Justin Lester: begging is a social issue, not a crime

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, April 9th, 2016 - 50 comments
Categories: local government, poverty - Tags: , ,

The Auckland local government race isn’t the only one where begging is becoming a top issue. Here’s what Labour candidate for Wellington City mayor Justin Lester had to say about it on Facebook this week.

On Friday the National Business Review asked me and all other mayoral candidates whether we’d support a ban on begging in Wellington’s CBD. The suggestion was it would be a sure-fire route to the mayoral chains.

My response was a firm no.

Begging is a social issue with many causes. It is not a crime.

Let’s make one thing very clear from the outset, begging is not a lifestyle choice. Suffering a mental illness is not a lifestyle choice. Being raped or sexually abused is not a lifestyle choice, nor is being beaten up by your partner.

It would be great if no-one had to beg. It would be great if no-one was poor. The sad fact is that this is not the case. Beggars are often Wellington’s most vulnerable people and there are valid reasons why they’re on the streets. It would be great if every single Wellingtonian was educated, in work, and had a safe, warm home to live in, but we know that will not always be the case.

I’ve never had to beg, far from it. But I have seen what it’s like to be poor. My mother did her best to raise three children alone. She would have preferred a life with a caring husband and financial security for her family. But when my dad left and refused to pay child support, she was forced on to a benefit with three kids under five. It was hard for her to re-enter the workforce because after years doing it tough by herself she was broken, depressed and lacking confidence. Her situation did not come about by choice, it was imposed upon her by external forces. As a father, I see that now.

Take a situation like that and add a cocktail of domestic violence, drugs and alcohol. Remove the community and government support from around the individual and we begin to see why begging is prevalent.

So, how many people are begging on our streets? Council’s study shows it’s about 12-13 people at a given time. Those are not big numbers, but they are highly visible.

What can we do about it? We’re already doing a lot. We work closely with agencies like Work and Income, Police, Corrections, social service providers like the Night Shelter, Womens Housing Trust, DCM, Salvation Army and the Soup Kitchen. It requires funding and support, from both central and local government, but also from community and business. Those are the two biggest hurdles and almost always fall short. Funding is always hard to come by.

It also requires leadership. Just last month the Night Shelter told us they would be forced to close in April 2016 without immediate funding assistance. That would have meant 40 of Wellington’s most vulnerable men being forced to sleep rough. It would have inevitably led to some of them begging. I was proud to work with Councillor Paul Eagle and the Mayor to ensure short-term funding was provided. More support was confirmed in future years to reshape the Shelter’s service provision to help improve these men’s lives. How would a ban have improved these men’s lives if they were forced on the street, with no home or accommodation and a few weeks’ notice?

No-one wants to be poor, no-one’s first preference is to have to seek charity to survive. Sometimes things happen in life that we can’t control.

Making criminals out of beggars by introducing a bylaw that bans it does not address the root cause. It hauls them into prison and exacerbates the problem. Intimidating or threatening behaviour by beggars is already against the law and needs to be reported. Our local host ambassadors and Police address this behaviour. Call Police or WCC if you are experiencing it.

I recognise Wellingtonians are concerned about this issue. I’m concerned about this issue. We need to understand the problem, provide appropriate funding at all levels and try to address the root causes. Wellington is a generous, compassionate city, let’s not lose that by turning our head and not facing up to the issue in front of us.

50 comments on “Justin Lester: begging is a social issue, not a crime ”

  1. weka 1

    Good post.

    What’s a local host ambassador?

  2. Sirenia 2

    They are people employed by the council (I don’t think they are volunteers) who wear a city council uniform and walk around Wellington giving directions to tourists, answering questions and just keeping an eye on things. Very useful people.

  3. Stuart Munro 3

    It’s a crime alright – and Paula Bennett is to blame – together with the rest of this corrupt and inadequate ‘government’.

