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Key’s gone …

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, December 5th, 2016 - 468 comments
Categories: john key, national - Tags:

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John Key has announced that he will be standing down as Prime Minister from December 12, 2016. May the National Caucus civil war begin …

468 comments on “Key’s gone …”

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  1. AsleepWhileWalking 1
    5 December 2016 at 1:04 pm

    OMG. Health issues I bet. Guilt does that.

    • James Thrace 1.1
      5 December 2016 at 1:28 pm

      Allegedly he had an affair with [deleted]

      [lprent: FFS. Banned for 2 weeks. ]

      • Muttonbird 1.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 1:40 pm

        Oooooh. Do tell.

        • James Thrace 1.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 1:44 pm

          Not much to tell. Bronagh obviously got to his text messages before he deleted them. 😀

      • Newbie 1.1.2
        5 December 2016 at 3:24 pm

        I heard Bronagh was sick of cleaning Max’s car while John was away.

      • Rae 1.1.3
        5 December 2016 at 9:37 pm

        Paul Henry, it was Paul Henry, wasn’t it, and they are running away together, Paul Henry is winding up as well. Well, who’da thunk it?

      • Patricia duff 1.1.4
        7 December 2016 at 10:32 am

        Always an affair, always slanderous, get your own perfect righteous life in order
        John Key goes out on high note. look back in time .,.Helen was great P.M. but slippery slope she left behind.

  2. Infused 2
    5 December 2016 at 1:05 pm

    The left might get a chance…lol not.

  3. Ovid 3
    5 December 2016 at 1:06 pm

    Oh my god.

  4. garibaldi 4
    5 December 2016 at 1:08 pm

    Just what I wanted for Christmas. Brilliant !
    English won’t be able to hack it. Fantastic news.

    • RedMole-AtNatHQ 4.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:59 pm

      Beware. The man has hidden depths ..

      • MrJ 4.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 4:56 pm

        Beware. The man has hidden depths ..

        Is that an euphemism for “sinks to new lows” ?

        • RedMole-AtNatHQ 4.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 6:18 pm

          If you like. Have you heard of ‘the deep state’ ?
          Methinks certain elites went down with Clinton.
          Our geopolitics has not changed.

  5. marty mars 5
    5 December 2016 at 1:09 pm

    Bye bye. Now let’s get ready to take full advantage of the infighting the gnats are about to engage in.

    • mary_a 5.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:09 pm

      @ marty mars (5) .. oh yes.

      The National caucus is about to become something similar to a whaling station, blood, guts and blubber flying everywhere! Collins and Bennett will be going for it, hell for leather, while Joyce flaps his gob, spinning the BS! And Blinglish …. dear God, I dread to think!

      Some political entertainment to look forward to in election year 🙂

  6. repateet 6
    5 December 2016 at 1:09 pm

    I could feel sorry for the parasites who’ll be desolated by the backside they’ve lived up no longer being there. But I won’t because I know Hosking will quickly find another residence.

    And Collins and co. will go into overdrive reformatting their plans. And plots.

  7. The decrypter 7
    5 December 2016 at 1:10 pm

    bye loser no sunshine in hell

  8. Adrian 8
    5 December 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Great win for Andrew. Key hates losing.

  9. BM 9
    5 December 2016 at 1:11 pm

    National +NZ First.

    • mlpc 9.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:07 pm

      Agreed.
      There was never any chance of Peters jumping the other way. He loathes the Greens.

      • Alan 9.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:13 pm

        spot on BM, election 2017, Labour up a bit, greens much the same , National 41-43%, Winston (or maybe Shane Jones by then) 10-12%.
        Act, The Maori Party and Peter Dunne will not come into play.

    • WILD KATIPO 9.2
      5 December 2016 at 2:11 pm

      BM needs to have a wee read for a change…

      Instead of sucking on the bottom of the pond for his information…

      One for for you, BM .

      https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

    • Enough is Enough 9.3
      5 December 2016 at 2:19 pm

      That’s my thoughts.

      Key was the reason why an NZ First National coalition was unlikely. With him out of the way English and Winston can get down to business.

      Scary scary

      • Matthew Whitehead 9.3.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:51 pm

        You really think Key is the only reason not to go with National? You think NZ First don’t remember the comparative experiences of being in Coalition with Bolger/Shipley and Clark? Their last coalition with National was a disaster, do they expect anything different if they try again? Why?

        • Enough is Enough 9.3.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 4:46 pm

          I am not so sure past history will have any significance on what way Winston goes. Certainly not history from two decades ago.

          What I do know is the relationship will be a lot easier to create and sell to the NZ First supporters now that Winston’s main antagonist is out of the way.

          I just think a coalition is more likely between them then it was 24 hours ago.

      • BM 9.3.2
        5 December 2016 at 3:14 pm

        Yep.
        English and Peters will get on very well, Peters has a very similar personality to Key.

        It’s hard to know how this will effect National though, I can’t see a mass exodus to Labour/ Greens and a lot of NZ firsts rise in the polls was due to National voters dissatisfied with the way Key was running the country.

        • Leftie 9.3.2.1
          5 December 2016 at 5:15 pm

          The Mt Roskill by election puts those so called opinion polls to question.

        • Matthew Whitehead 9.3.2.2
          6 December 2016 at 2:49 pm

          Hahaha I like the idea that a leader that isn’t Key would reverse an exodus from National to NZ First. The only chance of that is if they pick someone like Collins, but then the Exodus to Labour is going to be just as big, so there’s really no winning option.

          • BM 9.3.2.2.1
            6 December 2016 at 5:21 pm

            He was a rather polarizing character, you either liked him or you didn’t, very Helen Clark like.

            Collins would be the same but without the skill set Key had, which is why I reckon English would be the best option by far.

            • Matthew Whitehead 9.3.2.2.1.1
              7 December 2016 at 12:48 am

              Key is polarising now because the electorate are/were catching on to him and his two-faced nature, and the fact that he’s been banking all that political capital not because he’s a savvy leader but rather because he didn’t have any vision for where to take the country. He was initially not very polarising to the general electorate, just to big political junkies.

              Collins is very much the reverse: The only people who like her are dyed-in-the-wool National Party faithful. I’ve never heard any sort of centrist express much sympathy for Collins, in fact I don’t know any who don’t agree that she’s probably corrupt.

              Collins not only lacks Key’s social intelligence, (she bulls through somewhat with aggressiveness, but you can only do that so much as Shipley learned) she is also surrounded by the stink of scandal, and has the disadvantage of being a very conservative MP in a nation that has some very liberal sensibilities. (That’s not to say Collins can’t hit populist areas- it’s why she’s frequently been in Justice and Police roles in her political career rather than being on the track to Attorney General) Overall, Collins is about the worst PM they could pick for going into an election, as we’d have 8 months or so of her doing her worst to relive on the campaign trail. She could surprise us and pull off a Trump-style victory with some law and order cred, (although arguably she’s too much of a politician to manage it, the same problem Peters has) but if not, she’s likely to be the biggest possible gift to Labour the National Party could come up with.

    • Matthew Whitehead 9.4
      5 December 2016 at 2:49 pm

      It’s not out of the realm of possibility, but it’s not the direction NZ First policy has been leaning lately. They have a lot more in common with Labour, and without Key in the PM’s chair, it’s possible they won’t even have the numbers to pull a coalition with NZ First.

    • Leftie 9.5
      5 December 2016 at 5:44 pm

      Bet that doesn’t happen BM.

  10. Sabine 10
    5 December 2016 at 1:12 pm

    one weeks notice, how mighty generous of him.

    maybe he got a job with the orange turd?

    • Nick Morris 10.1
      5 December 2016 at 1:33 pm

      I knew there was a reason he was putting off announcing Secretary of State.

    • Rosie 10.2
      5 December 2016 at 3:42 pm

      Who else can get away with giving only a weeks notice?

      Still, what a great day it is for anyone in NZ apart from those apparent 36% who prefer him as PM. Wonder if they feel let down or do they, in their strange state of cognitive dissonance think “what a great guy for giving it all up for his family” and adore him even more?

      Who knows? Who cares! Boo Hoo to them!

  11. Kevin 11
    5 December 2016 at 1:12 pm

    Apparently Obama’s looking for a full time caddy come January…

  12. Ovid 12
    5 December 2016 at 1:13 pm

    I had heard rumours that Bill English was planning on retiring, but this really is a surprise.

  13. Rosemary McDonald 13
    5 December 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Hooten doing his usual on Natrad right now….said how Key took the party to the left….so my ears shut down….

    “Spend more time with family….”

    Yeah, right.

    • s y d 13.1
      5 December 2016 at 4:43 pm

      Hooten let slip on RNZ that polling was showing Key was perceived as “smarmy and arrogant”.

  14. John 14
    5 December 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Resigned just in time for the New Years honours list. Arise Sir John the poor boy from a state house who made good and looked after the rich

  15. Ad 15
    5 December 2016 at 1:17 pm

    I just wish he had done something substantial with all that multi-year political capital riding up there in the polls. He had a chance to really shape the entire country for the long term good … it just didn’t happen.

    I admire him taking the decision at the request of his wife.

    Far too often politicians choose the career parliamentary life and deliberately destroy their marriages.

    Takes quite an emotional measure to reverse that at the top of the game and top of the power elite, and choose your core relationship over your career.

    • AB 15.1
      5 December 2016 at 1:28 pm

      Very gracious comment Ad. I admire that. But “he had a chance to really shape the entire country for the long term good”?
      No that was never going to happen. It’s just not in the National Party’s DNA

      • Ad 15.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 1:37 pm

        It’ll take a few months and perhaps well into 2018 to figure out his legacy.

        I sure don’t need to defend this lot, but I’m hoping Key will have done three things at a minimum:

        – Deliberately managed the housing market to plateau and gradual deflation
        – Permanently altered the public service – local and central – to prepare for nation-wide shocks
        – Strengthened the transport core of New Zealand as a whole

        I’m scratching my head otherwise to figure his lasting positive legacy.
        The arguments will go for a while on this one I am sure.

        • Ovid 15.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 1:45 pm

          I’ve got to credit him with the nous not to claw back Working For Families or interest free student loans and resisting the temptation to go full austerity after 2008 (although that was largely due to Michael Cullen’s stewardship of the economy). He didn’t stand in the way of marriage equality. The UFB rollout was a positive policy that is seeing us leapfrog Australia – especially in the climate of their minerals collapse. But it’s not a large list of achievements for 8 years.

        • Bob 15.1.1.2
          5 December 2016 at 1:50 pm

          Extending free healthcare to Under 12’s
          Increasing benefits above the rate of inflation for the first time in x years (50 was it?)
          Working with Fonterra and Sanitarium to introduce breakfast in schools
          Landmark Tuhoe settlement under which Te Urewera became a legal entity
          TPPA (got it to signing and I am sure there will be more to come on this in future)
          The Christchurch rebuild (National increased vote share in ChCh over this time)

          I’m sure there is plenty more, but that’s a start

          • One Anonymous Bloke 15.1.1.2.1
            5 December 2016 at 2:20 pm

            Off the top of my head:

            Pike River murder and betrayal.
            Turning New Zealand into a tax haven.
            Law Society warned the UN about his government’s attacks on human rights and the rule of law.
            Abuse of Parliamentary urgency.
            Lying reflexively.
            Trichophilia.
            Cameron Slater.

            • Sam C 15.1.1.2.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 2:25 pm

              You really are a bitter and twisted individual.

              • One Anonymous Bloke …
                5 December 2016 at 2:37 pm

                I’m glad Dear Leader has resigned. He was the worst Prime Minister this country has ever seen.

                He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand.

                Hunter S Thompson on the death of Richard Nixon.

              • MrJ …
                5 December 2016 at 2:50 pm

                You really are a bitter and twisted individual.

                Can’t help it. All those years living under shonkey’s reign does that to a person.

            • ropata 15.1.1.2.1.2
              5 December 2016 at 2:32 pm

              It’s not twisted to tell the truth Sam C, even if it is unpleasant.

              Key’s wealth and power probably insulated him from the reality of the damage he was doing to ordinary kiwis.

            • Bob 15.1.1.2.1.3
              5 December 2016 at 3:22 pm

              “Pike River murder and betrayal.”
              Really? Seriously? Murder? Mate, that is a step too far even by your low standards

            • Patricia duff 15.1.1.2.1.4
              7 December 2016 at 10:38 am

              Yes and if allowed in and mine blows up?? how many more bodies involved, all the experts , get real.

          • Ad 15.1.1.2.2
            5 December 2016 at 2:56 pm

            Definitely the healthcare moves are going, but hardly a groundbreaking legacy.

            The Treaty of Waitangi settlements are also noteworthy – but even for New Zealand they are Business As Usual under both kinds of government.

            The Christchurch rebuild, well, anyone would say it’s been far too slow, not very imaginative, and barely left Christchurch better off than when he started in office, which is the core measure of leadership. I referred to it when I mentioned ‘responding to shocks’ above.

            Even Key has said he would have preferred that he had won the flag referendum, to show he had made some tangible difference.

            He didn’t.

          • Jenny Kirk 15.1.1.2.3
            5 December 2016 at 3:40 pm

            “Extending free healthcare to Under 12’s” – this was at the expense of three-month free health checks for the oldies, Bob.

            “Working with Fonterra and Sanitarium to introduce breakfast in schools” – and this was a community initiative which Key jumped into for photo ops.

            The Tuhoe settlement was always going to happen, the Ch’ch rebuild has been a huge disaster for many home-owners with repairs having to be made to rebuilt homes, increasing benefits made no difference to the disaster brought down on beneficiaries by the Richardson-Shipley govt.

            Nope – I don’t think Key has left us much of a legacy, except more money for the rich, and much less for the ordinary NZer in the middle, let alone those who are poor.

            • greywarshark 15.1.1.2.3.1
              5 December 2016 at 4:02 pm

              The Tuhoe settlement was certainly going to happen, after the bruising raid by the police under Helen Clark’s Labour government. A really good case of one in the eye for Labour.

        • Draco T Bastard 15.1.1.3
          5 December 2016 at 3:01 pm

          Deliberately managed the housing market to plateau and gradual deflation

          He pushed to keep it going.

