Hong Kong principles

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 pm, July 28th, 2020 - 38 comments
Categories: afghanistan, China, democratic participation, exports, Free Trade, iraq, jacinda ardern, law and "order", Propaganda, socialism, Spying, surveillance, terrorism, us politics, war, winston peters - Tags:

According to our Prime Minister, today’s announcement that New Zealand is suspending extradition arrangements with Hong Kong is because of our principles. But it is not immediately clear what these principles are, other than falling into line with our Five Eyes spying partners. Some history is important.

The Hong Kong flag bore the Union Jack because Britain annexed the territory in 1842 after the First Opium War, where Britain required China to take payment for Chinese silk and porcelain in opium rather than silver. The New Territories were ceded after the Second Opium War. Superior naval gunnery decided the issue: millions of Chinese suffered as a result.

Article 23 of the Basic Law in the Treaty of 1997 which formed the basis of Britain’s return of Hong Kong to China states as follows:

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.

This was never done.

After the recent demonstrations and riots in Hong Kong protesting the establishment of a law against the possible deportation of a murder suspect to Taiwan, where there was ample evidence of foreign political interference, the PRC National Assembly passed a law to fulfil Article 23. The specific offences listed are:

preventing, suppressing and imposing punishment for the offences of secession, subversion, organisation and perpetration of terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security in relation to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;

They seem unexceptional for any independent state.

In regard to Jacinda Ardern’s listing New Zealand’s principles of “basic freedom of association and the right to take a political view,” the new law says:

Human rights shall be respected and protected in safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, of the press, of publication, of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration, which the residents of the Region enjoy under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong, shall be protected in accordance with the law.

Re Winston Peters’ statement that “China’s passage of its new national security legislation has eroded rule-of-law principles, undermined the ‘one country, two systems’ framework that underpins Hong Kong’s unique status, and gone against commitments China made to the international community,” the new law says its principal objective is:

ensuring the resolute, full and faithful implementation of the policy of One Country, Two Systems under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy;

Cue outrage from the Five Eyes, led by the US, which is where the demonising of China comes in. US official policy is to see China as a competitor and adversary. In a speech at the Nixon Institute last week, Secretary Pompeo went further:

We, we the freedom loving nations of the world must induce China to change just as President Nixon wanted. We must induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways because Beijing’s actions threaten our people and our prosperity. We must start by changing how our people and our partners perceive the Chinese Communist Party.

We are going to be asked – bullied – to buy in to regime change led by the US. China will never accept that, and China today is not the China of the Qing empire. Naval gunnery will not decide the 21st century issue.

Pompeo the Cold War warrior said this of China in case we were tempted to treat them as reasonable people and take them at their word:

You know, I grew up and served my time in the Army during the Cold War, and if there’s one thing I learned, Communists almost always lie. The biggest lie that they tell is to think that they speak for 1.4 billion people who are surveilled, depressed, and scared to speak out. Quite the contrary. The CCP fears the Chinese people’s honest opinions more than any foe, and save for losing their own grip on power, they have no reason to. Just think how much better off the world would be, not to mention the people inside of China, if we had been able to hear from the doctors in Wuhan and they’d been allowed to raise the alarm about the outbreak of a new and novel virus.

This from the man who told a graduation class at a military university in the US that when he was the Director of the CIA “we lied, we cheated, we stole; heck we had training courses in how to do it.” He’s a born-again Christian but doesn’t understand the mandate of heaven. He could be in for a surprise at the rapture.

I’m not sure if it is New Zealand he is speaking to here, but we are in the Five Eyes and were with NATO in Afghanistan:

Now it’s true, it’s difficult for some small countries. They fear being picked off. Some of them for that reason simply don’t have the ability, the courage to stand with us for the moment. Indeed, we have a NATO ally of ours that hasn’t stood up in the way that it needs to with respect to Hong Kong, because they fear Beijing will restrict access to China’s market. This is the kind of timidity that will lead to historic failure, and we can’t repeat it. We cannot repeat the mistakes of these past years.

If he was talking about us I think he should told where to go.

But Covid has changed everything. The US has been described as a flailing state, and unlike China it is failing the Covid test. It is the Asian nations that have dealt with it successfully, most notably because they have placed the health and welfare of their citizens first with collective solutions.