    • Rodel 3.1

      “Hey John/ Bill. (Sirs). I’d like to go to an environmental/social development/economic/ conference in Seattle/ New York/London. Can I have some money to go? “(Got any spare coins mister?)
      ‘Why Seattle/New York/London/?’
      ‘Well I have family members there and it would be nice to to catch up with them again”
      “How much?..Would a dollar/$20,000 do?”
      “Thanks boss./mister”

  4. gsays 4

    What a refreshing change.

    Perhaps this is one of our new leaders who is not beholden to a ‘market’.

    Contrast this compassion and empathy with ms trolleys excuse for not raising the age (from 10 to 12 )a child can be charged.
    She doesn’t want to given the impression of not taking child crime seriously.

    The excuse is all about a political party and their appearances.
    Nothing to do with child welfare.

  5. Paul 5

    Criminal.
    Amoral.
    Treasonous.
    Parasitical.

  6. fustercluck 6

    Hungry people beg. Ergo hungry is a crime. And I must agree. I find it uncomfortable to be confronted with acute need as I cruise through my middle class day. I, as a taxpayer, deserve to be protected from this discomfort. So I vote yes to criminalizing anyone who displays anything other than a comfortable level of affluence. Perhaps chain gangs, debtor’s prisons or just a bit of soylent green would be appropriate in this case.

  7. AmaKiwi 7

    If you have a chance, read some of the firsthand accounts of life during the Great Depression.

    It started with:

    – private and public lay-offs to “economize” (austerity)
    – a dramatic drop in farm prices

    It started with . . . . no, read it yourself and tell me if today doesn’t sound exactly like then:

    – austerity is the only medicine
    – it’s their fault they are poor and they need to accept the consequences
    – the banks, big businesses, and the rich are above reproach
    – the free market will cure everything

    “Empathy is evil” was the mantra of the “haves.”

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1

      Yep. The parallels are astounding. Same policies now as then. Same response now as then. Same result.

      History is repeating because we failed to learn the lessons of yesteryear.

    • maui 7.2

      Surely a National voting middle-class can’t be made destitute when our Economy/Ponzi scheme carks it… if so it’s going to make for some interesting dynamics and not entirely savoury ones either.

    • Richard McGrath 7.3

      “– austerity is the only medicine
      – it’s their fault they are poor and they need to accept the consequences
      – the banks, big businesses, and the rich are above reproach
      – the free market will cure everything”

      Half-right:
      1) Yes, national and local government spending needs to be less than revenue (“austerity”), especially if there is debt to pay down. There is nothing stopping private charity and philanthropy from responding to personal poverty situations.

      2) Sometimes (not all of the time) the poor have contributed to their own misfortune by failing to take advantage of opportunities and making bad decisions. At other times
      events outside their control have been the main contributing factor.

      3) Banks are not beyond reproach, particularly the ones that accepted bailouts, and ons that operate without adequate reserves of funds. Rich people that have become that way through hard work and honest endeavour ARE generally above reproach; those that have benefitted from smooching up to politicians and having laws passed in their favour are scum.

      4) A free market can only operate in the absence of government controls such as minimum wage laws and other labour market regulations which the Key administration is so keen to implement. So the free market is not going to cure anything as it’s not been allowed to function.
      2)

      • Draco T Bastard 7.3.1

        Yes, national and local government spending needs to be less than revenue (“austerity”), especially if there is debt to pay down.

        Nope. That’s just an excuse to keep taxes lower than expenses.

        The government can create money and thus never needs to go into debt.

        There is nothing stopping private charity and philanthropy from responding to personal poverty situations.

        Charity doesn’t work. Never has done, never will do. If it did we wouldn’t have poverty.

        Sometimes (not all of the time) the poor have contributed to their own misfortune by failing to take advantage of opportunities and making bad decisions.

        Pretty much never in fact. You can’t blame someone for not recognising an opportunity or in choosing to take another opportunity.

