Housing needs a builder not a crusher

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, March 12th, 2018 - 82 comments
Categories: Amy Adams, Economy, housing, Judith Collins, national, phil twyford, same old national, Simon Bridges, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

The take away line National wanted the media to take from yesterday’s reshuffle announcement was that Crusher Collins was going to make a mess of the Government’s housing policies and Phil Twyford was not going to be able to sleep at night.

My first response was somewhat incredulous because National has had made a mess of the housing market for the past nine years.  Never in the land of plenty did I think I would ever see so many kiwis sleeping rough and begging.  Or families with parents who have jobs sleeping in cars.  Or Marae opening their doors to do what the Government seemed to be incapable of doing, making sure ordinary people had a roof over their heads.

My second response was to marvel at the hypocrisy of National claiming that Labour was making a mess of housing when the Government is so new and was having to deal with National’s mess.  Let’s get real here.  It will take years for Labour to rebuild the numbers of housing corp stock sold by National.  Criticising Labour for not solving National’s mess quickly enough relies on a special level of stupidity.

Twyford’s response to Bridges was perfect.  First on Twitter:

Collins response to Twyford suggested that comprehension is not one of her strengths:

The media picked up on Twyford’s response.  From Claire Trevett at the Herald:

… Twyford said he would sleep fine and he was more worried about those who’d had to sleep in cars under National’s reign.

He referred to Collins’ nickname of ‘Crusher’.

“I think you need a builder not a crusher in the housing portfolio.”

“If there’s one thing National should have learned after nine years, it’s that Kiwis want more compassion. But Judith Collins is the epitome of the old-school, hard-hearted Nat. Housing is National’s Achilles heel. I wonder whether this is Simon Bridges setting her up for failure.”

If anyone should not be sleeping well it should be Simon Bridges. Because already his number 3 and number 4 have contradicted him on policy.

The background is that on the weekend Grant Robertson raised the prospect about a value capture tax, where landowners who benefit from infrastructure such as new rail lines are taxed on the increase in the value of their land holdings. Bridges has in the past spoken positively about the concept. But both Adams and Collins decided to attack the proposal.

From Henry Cook at Stuff:

National leader Simon Bridges says there is no difference between his views on a land value capture tax and the views of his MPs.

Bridges on Sunday said it was “pleasing” the Government are looking at a land value capture tax, despite his finance and housing spokeswoman criticising it.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson signalled the Government is interested in such a tax, which would fund infrastructure by taxing the people who benefit the most from it. This involves a special tax being levied on property owners deemed to have benefited from new infrastructure: for example, a row of shops, the value of which increased thanks to a new rail link.

The National Party explored the idea while in government but did not implement anything.

Then-transport spokeswoman Judith Collins tweeted on Saturday it was an “envy tax”, asking if NZ First was going to support it.

Finance spokeswoman Amy Adams tweeted on Friday: “Another day, another new tax being proposed by the coalition Government. Yet another attempt from Grant Robertson to make everyone else pay for all his promises.”

But former transport minister Bridges himself appeared to have quite a different take.

Speaking on Sunday after announcing his caucus reshuffle, Bridges said it was “pleasing” to see the Government looking at innovative ways to fund things instead of using broad-brush strategies like a petrol tax.

“I think it’s good. I think it’s pleasing to hear from Grant Robertson today that finally he has come round to the need for innovation in this area. This is like so many areas where we I think did quite a bit, we were moving in that direction, I was certainly excited about doing more,” Bridges said.

And here is the twitter evidence.

https://twitter.com/amyadamsMP/status/971980524708179969

Good luck to Bridges keeping control of his caucus.  Already they look messy and disorganised.

 

82 comments on “Housing needs a builder not a crusher ”

  1. Incognito 1

    I wonder whether this is Simon Bridges setting her [JC] up for failure.

    I believe I read somewhere that JC had asked for Housing to be hers.

  2. Tricledrown 2

    Bridges knows how to keep his enemies close.
    If Bridges fails to gain any inroads Collins will be waiting in the wings.

    • tracey 2.1

      He studied under John Key, he knows the value of having someone else running the lies and behind the scenes dirt

  3. Ad 3

    National’s leader Simon Bridges couldn’t survivi the weekend without being contradicted on the fundamental policy area of tax:

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/new-nats-leadership-contradicts-one-another

    Minister Robertson is exploring value-capture for capital increases around new infrastructure.

    Simon Bridges loved the idea in government, and still supports it.

