How not to handle a rebel

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, February 16th, 2011 - 38 comments
Categories: democratic participation, maori party, Media - Tags: , ,

The Maori Party handling of rebel MP Hone Harawira has been a complete mess. Harawira and the Party leadership have been fighting a public war for the heart and soul of the party, a struggle which the Party now portrays as Harawira’s “incidents of ill discipline stretching over the past five years”. During this gradually escalating process the Party has looked indecisive and ineffectual, has alienated much of its activist base, and has managed to risk alienating its strongest electorate.

The latest bizarre chapter in this story is the brute force gagging of Harawira by forbidding him to talk to the media. This has apparently now been extended to “a complete media ban will be strictly observed by the Maori Party including Hone Harawira on all aspects of the disciplinary disputes process until the formal hearing into the complaint has been concluded.”

A complete media ban? An MP forbidden from representing the views of his constituents? I’m trying to recall any precedent for such an extreme gagging of free speech by a political party. In recent memory the Nats’ rebel MP Brian Connell was suspended from caucus, but never prevented from speaking. Labour’s rebel Chris Carter received the same treatment. In fact, as Matt McCarten points out, Tariana Turia herself enjoyed even greater freedom:

If you read Harawira carefully, all his criticisms are not about policy differences but are based around tactics and strategies. What’s the crime in that?

Ironically, what Tariana Turia did when she was in the Labour Party was far worse. As a Cabinet minister, she actively opposed her government’s policy on the seabed and foreshore legislation. Was she expelled or even sanctioned? No. In fact, she was granted permission to speak and campaign against it. She eventually resigned to form the Maori Party but Labour never stopped her saying what she thought.

I’m sure that during this time Tariana Turia valued her ability to speak her mind and do her best to represent her people. She of all people should know better than to remove the same rights from Hone Harawira.

In short, this media ban reveals a nasty authoritarian streak in the Maori Party. It is at odds with the principles of the Party’s constitution and it is at odds with the expectation of free speech in a democracy. Does anyone in what is left of the Maori Party care enough to resist?

38 comments on “How not to handle a rebel ”

  1. Colonial Viper 1

    Labour’s lovin’ it. Oddly enough, I think John Key and his crew will also be appreciating their role in irritating for this successful implosion.

    On a more serious note, Hone represents the kind of independent voice that our MPs have lost over the year to a stricter and stricter party line system. That loss over the years has reduced the vigour and colourful nature of political debate in NZ And we are all worse off for it. Best wishes to him.

  2. lprent 2

    It is very weird. Offhand I cannot think of a precedent or even a justification to try to order an electorate MP muzzled. This should make reading the links (and comments) interesting to see if anyone can figure out a justification (that doesn’t engender a thought pattern past a belly laugh)

    • lprent 2.1

      Matt McCarten has the whole thing well bracketed. It is a policy debate similar to those I hear all of the time inside Labour, amongst the MP’s, and between activists and their MP’s.

      I spent about 20 years actively supporting Helen Clark whilst actively disagreeing with her on many policy areas, our strategies and tactics, or her interpretation of public mood in LEC or directly.

      I would have expected the same respect if I’d had ever been dumb enough to go into caucus. By the sound of it, the Maori Party leadership has long stopped listening to Hone in caucus – which speaks volumes about their inability to run the parliamentary party. So Hone inevitability speaks out inside the party and in the media.

      The point about politics is everyone disagrees with almost everyone else. You work together on what you agree with and argue on the rest. But you always get a voice inside the forums set aside for it. You look at behavior rather than policy disagreements as being the dividing line.

      The current leadership in the MP clearly don’t like being questioned. They should be bloody glad I am not in it.

  3. ianmac 3

    Reports say that Hone “burst into tears” over the “pressure of the conflict.”
    What actually happened was when starting to speak about the support from his wife and from his electorate, he bowed his head and tears fell. I took that to mean that he was humbled by the support.

    And yes Tariana should feel the weight of her hypocrisy. A bit like Bennet receiving help from the Benefit then diminishing it for others in need now.

    • Mac1 3.1

      I agree with your reading of those tears, ianmac, and it gives me some sympathy and respect for Hone Harawira as a man, especially since he has way off target over other matters. What lprent says about working within the tent gells with my near forty years experience in the Labour Party.

      One of the benefits of MMP has been that those within the Party who really did take different stands on pretty big issues have now sloughed off into other minor parties like ACT and the modern Party is much more philosophically united. Other small parties seem to have trouble with their philosophical roots, their selection procedures and the disadvantages of a small activist base – perhaps the Maori Party is too broad a church for Hone Harawira.

      I still predict and await with some satisfaction a post MMP shift and split within the National Party. There has been some already for example with the religious Right and ACT, but the urban/rural, liberal/conservative, traditional/neo-con divides are held together with the glue of office and opportunity. One or two good electoral reverses and who knows what will happen………

      Capcha ‘positions’. Ha!

      • lprent 3.1.1

        The point of having a party is to have the opportunity to argue. If there isn’t an opportunity to do that, that is when you get the type of mess that the Maori party (and for that matter the recent debacle in Act) shows – a ‘leadership’ that cannot get people moving forward in a common direction.

  4. Jum 4

    The Maori party have obviously never heard of personal sovereignty, or even all Maori sovereignty, but only elite Maori sovereignty; JKeyll and the business rotundtable have been pulling the strings on this, promising Turia, the biggest control freak of them all, some carrot which will eventually go rotten on the Maori party.