        Rich people that have become that way through hard work and honest endeavour ARE generally above reproach;

        There’s no such thing. The only way to get rich is to steal off of others – lots of others, the entirety of society in fact.

        A free market can only operate in the absence of government controls such as minimum wage laws and other labour market regulations which the Key administration is so keen to implement.

        Wrong. Or to put it another way, would you still be keen on the free-market if the person you just ripped off could turn round and shoot you without consequence?

        The ‘market’ is defined by the rules and regulations. Rules around currency, rules around behaviour, rules around what you can and cannot sell. Without these you do not have a market but chaos.

        And, yes, ‘the market’ is a small subset of society.

        • AmaKiwi 7.3.1.1

          Draco,

          Thanks for answering Richard McGrath. I’ve been busy and didn’t checked The Standard until 2 pm Sunday. I didn’t think my remarks would kick off a conversation. You covered the bases quite nicely. Thanks again.

        • International Rescue 7.3.1.2

          Charity isn’t designed to eliminate poverty but to alleviate it. Charity has existed for eons, and fulfills a vital role no economic or political system have ever substituted.

          There isn’t a political/economic system devised that eliminates poverty. The free market is the best system for reducing it, but the poor will always be with us.

          The suggestion that you can’t get rich without stealing from someone, and that the poor have ‘never’ contributed to their own circumstances is fatuous nonsense, and could only come from a left wing ideologue with no experience of the real world.

          • Draco T Bastard 7.3.1.2.1

            Charity isn’t designed to eliminate poverty but to alleviate it.

            If we had a working system we wouldn’t need it.

            Charity has existed for eons, and fulfills a vital role no economic or political system have ever substituted.

            Wrong, go read Debt: The first 5000 years and you’ll learn of several successful societies that didn’t have charity and didn’t need it.

            There isn’t a political/economic system devised that eliminates poverty.

            Yes there is – you just don’t like it due to your ideology.

            The free market is the best system for reducing it, but the poor will always be with us

            No it’s not and no they won’t. The free-market capitalism is pure failure. That’s why it keeps falling down and needing massive bailouts by the non-capitalists which, of course, creates even more poverty.

            The suggestion that you can’t get rich without stealing from someone, and that the poor have ‘never’ contributed to their own circumstances is fatuous nonsense, and could only come from a left wing ideologue with no experience of the real world.

            No, the fatuous nonsense is that capitalism and the free-market will provide everything despite all the evidence to the contrary. Even my assertion that the only way to get rich is to steal from everyone else is based upon evidence.

            And I have lots of real world experience. I’ve been a manager, self-employed, unemployed, a student, made redundant, mugged, assaulted, drunk, stoned, sober, etc, etc

            https://vimeo.com/71074210

            • International Rescue 7.3.1.2.1.1

              “Yes there is – you just don’t like it due to your ideology.”

              What is it? Because there isn’t a single nation in the history of man that has completely eliminated poverty.

              “If we had a working system we wouldn’t need it.”

              We do have a ‘working system’. And we will always need charity.

              • Draco T Bastard

                Because there isn’t a single nation in the history of man that has completely eliminated poverty.

                Yes there is. The Australian Aborigines didn’t have any poverty before the English arrived. And that’s true for many indigenous peoples (also called nations) around the world and throughout history.

                We do have a ‘working system’.

                No we don’t. If we did we wouldn’t have poverty. Poverty is proof that the present system is failing.

                • International Rescue

                  “The Australian Aborigines didn’t have any poverty before the English arrived. ”

                  Rubbish. They lived in abject poverty, as did most indigenous peoples.

                  “Poverty is proof that the present system is failing.”

                  Rubbish. Again. Poverty in NZ is mostly self imposed; people have the freedom to live in poverty or move out of it. We are a remarkably generous nation, with significant wealth redistribution.

