Fortress NZ

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, September 16th, 2016 - 120 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, Economy, Environment, exports, International, manufacturing, monetary policy, overseas investment, Politics, poverty, quality of life, Social issues, welfare - Tags: , , ,

Neoliberalism, it could be argued, has been a disaster for most New Zealanders.

The ‘rock-star’ economy has grown by 3.5% in the last year (which is, in itself, a problem because you cannot have infinite growth in a finite world) but is largely sustained only by, a) record immigration b) a natural disaster and c) a privately financed housing boom of expensive dwellings.

In the normal course of events, an incoming left-leaning government could enact legislation to undo the damage done and fix it over time. But impending climate change has removed that element of gradual change.

What then should New Zealand be doing to attempt to counteract thirty five disastrous years of neoliberalism coupled with the potential effects of climate change?

First of all, we need to act decisively to weaken the effects of of that pernicious political philosophy. This will involve a whole raft of rather radical ideas, which will also go some way to ameliorating the effects of climate change, including:

  1. Reducing the number of ruminants by at least three quarters, and confining their farming to areas which are naturally favourable for such animals and which don’t need extensive irrigation. Long term, there is little future in dairy farming (or any animal farming for that matter). It has always seemed absurd to try to sell massive amounts of dairy products to the lactose intolerate population of China!
  2. Reducing the number of immigrants to a trickle from the present flood and confine them to trades/professionals we really need. At the present time immigration is being used to lower wages and create a precariat class which can be exploited by the elite.
  3. Concomitant with a reduction in immigration begin and increase trade training courses for young New Zealanders, providing a pathway for them into satisfying and rewarding work.
  4. Immediately increase the minimum wage to a living wage. That people are expected to work for less than is enough to sustain life is monstrous. Ultimately, move towards a UBI.
  5. Deliberately crash the housing market, especially in Auckland, while at the same time providing protection for first home and residential home buyers. There must be zero tolerance for parasites who feast on the vulnerability of the poor or who put owning a house beyond the reach of the ordinary New Zealander. The banks must serve the interests of New Zealand, not their shareholders in Australia.
  6. Immediately decree that rents can not be more than twenty-five per cent of a household’s income. At the same time abolish the welfare subsidy for landlords.
  7. Refocus the manufacturing aspect of farming towards value-added products. Nothing that can be processed within New Zealand should leave these shores in a raw state. And don’t use the argument that we’ll price ourselves out of markets – we’re a food producer in a world of seven going on for nine billion people!
  8. Require a permit to purchase family vehicles of over 2 litre engine size, ban all family vehicles over 3 litres and encourage/subsidize the introduction and purchase of electric vehicles.
  9. Buy New Zealand. Government contracts should only ever go overseas if it can be proved that similar products/services cannot  be sourced/provided here.
  10. Transfer Government accounts from any of the four Aussie banks to Kiwibank and legislate to force regional and local councils to do the same.
  11. Deliberately downsize the transport indistry by a) upgrading and enlarging the rail network and b) putting punitive charges on all long-distant transport.
  12. Aim to become 100% renewable in energy resources as soon as possible and heavily subsidize the installation of household solar panels.
  13. Abolish the dividend requirements of SOE’s while encouraging fiscal responsibility.
  14. Limit CEO salaries in all government enterprises and ministries to 6X that of the lowest paid worker. Foster the almost forgotten concept of ‘public service.’
  15. Institute a progressive tax regime, with a top tax of 70%, close tax loopholes and vigorously prosecute offenders.
  16. Create a level playing field in education by a) removing ALL payments to private school. If the rich want their own exclusive school system, let them be prepared to pay for it! And b) make all tertiary education free. Also, put extra resources into early childhood education. Early intervention pays dividends.
  17. Immediately begin building enough houses, with insulation and double glazing etc to ensure that nobody is homeless in this country.
  18. Progressively restrict the numbers of tourists coming to New Zealand to limit the impact of excessive numbers on our landscape. Tourisn should not be just another ‘wild west’ industry.
  19. At the same time adequately fund DOC. Their task, that of protecting the conservation estate of this country, is going to become a great deal more difficult as climate change begins to bite.
  20. Preserve our fishing resources. Seize offending boats when there is evidence of overfishing and or waste (and don’t allow the industry to monitor itself!)
  21. Like private schools, don’t fund private hospitals. It is a far better investment to adequately fund the public hospital system.
  22. Remove alcohol from supermarkets and corner dairies. Make it harder to buy alcohol by a) increasing its price and b) restricting the number of outlets.
  23. Impose a fat tax in an effort to reduce the level of obesity. Actively encourage young people to participate in sports or physical activities. Forbid the expansion of fast food outlets, especially close to schools.
  24. Impose a total ban on foreign ownership of New Zealand land or houses. Unless foreigners are prepared to become New Zealand citizens (and that precludes them buying their way in!) and live in this country for a minimum of nine months in each year. There is evidence that this country is becoming a bolt-hole for the global elite; this we should ensure doesn’t continue to happen.
  25. About the only thing this present appalling government has done is to spend twenty billion dollars on equipment for our defence forces. I’d even go further: like Switzerland, I’d require all our youth to spend some time doing military training, with the intention of creating a home guard. At the same time our troops should be limited to UN sanctioned peace-keeping.

The aim must be to make this country as least dependent on the global economy as possible.  Yes, that does represent protectionism, but it’s going to happen one way or another as social conditions deteriorate in the rest of the world.
Tony Veitch

120 comments on “Fortress NZ ”

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  1. Wayne 1
    16 September 2016 at 11:41 am

    Presumably he would also have a ban on people shifting to Australia, because that is what would happen if these policies were implemented.

    Not that they will be needing to shift because people won’t vote for them, certainly not as a package.

    Perhaps the more interesting question is whether any significant political party will pick up any of the 25 proposals, since some are more credible than others , though for me only #17, #19 and #20 make any sense.

    I am pretty sure you can’t buy alcohol in corner dairies.

    • Sabine 1.1
      16 September 2016 at 11:48 am

      People are already moving to Australia as it is. Better wages, cheaper houses. And if they get sick and need a doctor or something they come back home for a few weeks/month.

      where have you been living? Under a rock?

      and no you can’t buy alcohol at a dairy, but you could by “Legal Highs” thanks to the impeccable hair piece called Peter Dunne, National Supporter and denier of proper healthcare to people who are dying.

