Gluckman: Methamphetamine policy was a crock

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, May 30th, 2018 - 80 comments
Categories: class war, drugs, labour, making shit up, national, paula bennett, phil twyford, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags:

One of the many sensible early steps taken by Phil Twyford was to reverse Housing Corporation’s insane policy on methamphetamine.

Under the last Government it had a policy that any trace found in a Housing Corporation unit would start the process of getting the person evicted as well as in some cases seeking damages for over the top repair bills. And there would be an ongoing affect on tenants if they applied for accommodation in the future.

This zealous action was described by the Drug Foundation as a witch hunt. This was written in a Radio New Zealand article in 2016:

Housing New Zealand has ignored repeated warnings from senior government officials that the meth testing guidelines it was using to evict its tenants were only meant for houses where the drug had been manufactured.

The Ministry of Health has repeatedly told Housing New Zealand that its methamphetamine guidelines were to be applied only for the clean up of former meth labs, and were not intended to monitor homes where the drug has been smoked.

Yet hundreds of tenants have been evicted from their state homes, after Housing New Zealand detected tiny traces of methamphetamine in them, and are often made to pay tens of thousands of dollars in clean up fees.

The ministry has just published new guidelines saying meth can be found at three to four times higher than the level being used as a reason to evict tenants.

Director of protection, regulation and assurance, Dr Stewart Jessamine, said the ministry had repeatedly made clear it had concerns about the way Housing New Zealand was using the ministry’s guidelines.

“The guidelines are very clear – that they are only for use in houses where methamphetamine has been manufactured. We have pointed out (to Housing New Zealand) and communicated that these guidelines are clearly for use in houses where meth has been manufactured,” Dr Jessamine said.

Putting it as simply as I can if a former meth lab was cleaned so that it met the permitted level it could confidently be said that the levels of all of the toxic chemicals used in the manufacturing process would be safe.  But for houses where methamphetamine was consumed but not manufactured the level was way lower than it had to be.

This did not prevent the last Government from creating a moral panic over the presence of methamphetamine.  And for harassing state house tenants at the same time.

Paula Bennett herself was in the centre of the get tough policy.  The Herald quoted her in this article in 2016:

“Any situation where methamphetamine use has been found in social housing is unacceptable, but the number of young children in this case makes it particularly distressing,” [Bennett] said.

Almost 400 Housing New Zealand properties are uninhabitable as a result of P, according to the most recent figures.

Most contaminations are a result of P use, rather than the houses being used as P labs.

In the last six months alone, Housing New Zealand has spent $5.8 million on testing and remediation.

“Housing New Zealand is taking a much stricter approach to detecting and dealing with serious drug use in its properties,” Mrs Bennett said.

“Frontline staff are better trained to look out for contamination, use and manufacturing. If a property is found to be contaminated, the tenancy will be terminated.”

Testing properties for methamphetamine and cleaning contaminated ones was costly and time-consuming, she said.

“When we have hundreds of people waiting for social housing, it’s disappointing people break the law and deprive others of homes.”

The meth testing and building industries certainly had a great time from the policy.  It is estimated that Housing Corp spent $100 million on testing and repairs.

Phil Twyford thought the policy was madness and promptly reversed the policy when he became Minister.  His thoughts were recorded in this Radio New Zealand article.  He was quoted as saying:

“… Housing New Zealand are changing their policy and they are moving to a new approach for dealing with this issue that I think is more compassionate and more considered.”

The minister said if methamphetamine traces were found now support, not eviction, would be the first approach.

“Over the last three years Housing New Zealand, on behalf of the tax payer, has spent $75 million on testing and remediating houses that are or were allegedly contaminated.”

Mr Twyford said this had left hundreds of properties empty.

“Some 900 properties have been left vacant in the middle of a housing crisis on the basis of a methamphetamine contamination standard that cannot distinguish between a place that is genuinely contaminated from the manufacture of methamphetamine, and would endanger the health of someone living in that house, and an infinitesimally small residue that would pose no risk.”

He said a kind of moral panic over methamphetamine had taken hold.