          Permanently altered the public service – local and central – to prepare for nation-wide shocks

          He undercut and underfunded the public service to give tax cuts for the rich.

          Strengthened the transport core of New Zealand as a whole

          He wanted more cars and underfunded Kiwirail.

        • Leftie 15.1.1.4
          5 December 2016 at 5:01 pm

          Ad. History will not look too kindly upon John Key, the most dirtiest politician this country has ever had the misfortune to have. Key’s legacy is one of abject ruin.

    • save nz 15.2
      5 December 2016 at 1:46 pm

      More likely keen to resign before more panama paper expose’s come calling to NU Zilland and there’s no point now his main focus TPPA/cash4cronies looks dead.

    • WILD KATIPO 15.3
      5 December 2016 at 2:15 pm

      Bullshit , Ad ….

      There’s no more truth in Key ‘resigning for family reasons’ than there is in his treatment of the Pike River family’s. :

      https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

      If anything – the man should be investigated for how hes treated New Zealanders .

      • MrJ 15.3.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:46 pm

        If anything – the man should be investigated for how hes treated New Zealanders .

        Him and the rest of the Nats. All those laws they pushed through under urgency, especially the many attacks on human rights.

        Even worse this prick had the audacity to lecture other nations on human rights issues when his government was working hard to destroy ours!

  16. The Chairman 16
    5 December 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Off to play golf with Obama?

  17. Muttonbird 17
    5 December 2016 at 1:20 pm

    That’s one way to take the attention off Mt Roskill.

    • Incognito 17.1
      5 December 2016 at 10:15 pm

      Exactly what I was thinking: did John Key just throw a huge dead cat on the table?

      I know that he told Bill English in September but timing is everything in politics.

      Anyway, I wonder what the weather is going to be like tomorrow …

      • Muttonbird 17.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 10:29 pm

        One wonders whether today would have happened had Mt Roskill gone to National on Saturday.

        I think not.

        • Incognito 17.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 10:49 pm

          The Mt Roskill by-election was just a single nail but it can’t explain the coffin; that took time to put together …

          Very odd …

  18. RRM 18
    5 December 2016 at 1:24 pm

    After ten years of wondering which stumbling fool of a leftist was going to ask me whether I stood by my statements today, I’d be ready for a break too.

    Best PM ever.

    Andy “gravedigger” Little might be in with a chance of raising labour in the polls now…?

  19. Sorrwerdna 19
    5 December 2016 at 1:25 pm

    Your dreaming Lefties if you think this is good news

  20. The Chairman 20
    5 December 2016 at 1:26 pm

    With the election only several months away, it will be interesting to see who the National Party selects.

    They won’t want anyone who will startle voters.

    • BM 20.1
      5 December 2016 at 1:29 pm

      It’s going to be Bill English .

      • dv 20.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 1:30 pm

        Wot about Don Brash?

      • The Chairman 20.1.2
        5 December 2016 at 1:53 pm

        I heard he was considering stepping down.

        Nevertheless, he would be their safest bet considering the time-frame till the next election. The public know him well.

        • Matthew Whitehead 20.1.2.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:11 pm

          Yeah, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had stepped down after the election. He didn’t seem like he was imminently retiring, so it’s reasonable to conclude that it’s for personal reasons.

        • Leftie 20.1.2.2
          5 December 2016 at 6:08 pm

          “I heard he was considering stepping down.”

          How do you know? When was that?

          When Key himself didn’t know until after the defeat in the Mt Roskill by election.

          • weka 20.1.2.2.1
            5 December 2016 at 6:28 pm

            Some of your comments are stuck in moderation and I can’t get them out. Have left a note for Lynn.

          • Anne 20.1.2.2.2
            5 December 2016 at 6:46 pm

            On the right track imo Leftie @20.1.2.2

            Just watched the news on TV1 and TV3. His reasons are corny and don’t fit with his known persona. If you were to believe him its all about putting his family first… putting his supporters and colleagues first… putting the country first. Rubbish. The byelection result was the final nail… He saw the writing on the wall.

            Ok, there might be truth in considering his wife and family who might well have had enough of it. (I would if I was in their shoes.) But the rest is not believable. He talked about “having always been honest with the public”. Many people with moderate to severe memory failure will fall for the line hook, line and sinker (including the sycophantic media) but its hogwash. We’ve put up with years of lies from John Key and BliP’s lists are testament to it.

            In the meantime the Mt. Roskill by-election results have fallen off the bottom of the news ladder. Oh well done John Key but sorry mate… it won’t wash forever because sanity usually prevails in the end.

            • Leftie 20.1.2.2.2.1
              6 December 2016 at 4:56 pm

              “The byelection result was the final nail… He saw the writing on the wall.” is bang on Anne, and true to form, John key is lying right til the end.

      • WILD KATIPO 20.1.3
        5 December 2016 at 2:26 pm

        @ BM

        Bill ‘ Double Dipper ‘ English ? …

        Almost as corrupt as Key – no wonder they were a team.

        https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

      • Anno1701 20.1.4
        5 December 2016 at 3:10 pm

        “It’s going to be Bill English .”

        charismatic !!

      • Leftie 20.1.5
        5 December 2016 at 5:21 pm

        Bill English, the leader that led National to their greatest election loss of 20.93% in 2002.

      • rob 20.1.6
        5 December 2016 at 6:58 pm

        Mr 20% last time round

        • BM 20.1.6.1
          5 December 2016 at 8:34 pm

          Long time ago and a bad choice at the time, far too young.

          Just because you didn’t win first time around doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again, that’s the attitude of a loser.

          • North 20.1.6.1.1
            6 December 2016 at 12:32 am

            Correct. Oz PMs have lost the party leadership and come back – John Howard of “Throwing Babies Overboard” infamy. Kevin Rudd. It’s not a high bar you know.

          • Leftie 20.1.6.1.2
            6 December 2016 at 4:59 pm

            Any excuse will do for you, I guess BM, English hasn’t changed, he is still bad.

  21. Neil 21
    5 December 2016 at 1:29 pm

    There will be dancing in the streets

  22. mauÄŤ 22
    5 December 2016 at 1:29 pm

    Financial crash or housing bubble about to burst?

  23. Rosemary McDonald 23
    5 December 2016 at 1:30 pm

    For my trespasses I scanned the reaction from the riiiight…and there’s Farrar fawning over his family loving friend John…

    (As long as it’s HIS family…fuck anyone else’s)

    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/12/key_retires.html

    Not sure if others will get the same popup ad…but I got, appropriately, ‘gutter solutions’.

    Too much.

  24. UncookedSelachimorpha 24
    5 December 2016 at 1:31 pm

    Good riddance to a terrible PM, but might not change much except for the politics of personality (plenty of Nacts with the same lousy values to follow).

    I think this marks the end of a huge, wasted opportunity for Labour. An opportunity to have debated the issue of the very rich who hold most of the nation’s wealth and don’t contribute their share. Key was a classic example, but was not challenged even slightly on this (e.g. his own tax contribution vs his wealth).

  25. Mr Nobody 25
    5 December 2016 at 1:32 pm

    If it has been planned its a great move.

    National can go into the election with changes to Super on the table and in a better position to negotiate with Peters.

    Going to be an interesting election.

    • mpledger 25.1
      5 December 2016 at 9:50 pm

      Yea, it sounds like the Nats weren’t going to be able to form a government without NZFirst and Key had said he’d never work with Winston Peters. Winnie must be loving this – Key got pushed before he retired.

  26. SpaceMonkey 26
    5 December 2016 at 1:33 pm

    Good news! My first thought was what is the ****** must be hiding something. But maybe the tea leaves were just pointing to a defeat next election. Does this clear the way for National + NZ First coalition?

  27. Coolas 27
    5 December 2016 at 1:34 pm

    Wonderful news and what a relief we don’t have to put up with the smiling assassin’s lies and and crafty manipulations anymore. And if the pundits are correct and he is the popularity of the Natzi’s we can look forward to a change of Government next year. Whoopee!

  28. Molly 28
    5 December 2016 at 1:35 pm

    Guess it is time for Attack of the Clones.

    I never liked John Key, and he never gave me cause to respect him, in fact embarrassed was the emotion most often felt when watching him in the public sphere. Often angry when seeing the effect his party’s policies have had in NZ society. But unfortunately there are too many like him in the National Party willing to take his place.

    So for my part, muted recognition with the side order of ‘meh’.

    (I’m guessing the research unit at National are predicting a major slump in housing, and a dive for the economy. Like all lacklustre managers, he is going to go while the going can be reported to be good… and leave the mess for others to clean up. And be warned, we are likely in for a spate of sycophantic articles about Key’s legacy).

    • Doogs 28.1
      5 December 2016 at 1:47 pm

      +100 Molly

    • One Anonymous Bloke 28.2
      5 December 2016 at 1:52 pm

      Even the National Party Herald could only come up with this:

      Key has governed the country through the recession of the late-2000s, formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority in response to the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake and led the country following the Pike River disaster.

      Key also worked to create the much-protested policy for the partial privitisation of state-owned enterprises, including Meridian and Mighty River Power, Genesis and Solid Energy.

      Overseas, Key has withdrawn the NZ Defence Force from Afghanistan, attended the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, improved relations with the United states and aimed to establish the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

      What a legacy! 😈 😆

    • Incognito 28.3
      5 December 2016 at 10:26 pm

      John Key was very upbeat (!) about the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) that is due this coming Thursday December 8.

  29. Ffloyd 29
    5 December 2016 at 1:36 pm

    Has to be something big coming to make him resign. Off to Hawaii? I believe it’s snowing there.

  30. Jim 30
    5 December 2016 at 1:37 pm

    The end of an error, and not a good one at that, a time when many voted against their own betterment because of the retoric of a carismatic leader. So why did he really sesign? One can only guess; was he rolled by his own caucus; was whikki leaks finally about to publish the real oil on John Key; one things for sure the real reason is not being spoken of at the moment.

    • Brutus Iscariot 30.1
      5 December 2016 at 1:45 pm

      That was my first reaction, but i’m happy with his rationale.

      He’s never needed the money or the power. Hell of a job that takes its toll on family life. But he’s always been about the legacy…so what better time to go than when he is still reasonably popular.

      Once it was established that he didn’t have the legs for a 4th term, then now is the perfect time. Give the new leader a long lead-in time to the election. By springing it as so much of a surprise he also gets to hand pick his successors as there’s no time for plotting or machinations.

    • NZJester 30.2
      5 December 2016 at 1:49 pm

      I love the Freudian slip in place of era. Yes it is the end of an Error and not of an Era.

  31. Nick Morris 31
    5 December 2016 at 1:38 pm

    My information is that he is going to challenge Andrew Little for leadership of Labour. Something about supporting a party with real heart.

    Come back Matthew Hooten, you were right all along.

  32. WILD KATIPO 32
    5 December 2016 at 1:43 pm

    Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooo !!!!

    Time for a song or two …

  33. ianmac 33
    5 December 2016 at 1:44 pm

    Goodness me. Surely Key wasn’t frightened by direct interviewing from Kim Hill after years of fan based journalists? Maybe she showed him that his time is up!

    • Rosemary McDonald 33.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:08 pm

      Him Kim Hill would kill.

    • Peroxide Blonde 33.2
      5 December 2016 at 2:34 pm

      3 minutes of Kim Hill and I want to give up!!

      Her interviewing “style” shines light on nothing other than Hill’s excruciating self-consciousness. Painful.

      • Rosemary McDonald 33.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:01 pm

        Painful listening to the individuals who pass themselves of as ‘journalists’ these days.

        They are talking heads, with little if any knowledge of the subject matter. And it shows.

        Kim Hill knows her stuff, and , and at least she speaks clearly and doesn’t slur her words.

        Not self-conscious at all…simply a professional.

  34. Whispering Kate 34
    5 December 2016 at 1:44 pm

    There is a God after all. Two things come to mind – he was offered a job while at the latest Security Council Meeting or there is some major dirt that has been dug on him – whatever it is thank the lord we won’t have to listen to his insincerity and sarcasm anymore. Not a political genuine article that is for sure. He wants to go out on a roll – he is a legend in his own mind.

    • Anne 34.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:28 pm

      … he was offered a job while at the latest Security Council Meeting or there is some major dirt that has been dug on him.

      My immediate reaction. If it was the latter, it just might not come out now he has resigned.

  35. NZJester 35
    5 December 2016 at 1:44 pm

    I recon he was given the chance to resign to save face, but in the back room was told they had the numbers to roll him and he can either jump or get pushed.
    National hides their dirty secrets behind a wall of right wing bloggers and tame MSM.
    I recon it was the huge numbers who voted against National at the recent by-election in a seat that because of all the National party votes at the last election should have seen it more closely contested and a hard win for Labour.

    • Sam C 35.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:55 pm

      Some quantum leaps in your logic there Jester. But hey, if it helps you sleep better at night, then all power to you.

      • Leftie 35.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 5:12 pm

        Not so Sam, NZJester made a very good point. This is the second by election National have lost, and despite the spin, Key was looking for an upset and got thoroughly trounced instead. Local elections didn’t go National’s way either. Looks like John key was given his marching orders and got out while he could before the spin of the fake “rock star economy” collapsed around him.

    • Leftie 35.2
      5 December 2016 at 5:06 pm

      Spot on NZJester! Agreed.

    • mosa 35.3
      5 December 2016 at 8:08 pm

      Yeah there is some truth in that analysis Jester knowing the way the National party works.

      I think Joyce calls the shots and whatever the reasons has tapped him on the shoulder and said its time.

      No sitting PM goes willingly and Key had a massive ego and strong desire to win a fourth term for the legacy and would not have wanted to give that away.

      The guy is dirty and quite possibly compromised and that has caught up with him.

      I just dont buy the “i am going to spend more time with the family ” line.

      • NZJester 35.3.1
        5 December 2016 at 9:16 pm

        National are all about smoke and mirrors with their public face.
        He was most likely ambushed in a secret backroom meeting with someone stepping in to challenge him in a vote. The National Party inner circle have probably cast their votes for and against him with Key loosing out. The trusted inner circle will already know who will be our next PM until the next election.
        Key in order to get some special perks will be choosing who they want and has no say in the matter.

