Garrett case another example of special treatment for elite

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, September 17th, 2010 - 67 comments
Categories: law and "order" - Tags:

Today’s Herald editorial writes:

Any case of identity theft involves calculated dishonesty. By any yardstick, Mr Garrett was fortunate to be discharged without conviction and to be granted name suppression.

So why did Garrett escape without a conviction?

It’s certainly not the normal outcome in these cases. The Dompost summarised half a dozen other cases yesterday:

2006: Frank Macskasy, 48, of Upper Hutt, is fined $2000 for forgery after using the name and details of a dead baby to get a passport. He said he had wanted to try The Day of the Jackal scam.

2006: Porirua man Dacey Jon Cameron is jailed for two years after attempting to obtain a passport in the name of a dead baby. Cameron changed his name by deed poll in 2004 to that of an infant who died almost four decades before and applied for a passport soon after.

2006: Peter Fulcher, a former kingpin in the Mr Asia drug syndicate, escapes a jail term despite admitting stealing the identity of a five-year-old who died in 1945, to obtain a passport.

2006: Rotorua man Christopher Mark Grose, 36, is fined $10,000 after stealing the identity of a dead baby to obtain a passport.

2005: William Kevin Roach, 49, a United States citizen, is jailed after admitting forgery charges. Also inspired by The Day of the Jackal, he assumed the identity of a baby after visiting a Tauranga cemetery.

2000: Jo-Anne Mary Cole, 43, is sentenced to 4 1/2 years’ jail after being convicted of fraud and passport offences. Cole also used the Forsyth techniques.

So why didn’t Garrett even get a conviction for the same offence others were being sentenced to jail for at the same time?

One part of the answer is that Garrett lied to the Court by telling it that he didn’t have any previous convictions (I’m no legal export but isn’t that perjury?).

Another reason is that he claims never to have used the passport (if you believe that…).

Nonetheless, this was a calculated act that damaged the integrity of our passport system and could have been used for major fraud, which distressed the family of the dead child hugely. And Garrett lied to the Police when confronted. (This guy sure lies a lot, eh?)

The more fundamental reason why Garrett got the soft treatment is exposed in the court records. If Garrett had been convicted he may well have been disbarred – lawyers don’t generally accept having (convicted) criminals in their midst. So, the judge went easy on a fellow lawyer to save his job and reputation.

Being part of the old boys’ club sure has its perks.

[Update: Garrett quits ACT]

67 comments on “Garrett case another example of special treatment for elite ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. comedy 1
    17 September 2010 at 9:42 am

    So Cameron Slater has a point ?

    • Bright Red 1.1
      17 September 2010 at 10:12 am

      about what? Slater was revealing the names of people whose names had been supressed to protect their victims.

      • Whaleoil 1.1.1
        17 September 2010 at 11:17 pm

        Actually that is incorrect.

        Yes i was convicted on one s139 charge but all the others were s140 and from the original court orders the suprpession was at the request of the defendant.

    • paula 1.2
      17 September 2010 at 11:48 am

      [deleted]

      [lprent: As much as I personally dislike the SST, that comment dropped well over the edge. It was straight unsubstantiated defamation. ]

  2. jbanks 2
    17 September 2010 at 9:55 am

    I’m no legal export

    No, no you’re not. But more relevant, you’re no legal expert.

    • Blighty 2.1
      17 September 2010 at 10:13 am

      attention everyone! jbanks has found a typo! On the Interwebs!

      • mcflock 2.1.1
        17 September 2010 at 1:32 pm

        be nice – for once he’s correct and someone else is wrong.

        Hell – I’m headed to my asteroid-impact bunker just in case this is a portent.

        • bbfloyd 2.1.1.1
          17 September 2010 at 1:43 pm

          mcfloccy…you guys must be getting frantic if you think a minor spelling mistake discredits a statement. isn’t it about time you guys(rwnj) got a handle on reality?

          • mcflock 2.1.1.1.1
            18 September 2010 at 2:45 pm

            How about you get a handle on context and therefore who I was suggesting that Blighty should be nice to?

