If Truss was the answer it is difficult to work out what the question was

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, September 30th, 2022 - 52 comments
Categories: economy, International, uk politics - Tags:

Liz Truss has been UK Prime Minister for just over three weeks.

I thought at the time it was a particularly strange decision.  And from afar it is hard to understand how this could occur.

I initially thought that Rishi Sunak would have been disastrous.  An uber rich self made man whose family’s commitment to the country is such that his wife sought non domicile status for tax purposes.

But at least he was occasionally coherent in the debates.  And he would not have been as fiscally irresponsible as Truss has turned out to be.

By comparison Liz Truss campaigned essentially on slogans and drawing comparisons between herself and Margaret Thatcher.  And promising tax cuts.

My left wing admittedly removed understanding of the nuances of the UK campaign meant that I thought she would be by far the worst choice but here we are and she is the next UK Prime Minister.

I could be accused of bias but I thought her first forary into Parliamentary Question Time was an absolute train wreck.

And what else has she done?  Well she did promise more roads, tax cuts and she has ruled out a windfall tax on power companies that do not depend on Russian supplied natural gas but have still increased their charges to what the market can sustain.  Various sectors are laughing all the way to the bank.

This is all dwarfed by the events of this week.  Promising to remove the top tax rate and funding this by increased borrowing has blown the pound, increased interest rates, caused the Bank of England to take urgent action to prop up pension funds, fueled inflation and effectively guaranteed deep cuts to public spending.

Gordon Campbell captures the insanity of what is happening clearly in this passage:

It may not be complicated. At base, Liz Truss and Christopher Luxon appear to be preaching the same old neoliberal gospel. They both plan to use tax cuts to starve the government of the revenue it needs to provide public services and to rebuild the national infrastructure that’s currently falling apart. To the centre right though, poverty relief and infrastructure rebuilds should be treated first and foremost, as opportunities for private sector profit. The US neoliberal tax reformers have been pretty open about their end game:

Grover Norquist, who founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985 at the urging of President Reagan, declared in 2001: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

As mentioned, because tax cuts have never been a path to economic growth anywhere in the world, Luxon has been forced to distance himself from the catastrophe unfolding in Britain. In that respect, Liz Truss is doing all New Zealanders a very big favour. She is providing real time evidence of the damage National’s tax policies would be likely to inflict here.

Perhaps most importantly the UK is now viewed as a economic basket case.  Even the IMF has criticised the proposal and warned that it may increase inequality, which to me appears to be inevitable.

And the polls have changed dramatically.

Truss was probably hoping for a honeymoon period.  Instead she is facing the prospect of a rebellion from within her party,

The shortest term for a UK Prime Minister who formed a Government and was not a caretaker was 96 days.  I suspect bets are being laid about if Truss will beat this record.

And locally National continues to receive questions about how it could afford tax cuts and keeps fudging its answers.

Nicola Willis was interviewed this morning and confirmed:

  • Its primary goal is to index tax bracket adjustments to inflation.  This is the first commitment.
  • It will get rid of the top tax bracket in its first term.  This is so we can “retain skilled people in New Zealand” and the extra taxes have “turned off talent”.
  • It will reverse Labour’s new taxes.
  • All of these commitments sit within its commitment to “responsible fiscal management” and this is key to them.
  • Disciplined spending is the primary way it will be able to afford tax cuts.
  • It remains committed to balancing the books and over time paying off debt.
  • It will fund this through fiscal responsibility.  Its spending track will be lower than Labour’s.
  • Cutting the top tax rate will not increase inequality.  Really??
  • Three waters will be axed and public servant numbers will be cut.

The policy is dog whistling to the wealthy elite.  They believe that the preferential treatment is justified because they are the wealth creators.  It does not matter how often trickle down is disproved they will continue to think it is justified and they will fund political parties that share their view which is essentially based on greed.

All eyes will be on the UK’s economy over the next few months and there will be intense interest in National’s next policy release.  Don’t be surprised if electors start to repudiate en masse Grover Norquist’s proposition that the state should be weakened until it can be drowned.