      • Puckish Rogue 1.1.1
        16 September 2016 at 12:44 pm

        Hi Sabine

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/more-australians-now-relocating-to-new-zealand-than-the-other-way-round

        People are moving back in droves because of the National government, it was the Labour government that forced people overseas 🙂

        • Stuart Munro 1.1.1.1
          16 September 2016 at 1:49 pm

          No – it’s the the ludicrous failure of far right policies of Abbot, Hockey, and the drooling idiot who has somehow become their PM.

          If you’re a kiwi in Oz & your job folds there’s no social safety net. You’re going back to NZ in spite of the massive economic failure that forced you to leave in the first place.

          No place for Pollyanna propaganda – returnees are desperate – and certainly not going to be fans of the vile Key kleptocracy and his choir of pinheaded sycophants.

        • RedLogix 1.1.1.2
          16 September 2016 at 6:38 pm

          In addition to what Stuart has said, the reason why some kiwis are heading back is that the mining construction sector, in which Kiwis were generally over represented, went very flat because of absurd overcapacity and low prices in the iron ore industry specifically.

          But still there are some 650,000 kiwis in Australia and only a small fraction of that number has returned to NZ in the past 12 months … certainly not all of us here are scampering back home with our tails between our legs just yet.

        • Sabine 1.1.1.3
          16 September 2016 at 9:32 pm

          funny i see people still moving to OZ every week.

          Why? Cause they can’t afford a house, they got a better wage and besides the weather.
          Will they come back one day, most likely yes, when they need health care, or the kid needs to go to Uni, or they finally have made enough money to buy a shoe box and call it home sweet home.

          you need to change your tune mate, its not turning into an earworm just yet.

      • Craig H 1.1.2
        17 September 2016 at 1:18 pm

        You can buy alcohol at Night n Days and other similar convenience stores, which are at best half a step above corner dairies.

    • dukeofurl 1.2
      16 September 2016 at 12:09 pm

      I was in a ‘dairy’ in St heliers on the weekend and it had a wine aisle

    • Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 1.3
      16 September 2016 at 1:02 pm

      Wayne, of course, misses one of the subtle points of this post: that this country will not have to worry about losing people, but rather about how to stop them coming. When the rest of the world descends into environmental chaos and social disruption, this remote little country will seem a highly desirable place to live!

      Do the elites already recognise this? 20 billion on new equipment for our services?

    • Colonial Viper 1.4
      16 September 2016 at 2:37 pm

      Presumably he would also have a ban on people shifting to Australia, because that is what would happen if these policies were implemented.

      Muldoon already answered that one, Wayne.

    • Matthew Whitehead 1.5
      16 September 2016 at 3:30 pm

      Gosh the National Party and its supporters really hate New Zealand the way they think that people will emigrate from New Zealand if they don’t get their way. LOL.

      So much for patriotism!

      The reality is that given we’re locked into at least 2° of climate change, and New Zealand being well-placed to avoid many of the worst consequences, that New Zealand is not going to have a problem attracting immigrants in the long term. People are going to be flocking to come here, especially from pacific islands that are going to be underwater. 🙁

    • Paul 1.6
      16 September 2016 at 5:05 pm

      Let the parasites go.
      Their assets however will be frozen.

  2. Ad 2
    16 September 2016 at 11:56 am

    What’s the top three you would fight hardest for in Cabinet Tony?

    Good to see you posting.
    Keep going.

    • Paul 2.1
      16 September 2016 at 5:06 pm

      I would take ownership of the banks as number one.

    • AmaKiwi 2.2
      16 September 2016 at 9:11 pm

      A good posting.

      High on my list is blood money from overseas monopolists, murderers, dictators, and alike.

      The police recently estimated $1.6 billion a year in DOMESTIC money laundering and tax evasion. These Kiwis crooks are small fry compared to the billionaires lurking off our shores. We have no idea how much blood money gets washed here but I think it is reasonable to estimate it at ten times the domestic tax evasion . . . $16 billion. I will bet it comes with huge political donations to insure the scams keep going.

  3. Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 3
    16 September 2016 at 12:11 pm

    Gosh, I don’t know. Environmental ones, I think. Our legacy to our grandchildren. God knows, we’ve made a big enough mess of the world as it is!

    Yes, sorry about the booze in corner dairies – a slip of the typing fingers!

  4. BM 4
    16 September 2016 at 12:25 pm

    How would any of these ideas be implemented?.

    Also Neoliberalism hasn’t been a disaster for most New Zealanders, if it was, you’d have seen quite a few of your ideas in place already.

    Facts are, most people are happy with the current system.

    • Red Hand 4.1
      16 September 2016 at 12:38 pm

      “most people are happy with the current system” has not been shown by any survey I am aware of. Lies like this can disempower a weak enemy and strengthen the rest.

      • BM 4.1.1
        16 September 2016 at 12:40 pm

        The survey happens every 3 years, it’s called an election.

        • Anno1701 4.1.1.1
          16 September 2016 at 12:52 pm

          The survey happens every 3 years, it’s called an election.”

          oh sure because we are offered an alternative right ?

          • BM 4.1.1.1.1
            16 September 2016 at 12:59 pm

            Why isn’t there a party pushing these sort of policies?

            If this is what everyone really wants, this Venezuelan type of party would be very popular.

            Lots of votes and power awaits for the individuals who get their arses of the couch and present these sort of ideas to the people.

            Vive la Revolution!

            • Matthew Whitehead 4.1.1.1.1.1
              16 September 2016 at 3:34 pm

              You are way too obsessed with Venezuela, BM.

              You know Marx didn’t think you could pull off a communist revolution until you had a surplus of resources, right? Nobody actually tried communism in a country with a surplus before. And hell, Cuba tried it despite not having a surplus, and damn near succeeded, they probably would have been the example of How Communism Can Work if they hadn’t been embargoed by the United States for daring not to believe in unfettered capitalism.

          • AmaKiwi 4.1.1.1.2
            16 September 2016 at 9:14 pm

            @Anno1701

            + 1000

          • Chuck 4.1.1.1.3
            17 September 2016 at 3:30 pm

            “oh sure because we are offered an alternative right ?”

            Yes you are.

