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Heart you too, John

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, August 15th, 2009 - 38 comments
Categories: Media - Tags:

In former journalist John Armstrong’s piece today, he also writes:

“a frustration and impatience towards National still displayed by some of the shriller Labour-aligned blogs, which find fault with anything and everything the Key Government does while expecting their breathless critiques to somehow bring forward its demise”

Aww, you noticed 😀

Seriously though, John. Any substantive critique or just empty attacks because you don’t like hearing robust criticisms of your mate Key?

Here’s what we’ve criticised National for this week:

  • taking away sports funding from poor kids to give to rich kids
  • reinstating knighthoods
  • making false attacks on Labour’s economic record, rather than trying to fix the economy
  • failing to set an emissions reduction target that matches the science
  • the ‘competition has failed, more competition is the answer!’ power review
  • Bennett’s attack on our rights
  • not doing anything about unemployment
  • Not inviting workers to a conference on workplace safety
  • deploying the SAS while clearly being ignorant of the situation in Afghanistan
  • their ideologically driven privatisation agenda (re Auckland airport)
  • poor design of the home insulation programme
  • Ripping off the taxpayer with their accommodation rort
  • Beneficiary bashing

Were any of these criticisms baseless or gratuitous? Should we not have made this criticisms because they’re not going to move the polls? 

This is a left-wing blog, we’re going to disagree with the ideas and policies of a right-wing government quite a bit because we are espousing opposite views (incidentally of 30 posts, only 20 were anti-National and one agreed with English).

Passionate? Yes. Forceful? Yes. But our posts are substantive, they’re issues focused (in stark contrast to your writing, John), and they are grounded both in data and in ideology. We welcome people who want to come and debate against our arguments.

If you can’t come up with any real rebuttals of our arguments, John, and resort to bitching instead, then I feel a bit sorry for you.

38 comments on “Heart you too, John ”

  1. IrishBill 1

    To be fair to John he’s probably a little upset about the number of times the Standard has pointed out clear flaws of logic in his work.

    We’re also not supposed to be rude to the gallery, it’s one of the unwritten rules that they must be sucked up to at all costs. That’s why Farrar never criticises them and it’s also the likely reason so many of them have got used to saying any old shit that’s in their heads and assuming it’s true.

  2. Peter Martin 2

    *laff* Fair call.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1

      Ow, that has got to hurt.

      AntiSpam: relationship – NACT probably need to consider theirs

  3. Bill 4

    On “deploying the SAS while clearly being ignorant of the situation in Afghanistan”

    “A law that lets Afghan husbands starve their wives if they refuse to obey their sexual demands has been quietly slipped into effect”…..”Nato countries threatened to withdraw their troops unless the legislation was drastically rewritten”…”it has since been “gazetted”, effectively making it law.”

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/karzais-secret-uturn-on-afghan-rape-law-1772524.html

    What’s the SAS presence in aid of again?

    • If you think this war’s about liberating these people from that absurdity, think again. It’s not a simple good vs evil equation.

      Read more of the Independent and you may gain a more comprehensive understanding.

      • Bill 4.1.1

        Yeah, yeah. I know it’s not black hat white hat stuff. But that’s the way the NZ government tries to portray it…evil Taliban blah, blah, blah….anyway. They essentially back that nice guy Karzai.

    • BLiP 4.2

      US corporate hegemony.

      Get with the programme – since when did National Inc give one single flying fuck about the plight of Muslim women? Try peddling that tripe over on Kiwibog if you want an idea of how National Inc’s heartland feel about Muslim women. They even hate New Zealand women. Crazy.

      • Bill 4.2.1

        ffs. Seems folks is getting the wrong end of the stick with regards to my comment above.

        Propaganda for domestic consumption in other countries partaking in the occupation = b/s about how their concern for women’s rights might lead to a withdrawal. In other words, they are trying to portray themselves as good guys who have standards when it comes to who they will support (They don’t. We know this. But the Independent’s pieces come on top of rising public doubt because of rising death rates…100 UK troops this year = need to respond and make out your the guy in the white hat.)