                  • Richard McGrath

                    Well said, IR. The reason many indigenous peoples lived in poverty was the unsophisticated nature of their labour markets and the tribal collectivism that ensured equal misery for all.

        • Richard McGrath 7.3.1.3

          DTB – your comments are staggering to say the least and reveal much about your mindset.

          Yes, the government can create money out of thin air – it’s called fiat money. That and easy credit are what causes inflation and debases the currency, destroying personal savings and dragging more of the middle class into high tax brackets.

          Individual charity is a moral response to perceived hardship on the part of others. It is not a “cure” for poverty, which incidentally has never been adequately addressed by simply throwing money at people.

          “You can’t blame someone for not recognising an opportunity or choosing to take another opportunity.”

          Whose fault is it then? You are saying no-one has to take any responsibility for their choices?

          “The only way to get rich is to steal off of others”
          So it is impossible to succeed in business by offering products that other people find useful and will pay money to purchase? So the multi-millionaire owners of TradeMe stole from the entirety of society? Likewise the billionaire owners of AirBnB and Uber? Wow that’s a pretty extreme viewpoint.

          “…would you still be keen on the free-market if the person you just ripped off could turn round and shoot you without consequence?”
          The free market you so egregiously misrepresent involves protection of property rights and the rule of law. “Ripping off” implies theft or fraud, which are not free market activities. Shooting someone will result in the police and justice systems determining whether shooting was justifiable; this would need to be on the grounds of self defence.

          “The ‘market’ is defined by the rules and regulations. Rules around currency, rules around behaviour, rules around what you can and cannot sell. Without these you do not have a market but chaos.”

          Yes there is the rule of law under which markets operate. As long there is no violence (extortion, fraud, physical assault or threats thereof) used, any rules around currency and what can be sold is a private matter between buyer and seller. Yes, there is chaos: also called the spontaneous order of the market.

          “And, yes, ‘the market’ is a small subset of society.”
          Think outside the box. The market is the sum total of peaceful human behaviour: consumption, production, purchases, sales, gifts, etc. Almost everything we do involves products made by others. We are not atomistic individuals living in isolation. The market = peaceful society.

          • sabine 7.3.1.3.1

            The market = peaceful society.

            and when some want something that you don’t want to part peacefully with you get bombed into the stone age.

            No the market is anything but peaceful. It is cruel, it is discriminatory, it is in many circumstances criminal and it is absolutely inhumane.

            And as we are always told by our politicians that are market orientated, the market is best left to its own devises, if regulated it would stunt growth and innovation, and if there are needs surely the market will fix it. Like housing. Or jobs. Or food. Or access to water. Oh yeah, it does not.

            • Richard McGrath 7.3.1.3.1.1

              So voluntary exchange, the specialisation of labour, the need for sellers to meet the desires of buyers in order to make a profit – these are cruel, discriminatory, inhumane?

              Let’s look at the examples you provide:

              Provision of food is perhaps the greatest example where a market economy beats the planned socialist economy hands down. The famines in communist China and Soviet Russia killed tens of millions of the unfortunate citizens of those slave pens. I can’t recall the last famine in an industrialised Western country.

              Jobs: the regions of Tasman, Taranaki and Southland – heartland NZ – all have over 85% of people employed working in the private sector. In Southland, Matamata-Piako and Queenstown-Lakes districts this figure is over 90%. So I guess the market has provided New Zealanders with a little bit of employment.

              Access to water – at the risk of sounding facetious, anyone with a roof can catch rainwater. The private sector provides a wide choice of bottled water in supermarkets; growing sales demonstrate consumer enthusiasm for this product.

              The provision of housing in this country is hampered by government and council regulation which restrict availability of building sites and make new housing expensive. However there are dozens of companies that can build good quality houses; some have been around for decades, e.g. Lockwood, a great Kiwi enterprise.

              I simply fail to understand your suggestion that bombing someone into the Stone Age is an appropriate or common response to a failure to secure a sale contract. It does not occur in civilised (i.e. Western) countries. Bombing people is generally the act of one government against the people of another country, not of private citizens and corporations.