And America is not a model for democracy. It is better described as a geriatric, oligarchic plutocracy as the Federal Reserve pours trillions into propping up financial market debt and millions of citizens go jobless and hungry. It is not a model for anything and certainly not an example for us. We would be better off to think like the Chinese and take a long term view of where our future lies.

America is seeking to build another culture of the unwilling. Thus Pompeo:

Maybe it’s time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies. We have the tools. I know we can do it. Now we need the will. To quote scripture, I ask, is our spirit willing but our flesh weak? If the free world doesn’t change, Communist China will surely change us. There can’t be a return to the past practices because they’re comfortable or because they’re convenient. Securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time, and America is perfectly positioned to lead it, because our founding principles give us that opportunity.

All I can say is remember Iraq, and the lies that were told. We made no mistake then. I was very proud of Helen Clark when she stood up in 2002 and told the Labour caucus we would not follow the US into unnecessary and unjust war. She acted instinctively based on her principles, the same Labour principles that has kept nuclear warships out of our ports and nuclear testing out of our region.

 

 

 

38 comments on “Hong Kong principles ”

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  1. Tricledrown 1
    28 July 2020 at 10:24 pm

    China ie the CCP. is flexing its muscles around the world,even the Galapagos islands fishing grounds for rare species.

  2. Byd0nz 2
    28 July 2020 at 10:50 pm

    I know 'Kow Tow' is a Chineese word, but that is what NZ is doing, bowing down to our Master, Uncle Sam and the MAGA men of the Trumpland spy machine. Shame on us, time to ditch the 5 eyes BS.

  3. Andrew Miller 3
    28 July 2020 at 11:15 pm

    I’d be curious to know quite what the CCP would have to do for people like Mike Smith to not engage in a grotesque display of moral equivalence and suggest the CCP was being ‘demonised‘.
    One imagines he’d have probably queued up to perform the same trick of mental gymnastics during the Mao era.
    His willingness to take Chinese laws at face value is at least cute.

    • PaddyOT 3.1
      29 July 2020 at 2:03 am

      It's the two choices of who Pompeo thinks "we" should supposedly pick.

      It's a big ask to memorise a new anthem now. Even the last verse makes me shudder.

      Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
      Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
      Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
      Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
      Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
      And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
      And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
      O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    • Climaction 3.2
      29 July 2020 at 12:56 pm

      the tibetan's were asking for it in a historical sense as well you know. then the uighurs in west china didn't understand that IT IS west china and should just STFU and practice apostasy.

  4. Byd0nz 4
    28 July 2020 at 11:47 pm

    It seems like Andrew and people like him are OK with rioting and fire bombing and vandalism of public property, so would that be tolerated here in NZ ? Dont think so. The great US Trump condemns the HK authorities of using force on the Hong Kong rioters, but like the hypocritic Administration he leads, thinks its OK for Hong Kongers to cause mayhem, but its not OK for American protesters to do the same. Also will it be OK for us to take in those poor oppressed HK rioters and give them sanctury.

    • observer 4.1
      29 July 2020 at 10:51 am

      " vandalism of public property "

      Pretty much the definition of any left revolution, or any protest for progress, anywhere in history.

  5. PaddyOT 5
    29 July 2020 at 1:36 am

    Your remark " If he was talking about us I think he should be told where to go." sums it up.

    Pompeo's call to arms to beat back the Chinese peril, is not a new enlightening speech after another world crisis has sunk the US's illusions of itself.
    Pompeo's subversive statement
    " Maybe it’s time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies." , hangs on assumptions that nations believe the US is a great democracy and its political system is not evil, but good and true. There's that fear factor injected too inferring Christianity is under threat.
    I'm betting too any alliance with the US won't see the $$ spoils of war shared equally to uplift all the "We" Pompeo calls to join him.

    Furthermore, Pompeo is a type of bought man merely repeating another recent 'speech' , from our new kiwi guy. ( later).

    A similar call went out in 1947 after WW2 and look where this ' call' got the world.

    " when many of the values of Western civilization were imperiled, 36 scholars, mostly economists, with some historians and philosophers, were invited by Professor Friedrich Hayek to meet at Mont Pelerin, near Montreux, Switzerland, to discuss the state and the possible fate of liberalism (in its classical sense) in thinking and practice." – ref: Mont Pelerin Society spiel.

    The society exists today still. The Society’s belief in the power of incentives and the self-interest of people led them to favour capital over collectivisation. In short led to the rise of what the left calls neoliberism.