        • Paul 4.1.1.2
          16 September 2016 at 5:11 pm

          And the choices are vote for neoliberal economics or vote for neoliberal economics.
          No wonder a million people didn’t vote.

        • Red Hand 4.1.1.3
          16 September 2016 at 8:01 pm

          The election is not an accurate assessment of how happy people are with the current system because the major parties do not offer an alternative, and many people do not vote. If you are happy with the current system then the election result and the opinion polls must be reassuring. The short term, debt-funded speculations and spending of voters with a pathetic scrap of equity is evidence of fear and greed rather than support for the present system.

          • AmaKiwi 4.1.1.3.1
            16 September 2016 at 9:17 pm

            @ Red Hand

            + 1

            and our elections are personality contests. We voted to NOT sell our power companies but they did it anyway and never contemplated apologizing for acting against the will of the people. Democracy my ass!

    • mauī 4.2
      16 September 2016 at 12:42 pm

      Ms Pettifor, a UK-based economist and director of Prime: Policy Research in Macroeconomics…
      …..
      “But what’s interesting about New Zealand is that inequality rose in this country more than in any other developed country in the world between 1980 and the 2000s – that’s extraordinary.”
      …..
      She says those levels of inequality lead to political instability which has led to the rise of the likes of Donald Trump and “fascists in Europe”.

      http://www.newshub.co.nz/business/nz-economy-hugely-imbalanced-as-gdp-grows-36pct-2016091511

      • save nz 4.2.1
        16 September 2016 at 12:55 pm

        +1 Maui

      • Matthew Whitehead 4.2.2
        16 September 2016 at 3:36 pm

        Oh look, no reply from BM.

        I’ll pose a question in his usual trollish style:

        Are you failing to answer Maui because you’re a coward BM, or because you think inequality is a good thing?

        (also for bonus points, when did you stop beating your wife? OK, the return trolling has now stopped)

        • BM 4.2.2.1
          16 September 2016 at 3:52 pm

          It’s a waste of time, for every person who says inequality is increasing you’ll find one who says it isn’t.

          I

      • Rocco Siffredi 4.2.3
        16 September 2016 at 4:08 pm

        “Ms Pettifor, a UK-based economist and director of Prime: Policy Research in Macroeconomics”

        A completely random and non-partisan voice perhaps?

        “On September 27, 2015, it was announced that she had been appointed to the British Labour Party’s Economic Advisory Committee, convened by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and reporting to Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn”

        Perhaps not.

    • Pat 4.3
      16 September 2016 at 1:24 pm

      lets assume a voting majority don’t consider neoliberalism has been a disaster for them….is that necessarily true into the future as its inevitable consequences become ever more apparent?

      • BM 4.3.1
        16 September 2016 at 2:45 pm

        Until the inevitable consequences of neoliberalism affect the majority of people there will be no change.

        What advantage is there in changing a system that works?

        • Pat 4.3.1.1
          16 September 2016 at 3:26 pm

          ‘Until the inevitable consequences of neoliberalism affect the majority of people there will be no change.”

          don’t know about that, there is enough of a disquiet that people are beginning to question the narrative they have been fed…no need to wait for the train to derail before exiting.

        • UncookedSelachimorpha 4.3.1.2
          16 September 2016 at 4:50 pm

          One of the effects neoliberalism has is that it damages participation and engagement in voting and politics, especially among the poor.

          So the Neoliberal system “works” to help neoliberals remain in power – but I wouldn’t say it is a good thing.

        • miravox 4.3.1.3
          16 September 2016 at 10:05 pm

          “What advantage is there in changing a system that works?

          Your first sentence implicity agrees neoliberalism doesn’t work. If it did, there would be no “inevitable consequences” that would force a change. It would be a stable economic framework.

          So your question is dubious.

          However, why there will be no change until the “inevitable consequences of neoliberalism affect the majority of people” is certainly worth a comment or two.

          I’d put short-term political and economic thinking by politicians, companies and individuals at the top of that list.

  5. save nz 5
    16 September 2016 at 12:34 pm

    Great post – have to say agree completely with the start of the post but don’t agree with some of the ideas and severity of the ways to combat it.

    I think that a big issue missed out is taxation and tax havens. Countries and citizens are losing so much tax out of the country via “pretty legal” ways of corporatising profits and not paying the same amount of taxes as individuals and other corporations.

    Apple has been in the news recently, when it is shown that it being one of the richest corporations in the world actually takes the profits out and then has them in virtual limbo just for taxation reasons. If Corporations were made to be taxed locally on all the profits and not have ways to minimise this, then the country where the goods are sold the country and community would benefit from the taxes. As it is, not even the US is benefiting.

    Therefore the revenue of many corporations that could be creating more jobs or innovation is actually being stored offshore for the sole purposes of not paying tax. Again how can other companies compete with that? If one company can through various schemes pay less than 1% on profits and then a local company paying 33%? One has a massive advantage and it is nothing to do with the products or how well the company is run.

    Why should individuals be expected to pay up to 70% as Tony Veich has suggested when you just need to make yourselves a corporation and then pump out all the profits to be stored offshore and just pay a fraction of tax? The ‘free market’ is not working and hasn’t been for a long time now. The biggest reform in my view needed is corporation taxation reform so that tax havens and moving money around to minimise taxes are outlawed.

    The next biggest thing would be to make sure that executive CEO salaries or the highest paid workers can not earn more than 20X that of the lowest paid worker including bonuses and any other perks like cars etc.

    • Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 5.1
      16 September 2016 at 4:09 pm

      Agreed – stopping corporate manipulating of the tax system is an idea I should have included.

  6. Rocco Siffredi 6
    16 September 2016 at 12:34 pm

    Reminds me of Fortress Venezuela.

  7. Puckish Rogue 7
    16 September 2016 at 12:58 pm

    1. isn’t a bad idea with some tweaking

    2. Has some merit but will you look at refugees as well or just migrants?

    3. Sounds all right to me

    4 No

    5. Dear lord no

    6. No

    7. I’m not comfortable with that

    8. No

    9. Sure if ok that the prices may be higher

    10. I don’t think its that simple, can Kiwibank handle it?

    11. Drive those truckies out of business eh, No

    12. Some merit with tweaking

    13. Maybe with some tweaking
    .
    14 In public service sure

    15. No, no, no, no, no ,no, no

    16. The rich already pay for it through their taxes so no

    17. Easier said then done but I’d make sure existing houses were properly insulated first

    18. Start with backpackers

    19. Sure why not

    20. thats an increase for Navy spending then?