“I think that has been drummed up and exploited by a meth testing industry that saw an opportunity to make a dollar.

And yesterday the PM’s chief science officer Peter Gluckman also rubbished the former Government’s policy.  Again from Radio New Zealand:

The country’s top scientists say New Zealand has been gripped by hysteria and are recommending people do not test their homes for meth – unless the Police specifically indicate it was a meth lab.

A new report by the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Sir Peter Gluckman found there’s never been a documented case of someone getting sick from third-hand exposure to meth.

Sir Peter said there has been an inexplicable leap in logic in New Zealand in which clean-up standards for meth labs jumped to become a measure for passive exposure.

“There’s absolutely no evidence in the medical literature anywhere in the world, of anybody being harmed by passive exposure to methamphetamine at any level,” Sir Peter said.

“We can’t find one case in the medical literature, we can’t find one case by talking to experts where there is evidence of harm … it makes no sense.”

The “inexplicable leap in logic” that Gluckman talks about is the political utility for National to be “tough on crime” and beat up on poor people at the same time.  Their supporters expect it.  Sure a housing crisis was made much worse by boarding up multiple houses and hundreds of ordinary kiwis were terrorised and had their lives disrupted but this appeared to be outweighed by the political benefit of having something tough to say when Ministers were asked what they were doing about the methamphetamine crisis.

I am pleased it is over.  But National and particularly Paula Bennett need to wear the opprobrium that a reality and science based analysis of the real situation is generating.

80 comments on “Gluckman: Methamphetamine policy was a crock ”

  1. One Anonymous Bloke 1

    Unless National Party enabled fraud is prosecuted, they’ll keep on doing it.

    Prediction: there will be no SFO investigation into this massive fraud. The perpetrators will move on and find a way to launder the money, and start up some new scam. National Party MPs will continue to receive their bribes in the form of “lucrative business opportunities” when they leave Parliament.

    Investigate. Prosecute.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.1

      Yep. These people need to be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

    • Baba Yaga 1.2

      When is Metiria Turei being prosecuted for ACTUAL fraud OAB?

      • One Anonymous Bloke 1.2.1

        When the SFO gets down to the dollars and cents infractions, I suppose. In the meantime, malfeasance is comprised of purported exercise of duty, malice and/or willful disregard, and actual harm to individuals.

        As a dupe of Rand, you’re supposed to abhor harm to individuals, but here you are, chucking deflections around.

        That’s ok: you all look the same to me.

      • NZJester 1.2.2

        How about a certain Nation MP who might have done even more while on the benefit than Metiria Turei? One who managed to stifle any proper investigation getting underway to look into her suspected fraud?

  2. mac1 2

    Phil Twyford knew, back in 2016.

    https://www.labour.org.nz/558_state_houses_left_empty_based_on_dodgy_p_testing

    558 houses left empty during a housing crisis. At that time $22 million had been wasted on unnecessary, ‘dodgy’, testing.

    At the same time, we couldn’t spend that kind of money testing problems now costing a billion- like m.bovis. Millions given away to Saudi Arabia on a ‘sheep deal’. $20 odd million on a new flag fiasco.

    Money laundering rules almost useless we learn today. A 1% strike rate.

    That National government really did not have a clue. Lest we forget.

    • ropata 2.1

      QFT

      At that time $22 million had been wasted on unnecessary, ‘dodgy’, testing.

      At the same time, we couldn’t spend that kind of money testing problems now costing a billion- like m.bovis.

      Because they were testing bludging beneficiaries not important job creating productive farmers and one of these groups happens to have political power and the other has none

      🙄

      • mac1 2.1.1

        Ropata wrote “Because they were testing bludging beneficiaries not important job creating productive farmers and one of these groups happens to have political power and the other has none.”

        And the National government cared little for the beneficiaries, and depends on the farmers for votes, financing and support.

        In my home town, there were over twenty HNZ homes shut up, and up for sale under National. Now, thirteen new HNZ homes are being built. The HNZ houses are no longer for sale.