              • McFlock

                Allende would disagree, if he were still alive.

                You might also want to look up the origins of the term “banana republic”.

  8. Draco T Bastard 8

    We need to understand the problem, provide appropriate funding at all levels and try to address the root causes.

    The problem an root cause is capitalism. That being the case what we need to do is change our system from the present delusional one to one that works (or at least have a better chance of working).

    Capitalism has failed throughout recorded history destroying civilisation after civilisation.

    • Incognito 8.1

      The root cause is people. We make choices, individually and collectively, and these have consequences on an individual and societal level, even on global scale. The OP is saying that a lot of human suffering is not (because of) a “lifestyle choice”. I agree insofar that they were not predetermined conscious choices from the outset. But choices, very many choices, did lead to the present situation that people find themselves in.

      We like to be able to identify and point to big drivers or decisions, forks in the road, that we then use to ‘explain’ our current predicament. But life is not really like that; it is a chain of instantaneous choices and consequences. Life is constant renewal and (re-)creation.

      We can only direct and change our fate when we’re aware of our choices and their consequences. To put the entire onus on the individual, for ‘success’ or ‘failure’, fits/suits the Western ego-driven mentality, with its emphasis on personal responsibility, etc. However, each of us can only make conscious choices within his/her personal ‘awareness sphere’. We’re limited in our choices because we’re limited in knowledge & education, experience, vision, skills, role models & values (morals), (support) networks and so on.

      So, in my opinion, we have an individual and collective responsibility to help ourselves but also each other, others, and to shape the world we’re living in the way we choose.

      This does not take or require being ‘chosen’ into office, be it Mayor, MP (PM), Secretary General of the UN, or whatever; we all play a role in this, without exception.

      As a closing comment I’d like to say that I think the TS community is wonderful, all of you, without exception, together.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1

        We make choices, individually and collectively, and these have consequences on an individual and societal level, even on global scale.

        And those choices are limited and directed by the system that we operate within.

        • Incognito 8.1.1.1

          Exactly! But we created/chose this system and we can change it and create a new one if we choose to. Will it require a paradigm shift, evolutionary or revolutionary, will it (need to) be transcendental, or will it be variations on a theme? Obviously, the present leads to the future, but exactly how?

          For some reason this reminds me of a joke about a slow driver who listens to the radio and hears about a slow driver causing a huge traffic jam on the route and he (!) comments to his wife, with relief and in disbelief, that the radio must have it wrong because the road ahead is completely free.

          • AmaKiwi 8.1.1.1.1

            “we created/chose this system and we can change it”

            No, we inherited this system from those who went before.

            No, we can’t change it.

            The whole point is that those in power are working hard on all fronts to make sure the people do NOT have the power to change the system or control parliament.

            Parliament is sovereign. There are no checks and balances that enable the majority of the voters to direct parliament except a once every three years beauty contest to choose Dictator A or Dictator B, both of whom refuse to contemplate making the system more democratic or meaningfully socialist.

            • Incognito 8.1.1.1.1.1

              Unless you just got dropped on Earth from another world you made your contributions to your own life here, the lives of your nearest & dearest, and society or system as a whole. And you continue to do so, actively but maybe not completely willingly & knowingly. To inherit is a completely passive exchange; future generations can say the exact same thing: “we inherited it”. To me, it has the same ring as saying “Labour did it too” – saying such things does not absolve you from (taking) responsibility.

              Of course we can make changes and create new; change is inevitable. Our society and culture as we know it wasn’t built overnight, this is true; it was built by myriads of decisions & choices and actions by many people over many generations. Only a fatalist would argue that our present reality was entirely inevitable and thus predetermined by fate alone.