        Meanwhile NZ jumps in to fight the good fight with both feet. And the propaganda behind fighting of the good fight in a NZ context merely amounts to fighting on the same side as Karzai ’cause he’s unquestioningly a good guy.

  4. Ianmac 5

    To be fair John Armstrong is one of the old school and it might take a while for him to understand the implications of blogs like this. Still he must read them for inspiration?

  5. Lew 6

    I commend Danyl’s take on this all to the virtual house.

    L

    • Eddie 6.1

      This really is vintage Danyl. We’ve done plenty of criticism of the Goff-led Labour Party, in fact I’ve even been quoted in the mainstream press telling Goff to “get his shit together”. Posters here also frequently advocate policies well to the left of Labour, or criticise Labour for its gutlessness in pursuing its own objectives.

      It seems to me Danyl sees what he wants to see in the standard, and what he wants to see (much like you do Lew) is blind and uncritical partisanship – even after he’s written posts on his on blog critiquing our criticisms of Labour.

      As Daveo points out, the idea that we defended Winston Peters or predicted a Labour landslide in 2008 is ridiculous. I think it says something that for his thesis to work he has to invent facts to support his argument. That he’s had to ignore all our previous criticisms of Goff and Labour as well speaks to a certain level of intellectual dishonesty on his part.

      On the point that the broad Left should be critical of Labour’s current performance, clearly I’m in agreement. If he actually read the real standard rather than the standard in his head he’d know that.

      And if he’s concerned that not enough criticism (or, judging by his previous posts, the wrong criticism) is being levelled at Labour then he’s welcome to write a guest post here, as is anyone.

      Meanwhile I’ll continue to point out where I think the Government is wrong, and where I think the opposition could do better, as will other posters here.

  6. Rich 7

    Like I said over at the Dim Post, “I’ve seen plenty of criticism of Goff from the left, including on The Standard (who I don’t recall defending Peters or predicting a Labour landslide). As usual you seem to be unable to critique someone without misrepresnting their position in your usual smug manner.”

    Typical response from Lew though, the only person on the internet who’s possibly more smug than Danyl McLaughlin.

    • Daveo 7.1

      That’s to be expected from the likes of Lew and Danyl McLaughlin. Neither have any real experience in real world politics so come from a position of naivety, and both have the detached liberal’s sense of arrogance and smugness.

      Neither, to my knowledge, has ever done anything to actively advance the cause of the left. All they’re good for is sniping at and trying to belittling those who are actually doing something.

      Seeing as Lew’s such a pedant (he does post at Kiwipolitico after all), I wonder if he’d like to square his full endorsement of McLaughlin’s comments with the two flat out lies that form the core of his argument – firstly, that The Standard defended Winston Peters, and secondly, that The Standard predicted a landslide victory for Labour. Lew?

  7. mike 8

    “Any substantive critique or just empty attacks”

    This is the question you should be asking yourselves Ed – Any is justified criticism is too thinly dispersed between unsubstantiated smear

  8. Lew 9

    Oh, a nerve.

    Eddie,

    My endorsement is of the argument in general, rather than the specifics. For what it’s worth I’m thrilled at the criticism you and others have leveled at Labour; but it’s frankly not enough given how damned poorly they’re doing. As I said at the Dim-Post and plenty of times before, political movements need to be constantly tested and scrutinised. Labour has, since before the election, been insulated from the consequences of its errors to an extent which has allowed it to become complacent. A lot of this was an absence of effective criticism by Labour’s base. By refusing in the name of unity to properly put in the boot, The Standard has been complicit. I was complicit, too, and not as critical as I could have been. This was, and is the fundamental problem for Labour, not details of policy or strategy. Resolve the systemic issues which result in leaders getting poor information and guidance from the electorate and the rest will solve itself – Labour has the support and the talent to do it, but they need to be properly incentivised.

