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Gap closes in latest Morgan poll

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, October 1st, 2011 - 86 comments
Categories: election 2011, polls - Tags:

Like the recent Fairfax poll, yesterday’s Roy Morgan shows a significant swing from National to Labour:

The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for Prime Minister John Key’s National-led Government has fallen to 55.5% (down 6% and back to the level of support in August). Support for Key’s National Party is 51% (down 6%), ACT NZ 1.5% (unchanged), the Maori Party 2.5% (unchanged), and United Future 0.5% (unchanged).

Support for Opposition Parties is at 44.5% (up 6%) – Labour Party 30.5% (up 4.5%), Greens 11.5% (up 4% – the highest for the Greens since before the last election), New Zealand First 1% (down 2.5% – the lowest for more than two years since August 2009), Mana Party 0.5% (down 0.5%) and Others 1% (up 0.5%).

If this trend is confirmed in other polls apparently due this weekend (ht BWS) then things start to look a bit interesting.

Are voters reacting to record inflation and high unemployment?  Is it the muddling through on the economy?  The mess that is unfolding in Christchurch?  The botched RWC opening?  The broken GST promise?  The bizare attack on schools?  Your guess is as good as mine.  But factor in some extra abuse of the democratic process, another stagnant quarter and a credit downgrade or two, and who knows what next month’s polls will be showing.

86 comments on “Gap closes in latest Morgan poll ”

  1. fabregas4 1

    If National end up without a coalition partner, and this is looking more likely each Brash filled day, then this gets really interesting. Key is being attacked by a lot of media now – see Fran O’Sullivan in today’s NZH, and the Photo Op piece on the Nation today for examples. When folk begin to consider just how worse off they are after three years of this lot and National are exposed as the do nothing party the gap will narrow even more quickly.

    • J Mex 1.1

      I wonder if Anthony Robbins will be writing a post on the One News and 3 News (worst ever result for Labour alone) polls?

      • r0b 1.1.1

        Why wouldn’t I J Mex? Unlike some blogs, we don’t close our eyes to disagreeable facts here.

        • J Mex 1.1.1.1

          Credit for that R0b. And you haven’t gone for the “Look! A great poll for Labour”, followed by “Poll’s are pointless” strategy which I have seen elsewhere.

          • r0b 1.1.1.1.1

            Cheers J Mex, yeah we do try for a little intellectual honesty here.  

            Polls are what they are, flawed instruments, currently very bad for Labour, only significant on average and over reasonable time periods.  I write about them because we’re a political blog, but I don’t see much point in getting too worked up about them.

      • swordfish 1.1.2

        J Mex: “worst ever result for Labour alone”

        Yeah, you just made that up, didn’t you. You know it’s the biggest load of old bollocks since the French introduced vows of fidelity into their Wedding Service.

        • J Mex 1.1.2.1

          Actually, honest mistake.

          Worst result for Labour in 15 years

          • McFlock 1.1.2.1.1

            I bet this isn’t the first time you’ve been masturbating in public, JMex. Does the fantasy make it more enjoyable?

            • J Mex 1.1.2.1.1.1

              “What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others. We are intolerant of people starting or continuing flamewars where there is little discussion or debate.”

              Let’s see how long it takes an admin to deal with your comment. If you were a “RWNJ”, you would probably get a week ban.

              [It’s a very hard call moderating this kind of stuff – when does “full and frank discussion” between consenting adults cross the line? As far as I recall it’s the first complaint about McFlock so I’m going to leave it. – r0b]

              • McFlock

                Meh – if the mods think it’s overboard, fair enough. But the point was that you were, IMO, being a bit of a jerk. And you didn’t really have much cause for the gloating, polls being capricious and flighty wee things.

  2. mik e 2

    Promise and not deliver
    borrow and hope

  3. Nick C 3

    The Roy Morgan is quite good for Labour

    I do however note that the comment you hat tipped by BWS hints that the TV3 and TVNZ polls will show no such shift in momentum towards Labour.

    • lprent 3.1

      I don’t even think that it is a momentum towards Labour. I think that the previous poll was just reflecting the feel-good effect of the RWS and was literally a blip. Have a look at the abrupt change in trend on the confidence value.

      I just find it interesting that BWS implied that both other polls had different figures. I’m tried to figure out who’d have the information for both and came up empty. I suspect that it is more a hope than reality.

      • Lanthanide 3.1.1

        Rugby World Swindle?

