Katherine Rich on the Health Promotion Board: The next outrageous piece of Nat cronyism

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, June 28th, 2012 - 50 comments
Categories: alcohol, health, national, scoundrels - Tags: ,

The Herald are using the ‘c’ word again to describe Nat actions around business interests and the risks to the vulnerable:

Nats accused of health agency cronyism

National is being accused of cronyism after three people closely affiliated with the party were appointed to the board of a new agency for promoting health programmes. The seven-person board of the Health Promotion Agency, announced on Friday, includes former National MP Katherine Rich and two National Party campaign leaders. …

Alcohol watchdogs have previously criticised Mrs Rich’s placement on the agency’s establishment board, saying she was the most outspoken defender of the alcohol industry and its right to sell booze cheaply and at all hours. …

National Addiction Centre director Doug Sellman said: “There is no conflict of interest if you ignore the relationship between health and the commercialisation of addictive products such as alcohol and recreational food”.

Putting the CEO of the leading lobbying agency and industry promotional group for companies promoting sales of sugar, fat and alcohol on the Board of the public health agency supposed to prevent harm to young NZers already suffering obesity and binge drinking you would think would be an outrageous achievement. Something lobbyists on K Street in Washington might achieve if Dick Cheney was running the show. But, it seems, no: they have done it here. And the PM, as he would, has gone out his way to defend it: albeit transparently poorly.

People who understand it are angry. It should become the latest outrage and backdown. It certainly removes any doubts I had about how far these guys might utterly sell out.

One stumble after another, and you’d wonder if they couldn’t see the pattern that’s emerging and try to stop it. But they don’t seem to be able to help themselves.

The recipe, which we should now expect to run out in multiple sectors, is this: an area where Big money and the public interest are potentially at odds. Power prices and private ownership of utilities. The TPPA. Housing developments and more urban sprawl beside holiday highways.

Actually, not just the public interest: the vulnerable. The young. The people public interest agencies are supposed to protect. Skycity pokies. Obesity. Alcohol abuse. Funding teachers in schools. People who haven’t got jobs, or are in their fifties and on ACC, and wont get jobs in the current context, but who still need to be culled from welfare rolls. People crowding and sleeping in the lounge because they cant afford to heat their homes…

An area where the Nats have personal connections, like Katherine Rich, conservative family organisations promoting ‘evidence free’ childhood programs, or Bob Browne and real estate developers (do some research!).. yep, maybe. But not necessarily.

Put these elements together in a room with a convivial Nat party host, let the powerful interests sort out who gets what resources, who gets on what boards, who makes the rules, and a certain kind of fusion happens: whether, it seems, you are trying to do it, trying to avoid it, or not.

The outcome, lots of enraged but apparently powerless people, plenty of helpless victims in the headlights, and few fat cats with cream on their whiskers.

As the Nick Smith affair shows, when one of the Tory’s own gets damaged along the way, special deals are available there too. Lord help the other poor and needy.

50 comments on “Katherine Rich on the Health Promotion Board: The next outrageous piece of Nat cronyism ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Carol 1
    28 June 2012 at 10:43 am

    Entirely agree with the post, but… minor point, typo:

    An area where the Nats have personal connections, like Catherine Rich,

    Katherine.

    [Fixed, thanks — r0b]

  2. r0b 2
    28 June 2012 at 10:46 am

    National Addiction Centre director Doug Sellman said: “There is no conflict of interest if you ignore the relationship between health and the commercialisation of addictive products such as alcohol and recreational food”.

    Strikes me that Doug Sellman has rather a dry sense of humour. But it’s no laughing matter for the medical profession, or the health of the country in general. What an appalling decision.

    • bbfloyd 2.1
      28 June 2012 at 1:59 pm

      I’m wondering just how many are going to “get” the joke…. I sometimes despair of ever hearing plain english used by people in positions to speak on issues like this…. language that “ordinary” people can understand without the need to utilise obtuse thinking…

      Maybe then, it might be possible to get people motivated to actually react accordingly… At present, it seems most of the people I come in contact with are oblivious of what the reality is in these actions…

      If things were spelt out simply, then the “average” kiwi would be in a better position to make decisions based on reality, rather than the “sound bite” information that the news media feeds them everyday…

  3. marsman 3
    28 June 2012 at 11:03 am

    Shonkey’s lot:- If they can do good they won’t , if they can do harm they will.

  4. Carol 4
    28 June 2012 at 11:10 am

    Does this sort of thing (Rich’s support for the alcholo and recreation food industry) make a bit of a nonsense of GDP as a measure of the economic health of a nation? i.e. short term turn-over in business profits boosts a country’s GDP. But the long term impact on health, social dysfunction, etc, undermines the economy in the long term?