        In December there were 78 on the social housing register, having increased from 18 over 4 years. Under National.

        A $3.6 million transitory housing project has just been opened, with 17 units. Under $200,000 per unit of good motel quality,with house for the property manager and a lot of land. To give credit, the previous government began this project, but only after huge and ‘relentless’ advocacy from a local woman, in conjunction with the Methodist Mission.

      • patricia bremner 2.1.2

        This current Government should name those businesses which benefited from Paula’s “mistake” Did she know/recommend them?

        So careless with our purse, Paula, while berating others wanting a small lift to their benefits!!

        Such sickening attitudes. Anyone put out of their homes under these faulty rules and downright bullying behaviour should have that reversed and they should have their name cleared.

        I say “bullying” because there was a power imbalance which was used by her.

        Quite wealthy people will be compensated for mbovis impacts, and we accept that, yet poor people were penalised for “mistakes” and “P” impacts and stigmatised.

        Well done Phil! No wonder they are bad mouthing you!! You are showing up their cruelty bigotry and bad interpretation of the science.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.2

      That National government really did not have a clue.

      I suspect that they knew what was happening and encouraged it as it was making a profit for themselves and their donors.

      • mac1 2.2.1

        Draco T, I suspect you are right!

        My wording “didn’t have a clue” was not intended to exonerate National. They didn’t have a clue about government of the people for the people.

        Wouldn’t it be good to have our suspicions continue to be tested in the court of public opinion and come to be seen to be factual.

      • patricia bremner 2.2.2

        DTB, +111

  3. Antoine 3

    Well done Twyford and everyone else involved.

    A.

    • Antoine 3.1

      I always wondered if the anti-meth policy was driven by HNZ in arse-covering mode, worried that it would be held accountable for risks to tenant health under H&S legislation. Does anyone know if there is any plausibility to this?

      • ropata 3.1.1

        Zero plausibility, A desperate Nat ploy

      • mickysavage 3.1.2

        It was driven from the top of Government. There is no other explanation for the political glee for what was happening.

        • McFlock 3.1.2.1

          Pretty much.

          A positive meth test immediately made the cost of refurbishing the dwelling commercially stupid. And selling it at “as-is” prices ensured that the sale wouldn’t be enough to finance an equivalent replacement.

          Perfect “no fault” downsizing of HNZ.

      • Cinny 3.1.3

        Antoine, was reading some articles last night, one of the comments was particularly interesting.

        Apparently, according to the comment, the prior meth testing standards were set by a committee made up of ESR Scientists (who weren’t listened to), Meth testing and de-contamination companies (dodgy asking them for advice) and Housing NZ (get the tenants out we’ve state asset houses to sell off).

        Edit… found the comment and article…

        “NZ Standards came out with a new standard in January. NZS 8510:2017 is where we find the numbers that Gluckman correctly debunks.

        The committee setting the standard was made up of people from ESR, a test lab, the meth test/cleanup industry and Housing NZ. The ESR input was some thoroughly researched material that said pretty much the same as Gluckman’s report. It was pretty much the only “scientific” input into the standard setting process. It was largely ignored. ESR are scientists, not lobbyists so did not make a fuss.

        Standards could start by binning the current rubbish in NZS 8510:2017 – written by and for the cleanup and testing “industry”. If we must allocate any blame for the present nonsense it belongs to the NZ Standards Authority. They will no doubt have a way to cover their collective butts. ”

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104287037/the-meth-house-is-a-myth-theres-no-risk-from-drug-smoking-residue-govt-report-finds

        • pat 3.1.3.1

          so the ESR guys knew the truth but said nothing??

          • Pat 3.1.3.1.1

            a new poster?….a different handle perhaps

          • NZJester 3.1.3.1.2

            I doubt they kept quiet because they wanted to, but were very likely hamstrung by the normal at the time National Party policy of legally gagging them from making comment under contracts they signed.

  4. Robert Guyton 4

    Oops!I My eyes have deceived me. Terry?

  5. dukeofurl 5

    This is only incidental to the news of the moral panic over P, but Gluckman is the Chief Science Advisor to the PM, he doesnt write the reports himself.