    The Society strives to uphold these ideals globally of Pompeo's vision of a collaboration of " like-minded nations".
    The members of MPS knew better than anyone else on the planet. But they also knew no one was listening to them.

    Then with a few 'Pompeo' – like discourses, bit by bit, targetted would be leaders were influenced and powerful ' think tank' institutes were created globally.

    The ensuing think tanks created policy to pursue the ideals of neoliberalism and connected these to politicians.
    — famously Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were targeted examples. Former NZ Finance Minister Ruth Richardson, mother of all budgets, is a member of MPS.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/aug/28/comment.businesscomment

    With the new global crisis, 2020, the US pops up (after dealing punches to the UN and WHO along the way ) asking for support for a new world group with the patriotic " We, we the freedom loving nations of the world" to have us all join the US to tackle the enemy and give power to a failed MAGA agenda.

    Who is one of the 'oligarchs' supporting the Mont Pelerin Society and still funding the Republican party this election? The founder of Palantir, a good kiwi citizen no less..

    Five months ago (At 8 mins mark on video) is the same discourse to Pompeo's take on China to push the lure for nations to support MAGA agenda.
    https://youtu.be/IXG2F0a6I28

    And oh no I’m not funding that loser any more but…
    https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/27/21333636/peter-thiel-kris-kobach-kansas-senate-primary

  6. Dennis Frank 6
    29 July 2020 at 4:55 am

    You've made a reasonable case, Mike. Personally, I recommend not believing either of the two, which is why Aotearoa ought to be non-aligned in principle. In practice, western solidarity seems the best bet currently.

    So the coalition has got it right. Perception prevails over legalistic reality, eh? Communist China are organised liars, Capitalist America are disorganised liars, and organised malignancy is ever the greater threat.

    What ought to be happening is foreign policy blending realpolitik with principled judgments and a sense of acting in accord with humanity. I'm glad we're doing it. Humans are born with natural agency. Governments that use law to prevent them choosing their political allegiance must be eternally opposed.

  7. Tiger Mountain 7
    29 July 2020 at 8:54 am

    5 Eyes says “jump”–NZ Govt asks “how high”?

    Some pundits will no doubt try and evoke nuance in NZ’s position, to head such views off at the pass. Various US toadies and “directors” of little known “China studies Institutes” will likely be out in public too, backing up Winston’s pronouncement for weeks to come. An anonymous NZ based Hong Kong “activist” said on RNZ this morning that they feared Chinese forces would be tracking them down here!

    The most independent foreign policy possible has long been the way for New Zealand to operate, especially in these Covid and Climate disaster times.

  8. observer 8
    29 July 2020 at 10:48 am

    China is a dictatorship. It denies basic freedoms.

    (and yes, Trump is a fascist and the USA is screwed and yes, the horrible history of Western imperialism, and there's a library of books to be read … and when we've done all the what about, which would take forever …)

    It's still a dictatorship. It still denies basic freedoms. And we should use our freedom to speak up for those who are oppressed.

    It's frankly scary that anybody on a democratic "left" blog would think anything else.

    • The Chairman 8.1
      29 July 2020 at 10:54 am

      It's still a dictatorship. It still denies basic freedoms. And we should use our freedom to speak up for those who are oppressed.

      It's frankly scary that anybody on a democratic "left" blog would think anything else.

      yes

    • Mpk 8.2
      29 July 2020 at 11:14 am

      All well and good except that its difficult to escape the perception that China is being singled out. I dont believe there are any examples of an NZ minister of foreign affairs directly criticizing US policy let alone abandoning extradition treaties. Video of military attack helicopters gunning down unarmed civilians would seem to be a place for any independence to start.

      So to argue that there should be no argument about Winstons pronouncements seems a little naive given the types of events about which pronouncements have not been forthcoming. Winston has based this purely on the new law which Mike has shown has history and contains language which would not raise any complaints if enacted by a "friend"

      • Danyl Strype 8.2.1
        29 July 2020 at 4:39 pm

        > I dont believe there are any examples of an NZ minister of foreign affairs directly criticizing US policy let alone abandoning extradition treaties.

        How about a Prime Minister, David Lange, tearing up ANZUS in protest at US nuclear proliferation?

        NZ ought to have suspended its extradition treaty with the US, because of Guantanamo and the horrific treatment of political prisoners like Manning and Reality Winner who have blown the whistle on its illegal surveillance. I agree that leaving that treaty in place while cancelling the HK one is a double standard, and one we need to complain about, loudly. But cancelling the HK treaty was still the principled thing to do.

