Have Winston’s rights of privacy been breached?

Written By: - Date published: 5:16 pm, August 7th, 2013 - 51 comments
Categories: john key, winston peters - Tags: ,

Hot on the heels of Peter Dunne’s privacy problems another MP claims to have had an attempt made to breach his rights of privacy.

As noted by Idiot Savant Winston Peters has made some startling claims in Parliament this afternoon.  He asked the Prime Minister if he was aware of any occasion where Key’s staff had sought or reviewed the phone records of a private citizen for reasons other than national security?  Key could not rule it out.  Then Peters in the general debate claimed that Police had wanted to access his phone records because someone wearing a New Zealand First T shirt had been seen outside the venue of the Teapot tape when the famous cuppa occurred.  This information is apparently contained in the information release about the teapot case that recently occurred.

Of major concern is that the file apparently records that Mr Key’s Chief of Staff Wayne Eagleson had been “kept in the loop” during the investigation.

The Herald reports Peters as saying:

There is information in a police file that says police would have to take Winston Peters’ phone records to lay charges and make a case against Bradley Ambrose … [m]y telephone records were going to be seized in an operation that was sparked by the Prime Minister’s office and monitored by the Prime Minister’s office.

This is not Zimbabwe. This is New Zealand.

This is yet another example where rights of privacy appear to have been trashed for the benefit of the Prime Minister.  New Zealand if you are not already you should be very afraid …

51 comments on “Have Winston’s rights of privacy been breached? ”

  1. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1

    You mean either:

    “Have Winston’s rights of privacy been breached?”; or

    “Has Winston’s right of privacy been breached?”

    [If you google “rights of privacy” the phrase appears in a number of places. Depends if there is an individual right or a number of associated rights that when grouped together can be considered to be “rights of privacy” – MS]

    • In Vino 1.1

      GF is right – agreement of verb!!

      [Right you both are and I have corrected – MS]

  2. insider 2

    Seems like careful use of the future conditional

    ]”my telephone records were going to be seized in an operation”

    were they?

  3. BLiP 3

    Early days, of course, but it certainly looks like Winson has a legitimate concern, and a question. Or two. It seems Winston is convinced by the documents he holds that the police were privvy to his telephone records. If that’s the case, did John Key sign a warrant to spy on Winston or did the police carry out spying without a warrant? If nothing else, why would John Key’s Chief of Staff, Wayne Eagelson, be “kept in the loop” regarding a police investigation that had nothing to do Mr Eagelson’s duties as a public servant?

    Meanwhile, John Key cannot understand why anyone would have any reason to be the slightest tiny bit concerned about him being in sole charge of our spying agencies. Unless, of course, John Key understands perfectly and is just lying. As usual.

  4. tc 4

    ‘This is not Zimbabwe. This is New Zealand’ but edging closer with every legislative and off the record behind closed door deal.

  5. Chooky 5

    +1 BLip @ tc

    …..Good performance from Winnie as usual….I doubt he will go into coalition with Key

    (.By the way the photo illustration heading this post does not do him justice)

  6. wtl 6

    You can listen to more detail from Peters in the following interview from Radio NZ:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2564832/peters-says-tea-tape-investigators-wanted-his-phone-records

    In it, he asserts that the police must have wanted the phone records because they already knew about the occurrence of some specific phone calls (during which Peters was apparently alerted to the contents of the tape). This aspect is particularly troubling – how did the Police know this if they had not already seen the records? Peters could have been told of the tape contents by e-mail, word of mouth or any other such method. As Peters points out, the police would not make such an assumption unless they already had some knowledge of a phone call.

    In addition, he points out the the file he has seen makes repeated references to Eagleson being “kept in the loop” which is quite extraordinary as I cannot imagine any normal police investigation would have such a reference to the complainant being “kept in the loop”.

    • karol 6.1

      Well, I don’t think Peters’ comments in the interview enable any strong conclusions to be made. HE seems convinced the request for phone records, but he didn’t provide any explanation of hard evidence. He said the request for phone records was specific, but they don’t seem to have been specified by time period. It’s just that the police seemed to know Peters had found out about the content of the tapes via phone calls. The evidence Peters gives for that is that they were looking for phone records rather than email records, or contents of a letter.

      however, they could have found out about the phone calls by word of mouth – maybe not Peters’ mouth, but someone else’s.