    21.No it isn’t

    22. No

    23 Yes to encourage, no to tax

    24. Some tweaking to this

    25. I’d suggest National Service instead and I’d add DOC as an option

    • Matthew Whitehead 7.1
      16 September 2016 at 3:41 pm

      Why would you want to cut our intake of refugees? If you’re taking in anyone unskilled, it ought to be refugees, not only because we have a moral obligation, not only because we have a legal obligation, but also from a pragmatic point of view, refugees are some of the most motivated people to assimilate and succeed because they appreciate that we live in what’s mostly a free democratic society.

      Also, the minimum wage has never been increased to a level high enough that anyone’s ever made an academic argument that it has had negative economic effects. I’m sure it would be possible to do so, I’m just saying it’s never been done before. So why do you think the living wage would suddenly do it? And even if it did, don’t you think that’s a problem we could solve? Worst comes to worst, we could just cut it back a little.

  8. Stephanie Rodgers 8
    16 September 2016 at 1:00 pm

    A “fat tax” is ludicrous. Dietary fat is not linked to body size, and people’s body size isn’t a disease. Any kind of taxation on calorie-dense food only punishes poor people, who are denied real choice in food due to low wages, lack of time, inflated food prices thanks to a supermarket duopoly, and regressive GST.

    As long as leftwingers keep jumping on the diet industry’s bandwagons, we’re only undermining our struggle against neoliberalism.
    http://foodfatnessfitness.com/2016/02/02/fighting-neoliberalism-and-fatphobia-together/

    • Puckish Rogue 8.1
      16 September 2016 at 1:25 pm

      I agree that a fat tax is just wrong but encouraging physical activity is not a bad idea

    • Lanthanide 8.2
      16 September 2016 at 1:43 pm

      “Dietary fat is not linked to body size,”

      Well, actually, it is.

      Whether it is linked to body size any more or less than other types of food / nutrients is a different statement, which you didn’t make.

      • weka 8.2.1
        16 September 2016 at 2:48 pm

        Yeah, but the point was that a fat tax targets dietary fat in order to reduce obesity with the idea that this will reduce disease. Not even mainstream science is pretending that is a useful way to look at things (public health officials are the last to catch on).

        If people don’t get their calories from fat, then by definition they have to get them from carbohydrates, and in our society that means refined carbohydrates, and voila we have Syndrome X ie all the things that are incorreclty tied to obesity. Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, probably alzheimers and many cancers. Of which large body size may or may not be a corresponding factor, but let’s stop talking about it as a cause.

        It’s very hard to be pedantic when the whole understanding of health, diet and body size has been a lie for a good 50 years, and that very lie has been what caused the spike in Syndrome X diseases.

    • Matthew Whitehead 8.3
      16 September 2016 at 3:43 pm

      It might be a good idea if everyone could afford to comfortably feed themselves/their families. Might.

      But it seems like the easiest way to actually boost health is to make sure fresh food is affordable to people. But that’s a harder ask to actually manage, and doesn’t boost government revenue!

    • Rocco Siffredi 8.4
      16 September 2016 at 3:59 pm

      “A “fat tax” is ludicrous. Dietary fat is not linked to body size,”

      I think he’s just planning to tax you because your fat, not the dietary fat you consume. Perhaps he will base it on your BMI?

    • RedLogix 8.5
      16 September 2016 at 6:46 pm

      Latest research backs Stephanie on this. Obesity may have much more to do with gut bacteria and hormonal responses than diet or exercise alone.

    • The New Student 8.6
      17 September 2016 at 12:12 pm

      +1 Stephanie. I wish that everyone was introduced to metabolism and gene expression at school. We would be solving this problem already if more people knew a few basics

    • Chuck 8.7
      17 September 2016 at 1:01 pm

      I can agree with you that a “fat tax” is ludicrous (and a sugar tax).

      However – “who are denied real choice in food due to low wages, lack of time, inflated food prices thanks to a supermarket duopoly, and regressive GST.”

      That is just making excuses and is not helpful to anyone. Education is the number 1 issue for families, its simple to put together a healthy meal on a budget.

      Meals can be prepared ahead of time, frozen and heated back up as required etc.

      Get kids (and parents) back out into the yard, exercise does no one harm.

      “we’re only undermining our struggle against neoliberalism.”

      Pretty much says it all…

    • left_forward 8.8
      22 September 2016 at 3:14 pm

      Dietary fat is not linked to body size! …and black is white, I suppose.
      Body size may not be a disease… but obesity, like smoking sure leads to serious illness and short, miserable lives. So your vision is a future without neoliberalism, but where everyone dies painfully and early from avoidable illnesses, such as diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, auto-immune diseases and cancers.
      There are more choices for a healthy lifestyle SR than what is offered by the diet industry, but it needs to start with sound knowledge about wellness and nutrition.

  9. idbkiwi 9
    16 September 2016 at 1:58 pm

    “Neoliberalism, it could be argued, has been a disaster for most New Zealanders.”

    I love the smell of nostalgia in the morning, the witterings of those who long for life as it was before David Lange’s Labour government of 1984-1990 interjected in NZ’s absolutely rotten economy, implemented neo-liberal economic policy, and turned it around.

    The nostalgia buffs, like all those inflicted with the disease, remember things as completely different to reality as is humanly possible to get while awake. They forget a NZ society covered in economic Band-Aids, a socialist economy rapidly going down the gurgler with no sun rising on the horizon, except the one on the Japanese flag, and the hope of more loans in yen to give some credibility to the distinctly shaded and jaded NZ economy.

    How they long for price, wage, and rent freezes, exchange and interest rate controls, being told what they can earn and where and when they can spend it. They weep into their beer, verily, because the average 17% interest rate on mortgages was so very, very good for us. The 50% increase in GDP between 1980-1985 could have been considered marvelous until reminded the increase was due entirely to price inflation and underpinned by enormous increases in overseas borrowing during the corresponding period (300%), and was by 1985 at a level of over 80% of gross domestic product (equivalent to $200 billion in today’s terms) and increasing year-on-year between 20% and 30% per annum. Yea, they saw it, and it was good.