        When the issue of competing television political polls came up on iPredict, the admin there contacted various people at one of the stations and was told that generally no one would have access to both lots of results until they’re published by their respective stations. Apparently only a handful of people from each station would actually have the results, so as to help prevent leakage and tip-offs to the political parties (if they want to go and get a comment from the leader who is unprepared, for example).

      • BWS 3.1.2

        lprent I will wager both the TV3 and TVNZ polls show a shift towards National, and away from Labour, tomorrow night.

        I don’t have inside information. But the gamblers at ipredict do, and I observed on Thursday that there was a shift of two cents on Thursday, just at the time that both polls’ data had finished, and I surmised that the shift was as a result of the inside information that was available to those pollsters.

        I will also wager that there isn’t a post at the Standard about it tomorrow, although with that statement you have the motivation to prove me wrong.

        • Colonial Viper 3.1.2.1

          I will also wager that there isn’t a post at the Standard about it tomorrow, although with that statement you have the motivation to prove me wrong.

          And what about the fact that no one gives a shit about your market speculation nonsense?

        • Lanthanide 3.1.2.2

          See my post at 3.1.1.

          The time when iPredict did have specific stocks on these two polls coming out, the admin determined that it was very unlikely that anyone would know the results from both polls in advance. Those particular stocks also didn’t seem to show any specific large amount of insider trading, at the time.

          Sure, if one person knew the results from a poll that was strongly negative for a party they could trade on that, but just an average ho-hum result from 1 poll wouldn’t be sufficient to move the market, I don’t think.

          • Pete George 3.1.2.2.1

            ipredict has been pushed and pulled all over the place oveer the last week or two, I don’t think you can get much out of what’s happening there.

            I detailed some of the volatility here: http://yournz.org/2011/09/29/i-unpredictability/

            As an example for Labour over the past few days:
            Wednesday 21.50 – 31%
            Thursday 17:54 – 27%
            Friday 17:51 – 24%
            Friday 21.00 – 30%
            Saturday 7:12 – 28.5%
            Saturday 11.13 (last trade) – 29.7%

            You can take what you like from that.

            • Colonial Viper 3.1.2.2.1.1

              You can take what you like from that.

              Same as the value of gold and silver: completely manipulated by the likes of JPM and the commodity exchange lap dogs who set the margin requirements for trade.

        • mik e 3.1.2.3

          Now that Dan Carter is in doubt for world cup backlash could occur especially as john key is pinning his hopes on All Blacks victory ie parliamentary rant.

        • lprent 3.1.2.4

          IPredict is simply too small a market to have a use apart from looking at who wants to make the ‘market’ move and speculating on their motivations. Just look at the strangely unrealistic expectations of ACT’s vote for instance or Trevor Mallard making observations looking at the machinations on the Auckland Central vote.

          Because the market is so tiny, rumor making for the purposes of short selling appears to be rife – I frequently see it in comments here.

          The movement in the polls is likely to largely be affected by when the polls were taken. The Morgan poll is taken fortnightly and is released a few days after it finishes. Most of the other polls are monthly at best and are usually fossilized pictures of early in the month. Since the earlier Morgan poll showed a sharp bump to the government in the lead up to the RWC and then an equally sharp fall in the last poll, I think that looking at the dates on the TVNZ and TV3 polls (as well as their known sampling biases) will allow anyone too predict the outcome…

          Authors will write what they choose to write irrespective of your rather transparently silly behavior..

          Oh and FYI, I do not bet ever. I will sometimes take money from those who do when I am absolutely confident of outcomes.. The polls are too uncertain in their underlying implementation methodology to achieve that. Chicken entrails would probably be a better bet.

    • Jum 3.2

      Nick C, ‘The Roy Morgan is quite good for Labour’

      Sorry, I don’t buy snake-oil from the Nick C’s of this world.

    • Ari 3.3

      I don’t think Roy Morgan has a 4.5% bias in favor of Labour, Nick, so shove it, lol.

      (and I wouldn’t claim that the bias of other polls, like for instance the TV1 poll, was that significant, either. Usually bias is within the margin of error)

  4. Akldnut 4

    Don’t worry Mr smiley wavy man will get us through these tough economic times, he’ll prove it at the next photo op.

    Look I smile and wave it away.

  5. ak 5

    It’s the vibe, r0b. The vibe of the neglected mistress finally realising what she’s done.

    The NACT marketeers, under Joyce’s baton, have poured millions into individually-tailored “approaches” to key individuals under the banner of “relationship building”.