    • Grantoc 35.4
      5 December 2016 at 9:10 pm

      incoherent conspiracy nonsense NZ Jester.

      The Mt Roskill by-election is irrelevant. It was Labour’s to lose. Less than 40% of the electorate voted, and those that did vote for labour had always voted for labour. There was no mass transfer of national voters to labour, Labour had more at stake and were better organised on the day to get their vote out. It was the predicted outcome and it came to pass.

  36. repateet 36
    5 December 2016 at 1:45 pm

    No wonder he looks tired – imagine telling those lies and layers of lies over years.

    • Rosemary McDonald 36.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:11 pm

      Suffocated by his own web perhaps?

      Rare telly watching the other weekend, saw him on the Nation…thought at the time he looked a little blue. Put it down to the make up person not applying enough gunk for HD….which is pitiless on the less than perfect.

  37. Mrs Brillo 37
    5 December 2016 at 1:48 pm

    I do hope there is no serious illness in his family, my first thought.

    But Bronagh regretting all those “lonely nights” is a bit rich when she had the option to join him in Premier House, and opted instead to stay in Auckland.

    She had the power to change things, but didn’t.

    And you might say the same of Key’s terms as Prime Minister. An ineffectual man.

  38. RRM 38
    5 December 2016 at 1:48 pm

    We are incredibly lucky to have had his service at the time when we most needed a smart, competent business guy to keep us afloat.

    Most other OECD countries never recovered from the 2009 GFC and today are wracked with civil strife, divided by hyper-partizan politics, crippled by debt and unemployment. Many have either gone tits-up on socialist spending beyond their ability to pay, or else elected far-right reactionaries instead.

      • Bob 38.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:49 pm

        Wow, I actually wasted 10 minutes of my life reading through that loosely cobbled conspiracy theory.

        Great example of the depth of reporting of facts:

        “•A local indigenous Maori lady phoned a New Zealand radio talk-back show in mid-January 2011 discussing the Pike River tragedy and in her own, unrefined way, perceptively said:
        “You know, there’s something mighty fishy about what the media is telling us all about this B/S at Pike River Mine. Why has nobody been charged? You know. Just as they killed those guys and they have now sealed the mine up and buried them forever – if we, as a people, don’t do something about it – before long – they are going tobury us all too!””

        Then I scrolled back to the top and saw this:
        “I recommend that people carefully read what follows – double-check the references for yourself – and above all – please THINK for yourself!
        Penny Bright”

        • MrJ 38.2.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:46 pm

          Wow, I actually wasted 10 minutes of my life reading through that loosely cobbled conspiracy theory.

          I didn’t even spend that much time on it. But I will say this – I don’t think there’s ever been a time in history where so much effort has been put in to preventing people going in to attempt to rescue/recover the victims of a mine collapse or explosion. I have not been able to come across one.

          My own suspicion is that our namby-girly police who blocked initial rescue attempts realise that many of the Pike River victims survived and could’ve been rescued alive hours or days later, but because they blocked all attempts to rescue (people have been dragging victims out of burning mines for hundreds of years without benefit of our modern tools!) the men died. Someone going into the mine today would be able to prove that. I suspect those involved know it would be immediately obvious that some of them survived.

          Murder? Maybe not. Culpable manslaughter?

          • Bob 38.2.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 5:04 pm

            ” I don’t think there’s ever been a time in history where so much effort has been put in to preventing people going in to attempt to rescue/recover the victims of a mine collapse or explosion”
            They actually let teams try to enter, they just ruled it out due to the danger invloved:
            https://web.archive.org/web/20101129211331/http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/third-explosion-won-t-set-back-recovery-3916897
            http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4536950/Police-halt-Pike-River-recovery-effort
            They even sent down multiple robots:
            http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10838786

            “My own suspicion is that our namby-girly police who blocked initial rescue attempts realise that many of the Pike River victims survived and could’ve been rescued alive hours or days later”
            Yip, completely agree, the rescue mission should have started almost immediately as the methane within the mine had been burnt off. For the safety of those attempting a rescue you can see why the Police would have felt obliged to stop them, but in reality they all but stopped any chance of a rescue effort right there.

            “Someone going into the mine today would be able to prove that. I suspect those involved know it would be immediately obvious that some of them survived.”
            This is where I struggle, I think an effort should still be made to enter the mine if there is any way to do so, these families need closure, but the mine has been burning since the initial explosion, so I doubt there would be any evidence left to find.

            “Culpable manslaughter?”
            Unfortunately this wasn’t an option under the law at the time, however it would be under current law (my understanding).

        • WILD KATIPO 38.2.1.2
          5 December 2016 at 4:04 pm

          L0L !…

          Awesome! – just awesome !…. picks out the incidental bit and focuses on that and disregards all the rest that shows how plans for the operation were conducted. Enjoy the bit about Key visiting the Wall street broker working for Bank of America ?

          ‘ 33) September 24, 2009: Prime Minister John Key meets with Douglas A. Johonson in New York, a Bank of America trader who deals in New Zealand company stocks on the first floor of the New York Stock Exchange.’

          I’ll bet you did bud.

          I’ll bet you did.

          • Bob 38.2.1.2.1
            5 December 2016 at 4:39 pm

            Okay, how about:
            “Yet amazingly, Bathurst Resources Ltd reports on their website as at 2.11pm (EST) 21th January, 2011, their BTU Share Price is now $A1.040 – now well over 900% higher than it was at the same time in 2010”
            It is now at less than 10% of that value:
            http://www.asx.com.au/asx/share-price-research/company/BRL

            “Clearly, a very elect group of both local and global, corrupt, treacherous, corporate individuals, self-serving bankers and government officials, allegedly headed by the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key with his blind trust”
            Blind trusts are just that, blind. Pretty hard for John Key to be heading a conspiracy on investments he doesn’t handle

            “out of the very worst excesses of blatant “insider trading” imaginable in Bathurst Resources Ltd and associated company shares”
            See above

            ““The Upper Big Branch Mine methane explosion occurs in West Virginia in the U.S. killing exactly 29 miners out of a total 31, (at the same time in the afternoon, as the 29 miners out of 31 were killed on November 19, 2010, by an identical methane gas explosion at Pike River Coal in New Zealand). Most of the major shareholders of Massey Energy that own the Upper Big Branch Mine are the same controlling shareholders of New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd that are the controlling shareholders of Pike River Coal Ltd. Following the disaster at Upper Big Branch Mine, a number of patriotic organizations called on Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to be arrested and charged with first degree murder. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/04/group-calls-arrest-west-virginia-ceo/””
            Charges were laid November 2011: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10765109

            “33) September 24, 2009: Prime Minister John Key meets with Douglas A. Johonson in New York, a Bank of America trader who deals in New Zealand company stocks on the first floor of the New York Stock Exchange.”
            Wow, that seals it then! Our Prime Minister publicly visited a trader who is directly involved in investments into the New Zealand economy…must be trying to cover up murder…

            Pull your head in mate, this is a big Penny Bright conspiracy based on nothing, that doesn’t stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny, and you are peddling it a dozen times on the same post like a crazy person!

            • WILD KATIPO 38.2.1.2.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 5:25 pm

              I suggest pull your own head in ,… your type have been beating your chests for 8 years and you really dont like having to pull your heads out of your hosts backside.

              Never mind, – you can used to it. We all had to get used to having a corrupt PM for 8 years… now its your turn to have some character building .

              And now the accountability issues that caused Key to resign begins ,… as Peters said it today on RNZ. Let the games commence.

    • Draco T Bastard 38.3
      5 December 2016 at 2:15 pm

      We are incredibly lucky to have had his service at the time when we most needed a smart, competent business guy to keep us afloat.

      He’s an idiot with limited knowledge and no humanity.

    • Jeremy 38.4
      5 December 2016 at 2:17 pm

      Meanwhile, back in reality…

    • Sorrwerdna 38.5
      5 December 2016 at 2:33 pm

      +100

    • AB 38.6
      5 December 2016 at 2:52 pm

      He’s not a “business guy”. He worked in the finance sector speculating on the movement of currencies. No socially useful goods or services were created.

      • ropata 38.6.1
        5 December 2016 at 5:13 pm

        The parasitic banking sector likes to pretend they are performing a vital service in the economy. They think they are wizards able to conjure wealth out of nothing. In fact they are just ticket clippers and imposing costs on the actual productive sector.

        Usury should be illegal and all banking should be nationalised as a public utility.

      • mosa 38.6.2
        5 December 2016 at 8:13 pm

        Look at the carnage he left behind in Ireland and their economy is F***D

    • NZJester 38.7
      5 December 2016 at 9:36 pm

      The only reason this country kept afloat during the recession was thanks to Labour’s forward thinking and paying off our international debt, not anything Key’s government did.
      Key managed to royally screw that up and put this country into a crippling amount of debt again. You can bet with his so called blind trust portfolio that he is making money off of that debt he put this country in.
      Even the so called budget surplus his government came up with was a big lie. When all of our crucial NZ services like health (both mental and physical), education, social welfare, fire services, policing, emergency call services and civil defense are all under funded any budget surplus announced is a lie.
      His legacy is selling out this country to big business , making lots of false promises (Pike River top of the list of broken promises) and a crippling debt that will make it hard for a Labour government to properly fund and rebuild all the services National has under funded for so long.

  39. One Anonymous Bloke 39
    5 December 2016 at 1:49 pm

    Great news.

  40. David 40
    5 December 2016 at 1:50 pm

    The bad news is probably stacking up against the lie of the “rock star economy” and he does not want to be tarnished with the product of his own policies. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/86867469/blowing-bubbles-where-the-housing-bubble-has-blown-up-the-biggest The music has stopped and who is going to hold the parcel of debt? Not the Government for sure, it is the over leveraged National heartland. This could get really ugly really quickly and Key knows the sun shines in Hawaii and no one knows who he is up there.

    • Yorick 40.1
      5 December 2016 at 6:41 pm

      Even more so in London where he has a flat .. where Spencer ended up.
      Consulting with Charles III on Brexit ?

  41. Drowsy M. Kram 41
    5 December 2016 at 1:51 pm

    “Because they loved their money more than anything in the whole world.” The voters have been pushed far enough in this iteration of dirty, greed-based politics. Time for a breather before flogging off health and education.

    Several concern troll comments on this site have been advising on the importance of Labour retiring older MPs in favour of new blood. And John Key/National have been reading; time to replace John Key with the fresh-faced Bill English.

    Predict that the consistently genuine Andrew Little, not to mention Winston and Gareth, will get a boost in the preferred prime minister stakes – STAY THE COURSE.

    • mlpc 41.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:18 pm

      I agree that Little has been consistent.
      But, with a tail wind, he might get over 10% in the preferred PM stakes.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 41.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:39 pm

        Credit where credit’s due – Key can be consistent too. Consistently ambiguous on the 1981 Springbok tour, still flogging the TPPA. But overall a remarkably flexible leader, as his utterances on Pike River attest. Not admirable – a consistent liar to the end.

  42. james 42
    5 December 2016 at 1:53 pm

    A job like the PM must take a HUGE toll.

    Its not a job that I would want (nor would I be any good at it – hell my wife wouldn’t even vote for me).

    Im glad for him that he has gone out on top, but saddened that there has been a toll that has simply gotten too much.

    I obviously thought him a great PM – and a person. Thats my view – others (esp on the standard) who will disagree.

    So – I wish him the best for what he tackles next, and all the best for his replacement.

    • Rosemary McDonald 42.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:13 pm

      Is there another parade somewhere you could piss on James?

      • james 42.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 5:18 pm

        If this is what it takes for you to have a parade Rosemary McDonald – then I pity you.

    • North 42.2
      5 December 2016 at 2:17 pm

      I’m saving my good wishes for the children of New Zealand who suffered and still suffer at the hands of this unprincipled power seeker, wannabe macho-laddie, child. Was always a disgraceful primary school fibber. Good riddance. Who ya’ gonna import this time grande dame Boag?

      Didn’t even serve out his third term aye? Wasn’t “Honest John” gonna be New Zealand’s longest serving PM?

    • Sorrwerdna 42.3
      5 December 2016 at 2:35 pm

      Good on ya James

    • Banjo 42.4
      5 December 2016 at 2:36 pm

      A lot of jobs take a huge toll, it never seems to be a consideration for blue collar workers and their families, they’re just told they have to be more flexible. Key was at least richly remunerated while his Govt removed workers rights and enabled a precarious work environment for many. Lots of people work just as long hours, just as hard, some in dangerous environments, many who also have to factor in fatigue from shift work. So meh to Key and the apparent HUGE toll the job took.

    • WILD KATIPO 42.5
      5 December 2016 at 2:54 pm

      Oh James , James , James…

      You need to read more than Kiwiblog for a change.

      Here… a small education for the uneducated far right.

      https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

      • Sorrwerdna 42.5.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:26 pm

        Hey Katipo -there must be something wrong with your keyboard -its keeps auto-adding an internet address to a load of bollocks

        • WILD KATIPO 42.5.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 4:11 pm

          Nothing wrong with the keyboard, son, but – but you have a few hours left so dont panic …They say tapeworm parasites can live a few days without their heads…

          And now your host has gone its going to be fun to watch all you bloodsuckers squirm and squeal without being able to feed off the population any longer…

      • james 42.5.2
        5 December 2016 at 5:21 pm

        Anyone who quotes Penny Blight as a credible source (little less spamming the comments with the same link over and over), is not somebody who could ever be taken seriously – or in fact should even be left alone with crayons

    • garibaldi 42.6
      5 December 2016 at 3:07 pm

      I’m on your wife’s side James!

    • ianmac 42.7
      5 December 2016 at 4:17 pm

      James: “A job like the PM must take a HUGE toll.”
      Not really James. NZ population 4.5million. How about Mayor of New York or Birmingham? We are really very tiny even though our PM gets paid twice as much as Brit PM with 70million.

    • Paul 42.8
      5 December 2016 at 9:49 pm

      Yes Key placed a HUGE toll on many families.
      305 000 in poverty.