    How they wish for return to a more even society with fairer tax, and what could be fairer than a 41% tax on the rich, those earning over $25,000, and even heavier taxes on the filthy rich, those on $40,000 or more paid 60%. Real wages were steadily declining under the force of steadily increasing retail prices, everybody sensible felt this, but don’t even think about asking the boss for a bit of overtime to help out with the home finances; a few hours of time and a-half could put you into the next, hated, tax bracket and see you with less in your pay packet than what you started with before you put in the extra hours, no surprises then that the average overtime worked per week was just shy of two hours, and don’t even think of working a whole extra shift because you would certainly be punished. Public finances though demanded more taxes, NZ was running both internal and external deficits and it was then that Muldoon’s pygmy political advisors came up with a novel idea, like the light going on in a dark room, they increased taxes, or more correctly they taxed tax; in a last desperate move to get finances right they put a surcharge on the hated rich, a full 10% surcharge on total earnings, increasing the previously mentioned taxation rates to 45% and 66% respectively in one of their last pieces of genius economic management. That worked out well, didn’t it?

    Of course, to be fair, Muldoon wasn’t exactly focused on important matters, preferring to tilt at Union windmills and the hated Federation of Labour; the thriving hotbed of Commies that encouraged and supported militant and aggressive negotiating techniques with employers that resulted in 364 strikes during 1984, almost touching the magical number one for every day of the year, by the country’s 254 unions of whose members bore the brunt, losing a total of 425,000 days wages (about $26,000,000) that year due to industrial action cos, y’now, the unions cared so very, very much about the workers.

    How the dreamers yearn, but do not learn, from a visit to Paradise: 1984. Milk (still subsidised) cost a mere 4 cents per bottle at the store but only because the taxpayers chipped in to make up the difference in real price, just another small extra item of expenditure, relieving Treasury of $30,000,000 in 1984 or $210M in today’s terms, but that was only one-third of the cash cost towards subsidising our national treasure; the railways, which had been propped-up by a $90,000,000pa. taxpayer-funded windfall until extinguished in 1983.

    Oh, they say, those socialist rosy-red-tinted glass wearers, that things might have been tough, and getting tougher, but it was fair and equal toughery, people still had jobs and dignity, except for the 60,000 (7% and rising) unemployed whose number had been a mere 27,000 just four years previously and whose number inflation had loosely matched the cost of building the average 90sqm house which rose from $27,000 in 1980 to $53,000 in 1984. There was no shortage of buyers for the still inexpensive and very basic boxes because at that price they represented about 9,000 hours of the average wage-earners after-tax income compared with today where we might expect the multiple to be around, or upwards of, 40,000 hours. Therefore, say the memory-cheats, housing was more affordable then and everyone could put a roof over their heads, so to speak; or could they? At the prevailing interest rate of 17% the 1984 mortgagee could expect to pay $9,000, or the equivalent of 1500 hours wages (9 months work) in interest per year, and over ten years could expect to pay 150% of the purchase price in interest alone while for today’s purchaser the figure is more likely to be 60% over the same period. Neither of these options represent a great punt, the 1980’s home-owner relying on general wage inflation to ease towards affordability, the 21st century buyer hoping for an opportunity to realise capital gains to offset strangled retirement savings due to over-committed mortgages.

    But, but, but: it was free tertiary education, wasn’t it? All ’em Baby Boomers got free stuff at Uni, and a chance at a better income? I’m sorry to say to the salivating sanctimonious that Uni Degrees, available at relatively low cost, could be had by only the select minority; half of all Secondary students were told to bugger off after falling short in arbitrary cut-offs at School Certificate level and a further half-of-that-half (46% to be precise) was consigned to the typing-pool after failing University Entrance level under the proportional intakes of that time. Put another way; anybody with a School Certificate grade of 31% was considered a dullard in 1984, suitable only for floor-sweeping or washer-woman, but a University Graduate today. There was no money to pay for more than the agreed intake; therefore it was rationed, a typically socialist solution.

    Happy days, the early 80’s, so they say: the swooning socialists. Days when you could do as you like and as you wish as long as the almighty Government approved of it, which, amongst other things, was not trading; illegal as it was to open your shop before 6am or after 9pm and not at all on any Sunday unless trading in ‘approved’ items, and if the shop had mixture of the happy ‘approved’ merchandise and the not-so-happy ‘unapproved’ then ‘unapproved’ must be hidden from view, literally, lest it tempt some free-spirited soul to part with their wealth in exchange for contraband.

    These, folks, are the tools of socialists all; restriction of personal choice, of opportunity, and confiscation of wealth. Indeed they are the only tools Socialists know, not a single remedy do they invent that does not include either, or both, of these things. Their hammer comes at you with the blunt force of laws and restrictions, the sickle to cut your perceived wealth in the name of equity and fairness, and there is no attraction to anything as trivial as the individual or freedom because all that matters is ideological purity. Beware.

    • Puckish Rogue 9.1
      16 September 2016 at 2:34 pm

      Pretty heavy for a Friday

    • b waghorn 9.2
      16 September 2016 at 2:52 pm

      oh well when you put it that way i guess it’s fine that people live in cars and die of preventable diseases under the current system , because freedom and all that.

    • BM 9.3
      16 September 2016 at 2:52 pm

      Great post.

    • Pat 9.4
      16 September 2016 at 3:32 pm

      almost accurate although somewhat overstated…….there were a number of positive features as well.

    • Matthew Whitehead 9.5
      16 September 2016 at 3:46 pm

      TLDR.

      I skimmed enough to be able to say that I agree with most of the OP, but I actually was born after Rogernomics started, so am I nostalgic for a time before I even existed?

      • Rocco Siffredi 9.5.1
        16 September 2016 at 4:02 pm

        “I skimmed enough to be able to say that I agree with most of the OP, but I actually was born after Rogernomics started, so am I nostalgic for a time before I even existed?”

        It’s easier to be nostalgic for a time you never experienced.

    • Redelusion 9.6
      16 September 2016 at 3:51 pm

      Well put many with rose tinted passes on this forum pine desperately for those wonderful days, it all worked until Britain decided NZ was no longer its farm, and reality hit that the world does not owe NZ a living

    • Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster) 9.7
      16 September 2016 at 4:15 pm

      Well done that man (?) It takes real ability to completely miss the point!