    Starting with the press and talkback in 2004, this tactic gathered up the Maori Party (including even Hone for a time), the Woodhams, Shadbolts, Glens, Leitches, the Iwi Leadership Group – anyone of “celebrity” and “worthy” of quotation in the media – tweets and twitters, little notes from Grinny, fawning, flattery, respectful listening, “whatever it takes” on a carefully plotted individual basis exemplarised most blatantly perhaps by the PM taking Garner and Espiner out on the piss and the Mediaworks loan.

    But the party’s over. The stud turned out to be a mincer. The trinkets dried up and Sugar-daddy’s now double-downgrade: double-dipton no friend indeed.

    The big swinging dick’s gone limp over kittens and his rubber wool cup flows over with league.

    It’s the vibe, people. Get those leaflets out and billboards up, the day of the underdog dawns.

    • marsman 5.1

      @ ak. I like what you say and I like how you say it!

    • M 5.2

      ‘Get those leaflets out and billboards up, the day of the underdog dawns.’

      ak, I’ve had a huge Labour billboard in my front yard since the 26th after flagging down some intrepid Labour supporters putting up a sign on public land and offered my place as it’s on a main drag.

      Please, a victory for the left and let’s get rid of this shameless, divisive and cruel government. Seeing Key slope off into the sunset would make my year.

    • AAMC 5.3

      “Get those leaflets out and billboards up, the day of the underdog dawns.”

      And get the spray cans out and create your own billboards!

      • Anne 5.3.1

        I can think of a few other things to do with the spray paint. That smarmy, smiling, lying-eyed John Key photo that’s springing up all over the place. 😎

        • Ari 5.3.1.1

          You should certainly not spraypaint brainless sayings next to John Key on billboards. That would be illegal. Wink. And wrong. Wink. Even though it absolutely wouldn’t hurt anyone, you still shouldn’t do it.

          Wink.

          • Anne 5.3.1.1.1

            Agreed Ari 😉
            And you shouldn’t reeeally just slap paint willy nilly over “the face”. 😉

            • Colonial Viper 5.3.1.1.1.1

              Red paint bombs might work well for a spot of decorating, not suggesting mind you, just sayin’ hypothetically.

        • Redbaron77 5.3.1.2

          Vandalism of National billboards won’t win any favours amongst the voting people. It’s desperate and more likely to be counter-productive particularly view of the fact that the political tide appears to be turning for JK and his team.

          • felix 5.3.1.2.1

            It’s what you do with it.

            Something that hijacks a billboard to make a valid criticism in an interesting way – good.

            Line drawing of a jizzing cock on Key’s face – probably not so good.

          • Deadly_NZ 5.3.1.2.2

            Anyway they and yours, will probably be vandalised by disaffected teens who cannot vote but have been shafted by Bennet and Key.

          • AAMC 5.3.1.2.3

            Agreed, but a nice neat stencil which plays on the “building a brighter future” tagline might be nice.

            Even better, all urban environments have lots of bare walls, everywhere else in the world they are used as a means of expression for those who don’t have a mainstream voice.We’re just all a bit too polite and beige for that sort of carry on though, well trained.

            Separate note, heard Unite talking about occupywallstreet type action during last week of RWC, “while the whole world is watching”, this too could really backfire, many New Zealanders will see it as bad taste, unless it has real momentum, it’ll have reverse effect.

            Why not wait till the week after the finals, the election is an internal issue, does the world really need to see if it turns all swing voters away from the Left when the narrative is turning our way?

  6. Zaphod Beeblebrox 6

    Presumably this poll does not reflect the credit rating downgrade.

    • The Voice of Reason 6.1

      Nope, but this article does! The Morgan poll covers the period from the 12th to 25th, which is past the RWC opening fiasco, but before the credit drop.

      • Tiger Mountain 6.1.1

        Heh, the simpering Armstrong would have had a good supply of medical strength sick bags at his side as he wrote that one. Even Franny wrote a mild “emperor has less clothes than we hoped” piece.

        Perhaps some of the journos have finally had a glimmer of what the numbers and the antics of Don “one toke over the line sweet jesus” Brash may mean. Holy s**t those f*****s might be back again… the press gallery types may be thinking as they stare at the ceiling transitioning from drunk to hungover just before dawn.

        • Carol 6.1.1.1

          It looks to me like Armstrong is saying, National/Key haven’t been proactive enough, but that Labour’s/Cunliffe’s attacks on English’s stats were based on shonkey stats, while English/National had it right and are actually doing a good job.

          i.e. some double-talking on Armstrong’s part. He praises Labour while slamming them, and the opposite re-National.

          • swordfish 6.1.1.1.1

            Actually, that also tends to be Jane Clifton’s modus operandi in The Listener. What at first sight looks like a critique of the National Government more often than not turns out to be a back-handed compliment.