    • r0b 4.1
      28 June 2012 at 11:19 am

      Yes, exactly. GDP is a nonsense measure, and all the incentives in our political system are geared towards short term considerations. That’s why we’re heading over the precipice on the economy, on the environment, and on social issues.

    • mike e 4.2
      28 June 2012 at 11:28 am

      rich bitch at it again National are receiving huge funding from this industry.
      Which Govt research is showing is costing New Zealanders $6 billion a year in lost productivity, crime family violence dysfunction child crime rates etc!
      Obesity NZ among worst countries!
      Nationals answer pay Con sultants (cronies) to con kiwis into believing nothing can be done!
      Corruption is what it is.

  5. Macro 5
    28 June 2012 at 1:20 pm

    The sooner this sad, bad, lot are out of office and on the streets the better for us all.
    Regrettably I fear it will take something like a social revolution – an eventual awakening by the general population that they have been thoroughly screwed by a greedy avaricious lot – before anything will be done, and by then it will be too late. Take Greece for example.

  6. Fortran 6
    28 June 2012 at 1:54 pm

    What about the many Board jobs undertaken by Mike Williams earning him a huge amount of money collectively ?

    • bbfloyd 6.1
      28 June 2012 at 2:00 pm

      List them, or say something useful…. whichever is easier fartran…

      • TheContrarian 6.1.1
        28 June 2012 at 2:04 pm

        Mike Williams board positions in July 2008:

        Auckland Regional Transport Authority
        Ontrack
        Genesis Energy
        Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences
        Transit NZ 

        • r0b 6.1.1.1
          28 June 2012 at 2:10 pm

          Grand, now if you could add the conflict of interest in each case for Williams? No?

          Compare with the obvious conflict of interest in the Rich case here…

    • David 6.2
      28 June 2012 at 2:28 pm

      Sorry Fortran: I am trying to imagine anything Mike Williams could do Boardwise that would involve anything like the conflict of interest Katherine Rich embodies here. Katherine currently runs the Food and Grocery Council, the major food industry lobby in the country.

      “The New Zealand Food & Grocery Council (FGC) represents New Zealand manufacturers and suppliers to supermarkets. Not only does it act as a forum to discuss and pursue issues of concern and interest to the wider industry, but it is also a strong advocate for its members”.

      Or, on another website of its own authorship “Not only …. but it is also a powerful lobby group. It makes representations to Government and other relevant organisations on matters that effect the industry in addition to liaising with many Government departments on food legislation, trade practices and environmental issues”.

      Behind the spin, these are the people who oppose among other things, the Traffic Light product warning labelling on food: and right now, between these guys and the health promoters, there is war:

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/latest-edition/6556052/The-new-food-wars

      “Traffic light labelling, by contrast, would let you swiftly pick a healthier choice in everyday foods, says Eyles, because it’s already been interpreted for you. Under the British system, for instance, that Milo cereal would carry two red lights (for sugar and fat), and two green lights (for sodium and saturated fat). Easy.

      [Helen] Eyles [a public health researcher from Uni of Auckland] says another reason to like traffic lights is that they provide a strong incentive for food producers to tweak recipes in a healthier direction. Already, the Heart Foundation is working with bakers to reduce salt in bread.

      “Used correctly, in the correct food categories, it will encourage food reformulation. We only need to make small differences to people’s sodium and saturated fat intake to bring down the number of cardiovascular events.”

      But that’s where Katherine comes in: “Rich says traffic lights are too simplistic, meaning products including Marmite, honey and cheese would all score red lights (for high salt, sugar and fat respectively) when they are all good nutritious foods when used in moderation.

      But Jones the insider paints a more ambiguous picture of industry attitudes.

      Quite simply, he says, the food industry “don’t want any labels. They want their brands to stand unencumbered. The Daily Intake Guide is a compromise in the middle. And hopefully, eyes glaze over and you move on”.

      …”Shortly before the Clark administration was turfed out, a reworked Public Health Act began its passage through parliament, containing a clause allowing health officials to ban or regulate a food if was considered likely to have a negative health impact on the community in terms of “non- communicable diseases” such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer.

      “That scared us,” says Jones [a ‘food industry insider]. “That was the thick edge of the wedge – when the government tells people what they can eat under the guise of health.”

      Rich knows exactly what’s happening in govt, as you’d expect: “Katherine Rich, head of the Food and Grocery Council, which represents most of the country’s big food producers, says traffic lights are currently “off the table”, and alternative systems will be considered by the Ministerial Council in December”.

