearly fees, itemised charges for everyday services (eg morning & afternoon tea, $20 per item of laundry so one pair of socks $20) previously free as part of the old contract, and imposing different conditions than the original contracts. There was no compassion shown for the fact she was sick and her lawyer demonstrated clearly that the legal profession are up to their necks in this rip off. These businesses are milking the elderly for shareholder profits. It is actually a farming-the- elderly operation. There is no protection or advocacy for the elderly in such situations as everyone is on the make. I will stop here because I am still very angry at the way my sick mother was bullied. A few months later she died.

      • savenz 1.2.1

        @Venezia, That is terrible – socks $20 a wash. Disgusting.

        What I can’t work out is why is there no outcry about it from government, Grey power, lawyers, parties for the so called elderly like NZ First.

        It seems like big rip offs are ok in this country (the financial crisis, leaky homes) and the retirement village industry is one big rip off getting greedier and greedier and ripping off vulnerable people and families!

        It also means the next generation will be left with nothing as the elderlies savings are stolen from the mostly overseas share market driven rest home system and therefore with the lack of pay, lack of job and inability to get a house, the next generation will even be robbed of that ability for upward mobility by probably their only means left, of an inheritance. Peoples wealth and well being are being destroyed in this country as people are encouraged to be a ruthless as possible to turn a dollar.

        I know someone whose family members bought into a retirement village that was ‘building’ a whole bunch of facilities including a hospital so that if one got sick the other could visit on site. Years and many fees for the ‘facilities’ they still don’t have later, what they were promised upon signing up and looks like they may die before they get what they were promised.

        Try to get out of a village and the amount you lose is staggering. Another crazy rip off that again is never investigated, reported on, or done anything about in this country.

        • savenz 1.2.1.1

          Also a rip off of the taxpayers as once the person has got down to their last $200k (of course ‘financial planning’ can help aid this) the NZ taxpayers continue the rest home payments to the private companies.

          • Venezia 1.2.1.1.1

            The Residential village contracts work mainly in the interests of the owners. When you look at it, the elderly have very little in the way of advocacy. I called Age Concern, as well as her lawyer. Basically they both said the contracts allow the owners to change the rules as suits them.

  2. patricia bremner 2

    In so many ways we have lost our way. All the systems to assist people get back on their feet or gain skills have been removed underfunded or farmed out to profiting groups. It will need skills from this government to change things.

    Many imagine there are drunks and druggies sleeping in cars or the streets. In reality those who drink and use drugs are mainly working.

    The real poor literarily do not have “2 brass razoos” to use a saying., meaning no real coin. They often go from scavenging to begging to charities, and learn where the saying “cold as charity” arose.

    Above them are indentured migrants, then the under employed, and the next layer is the working but over extended with credit card debt and mortgages or huge rents, then some well paid but addicted, and then the hard working who are just coping in all aspects of life, not to forget those struggling on fixed incomes.

    The rest have every kind of security, and can’t imagine one episode making them hungry or homeless. They are insulated from other people’s pain and empty cupboards.

    Whole foods are very expensive, and we have GST on all food. Further, changing climate is causing havoc with growing foods, which doesn’t help.

    • Macro 2.1

      Thanks Patricia – yes we have lost our way. It is not that poverty was never a feature of life in NZ but over recent years governmental policies have largely exacerbated the problem. The Ruth Richardson mother of all budgets was the main blow, with the cynical slashing of benefits to the most vulnerable, and that action has never been redressed. It needs to be now.

  3. AsleepWhileWalking 3

    Re: climate

    California produces 80% of all almonds the world uses. It has suffered through extreme weather recently so almond prices will probably spike.

    To mitigate this I think there is now a real need to have an oranges in Nebraska type set up in as many backyards as possible.

    (Guy dug down to create an in ground greenhouse. It has a sloped clear cover to capture sun and pipes that carry air through the soil and to/from the plants, hence oranges in the snow).

    And to think I used to want a pool.