        The NZ left are being asked to pick sides in a cold war between two totalitarian empires. History does not look kindly on those who sided with “the enemy of my enemy” in the last one, whichever side they chose. Better perhaps to side with all protest movements resisting totalitarian empires, whether its Extinction Rebellion, BLM, and antifa in the US or the umbrella movement in HK?

        • Dennis Frank 8.2.1.1
          29 July 2020 at 4:53 pm

          Correct on all points. Amazing how many binary people try to shoehorn others into being equally simplistic, eh? They ought to be forced to write an essay on why being non-aligned is good thinking.

          Just as a general rule. We have much history when christians tortured people to death for being freethinkers. Survival sometimes does require us to recite slogans in order to demonstrate conformity. Fortunately, not currently!

        • Mpk 8.2.1.2
          29 July 2020 at 6:52 pm

          I take your point and agree that protesting empire on all fronts is the best idea. I wonder however how much principal can be attached to an action that is most likely the result of arm twisting by a bully that requires a united front against a designated enemy.

          • Danyl Strype 8.2.1.2.1
            4 August 2020 at 10:38 am

            Since the new law was passed the Chinese government have already tried to extradite a US citizen (originally from HK) for normal political lobbying that isn’t illegal in the US. Cancelling an extradition treaty with an arm-twisting bully like that is just a common sense. I don’t see why it would require any arm-twisting by the US and the burden of proof is on you to substantiate that speculation.

    • te reo putake 8.3
      29 July 2020 at 11:17 am

      Hi, Observer. A couple of things. The Standard is not a democratic blog. It's privately owned, via a trust. Nobody gets a vote other than the owners.

      Secondly, the current active authors here run the gamut from left to right. The author of this post has regularly supported the conservative regimes in Russia and China, mostly when they've done something newsworthy and usually awful, such as poisoning people in the UK or, in this case, annexing Hong Kong and removing the right to protest and the right to a free media from the territory.

      Even if the issue is pitched in this post from a conservative angle, the matter itself is worth discussing, so just think of it as a point from which to start a debate.

      For mine, I find it ironic that the post supports the removal of freedoms in Hong Kong that immediately stops any debate on the removal of those freedoms in Hong Kong. But at least it doesn't advocate those restrictions here in NZ, nor, happily on this site.

      • The Chairman 8.3.1
        29 July 2020 at 11:38 am

        But at least it doesn't advocate those restrictions here in NZ, nor, happily on this site.

        I point you to article 38

        https://hongkongfp.com/2020/07/01/in-full-english-translation-of-the-hong-kong-national-security-law/

      • francesca 8.3.2
        29 July 2020 at 11:50 am

        More accurately TRP the writer has challenged the wholesale acceptance of official stories concerning geopolitical adversaries. Those official stories of course are very partisan

        I for one welcome a wider perspective, which I feel is the true mission of journalism

        This dissing of someone who writes to give a fuller picture , claiming they are supporters of authoritarian regimes is an old trick, and pretty disreputable.

        Trying to characterise Mike Smith ,ex general secretary of the Labour Party as conservative and politically right does more to erode your credibility than his

        • te reo putake 8.3.2.1
          29 July 2020 at 12:04 pm

          I don't know the author. I do know his current writing. It's often pro-authoritarian and anti-democratic and where there are links, they are often to right wing conspiracy websites.

          What elected posts the author held in the past are irrelevant to what he is writing now, and the same applies to me (also a former elected office holder in the NZLP).

          We all change; some of us change for the better.

          • francesca 8.3.2.1.1
            29 July 2020 at 12:21 pm

            Care to link?

          • Mpk 8.3.2.1.2
            29 July 2020 at 12:27 pm

            All that from the one that trashed Julian Assange? Writing that was the epitomy of authoritarian and antidemocratic. Kettle. Pot. Black?

            [Please stick to addressing the contents of the OP and comments rather than focussing on who wrote them and what else that may have written in the past about related and/or unrelated topics.

            This is a general Moderation note and not aimed at you personally 🙂

            Thanks – Incognito]

      • Mike Smith 8.3.3
        29 July 2020 at 12:00 pm

        Be careful in. your personal attributions please. I don't support the information wars being waged against China and Russia by the US and UK state agencies. With regard to Russia and China, I judge them on their actions.