      I will still wait to see what evidence turns up.

      Peters was a bit too vague.

      • wtl 6.1.1

        You are right, there is not enough evidence to really know one way or another. From what I can tell, Peters has a very limited file which is suggestive of something rather untoward going on, but the file itself does not provide details. From what I can gather:

        1) Peters had phone conversations with 2 people about the tape.
        2) Somehow the police knew they might need to get “phone records” of Peters to proceed with their case. They were specific about the need for phone records (although they never did actually ask for the records, possibly because the case never went to trial).
        3) Peters is adamant that the other participants of the phone calls would not have told the police.
        4) Therefore, Peters is suggesting that the police knew or were told about the phone records from some other source. He is implying that this source may be the Prime Minister’s office.

        If it is true that the Prime Minister’s office some how had access to Peter’s phone records, this is deeply disturbing. In saying that, I really cannot believe that Prime Minister’s office would have been stupid enough to do so AND leave a paper trail that they had done so.

        It is also extraordinary that there are multiple statements of Eagleson being “kept in the loop” regarding the investigation. If it really was just a normal procedure, they would not have needed to note that in the file (i.e. it would be implicit). These references suggest that they may have been actual political interference in the investigation, which is disturbing in itself, more so given that it occurred at election time and involved police executing searches on newsrooms.

        In any case, it seems that Peters is using publicity to ensure that the complete file is made available to him or made public. If they refuse to release the file now, it will look like they are covering something up.

        • yeshe 6.1.1.1

          wtl — “These references suggest that they may have been actual political interference in the investigation, which is disturbing in itself, more so given that it occurred at election time and involved police executing searches on newsrooms.”

          Of course there was political interference. Why on earth was there an investigation in the first place ? The very nature of it was 100% political — and all because bratboyKey was recorded in a public place to which he had invited media and only two weeks out from an election.

  7. leftriteleft 7

    30 seconds on TV1 News. What a crock of shit.

    We have to get rid of these Prestitutes.

    • Anne 7.1

      Thanks for that leftriteleft. I turned off at 6:25pm. Total crap! It coudn’t be clearer now…they are deliberately avoiding or playing down news coverage which is damaging to the NAct govt. It’s blatant and disgraceful. Despite Patrick Gower (who gives me the impression he might be at last learning a thing or two – I hope I don’t regret saying that) TV3 is now the superior news channel. What’s more they give us decent coverage of overseas news too which is almost non-existent on our parochial, mind numbingly infantile and egotistical TVNZ.

  8. ratesarerevolting 8

    Winston is a [snip – can’t you do better than that? MS]

    • Jilly Bee 8.1

      Go back to Whaleoil or Kiwiblog ratesarerevolting – no need to bring TS down to their common denominator.

      • Jilly Bee 8.1.1

        Thank you mickeysavage, sheesh I am no prude – but that description is not what is need on TS.

  9. vto 9

    ” He asked the Prime Minister if he was aware of any occasion where Key’s staff had sought or reviewed the phone records of a private citizen for reasons other than national security? Key could not rule it out. ”

    The fact Key can’t rule it out means, of course, that it has happened.

    Key has been running roughshod over pretty much every single law, regulation, norm, constitutional thingy, everything everything…

    And of course so has Collins – acting ultra vires, predetermined, dishonestly.

    Many in NZ wanted a business person to run the country – well, there you go, we have had one and looky at what’s happened… it has been run like a business. A money-trading business. A used car salesyard. A south Canterbury finance. A Fonterra. A Pike River…..

    …that is what NZ is being run like. Rules shat on, ignored and bent. Lies told to customers and suppliers. Rip shit and bust.

    Key should never ever get a knighthood.

    • Rhinocrates 9.1

      Key could not rule it out.

      Well isn’t that interesting?

      We could be heading towards New Zealand’s Watergate if things turn out well, or its Reichstag fire/fizzle if they don’t…

      Key should never ever get a knighthood.