  43. newsense 43
    5 December 2016 at 1:57 pm

    Here is the Herald’s list of his achievements:
    (I’ve taken out the elections won bit)
    “Key has governed the country through the recession of the late-2000s, formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority in response to the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake and led the country following the Pike River disaster.

    Key also worked to create the much-protested policy for the partial privitisation of state-owned enterprises, including Meridian and Mighty River Power, Genesis and Solid Energy.

    Overseas, Key has withdrawn the NZ Defence Force from Afghanistan, attended the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, improved relations with the United states and aimed to establish the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

    That’s pathetic for a 8 year PM.

  44. Ad 44
    5 December 2016 at 1:59 pm

    Whether there was planning in this, the timing is outstanding:

    – It is the most important cabinet renewal after a highly refreshed caucus and cabinet compared to 2008, signaled in advance of barbeque seasons, and the 2017 electoral season

    – It is three days before an enormous surplus forecast, giving National the election-year headroom for massive social spending AND tax cuts.

    Both are serious momentum for his successor.

  45. The decrypter 45
    5 December 2016 at 1:59 pm

    maybe he’s telling his last lie?

  46. Doogs 46
    5 December 2016 at 2:01 pm

    I really believe that Key has actually told the truth for the first time in his political career. Bronagh has said, be home more, and he has conceded.

    Not sure I agree with comments about the big cat fights that are about to start in the Natzi caucus. They are far too well drilled for that. It’ll be Billy Dipstick or Joycie Dildo – or if they are are completely suicidal, Pawdry Benefit.

    What concerns me most is that this tawdry, self-serving little man re-introduced the gongs a few years ago with the long term view that when he finally went, one would be waiting for him. If that is the case, he is a bigger arsehole than I even took him for.

    Goodbye and total good riddance. He mentioned something about going out on the top – going out on the bottom, more likely – the bottom of the list! What list? Best PM list, of course.

    • Nick 46.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:08 pm

      I dont think he told the truth about Bronagh…..its just the usual positioning statement to gain sympathy….the truth will surface in time.

      A true PM fail …..

    • Draco T Bastard 46.2
      5 December 2016 at 2:33 pm

      Not sure I agree with comments about the big cat fights that are about to start in the Natzi caucus. They are far too well drilled for that.

      They’re authoritarians so pretty much once the leader goes it’s all on to choose the next leader and, as Dirty Politics showed, they don’t fight clean.

  47. Whispering Kate 47
    5 December 2016 at 2:04 pm

    The PM is famous for not being around when the shit hits the fan, how many times has Blinglish been left to scrape up his messes while he flies overseas to be as far away as possible from it. I cannot remember when he has ever been around for uncomfortable situations where his deputy can do his dirty work for him. The PM can see next year ahead of him and he never likes to be around and seen as a loser, so its pretty obvious he will now sit on the back benches and let his minions take the flak. His supposed “legacy” is his most important mission in life – so he is performing true to form. His own Government will not be respecting him right now for leaving them in the lurch. Withstanding any ill health in his family, we are better off without him.

    • wellfedweta 47.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:19 pm

      Key has ALWAYS been around when problems arise. The GFC. The recession. The earthquakes. Pike River. He has stood up time and again in the face of natural and international challenges. Your lack of insight reminds me the criticism of Helen Clark over the years.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 47.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:31 pm

        Nine years of surpluses and the Chinafta are the reason the GFC didn’t hit us too hard. Key’s legacy is homeless families.

      • framu 47.1.2
        5 December 2016 at 3:35 pm

        your lack of connection to reality is disturbing

        key ALWAYS got other ministers to front bad news

        • wellfedweta 47.1.2.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:40 pm

          In their portfolio’s, maybe. But Key has fronted lots of the major issues in the past several years. Don’t you understand that is why he is so popular.

          • framu 47.1.2.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 4:46 pm

            “Don’t you understand that is why he is so popular.”

            its called marketing – thats why hes popular.

            for extra points did the PMs spin team grow or shrink during his term?

            • wellfedweta 47.1.2.1.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 4:51 pm

              You can’t remain popular at Key levels for 8 years without substance. Even Clark didn’t.

        • Whispering Kate 47.1.2.2
          5 December 2016 at 9:02 pm

          Thank you Framu for agreeing with me – he is Teflon John for very good reason, he loathed being associated with bad news or being seen as a loser. Wellfedweka doesn’t know what he is talking about. Swanning around in helicopters with the requisite hard hat on doesn’t do it for me – ask Christchurch residents how they feel x amount of years on about his promises and the Pike River families as well. All hair oil and no socks was how my Granny would have described him – an apt description indeed.

      • WILD KATIPO 47.1.3
        5 December 2016 at 3:36 pm

        Pike River ?

        Perhaps this might change your tune a little bit about John Philip Key …

        https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

        • wellfedweta 47.1.3.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:38 pm

          News Flash

          John Key did not cause the explosion at Pike River.

          There are, you can go back to your conspiracy books now.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 47.1.3.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 3:43 pm

            His government enabled the slack health and safety environment, then cut a deal with the perps.

            • wellfedweta 47.1.3.1.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 3:52 pm

              Under which government was Pike River consented? Labour.

              There were no ‘changes’ made under national that contributed to the Pike River disaster. Seriously in 10 years the far left have been trying to paint Key as some kind of demon. You’ve failed. Key leaves undefeated.

  48. Mrs Brillo 48
    5 December 2016 at 2:09 pm

    Barbecue at Judith’s place?

  49. Brutus Iscariot 49
    5 December 2016 at 2:10 pm

    One last bird flipped at his enemies. For all the churlish rhetoric here now, he will get to say he went out on top. The Left will never have the satisfaction of hearing him concede defeat on an election night.

    I understand the need to conjure up fantasies to make the truth more palatable, but the facts are that he’s now one of the very few politicians to “win the game”.

    Whether that’s reality or perception, posterity will now look upon him more fondly than possibly he deserves to be.

    • Muttonbird 49.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:31 pm

      Win the game? He just walked out 20 minutes before full time.

      • Brutus Iscariot 49.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:56 pm

        We will never know, will we. But the polls say he left with a stonking 50% rating. Perception is all that matters, and he will have it in spades. If Nats lose in 2017, people will say it was because he wasn’t there. If they win in 2017, it will be because of the platform he laid.

        Win win for his historical reputation.

        • Paul 49.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 10:03 pm

          The last real poll was Mt Roskill.
          You know the sort when people actually vote.
          And Key was hammered.

    • Luka Muchio 49.2
      5 December 2016 at 2:40 pm

      Key went out on top, good for him. Now time to roll that charisma vacuum called Andre Little and bring in ‘Gracinda. ‘

      • red-blooded 49.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 6:58 pm

        It would be disastrous to change leaders again. Little has built a solid team and is shaping up to be a good leader.

        Robertson and Ardern are both strong politicians and good communicators. They’ll have plenty to contribute to the next Labour government and each has good leadership potential, but that doesn’t make it time to “roll” Little. (And btw, I’d rather have a serious, honest person leading the party and the country than a smarmy jerk like Key.)

    • Sam C 49.3
      5 December 2016 at 2:47 pm

      Never was a truer word spoken.

    • WILD KATIPO 49.4
      5 December 2016 at 3:00 pm

      @ BRUTUS ISCARIOT

      No ones going to give a damn about what you sycophants say at present – more so in the future when history teaches the REAL truth about John Philip Key.

      https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

    • wellfedweta 49.5
      5 December 2016 at 3:22 pm

      Well said. Most popular PM in history. National riding high. The country is good shape. He’s done a Richie McCaw.

      • framu 49.5.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:37 pm

        “Most popular PM in history”

        you might want to let history have its say on key first

      • rod 49.5.2
        5 December 2016 at 8:24 pm

        He’s done a Richie McCaw. I didn’t know that, are you sure?

      • mauÄŤ 49.5.3
        5 December 2016 at 8:46 pm

        People love Ritchie. Depending on who you talk to people either love or hate Key. He’s divided the new zealand people, like any decent dictator would.

    • ropata 49.6
      5 December 2016 at 3:54 pm

      “Win the game” ?!?!

      If that’s what you think politics is for, no wonder idiots like Trump get elected

  50. MrJ 50
    5 December 2016 at 2:13 pm

    This has been such a great day! Much more hopeful for the future now.

    However, he could’ve done it better. He could’ve “gone postal” in the traditional fashion! Now that would be a retirement worthy of how much damage he’s done to the rest of the country!

  51. Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 51
    5 December 2016 at 2:16 pm

    There is a God after all – and here’s me doubting his/her existence for the past 8 years!

  52. Prickles 52
    5 December 2016 at 2:17 pm

    When it was announced by the flight attendant just before the plane left Napier for Wellington, people cheered and clapped. Not all of course but a good number.

    • alwyn 52.1
      5 December 2016 at 4:05 pm

      You are obviously much smarter than most of us.
      By your logic when someone announces their planned retirement and people clap it is because they are glad to see them go.
      Little innocent me thought it meant they were thanking the person and wishing them well.
      Amazing. When Helen Clark announced her resignation after the election loss the people at the function gave her a standing ovation, did they not?
      I thought it was her party members saying thank you and wishing her well for the future.
      But Prickles informs us it meant they were happy to see the back of her.
      Is that really what you interpret clapping as you silly git?

      • WILD KATIPO 52.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 4:34 pm

        Funny,… thats not what Winston Peters said about John Philip Key on RNZ today,.. he seemed to think it had more to do with a tanking economy and certain other things that will be unearthed ….

        ‘ which will come out in the days and weeks to follow ‘….

        • alwyn 52.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 6:24 pm

          Winston Peters?
          You mean you take him seriously on anything.
          It was after midday wasn’t it. By that stage Winston, who is a seriously bitter old man, would be well into his cups and he was probably seeing pink elephants dancing around the room. You don’t really believe anything that man says do you?

        • Grantoc 52.1.1.2
          5 December 2016 at 9:24 pm

          You’re in good company if you buy Peter’s ludicrous conspiracy theories WK. Peters doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He never has.

          The only thing that ‘will come out in the days and weeks to follow….’ is evidence that Peters is officially diagnosed as being nuts.

      • the pigman 52.1.2
        5 December 2016 at 7:04 pm

        “Is that really what you interpret clapping as you silly git?

        Oh! Did you come here for an argument? This is Abuse.
        Aha! You want Room 12A, next door.

      • prickles 52.1.3
        6 December 2016 at 12:21 pm

        Hi Alwyn, just read again what I actually wrote. I didn’t make any mention of my interpretation of what they meant – simply reported what happened. The interpretation has come only from you.

    • Paul 52.2
      5 December 2016 at 6:25 pm

      And they are the rich who fly.
      The poor must be delirious.

  53. red-blooded 53
    5 December 2016 at 2:24 pm

    Well, I guess now’s when we get to see how much of the Nat’s support is due to their policies and how much is due to Smarmy John…

    Thanks goodness Little has put an emphasis on team-building in Labour so that they’re not likely to fly apart now, given an opportunity to show themselves as a credible alternative.

    Bye bye, John; wish I could say it’d been a pleasure.

  55. MrJ 55
    5 December 2016 at 2:28 pm

    Can I recommend a song to be played in honour of this announcement? All radio stations should pick this up!

    Motorhead’s Traitor

    (lyrics available at http://www.metrolyrics.com/traitor-lyrics-motorhead.html for those who don’t wish to listen to this bit of classic rock’n’roll)

  56. millsy 56
    5 December 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Well, time for the Opposition to get their collective shit together, and get off their asses.

    A July election is very likely now.

    • Sorrwerdna 56.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:37 pm

      Good luck with that

    • Draco T Bastard 56.2
      5 December 2016 at 2:38 pm

      Yep. It’s going to have to be after the budget and the delivery of more unaffordable tax cuts but before the complete collapse of the economy brought about by National’s policies.

  57. The lost sheep 57
    5 December 2016 at 2:35 pm

    Spare a thought for the terminal KDS sufferers, who will now have to live with the reality that Key will always be the man the Left could not beat.

  58. rsbandit 58
    5 December 2016 at 2:41 pm

    I don’t know why we are cheering. This makes Labour/Green unelectable.

    The path is now clear for NZFirst/National. Key doesn’t do anything without planning and calculation, and anyone who judges this on face value is an idiot.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 58.1
      5 December 2016 at 2:46 pm

      Depends. National could lose a considerable amount of support as a consequence. One thing’s for sure: winning the 2017 election will take a lot of hard work, then as now.

      • rsbandit 58.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 2:49 pm

        They’ll lose some, but not nearly enough. Some of that support will go to NZFirst, of course.

        • Alan 58.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:13 pm

          Winning 2017 just got a whole lot harder for Labour/ Greens.
          Act, Maori Party and Peter Dunne just got sidelined too.

      • mlpc 58.1.2
        5 December 2016 at 2:51 pm

        But where would the Nats’ support go?
        Surely not to Labour or the Greens.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 58.1.2.1
          5 December 2016 at 2:58 pm

          surely not

          [citation needed]

          I find ‘swing’ voting incomprehensible, and it’s a thing nonetheless.

  59. adam 59
    5 December 2016 at 2:43 pm

    He looking more and more like a Sid Holland clone….

  60. Henry Filth 60
    5 December 2016 at 2:46 pm

    Nice timing.

    Just like Holyoake, Marshall and Muldoon all over again.

  61. mary_a 61
    5 December 2016 at 2:55 pm

    Our brighter future coming? Oh wait … Collins, Joyce, Bennett, English waiting in the wings. Bye bye National next year 🙂

    • Rosie 61.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:01 pm

      Exactly mary. What’s National without Key eh?

    • WILD KATIPO 61.2
      5 December 2016 at 3:12 pm

      @ mary _ a ,…

      Lets hope it is Dildo Joyce – we could do with a few laughs after all Keys corruption and his Bank of America connections…

      https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

      • MrJ 61.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 5:44 pm

        Lets hope it is Dildo Joyce – we could do with a few laughs after all Keys corruption and his Bank of America connections…

        What gets me with that pic is the smile on his face as he has that heading straight for his mouth.