  3. ianmac 3
    17 September 2010 at 10:12 am

    There is not only a question of privileges for “one of us”, but on the face of it there is a pretty huge variation in sentencing. I suppose the other factors have to be taken into account for those other criminals. Thus, had the Magistrate known of Garrett’s conviction for assault, would the discharge been the same?
    Incidentally. The other party in the assault case said that there was “no broken jaw in two places.” There were x-rays taken and they were sent on to NZ. Yet Garrett said that he had had his jaw broken by an assailant. MMmm.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1
      17 September 2010 at 10:30 am

      The other party in the assault case said that there was “no broken jaw in two places.”

      Source?

      I must admit that I’m wondering how on earth you manage to break your jaw in two places when attacked from behind.

    • toad 3.2
      17 September 2010 at 10:32 am

      Garrett could easily clear up the issue of the broken jaw by releasing the x-rays.

      Unless, like the passport he said he never used, he’s destroyed them too.

      Mind you, having lied to the Police about the passport fraud until he reaslied they had enough evidence to ping him anyway, and apparently having then lied to the Court about having no prior criminal convictions after he pleaded guilty to the passport fraud, who would believe a work Garrett says.

    • Rex Widerstrom 3.3
      17 September 2010 at 12:22 pm

      There is not only a question of privileges for “one of us”, but on the face of it there is a pretty huge variation in sentencing.

      Yes, while not denying Eddie’s assertion that being a lawyer (or some other member of “the club”) gives you a very good chance of being dealt with lightly, it can also have the reverse effect if the judge is of the opinion that you’ve broken a sacred trust, brought the profession into disrepute etc etc. My friend David Stevenson was dealt with overly severely for this very reason, I feel.

      As you say ianmac, there’s enormous disparity in sentencing – a “Mr Asia” associate gets zilch, the next example on the list gets a $10,000 fine and another gets prison?!

      The fine v prison disparity may be able to be explained by whether the fine was affordable by one man and not the other (and IMHO that shouldn’t be a reason to send someone to prison who would not otherwise) or whether use was made of the passports (it would have been useful if the DomPost had bothered to dig a little deeper and tell us).

      I’m certainly not in favour of minimum sentences or other attempts to tie the hands of the judiciary. But if you look at statistics for sentencing there are definitely outliers amongst judges. For instance there’s a Magistrate here whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver. If you’re before him for any traffic offence his favourite trick is to deny bail, thus giving you a de facto sentence of about 3 months jail while you await trial. This is well known – to such an extent that the police, if they like you, will schedule the prosecution for a day he’s not sitting – but nothing is done.

      A good start would be simple public reporting (yes, a “league table”!) showing the judges’ names, the offences and their sentencing patterns. Hopefully the system would then be more self-regulating.

  4. john 4
    17 September 2010 at 10:46 am

    I continue to believe ACT are nothing better than a bunch of white collar political criminals. To my mind the subversion of the so called Labour Party by the Rogernomes in the 80s is a crime far outweighing their current petty offences. That Mister Nice would have anything to do with this wild bunch says a lot about him!

    • ABC 4.1
      17 September 2010 at 11:11 am

      Does that include Helen Clark? She was integral to Rogernomics. Or how about the then Minister of Employment, Phil Goff. Not so surprising that he thinks workers trading their holidays is a good idea is it? In which case, what kind of party is Labour now? That any voter would have anything to do with the lot of them says much more.

      • Olwyn 4.1.1
        17 September 2010 at 11:28 am

        Helen Clark was a junior minister at that time, and stuck to her turf. She was not a rogernomics cheerleader. In her position you choose to stay and make changes where you can, or go, as Jim Anderson did. Neither action is dishonorable. What is dishonorable is to sell out on one’s principles all together.

        • Rex Widerstrom 4.1.1.1
          17 September 2010 at 12:31 pm

          You may “choose to stay and make changes where you can” but if it becomes apparent that your power to do so is limited or non-existent the only honourable thing to do is walk away and clearly warn the voting public about the damage (or potential damage) being done by the people in control.

          I gave it six months, then pulled the plug and did what I could to warn people what Lhaws had in mind.

          “Choosing to stay and make (no) changes”, means you’ve put personal ambition ahead of public interest. While everyone who goes into politics has no shortage of the former, their true character emerges when it conflicts with the latter.