    I have a great deal of time for Phil Goff as a politician and a political thinker; probably more than most of Labour’s left and the Green supporters here. But I don’t believe he is a strong enough leader for the present circumstance, and on that basis I think he should return to his areas of expertise – Foreign Affairs, Defence, Trade.

    It may be that you reckon there aren’t major problems with Labour’s performance in opposition. It may be that you endorse Labour’s strategy, which seems to be to hope National fails. It may be that you’re more patient than I am and have more faith in Labour’s internal structures. I’m not confident of any, really.

    Rich, Daveo

    Typical response from Lew though, the only person on the internet who’s possibly more smug than Danyl McLaughlin.

    That’s to be expected from the likes of Lew and Danyl McLaughlin. Neither have any real experience in real world politics so come from a position of naivety, and both have the detached liberal’s sense of arrogance and smugness.

    I’d be happy to wear the mantle of Smuggest Interwebber, but I don’t think it’s justified. Especially since what you appear to mean by ‘smug’ is ‘disagrees with me using words bigger than wheelbarrow’.

    Neither, to my knowledge, has ever done anything to actively advance the cause of the left. All they’re good for is sniping at and trying to belittling those who are actually doing something.

    Ah yes, the heady blend of ‘Not Invented Here’ syndrome and ‘don’t be a hater, man’ whingeing. Because I don’t know the secret activist handshake, or you haven’t seen me down on the picket lines, I clearly don’t know nothin’ and should just Foxtrot Romeo Oscar. This is a big chunk of the problem I mentioned above, of Labour being insulated from criticism. Labour started believing its own hype; the party membership withered and the executive got its advice from the activist base and the parliamentary corps rather than from the electorate they claimed to represent. Strong political movements take advice from everywhere, and constantly check their direction and assumptions against objective reality. Labour, it seems, were and are doing neither of these things well.

    Or do you still think Labour lost because of a scurrilous media conspiracy about them being out of touch, and not because they were actually out of touch?

    L

    • sk 9.1

      Much the last Labour Govt did was orientated to correcting the mistakes of the 4th Labour Gov’t. The challenge is going to be recognising the ‘new’ mistakes, and orientating Labour again to gain be the natural governing party. With the JK government that will take time, but with with National’s firm ‘tacking’ to the right’, space in the centre-left will open up – sooner, rather than later.

      But equally, the debate over what was wrong with the 1999-2008 Labour Gov’t needs to happen . . .sooner rather than later

    • IrishBill 9.2

      Don’t be a twat Lew. You’ve got no idea what you’re taking about.

      • Ari 9.2.1

        1) It’s kinda sad that you’re using a piece of the female anatomy as an insult.
        2) Lew’s making perfect sense anyway, not that I particularly expect you to agree. *shrug*

      • Lew 9.2.2

        Bill, honestly, is that all you’ve got?

        L

        • IrishBill 9.2.2.1

          Yeah, you’re both right. I was out of line and I apologise. I find the current situation as frustrating as you do Lew. But I’ve been around a while and know that there is no silver bullet. It just takes time. I think the current opposition are still figuring out what they’re doing and I don’t think they’re in a position to take advice from the outside at the moment.

          You’ve got to remember it’s a massive shift in mindset to go from 9 years of government to opposition. Imagine your workplace goes though a major downsize, your staff and their roles change and your senior management resign all at once and add to that the core function of the business changing.

          That’s effectively what happens when a long standing party loses power and I suspect they are still feeling their way through it. It’s frustrating but politics is about the long game and right now my impression is that Goff is steady as she goes until they get it figured out.

          The Greens are in a similar position but are obviously ahead of Labour in that they have not had such a large switch and they have confirmed long-term leaders with party buy-in (which is not to say Goff hasn’t got buy in but that his mandate isn’t as clear as that which has been provided to Russ and Me through the whole party voting) . That said the debate about how they behave in the new political environment is still very much alive and well within the Greens, you’re just not seeing it so much because they are not being focused on as the primary opposition.

