#IamMetiria for NZer of the Year

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, August 12th, 2017 - 104 comments
Categories: Metiria Turei - Tags:

Newshub reports a surge in nominations for Metiria to be the New Zealander of the Year.

I just love this idea and would encourage others to nominate her too.

So even if she’s forced out of parliament (I don’t say politics, I’m sure she’ll still be involved in getting important issues into the public’s mind after a break), she gets some reward for her brave speaking out on behalf of those we put into very tough situations.  And it’s another way of keeping poverty in the headlines too.

She hasn’t forgotten living on struggle st, even if others have.

104 comments on “#IamMetiria for NZer of the Year ”

  1. eco maori 1

    We will vote Metiria because she is a proud Maori woman standing up for all peoples human rights. This day and age we all are living in glass houses and at anytime the media could smash them down if the story is negative enough. Yes the more shit the better there ratings will clime up. The media don’t care who s lives they ruin .
    I have seen a $300.000000 dollar business smashed by the media . These people were hard working Kiwis they did not discriminate against employees because of race. Because of the bad publicity they could not get good staff some off the staff they had were ripping them off hard. And they had the hole nation casting shit at them . Now they people were the hardest working family I no .They were a proud good honest family . They only judge a person on there work standards not race . Now the media did not care that they were ruining this family there was no empithy for this family they did not lie cheat and steal off any one to build there bushiness they worked fucken hard to build them . And NZ let John key and his banker mates shut them down the family weren’t arrogant or asshole . And that’s what the media DOES smashes peoples lives with out even caring about the carnage they cause to people lives . So we will vote for Metiria to be person of the year .

    • Phil 1.1

      Nominating the Turei is a bad look. If the Greens and Greens supporters enjoy being seen as the lunatic fringe with only a few MPs then by all means make a big deal about nominating her. I have gone back to Labour because of Turei and Ardern and all my donations are now directed to Labour.
      My wife says she won’t vote this election due to her dislike of Winston, Turei and Willie Jackson. That’s two votes from this household not going green for the first time in 3 elections.

      • Dspare 1.1.1

        Phil
        Going over to Labour is up to you, though hopefully your wife does get out to vote – even if it is just to spoil her ballot papers.

        Anyway, I make that 2 previously Green voters abandoning the party this election this election over Turei’s recent actions. But on a recent thread, it seems that 7 previous non-GP voters would be voting for them precisely because of; her fearless illuminating the plight of the poor by admitting her own past misdeeds in similar circumstances. It is a very limited and self-selecting sample, but that seems to be an increase in party votes to me. And the GP won’t get into a government without a strong Labour vote, so long as previous Green voters don’t go over to; NZF, or National, that doesn’t seem too worrying.

        https://thestandard.org.nz/how-high-will-arderns-labour-go/#comment-1366411

      • Sabine 1.1.2

        that is ok. I will vote Green this year, my Partner will vote Green this year. So we almost made up for your household.

      • francesca 1.1.3

        my partner who has NEVER voted before is sufficiently motivated this time to vote for the Greens because of Metiria

      • spikeyboy 1.1.4

        Ive never voted green before but will now because of Turei’s brilliant, courageous, uplifting, laugh out loud in sheer exhilaration, stand with poverty and the downtrodden.

      • Well I suppose there had to be one or two. You’re welcome to go back to Labour Phil, but we’ll see if there are any significant number who shifted voting intentions for reasons like yours soon enough: if the GP rebounds, you’re probably likely to be pretty lonely.

        I would rather that we hadn’t lost anyone, but it does make me wonder what people actually thought about the party’s welfare policies and the reality of life for people on welfare if you (or other voters who left) aren’t able to support Metiria and her story through right-wing smears. Nothing that came out was particularly disqualifying stuff, and has been pointed out in many places, it’s all stuff that John Key and Bill English have effectively done in the past, but worse, because they were MPs while they did it, and Bill had no need for an extra $46,800. I can understand Metiria being unable to slog through the attacks any longer, but I have to admit I am disappointed in the people who don’t get that this is about class warfare, and if people sometimes have to bend the rules a bit to survive, we should be looking at the rules and the people who were really keen on making them such that not everyone can survive them, rather than judging people for technically breaking rules even though yes, theoretically, that’s wrong.

        (I can of course, understand being a bit wild at the fact that some people were bending rules while other people were suffering through on less-than-enough. That is a valid reason to be mad at someone, but I think most of the people who had that reaction were never going to vote Green in the first place)

  2. patricia bremner 2

    Metiria has begun a conversation NZ badly needs to have.

    When someone comfortably off in our family said “I don’t want beneficiaries to get more money”. I thought “But I DO!!”

    Metiria, you made us admit where we stand on this issue.

    There are many who have known hard times, and a money gift or act of kindness pulled them back from the brink.

    Today all help is “counted” as debt to be repaid.

    This is a sick culture of greed.

    YES. Metiria is that special.