    They commission and release the reports, here is a link to the actual report
    http://www.pmcsa.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Methamphetamine-contamination-in-residential-properties.pdf

    The actual writers are credited here
    Research, analysis and writing was carried out by Dr Anne Bardsley and Dr Felicia Low of the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor.

    I think we should appreciate and acknowledge their work.

    • Cinny 5.1

      Well said Duke. Thanks Dr Anne and Dr Felicia for your work.

      • greywarshark 5.1.1

        Reading about those two superior women who have gone on to superior jobs for university trained women flying higher than disrespected women in the old days, makes me think about an old comedy routine by Peter Sellers.

        A young man from a leading family was so musically talented that the whole village was raising a fund to send him ‘to Rome, Paris, or anywhere’. I am sure that NZ is now too small for these talented advisors, they should be over there – in Britain perhaps. That might be now their next elevation in the moneyed milieu.

      • patricia bremner 5.1.2

        I think how families have been treated under tose rules… It is a scandal and Paula should face an inquiry.

        • Chris 5.1.2.1

          A lot of HNZ tenants wrongly kicked out of their homes ended up in motels for weeks and weeks, and having to pay the benefit advances back to Work and Income. The justification for this was that the tenant themselves caused the need for the emergency housing so the assistance became recoverable. Now that the meth testing crock has been exposed it’s clear that those required to pay back often tens of thousands of dollars should not have had to. Even without this meth palaver requiring beneficiaries to repay tens of thousands of dollars back as a result of meeting the criteria to receive hardship assistance under the Social Security Act is wrong. It’s especially wrong when the tenant was wrongly evicted. I hope advocacy groups go hard on this one.

  6. ianmac 6

    Noted on TV News last night that those who have businesses to “clean-up” P contamination are crying foul, and say testing and cleaning must continue. Will play on ignorance and fear? Surely not.

  7. adam 7

    So the people who were kicked out, then given huge bills. Will they get an apology at the least. Probably not. Compensation, yeah right. A state house to live in because they need it, now I’m dreaming mate, I’m dreaming.

    Tory politicians and their mates never apologise, or accept responsibility. Nor fix the giant messes they make.

    Can we arrest John Key yet?

    Funny some of the Tory supporters on this site have harped on the last few days about some people’s worries about paying out farmers, shouting – show some compassion, and governing for all.

    Here is a reality check – your lot did not govern for all, they did not show any compassion, and worst of all they punished rather than act in a civil manner.

    Like I said earlier, can we arrest John Key yet? It’s not literal proposition, but a point about morality. As we are being shown over and over – we had a government for 9 years who had no morality, just a ideology of hate. And one who gave up on Christianity, to worship the false idol of greed.

    • gsays 7.1

      While not against the idea of arresting politicians and putting before a jury, my concern is capacity.
      The mega prison has been scrapped, where would we put them all?
      Would there be a statute of limitations?
      In my short time walking the earth, I go back to Roger Douglas and the ‘reforms’ of the eighties.
      I understand Keith Holyoak(?) was involved in dodgy goings on around lake taupo, involving roading and private property…

      There is that chap who has had private prosecutions against prominent persons… a givealittle page perhaps.

  8. esoteric pineapples 8

    For some people, moral disgust at society and how it exists is an innate part of their being. So someone must be punished, always and at all times.

    • patricia bremner 8.1

      Failure to do the elected job’
      Causing harm to persons and reputations.
      Knowingly using incorrect facts to do that.
      Using huge amounts of public taxes to “prove” you are correct.
      Performing like a seal in Parliament.
      Wow just bloody Wow!!!

  9. I feel love 9

    Will go down as infamous as the dawn raids of the 70s/80s. Also ex Northland ex cop Nat MP was up to his neck in the meth scare panic & the drug testing business (when he wasn’t massaging pre pubescent girls necks that is). Making money off other peoples misery.

  10. Ad 10

    Looking forward to the government holding the previous Ministers to account in Parliament.