    Completely contradicted within hours by Amy Adams and Judith Collins.

    Pathetic.

    • tracey 3.1

      Up there with him wanting some prisoners to vote, thinking that is what he voted for last year, and upon finding out he hadn’t and they can’t, decided he doesn’t want some prisoners to vote afterall.

  4. dv 4

    SO Amy and Jude how would you pay for the infrastructure then?

    • patricia bremner 4.1

      Amy and Jude (LOL) are too busy “Lookin’ good” to run ideas past their new boss.
      Guess the rowing team are out of sync? Catching crabs, making airshots or own goals. Luv it!!!

    • tracey 4.2

      If it can be concreted or drained Adams and Collins will find the money

  5. “I think you need a builder not a crusher in the housing portfolio.”

    If anyone should not be sleeping well it should be Simon Bridges. Because already his number 3 and number 4 have contradicted him on policy.

    L0L !

    National Party Ad – fixed it – YouTube
    Video for National party 2017 electoral ad you tube▶ 0:35
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q12_mf0IhSc

    • Drowsy M. Kram 5.1

      Very funny voice-over, especially the ponytail reference. “That’s how we roll.”

  6. mikesh 6

    The idea of a land value capture tax has some merit, though I think a straightforward land tax would be better. The latter would be taxing increased land values more or less forever, albeit at a lower rate, while the land value tax would apply only once.

    • Graeme 6.1

      Value capture is pretty much how local authority rates work. A property’s value goes up in relation to other property in the rating district and the rates go up. The property value is influenced by both private (owner) and public sector investment that benefits the property. That’s why RWNJs hate rates, they have to pay for their handouts.

      • Andrea 6.1.1

        This I cannot understand.

        The property’s value goes up. So?
        It’s still the same property and the amenities provided by the council haven’t suddenly improved or expanded – though their pay packets might have.

        Why should anyone be taxed on something they may never actually receive or benefit from? (Without all the patronising stuff about ‘benefitting all Kiwis’ – because it doesn’t.) More people pay off their mortgages, stay in the same house, than the smaller numbers of people borrowing and flipping.

        Any excuse to raise taxes instead of looking under the bonnet at what’s actually happening to rates and income tax monies. It feels like we’re not getting value for our dollars at all.

        • Molly 6.1.1.1

          If the land value tax is similar to an “equity uplift tax” this means that the increase of a property due to the rezoning by a local authority, which can be considerable and due to no investment or improvement by the property owner – can then be assessed and taxed.

          Overseas this tax is paid either when the property is onsold, or developed.

          A reasonable response to an increase in equity due completely to rezoning.

          This tax was discussed briefly during the Unitary Plan for Auckland, but for political reasons was dismissed. So, landbankers and many Aucklanders had unearned equity lift in their properties that they did not pay any tax on.

        • Graeme 6.1.1.2

          The value capture aspect of rating only happens when value is added to the property, either internally by the owner, any consented activity will increase the value by the cost of the works, or externally by council works, say streetworks or transport upgrades. Zoning changes are another way property values can increase dramatically. BUT, it’s an increase relative to other properties in the rating district, rather than an absolute value increase that puts the rates up.

      • mikesh 6.1.2

        I am assuming that a land value capture tax is an accruals based CGT, but levied on land rather than on the whole property.

        • Graeme 6.1.2.1

          It would be interesting to see what this, and the previous, government where / are looking at, and how it would be collected. Also how “value capture” would relate to the increases in local authority rates, GST and company and income tax that are levied on the increases in economic activity / profit resulting from government funded infrastructure development. I have seen economic analysis considering these issues done before the development as part of cost / benefit but haven’t seen anything assessing effect after development, other than rating valuations, which are pretty coarse and long term.

  7. Sacha 7

    The Nats are running a line already that the reason for housing problems is because Labour and other parties refused to gut the RMA. Unfortunately Twyford has gone a long way even before the election to agree with their stance that land usage rules are a more central problem than financial regulations have been.

  8. AsleepWhileWalking 8

    The housing crisis is severe enough to warrant cross party cooperation – best solutions, delivered at speed.

    Collins request and attack vibe has that offensive smell already.

    • alwyn 8.1

      Out of curiosity can you explain just when you decided that cross party cooperation would be a good thing?
      It wouldn’t be when Winston the First chose to go for the huge bucket of benefits and anointed Ardern would it? Can you show us where you called for such cooperation from the Labour Party when they were in Opposition. Reform of the RMA for example to make more land available perhaps.