    Never mind Labour loving this implosion; I’m loving it. Karma to a party that refused to acknowledge the good things that Labour/Greens even New Zealand First did for Maori as Aotearoans/New Zealanders. The number of Maori I met up with around the 2008 election that had been filled with such venom against Labour/Greens by Turia and NAct was huge. At a protest march against the previous Auckland Council for refusing to follow through with the Otahuhu swimming pool Maori were even blaming Labour for that! John Banks, previous Auckland mayor, a Labour supporter – I don’t think so!

    • Adele 4.1

      Teenaa koe, Jum

      If Labour was as good as you say towards Maaori than there would be no Maaori Party.

      There is this huge assumption by Paakeha New Zealanders that what is good for Maaori is to be ‘white-minded.’ Think and be like the average Paakeha and ‘she’ll be right.’

      We have our own views on what is right for us as separate identities in this country – and Labour never bothered to listen or was too arrogant to take heed of these views.

      If the Maaori Party implodes that will not be the end of Maaori politicism. One final point, taangata whenua is a better term to describe the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, Aotearoan sounds like a waka from Mars.

      • Of course Maori have a different outlook on philosophy and living than Pakeha ,and so they should. However in Aotearoa we need to live in partnership with each other. Most would agree that Labour has done more to achieve this than National .I do not think Labour has ever run a campaign like Iwi/Kiwi. Just as it was Labour who condemned apartheid (although Bolger was first in line to take credit.),
        The Maori Party should acknowledge this ,but this will not happen under Turia. The hypocrisy of Turia is sickening . I expect this is inherited from her GI.Joe father .Its certainly not the way I have noticed among the Maori people I know .

        What I am hoping for is that Harawira will become the Leader of the Maori Party and then support Labour as the government whilst maintaining its independence/

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1

          And LAB needs to understand the spirit of MMP and treat the Mp as true coalition partners in all issues. (Mind you Turia needs to be gone for any of this to happen).

          NAT in contrast have been treating the Mp has a disposable political tool and that has become more than obvious 2 years in.

      • Jum 4.1.2

        Nonsense, Adele,

        Tariana Turia had an agenda; Labour did not agree that her agenda was for the good of All New Zealanders. Also, whenever I talk about Maori being people just like whites are people – good or bad and often both, I am accused of racism. That’s nonsense too. People are human beings first, their colour and culture second. Humans hold their humanity in common.

        After that commonality every person is different. Every person has a different view. Why do you mention a group of Paakeha New Zealanders – that is lumping them together. You also have the right to take me to task for writing about Maori as a group when it is quite obvious they are certainly not a group of people. They are individuals and they are letting their Maori party know that they are not happy about Hone Harawira’s treatment.

        By your use of the ‘aa’, you are not in either of those groups either. You are in a group of your own, Adele.

        • Adele 4.1.2.1

          Teenaa koe, Jum

          The double ‘aa’ is correct form in the absence of the macron – and the double vowel also denotes meaning as in wahine = woman, waahine = women. The group I represent is quite large.

          To extrapolate the commonality we share as humans to an overriding ambition towards oneness is such a steaming mass of tuutae – a waste product of last century thinking.

          However, if the hegemony all decide to become Maaori – I will gladly admit to wrong thinking, and will even volunteer to assist in performing the circumcisions.

          • Jum 4.1.2.1.1

            Adele,

            Why is it you cannot stand the fact that all inhabitants of this land are people? There is nothing inherently special about Maori. There is nothing special about you, except that you are a human being. Live with that.

            More importantly, if you seriously imagine I personally would want to be anything even remotely like you in your thinking and your racism, you are imagining shxt. You’re certainly blogging it. So, extrapolate off.

            • Adele 4.1.2.1.1.1

              Teenaa koe, Jum

              This country, the world, needs less ‘people’ like you, How can you possibly even think to imply that your humanity is somehow greater than mine when you refuse to acknowledge that ‘people’ are not all the same.

              Instead, you would rather obliterate difference, to skin the animal and reduce humanity to flesh and bone only – to make it less cumbersome, less trying for you, than to actually attempt to understand and celebrate the uniqueness of others.

              Also, Maaori have never claimed to be ‘special’ that word is usually used by the haters and wreckers to fuel anger ad nauseum. Maaori, as taangata whenua, however, do have rights as afforded by Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I know, you would rather that document was obliterated too.

              • neoleftie

                I think Phil Goff Could / might have said it right “two people, one nation”
                It not really white new zealanders fault for being misguided or not understanding maori it simple ignorance. Gosh the next ten years for this country are going to be so pivotal on the formation of what our nation really is and stands for.
                Unity or seperatism
                Bi cultural understanding and intergration of valued cultural impactors or a cleaved society.
                Gosh bring on the open and honest debate about our connected future in all facets.

              • Jum

                The world needs less divisive ‘people’ like you Adele, who deliberately set out to obfuscate what other people are saying. I will repeat it. “Maori being people just like whites are people – good or bad and often both”. In trying to deny that simple statement about people as a whole you are implying that Maori are special and that they have never committed any wrong in the past, at present or in the future.

                Again, “People are human beings first, their colour and culture second. Humans hold their humanity in common.”

                Again, “Humans hold their humanity in common. After that commonality every person is different.” You mislead when you try to imply I said my humanity is greater than yours. Get rid of the poison invading your system, Adele. On this thread you are the hater and wrecker.

                As for the treaty, that will play out in New Zealand in its own time, with or without your input or mine. We will also get to see how Maori deal with the power and influence they get from the resources that they are steadily gaining through the treaty process.