52 comments on “If Truss was the answer it is difficult to work out what the question was ”

  1. ianmac 1

    Gordon: They both plan to use tax cuts to starve the government of the revenue it needs to provide public services and to rebuild the national infrastructure that’s currently falling apart.

    But of course. By letting the Health system degrade they will have the long wanted excuse to Privatise Health. They headed that way in the 90s and will get more determined next time.

  2. tc 2

    IMO the question was 'we need someone to front a final pillage, Sir Rod's mob will take it from there…..'

    Who better than thacherite Truss.

    Classic play to empty the cupboards on the way out of office limiting the incoming govt options.

  3. Nic the NZer 4

    There are a couple of un-resolved questions around this.

    1) Is that polling broad and reliable (are UK Labour in line to actually win the next election)?

    2) When did the Tory polls actually collapse?

    3) Is the Al Jazeera release of the 'Labour Files' have some relation to this in terms of timing and contents? (at this stage it appears to just be being ignored).

    On 3 it plays into all my biases so I'm wondering if its essentially a hit piece.

  4. Tony Veitch 5

    One good thing about Liz Truss' PMship is that she might lay to rest for ever the much repeated MYTH that Conservatives (including the Natz) are good at economic management.

    They are not! JKeys 'rock star economy' was based on massive immigration, rising house prices and media promotion. Conservatives govern for only a section of any community – the wealthy elite who fund them.

    This Labour government has been given a lot of stick for the slowness of their response, but you can't turn around the ship of state overnight. While I can easily criticise the Lab. govt for not being radical enough and yes, perhaps being neoliberal lite, I know they are light years ahead of the Natz in managing the economy for ALL NZers.

    And Luxon shares Truss' values! God help this country if the Natz ever, ever get back into power!

  5. tsmithfield 6

    To be fair, she didn't actually crash the economy. The fundamentals for that were already there when she took over. More like the straw that broke the camels back I think.

  6. Nic the NZer 7

    "Perhaps most importantly the UK is now viewed as a economic basket case."

    The BoE has patched up the balance sheet of some pension funds by buying guilts and can do it again and in other areas indefinitely. The actually issues with Truss policy are the impacts of inequality and we should not be relying on the market to fix that or even pass judgement on it (because it won't). If these things are going to change it will change through the policies of subsequent governments, not how they are nudged by future markets.

    • Poission 7.1

      The Pension funds are large part of the UK economies wealth 3.24 trillion (2020 and 118% of gdp) they are required to invest in stable long term assets such as gilts (Gordon Brown ) for the last 20 years.

      This created some stability to the economy,where borrowing is 66% domestic,and 33% overseas (mostly other pension funds)

      • Nic the NZer 7.1.1

        I'm not surprised the BoE jumped in at all. But the leveraged behaviour of these same pension funds appears to have been rather de-stabilizing in this case.

        I don't know what their behaviour would be like, had they not a risk free rate of return asset to leverage (e.g the Treasury simply stopped issuing debt). Maybe the practice of massive leverage of pension funds (which can therefore topple with comparatively small shifts in the guilt market collateral asset values) would desist in this case, but maybe not, or maybe a large number of failures are needed before those kinds of high leverage pension funds disappear.

        • Poission 7.1.1.1

          They used derivatives to leverage the assets,when the spreads exceeded the hedges,as the yields increased margin calls came in,The BOE had no option but for financial stability.

          The absurdity is that the risks were already stated,and the Chancellor when revealing the mini budget had turned down a coarse model costing from the Office of budget responsibility.They had already been warned by treasury and Truss's response was to replace the permanent secretary,

          • pat 7.1.1.1.1

            The KISS principle applies here….would you lend to someone who you thought had no ability to repay?

            • Nic the NZer 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Me, I probably wouldn't anyway, however…

              If it's your money and I get a big enough fee for it many would say sure why not.

            • Poission 7.1.1.1.1.2

              The argument could be framed as would you lend to someone,who reduced their income voluntarily,so they could borrow,and live on their credit card.