          Though he’s burned the goodwill off (and then some) since, and despite my naive belief that Lange would somehow find a way to sort out the mess, I admired Anderton for what he did at the time. I agonised for months over the possibility of a senior role in government, so I know it took guts to walk away from an actual senior role and into the possibility of obscurity.

  5. joe bloggs 5
    17 September 2010 at 10:51 am

    And a few other examples of special treatment for elite to add to Eddie’s collection:

    Mar 18 2006: Acting deputy commissioner Roger Carson said there was a prima facie case the Labour Party Pledge Card had breached the Electoral Act, which prohibits advertising promoting a party unless the party secretary has given written authorisation.

    Nov 24 2005: Police say they have enough evidence to charge Social Development and Employment Minister David Benson-Pope for allegedly assaulting students when he was a teacher, but they will not prosecute because the events occurred 23 years ago.

    July 9 2002: Police announce that there is sufficient prima facie evidence to consider charges of forgery pursuant to section 264 of the Crimes Act 1961 against Miss Clark and Mrs Bush.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 5.1
      17 September 2010 at 2:42 pm

      While you are at . What about the AG inquiry in Bill Englishs claims for accommodation in Wellington or John Keys statuary declaration to live in his electorate ( when he didnt)

      • joe bloggs 5.1.1
        18 September 2010 at 2:39 pm

        … not forgetting Phillip Field of course – guilty of 11 charges of bribery and corruption and 11 of perverting or obstructing the course of justice.

        Not only did the Labour Party refuse to apologise for Field’s, but they refused to even accept he was guilty.

  6. mickysavage 6
    17 September 2010 at 10:53 am

    One part of the answer is that Garrett lied to the Court by telling it that he didn’t have any previous convictions (I’m no legal export but isn’t that perjury?).

    Not unless he was giving evidence but it is reason for the Law Society to open an investigation into whether or not he is a fit or proper person to continue to be able to practice law. Misleading a Court is about as serious as you can get.

  7. rich 7
    17 September 2010 at 10:57 am

    What interests me is that normally when there’s a notable case with name suppression, like that Auckland DJ getting a BJ, it gets reported to the full extent possible without breaching the order.

    Passport fraud is certainly a notable and unusual offence, as is the arraignment of a lawyer (who I think was already active in the SST). But we heard *nothing* about this case.

    Did the cops arrange for Garrett to be snuck in the back door of the District Court for a quick trial and sentence? Or did the media spike the story as conflicting with their narrative of Bad Brown Boys?

    • Bored 7.1
      17 September 2010 at 11:31 am

      I am awaiting Pollywogs contribution, he has said pretty much consistently that “if you are brown you are going down”.

      One wonders about the signals we send in our society when we are so dreadfully soft upon white collar crime and similar from the layer of society that we are supposed to look up to. Meanwhile we come down like a ton of bricks on the poor, disadvantaged etc for their crimes. What it tells me is that authority is far more worried that the lower orders will get “out of control” than it worried enough to police the offenses against the rest of us by the likes of Garrett.

      • Pascal's bookie 7.1.1
        17 September 2010 at 11:47 am

        What it tells me is that authority is far more worried that the lower orders will get “out of control” than it worried enough to police the offenses against the rest of us by the likes of Garrett.

        ….or otago university students

        • mcflock 7.1.1.1
          17 September 2010 at 1:37 pm

          in which context?

          • Pascal's bookie 7.1.1.1.1
            17 September 2010 at 4:43 pm

            What do you think would happen if a thousand odd south Auckland youths started setting bonfires in the street, blocking traffic and throwing bottles at police? I suspect we’d see many more convictions entered than what tends to have happened in Dunners.

            • mcflock 7.1.1.1.1.1
              18 September 2010 at 3:00 pm

              dunno about that – they only reason there weren’t more arrests/convictions down here was because the police were too damned busy chasing and arresting others. And the videographers helped nab a load more over the following months as the footage was analysed.

              Don’t get me wrong, there is usually the discharge w/o conviction if the crime will screw up their career and is pretty minor, but in the more noteworthy events of the past few years they were shit out of luck. And the look of stunned surprise when they found that out was quite funny. And that’s not including the liberal application of semi-discriminate force by the police at the time.

              • Puddleglum …
                18 September 2010 at 3:38 pm

                I see what you’re saying but I think PB’s right when he says that a South Auckland rampage of similar proportions would bring a harsher response. It’s well-understood that student disturbances don’t lead to wider problems (after all, 1968 was a long time ago).