                ‘Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely’.
                (Origin

                Lord ActonThis arose as a quotation by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:

                “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

                Another English politician with no shortage of names – William Pitt, the Elder, The Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778, is sometimes wrongly attributed as the source. He did say something similar, in a speech to the UK House of Lords in 1770:

                “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it”)

                • Adele

                  Teenaa koe, Jum

                  To follow your logic to its rightful place in absurdity I could very well make the statement ‘all dogs are the same’ – as they share common ancestry in the wolf.

                  Now have a fully-grown Neapolitan Mastiff sit on your lap in place of a Chihuahua, and then try to blithely say, “difference doesn’t matter – a dog is a dog.”

                  I find it ironic that you choose to quote to me the words of a dead white man (Google this) to further your pious cause. Moreso, since the dead one (Acton) is of the nobility, wealthy, an imperialist, and supported the confederacy in the American civil wars. Now which one of these virtues points to a man in sympathy with the commoner, or the slave?

                  It is presumptuous to lecture Maaori about the exercise of power especially as power corrupted first arrived here with the Endeavour and remains visible today in the power structures that are parliament, policy, finance, corporation and the media – an ocean of whiteness, and in comparison, Maaori are but flotsam and jetsam, caught in ocean currents.

                  Your type of thinking is the death of humanity not its salvation.

                  • Jum

                    Finally, you get it – a dog is a dog. A person is a person. A human is a human. Then you move on from there. You can be the Chihuahua if you like…

                    Your rant is a perfect example of why I am concerned that you have got so lost in your hatred of anyone who doesn’t agree with you, it is obviously clouding your logic.

                    Again, “People are humans first, their colour and culture second. Humans hold their humanity in common. AFTER that commonality every person is DIFFERENT.”

                    You really hate white people don’t you. Yet you forget in all of this that you are not the only person now, before and in future (brown, white, blue or black) that will suffer at the hands of the power structures of parliament, policy, finance, corporation and the media and if you weren’t so far up yourself, you would be viewing the future on behalf of everyone not just the ones you favour.

                    By the way, the mantra you’re spouting has no individual flavour to it, just what your ‘large group’ have instilled in you or you in it.

                    Maori speaking about the death of humanity forget their own past.

                  • Rosy

                    If we put our cultural differences ahead of humanity we’re lost, this does not mean we should ignore power relationships or work to recompense those who have been subject to injustices…

                    “To follow your logic to its rightful place in absurdity”… to put our cultural differences ahead of our shared humaness creates the sort of talk that justifies discrimination, if it is used by the powerful, and of course the extremes of discrimination – slavery, indigenous reservations & genocide. And it’s interesting through history to see the elite of complicit in the demise of their own through their support of the powerful. The elite in any culture have more in common with the elite in another culture than they do with the dispossessed in their own culture IMO.

                    • Locus

                      @ Adele. Who cares where a quote came from, it’s the idea that we should be debating. The idea that absolute power corrupts is worth thinking about.

                      Are Maori one type of dog and Pakeha another? What a strange analogy to use when you are trying (I think) to explain the primacy of historical oppression of a race and a culture over the ideas of human commonality.

                      I’ve lived my life all around the world, and been swamped in ocean of otherness (colour, culture, religion) in so many places. The fundamental learning is that we have more in common with others when we laugh and cry and debate together, and that our language and culture gives us a stronger sense of being part of a special family.

                      I will never know what it is like to be born into a minority in a culturally repressive society …. because I am from Aotearoa. As a New Zealander, I have the privelege of an education, clean water, sanitation, housing, a wonderful cultural heritage. Every day I wake up I am proud of our tikanga and our uniqueness as New Zealanders.

                      Maori have suffered and are suffering the results of colonialism, so we have to make things better and all play our part in creating a future where we can all delight in a kiwi culture that is a product of the best of Maori and Pakeha.

                    • Adele

                      Teenaa koorua, Jum and Rosy

                      The western tradition is vilified the world over because of the type of thinking that you both maintain. The blank state that you call ‘humanity’ is a total fiction perpetuated to alleviate any moral guilt associated with assimilating or making extinct the traditions and cultures of others.

                      Rosy, discrimination occurs when difference is denied, demeaned, and discounted.

                    • Jum

                      Adele …
                      20 February 2011 at 2:36 am ‘discrimination occurs when difference is denied, demeaned, and discounted.’

                      Ye Gods. Again, “every PERSON is DIFFERENT.” That is not denying any person, demeaning any person or discounting any person.

                      In Rosalind Miles book ‘Women’s History of the World, she writes about evidence of a single female having the gene which has flowed down through all the humans in the world, so whether you (and I) like it or not Adele, you, Rosy and I are a lot closer than you are trying to preach.

                      PS I’m not sure what colour or culture Rosalind Miles is.

                    • Rosy

                      @ Adele I won’t argue your definition of discrimination. I agree discrimination always occurs when difference is demeaned. I have no problem with acknowledging difference and I have no problem that discrimination and injustice resulting from difference needs to be resolved. My problem is when it is put ahead of acknowledging a common humanity first.

                      A very straightforward real world example: apparently there was (until yesterday) a facebook page called ‘I hate poor people’ It had post something along the lines of ‘poor people don’t have GPs they have veterinarians.’ IMO this is exactly what happens when people forget to their common humanity.

  5. tino rangatiratanga 5

    Will Sharples lose his seat to Shane Jones this year as the fallout to the Maori party taking orders from the Iwi Leadership Group and the National Party…

    Tamaki Makaurau Kaumatua call on all to “prepare to hikoi”
    February 14th, 2011

    http://news.tangatawhenua.com/archives/10140

    Elders from the National Maori Council have called for another hikoi from Northland to Parliament to oppose the new Marine and Coastal Area Bill.