  3. Abbi Pritchard Jones 3

    Yea, that’s definitely not happening..

  4. Johan 4

    “#IamMetiria for NZer of the Year’, how pathetic is that.
    As a constant Labour Party and still a Green Party supporter, I find that Metirea’s past has caught up with her. She has blotted her copybook, and has lost my respect or trust for her. There are many passionate Green members, who can do an excellent job in the leadership role.
    No one person is greater than their political party.

    • aom 4.1

      There are a few other 20 year old copybooks some would like to have look at too. You can pave the way by showing us yours Johan. Who knows, it might start a trend so that we can find out if the average human being has any right to express righteous indignation.

      • Johan 4.1.1

        I have never defrauded the gov’t or any private person.
        If a person was to stand for public office it is expected that he/she would be able to withstand public scrutiny.

        • Philj 4.1.1.1

          “If a person was to stand for public office it is expected that he/she would be able to withstand public scrutiny”
          Johan, that explains how we are in a crazy world. Public scrutiny only applies to one side though. Check out Hilary AND Trump, Sabin AND Metiria, Barclay AND Goff/Shearer/Cunliffe/Little.Take your pick Yohan. Lol

    • Nelson Mandela was a jailbird for much of his adult life.

      • Tuppence Shrewsbury 4.2.1

        Seriously comparing Nelson Mandela to Metiria Turei?

        • Robert Guyton 4.2.1.1

          Tuppence – yours is a common mistake; almost anything can be “compared” with anything else; a raven can be compared to a writing desk. Where you have fallen in, is thinking “compare” means “equate” a common mistake made by righty-thinkers (you are one, btw). Mandela was a criminal, I’m sure you’ll agree; he was judged, sentenced and jailed as a criminal. By your standards, he should never have been allowed to become President of his country, criminal that he was. D’ya see what I’m getting at, righty?

          • Johan 4.2.1.1.1

            Robert you need to be able to understand things in perspective and make use of common sense. Obviously you do not!

            • Robert Guyton 4.2.1.1.1.1

              Johan – you say that I ” don’t need to be able to understand things…”
              How odd that you might think that! How confused your world-view!

  5. francesca 5

    Have just donated to the Green Party, in homage to Metiria
    How does one nominate for NZer of the Year?

    • Dpare 5.1

      francesca
      There is a hypertext link in the second paragraph of the OP, or try this link here:

      http://nzawards.org.nz/nominate/

      Her full name is: Metiria Leanne Agnes Stanton Turei, DOB; 13/2/70, Organisation; Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Address; Waitati, Dunedin (hopefully they don’t need the street address as I’m not going to put that here – nor the other contact details for the next two boxes).

      Hope that helps, you’ll have to find your own words to recommend her though. That is much more convincing than spamming the site with formletter cut and pasting.

    • Eralc 5.2

      If you really want to, you’ll find out.

  6. RuralGuy 6

    In the 3 weeks after Metiria’s fraud admission, the greens (and the wider progressive movement) mistook social media support for real world support, which catastrophicly imploded. This absurd suggestion of the NZer of the year accolade is repeating that mistake, there is no groundswell from “real NZ” for this.

    Real people will look at this type of talk and this reinforces to them how woefully out of touch with how regular NZ thinks the progressive movement is. Poll results indicate that Real NZ thinks Met is dishonest and her brand is toxic.

    I don’t think she ever progressed the discussion to poverty during the firestorm that surrounded her, and my impression is that she’d probably damaged the national perception of beneficiaries during the 3 weeks as plenty may now view them as ungrateful lying fraudsters based upon their perception of Met.

    If the aim is to change the government, then Met needs to be forgetten and discarded quickly. Her resignation was an attempt to speed up the fade to obscurity as she’d understood that her being visible and talked about harms the likelihood of a government changing hands.

    • AsleepWhileWalking 6.1

      ? I see support for this where I am

      The award would be a controversial choice, but then again Louise Nicholas was too.

      I think it would be a great idea.

      • RuralGuy 6.1.1

        Precisely, but don’t mistake that support for a groundswell beyond progressive echo chambers, and it indicates “where you are” is out of step with conventional public opinion on Met. Not a bad thing at all, but do you want to change the government or present Met with a meaningless gong.

        We need to forget her for 5 weeks, and then backfill her with appropriate praise once that praise won’t harm the brand.

        • KJT 6.1.1.1

          Funny. I have seen real support from a wide range of people.
          Even died in the wool National voters, who think the witch hunt was shamefull.

          I think it is obvious who lives in an echo chamber.

          The ones trolling right wing media memes, here.

          Hoping we will all just shut up and go away, and stop holding up a mirror to their antisocial meanness.

    • weka 6.2

      In the past 3 weeks I’ve seen more real discussion about poverty and how it affects people, from the pov of *those people, than I think I’ve ever seen. The media has been saturated with this. That’s huge.

      So, real. When I use the word real here, what I meant was that instead of poor people being objects to talk about, the culture shifted a bit to let poor people tell their own stories.