    • Lew

      The left’s basic problem is that it is so hard on itself. Sometimes these criticisms are justified, at other times it just seems that people are having a go just because they can. The right do not have these problems. If you are born to rule then as long as you are ruling things are fine.

      Some of your criticisms are unfair. For instance “political movements need to be constantly tested and scrutinised. Labour has, since before the election, been insulated from the consequences of its errors to an extent which has allowed it to become complacent. A lot of this was an absence of effective criticism by Labour’s base. By refusing in the name of unity to properly put in the boot, The Standard has been complicit.”

      Examples please. You are possibly talking about the failure to formulate and advocate a particular position but to be frank at this stage of the electoral cycle doing so would be strategically crazy. And like it or not “fighting the good fight” and losing is something that most of us tired many years ago.

      “Resolve the systemic issues which result in leaders getting poor information and guidance from the electorate and the rest will solve itself”.

      Now I am confused. Perhaps Labour should have opposed Bradford’s anti smacking bill. Unfortunately sometimes the “guidance” from the electorate, or that part that determines elections, can result in very unprincipled decisions.

      “Strong political movements take advice from everywhere, and constantly check their direction and assumptions against objective reality. Labour, it seems, were and are doing neither of these things well.”

      Poll driven politics anyone?

    • Lew 9.4

      Bill, much more useful ; ) I don’t really agree that a large-scale political movement is ever in a position to disregard advice from outside its corps, as we’ve established.

      micky,

      The left’s basic problem is that it is so hard on itself.

      I agree that it is hard on itself, but I think that this is necessary. Since the left tends to try to occupy moral and ethical high ground, working from principle rather than from realpolitik by choice, it is necessary that it hold itself to a good standard of conduct and competence.

      You are possibly talking about the failure to formulate and advocate a particular position

      I am very explicitly not talking about policy and nailing colours to the mast on specific issues I’m talking about the infrastructure of internal and external communication and agenda management and signalling to the electorate and allied parties. Without this, policy is useless. Without policy, the communication infrastructure is empty. The two need to be developed in tandem. I’m quite happy for the policy agenda to remain largely internal at present, but it is a grave mistake to keep feeding the ‘out of touch’ line by pretending there’s nothing wrong and failing to act on the very clear signals the electorate has given that the status quo is not good enough.

      Perhaps Labour should have opposed Bradford’s anti smacking bill. Unfortunately sometimes the “guidance’ from the electorate, or that part that determines elections, can result in very unprincipled decisions.

      Perhaps, if they’d wanted to retain power at any cost, they should have. But better would have been allowing the Greens to wear the political fallout of the bill; after all, it was a Green initiative. It was the keystone in a very poisonous narrative which really rang true for a lot of people. I don’t believe Labour should have opposed it, but I think they could have done much better to minimise the political harm it did to them. This is another of the problems with Labour’s being dominated by an activist base: the party thought (thinks?) of itself as the left rather than as part of a wider movement; and so we see Labour and it supporters attacking natural or potential allies like the Greens and the māori party rather than trying to maintain relationships with them, and recognising that much of what those allies are doing is influencing policy and improving the general standing of environmentalist and tangata whenua groups, demonstrating that they’re not just fringe activists, but legitimate, reasonable political actors. Diversity is strength. Labour should be the hub, not try to be the entire wheel.

      Poll driven politics anyone?

      It’s a matter of balance. Pure principle can be political poison. Pure populism certainly is. I’m not a radical; I’m an incrementalist, and I think that parties of principle need to choose their battles. Your statement that you’re sick of fighting the good fight and losing indicates you understand this. The point is that the good fight doesn’t have to be a losing fight. But it does need to be carefully managed, and Labour’s wilful ignorance of the mood of their electorate around for example, the FSA, the EFA, Winston Peters, and s59 repeal was not smart management. They might have gotten away with one or two of those things, but all four was just taking the piss.