    Kuia and Kaumatua of Tamaki Makaurau present at a Public Meeting held last week expressed their concerns related to the statements that have been made by the Maori Party co-Chairpersons, Dr. Peter Sharples and Tariana Turia.

    The Kaumatua and Kuia of Tamaki Makaurau have moved a vote of no confidence in the Maori Party leadership.

    Selwyn Muru an esteemed Kaumatua of Ngati Kuri who resides in Tamaki Makaurau said, ‘we were very dissatisfied with the Takutai Moana bill as put out by the Labour Party and we are equally dissatisfied with the bill put out by the National Party,’

    The Kaumatua went on to say ‘how dare the Maori Party leadership trample the Mana of our Tupuna.’

    Mr Muru further stated ‘that as a result of this and our immediate concerns for the Mana of Maori we are calling for everyone to prepare to Hikoi (March) against the Takutai Moana Bill.’

    Networks have been alerted throughout Aotearoa to prepare for a Hikoi to oppose the Takutai Moana Bill.

    _____________________________________

    * Selwyn Muru – Ngati Kuri Kaumatua- [redacted]
    * Lillian Howe – Kuia o Te Whanau a Apanui – [redacted]
    * Ngaire Te Hira – Executive NZ Maori Council – [redacted]

  6. ak 6

    In short, this media ban reveals a nasty authoritarian streak in the Maori Party

    Mmmm….either that or a timely desire (by both parties) not to shatter the aspirations and blood-wrought toil of generations by self-imploding in a blaze of NACT-fed media hysteria.

    Labour’s lovin’ it.

    Got a link for that Colly? If they are, and are anything but deeply concerned and doing their level best to avoid another Alliancehilation, then the last shreds of political nous and progressive principle just left their building.

    • Colonial Viper 6.1

      Sorry mate just an educated stab, I am guessing that no one in LAB has sympathies for Turiana getting some of her own medicine back.

      But yeah its a bit like cutting ones’ nose off.

  7. Tony P 7

    This week’s Listener editorial has (surprise surprise) come down firmly in favour of the Maori Party in all this.
    http://www.listener.co.nz/

    • neoleftie 7.1

      actaully i wonder how much the MParty has been a brake on the tory far right faction on developing policy. If you weight things up not much really has happened in a radical sence given the power players within national. So maybe just maybe a blue rinse maori party caucus actaully modfied somewhat the extremes that could have happened.

      • Colonial Viper 7.1.1

        Interesting theory, but NAT also do not need the Mp, and its a question of who Key and English would prefer to placate – their own blue grass roots or the Mp. I pick the former personally.

        The far bigger motivating factor in being highly centrist this term – the shot at a second term in power that they do not want to waste.

        • neoleftie 7.1.1.1

          true true but the Tories arent highly centrised, they simple are precieved and have given the false preception the are more centre right this go around – the great hood wink.
          Sorry to say it but if the economy was in better shape the tories would have quietly gone about the far right agenda. They only brake is the they cant touch the State or its function cause this is holding the economy up. privatising = job losses, resizine the public sector = job losses.
          job losses = less tax and less spending.
          The maori party, in my opinion, is looking long term. look to the next coalition positioning to see the true spirit of maoridom, maybe they pick and choose micro level policies that benefit them but apart from supply and confidence as per the agreement they really fundamental back the left block.

  8. Adele 8

    Teenaa koe, Rosy

    Thank you for your rational response. The issue for me is that I do not believe that it is possible to appreciate the humanity of another without first acknowledging and appreciating the differences (culture and traditions) that construct their humanity. I say first understand the differences and then you may just arrive at the underlying agreement that is humanity.

    It is not sufficient in this day and age to depend upon the basic concept ‘we are all human’ to survive living amongst others. That is simply too arrogant (and lazy) an approach towards understanding the humanity of another.

    • Jum 8.1

      Adele,

      Culture and tradition come after birth. It is neither arrogant or lazy to state that humanity is a commonality of living creatures that take the human form.

      Maybe another word is in order – humanoid? humanist

      But possibly there is a place for you, Rosy and myself in the word ‘humanity’: 1.the human race, 2.the quality of being human, 3.kindness or mercy – which suggests one function of humanity.

      Still, Adele, with your arrogant replies, there is little chance of you and I ever reaching a stage of understanding, kindness or mercy, but I have no problem continuing the struggle.

      Unlike you, I certainly don’t want to ‘survive living amongst others’. I want to enjoy the process of living amongst others. Providing ‘others’ treat my opinion with the respect they expect from me with their opinions, there is more chance to do so.

      Maybe, a compromise is in order:

      Humanity begins and ends at babyhood. Following that the personage is moulded and raised by other persons which is when the culture and traditions kick in.

      • neoleftie 8.1.1

        hmmm what is so wrong with one of a different culture wishing to celebrate and rejoice in the difference of that culture…The only seperatist we have are those locked inside the majority who dont want to even consider that another just maybe another culture might have some insight into ways that would bring the betterment to humanity.

        • Jum 8.1.1.1

          Neoleftie

          I suggest you read the whole thread, which was actually about the Maori Party. It ended up being an assault on me being white and for daring to quote a white person who talked about total power corrupting, which I thought was a good quote for anyone contemplating sovereignty. Adele and I have had this debate before and no doubt we will have it many times in the future.

          Then we moved on to what humanity meant. I’m quite enjoying it.

          I also had a wee chuckle because at some stage we were sort of agreeing but that had got lost, I think…

          I suggest Adele reads Rosalind Miles’ book that I quoted above. It talks about the female goddess who once ruled supreme. She had many names but she was the one true God and she was female. It ties in with Adele’s blurb on Deborah’s ‘Two World Views/In a Strange Land.