        (Please stop spamming that horribly done site about Pike River. I know something nasty went on there that shonkey and his cronies don’t want uncovered, but that site needs some basic work before getting shown to the public, and it does no good to your cause to have someone displaying a site that turns intelligent people away at first glance!)

  62. repateet 62
    5 December 2016 at 3:05 pm

    You have to respect his consistency:

    “And more than anything else in my time here, I have tried to be straight and true with New Zealanders.”

    A lying bastard to the end.

  63. Rosie 63
    5 December 2016 at 3:07 pm

    This one’s going out to you Rogue Trooper. I wish you had lived to see this day. I know you’d have a song for us. I’m guessing it would have been this one:

    • greywarshark 63.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:52 pm

      Rosie Nice to remember Rogue Trooper. I was thinking of him a while ago, though didn’t know him apart from this Blog.

      But I was thinking of Leonard Cohen and Hallelujah too, thanks for putting that up.

  64. lprent 64
    5 December 2016 at 3:08 pm

    Prime Ministers resigning everywhere.

    Over here the PM resigned as well

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38204189

  65. wellfedweta 65
    5 December 2016 at 3:10 pm

    Listening to the comments of international leaders it is obvious the very high regard John Key is held in internationally. Andrew Little’s were gracious and measured, Winston Peter’s utterly graceless. Votes lost there.

    John Key will certainly qualify as our best post war PM, marginally ahead of Helen Clark. He leaves NZ in a terrific position, and with record levels of personal popularity. Well done good sir, go well.

    • Sam C 65.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:17 pm

      I thought Little’s comments on Nat Rad were excellent and the most statesmanlike I’ve heard from him. OAB could learn quite a bit from the Labour leader.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 65.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:21 pm

        OAB isn’t a politician and cares not one whit for niceties. Legacy: 300,000 children living in poverty, warnings from UNICEF etc.

        • wellfedweta 65.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:41 pm

          Where are 300,000 children living in poverty? Certainly not in NZ.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 65.1.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 3:51 pm

            Take it up with the office of the Children’s Commissioner. No, wait: they won’t care about your ignorant opinion any more than I do.

            Better whine about it on a blog. Start with some pathetic denial and move on to the hate speech later, eh.

            • wellfedweta 65.1.1.1.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 3:55 pm

              I’m simply pointing out you are wrong. You can continue to exaggerate the numbers of you like, but it isn’t helping.

              • One Anonymous Bloke …
                5 December 2016 at 4:01 pm

                Then I am in good company and you are in denial on a blog.

                In 2014, 305,000 (29%) of dependent 0–17 year olds were living in income poverty defined using a relative threshold measure of below 60% of the median income after housing costs were taken into consideration. In 2013, the percentage was 24%…

                As I said, I have no interest in reading your pathetic excuses. Take it up with the Children’s Commission.

                • wellfedweta …
                  5 December 2016 at 4:06 pm

                  So the only way you can support your claim is using a measure that has been roundly discredited. Thought so.

                  • One Anonymous Bloke …
                    5 December 2016 at 4:09 pm

                    😆

                    Right wingers lying to one another on blogs discredits you, not the Children’s Commission. Frankly, if there were 100,000 kids living in poverty you still wouldn’t give a toss about them.

                    • wellfedweta …
                      5 December 2016 at 4:11 pm

                      The 60% has been debunked. Get over it. And you don;t give a toss about poverty. If you did you wouldn’t lie about the problem.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      5 December 2016 at 4:17 pm

                      Let’s be clear about this: your word isn’t worth shit. Has the Children’s Commission changed the definition? Then piss off.

                    • wellfedweta …
                      5 December 2016 at 7:58 pm

                      “Has the Children’s Commission changed the definition? ”

                      Of course not. It would give them nothing to moan about.

                  • MrJ …
                    5 December 2016 at 6:28 pm

                    So the only way you can support your claim is using a measure that has been roundly discredited.

                    [CITATION NEEDED]

                  • Puddleglum …
                    5 December 2016 at 8:16 pm

                    “roundly discredited“? “debunked“?

                    How can a straightforward standard statistical measure be ‘discredited’ and ‘debunked’ and by whom?

                    It’s possible to argue that there is a better measure but how can a proportion of the median income be said to be ‘debunked’?

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      6 December 2016 at 7:36 am

                      ^^^ this.

                      For his next pratfall, Wellfedweta will use millimetres to debunk inches.

    • WILD KATIPO 65.2
      5 December 2016 at 3:21 pm

      @ Wellfedweta.

      Bullshit.

      He leaves New Zealand with record homelessness , a housing market that’s fucked and soon to crash , an immigration policy that resulted in runaway stress on our infrastructure and abuse of our labour laws, miserable low wages, massive decline in our social services and health, police, – and thats not even starting on the list – as well as this :

      https://waterpressure.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/murder-at-pike-river-mine-timeline/

      • wellfedweta 65.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:46 pm

        No, he leaves NZ with:

        Record employment.
        Record visitor numbers.
        Record low interest rates.
        Low inflation.
        Low debt.
        One of the strongest economies in the OECD.

        The local hard left are the only ones who can’t see how good things are, and thankfully there aren’t too many of you left.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 65.2.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:58 pm

          UNICEF and the World Bank and the IMF and the Salvation Army and the Children’s Commissioner and the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the NZ Law Society and the homeless families are all hard Left?

          And then you woke up.

          • wellfedweta 65.2.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 4:04 pm

            Where’s the 300,000? And the definition?

            • One Anonymous Bloke 65.2.1.1.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 4:06 pm

              Pay attention. I linked to it five minutes ago.

              • wellfedweta …
                5 December 2016 at 4:10 pm

                Yea, and I told you to go away and find a definition that hasn’t been debunked. I suspect you know nothing of real child poverty. Which is why you’re happy to minimise the problem with such dumb data.

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  5 December 2016 at 4:32 pm

                  Yawn. Your denials aren’t worth shit.

                  • wellfedweta …
                    5 December 2016 at 4:37 pm

                    Nor is your data.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      5 December 2016 at 4:40 pm

                      If it were mine, it wouldn’t be, but it isn’t, and since the Children’s Commission is a credible source and you are a denier on a blog, that’s how it’s going to stay.

                • Jeremy …
                  5 December 2016 at 4:48 pm

                  Here’s some advice:
                  You’ll hear better if you take your fingers out of your ears.

                • Anno1701 …
                  5 December 2016 at 4:49 pm

                  “Which is why you’re happy to minimise the problem with such dumb data.”

                  this is pathetic, please try harder…..

                • Venezia …
                  6 December 2016 at 12:53 am

                  Best Post war PM? John Key governed this country for the benefit of the wealthy and international corporates. Turned NZ into a tax haven. He presided over record numbers of homeless families while attempting (& failing) to sell off many thousands of State Houses. Did nothing for 305,000 children being raised in poverty. Passed a record number of laws under urgency, and denied the people of Canterbury their democratic rights to electing their regional council. Ran a Dirty Politics operation out of the PMs office. Lies and manipulation were his modus operandi eg:

                  John Key’s Lies Since the 2014 Election (UPDATED)

        • DoublePlusGood 65.2.1.2
          5 December 2016 at 9:13 pm

          Record employment is from record population
          Record low interest rates is because the economy is stagnant, ditto inflation.
          Crown debt is massively increased from when National started in 2008, so that’s you just blatantly lying.
          And we aren’t remotely close to having one of the strongest economies in the OECD, as we’re pretending like we have growth on the back of immigration and an empty property market boom.
          Honestly, if you’re going to write a hagiography, at least pick some things that are actually going well.

          • wellfedweta 65.2.1.2.1
            6 December 2016 at 9:26 am

            The economy is not stagnant. It is growing faster than most other OECD economies. Our net government debt to GDP is one of the lowest in the developed world. Clearly you haven’t even attempted to research the facts before commenting.

      • the pigman 65.2.2
        5 December 2016 at 8:20 pm

        Respect to the families of the Pike River miners, but that’s 16 times you’ve linked that ball of batshit crazy in this comment thread. You must be wondering how many more times it’s going to take to get the attention of a moderator.

    • lprent 65.3
      5 December 2016 at 3:26 pm

      John Key will certainly qualify as our best post war PM, marginally ahead of Helen Clark.

      He did nothing good of consequence. The best one can say of him was that he didn’t screw up too badly.

      Basically Cullen and Clark left him in an enviable fiscal position. However that has largely dissipated with the GFC and he has done nothing at all to deal with the structural issues from the aging demographics. Probably his most notable screwup was to not continue loading up the Cullen fund.

      • wellfedweta 65.3.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:37 pm

        Cullen and Clark left him with a recession that was, at least in part, the result of local circumstances. They also left him with some very poor quality spending. Key has achieved much, but most notably the way he has restored our economic strength after the GFC. The Labour alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.

        • framu 65.3.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 3:40 pm

          explain why bill english praised cullen for the state of the books

          your talking nonsense – and i bet its “decade of deficits” nonsense

          • wellfedweta 65.3.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 3:48 pm

            The books were in good shape, due to the decades of sound economic policy. But Labour made some bad spending decisions, which were coming home to roost in 2007/08.

        • lprent 65.3.1.2
          5 December 2016 at 3:57 pm

          The “local recession” was a result of trying to rectify issues from the local housing market bubble. Key released those and now we have a really bad bubble.

          The thing that staved off the economic problem over the GFC was the rapid rise in commodity prices due to the Chinese market. That was the market that Goff and Clark opened up. It is notable that Key has since only managed to get the Korean FTA completed, and has a dead in the water and pretty useless for NZ TPP.

          In the meantime, outside of dairy, all of the other economic good news has been in the tech areas that were initiated by Labour in the early 00s.

          The governments only active economic moves were to sell assets to diminish the effect of their spendthrift borrowing, and to overheat the local economy with excessive net migration thereby causing the nasty downstream effects that has on our infrastructure – mostly showing up in housing.

          I’d point out that 8 years after Key took over the reins, we still don’t have a real surplus – just book-keeping ones caused by shuffling book-keeping.

          Essentially the government has managed to squander the chance to deal with our medium term issue of the aging population. They simply made the downstream issues that government has to deal with harder and more complex by deferring them to buy votes.

          • wellfedweta 65.3.1.2.1
            5 December 2016 at 4:03 pm

            “The “local recession” was a result of trying to rectify issues from the local housing market bubble.”

            Rubbish. http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/overview/2010/04.htm

            ‘In the meantime, outside of dairy, all of the other economic good news has been in the tech areas that were initiated by Labour in the early 00s.”

            Rubbish. http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/nz-tourism-growth-exceeds-forecasts-2016051117. And that’s just one sector.

            Rubbish. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/315560/government-surplus-swells-to-$1-point-8b

            • lprent 65.3.1.2.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 4:29 pm

              Oh so you weren’t talking about the downturn in 2007? You were talking about the global financial crisis n 2009/2010?

              Tourism is a commodity product. It generally rises and falls with the price of aviation kerosene and the relative currency differentials. In the last few years it has risen again. Offhand in NZ the only effect that wasn’t due to those was the Lord of the Rings – something to do with favourable tax treatment given to the film industry back in 2000.

              However it looks like the price of kerosene will rise post the OPEC decisions last week, and I suspect that the exchange rate isn’t moving in tourism’s favour from our current major markets

              This year we actually have a projected government surplus for the first time since 2007 (it is in reality down below 1bn once you take out the book keeping fiddles). That was the half year result. Looking at what is likely between now and March, it doesn’t look likely to sustain

              But have you looked the the forward projections from treasury out past 2030 ? I’d look it up, however I have to get back to sleep to kill the jetlag. Have to get up in a few hours to work at building those exports.

              If anyone has time, could they look up the longer term projections from Treasury that John Key doesn’t want to read.

              • wellfedweta …
                5 December 2016 at 4:37 pm

                “Oh so you weren’t talking about the downturn in 2007? You were talking about the global financial crisis n 2009/2010?”

                No, I was talking about the downturn in 2007, that then ran into the GFC.

                “Tourism is a commodity product. It generally rises and falls with the price of aviation kerosene and the relative currency differentials.”

                No, Tourism is a service. And NZ’s tourism has expanded significantly despite the high dollar.

                “This year we actually have a projected government surplus for the first time since 2007 (it is in reality down below 1bn once you take out the book keeping fiddles). ”

                We had a surplus in 2016. Labour left a huge deficit in 2008/09.

                “But have you looked the the forward projections from treasury out past 2030 ? ”

                Are you serious? Are you so desperate you need to call on forecasts that far out? The Governments policies have returned NZ to healthy surplus, and before expectations.

                Are you reading comments from international leaders LP?

              • ropata …
                5 December 2016 at 6:52 pm

                http://www.treasury.govt.nz/government/longterm/fiscalposition/2016/he-tirohanga-mokopuna/ltfs-16-htm.pdf

                Well disguised amidst the rosy projections but John Key cannot be proud of
                * Natural capital facing decline
                * Persistent inequality
                * Failure to manage net debt
                * Increasing costs of superannuation

    • Anne 65.4
      5 December 2016 at 3:41 pm

      Well you’re a well fed weta so you would say that. There are many thousands of wetas out there who are suffering because of the policies of the John Key government!

      • wellfedweta 65.4.1
        5 December 2016 at 4:09 pm

        Really? So Key is to blame for weta deaths now? Honestly I though the right were nuts when Helen Clark was in power.

        • Anne 65.4.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 4:16 pm

          You must learn not to make things up. Who said there are dead wetas? Suffering wetas yes, but no direct deaths – yet.

          • wellfedweta 65.4.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 4:22 pm

            There are definitely dead wetas. I know, becasue I saw a couple dead on my deck.

    • Psycho Milt 65.5
      5 December 2016 at 3:52 pm

      John Key will certainly qualify as our best post war PM…

      Among arse-kissers like yourself, undoubtedly. However, he certainly won’t be regarded as our best post-war PM after the arse-kissers are all dead, for the fairly significant reason that he did nothing to justify such a bizarre claim. Not screwing up badly isn’t the same as doing a great job.

      • wellfedweta 65.5.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:57 pm

        Key is internationally admired. He has unprecedented personal popularity. His stewardship of NZ has seen our economy the envy of the western world. It’s only extremely sour grapes that seems to be getting in the way of your objectivity.