      When you use the word real, as in ‘real NZ’, you are practicing a form of bigotry against those people. You are setting up the people who have spoken out, who are actual real people with names and lives and experiences of being human, against an abstract idea that there is a block of NZ that thinks the same and is most of the country.

      There is no way to poll ‘real NZ’ because it’s an idea. What happened was that a couple of MSM outlets used leading questions to set the direction of the dominant narrative. Go read some analysis of people who understand how polling is done, because you extrapolating from those surveys to most of NZ believes this is based on false evidence.

      • RuralGuy 6.2.1

        Conversations in echo chambers don’t count. The conversation nationally never went beyond fraud, otherwise it would’ve played out differently.

        Think strategically and pragmatically and think about how to win. The only conversations that matter are the ones that shift the dial on the 23rd of September. Meaningless gongs don’t move the masses and shift the dials.

        • Ad 6.2.1.1

          That depends how big the echo chamber is.
          If Green supporters just go with the likes of their own Facebook networks, the specific Green party networks, and the leftie blogs, they will continue to tighten their core within fairly sizable echo chambers. They are perfectly legitimate – they just don’t persuade new voters at all.

        • weka 6.2.1.2

          “Conversations in echo chambers don’t count.”

          You think the MSM and the mainstream social media news organisations are echo chambers?

          Again, you are trying to make out that ‘NZ’ thinks something. It really doesn’t, because NZ in that sense is an abstract idea. If you mean that x number of NZers believe something, then sure, but there’s no good evidence yet of what those numbers are or what they believe.

          The Greens want change not power for its own sake. This is the bravest thing I have seen them or any political party do.

          Here’s a theory for you. If the GP hadn’t taken this step (the welfare policy and how it was launched), Labour wouldn’t have shifted to Ardern when it did. That’s how change happens without having to have more institutional power.

          And as pointed out, the MSM itself has allowed discussion of poverty from the pov of poor people, including how that intersects with racism and sexism. These are the things that change culture. The Greens were doing this 30 years ago about the environment and 20 years ago about climate change, which is why NZ is in the position now to vote on those things.

          I’m all about changing the govt, not for the sake of gaining power but for the sake of changing NZ.

        • RedLogix 6.2.1.3

          In the 3 weeks after Metiria’s fraud admission,

          So when a politician is honest about their past they get vilified and abused. Then we complain our politician’s are not honest.

          Because absolutely no-one, really no-one, actually cares about whether Turei got a bit of extra cash she was not technically entitled to 23 years ago.

          • weka 6.2.1.3.1

            Actually, I think some people do. I think some people are so entrenched in the idea of beneficiaries being a drain on the tax payer and/or being bludgers, that any beneficiary taking what they need is rated very highly as a moral and legal offence. There’s this whole thing about who deserves what, and hence we have a punitive welfare system currently because some people think that humans are inherently greedy and selfish and lazy and need to be stopped.

            • RedLogix 6.2.1.3.1.1

              OK so maybe some people do, but jeeze they need to get a life. And dare I say it, is the reason why all along I’ve been such a vocal supporter of a UBI … in whatever form we can be happy with.

              98% of the rest is manufactured outrage.

            • Sabine 6.2.1.3.1.2

              i think it is high tide to make public the amount someone gets on the benefit.

              Like seriously, how much does a single mother with a child or two gets a week?
              I would venture a guess, no one really knows, and most over estimate.

              I have posted it a few times how it is done in Germany, where the amount one receives either on Unemployment – no kids 60% of last net wage for 6 – 12 month (depending on duration of contribution to the unemployment fund) or with kids 67% of the last net wage, and then when that period has run out adults get a fixed amount + rent / electricity paid for a single person, or fixed amont + rent/electricity paid for a single parent + a fixed amount per child (and this is to me the important bit, the children get a fixed amount), or a fixed amount + part rent/electiricity if in a relationship + part fixed amount for child/children).
              Once that is clear, some people might actually be able to do the math and might even end up “zipping it like a good sweety” cause the math don’t work.

              I still can’t fathom that in NZ it is up to the individual Case Manager and their daily form/mood/happiness or what ever that allows them to allocate funds, deny funds to people clearly entitled and then send a letter a year back or so stating, we have over paid you, pay back heathen or we gonna send debt collectors on yer arse and ruin your credit score. That is not welfare that is emotional, spiritual and economic warfare against people with no armor and no weapons to defend themselves.

              We need to be able to check just how much would one get. Unless that is done, people like Hoskings and their ilk will always complain about women who have children they can’t afford.
              And i would like a full hour on TV spend on dead beat parents who do not pay their share of child support for what ever fucking reason they can dream up and leave it over to the mother / father of the child to a. parent, b. go begging at Winz, and c. be shamed for it by the public. This too needs to be made part of the discussion.