          Adele has an arrogance in that she believes everything she says but never accepts that other people, those bad white people, could actually have a view too.

          Adele is arrogant in that she seems to think Maori are the only ones who subscribe to the ways of women. I also mention that Maori men may not have her beliefs; I’ll stand corrected on that as regards marae, but not in the back streets of New Zealand.

          You are totally wrong in suggesting I don’t think Maori culture can offer insight into ways that would bring betterment to humanity. I just got pissed off about the way she talks down and decided to call her on it.

  9. Adele 9

    Teenaa koe, Jum

    My apologies for the delay in responding to your passive aggressive post.

    Because I live two worldviews I can articulate between the two with relative ease and a measure of expertise. You on the other hand are fixated in one – stuck in the crack of a broken-down CD – jum, jum, jum. Your ongoing rant about “humans holding their humanity in common” has grown from a steaming mass to a veritable maunga of manure. Let me once again attempt to explain why.

    Humanity in common has its roots in western philosophy and is not universally comprehended. From an indigenous perspective, to say “I am human” is a meaningless statement to make; it renders the person incomprehensible and without form. To say “I am Ngaati Awa,” on the other hand, adds flesh to DNA and whakapapa to bone. Thus, is your first conceit – to assume western ideology is meaningful to all.

    So now confronted with difference in social constructs we arrive at the next conceit of the western traditionalist (predominantly white but not necessarily so) and that is to assume the western worldview is the normative. Thus when divergence is encountered the difference is immediately translated as unimportant, a side issue, perverse.

    The third conceit is when the western traditionalist seeks to impose their worldview over others – to assimilate, obfuscate, render impotent, and when all else fails, to make extinct. This is the process of colonisation.

    I am fully aware of the views of white people as they are expressed as the majority opinion, and echo loudly in the auditoriums of power – parliament, policy, finance, corporation, and media (including the blogosphere). Not content with this much percussion, however, you then insist upon more white noise – how are the edicts of a dead white man and a non-dead white woman salient to me as an indigenous person practicing indigeneity. We like to rock to the sounds and rhythms of Oceania – yes, we have our own scholarship and philosophers.

    Finally, I am not talking down to you; I think that you are just having an issue measuring up.

    • Jum 9.1

      And in the end I will continue to hold my views and you yours and with your definite attempts at talking down, adding in your own ‘veritable maunga of manure’ laced thickly with conceited views of your own importance and using the very words of the traditional society you loathe so much, that is very unlikely to change.

      I’ll remain a human being; you can be whatever you like. And I mean that sincerely.

      I do have a question which no one else ever answers – did Maori colonise other earlier peoples in New Zealand, on the Chatham Islands for instance? Did they take slaves? Did they commit the same atrocities they always blame others for but never themselves?

      It’s fine to take the moral high ground now and utter fine big words and flowing bigotry, but under the skin colour the good and the bad still remains. And to quote your words “to assimilate, obfuscate, render impotent, and when all else fails, to make extinct” Maori certainly did that just as much as every other coloniser throughout history.

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    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    19 hours ago
  • Motorway madness

    How mad is National's obsession with roads? One of their pet projects - a truck highway to Whangārei - is going to eat 10% of our total infrastructure budget for the next 25 years: Official advice from the Infrastructure Commission shows the government could be set to spend 10 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    21 hours ago
  • Our transport planning system is fundamentally broken

    Ever since Wayne Brown became mayor (nearly two years ago now) he’s been wanting to progress an “integrated transport plan” with the government – which sounded a lot like the previous Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) with just a different name. It seems like a fair bit of work progressed ...
    1 day ago
  • Thou Shalt Not Steal

    And they taught usWhoa-oh, black woman, thou shalt not stealI said, hey, yeah, black man, thou shalt not stealWe're gonna civilise your black barbaric livesAnd we teach you how to kneelBut your history couldn't hide the genocideThe hypocrisy to us was realFor your Jesus said you're supposed to giveThe oppressed ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In February 2021, several severe storms swept across the United States, culminating with one that the Weather Channel unofficially named Winter Storm Uri. In Texas, Uri knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes and 10 million people. Hundreds of Texans died as a ...
    1 day ago
  • The ‘Infra Boys’ Highway to Budget Hell

    Chris Bishop has enthusiastically dubbed himself and Simeon Brown “the Infra Boys”, but they need to take note of the sums around their roading dreams. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Media Link: “AVFA” on the politics of desperation.

    In this podcast Selwyn Manning and I talk about what appears to be a particular type of end-game in the long transition to systemic realignment in international affairs, in which the move to a new multipolar order with different characteristics … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago
  • The cost of flying blind

    Just over two years ago, when worries about immediate mass-death from covid had waned, and people started to talk about covid becoming "endemic", I asked various government agencies what work they'd done on the costs of that - and particularly, on the cost of Long Covid. The answer was that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Seymour vs The Clergy

    For paid subscribers“Aotearoa is not as malleable as they think,” Lynette wrote last week on Homage to Simeon Brown:In my heart/mind, that phrase ricocheted over the next days, translating out to “We are not so malleable.”It gave me comfort. I always felt that we were given an advantage in New ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Unstoppable Minister McKee

    All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this townI'll do it 'til the sun goes downAnd all through the nighttimeOh, yeahOh, yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hearLeave my sunglasses on while I shed a tearIt's never the right timeYeah, yeahSong by SiaLast night there was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Could outdoor dining revitalise Queen Street?