        • WILD KATIPO 65.5.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 4:43 pm

          Internationally admired, is he?

          OK then.

          Sweet dreams.

        • Psycho Milt 65.5.1.2
          5 December 2016 at 5:03 pm

          Key is internationally admired.

          So is Helen Clark. Maybe she’s the greatest post-war NZ leader?

          He has unprecedented personal popularity.

          And? So did Rob Muldoon, but once all his “Rob’s Mob” arse-kissers were dead, it became apparent how history was really going to look on him. Personal popularity’s wonderful for the ambitious mofo trying to get elected, but it’s of no value to the country.

          His stewardship of NZ has seen our economy the envy of the western world.

          The rest of the western world didn’t have Michael Cullen spend years paying public debt down to nothing before the GFC hit. Key’s main contribution has been to largely stick with Labour’s programme and resist the calls for austerity – due credit to him that he did those things, but it’s more “safe pair of hands” than “greatest post-war leader” material.

          • wellfedweta 65.5.1.2.1
            5 December 2016 at 5:23 pm

            “So is Helen Clark. Maybe she’s the greatest post-war NZ leader?”

            She’d be close. #2.

            “So did Rob Muldoon”

            Muldoon never had the personal popularity of Key, nor did he ever have national secure the % of votes Key has.

            “…due credit to him that he did those things, but it’s more “safe pair of hands” than “greatest post-war leader” material.”

            It’s far more than the economy. Key has done much to correct what Labour got wrong, but he has also made significant progress on race relations, quality of government spending, quality of our health care system etc.

            • Psycho Milt 65.5.1.2.1.1
              5 December 2016 at 8:30 pm

              He’s proved adept at disguising the deterioration in public services that occurs under every National government, yes. Health is a fine example, in which we have numbers that look great, and as long as you only look at those numbers you might get the impression the government’s doing a good job. The people working in the field know what misery’s being inflicted to achieve those numbers, but hey, the numbers are the measure of performance, right?

              That’s probably his real legacy: assign key performance indicators to public services, then sit back and watch how your public service managers can game those KPI numbers even while you reduce their funding in real terms. Pretty much the same with the economy – great numbers, just don’t look at how they’re being achieved (immigration and resulting expenditure on creating expenditure to deal with it). We must have the finest, most exquisitely-gamed key performance indicators in the history of the country under this government – some people mistake it for good governance.

              • ropata …
                5 December 2016 at 10:38 pm

                +1 very good points. The use of dodgy carbon credits is a typical example. As is the refusal to measure child poverty and manipulated crime stats.

                A bunch of numbers and pretty graphs is the kind of bull used by investment scammers all the time.

                Key and the Gnats slapped Kiwis in the face with their casual dismissals of evidence from qualified academics, about uncomfortable topics like
                polluted waterways,
                the housing crisis,
                charter schools,
                inequality,
                the Panama Papaers,
                the TPPA,
                the GCSB spying on Kiwis,
                Pike River

                But Key’s worst crime was to allow Gerry Brownlee to rampage over Christchurch and turn the tragedy of the earthquake into a frenzy of wanton destruction by disaster capitalists. Much more effort could have been made to save people’s treasured possessions and livelihoods and the culture of the city.

                National’s crony capitalism has turned the heart of Christchurch into a wasteland and is trying to beggar the CCC. I think the Gnats were complicit with arsehole insurance companies in ripping off the victims even more.

                What a complete and utter banker Key was.

        • Paul 65.5.1.3
          5 December 2016 at 10:09 pm

          The world ridicules him.
          Showers and ponytails.

    • mpledger 65.6
      5 December 2016 at 4:41 pm

      Yea, I saw Stephen Harper’s glowing tribute…

    • Venezia 65.7
      6 December 2016 at 12:33 am

      Best Post war PM? John Key governed this country for the benefit of the wealthy and international corporates. Turned NZ into a tax haven. He presided over record numbers of homeless families while attempting (& failing) to sell off many thousands of State Houses. Did nothing for 305,000 children being raised in poverty. Passed a record number of laws under urgency, and denied the people of Canterbury their democratic rights to electing their regional council. Changed labour and employment laws for the benefit of international corporates. Ran a Dirty Politics operation out of the PMs office.
      Lies and manipulation were his modus operandi eg:

      John Key’s Lies Since the 2014 Election (UPDATED)

      Not my idea of a good Prime Minister.

  66. Cinny 66
    5 December 2016 at 3:14 pm

    Should there not be a snap election? After all people voted for Key to lead, not someone else. Snap election should be called, that would be the democratic thing to do

    • miravox 66.1
      5 December 2016 at 10:46 pm

      Cinny, I just have to credit you with the excellent spell you cast on the outgoing PM /open-mike-21112016/#comment-1263774

      So I went to sleep in Vienna last night hugely relieved that the son of refugees won the Austrian presidency and woke up this morning that the son of an Austrian (Viennese) refugee had just resigned as the PM in New Zealand. Synchronicity! I don’t think my political day could get any better.

      I’m quite happy to wait awhile before the next election. Give the self-entitled wannabees in government to tear National apart first.

      Go Judith!!!

      • lprent 66.1.1
        6 December 2016 at 6:10 am

        You should try my day. I’m in Italy, and they are amused at the differences between their PM resignation and that of John Key. Especially the reasons for it…

        • miravox 66.1.1.1
          6 December 2016 at 8:02 am

          That would be fun!

          I’m not sure about the Italian situation… they do need reform, but a PM arrogant enough (or with the conviction of the rightness of his cause without reading the public mood) to bank his future on a referendum? – there’s the difference between NZ’s outgoing PM (not that he’s not arrogant, just that the flag referendum was only marketing) and Italy’s. Not so much of a difference between Italy Renzi and Cameron in this sense but.

      • Cinny 66.1.2
        6 December 2016 at 8:16 am

        It’s christmas come early Miravox 🙂 Parliament is sitting today, I hope they get down to business and don’t waste question time singing about the outgoing PM.

        Great news for Austria btw, what a win 🙂 Rock on Alexander Van der Bellen

  67. inspider 67
    5 December 2016 at 3:18 pm

    It’s clear the prospect of facing Hayley Holt in election debates was too much pressure for the man. What with Andrew Little’s star on the rise, it was like a pincer move on his netherworld dancing toys. Few men could withstand such a manoeuvre.

  68. ropata 68
    5 December 2016 at 3:25 pm

    The Daily Blog reckons that Key has resigned because Bomber is about to publish a new book … hahahahaha 🙄

    • BM 68.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:30 pm

      He’s a bigger fuckwit then Slater, and that takes some beating.

    • Puckish Rogue 68.2
      5 December 2016 at 3:32 pm

      Might be some truth, the site has been taken down for…maintenance and we all know what that means

      🙂

      • Robert Guyton 68.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 3:46 pm

        Pucky – your crystal ball!

        Paper-weight.

        • Puckish Rogue 68.2.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 4:05 pm

          My crystal balls are telling me this will lead to a National-NZFirst government after the next election

          Care for a little wager? 🙂

          • Robert Guyton 68.2.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 4:18 pm

            I have to admire your dogged persistence, Pucky, and in the heat of the enormous burn you just suffered. I know you’re feeling despondent, disillusioned and desperate and aren’t responsible for what you say right now, so I’ll not hold you to your foolish wager. We’ll talk again once reality sets in for you and you see the future more clearly than you do now. On an entirely ‘nother note, today I learned two interesting things; the meaning of netherworld dancing toys, and your little gem(s) above 🙂

    • mpledger 68.3
      5 December 2016 at 4:42 pm

      Bomber or ….
      Hager or ….
      someone else?

      • the pigman 68.3.1
        5 December 2016 at 9:22 pm

        Considering Bomber can’t publish a coherent paragraph, I can’t see him shitting out a book.

        It may be that another Hager investigation is coming to fruition. To cut through the media firewall around Keys it would literally have to have photographic evidence of Keys, Farrar and Slater performing a kind of Human Centipede-like maneuver on a dead teenage prostitute before anyone would pay attention.

  69. mary_a 69
    5 December 2016 at 3:26 pm

    Is it likely a long term residence at the Serco suites is on the cards?

    • ropata 69.1
      5 December 2016 at 5:16 pm

      Absolutely no way. The elites always look after each other. Nixon, Bush, Obama have never had to face justice for their crimes. (The lords of the banking cartels even less so.)

  70. The PInk Postman 70
    5 December 2016 at 3:30 pm

    I can hardly wait to see Michel Boarg’ s face .And what will replace “”Under John Key’s leadership”
    so loved and quoted by the Nat’s.

  71. ropata 71
    5 December 2016 at 3:30 pm

    Perhaps this #ponytailcrisis had something to do with it

    Calls for regulation of ‘brutal’ hair industry

    Human rights advocates are calling for New Zealand’s million dollar hair industry to be regulated in light of a Weekend Herald investigation into the secret behind hair extensions.

    Every year New Zealand imports more than $2 million worth of human hair – the equivalent of about 62,500 ponytails – to meet growing demand for hair extensions, which can cost thousands of dollars per head.

    • inspider 71.1
      5 December 2016 at 3:51 pm

      This was one of the stupidest and most overinflated stories of the year.

      It should really have had the title – “renewable resource voluntarily sold by people in other countries. Little girl looks a bit sad at haircut, forgets it will grow back. But story runs big to justify foreign travel grant.”

      The endless backslapping by the herald’s editorial team was also a real circle jerk. Pity they didn’t tell us it was an old story, subject of a book released months ago.

      • mpledger 71.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 4:46 pm

        As long as you don’t mind children being assaulted and workers being poisoned.

        • inspider 71.1.1.1
          5 December 2016 at 5:29 pm

          CuttiNg hair is an assault? What are you a brethren?

          One girl interviewed says she doesn’t like it but does it to support her family. Doesn’t sound like assault to me.

          As for poisoned workers, the story doesn’t mention anything like that. It might have had more impact if it had.

          • mpledger 71.1.1.1.1
            5 December 2016 at 10:15 pm

            So one girl says it was ok so it must be true for every girl.

            It said the workers were being poisoned by peroxide.

  72. Nick 72
    5 December 2016 at 3:56 pm

    Where the leader goes….the rest will follow….Out the door the nitz go !! woohoo

  73. Robert Guyton 73
    5 December 2016 at 4:04 pm

    I’m worried about Keeping Stock…

    🙂

  74. Nick Morris 74
    5 December 2016 at 4:10 pm

    This thing is not going to be served up to the Left on a platter.

    The wannabes are going to have to be forced to put up competing policy, reminding them that we have had 8 years of no policy. Their answers then should be analysed to death while the pretenders to the crown are compared both interminably and unfavourably with Andrew Little.

    Hours should be spent on the matter of John Key’s “legacy”.

    It should be endlessly pointed out that the newbie hopefuls has played golf with Obama or appeared reading a Top Ten on Letterman, or been to the palace to feed the corgis or hung out (or is it hanged out) with Ritchie.

    Some time should also be spent trying to think of any other legacy. (Before giving up).

  75. swordfish 75
    5 December 2016 at 4:12 pm

    My and my family’s thoughts and prayers are very much with little Mike Hosking at the moment. Must surely be a very difficult time. There’ll be tears, there’ll be shouting, there’ll be screaming, there’ll be bewilderment in the Hosking-Hawkesby household tonight … (but, then again, there always is).

    • ianmac 75.1
      5 December 2016 at 4:21 pm

      Very clever. Very True. Very sad Swordfish 🙂

    • Cinny 75.2
      5 December 2016 at 4:25 pm

      Lmfaoooooo am looking forward to Henry in the morning 🙂

      Went up town and spread the news with a few local business owners, they were thrilled, my neighbours gave me a hug when I told them and you should have seen the kids and teachers faces at the school. What a great day for NZ

      Speculation is rife on right wing sites, accolades are flying in the wake of their questions and general bewilderment.

      Retiring for family, health or medical reasons makes me think of an academy award winning film from 2015 starring Michael Keaton. However the PM whom simply gave up when it became too hard may have genuine reasons. I’m so happy he’s gone no matter his reasons

      • MrJ 75.2.1
        5 December 2016 at 7:06 pm

        Went up town and spread the news with a few local business owners, they were thrilled, my neighbours gave me a hug when I told them and you should have seen the kids and teachers faces at the school. What a great day for NZ

        Indeed, a great day for our nation and perhaps the only decent thing shonkey has done.

        What I have found interesting over the last few years (apart from not yet meeting any one who admits to liking National!) is the amount of hatred small business owners have for National and especially shon key. If their policies have been so great for the economy, why to SBO hate him so much?

        But then, if they were so good we wouldn’t have had the nations highest suicide rates, highest homeless rates, highest child poverty rates, very high debt (on a part with the end of the last Nat administration – and very much higher than Labour left him!).. Don’t know where Nat supporters get off saying “record employment levels” when what, 40 or 50 years ago we had 0 unemployment, job for life and so on. Or do they refer to the numbers of people in jobs? Well duh. Growing population. Of course number of jobs rises!

        So glad this is over.

      • woodpecker 75.2.2
        5 December 2016 at 7:18 pm

        Same sort of thing happened at my work place Cinny.
        It was like everyone was breaking the first rule of fight club. Smiles all over the place.

    • Adrian 75.3
      5 December 2016 at 4:55 pm

      BREAKING NEWS just in! Man pulled from his Ferrari ( or Lamborghini, or whatever it is this week ) in nick of time with exhaust hose hooked up to heater inlet.
      Only comment “….I just couldn’t go on…”.

  76. ianmac 76
    5 December 2016 at 4:22 pm

    Here’s a thought. Early Election anyone?

  77. swordfish 77
    5 December 2016 at 4:27 pm

    The considered view of a life-long Tory and Kiwiblog regular:

    Sir Cullen’s Sidekick

    I think the timing is wrong. John Key and National had a great opportunity to bury Labour once for all in the 2017 election. Now the playing field has been levelled and Chicken Little has a real chance of becoming the PM. I just cannot believe this has happened. This was the only way Chicken Little could have become the PM and that is exactly what has happened.