      Like all good lobbyists, she plays close in, away from the electoral process, as she did all through the Alcohol debate, which, when half concluded, she announced satisfaction with the Government’s ‘pragmatic’ approach. “We look forward to playing our part in the debate as these reforms continue through a select committee process”. http://www.btob.co.nz/article/pragmatic-approach-alcohol-welcomed-food-grocery-council

      • higherstandard 6.2.1
        28 June 2012 at 2:50 pm

        I can’t stand governments sticking their cronies on boards, in this case I think it comes down to whether you believe there should be an industry representative on this particular board and if so who that should be ?

        I must admit I tend to agree with Chris Hipkins who said ‘ political involvement should be a barrier to Government appointments…’

        • McFlock 6.2.1.1
          28 June 2012 at 3:08 pm

          “industry representative”. lol.
               
          It’s health promotion, not hospitality or whatever. Closest “industry” to be represented would be marketing, not off-licenses. 

          • higherstandard 6.2.1.1.1
            28 June 2012 at 3:32 pm

            Isn’ t this health council a mix of ALAC and a few other bodies ?

            As I said I’m not sure if an industry representative is appropriate, although I can see slightly more of a rationale in this case than say an industry representative from the tobacco industry on the smokefree board.

            Not sure about the other two people accused of cronies I didn’t read that far.

            One things for sure where you have governments you have cronyism.

            • McFlock 6.2.1.1.1.1
              28 June 2012 at 3:42 pm

              Well let’s look at the ALAC council:8 members, 5 health practitioners (drs/nurses), a public information marketing specialist, an insurance broker/life education trust chap, and a business consultant with air ambulance and other health areas.
                     
              I don’t see a single rep from Lion Nathan. 
                     
              Health promotion has nothing to do with liquor distribution. No matter what I’d love to be able to tell my doctor.

          • David 6.2.1.1.2
            28 June 2012 at 5:29 pm

            For ‘industry representative’, read “regulator capture”, “lobbyist’s potent entre”, or “purpose of the whole organisation stymier”.

            Actually none of those are really very funny. Leave as “Industry representative”; it’s more transparently brazen.

      • fmacskasy 6.2.2
        28 June 2012 at 2:57 pm

        Indeed, Ms Rich has neo-liberal views on the production and retailing of alcohol,

        “The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) and Alcohol Advisory Council (Alac) strongly backed the recommendations.

        Alac chief executive Gerard Vaughan said it set out a clear objective of reducing alcohol-related harm which stretched to structure and role changes for the district licensing agencies responsible for managing liquor licensing in their own communities.

        Communities up and down the country were sick of the violence and vandalism that came with drinking and that proposed changes to licencing regimes would help address the problem, Mr Vaughan said.

        Nearly 3000 submissions were received by the commission, many of which supported the tightening of laws around alcohol sales, purchasing and consumption.

        But NZ Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich said the report reflected “classic nanny state thinking” .

        It failed to target those causing the problems and punished everyone, she said. The industry was already one of the most regulated, and more sensible ways to approach existing problems included better enforcement of current rules and better use of legal powers, along with industry-led initiatives.”

        Source: http://m.nbr.co.nz/article/liquor-law-report-sparks-polarising-debate-122138

        And further in my blogpost on this (and other crony-issues); http://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/crony-watch-2/

        I’ve no doubt whatsoever that, like Stephen McElrea’s appointment to NZ on Air’s board, this is purely and imply a stacking of government organisations with Party apparatchiks, to push the official National Party line.

        • David 6.2.2.1
          28 June 2012 at 3:31 pm

          well said.

          Actually, the ability to see the difference between jobs for the old boys board stacking and a deliberate (and successful) attempt by industry to capture their regualtor seems to me to be an important one.

          As is the ability to see when you are just preventing ideological dominance of an organisation by a group, and deliberately suppressing the science of eg obesity and all (as seems rather to be the case here).

          As is the ability to see the difference between a good old school tie rollick, and doing something which impacts on the life chances of the most vulnerable NZers.

          Hmm: I see some differences (though clearly, the two arent unrelated: jobs for the boys is dangerous, this shows). If I couldnt see them, I’d be sending in the moral compass for a checkup.

    • mike e 6.3
      28 June 2012 at 4:24 pm

      Farton he is not pushing NZ,s most dangerous drug.

  7. Dv 7
    28 June 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Sort of like the chair of the ‘association of porn producer’s, being put on the censorship board.