      L

      • IrishBill 9.4.1

        I didn’t say they were in a position where they should disregard outside advice I said they are not in a position to pay it any regard.

    • Daveo 9.5

      I’ve got no issue with criticism, Lew. My point is that you’re just another armchair critic who doesn’t have a clue what’s actually going on. You’re an outsider, a punter, an amateur, yet you act as if you’ve got the inside running. I mean mate, you just claimed that in the previous Labour government “the executive got its advice from the activist base” – really? Do you know that? Or did you just make it up because it makes you sound less of a punter?

      IB was right, you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, yet you feel able to lecture everyone else in a superior tone. That’s why your smugness grates on me.

      • Lew 9.5.1

        Daveo,

        you’re just another armchair critic who doesn’t have a clue what’s actually going on. You’re an outsider, a punter, an amateur

        I’m an outsider, but not an amateur. Analysing political communication is what I do.

        The fact that you think someone needs to be on the inside to have anything credible to say about a given political failure is just another example. It’d be one thing if you disagreed and said ‘this is why’ (and perhaps you have your reasons), but simply discounting views from outside the tent as ‘smug’ and ‘uninformed’ is just the sort of the damfoolishness and insulation from contrary opinions that I’m talking about.

        Insider voices usually belong to those responsible for implementing and overseeing the failure; those are the people I would be least inclined to listen to right about now. Not to say that they are bad or incompetent, but that they’re not getting results. It’s at times like this that businesses call in the receivers; that sort of thing isn’t justified yet because there have been changes, to an extent at the top of the parliamentary level but more significantly at the organisational level and in the new intake and elevation of the middle ranks of MPs. But the communication is still failing and the party shows little indication of being any more in touch than they were in late 2008. If Labour doesn’t start checking its progress against objective reality – and pretty soon – that time will come. I really, really don’t want that to happen.

        L

        • Daveo 9.5.1.1

          Clearly you don’t even have a clue what an insider is, or that one can have ‘inside’ knowledge and access while agitating for change.

          For you, it’s either ignorant armchair criticism from the outside or it’s unquestioning partisan hackery from within. Which goes to show just how naive your understanding of real world politics is.

          That’s my problem with you Lew. You’re a naive punter who lectures everyone else as if you actually know what you’re talking about. You’re a bullshit artist and it’s time you were called on it.

  9. sk 10

    John Armstrong is just anxious because he made the JK bet a while a back, and is now senses it is going against him .. . maybe not today, but he knows the trend is not good. Hence his lashing out.

    His anxiety is the one the NZ electorate will have to face with time; have we bought a lemon . .or a Sarah Palin?

  10. jarbury 11

    Chris Hipkins has an interesting response to this article: http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2009/08/15/where-to-from-here/

  11. outofbed 12

    Just been surveyed by UMR (10 min ago)
    Lots of focus on the perception of Goff in the questions
    It looks like they are on to it.
    I still think, though as experienced as Phil is, he is not the best choice for leader.
    he just doesn’t resonate with people. Unfortunately we have such a shallow coverage of politics in this country the only way to gain traction is to have some one who does come across well on TV, someone more charismatic .
    I was disgusted when the emission target was realised we had tons of coverage of
    Kiesha Castle and none of the alternative proposal from the Greens ,the third biggest party and with obvious knowledge in this area.
    So I guess replace Phil Goff with Sam Neil and problem solved

    • I think we should give Phil a chance and give him time. He is working extremely hard, he is dedicated and he is listening and adjusting. It has been said many times but I will say it again, Helen also struggled for relevance and traction until she had a very good campaign in 1996.

      Politics is all about luck and timing and there is plenty of time for Phil to make his mark.