                • Sabine

                  that does not even cover rent.
                  let alone nappies, school uniforms, food, electricity, telephone, transport, medication, sanitary products for girls/women.
                  Hell, teenager eat like dumpsters. Maybe this is what needs to be pointed out.

                  we need a benefit for the child. 100$ for food, x for nappies, x for school uniform, x for shoes, x for age appropriate toys, x for school trips etc so that a healthy upbringing of the child is guaranteed.

                  and i don’t want to hear that maybe some parents don’t use that money for the kid, cause the MAJORITY of parents will.

                  • weka

                    $372 plus accommodation supplement and TAS for those that can access it.

                    • Sabine

                      we have a saying for that Weka

                      zum leben zu wenig
                      zum sterben zu viel

                      to little to live
                      to much to die

                    • weka

                      I think that’s exactly what government aimed for Sabine.

                    • KJT

                      Ruth Richardsons, National Government in the early 90’s deliberately set welfare at 80% of the amount research showed as needed to live on, to force people to accept low paid and exploitative jobs.

                      No Government since, National or Labour, has reversed this.

                      Putting welfare recipients and low waged workers into poverty was a deliberate choice.

                      For which Wayne, and the other culprits should be in jail.

                      Unfortunately. Blighting the lives of over a million people, and forcing 300 thousand children into poverty, is legal.

                      And something we will be paying for, for generations.

                    • weka

                      Do you have a reference for that KJT? I see people referring to the Treasury report that National then undercut, but I’ve lost track of what it was and where to find it.

              • Wayne

                Sabine,

                Obviously New Zealand could have German, or other Northern European levels of welfare. But there isn’t sufficient electoral support for it. Either in Labour or National, or for that matter the Greens given their support of the Budget Responsibility Rules.

                German and Northern European levels of welfare requires the state to be a minimum of 40% of GDP.

                In New Zealand the state is currently 30%, and for the last 30 years has been between 30% and 35% of GDP. Local Government adds another 5% of GDP.

                The state was quite a bit higher pre 1984, but a lot of that spending propped up farmers and industry, and a realm of inefficient SOEs. Plus bloated organisations like the Railways, Ministry of Works and the Post Office which each employed 25,000 people. The whole system also required mile high tariff walls to protect the grossly inefficient New Zealand industry. We also had 66% income taxes cutting in at around $22,000 which would be about $100,000 today.

                The whole thing was a house of cards, and by the early 1980’s was obviously in its final days. New Zealand was at risk of having to call in the IMF, since it had reached its borrowing limits. Muldoon knew this but was not prepared to do what was necessary.

                Of course the “anti-neoliberals” pine for the pre 1984 days, but they are not coming back, even in a contemporary form.

                The major public reaction against the Green welfare policy was not that benefits should go up 20%, but rather it was to be accountability free. That included a person on the DBP being able to live with his/her employed partner for up to 3 years before loosing the benefit. That would have been a real slap to hardworking low income working families.

                I would also note that as a smaller party, the Greens clearly does not feel particularly burdened by the Budget Responsibly Rules. The collectivity of Green policy would have grossly exceeded the around 30% as the size of the state aspect of the Rules. Probably would have required a size of state in excess of 35% with much higher tax rates to match. I always assume that smaller parties know the bulk of their platform will not happen, so actually being fiscally responsible does not matter that much to them.

                However, neither Labour or National cannot afford to be so cavalier. They know they might actually be the core of government with most of their policies being implemented. Their numbers have to add up. They will be seriously scrutinised by the media, and a large part of the electorate.

                • Dspare

                  Wayne

                  “anti-neoliberals” pine for the pre 1984 days, but they are not coming back, even in a contemporary form.

                  What is a contemporary form of pre-1984 days? Do you just mean that you don’t want any taxrate increases, or is there something more there?

                  Also, how would allowing a soloparent to try start a relationship that might lead to improved stability for their children, and maybe one day leaving the benefit entirely, be; “a real slap to hardworking low income working families”? Ensuring that their caregiver is only able to have one-night stands with randos hardly seems to be in the child’s interest. Do you think that the only thing that makes those in lowpaying employment endure their lot is that others have it worse?

                  • Wayne

                    Dspare

                    On your first point, the pre-1984 days were highly controlled to the overall disadvantage of New Zealand. Of course that sort of regulatory control cannot be bought back, the world simply isn’t like that any more. I am basically OK with the current size of government at 30% of GDP. It gets what we currently have. Going up or down by a percent or two is not really an issue for me. But going to say 35% of GDP would be a problem for me. It is an increase in the size of the state of 20% with the attendant tax rises and regulation.

                    As I understand the Green welfare policy, the three years applies to a relationship where the couple live together as a couple, not during the period where the relationship is initially developing. Even I accept your view on this point, I would have thought six months after they live as a couple would be enough.

                    Remember we are talking about a situation where the partner is working. To me, in such a situation it is not appropriate that the person who was in receipt of the DBP should continue getting it even though their partner is working. If there is an additional transition period then 6 months would be enough in my view.