    Hopefully the story rolls for a while and we get to see the true extent of methamphetamine use in New Zealand rather than the usual media-driven stories about an impending rising tide.

    I would simply like a reality check across the entire system about methamphetamine after this.

  11. Last year TV ( can’t remember which one ) revealed that the majority of the test scamming companies were owned by real estate agents.
    I have often railed about “provider capture “, this is a classic example.

  12. greywarshark 12

    I heard Tariana Turia this morning saying that compensation should be paid to those turfed out by NZHousing on the P spurious grounds. She pointed out that the reason the people were in NZ Housing homes was because they were needy and vulnerable. She said that probably they would not find a landlord anywhere else
    meaning they would not fit the criteria of the landlord or agent. She wondered where they would be living now as renting becomes ever harder.

    I think that Tariana is right. Not having housing makes you so vulnerable, it is taking an important factor in security and basic living standard away from a single person, and denying a family especially with young or disabled children, to a mockery of care from the government about enabling all to have necessities.

    But also when you are poor, having a ‘good’ name may be all you have, and what enables you to have pride in yourself, despite the apparently hateful and spiteful behaviour of authorities. It attacks the person’s own integrity and personal strength but also will affect her or him monetarily in different ways. Talk about kicking someone who is down! I despise people when they commit this violence on the street and in homes, and I carry the same feeling towards authority that is sadistic enough to commit this behaviour. Why do they do it – because they can!

    • Draco T Bastard 12.1

      Wasn’t Tariana part of the National government that put this oppression in place?

      • Rosemary McDonald 12.1.1

        Good point.

        Tariana having to cough up dead rats. So that was that horrible noise coming from the radio this morning.

        She will, no doubt, argue yet again that it was better to be in government than in opposition and its all about making compromises. As long as whanau benefit.

        I’d like to see an actual measurement of how much Maori gained from the Maori Party’s deal with National.

        At a guess…sfa.

      • greywarshark 12.1.2

        DTB
        Aren’t you an integral part of this left-leaning blog? And don’t you constantly rail against capitalism and yet find that nothing much changes despite your best efforts. Yet you haven’t found a better blog to work through I note.

        About Tariana Turia. You know perfectly well that you go into a Party and you get the package. You may not like all the package, but you may go along anyway because you hope in the end you can do good in another way if the Party carries forward its promises to you. But then there is the problem that a policy may be carried out in a different way than what was presented when being explained and agreed to.

        So no potshots at Tariana, and all of us really. We are all doing our best in a fluid and uncertain situation; democratic politics involves uncertainty. Zlavoj Zizek said that it was difficult in Tito’s ‘westernised’ communism in Yugoslavia because it was often uncertain as the rules changed. Authoritarian politics is the one that is rigid and TINA, and we are trying to pull back judicially from that.

        • Rosemary McDonald 12.1.2.1

          “So no pot shots at Tariana…”

          I sincerely hope she appreciates your support. I used to be a Tariana cheerleader, until she and the other two MP members quite happily voted with National to deny basic rights and then,then denied doing so.

          Accordingly to my values if you are going to do something morally repugnant, the least you can do is a) remember doing it and b) be able to justify/explain to someone personally affected why you chose to behave in such a reprehensible fashion.

          • greywarshark 12.1.2.1.1

            Fair enough Rosemary. I think that people who have been slightly useful at least should get some recognition for that. I’ve been disappointed so often that the sight of a candle burning in the darkness is a lighthouse beacon for me.

        • Sabine 12.1.2.2

          can you kindly provide us with a list of whom we are allowed to take potshots at?

          Cause the Maori Party in its quest to be ‘in Government’ at all cost was part to the dehumanization of poor tenants in state housing that were vilified, evicted, presented as drug users or as drug pushers and who ended up in the Streets.

          I can not recall hearing anyone from the Maori Party and its representatives that were a support Party in the National Government from 2008 – 2016.

          So no, Tariana and her colleagues to a big part were part of the parcel that caused this human misery no matter how much she and her colleagues would like to deflect from this.