    This is a guest post by Ben van Bruggen of The Urban Room,.An earlier version of this post appeared on LinkedIn. All images are by Ben. Have you noticed that there’s almost nowhere on Queen Street that invites you to stop, sit outside and enjoy a coffee, let alone ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago
  • Hipkins challenges long-held Labour view Government must stay below 30% of GDP

    Hipkins says when considering tax settings and the size of government, the big question mark is over what happens with the balance between the size of the working-age population and the growing number of Kiwis over the age of 65. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Your invite to Webworm Chat (a bit like Reddit)

    Hi,One of the things I love the most about Webworm is, well, you. The community that’s gathered around this lil’ newsletter isn’t something I ever expected when I started writing it four years ago — now the comments section is one of my favourite places on the internet. The comments ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Seymour’s Treaty bill making Nats nervous

    A delay in reappointing a top civil servant may indicate a growing nervousness within the National Party about the potential consequences of David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill. Dave Samuels is waiting for reappointment as the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, but POLITIK understands that what should have been a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36

    A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 1, 2024 thru Sat, September 7, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is about how peopele are not born stupid but can be fooled ...
    3 days ago
  • Time for a Change

    You act as thoughYou are a blind manWho's crying, crying 'boutAll the virgins that are dyingIn your habitual dreams, you knowSeems you need more sleepBut like a parrot in a flaming treeI know it's pretty hard to seeI'm beginning to wonderIf it's time for a changeSong: Phil JuddThe next line ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Six.

    The “double shocks” in post Cold War international affairs. The end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the global geostrategic context. In particular, the end of the nuclear “balance of terror” between the USA and USSR, coupled with the relaxation … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    3 days ago
  • Buried deep

    Here's a bike on Manchester St, Feilding. I took this photo on Friday night after a very nice dinner at the very nice Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, on Manchester Street.I thought to myself, Manchester Street? Bicycle? This could be the very spot.To recap from an earlier edition: on a February night ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.

    Military politics as a distinct “partial regime.” Notwithstanding their peripheral status, national defense offers the raison d’être of the combat function, which their relative vulnerability makes apparent, so military forces in small peripheral democracies must be very conscious of events … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Leadership for Dummies

    If you’re going somewhere, do you maybe take a bit of an interest in the place? Read up a bit on the history, current events, places to see - that sort of thing? Presumably, if you’re taking a trip somewhere, it’s for a reason. But what if you’re going somewhere ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Home again

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Dead even tie for hottest August ever

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 7

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the debate about how to responde to climate disinformation; and special guest ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Have We an Infrastructure Deficit?

    An Infrastructure New Zealand report says we are keeping up with infrastructure better than we might have thought from the grumbling. But the challenge of providing for the future remains.I was astonished to learn that the quantity of our infrastructure has been keeping up with economic growth. Your paper almost ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago
  • Councils reject racism

    Last month, National passed a racist law requiring local councils to remove their Māori wards, or hold a referendum on them at the 2025 local body election. The final councils voted today, and the verdict is in: an overwhelming rejection. Only two councils out of 45 supported National's racist agenda ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Homage to Simeon Brown

    Open to all - happy weekend ahead, friends.Today I just want to be petty. It’s the way I imagine this chap is -Not only as a political persona. But his real-deal inner personality, in all its glory - appears to be pure pettiness & populist driven.Sometimes I wonder if Simeon ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Government of deceit

    When National cut health spending and imposed a commissioner on Te Whatu Ora, they claimed that it was necessary because the organisation was bloated and inefficient, with "14 layers of management between the CEO and the patient". But it turns out they were simply lying: Health Minister Shane Reti’s ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • The professionals actually think and act like our Government has no fiscal crisis at all

    Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024

    Welcome to another Friday and another roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. As always, this and every post is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew. If you like our work and you’d like to see more of it, we invite you to join our regular ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies; Excerpt Four.

    Internal versus external security. Regardless of who rules, large countries can afford to separate external and internal security functions (even if internal control functions predominate under authoritarian regimes). In fact, given the logic of power concentration and institutional centralization of … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • A Hole In The River

    There's a hole in the river where her memory liesFrom the land of the living to the air and skyShe was coming to see him, but something changed her mindDrove her down to the riverThere is no returnSongwriters: Neil Finn/Eddie RaynerThe king is dead; long live the queen!Yesterday was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Bright Blue His Jacket Ain’t But I Love This Fellow: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power E...

    My conclusion last week was that The Rings of Power season two represented a major improvement in the series. The writing’s just so much better, and honestly, its major problems are less the result of the current episodes and more creatures arising from season one plot-holes. I found episode three ...
    5 days ago
  • Who should we thank for the defeat of the Nazis

    As a child in the 1950s, I thought the British had won the Second World War because that’s what all our comics said. Later on, the films and comics told me that the Americans won the war. In my late teens, I found out that the Soviet Union ...
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #36 2024

    Open access notables Diurnal Temperature Range Trends Differ Below and Above the Melting Point, Pithan & Schatt, Geophysical Research Letters: The globally averaged diurnal temperature range (DTR) has shrunk since the mid-20th century, and climate models project further shrinking. Observations indicate a slowdown or reversal of this trend in recent decades. ...
    6 days ago
  • Media Link: Discussing the NZSIS Security Threat Report.

    I was interviewed by Mike Hosking at NewstalkZB and a few other media outlets about the NZSIS Security Threat Report released recently. I have long advocated for more transparency, accountability and oversight of the NZ Intelligence Community, and although the … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • How do I make this better for people who drive Ford Rangers?