                    • KJT

                      It has become blatently obvious that a State share of the economy of 30% is too low for a functioning country, whatever spin Wayne puts on it.

                      Successful countries have between 38 and 65%.

                      Trickle down has failed. Even Wayne’s former boss has acknowledged that.

                      It is “fiscally irresponsible” to give so much of our wealth to the already rich, so they can squander it.
                      It is not even good capitalism to restrain investment on infrastructure, to give money to speculators, and give our income earning assets away.

                      And this whole thing has shown why we need to return to a no questions asked UBI for mothers.

                    • Pat

                      “At 40% of GDP in 2007, New Zealand’s general government expenditure was slightly lower than the average of 42% for the 29 OECD countries for which data is available (see Figure 5)”

                      http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/research-policy/tp/govtsize/13.htm

                • mauī

                  I would also note that as a smaller party, the Greens clearly does not feel particularly burdened by the Budget Responsibly Rules……

                  …so actually being fiscally responsible does not matter that much to them.

                  Question, who was the only major party that had their election budget spending independently audited last election?

                  A. It wasn’t National, Labour or NZ First…

                  • Wayne

                    Maui,

                    I go with the Treasury figures. They have vastly more expertise on government accounting and policy and the cost of policy than an independent consultant. So in essence National goes with the Treasury figures, as does Labour, when doing their costings

                    • KJT

                      Evidence “is not how we do policy in New Zealand”. Wayne Mapp.

                      Not how National does policy, of course.

                      If it has failed overseas, charter schools, targeted welfare, reduced State spending etc. National will do it!

                    • So in essence National goes with the Treasury figures, as does Labour, when doing their costings

                      Unless it goes against their ideology of giving government money to rich people like, say, increasing the accommodation supplement.

                      Or building roads that don’t meet the legislated BCR.

                      Or increasing immigration despite Treasury showing that excess immigration was becoming a problem.

                      Climate Change – National is still going against all the facts on that one.

                      That’s just off the top of my head but the list goes on, and on, and on. National only listens to the facts when they support National’s ideology. Otherwise they ignore them.

                • Ad

                  There’s a lot of truth in that.

                  Under a Labour led government we are going to find out what a newer, much stronger state is going to look like again. But the ground upon which that is built is from National.

                  The National Party are vey strong state spenders, and highly interventionist in a variety of economic fields.

                  When you look back on the legacy of the National Party’s last three terms, they have made massive advances in re-forming a large and powerful state:

                  – Social compact sustained n the form of Kiwsaver, NZSuperfund, Working for Families, raising benefit levels, massively strong ACC

                  – City-making in Auckland with Convention Centre, City Rail Link, Hobsonville, and Tamaki Transformation, remake of Christchurch, rebuild of Kaikoura

                  – Economic intervention in irrigation leading towards higher productivity regions

                  – Etc, in Defence, Transport, Intelligence …

                  But it’s that Anglo aversion to large welfare transfers that singles out their limits. They will simply never go there. And they know the public sees those limits; witness how graceful English was when faced with the Metiria revelations.

                  All the Labour led government is going to do is build on the massively interventionist tax-and-expand-and spend state that National has built in the last 9 years. And hopefully do it even better, of course.

                • RedLogix

                  Obviously New Zealand could have German, or other Northern European levels of welfare. But there isn’t sufficient electoral support for it.

                  There are of course two reasons for this; one has been a generation which has not known any different, and saturated in the idea that ‘there is no alternative.’ The dominant media and accepted wisdom is that poverty is all the fault of the poor and if you aren’t working you have no human dignity and are fair game for public shaming and abuse. (As the past week or so has vividly demonstrated.)

                  The other reason is more subtle. There is a widespread ignorance around how that ‘30% of GDP’ is made up. The almost unique feature of the NZ economy is that 100% of our retirement provision, ie Superannuation, comes from directly from taxation. Almost all other countries this provision comes from a wide mix of other sources such as employer funded contributions, and investment funds.

                  Indeed when you make an apples for apples comparison across all OECD countries with retirement funding allowed for, it turns out NZ’s core public expenditure is actually one of the very lowest in the world. Far from being an over-taxed socialist hell-hole as the myth-makers have been telling us … NZ is one of the lightest taxed places in the world.

                  I often wonder what fraction of the electorate understands this is what they’re supporting? That the direct consequence of paying such low levels of tax is high levels of poverty? And how sinful it is to then blame the victims of this very poverty they have created?

                  • I often wonder what fraction of the electorate understands this is what they’re supporting? That the direct consequence of paying such low levels of tax is high levels of poverty? And how sinful it is to then blame the victims of this very poverty they have created?

                    And don’t forget that the government maintains high levels of unemployment so as to keep wages down.