  9. Anne 9

    Natonal’s longer term strategy is becoming clearer by the day. Sow the meme in people’s minds that Labour is the ‘waste and spend party’. That is why we saw on this site and elsewhere the other day… the right wing acolytes accusing Jacinda Ardern of “throwing money around like confetti” over aid money to the islands to help them rebuild after the devastating cyclones.

    It’s a meme that can be easily modified to suit any portfolio, so you can expect Collins to be accusing Twyford of… throwing tax payers money at the housing market wily-nily with a lot being wasted because he has no proper accounting procedures in place.

    It’s a pack of lies but easy to accomplish with the short memory span of the average voter. Also it worked with the Clark govt., so they’re hoping it will work again.

    • greywarshark 9.1

      Labour would be best to front up to this meme and ‘own’ it – yes we are going to spend some money on the things that people desperately need, and also on policies that will assist a better economy and improving standards of living which have dropped under National’s penny pinching for you and hyped hundreds for them.
      Don’t deny it, go with it, luge down their slippery slope and have a good time.

      • patricia bremner 9.1.1

        I believe Robertson and Ardern have both said they will be sensible with expenditure, but will borrow or slow the repayment programme if required.

        .

    • patricia bremner 9.2

      Well if memory serves… Jude (I like that) massaged the stats when she wanted to look good so ….
      she’d best be careful throwing accusations about. some night boomerang back to her.

    • tracey 9.3

      They are in campaign mode for sure. and they have the coffers to campaign for 3 years unlike any other party.

  10. Delia 10

    Just keep reminding them of their disastrous record, especially on health and housing.

  11. james 11

    The ‘beauty’ of course is that Labour promised all sorts of things – but with Housing gave numbers.

    “Labour’s KiwiBuild programme will build 100,000 high quality, affordable homes over 10 years, with 50% of them in Auckland. Standalone houses in Auckland will cost $500,000 to $600,000, with apartments and townhouses under $500,000. Outside Auckland, houses will range from $300,000 to $500,000.”

    So all Labour have to do is deliver 5000 stand alone houses in Auckland a year costing between 500-600k

    Easy!

    As soon as they do that then Crusher will have nothing to beat him up on.

    IF however they don’t then they have every right to call them to account for it.

    • chris73 11.1

      https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/

      The running total needed this so far is 3760 built

      • McFlock 11.1.1

        I like this counter.

        As the process ramps up, they’ll have hits for a year or two.

        Then Collins will try to replicate the Jacinda Effect by knifing Simon Says (Loudly) two months out from the election, and discover that she’s not Jacinda.

        Then the next term the counter will disappear from the Penguin’s lair as the housing targets are blown out of the water, and it will be left to the minister for housing to announce the final totals.

      • dukeofurl 11.1.2

        labour never said it was 10K ‘each and every year’

        They have said it was a ramp up process and would be ‘something like’ 3-4K in the firts 3 years

        • Psycho Milt 11.1.2.1

          DPF knows that very well, but many dumbasses reading his blog don’t, which makes his counter excellent propaganda. Either Chris73 is one of the dumbasses, or he thinks we are.

    • tracey 11.2

      Thanks matthew

  12. chris73 12

    I would have thought the perfect response would to build some houses

    • mickysavage 12.1

      Shame Judith and National did not understand that years ago. And insisted in selling more state houses than it built.

      • chris73 12.1.1

        I know I mean the way National said they’d build a million homes over ten years and then didn’t, you’d think they’d know better than to over promise and under deliver

        Thanks goodness Labours not going to fall into that trap

  13. Stuart Munro 13

    It makes a lot of sense for the Gnats to put Collins in an attack role – those slavering jaws are safest directed away from the weak leadership team.

    Such a shame she’ll have Nick’s myth busting her bubble as a constant reminder of how few fucks the Gnats ever gave about housing.

    • chris73 13.1

      “It makes a lot of sense for the Gnats to put Collins in an attack role – those slavering jaws are safest directed away from the weak leadership team.”

      Unfortunately I agree with you on this, imagine what she’d do to Kelvin Davis (is he allowed to answer questions yet?)

      • Stuart Munro 13.1.1

        She can’t do much to him in his areas of responsibility.

        She’s in danger of irrelevance however – Labour’s greatest wounds – the TPP for example, are self-inflicted.

        • chris73 13.1.1.1

          Well I think signing the TPP is whats going to sustain this government, National can’t exactly accuse the government of being anti-trade

          • Stuart Munro 13.1.1.1.1

            So you haven’t done the math. Explains your consistent rightwingery.