              The lenders decided a risk premium was necessary,doubling the interest rate,the BOE introduced stability at the long end,and let the market decide premiums at the short end where mortgages are determined,doubled,

              • pat

                Yes you can apply the math to it…I charge huge interest so that i recover the capital before default…but essentially you are saying 'you have nothing to offer…and at some point irrespective of the interest rate you are deemed 'uncrediworthy'….Sri lanka, Lebanon, Turkey…etc

                • Poission

                  Yep,and all those with mortgages ( lot of floating there ) or business loans will be spending their nights at the pitchfork sharpening classes.

          • Nic the NZer 7.1.1.1.2

            Sure.

            But the whole media narrative is how dare the Truss administration effect the fiscal position. It's not, why on earth are pensions operating at high leverage and risk. It's a strategy which relies on the asset (more stable) side of the balance sheet almost continuously coming up in your favour, or this happens.

            There are a few ways that the govt could handle that including just responding to the market, a trick they can implement again if they see fit. They could also take measures to de-leverage the pension system and actually reduce the level of risk practiced.

            While I don't approve of the Truss administration policy in this case these risks also exist for administrations of policies I do approve of. Both in practice and democratically the Truss administration does have sovereignty to make these decisions.

            • Poission 7.1.1.1.2.1

              The movement in the long end gilts was 7 standard deviations,the chance being 1 in 390682215445 or an expected occurrence of 1 in 1 billion years.

              Not having understood the risks of the policy,without budget advice suggests strongly that Truss et al do not no what they are doing (the narrative in the finance market being incompetent)

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/68%E2%80%9395%E2%80%9399.7_rule

              • pat

                Its simpler than that…if I charge 20% I expect you to default > 5 years( how much greater is of no concern to me as long as its not less)…at current rates (and policy) the UK is likely bankrupt in 10 years

                • Poission

                  The markets being the lenders have just doubled the finance cost of their mini budget,that they do not get the problem is troublesome at least.

                  • pat

                    They are not the only ones…it appears the whole world has forgotten what credit is

                    • Poission

                      The world forgot that low interest rates are an aberration,not a norm,with a discount rate near zero,now that finance costs are returning (deposit rates) there are rewards for savers,and costs for borrowers.

                      Here households are still saving 16.7b last 12 months,vs 9.5 previous 12 months,they are also moving from transaction and savings to term deposits,so reducing consumption (and gst) whilst increasing withholding tax.

                      What is yet to be determined is the real cost of borrowing,over the next few years,if economic expansion by debt is continued,high inflation and high interest rates will be here for a long time,and an ocr of 4% + to meet risk rating agencies will be the new norm for the next decade.

                      https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/series/registered-banks/banks-liabilities-deposits-by-sector

                    • pat

                      Except debt growth cannot continue in the absence of real output growth…and real output is constrained by energy availability….ipso facto debt growth is also unsustainable.

                      And interest is a function of growth.

              • Nic the NZer

                Seriously your telling me I observed a 1 in 1 billion years event?

                Now hang on I'm just updating my prior for, your using an invalid probability model.

                Right, now what probability do you put on the Tory party finding an even worse candidate than Truss and Johnson who also ignores advisors?

                • Poission

                  That was what the technicals were showing the traders,as they moved between frequency and bayesian statistics,which is why panics are problematic as spreads widen (and hedges don't cover spreads,which is like being underinsured in level 7 event)

                  The swings in global bonds resemble volatility in crypto,as does cumulative wealth destruction in global markets of 33 trillion dollars in the last 3 months,so an unstable system far from equilibrium is hyper sensitive to a tipping point.

                  The polls also show the absurdity of the situation with a 33% swing in 4 days,hard to find a more unpopular policy anywhere.

                  The Tory party has had 4 prime ministers,and 6 finance ministers in the last 6 years,losses like Passchendale and a PM who wants fiscal stimulus in a high inflation,low unemployment environment,its a given.

                  • Nic the NZer

                    If your probability model is telling you, you actually observed a 1 in 1 billion year event its certainly probably wrong.