          • greywarshark 12.1.2.2.1

            Sabine
            You are so definite.. Thinking like a guillotine. This person has neglected things, done things, allowed things, in the past and should never be acknowledged as doing something good.

            can you kindly provide us with a list of whom we are allowed to [give praise and acknowledgment to] take potshots at?

    • bwaghorn 12.2

      If they compensate housing nz tenants then you will also have to compensate those private owners who spent $$$ fixing houses or selling them at a knocked down price.

      • patricia bremner 12.2.1

        bwaghorn, No,I don’t agree. Beneficiaries lost their home, their reputation and were charged with huge costs. They can not sue.
        The private person was duped so they can sue.

      • Sabine 12.2.2

        and everyone who spend money on having houses tested at great cost.

        Oh, nah, its not cows. Right?

      • One Anonymous Bloke 12.2.3

        you will also have to compensate those private owners

        Why? The facts were just as much in the public domain for them as they were for HNZ.

        Sure, Methcon et al lied to them, and maybe they have a case for fraud or unfair enrichment or breach of contract or whatever. But their negligence – believing the things companies owned by National Party affiliates or real estate agents say – will leave them wearing at least some of the costs and that isn’t our problem.

        My chief concern is that the Police have not announced an investigation into Paul Bennett et al’s malfeasance.

  13. It is a pity Peter Gluckman, as science advisor to John Key, did not speak out more
    forcefully at the time.

    Also it is a pity that nurses and teachers, quite rightly feeling they should be paid more,
    did not threaten strike action during the 9 years National were in power.

    • greywarshark 13.1

      It is a matter of strategy no doubt. The groups looking for change might have put out tentative feelers and been promised ‘all in good time’ or ‘we will have to cut down on nursing staff if we pay more out of what we have budgeted for you’.

      Gluckman may have noticed that the meth thing was not based on science at all,
      the presence of the drug in minute quantities was being used as an excuse of a ‘highland clearing’ from the government estate, so that they in gummint could make more profitable use from it. You can only talk science to people who are operating with their full, healthy brain. With RW people the brain has atrophied somewhat or largely.

      It would be interesting to try an experiment putting rogue capitalists under a scanner and say ‘key’ words like profit, gold, stock exchange, taxation then try cold, hunger, pneumonia, despair to them and watch various parts of the brain light up or remain immobile. Then try that with beneficiaries on the edge of total impoverishment. I would think that everything said to them would light their whole brain, because they are in such a state of stress about everything.

  14. Draco T Bastard 14

    The country’s top scientists say New Zealand has been gripped by hysteria

    Was it the country or was it the politicians trying to stir up the population so as to make work and profit for their donors?

    But National and particularly Paula Bennett need to wear the opprobrium that a reality and science based analysis of the real situation is generating.

    They should be made to pay back the ~$100 million plus that they wasted.

  15. mickysavage 15

    I just found this Radio NZ interview from October 2016 where Dr Stuart Jessamine from the Ministry of Health talked about Housing Corporation “abusing” the guidelines and he reemphasised that the guidelines were ONLY for meth labs.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201821439

    And look at this, Bill English announced a review of evictions for the presence of Meth in November 2016 but then backtracked …

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/317226/minister-backtracks-on-meth-eviction-review-comment

    • dukeofurl 15.1

      Thats right English was Minister for Housing NZ for a period after 2014 election. I think that was mainly so he could push the sell off of State houses.

      Are we able to pin this on him?

  16. Stuart Munro 16

    It wasn’t just a crock, it was a rort. And the government had to change to end it.

    The rort should see all the wrongdoers repaying their ill-gotten gains. The corruption of parliamentary processes that allowed it to continue also requires a review.

    The next one to look at is workplace drug testing. 95% of it is dysfunctional.

    • tc 16.1

      workplace drug testing on the C level and senior managers first please.

      If they’ve nothing to hide then they’ve nothing to fear so it shouldn’t be an issue. If not then they don’t get to subject the rest to it, simple as that.

      I mean they are pitched up as the socially responsible, accountable and transparent leaders on massive never at risk wedges of cash.