                • Sabine

                  Wayne,

                  i have absolutely no use for you. You are part of the problem and you will obviously never be part of the solution.
                  No matter how you wax lyrically about how it is ok for many in NZ to be dirt poor and piss poor all the while you and your ilk live unashamedly of the government tit without ever contributing in any which way to this society to make it a fairer and better place for all instead of just for you and the likes of you.

                  so please go away.

                • Stuart Munro

                  There was no “major public reaction” Wayne – just a media artifact orchestrated by your fellow troughers.

                  Who the fuck are you to decide NZ ‘wants’ epic levels of poverty?

                  When we come for you, remember, you chose it.

                  • Wayne

                    Stuart,

                    Applying your usual Stalinist fantasy “when we come for you”.

                    • weka

                      I took it as a Douglas Noel Adams reference. I’ve been wondering about it myself. Apparently they’re still looking for a robotics correspondent.

                    • Stuart Munro

                      The reference is more Hugo as it happens, but by all means raise the communist bogeyman as cover for your unrelenting economic failure – it’s so convincing to the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders impoverished by your incontinent greed and stupidity.

                  • infused

                    It was talked about everywhere I went. At work, where I got my hair cut, friends, family.

                    • Stuart Munro

                      It was talked about in lots of places – and nowhere more, one imagines, than in the tenebrous heart of the ministry of dirty tricks.

                • Of course the “anti-neoliberals” pine for the pre 1984 days,

                  Why? The capitalism then didn’t work either.

                  The one thing that is constant in all failed states throughout history is capitalism.

                  Here’s a thing: If government spending was the sole source of money in the economy then the multiplier effect (assuming standard 3 times) would make it about 30% by default and yet there’d be no issue about if we could afford anything.

                • KJT

                  So now we spend heaps on National’s election funders and business monopolies, so that retired National MP’s can get directorships.
                  Not to mention National’s stuffups, like Solid energy, motels for State housing and the losses after selling income earning assets.

                  Nationals borrowings are more, against our real balance of trade, than Muldoons. “House of cards” indeed.

                  When we used to spend it on constructive jobs, education, health and infrastructure.

                • Jan Rivers

                  You write this often – but you always fail to mention that it is the National Party’s intention to reduce GDP to 26-27% of GDP by providing only targeted (So called “social investment” based) rather than universal services whereas Labour / Greens intend to raise the spend level to 30% from the current 29% and to continue by and large with universal provision.

                  Since 1% of GDP is about $2bn dollars that means that National has a $2bn less to provide public services in the coming year and an additional $2bn less for each percentage point drop. The ratio of public spending to GDP in NZ has fallen just as fast as in Greece and the UK but from a much lower base. This is why DHB’s are unable to operate and suicidal people are being sent home. However somehow the media does not refer to New Zealand’s austerity budgets although that is the reality of NZ’s public spending. We are an austerity country.

                  The so called ‘budget responsibility’ rules are poor policy for progressive governments IMHO but I’d be interested to know what proof you have that the Greens are not abiding by them. Were this the case its hard to imagine the media would not have already called this out.

            • greywarshark 6.2.1.3.1.3

              Yes people who are very individualistic and see what others have distributed to them as a gift, out of the individualistic person’s pocket virtually, and everything that they themselves are assisted with by the government, as supporting a very worthy person who doesn’t draw welfare. What is happening is building a strong, steadfast community of decent persons. The others are outsiders, ‘indecent’.

              There is no need for self examination, for confidence building among such.
              They are prejudiced towards themselves.

        • KJT 6.2.1.4

          I talk to many more people on the conservative side than ‘lefties’. National and NZF mostly.

          The main contact I have with ‘progressives” is on social media.

          Hardly in an echo chamber.

          The MSM has proven to be an Echo chamber, along with those mindlessly echoing them, here!

        • Robert Guyton 6.2.1.5

          ” The only conversations that matter are the ones that shift the dial on the 23rd of September”
          Metiria’s “conversation” has dramatically “shifted the dial”, though you can’t see it.

        • Jan Rivers 6.2.1.6

          So the figures show that the poorer 50% of New Zealanders make only about 4.5% of the income. 1% of New Zealanders are homeless. 7% are in nett debt.

          I imagine that means that 50% of the population know what it’s like to be a short distance from disaster. A broken leg, a broken car, a sudden illness or a reduction in hours at work and lives and households are under extreme stress. Real people who are neither homeless nor indebted know they are keeping the wolf from the door every day. They may not be the same people you regard as real people but they would seem to have quite some electoral power if they choose to use it.

        • I think “real” NZ is almost always a proxy for a certain demographic or sets of demographics in NZ.