  8. tracey 8
    28 June 2012 at 3:29 pm

    am shaking my head (but no surprise, just sadness at our “system”)

  9. Kotahi Tane Huna 9
    28 June 2012 at 3:30 pm

    Katherine Rich has an obvious conflict of interest. The Ombudsman’s office is very clear about this: she must withdraw from voting on any matter where her conflict of interest could create a perception of bias, and if not, be investigated by the appropriate authority.

    It’s long past time to take the gloves off when dealing with corruption.

    • McFlock 9.1
      28 June 2012 at 3:58 pm

      Can’t wait to see her position on whether alcohol should be advertised on TV…

  10. Monique Watson 10
    28 June 2012 at 3:38 pm

    I think she seems like a lovely lady. She has a young family so she is probably aware of all the issues on the table.
    Really people just need to stop shoving food in their own gobs – that’d solve the obesity crisis. Or put the plug in the jug when it comes to alcohol.

    • higherstandard 10.1
      28 June 2012 at 3:57 pm

      Nah, once a political trougher always a political trougher.

      • mike e 10.1.1
        28 June 2012 at 4:22 pm

        hs+10 standard drinks to that.
        alcohol is the most destructive drug we have in our community .
        Laws have been liberalized and the results are that every non drinker and moderate drinker is subsidising alcoholism.
        Rich bitch where is your neoliberal user pays here nowhere to be found.
        not while Nactional are in the alcohol lobbies back pocket !
        $6 billion reasons to fix the problem.

    • Kotahi Tane Huna 10.2
      28 June 2012 at 4:14 pm

      “…people just need to stop…”

      So to help people stop, the government has appointed a booze shill with zero expertise, who has a career in telling lies for money, to the health board. “Personal responsibility” means it’s always someone else’s fault.

    • Vicky32 10.3
      28 June 2012 at 4:54 pm

      Or put the plug in the jug when it comes to alcohol.

      Or, I dunno, maybe, stop advertising it in prime time? The  mute button on my remote stopped working some time ago, and top of my most infuriating adverts (along with the Aah bra) is the idiot from Outrageous Fortune banging on about MILFs giving him a woody…
      That advert works on 20-somethings, I assure you! 
       
      PS – Katherine Rich, a lovely lady? WTH?

      • insider 10.3.1
        29 June 2012 at 9:40 am

        By 20somethings you mean adults with brains and probably jobs and maybe even families and homes and cars and degrees. But strangely too stupid to resist the voodoo magic of some cheap sugar water infused with cheaper alcohol.

    • Murray Olsen 10.4
      28 June 2012 at 9:23 pm

      The lovely lady should stay at home and look after her young family then, instead of making bad decisions for everyone else’s. The only issue for her will be to maximise profits for the industry she represents, and maybe Monique could go and tell Gerry Brownlee and Paula Bennett how to solve their obesity crises.

    • fmacskasy 10.5
      29 June 2012 at 11:14 am

      Life is very simple for you, Monique? No addictions; compulsive behaviours; etc, where you come from?

      We might as well legalise ‘P’ and Heroin. After all, “Really people just need to stop shoving heroin in their own veins – that’d solve the drug crisis.”.

      Damn. Why doesn’t the US Government realise that instead of wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars, fighting Mexican druglords?!

      Any other gems of wisdom you care to share with us?

      • Monique Watson 10.5.1
        30 June 2012 at 3:12 pm

        Well actooally “Fmac”, I used to be a bulimic anorexic who couldn’t sober up. Like my entire community.
        So I maintain my position. Shut one’s gob, open one’s ears and get your ass out and earn an honest crust. That’s my recipe for success.

        • mike e 10.5.1.1
          30 June 2012 at 4:04 pm

          I can see you have not lost your naivety.
          Now your addicted to superiority.

  11. David 11
    28 June 2012 at 5:28 pm

    For ‘industry representative’, read “regulator capture”, “lobbyist’s potent entre”, or “purpose of the whole organisation stymier”.

    Actually none of those are really very funny. Leave as “Industry representative”; it’s more transparently brazen.

  12. Jenny 12
    28 June 2012 at 7:25 pm

    This is a government determined to gift everything they could possibly wish to the rich and powerful, and on behalf of this greedy sector force onto the rest of New Zealanders.

    More Pokies

    More drilling

    More fracking

    More booze

    More junk food

    A fire sale of public assets

    More pollution

    More corruption

    More scandal

    Less sovereignity

    Less civil liberty

    More toadying to foreign powers

    More toadying to foreign corporates

    More spying snooping and videoing of New Zealand citizens

  13. Hami Shearlie 13
    28 June 2012 at 11:52 pm

    More drug testing of beneficiaries – now including ALL beneficiaries – new policy courtesy of Bill English!!

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    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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days 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
    6 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week 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
    1 day 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    2 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    5 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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