        • Climaction 8.3.3.1
          29 July 2020 at 1:00 pm

          What are your judgements on the actions taken against ethnic uighurs?

          • Mpk 8.3.3.1.1
            29 July 2020 at 2:36 pm

            The whole uighur millions in concentration camps story was kicked off by one of Mike Pompeo's religious fundamentalist nut case mates on a mission from god to bring China to its knees. He interviewed a grand total of 8 people and then extrapolated their reckons for their villages to the whole of the region.

            How many interviewees did he reject because their storiee didnt fit? We dont know but if 8 fitting his narrative is all he could muster then serious concerns surround any extrapolation.

            The second source was a guy watching Turkish tv. Its Bellingcat all over again but I guess if you swallowed it once its easier the second time around. And of course its always easier to get people to believe bad things about China.

            The Uighur story is here

  9. The Chairman 9
    29 July 2020 at 11:45 am

    If a NZ Government wanted to align with China opposed to the US, would they be able to get the NZ public on board with that?

  10. Byd0nz 10
    29 July 2020 at 12:15 pm

    Just who are we protecting by opposing the Hong Kong security law. Who are the Hong Kongers who come here with shitloads of money and donate to all Political parties here to hedge their bets, well I bet too, and I bet they are not working class, so why are they so afraid, given the protests in HK have been funded from NGO's like the American NED (National Endowment for Democracy) and supplied with yankee flags to wave, and the protesters against that said law are in the minority. So these higher middle class/ upper class Hong Kongers that come here are worried about just how they accumulated their wealth at the expense of the ordinary hard working people they left behind. The John Key Government welcomed them and their money to help with the flawed economy they ran by tourism and house sales, but they were not so happy with freedom campers, otherwise they would have better catered for them. Just saying.

  11. Ed1 11
    29 July 2020 at 12:29 pm

    It seems a reasonable principle not to have different international agreements on issues such as extradition with different parts of the same state. In this respect is New Zealand just recognising reality in that they are now applying the same principles to Hong Kong as were previously applied to China, since in at least this respect China has effectively overridden Hong Kong laws. Is there anything wrong with that reasoning?

    • Mpk 11.1
      29 July 2020 at 12:41 pm

      Thats very good Ed1. You missed your calling. It would have been a good independent way of framing the whole question.

  12. Ad 12
    29 July 2020 at 12:50 pm

    On China, right now, we should worry less and trust our track record .

    New Zealand's stance towards China has been pretty adroit for nearly three decades. We've been better at it than Australia or the United States, or indeed any of the Five Eyes partners.

    With the decline of Winston Peters, I would bring back Helen Clack into Minister of Foreign Affairs in a heartbeat. She and Phil Goff led the groundshift of the relationship.

    Both the warnings of Pompeo recently, and that of the Chinese Ambassador yesterday, are worth heeding. They are both models of governance in fast dynamic transition – and it's the smaller players like ourselves that are nimble enough to respond to those changes.

    I would strongly encourage the writer of the post to stop worrying about "lies" told in diplomacy, and worry more about actual effects.

    And FFS stop trying to discern "principles" for the same reason .Completely inappropriate in diplomacy.

    We are a kite blowing in the wind in trade terms, but in the Covid-19 world, that kite is as illuminated as that of Benjamin Franklin for all the world to see.

  13. roblogic 13
    29 July 2020 at 1:01 pm

    I don't want NZ to join any empires, thanks very much, Western or Eastern. I think it's symbolic that we sit on the international date line and our timezone is ahead of everyone else. We can maintain civil relations with global powers without buying into their propaganda bullshit and especially without endorsing their imperialism, belligerence, and paranoia.

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    The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • NZDF is still hostile to oversight
    Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    Holding On To The Present: The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    Stuck In The Middle With You: As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • A clear warning
    The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    Buzz  from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example.  This shows National down ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    It Takes A Train To Cry: Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    Chris Trotter writes –  New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    3 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    Mr Bombastic: Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • “Comity” versus the rule of law
    In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Streamlining Building Consent Changes
    The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.      “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    Good evening –   Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure.  The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
    The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
    The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
    Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
    Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
    The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say.  “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
    Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
    Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Speech – Eid al-Fitr
    Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government saves access to medicines
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff.    “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Pharmac Chair appointed
    Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Taking action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
    Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says.  “Every day, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New sports complex opens in Kaikohe
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

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