          If you ask a NZ First supporter, it almost always means white NZ, (they will use different terms to avoid sounding racist, but it’s generally “white people and the ‘one of the good ones’ of other races”) or at least nationalist NZ.
          If you ask a Nat, it means small business owners and hard-working farmers.
          If you ask Labour, it means middle NZ, both urban and regional. (If you asked them forty years ago, it would have meant working class NZ)
          If you ask a Green, well, you’re seeing it with myself and Weka- we generally reject the idea altogether, and think that NZ is a collective of hundreds of different types of people, all real, with vastly different values, and you don’t know which ones are minority and which ones aren’t, and of those which are actually likely voters, so you almost never know you’re in an echo chamber until your polling collapses, and even then you might not know for sure whether you were or not because there might be multiple alternative explanations happening between two critical polls, like there was here. (ie. Ardern coming to power in Labour between the “Greens gain from Metiria’s story” polls and the “Greens lose votes after that” polls)

          Yes, we were seeing a lot of new energy, but it wasn’t all from social media. The Greens have had a hard time getting Māori and Pasifika on board traditionally, (it is in some ways a very white party, even though it aspires not to be, and is doing a much better job at getting diverse leadership in areas other than queerness, where it’s doing fine) and a lot more have been joining after this announcement. People who have never joined a political party before, or who thought they would be Labour for Life, aren’t just saying they’ll be voting Green, but are joining the party now, before but especially after Metiria’s resignation.

          Those people are real, whether or not the gamble Meyt made pays off or not. They count, and they’re valuable to me, and to the party, and to anyone who cares about inclusion of people who are struggling in our society and trying to make their lives better. And it’s no less valid to win a beneficiary’s vote than it is to win a working persons, because they are both votes, and they are both people who deserve human rights, and dignity, and enough to live on.

          Because we should care. Even if you disagree with how Metiria went about that, even if you think she’s a dangerous symbol for the Greens, what I think you’re missing is that it’s not actually about her. It’s about the hundreds and thousands of people who connected with her story, and saw that there are people in politics who not only care about them, but will risk their careers to stand up for them, and who will refuse to back down even when it’s hurting them because they care so much. And even if it turned out to be a bad strategy, I won’t ever say it wasn’t important or worthwhile to show people who much we cared about them as a Party.

          And yes, we try to be pragmatic. But sometimes being pragmatic means saying “well, we’ve been trying variations on the traditional strategies to get through our message on welfare and poverty to no effect, it always gets ignored. We need to do something different.” And boy did this have an effect.

    • Ad 6.3

      It has a pretty high risk of bringing the Greens to a tighter, harder ideological core.

      This morning there is no mainstream media covering poverty any more or less.

      Shaw knows he now faces the fight of his political life.
      Hopefully we see some of the newbies on the list like Chloe bringing their campaigning skills to bear to pull them back to 10%.

      Irrespective, the Greens are facing the same problems as the rest of the left:
      how do you persuade the public of fresh potential when you haven’t had a sniff of power for a decade.

      • KJT 6.3.1

        There has been no change in the Green party.

        If anything people are more determined.

        • Ad 6.3.1.1

          The Green Party has never changed faster than this week.
          Those candidates need to all run for ever vote for every minute they have left in this campaign.

    • DoublePlusGood 6.4

      Metiria is the New Zealander of the year.

      Now, you go around saying that I am out of touch, but not at all! I know exactly what ‘real New Zealand’ thinks, and I think it’s awful, disgusting and gross, and prefer to put my support towards people with some decency instead.

    • RuralGuy – you have got the wrong end of the stick and your view is completely mistaken. Don’t feel bad, just think things through a bit more next time.

  7. Anne 7

    From the second post link:

    Metiria Turei says:

    “What angers me mostly about Paula is that she knows exactly how hard it is to live on a benefit with a small baby, and she has looked other women in the eye and said ‘I will not help you’.

    The reason is because she didn’t have it anything like as bad as most solo mums. May the real story come out one day.

    Metiria Turei is my New Zealander of the year.

  8. Nope 8

    Metiria collapsed her party’s vote, nearly collapsed the Labour Party and reminded everyone with an anti-beneficiary prejudice of all the reasons why they held that prejudice in the first place. This is politics as self-indulgence, not the politics of actually winning power and making change.

  9. Glenn 9

    2 polls have shown what folks think.

    I personally think that NZ seems to have stepped back to the 1950s as far as attitudes go and am disappointed.
    However an # I am Metiria campaign will do damage to the left and now is definitely not the time for the left to take any more hits.

    Give it a rest until after Sept 23rd then go for it..

    • Dpare 9.1

      Glenn
      2 hastily conducted polls (with smaller sample sizes and thus larger margin of error) have only shown what the people who had both; a phone, and time to talk to the pollsters that week, thought.

      Have you only just now noticed that NZ has become a less compassionate country? Holland’s first National government had its (many) flaws, but it was still a long way from where we are now. If the left have no concern for the poorest of Aotearoa, then they are not worth supporting. Turei is only the most visible victim of beneficiary bashing. In my mind, proclaiming; #IamMeteria, is about solidarity with all those ground under the heel of the Department of Social Warfare.

      Nominations close on September 18th, waiting until after the 23rd is choosing not to nominate by default.

  10. Stuart Munro 10

    Neither the polls nor the trolls intimidate me.