      He will or he won’t. If he doesn’t, I’d pledge to eat my underpants, but it’s far too likely. If he does, it will speak volumes about the state of our former democracy when it’s far too late.

    • Anne 9.2

      Many in NZ wanted a business person to run the country – well, there you go, we have had one and looky at what’s happened… it has been run like a business. A money-trading business. A used car salesyard. A south Canterbury finance.

      A used car sales yard is the most appropriate description. You know, one of those places that sell second hand overseas cars with the speedometers wound back…

      Yes. I’m pissed off tonight. When you think about the Key/ Collins/ Bennett debacles and the despicable lying and bullying and what happens? The media pretty much ignores it all as though none of it is important. Nuff to make a maiden cry…

      • RedLogix 9.2.1

        Yes. That’s the bit that gets me Anne. If Labour had done anyone snippet of this it would have been the end of the world.

        But then again you have to remember that Helen signed that painting ….

        • Rhinocrates 9.2.1.1

          “You fuck one sheep and…”

          Sigh…

        • Anne 9.2.1.2

          But then again you have to remember that Helen signed that painting ….

          Oh of course, I forgot. I mean that was a really heinous crime wasn’t it. 🙄

    • toad 9.3

      Key should never ever get a knighthood.

      I’m hoping that at some stage something sticks that Key cannot slip away from and he gets a prison sentence rather than a knighthood.

      I recall well the Muldoon years with Piggy using the SIS and Police to victimise Springbok Tour protestors, and what is going on now is worse.

  10. karol 10

    ” He asked the Prime Minister if he was aware of any occasion where Key’s staff had sought or reviewed the phone records of a private citizen for reasons other than national security? Key could not rule it out. ”

    The fact Key can’t rule it out means, of course, that it has happened.

    Not necessarily, it was such a general question Key might just have been being cautious. It occurs at the end of Robertson’s primary question vid.

    It would have come as a surprise to Key. He might have been unclear what Peters was referring to but feeling Peters was trying to set a trap, wanted to go away and check. Since then Key has denied it happened, and the police have denied requesting the records.

    • vto 10.1

      “Since then Key has denied it happened, and the police have denied requesting the records.”

      And you believe both Key and the police?

      • karol 10.1.1

        Well, ultimately, I can only go on solid evidence of what has been said. Key tends to muddle his words and muddy the water rather than telling outright lies when put on the spot. I doubt the police would lie outright over such a matter.

        This is how RadioNZ is reporting the responses:

        Police said on Wednesday that Winston Peters’ name came up due to public statements he had made about knowledge of the contents of the tape. However, they say his records were not accessed – nor was there any application for a warrant to access those records.

        Prime Minister John Key described Mr Peters’ allegations as nonsense and it was entirely up to police how they conducted their investigation.

        Mr Key said a police complainant is generally kept informed on progress of their case – but any suggestion that his office influenced or was aware of the operational details of the investigation is offensive.

        The police seem pretty certain about what they did. Key is a bit more vague about it (without having his direct quotes) – it looks like he is being a bit vague about his role and talking in generalities rather than saying directly what he did or didn’t do.

        I think its necessary to have solid evidence before accusing anyone of lying – even slippery Key.

        • vto 10.1.1.1

          I can understand that approach in certain circumstances however in a joepublic capacity it is apparent that we have been kicked in the goolies too many times to go back, which is a crying shame. Imagine if we had a PM we could trust and who did not distort situations, or even, not be a compulsive liar? Wouldn’t that be something? Has there ever been one do you think?

        • chris 10.1.1.2

          “Mr Key said a police complainant is generally kept informed on progress of their case ” k

          that’s the bit I find interesting. If Police are keeping the complainant informed why on earth would Eggleson be “kept in the loop”?

      • David H 10.1.2

        I wouldn’t trust Key as far as I could spit against the wind in a Hurricane.

        The Police?? Unfortunately about the same. Totally untrustworthy. And their scandals keep coming, Planted evidence, Innocents in Jail for 20 years. etc etc

  11. Tigger 11

    Was the PM’s office kept in the loop. Simple question to Key in the House or an OIA.