          • Craig Glen Eden 6.1.1.1.2

            Yup thats how I read it to Carol which is Armstrong’s normal mode of operation. When he half praises Labour on any issue he will then go but by the way its not true even though I have just written half my article saying it has merit.

            Armstrong covers the Nats arse at every turn make no mistake about it, he works tirelessly on their behalf he is certainly no balanced journalist. His buy the way always has a fish hook that is bigger than fish he has just fried.

      • Draco T Bastard 6.1.2

        Another eulogy of NAct from John Armstrong.

  7. Tiger Mountain 7

    Who knows what the other bent polls will say, one can guess though. Things are going to get more ugly and unpleasant if ShonKey and his pillagers get another term. The Prime Mincer of course will leg it to Hawaii never to be seen again before the end of a second term. Good luck to that, the 99%ers are giving Wall St a good rev up, the money men will soon have to think harder about where to hide out. There is a classic vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYAockXp8sY&sns=fb inclusive of champagne sippers on a balcony looking down with amusement on the protest.

    A major worry here is the thousands of under 30s not enrolled to vote. All Standard readers can grab a handful of forms and pester family, friends and whoever else to enrol and break through the fear and loathing of the disengaged.

    • anne 7.1

      The polls on tv are unbelievable,is there really that amount of braindead people out there that hang off every word ‘shonkey johnkey’ says.
      yes if he gets in again he will probably go to hawaii with his army of protectors,as if he needs
      them over there,or does he,that guy that scared him,might just jump in jk’s case.
      The finance ministers paws are still in the lolly jar collecting $900pw accommodation benefit from the tax-payer,while he changes his dipton farm from sheep to dairy and then gives $300 grand to fonterra for advertising and promotion costs,corruption yes, while screwing all nz’ers.

  8. ianmac 8

    Tiger. The lack of Student engagement is a worry. Those intelligent 18+ students had a distant legacy of protest over issues but now…..

  9. Get the pamphelts out alright but lets hand them out.Letter boxing is a waste of time and effort.Go to the local markets and pass them out with a smile ,its a winner. Take the word of an ex postman ,the famous Pink one that all letter boxing causes is a box of waste paper.The other sucessfull way is putting them under windscreen wipers .As late Joe Hill said ,organize !Organize ! lets beat these bastards ,Another three years would be a disaster,

  10. gingercrush 10

    Seems like a classic Roy Morgan poll to me. You’ll notice National and Labours votes can often fluctuate like this.

    • lprent 10.1

      Yeah, but I suspect the fluctuation was on the previous poll which shifted from the longer term trend that has just been reverted to.

      BTW: Have a look at confidence graph. Looks like a RWC effect to me – which we won’t know about for sure for some time after the end of the RWC.

  11. randal 11

    Well he has already become a back number in the Sunday Star Times advert in the dompost this morning. Just another fish and chips wrapper and about as wholesome and as nourishing.

  12. Jum 12

    ‘PM taking Garner and Espiner out on the piss’ (AK 5
    1 October 2011 at 1:28 pm)

    If anything was designed to make me really angry at what the current journalists are stooping to, this has just got to be rock bottom.

    Garner and Espiner – you make me worry about the freedoms of New Zealand and New Zealanders when you accept bribes from prime ministers to give them good press..

    Be assured; New Zealanders will come looking for you when the nasty stuff starts if Key gets back in. The fallout in large part will be due to your betrayals of objectivity in journalism.

    • Anne 12.1

      @ Jum
      ‘PM taking Garner and Espiner out on the piss’ (AK 5
      1 October 2011 at 1:28 pm)

      Can you tell me where that info. came from? Would like to look it up.

      • Jum 12.1.1

        Anne,

        Ask AK on this thread:

        (ak 5
        1 October 2011 at 1:28 pm

        It’s the vibe, r0b. The vibe of the neglected mistress finally realising what she’s done.

        The NACT marketeers, under Joyce’s baton, have poured millions into individually-tailored “approaches” to key individuals under the banner of “relationship building”.

        Starting with the press and talkback in 2004, this tactic gathered up the Maori Party (including even Hone for a time), the Woodhams, Shadbolts, Glens, Leitches, the Iwi Leadership Group – anyone of “celebrity” and “worthy” of quotation in the media – tweets and twitters, little notes from Grinny, fawning, flattery, respectful listening, “whatever it takes” on a carefully plotted individual basis

        exemplarised most blatantly perhaps by the PM taking Garner and Espiner out on the piss and the Mediaworks loan.)