            • chris73 13.1.1.1.1.1

              This far from out from the election any maths is pointless but I will say this will mean that Labour will bleed some votes to the Greens so they’ll be safe but if I had to put money on it (I’d rather not) I’d say NZFirst are goneburgers

              • Stuart Munro

                I refer to the TPP – doesn’t break even until 2030 and even that makes the Pollyanna assumption that tariffs removed appear in the black side of our ledger – so there’s half a billion per annum that won’t be happening.

                • chris73

                  Ok so far the sake of argument why did Labour sign it, I mean I wanted it signed but a lot of their supporters really didn’t want it signed so why sign it?

                  • Stuart Munro

                    Mental laziness – it’s more common than is generally supposed – same reason Nick Smith did nothing on housing or rivers. They get the ministerial perks and spend their term in a comfortable alcoholic stupor – occasionally punctuated by paint stripper.

                    • chris73

                      So not happy about Labour signing it I take it

                    • red-blooded

                      Stuart, that answer is a great example of mental laziness. Just pick a trope and throw it about, don’t bother thinking through the other point of view…

                      I’m somewhat ambivalent about TPPA – it is a better deal than it was, and I do agree that it would have harmed Labour in the wider community (not with the people who regularly visit this site) if they had backed away. But more than that, there are issues of international engagement and interconnectedness to consider, and they will have been weighed up pretty damn carefully.

                      You don’t have to agree with the conc;usion reached, but it’s just too easy (and too ironic) to dismiss it as “mental laziness”.

                    • Stuart Munro

                      Red Blooded

                      The onus lies with Labour to explain supporting a deal that is manifestly against the public interest, not with me.

                      I’m being pretty generous attributing it to booze really – where representatives act against the interests of their constituents the principle reagent involved is what Ambrose Bierce called ‘solicitate of gold’. They sold us out. It’s hardly the first time, but it’s no less shameful for that.

                    • McFlock

                      Option B: with the US out of the picture and their influence suspended, and with ISDS issues largely ameliorated, the margin-of-error economic benefits under the old TPP are now likely to be more significant, with few (if any) of the drawbacks. And it’s pretty much what they campaigned on.

                      Actually campaigned on, not the ‘they promised to eliminate all ISDS’ fantasy some folks have.

                      Any Labour voter who wanted the TPP completely torn up by NZ should have read the damned policies and voted Green.

                    • Stuart Munro

                      Their weasely legalisms fall considerably short of anything that could be mistaken for good governance. Time will tell, and an ISDS action won’t do much for Labour longevity. The DP team will no doubt be trying to set one up even now.

                    • McFlock

                      I think there’s a line somewhere between “I read what I wanted, not what they wrote” and “weasely legalisms”

                    • Stuart Munro

                      @McFlock The “I read what I wanted” seems to lie with Parker.

                    • McFlock

                      I already knew it seems like that to you.

                    • Stuart Munro

                      @ McFlock Oh you knew did you.
                      If that were so you wouldn’t have run the spurious line about confusing what they say with what I wanted them to say.

                      The TPP doesn’t meet the public interest standard – rendering any excuses Labour might choose to make moot.

                      You might have wanted to suggest I was overstating saying they sold us out, but I have not. Selling us out is explicitly what neo-liberalism does. Signing up for a trade deal with few or no benefits to the mass of New Zealanders is indeed a sell out – of democracy if not of pre-election promises. And pre-election promises don’t get them off the hook – they are paid and sworn to govern in the public interest, and on this matter they have chosen to fall short.

                    • McFlock

                      You’d previously made it very clear what your beliefs on the CPTPP were, so it was a logical extension that you view those people who disagree with you as being faulty in their interpretation of the data, be it through mental laziness, intoxication, or whatever else you’d put in place of considering the possibility that they’re rational and merely disagree with you.

                      So it’s obvious that it would seem to you that they read what they wanted to read rather than what was written on the paper.

                      Which they couldn’t do if they were “selling out”, by the way. Selling out requires a conscious abrogation of responsibility in favour of personal advantage, rather than than simply being wrong about the likely benefits and drawbacks of their actions.

                      Did they abandon their responsibilities, or did they try to do the good thing but were wrong?

                      So on the one hand I have Labour, who have been pretty much consistent between their promises and their actions. On the other hand, I have folks like you, who claim Labour lazily believe they’re doing good while at the same time selling out.