                    But if your still happy with that assessment it seems to indicate she was having a really off day, which could hardly be repeated, unless she was spectacularly unlucky then. As with Johnson surely she could not possibly continue to ignore official advice of risks normally speaking.

                  • Nic the NZer

                    https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-history-of-interest-rates-over-670-years/

                    Looking at this history of interest rates such magnitude shifts appear to occur about once every 4-5 years. Obviously it makes a difference over precisely which time scale that shift is occurring but no matter how you slice it this isn't a 1 in a billion year outcome. Further, if the collapse had occurred over a couple of weeks rather than days could these funds have handled it without BoE intervention? If they could not then one questions the meaning of a 7-sigma event. This present episode will hardly show up on my linked chart once the BoE intervened anyway.

                    • Poission

                      More how the Value at Risk models are structured,the traders response,and the concomitant currency depreciation.The spike will stand as an anomalous outlier ( greater then the GFC) to 1979 and reversals are underway to unwind trades as the Hedge Funds realise the impact on the 1/4 performance ( and fees) and unwind some trades.

                      https://twitter.com/business/status/1575699222359412738

                      One other point for the VaR model is the latest years have a huge number of data points in them orders of magnitude greater then the rolling average trade data compilation,in turn modelling each raindrop rather then the passing shower.increases the sensitivity of the trade within the trade.

                  • Nic the NZer

                    Any 1 in 1 billion year event, might as well be saying this doesn't occur.

                    If your model isn't giving you a minimum 1 in ~1000 years rate for an event you observed its highly suspicious and probably wrong.

                  • Nic the NZer

                    You seem to be saying that these pension funds were over-rating the stability of the govt bonds to facilitate their more risky investing behaviour. Let me just say "I'm shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on in here."

                    • Poission

                      The outcome from an event (or even a predicted event) can be several magnitudes greater then the calculated loss in a VaR model.

                      eg .

                      For instance, the conditional expectation of a market move, given that it is in excess of 3 mean deviations, will be around 5 mean deviations. The expectation of a move conditional on it being higher than 10 mean deviations will be around 18. This property is quite crucial.The atypicality of moves has the following
                      significance.

                      – One may correctly predict a given event, say, a
                      war, a market crash, or a credit crisis. But the
                      amplitude of the damage will be unpredicted. The open-endedness of the outcomes can cause a severe
                      miscalculation of the expected payoff function.
                      For instance, the investment bank Morgan Stanley
                      predicted a credit crisis but was severely hurt (and
                      needed to be rescued) because it did not anticipate
                      the extent of the damage.

                      – Methods like Value-at-Risk18 that may correctly
                      compute, say, a 99% probability of not losing
                      no more than a given sum, called “value-at-
                      risk”, will nevertheless miscompute the conditional
                      expectation should such a threshold be exceeded.
                      For instance, one has 99% probability of not
                      exceeding a $1 million loss, but should such a loss
                      occur, it can be $10 million or $100 million.

                      Relevance,markets need stability to ascertain risk and information to understand the risk (concomitant with the policy) there are fences there to limit risk,and allow strategic unwinding of position ,they do not have the ability to stop an elephant rampage which was what was unleashed,where investors ran for the hills as the speech was being read to parliament (literally pound falling by paragraph),

                      https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/071411nassim.pdf

  7. Truss is yet another far right wolf in sheep's clothing, claiming to "share the values of the Christian faith" while going around doing the opposite.

    Conservatives like to talk *a lot* about free speech, conversion therapy, and trans issues. But they utterly fail to follow a central tenet of Christian faith, i.e. loving their neighbour.

    Instead they plunder nations, impoverish their own people, sell out to predatory corporations, enable epidemics of gun violence and opioid addiction.

    These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude vv12,13)

  8. Sanctuary 9

    Truss and Luxon appeal because they both ventriloquise the most lumpen fantasies of the same demographic. That demographic is not particularly wealthy, but is wealthy enough to be profundly insulated from the realities of the day to day functioning of capitalism in their respective countries (viz; averagely prosperous older Pakeha male in Martinborough complaining on telly that we live a Gulag).