                A rampage in South Auckland – probably quite correctly – would make police, the judiciary and politicians very twitchy over cascade effects, broader social unrest and, ultimately, social upheaval – and you never know where that might end. (Think of the riots in Bradford and other English cities in recent years.)

                It’s one thing to have the sons and daughters of the middle class get drunk and senseless. As you pointed out, even those ‘children’ would be stunned to find out their actions were taken as a serious threat to society.

                It’s another thing to have widespread violence occuring in a deprived, oppressed and marginalised group in a society. Then there’s real trouble. Who knows, some opportunist radical might even try to turn the upheaval into organised resistance.

                Deep down in their bones, that’s what those who are doing ok out of the way things are really fear. In a lot of ways, mainstream politics is simply an argument over how best to handle that potential threat.

                • mcflock …
                  18 September 2010 at 4:57 pm

                  But I would say that the widespread violence that clocked off in a few incidents in Dunedin were nowhere near the sort of level of widespread violence that would clock off in say Porirua – I’m thinking of alienated Algerian immigrant riots in Paris, or Redfern riots/protests against Aus police treatment.

                  It serves no purpose to say “these people are treated more leniently than these other people” if one group’s activities are more imminently dangerous and committed than the other’s.

                  I’m not that saying racism and classism is not reinforced by the police and judicial system, just that the Dunedin:Porirua comparison isn’t it. If, on the other hand, we were talking just basic ordinary crimes (like stealing a pie from a corner store), and see whether a white rich student is charged/diverted/convicted as opposed to a m/p unemployed school leaver, then that would be more interesting social commentary. For some reason lifting a pie is more prejudicial to the career of somebody hoping to graduate in a couple of years than to the career of a kid looking for a job now.

                  • Puddleglum …
                    18 September 2010 at 5:16 pm

                    Agreed, though it’s all bound up together – and that was part of what I was trying to say.

                    Racist responses can be understood as based on fear about the “imminently dangerous” situation that arises when one ‘race’ oppresses another. Suppression of slave revolts in the Caribbean in the late 18th/ early 19th centuries were carried out in emphatically racist ways and backed by racist rhetoric but were basically about fear of the “imminently dangerous” nature of the general social situation (i.e., slavery).

                    Similarly, the fact that “the widespread violence that clocked off in a few incidents in Dunedin were nowhere near the sort of level of widespread violence that would clock off in say Porirua” is partly because of an implicit understanding (by police, judiciary, ‘middle New Zealand’) of the different social settings.

                    Who knows, maybe someone of lower SES (white or brown) might be given a harsher sentence (for pie stealing) because of the same implicit understanding of the social setting (e.g., fear that the oppressive conditions they live in means they will be more likely to re-offend). That’s pretty much the same, isn’t it, as fear that violence by young brown people in Porirua is more likely to ignite more widespread violence than that ignited by mainly white young people (and ‘students’) in Dunedin?

                    Both cases – the Porirua riot and the pie stealing – represent equally “interesting social commentary” from that perspective.

                    • mcflock …
                      19 September 2010 at 12:04 am

                      So is the actual threat level in an area of group disorder always the same?
                      Is a disorderly group of males posing up for cameras and girls of the same threat level as a disorderly group of genuinely angry males who have been alienated and discriminated against?

                      I would say no.

                      A difference in response is not necessarily based on race or class, the actual threat level needs to be kept in mind. The Porirua kids might have a better reason to riot, but it doesn’t mean they’re as wussy as a 2nd year BCom.

            • ryan 7.1.1.1.1.2
              18 September 2010 at 10:20 pm

              The only entire shopping malls destroyed by drunken youths in the thousands are in WEST auckland.. NACT keep it up and they will strike the world cup, mark these words.

      • pollywog 7.1.2
        17 September 2010 at 1:32 pm

        Man… i’m about done on the subject…

        The whole political/judicial system is eurocentrically biased since its inception over 150 years ago and theres not the slightest bit of concerted effort to truly change it as long as the voter base electing succesive gov’ts, of whatever political leaning, pander to the inherent eurocentric cultural bias and the sellout uncle Tom’s accept the token gestures of political inclusivity, at the expense of speaking out on these issues.