      • Stuart Munro 16.1.1

        Most senior managers performance isn’t sufficiently critical to merit drug testing.

        Surgeons – any loss of motor control is a big deal, and the medical profession, because of access and knowledge, is at increased risk.

        Passenger drivers, airline pilots and air traffic controllers. The rest is nonsense.

    • NZJester 16.2

      A rort that was taken advantage of by a large number of cowboy firms that set up business to cash in.
      A lot of those who owned the cleaning companies also owned the testing companies and there was an incentive because of that for them to find traces of meth. A lot of the testing done was also very unscientific with the same swab used to swab multiple locations when they are meant to use a different swab each time. They had people performing the tests who simply did not have the correct qualifications to be able to administer the test an make sure it was not contaminated by an outside source. As a result, the test results tended to be way higher than they should have been. The test also used had a reputation for giving false positives and a second more expensive test carried out correctly would be the only way to tell if it was a false positive or not. Some operators deliberately did some of the tests wrong to get more false positives to get more money for the more expensive test to be done.

  17. David Mac 17

    This truth will prompt disappointment right across the political spectrum.

    The family standing on the curb that didn’t need to leave after all and the owner looking at the receipts for pointless meth tests after every tenant departs and their inflated insurance premiums.

    Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators that have awarded millions of dollars of damages for non existent breaches. It’s over for businesses established to deliver a fairy tale service.

    It’s great that the truth about the danger of third party exposure has come to light. I think it’s important that this revelation doesn’t dilute the accepted dangers associated with first hand exposure. You don’t need to be a scientist to see the results of an addiction that stretches on. Gosh I struggled to recognise someone that seemed to know me really well the other day, eventually enlightened… they were a shell of what they once were.

  18. The Chairman 18

    It seems HNZ is rather culpable. Along with National’s seemingly poor oversight.

    Nevertheless, the concern here should be that this Government doesn’t make a similar mistake when setting new levels.

    With the Chief Science Advisor to the Government, Peter Gluckman, stating he wouldn’t be worried about “toddlers crawling around on the floor” until the meth residue reached the level of several hundred micrograms per 100cm2, surely the level HNZ has now adopted (15mcg per 100cm2) is still far too low.

    Therefore, one hopes the Government doesn’t settle on this extremely conservative level HNZ has adopted.

    It seems they (HNZ) will still be creating unnecessary costs and harm, hence the Government needs to also to act swiftly.

  19. ScottGN 19

    Paula Bennett on Checkpoint. Nothing to do with her…she’s just the minister following HNZ advice…etc, etc. How did we get lumbered with these fuckwits for so long?

  20. Incognito 20

    It seems Paula Bennett hasn’t paid enough attention to her former boss John Key who once said this:

    He’s one academic, and like lawyers, I can provide you with another one that will give you a counterview.

    Or maybe she has …

  21. Historian 21

    Only in New Zealand! If we can’t get a simple decision like this right, who can have any faith in policy on more complex areas?

  22. Ken 22

    The whole health and safety industry is an out of control monster.

  23. Ken 23

    If you’re interested in National’s involvement in this rort, google “Mike Sabin Methcon”

    • KD 23.1

      Methcon, surely the name of Mike Sabin’s business should have alerted all to his game!

  24. CalumB 24

    The myth played right into National’s ideology. It allowed them to demolish houses or blocks of apartments and sell off the land for redevelopment, and in the meantime leave people, vulnerable people, homeless.

  25. Timeforacup of tea 26

    Typical of our New Zealand scientists.
    Can’t even get sea level rises correct

  26. JustPassingThrough 27

    The whole meth thing is a crock.

    There is no epidemic.

    You don’t get hooked trying it just once.

    More people admitted to using cocaine and more than twice admitted to using MDMA (Ecstasy) in 2017 then to using meth, ffs.

    And yep, no one has ever been harmed from being in house where meth was smoked but plenty of people have been inconvenienced by not being able to buy effective cold medicines…

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  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    41 mins ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 hour ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    8 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
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    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
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    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
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    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
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    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
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    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
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    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
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    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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