    Home, home again to a long warm embrace. Plenty of reasons to be glad to be back.But also, reasons for dejection.You, yes you, Simeon Brown, you odious little oik, you bible thumping petrol-pandering ratfucker weasel. You would be Reason Number One. Well, maybe first among equals with Seymour and Of-Seymour ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A missed opportunity

    The government introduced a pretty big piece of constitutional legislation today: the Parliament Bill. But rather than the contentious constitutional change (four year terms) pushed by Labour, this merely consolidates the existing legislation covering Parliament - currently scattered across four different Acts - into one piece of legislation. While I ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Nicola Willis Seeks New Sidekick To Help Fix NZ’s Economy

    Synopsis:Nicola Willis is seeking a new Treasury Boss after Dr Caralee McLiesh’s tenure ends this month. She didn’t listen to McLiesh. Will she listen to the new one?And why is Atlas Network’s Taxpayers Union chiming in?Please consider subscribing or supporting my work. Thanks, Tui.About CaraleeAt the beginning of July, Newsroom ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Inflation alive and kicking in our land of the long white monopolies

    The golden days of profit continue for the the Foodstuffs (Pak’n’Save and New World) and Woolworths supermarket duopoly. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 5:The Groceries Commissioner has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • The thermodynamics of electric vs. internal combustion cars

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler I love thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is like your mom: it may not tell you what you can do, but it damn well tells you what you can’t do. I’ve written a few previous posts that include thermodynamics, like one on air capture of ...
    6 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.

    The notion of geopolitical  “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • Venus Hum

    Fill me up with soundThe world sings with me a million smiles an hourI can see me dancing on my radioI can hear you singing in the blades of grassYellow dandelions on my way to schoolBig Beautiful Sky!Song: Venus Hum.Good morning, all you lovely people, and welcome to the 700th ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • I Went to a Creed Concert

    Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses

    The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • A Time For Unity.

    Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...
    7 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again

    National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.

    A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Nicola Willis’s Very Unserious Bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander Cancellation

    Open to all with kind thanks to all subscribers and supporters.Today, RNZ revealed that despite MFAT advice to Nicola Willis to be very “careful and deliberate” in her communications with the South Korean government, prior to any public announcement on cancelling Kiwirail’s i-Rex, Willis instead told South Korea 26 minutes ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Satisfying the Minister’s Speed Obsession

    The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...
    1 week ago
  • What if we freed up our streets, again?

    This guest post is by Tommy de Silva, a local rangatahi and freelance writer who is passionate about making the urban fabric of Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland more people-focused and sustainable. New Zealand’s March-April 2020 Level 4 Covid response (aka “lockdown”) was somehow both the best and worst six weeks of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 week ago
  • No Alarms And No Surprises

    A heart that's full up like a landfillA job that slowly kills youBruises that won't healYou look so tired, unhappyBring down the governmentThey don't, they don't speak for usI'll take a quiet lifeA handshake of carbon monoxideAnd no alarms and no surprisesThe fabulous English comedian Stewart Lee once wrote a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Five ingenious ways people could beat the heat without cranking the AC

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Every summer brings a new spate of headlines about record-breaking heat – for good reason: 2023 was the hottest year on record, in keeping with the upward trend scientists have been clocking for decades. With climate forecasts suggesting that heat waves ...
    1 week ago
  • No new funding for cycling & walking

    Studies show each $1 of spending on walking and cycling infrastructure produces $13 to $35 of economic benefits from higher productivity, lower healthcare costs, less congestion, lower emissions and lower fossil fuel import costs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • 99

    Dad turned 99 today.Hell of a lot of candles, eh?He won't be alone for his birthday. He will have the warm attention of my brother, and my sister, and everyone at the rest home, the most thoughtful attentive and considerate people you could ever know. On Saturday there will be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Open Government: National reneges on beneficial ownership

    One of the achievements of the New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership Fourth National Action Plan was a formal commitment from the government to establish a public beneficial ownership register. Such a register would allow the ultimate owners of companies to be identified - a vital measure in preventing corruption, money ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt One.

    This project analyzes security politics in three peripheral democracies (Chile, New Zealand, Portugal) during the 30 years after the end of the Cold War. It argues that changes in the geopolitical landscape and geo-strategic context are interpreted differently by small … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Tea and Toast

    When the skies are looking bad my dearAnd your heart's lost all its hopeAfter dawn there will be sunshineAnd all the dust will goThe skies will clear my darlingNow it's time for you to let goOur girl will wake you up in the mornin'With some tea and toastLyrics: Lucy Spraggan.Good ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • NLTP 2024 released – destroying pipeline of shovel ready local projects

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Waka Kotahi yesterday released the latest National Land Transport Plan (NLTP) for 2024-27. The NLTP sets out what transport projects will be funded for the next three years, including both central and local government projects. As expected given the government’s extremely ideological transport policy, it’s ...
    1 week ago
  • Can Brown deliver his roads

    The Government’s unveiling of its road-building programme yesterday was ambitious and, many would say, long overdue. But the question will be whether it is too ambitious, whether it is affordable, and, if not, what might be dropped. The big ticket items will be the 17 so-called Roads of National Significance. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New paper about detecting climate misinformation on Twitter/X

    Together with Cristian Rojas, Frank Algra-Maschio, Mark Andrejevic, Travis Coan, and Yuan-Fang Li, I just published a paper in Nature Communications Earth & Environment where we use the Computer Assisted Recognition of Denial and Skepticism (CARDS) machine learning model to detect climate misinformation in 5 million climate tweets. We find over half ...
    1 week ago
  • Excerpting “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies.”