    If the answer is yes then by who and why?

  12. Wayne 12

    Karol, This is surprisingly careful of you. Actually to be fair, you usually are, though I would have to say I sometims wonder if you have even read the GCSB Bill and the amendments, given some of the claims made of it. But in any event that is another matter, although I think Helen Clark brought some rationality back to the debate, unlike my former colleague Gehan who was writing in the Herald a couple of days ago.

    As I have said many times here, in these sorts of questions the PM, or any Minister, has to be careful in their reply, especially since it was a “ambush” question.

    For instance a straight “no” (even though the answerer thinks that is the situation) which is then contradicted is hugely embarrassing. Most commentators on this site would immediately say the PM is a psychopath and a liar (well most here already do anyway).

    • mickysavage 12.1

      So Wayne by this claim that Helen Clark “bought some rationality back to the debate” I presume you are referring to the suggestion that her comments supported the GCSB law changes.

      My understanding of Helen’s comments are:

      1. She always acted on legal advice when issuing approval to the GCSB to do anything.
      2. If there is the problem identified by the Kitteridge Report then a law change is justified.
      3. There is no way that she was approving the frankly grotesque increase in powers that is currently being given to the GCSB.

      Helen has always been very careful and diplomatic when she has talked about New Zealand’s situation. To interpret this diplomacy as support for what is frankly a totally unjustified increase in the state’s powers is insulting in the extreme.

      • vto 12.1.1

        Well said mickeysavage. I heard Helen Clark too and she was very careful to outline what you relayed there. However, you missed out the very important steps that she said would need to be attended to in ‘repairing’ an area of law as important as this one. These steps have been completely and utterly ignored by this bunch of cheap cowboys…

        skycity casino deal
        bain compensation
        ecan sacking
        gcsb laws
        dotcom spying
        laws for hollywood
        loans for mediaworks
        money for scf investors

        It is no wonder Fonterra runs such an abysmal operation – look who they look up to ffs

        • In Vino 12.1.1.1

          Agreed – Helen was always lucid, careful and logical. Unfortunately she lacked Key’s likeability (for those who could not appreciate her qualities). Key’s lucidity is limited to slick dodginess, as far as I have seen. His language is smoother but simpler, if with endearing and obfuscating faults.

          I wonder if we know all about the Fonterra thing yet, I have heard a whisper that it is almost impossible for this problem to have arisen only from a dirty pipe: the Hautapu factory may not be entirely at fault.

          To me the Fonterra issue is: was the problem kept unannounced for any commercial reasons?
          If so, then heads really should roll. But too soon to say?

          Sorry – I had forgotten all about poor old Winston..

    • idlegus 12.2

      no you are wrong, wi expected key to say “no” because if he was “aware of any occasion where Key’s staff had sought or reviewed the phone records of a private citizen for reasons other than national security” then i think any other answer is quite shocking. , & would want to know why they had sought the phone records of a private citizen for anything other than natioanl security.

  13. TruthSeeker 13

    Key’s denials mean nothing and my understanding is that at least one media outlet has the documents that Peters referenced in the House today. So we will soon get to see.

  14. tricledrown 14

    winston will play this like a very slow striptease

  15. burt 15

    If Peters has gone against most prior precedent and he’s actually got something that he doesn’t need parliamentary privilege to hang Key on his flat out denial then …. Ok – one proven liar proves another did it too. If Winston has any balls he will ask Key to hold up a big NO sign so he can humiliate him like he was humiliated himself.

    But putting that to one side, the big issue is Key coud get hung on this one… But I’m picking Winston is just being Winston.

  16. Tanz 16

    some people here can say whatever they want, others get told off for nought. Winston this, winnie that. The pollies are locking Kiiws out from debate and decisions, both on the left and the righ, a game Is being played.

    [lprent: Argue all you like. Someone is sure to disagree with you. The moderators usually don’t care.

    Just don’t do the types of *behaviors* that moderators notice. I will give a hint direct from the about/policy.