              Indeed, Parliament is sovereign, but it does not dictate how we feel, what we think and what we do. We elect MPs but our power and influence don’t stop there & then; it’s ongoing. I agree that our socio-political system AKA democracy is far from optimal with less-than-ideal outcomes but it can be changed – it has to.

    • Richard McGrath 8.2

      “Capitalism has failed throughout recorded history destroying civilisation after civilisation.”

      Whereas socialism succeeded so admirably in Soviet Russia, Romania, Red China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, East Germany…

    • Richard McGrath 8.3

      “Capitalism has failed throughout recorded history destroying civilisation after civilisation.”

      Examples?

  9. Petertoo 9

    Let’s cut the crap here. Lester wants to become Mayor so utters the words the uncritical want to hear. The reality is that he is a below living wage employer with his personal business, so hardly one to be vested in addressing poverty. In his Councillor/Deputy Mayor capacity, he consistently supports re-diverting rates revenue to business orientated ventures and is an executive member of the Property Council – hardly the credentials for a poverty buster. His bleating is obviously to cynically counter the competition which includes “beggars are lazy bludgers who need a kick up the arse” type mayoral contenders.

    • The Chairman 9.1

      +1

    • Wainwright 9.2

      Keep seeing this “below living wage employer” line. Never seen any evidence?

    • weizguy 9.3

      Goodness you’re cynical. I’m not sure what your personal beef is with Lester, but it’s clearly affecting your ability to assess statements objectively.

      On the living wage, Kapai has committed to getting all of their staff onto a living wage – more than you can say for most businesses of that type.

    • Richard McGrath 9.4

      A below living wage employer – what, like former Labour MP Mark Peck?

  10. I have a modest proposal in the same spirit as banning begging.

    Why not simply kill and eat those who dare make us uncomfortable on the city streets? You’re not only eliminating beggars, but also saving people whose impoverishment risks them resorting to begging from having to buy food, thus creating a virtuous cycle that avoids begging.

    Oh, sorry, was that particular piece of satire too much for anyone? Well, I think it’s only deserved by those who propose banning begging, (which ought to be prevented by BORA, as begging being protected is a natural outgrowth of freedom of speech) or fining people for being compassionate. (people should of course be aware that often giving money to beggars can be an issue because some may prioritise alcohol or drugs, risking their safety. That said, never giving beggars money can also be just as risky for them, if they need to obtain new clothes, etc… rather than just fill their stomachs, and giving them food directly also has its downsides. (eg. some people will buy people who are very hungry very rich food, which they may not be able to keep down) Overall it would be best if we had actual experts helping so that they could make those critical decisions, and that we had programs to help lift these people out of poverty. But that would require a lot of political effort, and good luck selling right-wing councillors on that)

    And yeah, I’m not particularly convinced by Lester either. He’s saying the right words here but doesn’t really propose any positive course of his own. That’s not leadership, that’s simply responding to outrage. A potential mayor can and should do better.

  11. Ad 11

    Lyn what’s the policy on candidates posting in election season?

    Personally I’d like to see this site used a whole lot more by candidates to display their credentials.

    Good post BTW, but the writer could have been a lot clearer than get to “recognize” and “concern” and even “provide”, to state a specific amount or policy instrument that he would stand on the alleviate the problem. No, I’m not talking ‘solve poverty’. Just something concrete that potential voters can decide upon.

  12. Sirenia 12

    By the way Justin is a really good guy, good values, great backstory. For some reason right wing ex Labour member Nick Leggatt from neighbouring city Porirua has decided to stand against him. I would be suspicious of his backers and their motives. He has certainly lost his credibility with many locals.

    • Anne 12.1

      Is he not part of the Phil Quin/Josie Pagani gang? Should it be so, that is enough to be suspicious of his backers and his motives!

      • Jenny Kirk 12.1.1

        Anne – are you talking about Leggatt, or Lester ? I don’t know much about either.