    Metiria got it right. Closer to Corbyn is what most people want, and anyone who says different is lying their ass off.

  11. Dspare 11

    [Bunji (or other moderator) I made a couple of comments on this thread earlier that never appeared – then realised I made a typo on my name as; “Dpare”, rather than “Dspare”. It is a new keyname that I’m not fully used to yet, but more appropriate to my present circumstances than earlier ones.

    I guess my clumsiness has lost me the chance to edit those?]

  12. Ad 12

    Shaw says he’s happy to work with the TOP party:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11902828

    It’s going to get Realos versus Fundies at 20 paces.

    • KJT 12.1

      TOP’s aims are close enough to the Greens.

      TOP policy, in some cases, has gone where Greens would like to, if it didn’t scare the horses too much, such as a UBI.

      • Dspare 12.1.1

        KJT

        “Essentially Gareth Morgan started The Opportunities Party because he was frustrated that we wouldn’t work with National,” Shaw said.

        “He just wanted to start a party that would work with National. So, you know, when you say, ‘Would we work with him?’ yes, we would. The question is, ‘Would he work with us?’.”…

        “If they make it over the 5 per cent threshold, and, you know, we’ve seen a number of examples of this over the years where people have thrown a lot of money trying to break through that barrier and haven’t managed, but if they were in Parliament and if they wanted to change the government, then, yes, of course.”

        The problem with TOP is that they have no electorate seat lined up (unless they cut a deal with National or Labour somewhere for Morgan to stand). The 5% threshold is brutal for small parties, especially if the polls show them to be a risk of a wasted vote.TOP have never gone above 2% in any poll, and regardless of how this reflects reality, it does shape it.

        • Draco T Bastard 12.1.1.1

          The 5% threshold is brutal for small parties, especially if the polls show them to be a risk of a wasted vote.

          Exactly as designed then. The whole point of the threshold is to keep small parties out of parliament.

    • weka 12.2

      It’s hardly news Ad.

    • RedLogix 12.3

      5% is still a big ask, but in his latest email Morgan claims “It’s been a big week for The Opportunities Party with us passing the 3% mark in a recent poll from UMR (Labour’s internal poll”. Interesting … not so much ‘wasted vote’ territory anymore.

      And also … I have to say it just this once … good to see Shaw confirming how much overlap between Green and TOP policy there is. It’s a smart and welcome signal from him this morning.

      There is of course the terrible risk BOTH parties will slip under 5%, but getting BOTH over the line creates the possibility of a Lab/Grn/TOP/MP coalition that I believe has all the right synergies.

      • Dspare 12.3.1

        Redlogix
        I hadn’t seen any mention of TOP in the UMR results, that 3% is interesting. I am still waiting for the Roy Morgan to come through though. The two hastily published 750 person sample polls of this week; have greater margins of error, and are less comparable to earlier trends, than one that replicates the methods and sample size of previous polls.

        • RedLogix 12.3.1.1

          Yes I can’t confirm it, and fully acknowledge it could be just noise. There is of course only one poll that matters.

    • Shaw says he’s happy to work with the TOP party:

      The Greens are happy to work with any party on things that will make progress, so this is hardly a surprise. Would be nice if no left-wingers wasted their votes on parties that aren’t going to get past the 5% threshold this time, though. Do that and half your votes get re-distributed to right-wing parties. If you want to change the government, vote Labour or Green.

  13. adam 13

    This might sound a tad negative, but look at the press and Helen Kelly. And see was dying.

    So never going to happen, we live in a country where the propaganda of hate and selfishness is the main message, and we damn anyone who speaks truth to power.

    • weka 13.1

      I also think it’s unlikely, mostly because I assume the committee is loaded with middle class people. But it’s still good to nominate her, keep the momentum going.

  14. Ovid 14

    Looking over the list of previous winners I see no political figures and a range of men and women who have excelled in their fields.

    I don’t think starting a conversation on welfare reform is a significant enough achievement to qualify. Talk is cheap.

    • marty mars 14.1

      Poor attitude there Ovid – variety and our unique contributions can hardly be measured in any non subjective way therefore it is almost certain that everyone will find one winner not necessarily to one’s taste. This is living. Enjoy the ride.

    • Perhaps, Ovid, but them again, Metiria could be considered a non/beyond political person who has excelled in her field. Therefore, she could be a deserving winner.

  15. Expunge John Keys knighthood for disservices to the New Zealand public and give Metiria Turei a Damehood .

    She was courageous in speaking out against 33 years of corrupt, self serving neo liberal elites.

    She is a true warrioress .

    Key was a coward.

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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
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    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
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
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    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
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    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
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    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
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    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 ...
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    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
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    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’
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  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
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    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
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    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 ...
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  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
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    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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours 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
    7 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
    9 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
    10 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
    23 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. ...
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    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
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    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
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    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 ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
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    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
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    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
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    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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    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 ...
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    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
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    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
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    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
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    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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    1 week ago

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