      The post is about inclining the balance back towards the majority of people in this country and in some way trying to prepare for the approaching world-wide climate change triggered disruption.

      Yes, I experienced life before 1984 and I have no feelings of nostalgia for that ‘golden time.’ It’s pointless to look back, but we can look forward and plan for a, well, perhaps a better future for our grandchildren.

      • Redelusion 9.7.1
        16 September 2016 at 4:20 pm

        So why do you propose socialism as the answer when it failed so miserably before

        • ropata 9.7.1.1
          18 September 2016 at 11:48 am

          the world is fucked because of incompetent & arrogant fwits like you causing a financial crisis, wrecking the environment, dismantling workers rights, then blaming others for the disastrous result.

    • Garibaldi 9.8
      16 September 2016 at 4:18 pm

      idbkiwi. I’d say you would love the smell of napalm in the morning as you slaughter people fighting for their freedom from colonial slavery . And you’d do it in the name of fighting communism ( which wants to take over the world ) so that you could fuck everyone over with your American model of capitalism ( which is leading us to extinction). You make me sick.

    • ropata 9.9
      16 September 2016 at 5:27 pm

      very strange and extreme paranoia of the red menace.

      those socialist restrictions you complain of were imposed by a *National* government under legendary authoritarian Muldoon.

      in fact yes many things were better in the 70s

      fewer cars
      fewer people
      cheaper fuel
      more trees
      more fish
      clean water
      clean air
      public utilities
      99% employment
      strong unions
      NZ owned banks
      enough houses
      less booze and junk food
      safer for bikes and pedestrians
      much safer for kids
      (Fred Dagg, McPhail & Gadsby, Billy T,… ;))

      • BM 9.9.1
        16 September 2016 at 5:31 pm

        Didn’t think you were old enough to have experienced 1970’s NZ.

        • ropata 9.9.1.1
          16 September 2016 at 6:11 pm

          thanks, i think 🤔

          • In Vino 9.9.1.1.1
            16 September 2016 at 8:08 pm

            I fondly remember the 70s as a time when anyone who worked got reasonable pay. Long hours brought a fair reward. The system is now skewed so that those at the bottom who work long hours get paid peanuts, and cannot support a family. To pay people our modern miserable wages destroys their dignity along with the value of their work. Our society has sickened, and we need the reforms proposed by this post. I regard BM as a shallow advocate of unjustifiable profit-gouging – but he would call it wise investment.

      • Jenny Kirk 9.9.2
        16 September 2016 at 10:41 pm

        oh yes – and women made some progress towards equality as well, ropata – those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end ………. but instead we got an ideological nightmare.

        Hey Tony Veitch – luv your dream. Wish it could become reality !

    • Pat 9.10
      16 September 2016 at 9:39 pm

      “How they long for price, wage, and rent freezes, exchange and interest rate controls, being told what they can earn and where and when they can spend it. They weep into their beer, verily, because the average 17% interest rate on mortgages was so very, very good for us. The 50% increase in GDP between 1980-1985 could have been considered marvelous until reminded the increase was due entirely to price inflation and underpinned by enormous increases in overseas borrowing during the corresponding period (300%), and was by 1985 at a level of over 80% of gross domestic product (equivalent to $200 billion in today’s terms) and increasing year-on-year between 20% and 30% per annum. Yea, they saw it, and it was good.”

      you are conflating two distinct periods, the wage price freeze (under Muldoon ) lasted less than 2 years, yes we were indebted, but the 17% (i was paying 19.5 and 25 wasn’t unheard of) didn’t eventuate until AFTER the neolib reforms under Douglas/Lange. Under Muldoon there was at least an attempt to mitigate the impact of unemployment ,with the likes of YPTP programs…the unemployed were not abandoned.

      “Of course, to be fair, Muldoon wasn’t exactly focused on important matters, preferring to tilt at Union windmills and the hated Federation of Labour; the thriving hotbed of Commies that encouraged and supported militant and aggressive negotiating techniques with employers that resulted in 364 strikes during 1984, almost touching the magical number one for every day of the year, by the country’s 254 unions of whose members bore the brunt, losing a total of 425,000 days wages (about $26,000,000) that year due to industrial action cos, y’now, the unions cared so very, very much about the worker”

      Again you conflate two periods…Muldoon did indeed hate the Unions but the quoted 364 strikes occured under Labour (Muldoon was a back bencher by this time) due to the massive restructuring in the public service…there was however plenty of industrial action in Muldoons time.

      “How the dreamers yearn, but do not learn, from a visit to Paradise: 1984. Milk (still subsidised) cost a mere 4 cents per bottle at the store but only because the taxpayers chipped in to make up the difference in real price, just another small extra item of expenditure, relieving Treasury of $30,000,000 in 1984 or $210M in today’s terms, but that was only one-third of the cash cost towards subsidising our national treasure; the railways, which had been propped-up by a $90,000,000pa. taxpayer-funded windfall until extinguished in 1983.”

      Milk did indeed cost 4 cents a pint and was in a recyclable glass bottle and was delivered to your gate…subsidy an all…in fact it hadn’t long been removed as a free part of primary school life…..I note Fonterra are again supplying food in schools . the Railways were notoriously inefficient and lost money(just like now) BUT trained and employed thousands….and hadn’t yet been sold for a song and bought back at an extortionate rate.

      Oh, they say, those socialist rosy-red-tinted glass wearers, that things might have been tough, and getting tougher, but it was fair and equal toughery, people still had jobs and dignity, except for the 60,000 (7% and rising) unemployed whose number had been a mere 27,000 just four years previously and whose number inflation had loosely matched the cost of building the average 90sqm house which rose from $27,000 in 1980 to $53,000 in 1984. There was no shortage of buyers for the still inexpensive and very basic boxes because at that price they represented about 9,000 hours of the average wage-earners after-tax income compared with today where we might expect the multiple to be around, or upwards of, 40,000 hours. Therefore, say the memory-cheats, housing was more affordable then and everyone could put a roof over their heads, so to speak; or could they? At the prevailing interest rate of 17% the 1984 mortgagee could expect to pay $9,000, or the equivalent of 1500 hours wages (9 months work) in interest per year, and over ten years could expect to pay 150% of the purchase price in interest alone while for today’s purchaser the figure is more likely to be 60% over the same period. Neither of these options represent a great punt, the 1980’s home-owner relying on general wage inflation to ease towards affordability, the 21st century buyer hoping for an opportunity to realise capital gains to offset strangled retirement savings due to over-committed mortgages.