        • Sirenia 12.1.1.1

          Nick Leggatt is the carpetbagger. He was a great promoter of a monster Wellington super city, and was on the right of the Labour Party. The media loves to use him as a commentator. Why he would stand against Justin Lester who is a young local businessman who has done a lot of Labour Party work and has developed a cohesive left team, is a mystery. Nick could have stood for selection as the official Labour candidate but didn’t.

          • CC 12.1.1.1.1

            Stop re-writing “secret slush-fund Lester’s” background and illusory attributes Sirenia. He and Leggatt are much of a muchness and neither are valid representatives of the left.

        • Anne 12.1.1.2

          @ Jenny Kirk
          Leggett.

    • millsy 12.2

      Legget implemented a harsh austerity program during his Porirua mayoralty. He is not the progressive wunderkind everyone makes him out to be. He also tried to flog off Porirua’s pensioner flats, but was forced into a humilating backdown which saw the flats managed by Wellington’s council – sort of a pre-cursor to his dream of One Wellington (something I am not nessesarily against).

      There seems to be a lot of furore about whether political parties should stand candidates in council elections, but IMO I am all for it. At least when I vote, I know which candidate is going to vote to sell pensioner flats, privatise water and close libaries.

      Celia Wade Brown may have been a lacklustre mayor, but it seems her real crime in the eyes of the establishment was to not toe the ‘lets build roads everwhere’ line.

  13. Begging is a social issue, not a crime. Spot on. I concur with that.

    Regards,
    Elsie

  14. Jollo 14

    I think clearly some more analysis needs to be done on it.

    It’s a fact that there are agencies working directly with the ‘beggers’ to try and get them off the streets. And this includes MSD, HNZ, and various community groups like the Auckland City Mission etc. But the reality is, to some extent, it is a life style choice, in so much as there are viable alternatives.

    So what more can you do, to the proportion who actually through alcoholism, mental illness or just by choice, choose to stay on the streets. Begging represents an extremely lucrative way to supplement income, it’s tax free and involves no work or pesky WINZ case managers harrasing you about job opportunities or courses.

    The best way to get them help is to cut off that source of income.

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    As noted, November was an exceptionally good writing month for me. Well, in an additional bit of good news for December, one of those November stories, Lost in the Desert, has been accepted by Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/) for their Winter Solstice 2023 issue. At 3,500 words, ...
    17 hours ago
  • This Government and their Rightwing culture-war flanks picked a fight with the country… not the ot...
    ACT and the culture-war warriors of the Right have picked this fight with Te Ao Māori. Ideologically-speaking, as a Party they’ve actually done this since inception, let’s be clear about that. So there is no real need to delve at length into their duplicitous, malignant, hypocritical manipulations. Yes, yes, ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    19 hours ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #49
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 3, 2023 thru Sat, Dec 9, 2023. Story of the Week Interactive: The pathways to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of keeping warming “well below” ...
    1 day ago
  • LOGAN SAVORY: The planned blessing that has irked councillors
    “I’m struggling to understand why we are having a blessing to bless this site considering it is a scrap metal yard… It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Logan Savory writes- When’s a blessing appropriate and when isn’t it? Some Invercargill City Councillors have questioned whether blessings might ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Surely it won't happen
    I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Let Them Eat Sausage Rolls: Hipkins Tries to Kill Labour Again
    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    2 days ago
  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    2 days ago
  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago
  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    3 days ago
  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago
  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;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:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    4 days ago
  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    4 days ago
  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    4 days ago
  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    5 days ago
  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    5 days ago
  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago
  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    6 days ago
  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago
  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    6 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    7 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    7 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    7 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    1 week ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • COP28 National Statement for New Zealand
    Tēnā koutou katoa Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. An island nation at the bottom of the Pacific, New Zealand is unique.          Our geography, our mountains, lakes, winds and rainfall helps set us up for the future, allowing for nearly 90 per cent of our electricity to come from renewable sources. I’m ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
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