                      Consistency wins, IMO. Anti-TPP folk who voted for Labour are idiots.

                    • Stuart Munro

                      I think we can safely discount your suggestion of rational disagreement. Had they had rational grounds they’d have been able – and willing to make the case. Indeed we’d have heard little else.

                      “Did they abandon their responsibilities, or did they try to do the good thing but were wrong?”

                      Both in fact. The original sans US trade deal was not in a major sense objectionable, it didn’t include 6000 pages of corporate derogations of the powers of states. This was the conceivably good thing they once set out to do. Inheriting the negligent mess left by National they compromised too much and too often. They were too sensitive to NZ’s role in cobbling together that shambles to step away from it altogether and rebuild it on a state by state and equitable basis as they should have done. They were irresponsible not to do so.

                    • McFlock

                      Perhaps they’ve made a rational case, even put it against their five bottom lines point by point (maybe in the speech where they tabled the text), but you just didn’t see it as such.

  14. Michelle 14

    We know the gnats don’t care about NZers by choosing coal-man as their health person and now we have maggie the gardener as associate health when she didn’t even look after our environment how the f…k can she look after our health she is nicer to her plants than she is to people

  15. mike appleby 15

    Interesting to note the language in Bridges announcing this – picking someone who can ‘attack the government…’ where they are weak’…nothing positive or aspirational about doing a better job, just ‘attack’.

    Same language I heard from English, about the opposition is to ‘attack the government’, to do them ‘no favours’.

    Speaks clearly that are not in it for making nz a better place for all,, just good old narrow minded, bereft of idea attack politics.

    I can just hear them grating their teeth…this should have been yours….

    • chris73 15.1

      Labour should be able to bat anything National throws their way, if they’re prepared, so it shouldn’t be a big deal

      • Incognito 15.1.1

        Do you know how many fatal car accidents are caused by insects each year? The little suckers are harmless enough but they can distract drivers with fatal consequences. National plays a game of blue ass fly hoping that they can crush crash this Government.

        • AsleepWhileWalking 15.1.1.1

          Lol the blue ass…

          That’s about all they can do with housing which gives the Collins apptmt a Hegelian feel.

      • tracey 15.1.2

        The past has shown us that batting away lies once voiced is not as easy as some glibly suggest; hence national hang on to that particular strategy.

        Note this 2007 speech. The word crisis appears about 14 times.

        From 2008 to late 2017 the use of that label was denied by the same speaker and his acolytes.

        http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0708/S00336.htm

    • Michelle 15.2

      yes Mike your right but is it their teeth or a they false like them ( the teeth)

  16. timeforacupoftea 16

    The beautiful Joan Collins is just positioning herself for promotion 3 months out from the next election to give Jacinda a lesson, when Simple Simon has no traction for a National win.

    (My husband calls her the beautiful Joan, I think he fancies her, mind you he is 70.)

  17. R.P. Mcmurphy 17

    mr exceltium aka mathew hooton said on RNZ this morning that Phil Twyford will not build one house in the next three years. i think hooton needs his head read.

    • Keepcalmcarryon 17.1

      Why on earth would you believe a word coming out of Matthew wormtongue Hootons mouth? He’s a paid mouthpiece, he’s establishing a narrative, truth is irrelevant. he is a fascinating creature but don’t ever mistake his wisdom for reality.

    • patricia bremner 17.2

      No. Phil won’t personally build them. That’s just silly Hoot.

    • tracey 17.3

      HootOn is also in campaign mode. He is right that setting up KiwiBuild will take time.

      Presumably labour factored this in when making the promise

  18. peterlepaysan 18

    Interesting that there was never any housing crisis under the last nine years of national government.

    Presumably the shadow housing minister will use her extensive massive prison building and “double bunking” expertise to bear.

    Interesting to see what the nats corporate backers do with this.

    Bridges was on natrad saying that the governments housing plan was headed for disaster.

    Interesting that pre election there was no problem and now, post election, there is a housing disaster looming. Now it is Collins on Twyford, bugger the homeless.

    The boardrooms of the corporates will be vexed.

  19. Pat 19

    There is a continuing housing crisis in Christchurch although its causes and presentation differ from other regions. With the 3 billion regional development fund (correctly) unavailable to major centres there is a further opportunity for the government to do the right thing and ensure that all those who have had their homes under-scoped/ill repaired thanks to the incompetence of EQC/Fletchers are fully compensated and without further delay.

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

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
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