      Yep, we had smaller more basic houses (as did the rest of the world in the main) and our wages weren’t high in comparison (and importantly the difference between high and low paid was not factorial) but an apprentice could afford to go flatting and acquire transport and pay his/her bills if they were reasonably prudent (remembering that apprentices were paid sub minimum)…..unlike today.Home ownership was a realistic expectation.

      “But, but, but: it was free tertiary education, wasn’t it? All ’em Baby Boomers got free stuff at Uni, and a chance at a better income? I’m sorry to say to the salivating sanctimonious that Uni Degrees, available at relatively low cost, could be had by only the select minority; half of all Secondary students were told to bugger off after falling short in arbitrary cut-offs at School Certificate level and a further half-of-that-half (46% to be precise) was consigned to the typing-pool after failing University Entrance level under the proportional intakes of that time. Put another way; anybody with a School Certificate grade of 31% was considered a dullard in 1984, suitable only for floor-sweeping or washer-woman, but a University Graduate today. There was no money to pay for more than the agreed intake; therefore it was rationed, a typically socialist solution.”

      Tertiary ed was basically free (and employers paid for much of it) University was restricted to those that qualified via the scaled examinations (or age)…and they were independent and provided a superior education….many indebted graduates unable to find suitable employment today would likely wish they hadn’t attended, and instead “done a trade”.

      There were undoubtably problems for NZs economy coming out off the oil shocks and UK joining EEC in the seventies and change was needed…..however the laissez- faire pendulum swung way too far and its time for it to swing back in the other direction (if its not too late).

      • ropata 9.10.1
        17 September 2016 at 2:22 pm

        100% correct. Time to rethink the path we have taken, neoliberalism has failed utterly to deliver meaningful improvement to the lives of working Kiwis. All the gains from assaulting workers rights and selling public assets have gone to the top few %

        • In Vino 9.10.1.1
          17 September 2016 at 5:22 pm

          Yes, well argued Pat. I would add that I bought a house in 1982, and despite the record inflation that followed (after all, our wages went up a bit behind it) I paid off my mortgage far more quickly and easily than would be possible if I bought a house now. The profit-gougers have tilted the field, and only the rich minority are better off. Their cheerleader BM claims it does not matter if the system causes the poor to suffer – because he lacks the vision of what a decent society is.

    • Richard Rawshark 9.11
      17 September 2016 at 9:10 am

      Good post, you missed the strikes I remember so fondly as well!

      Not everything was rosy, true and I do , do that, look at the past thinking we were better off.

      I would say this though, your comment ends with an almost zealous reference to socialism. Freedom, socialism etc like it was a choice between the two or nothing.

      Reality is not so black and white, no one here I would hope, wants to cherish the ways of Enver Hoxha and create a socialist show country.

      It’s to me, about striking a balance. Doing what’s right not what ideology requires. And until people realize this and start following a more…settled , balanced approach to government decision making we are all stuck swinging in cycles.

      This current government though, has really brought out the WTF in me.. so… petty, so driven by fakeness like trickle down, so full of fuckwits.

      Some of the choices and direction they are taking has me gobsmacked like drilling for oil..but the risky way DEEP.

      Ignoring referendums, Flag votes, Gutsy feely shit, education bullshit driven by inflated we are so shit hot egos, further pandered to by a fucked up media.

      I see a political system turning into a massive mess, a media not doing it’s job, a government thinking it knows all the answers and just going off on one, and the people, well the people will believe what they read, It’s all fake. IMHO

    • ropata 9.12
      17 September 2016 at 1:09 pm

      Chris Hedges has the most scathing response to idbkiwi and his ilk.

      Every utopian promise made by neoliberal ideologues has turned out to be a lie.

      Democratic institutions have been weakened or destroyed.

      Economic inequality has gotten worse.

      The rights and wages of the working class have fallen into precipitous decline.

      Labor regulations, the protection of our manufacturing base, as well as labor unions have been demolished.

      Corporations have used the destruction of trade barriers to carry out what is in essence a tax boycott.

      The aim of the corporate state is not to feed clothe and house the masses but to shift all economic social and political power as well as wealth into the hands of a tiny corporate elite.

      This corporate elite achieves its aims of greater and greater profit by weakening and dismantling government agencies, taking over or destroying public institutions (charter schools, mercenary armies, a for-profit healthcare system and outsourcing) feed the corporate beast at our expense.

      Neoliberalism, the most grotesque form of capitalism, has created a world that is defined exclusively by the naked self-interest of the elites, and this is a world a growing number of its victims now openly reject.

      • left for dead 9.12.1
        18 September 2016 at 10:22 am

        Thanks for this link ropata.
        I only run on about 6 gigs a month, so I try not to dip into everything on the www, but theses links that the likes of you and others provide are important for the likes of me. 🙂

  10. Paul 10
    16 September 2016 at 8:53 pm

    The 70s were halcyon days.

  11. benby 11
    16 September 2016 at 9:35 pm

    You lost me completely at #25. That is so incredibly stupid. Yes I am a proud pacifist.

    History wise I’ve done civilian service in a place and time that allowed that as a replacement for military service.

    The military service never was worth anything for the military. And France e.g. alienated generations by incarcerating pacifists. And killers, as far as as they have a goal, are “better” served by “professional” “killers”.

    That civilian service of mine had the “convenient” side effect of lowering wages. Don’t blame me, I was 18 and faced jail if I didn’t go.

    Anyone who suggests this “military” “training” totally void any other lines, because they showed in public how incredibly thick they are.

    • Colonial Viper 11.1
      16 September 2016 at 10:23 pm

      Homeland defence will become a key issue as NZs natural resources become increasingly prized in a climate change shocked world.

      Therefore the author has it exactly right, and you have it exactly wrong.

      Because you hsve not assessed the highly different near future we are now entering.