    • Macro 3.1

      I remember seeing a documentary film on bees a few years back. It featured a scene in California where a bee keeper was placing his hives as requested by the orchardist in a large grove of almond trees in full flower. No sooner had the bee hives been installed and the bees were at work – along came a tractor spraying the trees – and promptly killing a large majority of the bees. Apparently this thoughtless process occurs on a regular basis.
      In China they have been reduced to hand pollination of their Almonds.
      https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/humans-bees-china_us_570404b3e4b083f5c6092ba9

  4. beatie 4

    There’s also an extraordinary waste of food. eg Unsold supermarket fruit, vege, bread etc dumped or going to pig farms. Less than perfect produce being dumped, or ploughed under.
    On a visit to Motueka last year, I saw heaps of apples left to rot under the trees. It’s a pity gleaning is unacceptable now.

  5. Korero Pono 5

    The term ‘food insecurity’ doesn’t seem fitting in trying to explain the complexity of problems that lead to and stem from food insecurity. ‘Food insecurity’ viewed in a very dispassionate way does nothing to highlight the full impact on those who have no choice but to rely on charity to feed their families.

    A number of in depth studies show the serious physical and mental health consequences of food insecurity – including obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression, anxiety, aggression, cognitive problems (just to name a few). The term “food insecurity” does not explain the compounding negative impact that poor diet in childhood has on development, social, educational, long term ability and future employment opportunities. Or that those living with food insecurity are also more likely to experience poor mental health, or that youth living in food insecure homes are more likely to present with suicide ideation. These are only a minuscule portion of the impact that ‘food insecurity’ has on generally poor people and the term does nothing to explain the costs and impacts on society.

    Add to this mix the impact of having to procure food in socially unacceptable ways, such as food banks. Studies show that not only do those attending food banks experience significant shame (leading to isolation and disengagement), their health is also compromised over time because charitable food parcels do not provide a nutritionally balanced or complete diet. Consequently long term use of food banks is bad for physical and mental health. Anecdotally, I suspect that food banks can be sources of other more obvious serious health risks. I have met families who believe they have had food poisoning from eating food provided by food banks. In one case it was just lucky that a child with significant health issues did not eat the food that made the rest of the family extremely sick. That food parcel ended up costing the family in ambulance fees and could have caused a child’s death.

    As to the other food procurement methods, including community gardens, community kitchens etc etc – none of these are, or should be a replacement for families having sufficient resources to procure their own food. The downfall of community gardens for some is that often the produce is seasonal, therefore not a guaranteed source of food. Community kitchens are like wise only temporary solutions to a long-term problem. Namely poverty. Sadly the existence of food banks devolve Government of its responsibilities to vulnerable families, further entrenches food insecurity and ensures the continued life of food banks as is the case in Aotearoa New Zealand.

    For further reading see Graham Riches, Valerie Tarasuk, Jan Poppendiek (http://thepod.cfccanada.ca/sites/thepod.cfccanada.ca/files/Poppendieck,%20Janet.%20(1994)%20Dilemmas%20of%20Emergency%20Food%20-%20a%20guide%20for%20the%20perplexed.pdf), Dey & Humphries.

    • Macro 5.1

      I totally agree with all of the above K P.
      Thank you for speaking to the issue so plainly. This a conversation we as a country need to be having right now and looking earnestly at our central government because in many ways they are the people who hold the power to rectify the situation. A true living wage, solid benefits not a insufficient hand out. And new ways the encourage all to participate in a good caring community.
      The article by Chris Farrelly on which this post is based does cover much more than that to which I quote, and the issues you refer to are equally important.
      I have had it in mind to write some more on a recent Article in the Guardian which looks at a recently published longitudinal study on a cohort of 55,000 children in NZ. The outcomes are shameful. I have not seen anything published in the NZ media referring to this study, but it raises much of the issues you have raised here, and food insecurity is just part of the whole problem.

    • Tricledrown 5.2

      Lack of real competition in the retail food supply in NZ is damaging to growers of healthy foods price taking while retailer’s price gouge.

  6. savenz 6

    Diet and exercise is so important for social good but because not enough money seems to be being made from it, it seems that this approach is not favoured by health practitioners and people in social industries.

    Just supplying decent food, exercise and education is proven to ward off obesity and aggressive behaviour.