  78. Nick 78
    5 December 2016 at 4:41 pm

    “served New Zealand well – Little”….Huh ? ….. perhaps I just dont understand politics

    • framu 78.1
      5 December 2016 at 4:59 pm

      i would put those comments in the same basket as “health reasons” or “family reasons”

      ie: they are things your expected to say – even though everyone knows you probably dont mean it 100%

    • Leftie 78.2
      6 December 2016 at 12:33 am

      Political niceties. Ever hear of that saying, “don’t kick a man when he’s down”?

  79. Philj 79
    5 December 2016 at 4:43 pm

    John Key is the symptom of a much deeper problem. You have to credit him with good timing. What’s next for JK…. a brighter future? And NZ….

  80. Leftie 80
    5 December 2016 at 4:56 pm

    Hallelujah…. Hallelujah…. Hallelujah… Hallleeeeeeluoooojahhhhhhhhh…

  81. Infused 81
    5 December 2016 at 4:56 pm

    The only way the left defeat key?

    By him resigning on his own terms 😀

    That’s funny. Just as Labour slumps and National rise.

    • Leftie 81.1
      5 December 2016 at 5:23 pm

      Toxic brand key was finished, no longer a draw card, I reckon key was given his marching orders.

      • Paul 81.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 9:55 pm

        From the Guardian.

        ‘Jennifer Lees-Marshment, an associate professor in politics and international relations at Auckland University, said: “Recently the normally high-performing Key brand has been undermined by denying a growing housing and traffic crisis as people in New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, struggle to find a place to live and to travel to work.

        “The Key brand has become disconnected and he has increasingly appeared to be someone who doesn’t understand what it is like to be an ordinary New Zealander any more.”’

        • ropata 81.1.1.1
          6 December 2016 at 12:55 pm

          The teflon has FINALLY worn off… took long enough.

          Key’s ties to big corporates and sale of NZ to foreign interests have fatally compromised his teflon shine. Dirty politics was only one part of his campaign.

          Maybe he is shitting himself over the Trump administration and the global security situation.

    • b waghorn 81.2
      5 December 2016 at 5:39 pm

      when he flies off to hawaii i’m going to be at the airport so i can watch you and pucky and hoskings humping his leg and begging him to take you with him

  82. Muttonbird 82
    5 December 2016 at 4:58 pm

    Prime Minister resigns: A look at John Key’s achievements

    • Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 82.1
      5 December 2016 at 6:22 pm

      There’s going to be a lot of discussion in the coming weeks and months about John Key’s legacy, so let me have my say:

      Key won three elections and . . . umm . . . er . . .

      Anything else he ‘achieved’ will have to be undone by the incoming Labour-Greens government!

  83. Adrian Thornton 83
    5 December 2016 at 5:14 pm

    OK, just for the record, I don’t want to lose the little credibility that I might have and sound all conspiratorial here, but something about this is just doesn’t make sense.
    Don’t know what, but the timing, the delivery everything about this feel very ab lib to me.

    • Nick 83.1
      5 December 2016 at 5:19 pm

      I agree with you…..

    • Leftie 83.2
      5 December 2016 at 5:25 pm

      Agreed. Funny that it should come after being thoroughly trounced in another by election.

    • Muttonbird 83.3
      5 December 2016 at 5:28 pm

      +1. Waiting for the aftershocks. That’s when we’ll find out what really is in this sandwich.

    • Ross 83.4
      6 December 2016 at 6:50 am

      I totally agree. The reason John Key gave for resigning is that he didn’t want to mislead the public after potentially winning a 4th term and then calling it quits. That simply doesn’t add up as he’s been misleading people throughout his term as PM and even earlier.

      Who can forget those lying eyes!

      • mosa 83.4.1
        6 December 2016 at 9:29 am

        Yeah the irony was not lost on me either Ross.

        The master of deception and he has NEVER been called out on it.

        He has been the best Hollywood actor we have ever had.

  84. weka 84
    5 December 2016 at 5:20 pm

    Anyone know if the notice time is usual or unusual historically?

  87. Fred Frog 87
    5 December 2016 at 5:29 pm

    So many comments by those whose leader is on 8% and can’t even win an electorate.

    labgreen, losers in 2008, 2011,2014 & 2017. At the rate labour is going, no-one from the list will get in, and Angry andy will be a leader outside parliament.

    I really have to have a good laugh at the left. Oxymorons abound, they call dictatorships “Democratic Republic of “, they call their backwards facing “policies” progressive. And funniest of all, they think they have a chance at the next election , even though they’ve had another another moron forced on them for a leader by the unions.

    • ropata 87.1
      5 December 2016 at 6:32 pm

      what a pile of bigoted ignorant rubbish.

      let me guess… TrumpKey supporter, middle aged white male, owns a couple of houses, hates poor people.

  88. Paul 88
    5 December 2016 at 5:34 pm

    Winston’s reaction is the most interesting.

    ‘Winston Peters says John Key has resigned for ‘hidden economic reasons’.’

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201826484

  89. ropata 89
    5 December 2016 at 5:41 pm

    Bradbury excoriates Key mercilessly. Worth remembering how much he has screwed over NZ for his shonky ideology.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/12/05/the-true-legacy-of-john-key

    A couple of additions I would make
    * turned the office of PM into an international laughing stock
    * abused power of office to conduct dirty politics against opponents and silence critics
    * introduced 7 new taxes, mostly shifting the burden away from the rich and onto workers
    * lowered the tone of political debate into shouting matches and schoolyard taunts
    * used shonky carbon credits, cut DOC resources, allowed MAF to ignore widespread fish dumping
    * gave 5-eyes and the GCSB unprecedented spying powers over NZ citizens
    * made inequality worse and turned a blind eye to the suffering of the “underclass”

  90. james 90
    5 December 2016 at 5:42 pm

    Winston will be a lot happier working with the Nats with someone other than John Key as leader.

    Winston for deputy PM – English as PM.

    Labour out in the wilderness for another 3 tears;

    • Leftie 90.1
      5 December 2016 at 5:57 pm

      You are dreaming James.

      • Muttonbird 90.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 6:06 pm

        Grief addled brain. James is punch drunk from these two body-blows to the National Party: Mt Roskill, and Dear Leader quitting.

      • James 90.1.2
        5 December 2016 at 6:30 pm

        Why ?

        • Leftie 90.1.2.1
          6 December 2016 at 6:52 am

          You’re trolling and Winston was quite happy working with the Labour led government last time, and hasn’t supported National in almost 20 years. Besides, he is more on the same page as Labour than with National.

  91. Leftie 91
    5 December 2016 at 5:42 pm

    Boag: Key’s made the right decision

    “Former National Party President Michelle Boag says John Key has made the right decision in stepping down as Prime Minister.”

    <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11760717

    That statement shows there was something going on.

  92. Rosemary McDonald 92
    5 December 2016 at 5:57 pm

    Currently Michele “Chopper” Boag is waxing most lyrical on what great job Our Former Leader has made of basically doing whatever he was asked to do….

    …..next puppet out of the box is….

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201826522/former-national-party-president-says-english-best-option-to-replace-key

    • Paul 92.1
      5 December 2016 at 6:08 pm

      She’s all over the msm.
      Pass the bucket.

      • Puddleglum 92.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 8:27 pm

        And she’s strategically pushing the line that Key’s success was so dependent on his ‘strong team’ and English’s steady hand on the rudder.

        Re-positioning the National re-election rhetoric on the hop.

  93. Leftie 93
    5 December 2016 at 5:59 pm

    John key couldn’t handle another defeat, and so he’s bailed without even completing his 3rd term.

  94. CnrJoe 94
    5 December 2016 at 6:14 pm

    326 comments. Just. Wow

  95. Paul 95
    5 December 2016 at 6:24 pm

    ‘National MPs told of PM’s shock exit half an hour before John Key informed the media’

    There is something dodgy about all of this…..

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11760871

    • Bob 95.1
      5 December 2016 at 8:37 pm

      Yes I agree. At the very very least it would’ve been a slickly managed media briefing, he would’ve had some of the National head honchos alongside him, they would have explained how the successor would be picked in an orderly way. They could’ve organised this in a couple of days. National has prided itself on being stable and steady compared to the other lot. Key is a vain man and wanted a 4th term.

      This is very very uncharacteristic.

      • Paul 95.1.1
        5 December 2016 at 9:28 pm

        There is more to the story than meets the eye.
        However, with the awful media we have, we probably will never know.

  96. woodpecker 96
    5 December 2016 at 7:21 pm

    Calling Fisiani you there dude? You OK?
    We will expect you to pay for any counseling you may require yourself.

  97. Hone 97
    5 December 2016 at 9:04 pm

    He just ran out of ponytails to pull.
    Off to pull Hawaiians tails now.

  98. Thinkerr 98
    5 December 2016 at 9:45 pm

    Somewhere in a Parnell restaurant, John & Bronagh Key compare his role as PM vs her lonely nights without his presence…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGXU7268Z50

  99. KJT 99
    5 December 2016 at 10:16 pm

    Stayed just long enough to get the Parliamentary pension?

  100. nzsage 100
    5 December 2016 at 10:53 pm

    No surprise that Key can’t take responsibility for this decision and blames it on Bronagh. I’m surprised he didn’t add “but Labour did it as well”.

    • lprent 101.1
      6 December 2016 at 6:06 am

      Very good analysis.

    • Pat 101.2
      6 December 2016 at 10:28 am

      bloody sharp indeed.

    • mosa 101.3
      6 December 2016 at 10:48 am

      He has left out some other elephants in the room like Pike , Panama papers and The Saudi sheep deal and the massive destructive change to the states role in surveillance , Kim.Com ,Sky City and Warner brothers who got special consideration and Key thought nothing of changing our soverign law to accommade their labour issues.

      But great analysis overall.

      The problem is his legacy has already been established and will overcome any of the most obvious failures of his tenure and its started already with the predictable gush of love from the MSM.

      The most popular PM in history will be his legacy in the minds of those who never wanted to confront his very many failings and would rather be swept along by the hype of this man and his invented god like status and that says a lot for the people who supported him and ignored his deceptions..

  102. Xanthe 102
    6 December 2016 at 10:18 am

    Absolutly nothing to do with Kim Dotcom !
    🙂

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    Not too far back, Simon Bridges the Leader of the Opposition and National Party, went on an excursion to China. This was arranged not by MFAT (NZ’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), but by their MP Jian Yang – a man who also just happened to “forget to mention” ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    7 days ago

  • Will Turia ever forgive Labour?
    Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
    The Jackal
    7 days ago

  • What are the recent fluoride-IQ studies really saying about community water fluoridation?
    Scaremongering graphic currently being promoted by Declan Waugh who is well known for misrepresenting the fluoride science This graphic is typical of current anti-fluoride propaganda. It is scare-mongering, in that it is aimed at undermining community ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 week ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #3, 2020
    Biography of a policy metric Bård Lahn performs a sweeping literature review to present the history of our notion of a "global carbon budget" and how this number has come  to encapsulate a massive amount of scientific research into a useful, easily grasped tool in our policy skill set.  A ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Oxfam Report: Time to Care – Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis
    January 2020 Economic inequality is out of control. In 2019, the world’s billionaires, only 2,153 people, had more wealth than 4.6 billion people. This great divide is based on a flawed and sexist economic system that values the wealth of the privileged few, mostly men, more than the billions of ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    1 week ago

  • How to avoid being a cunt to hospo workers’
    Working hospo is hard mahi for many reasons, from long hours and gruelling high-volume weekends to customers who treat us as their servants. There are always lovely and polite customers who treat hospo workers with respect and kindness but, throughout my 15-years in the biz, I’ve collected a number of ...
    PosseBy chloeanneking
    1 week ago

  • 2019-nCoV (the new coronavirus): Should we be concerned, and will there be a vaccine?
    Probably yes to both but don’t panic yet. There is a plan. What is this virus? 2019 novel coronavirus, aka 2019-nCoV, belongs to a family of viruses called coronavirus. These are very common viruses that infect a wide range of animals including humans and can cause mild to severe disease, ...
    SciBlogsBy Helen Petousis Harris
    1 week ago

  • The Chinese coronavirus outbreak: what are the options for vaccines and treatments?
    By now you’ve probably heard of the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan City, China. The number of cases is rising, up to about 300 with six deaths. Cases have been reported in several more Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in Japan, Thailand, and South Korea. ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    1 week ago

  • Educating New Zealand’s future workforce
    Judy Kavanagh Do you remember your first day at school? The education I received was for a very different world than the world of today. Along with huge social shifts there have been big changes in the New Zealand economy and the work people do. There are occupations unheard of ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    1 week ago

  • A casual attitude towards transparency
    Back in December, when the government was introducing new secrecy legislation on an almost daily basis, I posted about the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The Bill establishes a new class of public entity, "special purpose vehicles", which collect and spend public money and enjoy statutory powers. Despite this, they ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Against a carbon bailout
    If we are to avoid making the planet uninhabitable, we need to cut carbon emisisons fast. Which basicly means putting the fossil fuel industry - coal, gas, and oil - out of business. But this means that the banks and other lenders who have bankrolled the industry's environmental destruction will ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Still a criminal industry
    More evidence that the fishing industry suffers from pervasive criminality, with Forest & Bird highlighting some odd numbers in the annual statistics:The Annual Review Report For Highly Migratory Species Fisheries 2018/19 (Pg 4, Table 4) showed only 4% of commercial long lining trips for tuna and swordfish reported non-fish bycatch ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Controversy? Or Manufactroversy?
    A few days ago, New Zealand’s Minister of Education announced the wider release of a resource on climate change, which was initially trialled at a Christchurch school during 2018. According to the Minister, children will learn about “the role science plays in understanding climate change, aids understanding of both the response ...
    SciBlogsBy Alison Campbell
    1 week ago

  • The emerging coronavirus outbreak in China
    By now you’ve probably heard of the new virus causing an outbreak of severe pneumonia in China. The question on most people’s minds is, how worried should we be, especially as hundreds of millions of people will soon be travelling across China and beyond to visit family for the Lunar ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    1 week ago