    Both Truss and Luxon policy platforms come from same background of being immersed in middle class "free enterprise" ideology.

    Truss is the patron of the fantasies of the Tory audience that elected her, an audience whose fantasies are aggressively hawked by the Murdoch press and she is cocooned by deferential court journalists and MSM interviewers (sometimes reality can come crashing in, like when local radio interviewed her).

    Luxon is all that, and is aggressively hawked by our own right wing media who peddle the same fantasies and cocoon him with deferential interviews, with the added twist that NZ's middle class free enterprise ideologues largely have their wealth tied up in property, so they want above all costs the country to be made safe for rentier capitalism and safe from Maori except in instances of cultural appropriation.

    Truss is an excellent example of structural stupidity and she represents the physical manifestation of the exhaustion of the out of touch, dessicated and self-absorbed British establishment that favours the assinine, the cretinous and the fatuous.

    The trouble for us though is Labour’s response in both countries is to position themselves as the parties of “sound money”. That might be prudent, but for parties founded on the principle of radical redistribution, what will the price ultimately be if they stick to that position?

  9. Drowsy M. Kram 10

    Grover Norquist, who founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985 at the urging of President Reagan, declared in 2001: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

    Did someone say "drown it in a bathtub"? Prescient words.

  10. Tory regime is gonna fall. (Unfortunately Starmer's Labour is full of neoliberal moles)

    https://twitter.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1575526882853810192?s=20&t=nUNrVUQh4A1zAWHOO7xwcA

  11. SPC 12

    The Tory caucus chose to make their two preferred candidates the ones who wanted tax cuts. Tax cuts is their policy. Their remaining time in power is short and they want money in their pockets before they lose office. And they do not fear Starmer as PM (effectively a Labour-LD coalition since the purge of the left), The longer term play is to limit Starmer to reversing the tax cuts and limiting his new spending to that amount to prevent debt growing even larger.

  12. Mosa 13

    So UK New Labour is in the lead. If the polls are correct it could be similar to the result here where they totally dominate the commons but their neo liberal prescription will do nothing to arrest the massive structural problems and nail biting inequality. In fact like here Starmer and his right wingers will keep trying to treat the disease with the same medicine expecting a different outcome just like here while camapaigning as " Labour ". They could learn a thing or two from Adern and her New Labour team on how to push catchy slogans but have no plan or can make any difference to many who they solicit votes from but see no improvement.

    The U.K will be the one to watch over the next number of months. I would expect Mike Lynch and the union movement to be a counterweight to any Starmer led market alternative.

    At least the U.K has a real opposition leader in Mike Lynch. We sadly don't.

  13. Ad 14

    Both the British PM and Chancellor will meet with the Office of Budget Responsibility.

    Liz Truss to hold emergency talks with OBR after failing to calm markets | Liz Truss | The Guardian

    This is the day before the Conservative Party conference.

    Expect more roiling financial markets out of this next 72 hours.

  14. newsense 15

    Oh that’s easy- the question among her backers was who can funnel as much money to us in the next two years and make it difficult for any other government to undo quickly?

    Any other attempt to justify these policies on the basis of economics- spending discipline, trickle down, stimulus etc etc is simply bs to thin out the herd of opposition.

  15. Jeremy 16

    I think the lesson isn't that tax cuts can't be stimulating, or even increase the tax take. It is that one shouldn't propose tax cuts in a nation with high government debt, at a time when the world is heading into a global recession or depression, without also outlining exactly how every dollar of tax cut will be matched by a decrease in government spending.

    That's why the market shit the bed. Arare case of simple cause and effect.

    For the first time in a couple of decades economic reality is starting to matter again, and obviously some politicians haven't got the memo yet.

    [I’ve removed your surname from your user name, assuming it was a ‘typo’ – Incognito]

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

  • 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
    5 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
    10 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
    12 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
    12 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
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    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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  • 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
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    7 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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  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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  • Minister’s Ramadan message
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
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