    Here is an article linking low omega 3 levels (or high omega 6 levels) with aggression and poor impulse control.

    It’s time NZ used our social resources thoughtfully and kindly (and it will save money too).

    Aggressive Prisoners Found Low in Omega-3s
    Low omega-3 blood levels were linked to aggression and poor impulse control

    https://www.vitalchoice.com/article/aggressive-prisoners-found-low-in-omega-3s

    ” If you need one more reason to start being more physically active, professors from the University of Toronto have compiled and analyzed over 26 years’ worth of scientific research which concludes that even moderate levels of physical activity—like walking for 20-30 minutes a day—can ward off depression in people of all ages.
    University of Toronto PhD candidate George Mammen co-authored a review (link is external) of 25 different research articles, which show that moderate exercise can prevent episodes of depression in the long term.”

    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201310/25-studies-confirm-exercise-prevents-depression

    • koreropono 6.1

      I imagine if the Government starts funding social service agencies to provide healthy food and exercise programmes, they (the agencies) will use the food banks to filter in enough clients to tick their KPI boxes. Sadly food banks are co-dependent on food bank clients…kind of like having a captive audience for your programmes if people keep coming back because they will get food (or turned away for food help if they don’t engage with services)…they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

      I also imagine that if people had enough money to pay for an adequate diet, the flow down effect will be people with more physical and mental energy to exercise. I’ve met families who will lug food bank parcels home (walking) over several kilometers…so maybe lack of exercise is just a small portion of the problem aye?

      • Macro 6.1.1

        Sadly food banks are co-dependent on food bank clients…kind of like having a captive audience for your programmes if people keep coming back because they will get food (or turned away for food help if they don’t engage with services)…they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

        Being involved in our local food bank, (which had roughly the same increase in demand as that in Auckland last year) I can assure you that we would gladly love to go out of business tomorrow so that we could address our energies to other needs within the community. Essentially the problem could be solved tomorrow if:
        a. Workers at all levels were paid a living wage – not a wage the employer feels like giving at the time.
        b. Government Benefits were lifted to a level where beneficiaries had sufficient to actually buy sufficient food to live on after meeting all their other basic needs.

        • koreropono 6.1.1.1

          I agree with a and b but having completed considerable research on food banks (with social services attached), their history and their reliance on government funded contracts I believe that I can safely say that food banks add to the problem and they act as a buffer by devolving government of responsibility for adequate welfare provision. I concur with such writers as Riches, Tarasuk, Dey and Humpheries, especially when I have no doubt that if food banks folded tomorrow a and b above would follow shortly thereafter when workers and beneficiaries demand change. Similarly to the riots that ensued in 1932…I live in hope of food banks closing their doors once and for all so that people have a chance at a decent standard of living and no longer have to be subjected to other people’s assessment of their need, nor the shame and stigma that goes hand in hand with food bank use.

          • Macro 6.1.1.1.1

            I believe that I can safely say that food banks add to the problem and they act as a buffer by devolving government of responsibility for adequate welfare provision.

            Totally agree. There should never be a need for them.
            I believe the rot goes back to 1991 and the cynical policy of Ruth Richardson to not provide adequate welfare provision. Nothing has been done since to address this, and governments have cast aside their responsibilities for their citizens, allowed employers to exploit their workers, and turn a blind eye to the injustices of increasing inequality. Yes food banks buffer the injustice from the responsibilities of government – but are we to let the poor – especially the children starve?

            • koreropono 6.1.1.1.1.1

              While 1991 and the benefit cuts were pivotal in the expansion of food banks and their use, food bank use began to increase from the reforms of the 1980’s so I guess Labour pathed the way for the Nats to strike the death blow. Auckland alone went from 16 food banks in 1989 to 130 by 1994.

              “are we to let the poor – especially the children starve?”

              Therein lies the problem, food bank providers justify their existence based on that very premise. Before I answer the question just consider the information below.