        What’s any of the political reps got to say on this, and more so i’m asking the question of the Su’a Sio’s, the Peseta Sam’s, The Carmel Sepuloni’s and even the prospective Kris Fa’afois ?

        From personal experience to media reporting, TV programmes targetting poor people and low budget crime, to abuse of name supression, to conflicts of interest with judges affecting their rulings, to soft sentencing for those of ‘good breeding’, even to property rights for rich beachfront owners differing from rightful Maori owners and lower priced leases of Maori owned land to favoured leasees…it’s fucking criminal

        but the definition of criminal is measured on a sliding scale of factors that have nothing to do with the punishment reflecting the severity of the crime.

        I attended a presentation by NZ’s top Pasifikan policeman a few nights ago. A man of 30 plus years in the force whose ranks reflects the time invested. His voice cracked and tears welled up as he recounted stories of the ‘dawn raids’ of the 70’s where even he, as a teenager, was pulled over by cops and questioned as to his legitimacy status despite being NZ born and was close to arrest because he couldn’t produce his birth certificate as he was walking home.

        He made mention of ‘pig patrol’ volunteers from the Polynesian Panthers, who tailed police in finding the paddy wagons which signalled the taskforce specifically targetting Pasifikans. These ‘panthers’ then went on to advocate for those in police interviews and in court. Panthers, who, i have no doubt, would have been considered ‘uppity niggas’ that don’t know their place.

        While the times have overtly changed on ‘the thin blue line’ it doesn’t seem to have changed much in the judiciary system where like B said… If you’re brown you’re going down.

        So where’s our Pasifikan political reps speaking for us on this and advocating for us in parliament ? Wheres the one bi partisan voice reaching out across the house to echo these sentiments ? Wheres the condemnation of Maurice Williamson in joking about us having our ‘papers in order’ to Oscar Kightley, a member of the NZ Order of Merit.

        I CANT FUCKING HEAR YOU !!!

        just like our voices in the street cant be heard by wider society, yet the actions of not being heard, in us becoming a silent and invisible underclass, are reflected in our embarassing health, education and employment statistics.

        The current solution from the current gov’t, being to build more prisons in partnership with private enterprise to put more of us in jail and put more money into the rich eurocentrists who perpetuate the cultural bias that primarily contributes to said embarassing stats, is reminscent of ‘the final solution.’

        as long as we’re positively portrayed as the jovial, happy, humble, fat roly poly christian then sure…”lifes a gas and then you die” and as for the rest, jail us and sterilise us so we cant breed more criminals.

        That, coming from a lying, fraudulent, violently offending law and order spokesperson whose crimes were knowingly covered up by himself, the judiciary and his parliamentary boss is why, beyond the initial anger, a deep set frustration sets in that says..

        aint a damn thing gonna change anytime soon.

        ahhhh…Ok now i’m done, for today at least 🙂

        • Bored 7.1.2.1
          17 September 2010 at 3:59 pm

          Thanks Polly, knew you would deliver. have a top weekend.

          • pollywog 7.1.2.1.1
            17 September 2010 at 4:33 pm

            storm’s coming in, i’m all outta firewood and the chainsaws blunt…dammit

            …but still i’ll have a better weekend than a lot of others who’re wayy worse off than me

            you have a top weekend yaself…B

            never let the fuckers grind ya down !!!

        • BLiP 7.1.2.2
          19 September 2010 at 12:56 am

          as long as we’re positively portrayed as the jovial, happy, humble, fat roly poly christian then sure…”lifes a gas and then you die” and as for the rest, jail us and sterilise us so we cant breed more criminals.

          Couldn’t agree more. Did you see Carmel’s post over at red Alert?

  8. Name 8
    17 September 2010 at 11:36 am

    Garrett’s just one of the 99% of politicians who give the rest a bad name.

  9. randal 9
    17 September 2010 at 11:39 am

    so garret is an elite.
    out with it.
    what has he got to be elite about.
    we (that is the people ) want to know.

  10. burt 10
    17 September 2010 at 12:29 pm

    As his mentor always said; “move on”.

    hey great he’s resigned eh… it was the only right thing to do and it’s a pity his mentor validated herself rather than did what was right.