        • Anne 12.1.1.1

          Got it. Been working today- tired.

          • Jum 12.1.1.1.1

            Anne, no prob – put your feet up; the battle has only just begun.

            I’m still conversing with ‘handle’ who so far hasn’t impressed me with a reason for continuing a discussion. Perhaps you know ‘handle’?

            Perhaps you can tell me why he/she is determined to stop me from voicing my personal opinion that I am disappointed in the general voting public. No don’t worry. I’m sure he/she will tell me in their own good time; I just hope I don’t sleep through it.

            • Anne 12.1.1.1.1.1

              Saw handle’s comment. Stupid and senseless. Thought of responding but decided wasn’t worth it. He’s obviously a NAct troll and best ignored.

  13. Jum 13

    Actually, that also tends to be Jane Clifton’s modus operandi in The Listener. What at first sight looks like a critique of the National Government more often than not turns out to be a back-handed compliment.

    Swordfish 6.1.1.1.1 and Craig Glen Eden 6.1.1.1.2
    You are so right about the snake oil delivered by Jane Clifton, partner to Minister McCully and other political journalists – I don’t know about Armstrong – at least he informed us when Key lied, then English, re changing words of Helen Clark pre 2008 election. When you are owned by overseas media that wants rightwing government and you want to keep your job… But Clifton; I have no such reservations. You only have to listen to her on the good morning show political segment. Jane Clifton is rightwing and her columns rightwing, no matter how they seem. The bitter aftertaste for the left is always evident.

    • swordfish 13.1

      Yep. With Jane “Hockey-Sticks” Clifton it’s a case of The Empress has no clothes. She tends to quite aggressively regurgitate the official Nat Government line, while dressing it up as “balanced” by including a few minor and superficial criticisms (more often than not, back-handed compliments).

  14. Jenny 14

    Give a seat to Winston

  15. Can someone please explain in dumbass terms, with mmp, if a party doesn’t get 5% of the party vote, but gets One electoral MP, how many more MP’s does that party get in parliament.

    • Pascal's bookie 15.1

      If they win an electorate seat, the 5% threshold gets dropped and they get as many seats as their list vote entitles them to.

      To simplify it, imagine there was a 100 seat parliament, and the Dale party got 4 % of the list vote.

      If they didn’t win an electorate seat then they would be out of luck due to the threshold.

      If they did win an electorate seat however, then the threshold doesn’t apply and they are entitled to 4 seats (4% of 100).

      So they would get their electorate seat, plus 3 members off the list.

      That’s the basic model, but there are some complicating factors to do with overhangs and what not that affect the size of parliament, and so affect the number of list seats you’d get.

      But the basic idea is that your list vote determines how many total seats you get. If you don’t get an electorate or 5% then you don’t get any. But if you get either 5 % of the list vote, or a single electorate, then you get however many seats your list vote entitles you to.

      • Lanthanide 15.1.1

        Actually the total size of parliament doesn’t affect how many seats any party gets when calculating list seats.

        For example if 1 party won all 70 electorate seats and 0% of the party vote, and another party won 100% of the party vote, we’d end up with 190 MPs in total (the maximum possible overhang).

        Overhangs occur when 1 party wins more electorate seats than it’s party vote share would normally allow for, as has been the case with the Maori Party in the last election. But the overhang for that specific party doesn’t affect the seat outcomes of any other party.

        Calculator: http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/mmp/mmp-calculator.html
        Formula (really it’s an algorithm): http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/mmp/sainte-lague.html

  16. Pascal’s Bookie

    Thanks, that actually explains it real well!!!

  17. Draco T Bastard 17

    This misreporting by 3 News should have the RWNJs panicking.

    Labour’s on 38.4 percent support in the poll, followed by the Maori Party on 22.2 percent, while National’s on just 16.4 percent.

    That is in stark contrast to other media polls, which put National above 50 percent support, with Labour rating at 30 percent or less, and the Maori Party on around one percent support.

    • Lanthanide 17.1

      It doesn’t even mention the mana outcome. The parties they’ve listed account for 77%, so there’s still a good 23% to split between Greens and Mana with some scraps left over for the rest.

      • McFlock 17.1.1

        Mana is apparently 8.5% of general role Maori voters, but 12% of Maori roll voters.

        The Maori electorate breakdown is interesting, though.

        • swordfish 17.1.1.1

          McFlock

          No, I think its:

          (1) Maori on General Roll = 1.6% (Mana)
          (2) Maori on Maori Roll = 12% (Mana)

          All Maori (1)+(2) = 8.5% (Mana)

  18. BWS 18

    Oh look, it turns out my predictions for the TV3 and TVNZ polls turned out to be right.