              Food banks and food bank providers know that food insecurity and poverty are systemic in nature, yet many of the food bank providers insist on individuals under-going programmes to change their circumstances. Programmes include budgeting, cooking classes, counselling etc etc. All of these programmes are aimed at individual change, not systemic change. All of these programmes imply that individuals are at fault for their food poverty and have the power to control/change their circumstances…if only they manged their money better, knew how to cook on a budget, knew how to shop. Programmes like budgeting and cooking classes are pointless (and research shows this) when the problem stems from lack of income, rather than lack of skills). However by insisting on people participating in these programmes to access food, the providers are essentially individualising what is a systemic problem. They are reinforcing the stereotype that these people are to blame for their circumstances. Clients internalise these beliefs, which in effect leads the stigma and shame about food bank use.

              So while food banks have been prevalent since the 1990’s, they have effected NO systemic change but most have continued to target individuals and the expectation of individual change to improve people’s circumstances. They are perpetuating the illusion that individuals are to blame for their own circumstance and hiding the systemic causes of the problem. In the process they are adding to the psychological distress that people experience when they have to go cap in hand to the food bank. That psychological distress is abhorrent, damaging and leads to disengagement from society.

              A quick fix would be either the food banks close their doors (so that poor hungry people get hangry and demand change – 1932 riots proved how effective that scenario can be or the food banks change the way they operate – stop assessing people, stop judging people and stop insisting people undergo programmes of individual change. Instead food banks could become sites of conscientização – raising individual and political awareness about the cause of the problem. Food banks could be sites of political change, though counsiousness raising, organising, supporting and encouraging bottom up initiatives for people to effect systemic change. Food banks could remove the criteria/conditions of food bank use, a place where anyone could walk in to get free food and operate in a similar manner to the likes of Just Zilch in Palmerston North – this would go some small way to removing the stigma and shame of food bank use.

      • savenz 6.1.2

        Im not suggesting that social service agencies (although koreropono raises some very interesting points!) are the problem, more corporations lobbying to have more fast food, more liquor licenses, more sugar drinks, more white bread, more battery farmed cheap food, cheap diesel, and pharmaceutical companies pushing anti depressants and weight loss pills (multiple studies have shown that a walk is of greater remedy for most people with depression than an anti depressant pill and also has the benefit of weight loss rather than side effects from pills!)

        If government wanted to improve kids diets and attention spans schools could have chickens laying eggs and actually cooking the food they grow for breakfasts and lunches (also learning valuable skills such as food production and cooking). They could have bee hives etc etc.

        At the moment many schools do have vege gardens but it is not at a quantity to feed the kids – more to show how to grow plants etc.

        I think it would be just as valuable to teach kids how to be self sufficient. But nope, instead the message is, get a corporate in for some free breakfasts for some kids and pat the corporate on the back.

        The self sufficiency skills, of growing food and cooking it, and better quality food needs are not. being met.

        Fast forward a few years and you find that food banks are asking for no beans or tinned tomatoes because the beneficiaries of the food parcels don’t know how to cook it!

        • savenz 6.1.2.1

          After hearing that food banks didn’t want chickpeas or tinned tomatoes I started giving baked beans so that all you do is open the can and heat.

          Sadly about 7 teaspoons of sugar in baked beans and the approach of more and more sugar increasing our rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity amongst other things!

          Government stop thinking about everything in little silos, people’s well being all fits together – education, food, exercise and health and all interconnected with social welfare, health, criminal justice, productivity etc.

          Social good is economic good!

        • koreropono 6.1.2.2

          Or even better still ensure the families of those children have the resources they need to feed their children breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week 🙂 That way the families have some dignity, choice and agency in their lives…which will no doubt improve the poor mental health among those families just as effectively as a walk would 🙂

          • savenz 6.1.2.2.1

            @koreropono, Yes but what happens to the kids if the parents are reluctant/can’t/suffer mental illness or what have you to cook the kids their healthy meals.

            That was what the food banks were saying, it was a waste of time certain healthy foods, because some of the people could not cook with the food.

            I’m totally agreeing with you the best scenario if that the parents feed their kids, but various conditions on the rise in NZ, P comes to mind for example and just plain tiredness after working a massive day, seem to mean that some families could be given bountiful food but still not have the dignity or agency or even skills to turn it into a regular 3 healthy meals per day.

            What about those kids, I say, let them be educated at primary school level and above, how to grow and cook food themselves so they can do it for them and their kids so break the cycle of helplessness.