  12. vto 12
    16 September 2016 at 9:37 pm

    funny how today it costs more to keep a slave than it does to pay minimum wage …….

    think about it

    slaveland aotearoa

    • ropata 12.1
      16 September 2016 at 11:12 pm

      imported labour is cheap, use them up and chuck them on the scrap heap

      externalise the costs, hide all the profits in a legal tax haven

      that’s the capitalist way

  13. Blue Sky 13
    17 September 2016 at 8:05 am

    The problem facing any government or system that wants to redistribute wealth more fairly is that the wealth will be used in opposition to that. It has to be in the interest of the wealthy to have a better distribution of wealth.

    • Colonial Viper 13.1
      17 September 2016 at 8:32 am

      They just need to look at history. It’s no fun being hung or decapitated by a mob, to have your mansions burnt down and to have to permanently live behind tall walls surrounded by armed guards 24/7 who at any moment might decide to take what you think you own.

      • BlueSky 13.1.1
        17 September 2016 at 1:24 pm

        Yep. Not a good society to live in. I hope it is one that will be avoided. The policies of the current government are hell bent on creating it though.

  14. Paul 14
    17 September 2016 at 8:27 am

    22 c) stop all alcohol advertising.

  15. Paul 15
    17 September 2016 at 8:29 am

    Amendment to 23.
    Impose a heavy sugar tax.
    Label all sugary and processed items with health warnings.
    Stop all advertising for high sugary products.

    • Colonial Viper 15.1
      17 September 2016 at 8:38 am

      Mate there needs to be limits on all advertising in general.

      I suggest for instance – all advertisements need to be purely in black and white, the sound intensity/size of the advertisement must be strictly limited, no background music, etc.

      • Halfcrown 15.1.1
        17 September 2016 at 8:42 am

        I second that, especially the sound bit.

        • Colonial Viper 15.1.1.1
          17 September 2016 at 9:09 am

          With no broadcast advertising on Sundays.

          • Richard Rawshark 15.1.1.1.1
            17 September 2016 at 9:16 am

            Can we have strawbarries on Sunday, how about all foods free, and cars and houses are given to us at birth. No one should work and we can all have our own space on the beach.

            For F Sake!

            and this is why the socialists lose elections, wanting to lawyer there way to paradise.

            How about you just create an environment where the people will choose to do the right things without some fucker telling them.

            Educate don’t legislate!

            kljhdfm;’;ldskfk;ldf’

            • Pat 15.1.1.1.1.1
              17 September 2016 at 9:54 am

              it comes down to what you believe the role of government is (or should be)….. neoliberalism’s stated goal is to remove itself to the point it solely protects property rights by any means and to hell with everything else.

            • ropata 15.1.1.1.1.2
              17 September 2016 at 1:17 pm

              How about you just create an environment where the people will choose to do the right things without some fucker telling them.

              that’s exactly why mass marketing, advertising, and glitzy packaging should be severely regulated, it’s naked indoctrination into the value system that is fucking up the Earth

              • Colonial Viper …
                17 September 2016 at 2:29 pm

                Yep, you change values by changing behaviour. 24/7 shop till you drop culture has been one ingredient used to fuck our society.

            • Colonial Viper 15.1.1.1.1.3
              17 September 2016 at 2:27 pm

              Hi Richard Rawshark, how is your winning elections thing going for you and for the country?

  16. Booker 16
    17 September 2016 at 9:45 am

    These are all good, sensible courses of action. The only one I’d add is doing something about drug laws – i.e. moving to a Portugal model or similar. Enough time, money and police time has been spent on a failed approach.

  17. keepcalmcarryon 17
    17 September 2016 at 2:04 pm

    Whole lot of dumb there amid some actual sane ideas. Disappointing.
    Small wonder we on the left are all at sea when some of us think that cutting ruminant numbers by three quaters and farming has no future is sensible. Lost all cred at point one sorry. Thats vegan logic and like it or not most people eat meat.

    • ropata 17.1
      17 September 2016 at 2:17 pm

      we currently export enough food to feed 30 million people. we are killing our natural heritage to boost fonterra’s bottom line.

      in “fortress NZ” there would still be plenty of meat, industrial scale farming would not be required, and waterways would be under less pressure

    • Colonial Viper 17.2
      17 September 2016 at 2:30 pm

      Keepcalm, keep voting for the status quo then.

      • keepcalmcarryon 17.2.1
        17 September 2016 at 7:24 pm

        I didnt realise it was a choice of accepting everything Tony Veitch says, or the status quo, truly your world must be black and white.
        Why on earth would you deliberately crash our economy by destroyiing agriculture? It is kind of important to us, you city dwellers might have heard.
        Why not move away from corporatised intensive irrigation based agriculture to a small farm model with value add products based on our strong brand (niche cheese, grass fed meat and milk premium products). Doesnt mean you have to destroy 3/4 of the animals to achieve balance.
        Similarly why deliberately crash the Auckland housing market?- It will tank the entire economy. Why not just enact and actually enforce capital gains and land taxes. Also undo the anti union laws of the 1990s so we can get some strong unions back and some actual wage growth for anyone that isnt a ceo or MP. Also forbid any MP from owning investment property.

        • Colonial Viper 17.2.1.1
          17 September 2016 at 7:34 pm

          write up your own post.

          The current economy is going to crash hard, one way or another.

          • keepcalmcarryon 17.2.1.1.1
            17 September 2016 at 7:51 pm

            Its probably what is going to have to happen before we get some sort of change unfortunately. Even then will a new government actually seriously overhaul the system? We can dream i suppose, and sharpen our pitchforks.
            Start purging the rogernomes and new age blairites from labour and we are making some sort of progress.

            • Colonial Viper 17.2.1.1.1.1
              17 September 2016 at 7:55 pm

              well, you can see just as well as I can, that no political party in Parliament is going to change our current crash course by more than inch or so one way or the other.

  18. Takere 18
    17 September 2016 at 2:50 pm

    In general, I have no issue with the list except to add a few more to it.
    A written Constitution which will underpin all of what can be committed to in the document to set in stone as it were.
    Along with this I think we need to revisit reintroducing the Treason Act. With a bit of “Hanging” included! Politicians especially whom this Act apply to specifically!
    Also that they when entering Parliament as a representative, they should set aside all of their businesses for others to be responsible for and not be able to be a director of or executive, or an advisor ect … One sole income for being that representative.
    And a bit more Hanging! …Exclusively for Politicians! This will be an deterrent in itself and more than likely happen only once or twice in a generation? definitely worth making it a public spectacle.

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    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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