    • McFlock 18.1

      Not quite. TV3, ok.
      TV1 shows Nat unchanged, labour down 1 (so at best you are half right with “away from labour”). Greens up 3, total lab/green is up 2, and total govt is down 1 (Act).
      Shame you used “both” and “and”. “Or” would have meant you won the bet.
       
       

      • Draco T Bastard 18.1.1

        Wow, don’t you just love the total misleading headline from TV3?

        Latest 3 News poll shows Nat’s support doubled

        No you fucken morons, it hasn’t doubled at all. If it had it would be over 100%.

        • happynz 18.1.1.1

          It’s that new math, don’tcha know?

          If Key were drunk driving and smashed into a pet shop squishing a dozen puppies to death TV3 and TV1 would lead with the story that John Key had single-handedly saved Auckland from a rampaging wolf pack.

  19. randal 19

    At the moment the country is suffering from a mass delusion. you know like the ones where the banking system thought the sub prime mortgages would go on forever. After the party Kiwis will come to their senses and vote for the party that looks after them and not the rich or more importantly the two bob tories who think that if they vote national then they are somebody. yettttccccch.

  20. Jasper 20

    A leaked internal National party poll. Oops! The nat’s are in trouble!
    National 44%
    Labour 23%
    Greens 22%
    Mana, NZ First, Maori Party 11%
    Act are history and did not feature in their polling results! Meaning they’re going to stand Goldsmith as their Epsom candidate.

    ACT faces further turmoil today as the results of a leaked poll are aired, a blow to the party and Don Brash’s leadership. The poll reveals details of a leaked poll that shows John Banks will not win in Epsom “if” National is polling more than 50 per cent nationwide and does not need ACT’s support.
    The survey, understood to be a three-scenario poll by National’s pollster, David Farrar, is believed to show that, if National drops to about 45 per cent it would need ACT’s support to form a government, then Mr Banks would win.
    Voters in Epsom would be likely to back National candidate Paul Goldsmith, effectively putting ACT to the sword.
    -Drunk’n Gardener.

    This was released at 5am this morning after they massaged the numbers again! They couldn’t stomach what the raw data was say’n which are the numbers above! Haha!!