      It is a shame the right do not subject Key to the same sort of analysis. If they did then he would be gone the first time that he failed. I am sure that this will occur in any event.

      • Ari 12.1.1

        I’m all for giving Goff a chance. Hell, if he came out swinging on the things he’s best at with real, alternative positions, that would be awesome. Goff was always great on human rights and international affairs, for instance. He’s been OK on showing a higher standard of ethics as a leader, too. I’d certainly take him over John Key, even setting aside party affiliations.

        That’s really quite a different thing, however, from saying that Labour needs a major attitude adjustment and needs to stop thinking itself of the gatekeeper of all that is leftism/progressivism in New Zealand and actually reconnect with its constituency and its potential allies. None of that is inherently tied to Goff or the old guard. It’s a pervasive attitude within the party that it gets to tell people off who are “supposed to be on its side”. That’s just silly, and not how you go about building a political majority.

  12. outofbed 13

    Unfortunately. being a hard working capable politician is somehow not enough
    look at Key I would argue that he is not hard working or particularly capable but he is the PM nonetheless and a popular one at that.

  13. BLiP 14

    I can understand Armstrong taking pot shots at the blogs because they are increasingly making him and his ilk irrelavant.

  14. Maynard J 15

    Lew, in your ‘true believers’ post Optimism Isn’t Enough, the idea of which you have followed up upon here, I responded with a comment in which I said (not verbatim) “what do you think would have happened if labour supporters, before the election, said ‘yes, we are all out of touch’.”

    Your response to that was that what I was suggesting was absurd.

    I had a bit of a laugh at you, then, to be honest, because if you think that someone giving an example of exactly what you were suggesting is absurd, then you clearly have not thought through your idea much, or given it any practical application whatsoever. Your follow up after I pointed out that it was a genuine suggestion was that it was not what you were suggesting at all.

    Now, it appears, you were taking the piss because you did not like the sound of your ideas in reality.

    You can hardly think that was an absurd idea if you think, as stated above, that “…do you still think Labour lost because of a scurrilous media conspiracy about them being out of touch, and not because they were actually out of touch?”

    So what is “to properly put in the boot” going to entail? What would it have been during the election campaign? I tried to give an example, which you mocked as absurd, and that turns out to appear to have been a fairly dishonest statement from you.

    Perhaps you are mixing up your ideas around what should have been done before the election, rather than afterwards, but you criticise people for not taking the threat of Key seriously (which in my mind is quite obviously just a strategy) when they should have, yet before the election it was absurd to admit (if you believe it was the case) that Labour was arrogant and out of touch, but that is exactly what is required after the election.

    I believe it is having such a conflicted view of what should be done and when that has led to some of these criticisms of your ideas (and you, by extension, though I am not supportive of that).

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

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges.  Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
    A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • National’s education policy: where’s the funding?
    After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment.  “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Free programme to help older entrepreneurs and inventors
    People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government target increased to keep powering up the Māori economy
    A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Continued progress on reducing poverty in challenging times
    77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech at Fiji Investment and Trade Business Forum
    Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government investments boost and diversify local economies in lower South Island
    $2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government future-proofs EV charging
    Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • World-leading family harm prevention campaign supports young NZers
    Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • First Chief Clinical Advisor welcomed into Coroners Court
    Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Next steps for affected properties post Cyclone and floods
    The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointment to Māori Land Court bench
    E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government focus on jobs sees record number of New Zealanders move from Benefits into work
    113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Vertical farming partnership has upward momentum
    The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Conference of Pacific Education Ministers – Keynote Address
    E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New $13m renal unit supports Taranaki patients
    The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupƍ received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Second Poseidon aircraft on home soil
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Further humanitarian aid for TĂŒrkiye and Syria
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in TĂŒrkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Community voice to help shape immigration policy
    Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today.  “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • State Highway 3 project to deliver safer journeys, better travel connections for Taranaki
    Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Ginny Andersen appointed as Minister of Police
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