  11. ak 11
    17 September 2010 at 12:30 pm

    He’s gone. Just remains now as to whether he takes Hide with him – and whether Hide rakes Grinny on the way down. On the latter, watch for the results of a deal.

    • toad 11.1
      17 September 2010 at 12:36 pm

      No, he’s gone from ACT, not from Parliament – at least yet. But as a list MP who resigned from his party becasue of personal disgrace rather than policy differences, staying on as an MP would be completely untenable.

      • burt 11.1.1
        17 September 2010 at 12:53 pm

        Taito managed to hang in pretty well but I doubt ACT will provide the level of shelter that Labour did….

  12. rich 12
    17 September 2010 at 12:46 pm

    Didn’t stop Donna Awatere-Huata.

    Thing is, Garrett (and Boscawen) bought their way in with a big donation. Maybe ACT will realise that while auctioning list spots might be in line with neocon principles, it doesn’t make for a high quality of candidate.

  13. burt 13
    17 September 2010 at 12:51 pm

    So far with the exception of Rodney disgraced ACT party members move on – big contrast to disgraced Labour and National party members who tell us to move on.

  14. Zeebop 14
    17 September 2010 at 12:58 pm

    Garrett should resign. He obviously is too stupid to be an MP, he must have known
    his mug was on a fake passport somewhere, and that being the Law and Order
    shrill for the extreme right ACT would bring him to the attention of every
    criminal investigator. How dumb was that? Someone immediately picking up
    a copy of the passport application and saying, that’s sure isn’t, it can’t be,
    yes, it is, it’s Garrett MP for law and order! Garrett knew the police were investigating
    the Israeli passport fraudsters and it was inevitable they’d go over old unused
    passports, use new databases of births, deaths, etc..

    Garrett could have saved ACT by bowing out then, but he tired it on, just as we
    now find he didn’t tell the court about his Tongo assault conviction when the
    judge handed down the slap on the wrist for the passport fraud.

    WFT this guy is still a MP, why isn’t Hide, Key, Goff…

    Garrett is gone.

  15. randal 15
    17 September 2010 at 1:34 pm

    you zoomin me rich dude.
    did garrett and boscawen really buy their seats?

    • Anne 15.1
      17 September 2010 at 3:39 pm

      In effect Randal they did.
      Boscawen by making very generous donations starting in the mid 90s.
      Garrett via the SS Trust who also generously donated to Act over the years.

  16. toad 16
    17 September 2010 at 1:35 pm

    Woohooo!!!!! More to come…

    I was further advised that the only safe thing for me to do in the legal sense was to apply to the North Shore District Court – where my case was heard – for a waiver or discharge of the suppression order so I could be free to speak about my own case. That has now been obtained so I am freer to speak that I was, but issues have arisen regarding the affidavit I swore in that case which means I am unable to discuss that aspect of the case.

    Does that mean what I think it means – that he’s now being investigated for perjury?

  17. Lez Howard 17
    17 September 2010 at 1:41 pm

    Good ridance to the little bag of snot Garret

  18. Noirth 18
    17 September 2010 at 5:26 pm

    It’s the fascistic madman Garth McPricar needs to be looked at closely now……

  19. Swampy 19
    26 September 2010 at 1:09 am

    Why wasn’t Trevor Mallard prosecuted by the police for assault as a Government minister? Maybe it had something to do with being a Government minister at the time? Yet when Shane Ardern backed his tractor up the steps of Parliament, Helen’s government got the book thrown at him.

    Why wasn’t Labour prosecuted for stealing the $800,000, clear enough evidence against them? oops, they were the government? Why did they have to pay it back if they hadn’t broken the law?

Links to post

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • LOGAN SAVORY: The planned blessing that has irked councillors
    “I’m struggling to understand why we are having a blessing to bless this site considering it is a scrap metal yard… It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Logan Savory writes- When’s a blessing appropriate and when isn’t it? Some Invercargill City Councillors have questioned whether blessings might ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 hour ago

  • Surely it won't happen
    I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    9 hours ago

  • Let Them Eat Sausage Rolls: Hipkins Tries to Kill Labour Again
    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    18 hours ago

  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    Bowalley Road
    23 hours ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    2 days ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    1 week ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-10T01:49:50+00:00