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    After threatening Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of consequences if he dared to bar her entry, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull has been given her visa, regardless. This will enable her to hold rallies in Auckland and Wellington this weekend, and spread her messages of hostility against an already marginalised trans community. Neo-Nazis may, ...
    8 hours ago
  • BRYCE EDWARDS’ Political Roundup:  NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nucl...
    * Bryce Edwards writes – The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Wayne Brown's #Auxit moment
    Boomers voted him in, but Brown’s Trumpish moments might spook Aucklanders worried about what a change to National nationally might mean. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has become our version of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, except without any of the insatiable appetite for media appearances. He ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nuclear submarines
    The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as part of its Aukus pact with the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Posie Parker vs Transgender Rights.
    Recently you might have heard of a person called Posie Parker and her visit to Aotearoa. Perhaps you’re not quite sure what it’s all about. So let’s start with who this person is, why their visit is controversial, and what on earth a TERF is.Posie Parker is the super villain ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    11 hours ago
  • Select Committee told slow down; you’re moving too fast
    The chair of Parliament’s Select Committee looking at the Government’s resource management legislation wants the bills sent back for more public consultation. The proposal would effectively kill any chance of the bills making it into law before the election. Green MP, Eugenie Sage, stressing that she was speaking as ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    14 hours ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #12 2023
    Open access notables  The United States experienced some historical low temperature records during the just-concluded winter. It's a reminder that climate and weather are quite noisy; with regard to our warming climate,, as with a road ascending a mountain range we may steadily change our conditions but with lots of ...
    22 hours ago
  • What becomes of the broken hearted? Nanny State will step in to comfort them
    Buzz from the Beehive The Nanny State has scored some wins (or claimed them) in the past day or two but it faltered when it came to protecting Kiwi citizens from being savaged by one woman armed with a sharp tongue. The wins are recorded by triumphant ministers on the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Acceptance, decency, road food.
    Sometimes you see your friends making the case so well on social media you think: just copy and share.On acceptance and decency, from Michèle A’CourtA notable thing about anti-trans people is they way they talk about transgender women and men as though they are strangers “over there” when in fact ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Climate Change: More Labour sabotage
    Not that long ago, things were looking pretty good for climate change policy in Aotearoa. We finally had an ETS, and while it was full of pork and subsidies, it was delivering high and ever-rising carbon prices, sending a clear message to polluters to clean up or shut down. And ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Is bundling restricting electricity competition?
    Comparing (and switching) electricity providers has become easier, but bundling power up with broadband and/or gas makes it more challenging. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā TL;DR: The new Consumer Advocacy Council set up as a result of the Labour Government’s Electricity Price Review in 2019 has called on either ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Westland Milk puts heat on competitors as global dairy demand  remains softer for longer
    Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products  has  put the heat on dairy giant Fonterra with  a $120m profit turnaround in 2022, driven by record sales. Westland paid its suppliers a 10c premium above the forecast Fonterra price per kilo, contributing $535m to the West Coast and Canterbury economies. The dairy ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 day ago
  • BRYCE EDWARDS’ Political Roundup:  The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    * Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Bryce Edwards: The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public office and becoming lobbyists and ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago
  • A miracle pill for our transport ills
    This is a guest post by accessibility and sustainable transport advocate Tim Adriaansen It originally appeared here.   A friend calls you and asks for your help. They tell you that while out and about nearby, they slipped over and landed arms-first. Now their wrist is swollen, hurting like ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 day ago
  • The Surprising Power of Floating Wind Turbines
    Floating offshore wind turbines offer incredible opportunities to capture powerful winds far out at sea. By unlocking this wind energy potential, they could be a key weapon in our arsenal in the fight against climate change. But how developed are these climate fighting clean energy giants? And why do I ...
    1 day ago
  • The next Maori challenge
    Over the past two or three weeks, a procession of Maori iwi and hapu in a series of little-noticed appearances before two Select Committees have been asking for more say for Maori over resource management decisions along the co-governance lines of Three Waters. Their submissions and appearances run counter ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Secret “war-crime” warrants by International Criminal Court is mischief-making
    The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue war crimes arrest warrants for the Russian President and the Russia Children Ombudsman may have been welcomed by the ideologically committed but otherwise seems to have been greeted with widespread cynicism (see Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants ...
    2 days ago
  • How to answer Drunk Uncle Kevin's Climate Crisis reckons
    Let’s say you’re clasping your drink at a wedding, or a 40th, or a King’s Birthday Weekend family reunion and Drunk Uncle Kevin has just got going.He’s in an expansive frame of mind because we’re finally rid of that silly girl. But he wants to ask an honest question about ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • National’s Luxon may be glum about his poll ratings but has he found a winner in promising to rai...
    National Party leader Christopher Luxon may  be feeling glum about his poll ratings, but  he could be tapping  into  a rich political vein in  describing the current state of education as “alarming”. Luxon said educational achievement has been declining,  with a recent NCEA pilot exposing just how far it has ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: More Labour foot-dragging
    Yesterday the IPCC released the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report, warning us that we have very little time left in which to act to prevent catastrophic climate change, but pointing out that it is a problem that we can solve, with existing technology, and that anything we do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Te Pāti Māori Are Revolutionaries – Not Reformists.
    Way Beyond Reform: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have no more interest in remaining permanent members of “New Zealand’s” House of Representatives than did Lenin and Trotsky in remaining permanent members of Tsar Nicolas II’s “democratically-elected” Duma. Like the Bolsheviks, Te Pāti Māori is a party of revolutionaries – not reformists.THE CROWN ...
    2 days ago
  • When does history become “ancient”, on Tinetti’s watch as Minister of Education – and what o...
    Buzz from the Beehive Auckland was wiped off the map, when Education Minister Jan Tinetti delivered her speech of welcome as host of the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers “here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. But – fair to say – a reference was made later in the speech to a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Climate Catastrophe, but first rugby.
    Morning mate, how you going?Well, I was watching the news last night and they announced this scientific report on Climate Change. But before they got to it they had a story about the new All Blacks coach.Sounds like important news. It’s a bit of a worry really.Yeah, they were talking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • What the US and European bank rescues mean for us