    Whining about how the site is run is a sure sign of someone who hasn’t read it. We watch people who think that they run the site. If they persist, they eventually get the Pete George effect – a bums rush to help them build their own site where they can set their own rules in their miniscule audience. ]

  17. xtasy 17

    This is a MUST watch space, and as I have observed Winston, he is a master of theatrics, and he is also a master of getting into media limelight. Yet he can always deliver stuff nobody expects, and his master piece was the “wine box” affair. So never forget that, he can deliver surprises. So it may well have something to it, but I would not rush to conclusions as yet.

    Good on Winnie though, keep the damned JK (not JFK) on his feet!

    • Tigger 17.1

      Now that it’s clear the PM’s office were in the loop more than an ordinary complainant there’s fire and not just smoke. JK’s ordinary bloke facade has slipped.

    • Chooky 17.2

      +1 xtasy

      Winston looks after the elderly ….maybe he should be worked on to extend his reach to the 800,000+ non voters that Labour has neglected …..and who didnt vote Labour last time …ie the natural labour voters who are not inspired by the right leaning Goff or Shearer to vote…..

      If Labour is so contemptuous of its voters ( that it cant put in Cunliffe as leader) maybe Winston can step into the breach and consolidate his position…by advocating for the unemployed and sickness beneficiaries….I think he already does to some extent ….by saying jobs for NZers before jobs for overseas immigrants

  18. Sable 18

    Have to start calling Keys the Richard Nixon of the southwestern pacific. The difference is Nixon was stood down and those who aided him in Watergate were arrested. What the hell is going on in this country and where is the Governor General in all this? About time Keys and co were brought to account….

    • Colonial Viper 18.1

      What the hell is going on in this country and where is the Governor General in all this?

      Is that the Governor General/ex-head of the GCSB?

  19. Tanz 19

    OK Iprent, thanks for clarifying that. I have bees in commenting here for a few years. Open debate from those on the right seems to be unwelcome. The left do not own politics in NZ, even if they think they should. lots of swearing and name calling here too,, Disagreeing with a post should be allowed. . thanks for the heads up though.

    • lprent 19.1

      Disagreeing with a post should be allowed.

      Disagreeing with the content of a post is not a problem. However targeting the author is not allowed. The site needs authors to write posts and a frequent tactic to dissuade them is to tie them down in personal conflicts. Repetition will get harsh bans and a some even harsher abuse from me if I see it. It allows me to protect both the authors and the site from an attack. I also run a policy of being quite vindictive against anyone who has been banned for it in the past.

      That accounts for more than 40% of all of the ban weeks we do on this site for obvious reasons. I consider that someone who is a fool enough to do that to authors on their own site is ipso facto far too stupid to participate in any kind of meaningful dialogue into the foreseeable future. Darwin award material.

      The next most common reason for weeks of ban is for those strange people who think that they can force their own rules on how this site is run and what it should write about. Mrs Grundy behaviour is a classic darwin award anywhere on the nets – the usual response is “if you don’t like it – then start your own and set your own rules there”. Usually they don’t (seem to be adverse to work), if they do then it drifts for a while and then dies, or it may carry on for years with a minimal audience.

      My personal response is to be as scathing as possible when I see people repeating that particular one. This is a good thing…

      After all a more diverse net is a better net. Like the classic anti and prescriptive political parties in the style of NZ First, the Conservatives, or RAM, we need places on the net for all people to go and comment (away from where I have to read them).

      Incidentally the third most prolific are people trying to do early diversions in a post on top-level comments. Not addressing the content of the post, but trying to make the post comments head off into a different topic is irritating to authors. It appears to have a marked increase coming up to an election. So I’ve been warning people a lot about that recently and started to warn by moving their comments to OpenMike. Sometime in the next month or so I will start escalating it. I’m thinking I’ll start with 2-4 week bans and then rapidly start escalating to bans until after the election. I’ve just been reading back to the last two elections and having a refresher on the tactics that have been used in the past.

      These three account for almost all of the bans handed out here over the last couple of years…

      Open debate from those on the right seems to be unwelcome.