            It’s not just a poverty issue. Many middle class and wealthy kids can’t grow or prepare food either and hence the rise of obesity and anxiety.

            Many capitalists don’t want people to be self sufficient and be off drugs and have good health. Their business profits rely on bad social health and they want to keep it that way!

            You also have to calculate the cost of power. An elderly person I know said they cut out the roast because they don’t want to pay power for a 1 hour cooking time.

            There are loads of things people are doing these days that seem to prevent them from cooking like in previous generations.

            Also I’m advocating both encouraging walking (or exercise) and good food , both are needed!

            • savenz 6.1.2.2.1.1

              Also the cost of setting up a garden to grow is not cheap, especially if you don’t know how to do it. (and how would you, it’s a dying skill as people get more urbanised).

              With the much touted new government money for investment – I’d like to see investment in every school having a gardener/cook who works with the kids and gives them a healthy meal everyday that they learn how to grow and prepare.

              Maybe then the money from the food banks could go into a proper job not a volunteer system or the volunteers help the schools.

              That’s jobs, jobs, jobs….

              That’s why I think it should be part of schools as well as a wider part of local communities.

            • koreropono 6.1.2.2.1.2

              Sadly the minority of parents who don’t do what is in their children’s best interests are being used to stereotype parents of a certain ‘type’. When we buy into these stereotypes and myths we are part of the problem, we are responsible for perpetuating the myth that parents can’t be trusted to look after their children’s best interests. This enables society to assume that we must control certain types of families, that we must provide food at school because they either can’t be trusted to, or don’t have the skills to feed their own children.

              Thankfully research is debunking these myths, for example the McPherson research on food banks (2006) shows that the majority of food bank users had the skills but did not have the funds to cook healthy meals (similar studies overseas support this). Another longitudinal study of Cherokee Indians show that when families in communities wrought with numerous social problems (poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, violence, poor education/employment/health and high crime), receive a stipend, they are more likely to spend that money on their children AND that the social problems afflicting that community virtually disappear overnight – children’s life chances dramatically improved (except those who were older when the stipend was introduced). And that is without ANY input from psychologists, social workers, do gooders, food in schools etc etc. (see https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/what-happens-when-the-poor-receive-a-stipend/) for a summary of this.

              So while I get that we have been fed a lie under successive governments for the last 30 years, the real tragedy is that despite evidence to the contrary many are still clinging to these lies. Lies that are responsible for oppressing families and children of a certain type, but hey if that ensures the Government can continually deny families the resources they need to have a decent standard of living then I guess the government, their spin doctors and the media have done their job, right?

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    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    16 hours ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 day ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    1 day ago
  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    2 days ago
  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    2 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    2 days ago
  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    3 days ago
  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    3 days ago
  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    3 days ago
  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    4 days ago
  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    5 days ago
  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    6 days ago
  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    6 days ago
  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago
  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    6 days ago
  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 23-November-2023
    It’s Friday again! Maybe today we’ll finally have a government again. Roll into the weekend with some of the articles that caught our attention this week. And as always, feel free to add your links and observations in the comments. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    7 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s strategy for COP28 in Dubai
    The COP28 countdown is on. Over 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts next Thursday. Among the VIPs confirmed for the Dubai summit are the UK’s Rishi Sunak and Brazil’s Lula da Silva – along ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    7 days ago
  • Coalition talks: a timeline
    Media demand to know why a coalition government has yet to be formed. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    7 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Nov 24
    Luxon was no doubt relieved to be able to announce a coalition agreement has been reached, but we still have to wait to hear the detail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Passing Things Down.
    Keeping The Past Alive: The durability of Commando comics testifies to the extended nature of the generational passing down of the images, music, and ideology of the Second World War. It has remained fixed in the Baby Boomers’ consciousness as “The Good War”: the conflict in which, to a far ...
    7 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2023
    Open access notables How warped are we by fossil fuel dependency? Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35-40 million cubic meters per day of Russian natural gas are piped across Ukraine for European consumption every single day, right now. In order to secure European cooperation against Russian aggression, Ukraine must help to ...
    7 days ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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