    Always a bailout: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Government would fully guarantee all savers in all smaller US banks if needed. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: No wonder an entire generation of investors are used to ‘buying the dip’ and ‘holding on for dear life’. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Who will drain Wellington’s lobbying swamp?
    Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in Guyon Espiner’s in-depth series published by RNZ. Two of Espiner’s research exposés ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago
  • It’s Raining Congestion
    Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
    2 days ago
  • Checking The Left: The Dreadful Logic Of Fascism.
    The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
    3 days ago
  • Good Friends and Terrible Food
    Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • At a glance – What evidence is there for the hockey stick?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    3 days ago
  • Carry right on up there, Corporal Espiner
    RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are we shortchanged democratically by the way ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • This smells
    RNZ has continued its look at the role of lobbyists by taking a closer look at the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Andrew Kirton. He used to work for liquor companies, opposing (among other things) a container refund scheme which would have required them to take responsibility for their own ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Major issues on the table in Mahuta’s  talks in Beijing with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has left for Beijing for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019. Mahuta is  to  meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang  where she  might have to call on all the  diplomatic skills  at  her  command. Almost certainly she  will  face  questions  on what  role ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago
  • Inside TOP's Teal Card and political strategy
    TL;DR: The Opportunities Party’s Leader Raf Manji is hopeful the party’s new Teal Card, a type of Gold card for under 30s, will be popular with students, and not just in his Ilam electorate where students make up more than a quarter of the voters and where Manji is confident ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Make Your Empties Go Another Round.
    When I was a kid New Zealand was actually pretty green. We didn’t really have plastic. The fruit and veges came in a cardboard box, the meat was wrapped in paper, milk came in a glass bottle, and even rubbish sacks were made of paper. Today if you sit down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how similar Vladimir Putin is to George W. Bush
    Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – Syd Holland, Richard Prebble, Juduth Collins, Chris Hipkins – or by far lesser lights like Keith Allen, Frank Gill, Ben Couch, Allen McCready, Clem Simich, ...
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER:  Te Pāti Māori’s uncompromising threat to the status quo
    Chris Trotter writes – The Crown is a fickle friend. Any political movement deemed to be colourful but inconsequential is generally permitted to go about its business unmolested. The Crown’s media, RNZ and TVNZ, may even “celebrate” its existence (presumably as proof of Democracy’s broad-minded acceptance of diversity). ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Shining a bright light on lobbyists in politics
    Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who believes vested interests shouldn’t have a place at the centre of decision making. Chris Hipkins’ newly appointed Chief of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Auckland Council Draft Budget – an unnecessary backwards step
    Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
    3 days ago
  • Talking’ Posey Parker Blues
    by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    4 days ago
  • More Māori words make it into the OED, and polytech boss (with rules on words like “students”) ...
    Buzz from the Beehive   New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Social intercourse with haters and Nazis: an etiquette guide
    Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • The Greens, Labour, and coalition enforcement
    James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • This sounds familiar…
    RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Letter to the NZ Herald: NCEA pseudoscience – “Mauri is present in all matter”
    Nick Matzke writes –   Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • So what would be the point of a Green vote again?
    James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Gas stoves pose health risks. Are gas furnaces and other appliances safe to use?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
    4 days ago
  • Genetic Heritage and Co Governance
    Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON: Radical Uncertainty
    Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War
    This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    4 days ago
  • The motorways are finished
    After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
    4 days ago
  • Kicking National’s tyres
    National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • As long as there is cricket, the world is somehow okay.
    Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • So much of what was there remains
    The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report   IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
    6 days ago
  • Financial capability services are being bucked up, but Stuart Nash shouldn’t have to see if they c...
    Buzz from the Beehive  The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Things that make you go Hmmmm.
    Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The hoon for the week that was to March 19
    By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
    The KakaBy Peter Bale
    6 days ago
  • Saving Stuart Nash: Explaining Chris Hipkins' unexpected political calculation
    When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    7 days ago
  • Radical Uncertainty
    Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    7 days ago
  • Jump onto the weekly hoon on Riverside at 5pm
    Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Dream of Florian Neame: Accepted
    In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
    1 week ago
  • Snakes and leaders
    And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • This station is Karanga-a-Hape, Chur!
    When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Greens don’t shy from promoting a candidate’s queerness but are quiet about govt announcement on...
    There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • Ask Me Anything about the week to March 17
    Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Slow consenting could create $16b climate liability by 2050
    Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • THOMAS CRANMER: Challenging progressivism in New Zealand’s culture wars
    Thomas Cranmer writes  Like it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • Gordon Campbell on firing Stuart Nash, plus a music playlist
    Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins, Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
    1 week ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges.  Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
    A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • National’s education policy: where’s the funding?
    After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment.  “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Free programme to help older entrepreneurs and inventors
    People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government target increased to keep powering up the Māori economy
    A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Continued progress on reducing poverty in challenging times
    77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech at Fiji Investment and Trade Business Forum
    Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government investments boost and diversify local economies in lower South Island
    $2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government future-proofs EV charging
    Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • World-leading family harm prevention campaign supports young NZers
    Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • First Chief Clinical Advisor welcomed into Coroners Court
    Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Next steps for affected properties post Cyclone and floods
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