    In the late 2000s-early 2010s I was researching and writing a book titled “Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Chile, New Zealand and Portugal.” The book was a cross-regional Small-N qualitative comparison of the security strategies and postures of three small … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Hating for the Wrong Reasons: Of Rings of Power, Orcs and Evil

    A few months ago, my fellow countryman, HelloFutureMe, put out a giant YouTube video, dissecting what went wrong with the first season of Rings of Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ6FRUO0ui0&t=8376s). It’s an exceptionally good video, and though it spans some two and a half hours, it is well worth your time. But ...
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: “Least cost” to who?

    On Friday the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released their submission on National's second Emissions Reduction Plan, ripping the shit out of it as a massive gamble based on wishful thinking. One of the specific issues he focused on was National's idea of "least cost" emissions reduction, pointing out that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Israeli Lives Matter

    There is no monopoly on common senseOn either side of the political fenceWe share the same biology, regardless of ideologyBelieve me when I say to youI hope the Russians love their children tooLyrics: Sting. Read more ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Luxon Cries

    Over the weekend, I found myself rather irritably reading up about the Treaty of Waitangi. “Do I need to do this?” It’s not my jurisdiction. In any other world, would this be something I choose to do?My answer - no.The Waitangi Tribunal, headed by some of our best legal minds, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Just one Wellington home being consented for every 10 in Auckland

    A decade of under-building is coming home to roost in Wellington. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday September 2:Wellington’s leaders are wringing their hands over an exodus of skilled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Container trucks on local streets: why take the risk?

    This is a guest post by Charmaine Vaughan, who came to transport advocacy via her local Residents Association and a comms role at Bike Auckland. Her enthusiasm to make local streets safer for all is shared by her son Dylan Vaughan, a budding “urban nerd” who provided much of the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 week ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #35

    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 25, 2024 thru Sat, August 31, 2024. Story of the week After another crammed week of climate news including updates on climate tipping points, increasing threats from rising ...
    1 week ago
  • An Uncanny Valley of Improvement: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episodes 1-3 (Season ...

    And thus we come to the second instalment of Amazon’s Rings of Power. The first season, in 2022, was underwhelming, even for someone like myself, who is by nature inclined to approach Tolkien adaptations with charity. The writing was poor, the plot made no sense on its own terms, and ...
    1 week ago

  • Government unlocking potential of AI

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced a programme to drive Artificial Intelligence (AI) uptake among New Zealand businesses. “The AI Activator will unlock the potential of AI for New Zealand businesses through a range of support, including access to AI research experts, technical assistance, AI tools and resources, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago
  • Government releases Wairoa flood review findings

    The independent rapid review into the Wairoa flooding event on 26 June 2024 has been released, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced today. “We welcome the review’s findings and recommendations to strengthen Wairoa's resilience against future events,” Ms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago
  • Promoting faster payment times for government

    The Government is sending a clear message to central government agencies that they must prioritise paying invoices in a timely manner, Small Business and Manufacturing Minister Andrew Bayly says. Data released today promotes transparency by publishing the payment times of each central government agency. This data will be published quarterly ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago
  • Acknowledgement to Kīngi Tuheitia speech

    E te māngai o te Whare Pāremata, kua riro māku te whakaputa i te waka ki waho moana. E te Pirimia tēnā koe.Mr Speaker, it is my privilege to take this adjournment kōrero forward.  Prime Minister – thank you for your leadership. Taupiri te maunga Waikato te awa Te Wherowhero ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Interim fix to GST adjustment rules to support businesses

    Inland Revenue can begin processing GST returns for businesses affected by a historic legislative drafting error, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says. “Inland Revenue has become aware of a legislative drafting error in the GST adjustment rules after changes were made in 2023 which were meant to simplify the process. This ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Strong uptake for cervical screening self-test

    More than 80 per cent of New Zealand women being tested have opted for a world-leading self-test for cervical screening since it became available a year ago. Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti and Associate Minister Casey Costello, in her responsibility for Women’s Health, say it’s fantastic to have such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document sets ambitious direction

    Regulation Minister David Seymour welcomes the Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document, which sets out how the Ministry will carry out its work and deliver on its purpose. “I have set up the Ministry for Regulation with three tasks. One, to cut existing red tape with sector reviews. Two, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Māori Education Advisory Group established

    The Education Minister has established a Māori Education Ministerial Advisory Group made up of experienced practitioners to help improve outcomes for Māori learners. “This group will provide independent advice on all matters related to Māori education in both English medium and Māori medium settings. It will focus on the most impactful ways we can lift ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • First of five new Hercules aircraft takes flight

    Defence Minister Judith Collins today welcomed the first of five new C-130J-30 Hercules to arrive in New Zealand at a ceremony at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base Auckland, Whenuapai. “This is an historic day for our New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and our nation. The new Hercules fleet ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Have your say on suicide prevention

    Today, September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, a time to reflect on New Zealand’s confronting suicide statistics, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “Every death by suicide is a tragedy – a tragedy that affects far too many of our families and communities in New Zealand. We must do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Action to grow the rural health workforce

    Scholarships awarded to 27 health care students is another positive step forward to boost the future rural health workforce, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality health care and this Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Pharmac delivering more for Kiwis following major funding boost

    Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour has welcomed the increased availability of medicines for Kiwis resulting from the Government’s increased investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the Government,” says Mr Seymour. “When our Government assumed office, New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Sport Minister congratulates NZ’s Paralympians

    Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop has congratulated New Zealand's Paralympic Team at the conclusion of the Paralympic Games in Paris.  “The NZ Paralympic Team's success in Paris included fantastic performances, personal best times, New Zealand records and Oceania records all being smashed - and of course, many Kiwis on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government progresses response to Abuse in Care recommendations

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