      The moderators and I don’t care. We’ll usually just pile in with the rest of the people arguing iff we have time. Some of the most interesting discussions are triggered from comments by the right. However you’ll tend to notice that some of the regular commentators get somewhat acid at people who keep repeating the same mantra’s over and over again and attempting to divert (rather than deal with) or ignore responses pointing to flaws in their argument (Pete George is often a good example). If we wanted soundbites unthinkingly repeated endlessly then we’d be reading Whaleoil or listening to talkback radio.

      The swearing and name calling isn’t an actual problem for the moderators when moderating. This isn’t a childs forum. A good rule of political thumb is that if political debate isn’t heated then you should start taking bets on when the next social and political revolution will take place.

      However abuse without explaining the reasons for it is (in the policy as “pointless abuse”) is something we watch for. You’ll see moderators targeting people with a specific pattern of that behaviour. But if they are trying to get other people who don’t respond (ie like the droners of the previous paragraph) to respond then it tends to be more tolerated. If they are doing it to avoid responding as a defensive diversion or to try and kick off a flame war then it is a issue for the comments section of the site.

      You’ll also see moderators eventually target people who do simply fire and forget comments. Who clearly don’t read the responses to their comments at some point and respond to them (I test for that) or respond by simply attacking their critics rather than refuting their arguments. They don’t contribute much and tend to lose their entertainment value pretty rapidly.

      There appear to be more of them on the right. Personally I blame that largely on the poor quality of the forums where they learn their debating skills. Many of their arguments often amount to some variation of “everybody knows” often without being able to link to anything supporting their assertions… And it isn’t just the “right”

      The point is that people have to be prepared to debate and *defend* their assumptions openly if they want to survive here. Droning a few silly catch phrases and some canned responses doesn’t work well here at many levels. If I see a lot of them trolling the same line then I view it as being a simple attack on the site and start dealing with it accordingly.

      Often using the “debating” skills that work at Whaleoil, or even at Kiwiblog isn’t particularly effective because you have to be able to defend your ideas with intelligence and links, rather than just asserting them with stupidity. It isn’t openly debating opinions that is unwelcome, it is how they are argued.

      Personally without the restrictions we place on ourself’s that it isn’t the content that we moderate but mostly the behaviour, then personally I’d have cut off a lot of debates. The chemtrail or 9/11 debates. The ideological role of women in society. The moronic assertions that temperatures measured in europe is same as what happens in the whole world. Or what happened in the labour movement in the 1980’s. Or any number of others.

      These erupt in OpenMike whenever people get vaguely bored. All of these are articles of faith for their various adherents. But unlike many of the more simple-minded commentators on the right, their adherents (from all over the political spectrum) can mostly argue – even if what they argue often appears kind of silly (to me).

      There are a few debates and commentators that we tend to shutdown as soon as we see them. Attacks on children. Racial bigots. Simple minded attempts to push women back into the kitchen. Incitements to violence. Anything that edges over the bounds of defamation law in NZ for those not in the narrow confines of the public interest as expressed in the Lange vs Atkinson case. Assertions of unsupported defamatory “fact” against politicians. Breaches of a privacy including any attempts to “out” people. But these either follow the legal proscriptions or the duties of various ombudsmen. We view them all as being attempts to damage the site and act accordingly.

      What rapidly becomes unwelcome here is people debating their ideas stupidly. The biggest stupidity is usually to attack the site. Their ideas (mostly) get a lot more toleration.

  20. captain hook 20

    Jon Keyote is turning into a right little rightwhinger.
    every time something happens he runs off to the cops.
    what a fucking cry baby.

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  • 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
    23 hours 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    2 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 ...
    2 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 ...
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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 ...
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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 ...
    2 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    3 days 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 ...
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    3 days 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
    4 days 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
    4 days 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
    4 days 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 ...
    5 days ago
  • Under New Management
    1. 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. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    5 days ago
  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    6 days ago
  • 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.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    6 days ago
  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    6 days ago
  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    7 days ago
  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    1 week ago
  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    1 week ago
  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    1 week 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
    16 hours 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 days 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
    5 days 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
    5 days 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
    5 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    7 days 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
    7 days ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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