  • How did climate change get so controversial?
    An excerpt from the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, released Feb 25. Our human brain is poorly equipped to deal with a threat like climate change. Over millions of years, we’ve evolved to avoid life-threatening dangers like predators jumping out of bushes. We’ve survived by quickly detecting and avoiding immediate, short-term ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Farmers are ruining Canterbury’s rivers
    Its summer, so people naturally want to go for a swim. But in South Canterbury, you can't, because the rivers are full of toxic goo:As of Monday, the Waihi River at Wilson Street footbridge, Geraldine, the Waihao River at Bradshaws Bridge, and three spots on the Opihi River - at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Sack Shane Jones
    Late last year, NZ First was caught trying to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Regional Economic Development Minister shane Jones' "explanations" were patently unconvincing, and his recusal from deciding ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • BIG idea physics
    This morning I’ve been having a quick look through some documentation from The Ministry of Education on proposed changes to NCEA Level 1 Science. For those not familiar with the NZ secondary education system, a typical student would complete NCEA level 1 at the end of year 11.  In this ...
    SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
    1 week ago

  • Revolution in New Zealand? Not Even Close!
    No Fires Thanks, We're Kiwis: For the moment, in those close-to-home places where revolutions are born, there may be tetchiness and resentment, frustration and complaint, but nowhere is anybody uttering the cry that will bring a New Zealand revolution into being: “We have found the way to make tomorrow better ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3
    Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... 'It's heart-wrenching': 80% of Blue Mountains and 50% of ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Britain exits the European Union and takes a sharp right turn
    by John Smith  Britain’s exit from the imperialist bloc known as the European Union (EU) is now irreversible. The crushing electoral defeat of the Labour Party has dismayed many workers and youth who had placed their hopes in Jeremy Corbyn, its left-wing leader. This article assesses these historic events, neither of which ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    1 week ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 12, 2020 through Sat, Jan 18, 2020 Editor's Pick The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees Bristlecone pines have survived various catastrophes over the millennia, and they ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • How climate change influenced Australia’s unprecedented fires
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections, and has been adapted into a new myth rebuttal on climate-wildfire connections with the short URL sks.to/wildfires Australia’s frightening bushfires, which kicked off an early fire season in September 2019, have already had cataclysmic effects, and the continent is still just in the early ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • Gender Identity Ideology – A Partial Bibliography of Online Coverage
    This great resource has been contributed to Redline by Janie Doebuck. Janie made some notes on the bibliography: 1) It is by no means exhaustive. There are tons more gender critical posts, essays, articles, podcasts, youtube videos, etc. online. 2) There are links in the bibliography that are behind paywalls. There ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    2 weeks ago

  • About those biased Oscar Nominations
    There’s been a lot written about the 2020 Oscar Nominations and their apparent lack of diversity. It’s true, there are in fact no women nominated for the Best Director and very few nominees of colour across the board. But is this a result of a biased process or a symptom ...
    The Jackal
    2 weeks ago

  • How New Zealand media reports chronic pain
    Hemakumar Devan Around three million New Zealanders access news media (both paper and online) every week. Yes, you heard that right! So, the potential for news media to shape public health beliefs is common sense. As chronic pain affects one in five New Zealanders, we wanted to find out how ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 weeks ago

  • Still Waiting For American Democracy.
    Unfinished Republic: Though the United States' crimes against democracy are legion, most Americans are blissfully unaware of them. The brutal realities of American life: the officially sanctioned violence; the refusal to hold racists accountable for their actions; the seemingly endless tragedy of African-American suffering; of which White America is the ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 weeks ago

  • In Outrage Over Its Bunk Science, Goop Finds Fuel for Growth
    Michael Schulson For years, experts have said that Goop, the wellness and lifestyle brand founded by the actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, markets pseudoscience and overblown cures. And for years, despite the criticism, Goop has just kept growing. Now the company, which was valued at $250 million in 2018, ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 weeks ago

  • Tobacco Excise Taxes and the Smokefree 2025 Goal: Some Ways Forward
    Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, George Thomson, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson Debate over tobacco tax increases has intensified as research indicates potentially conflicting policy directions. On the one hand, excise tax increases continue to stimulate quit attempts among smokers yet, on the other hand, they may lead to financial hardship for ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    2 weeks ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #2, 2020
    Conflation and how to fix it VIa AMS,  Raul Lejano looks at what in a layperson's thinking would be called conflation— confusion and blending of entirely different topics— when people think about climate change. Ideology and the Narrative of Skepticism  (open access) starts with some arguably frightening false connections between the science and ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • ‘Cranky Uncle’ smart phone game will show you how to disarm climate deniers
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bud Ward (Image: Courtesy of John Cook) When it comes to climate change, it seems every family has its own version of the proverbial Cranky Uncle. An uncle, cousin, grandparent, in-law, neighbor, whatever. Just think back to the recent holiday season’s large ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • Science in the ’20s – part 1
      Outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. That’s a description of the lifestyle of women “flappers” in the 1920s. Could it apply to science (and scientists) in the 2020s? Actually, you could look back at the past decade and see those, or similar terms, used about some science and scientists. Sometimes ...
    SciBlogsBy Robert Hickson
    2 weeks ago

  • Postscript: Citizenship Granted.
    I am pleased to say that I have been granted NZ citizenship. I need to do the ceremony for things to be official, but the application was a success. I now join my son as a dual NZ-US citizen. To be fair, very little will change other than the fact ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 weeks ago

  • Hard News: Music: Morales is coming
    It will be no secret to longtime readers that I, Russell Brown, love the disco.   So I'm pretty excited by the fact that one of the greats of the game is returning this summer – and also pleased to say I have tickets to give away.Legendary mixer and DJ ...
    Public Address
    2 weeks ago

  • The WHO Vaccine Safety Summit – from someone who was actually there
    The conspiracy I saw a new conspiracy theory flying around the other day. According to the conspiracy (that seems to originate from Del Bigtree), the World Health Organization have been ‘caught on camera’ questioning the safety of vaccines. Gosh this sounds as though someone was a mole at a ...
    SciBlogsBy Helen Petousis Harris
    2 weeks ago

  • The timely death of the British Labour Party
    Below is an article submitted to Redline by Alec Abbott  At its inception, the British Labour Party was a vehicle for the propagation of racist and imperialist views within the working-class. Such views are still widespread in the party, as they are in Europe’s Social-Democratic parties, though, in the case of ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    2 weeks ago

  • Mystery China pneumonia outbreak likely caused by new human coronavirus
    Connor Bamford, Queen’s University Belfast Since December 2019, there has been a cluster of 59 cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, eastern China. The pneumonia is associated with a previously unidentified coronavirus related to the deadly SARS virus. Seven of those cases are thought to be serious, and one person – ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 weeks ago

  • Yes, koalas are cute – but should we bring them to NZ? Errm, no
    It’s been hard to miss the extreme fires raging across Australia and the tragic plight of the animals – human and otherwise – affected by the fires’ insatiable spread. I know I’ve been captivated and concerned by the tales of how Australia’s famous wildlife has been coping. Koalas approaching cyclists ...
    SciBlogsBy Sarah-Jane O'Connor
    2 weeks ago

  • National’s negative campaigning
    Anybody who looked into the Dirty Politics saga knows all too well that honesty is often in short supply within the National Party. You would think that after the exposure the John Key government received over their untruthful attack politics, the National Party would learn from its "mistakes" and leave ...
    The Jackal
    2 weeks ago

  • Ending the government’s charade over water
    For the past decade, the government has been responding to the obvious Treaty issues raised by water allocation with the mantra that "no-one owns water". But last year, the Waitangi Tribunal ruled that actually, Māori owned it, and that those rights had never been extinguished. They recommended that iwi bring ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 weeks ago

  • Northern Ireland joins the civilised world
    Same-sex marriage has finally become legal in Northern Ireland. But not through any decision of the Northern Irish Executive or Assembly, which has only just reformed after a three year walkout by the DUP; instead, Westminster made that decision for them. I've talked before about the constitutional impropriety of this, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 weeks ago

  • I had an intense conversation at work today.
    Claire Cohen-Norris volunteers with Citizens Climate Lobby as a chapter founder and leader in rural New York. Her climate advocacy sprung from her drive to provide a secure, joyful and fulfilling life for her two wonderful children. It has become a life’s mission, shared with her like-minded husband and partner. Claire ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • French transport workers take on Macron over pension reform
    by John Edmundson Starting on December 5th, 2019 workers in the Parisian rail network commenced an open-ended strike in opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed changes to their pension scheme. Rail workers in the Metro Underground have, for decades, had retirement conditions that compensate them for the low wages, ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    2 weeks ago

  • What a difference the decimal point makes
    I’m back at work following a nearly three-week break over Christmas. We were fortunate to be offered a house to stay in for a week over Christmas, which enabled us to have a holiday in Dunedin and see the extended family reasonably cheaply. But the house came with a catch:  ...
    SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
    2 weeks ago

  • Who’s Going To Stop Him?
    Blank And Pitiless: Having ordered the assassination of the Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani, President Donald Trump promised to reduce the cultural monuments of Iran’s 3,000 year-old civilisation to rubble if a revenge attack was mounted. A breach of international law? Certainly. A war crime? Indisputably. Who’s going to stop him? Nobody.WHAT ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 weeks ago

  • A worker’s story
    This interview is from Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM) and is the first of an ongoing series of interviews they plan to do with workers from various sectors who are having their well being and livelihoods damaged. They begin with an educator in Southland. Due to the attitude and actions ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    3 weeks ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 5, 2020 through Sat, Jan 11, 2020 Editor's Pick Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media   As unusually intense and widespread bushfires have ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 weeks ago

  • J.K. Rowling, the Seattle Library, and the Issue That Must Not Be Named
    This article was submitted to Redline by Seattle-based activist Lucinda Stoan J.K. Rowling recognizes repression when she sees it.  That’s why the author of the wildly popular Harry Potter books recently tweeted in defense of Maya Forstater. Forstater lost her job for stating that sex is real and immutable. A judge ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    3 weeks ago

  • Rules of Empire: Laws simply do not apply and “National Security” excuses all else.
    Empires rise and fall, and the American Empire is absolutely no different. But while an Empire, in order to further the footprint, it seems to pay to do one primary thing above all else: project that everything – everything – is “simply for the good of the world” at large, ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    3 weeks ago

  • Indian lessons for NZ workers – the January 8 general strike
                    by Phil Duncan On Wednesday (January 8) another massive general strike took place in India.  Some 250 million industrial workers, white-collar workers, agricultural labourers struck against the government’s economic policies and attacks on the Muslim population through new proposed citizenship rules. This ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    3 weeks ago

  • Climate Change: The action that counts
    Over on Newsroom, Professor Jacqueline Beggs writes about the action she is taking on climate change. Its the usual list: reduce meat, don't fly, consume less. I'm doing some of this myself, and none of it hurts - but the way our economic system is constructed means the impact of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 weeks ago

  • Fossil fuel political giving outdistances renewables 13 to one
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Corporations, special interest groups, and individuals inject billions of dollars into the American political system every year. Much of the financial support in politics is concealed from public view, as some rules – and loopholes – allow “dark money” and ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 weeks ago

  • FAQ – Everything you need to know about the Big New Zealand Upgrade
    Today, our Government announced the biggest infrastructure investment in a generation. We’re investing $12 billion to upgrade and build rail, roads, schools and hospitals across the country – modernising our infrastructure, preparing for climate change and helping to future-proof our economy. Find out everything you need to know about the ...
    Labour Blog
    21 hours ago

  • Week That Was: 2020
    We are back for 2020! From changes to Family Funded Care, to a record high number of Kiwis in construction in the trades - we're already back making progress on those long-term challenges. Read all about it and more ...
    Labour Blog
    6 days ago

  • Winston Peters: “Ihumātao deal still a long way off”
    Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told Mike Hosking that a settlement deal regarding Ihumātao in Auckland is still a long way off. The Maori King's flag was lowered at the site near Auckland Airport yesterday, sparking suggestions an announcement of a deal could be made by Waitangi Day. Pania Newton, ...
    NZ First News
    7 days ago

  • Winston Peters accuses Gerry Brownlee of ‘politicising’ Holocaust memorial
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is accusing Gerry Brownlee of "politicising" a Holocaust memorial event after the National MP questioned the lack of Kiwi representation there. The Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, Israel, is holding the World Holocaust Forum on January 23 to mark 75 years since ...
    NZ First News
    7 days ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund to help Waipukurau Pā sites attract thousands of tourists
    The Ngā Ara Tipuna - Waipukurau Pā Site Interpretation project is receiving $2.798 million from the Provincial Growth Fund. It is is expected to boost the town's employment and tourism, creating sixteen new jobs once completed and attract up to 15,000 visitors a year. Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development ...
    NZ First News
    1 week ago

  • “Common sense will prevail, not extremism” Winston Peters backs Shane Jones’ pro-meat stance
    New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is backing his MPs who have spoken out against a new climate change teaching resource that advises students to eat less meat to save the planet. The new teaching resource, announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Climate Change Minister James Shaw, tells students ...
    NZ First News
    1 week ago

  • Violent assault on paramedic highlights need for law change
    Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Justice Today’s horrific violent assault of an on-duty female paramedic which rendered her unconscious is truly unsettling. “Our thoughts are with the paramedic, her loved ones and the St John’s team at Warkworth Station,” says New Zealand First Justice Spokesperson Darroch Ball. “Harsher penalties for perpetrators ...
    NZ First Press Release
    1 week ago

  • Acting PM Winston Peters confirms NZDF troops in Iraq not hit by Iranian attacks
    Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters called for calm and diplomacy following Iranian missile strikes on bases housing United States troops in Iraq, but confirmed New Zealand's base in the country was not hit. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) was earlier today investigating claims New Zealand's base in Iraq had ...
    NZ First News
    1 week ago

  • Kaikōura $10.88 million boost in tourism & business
    Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10.88 million to boost business and tourism opportunities in Kaikōura, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. As part of the Kaikōura Marina Development Programme, the following two projects will receive ...
    NZ First Press Release
    2 weeks ago

  • Delivering a stable water supply to Wairarapa
    Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in Wairarapa The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $7.11 million to create a sustainable water supply for the Wairarapa. The PGF will provide a $7 million investment to Wairarapa Water Limited to progress the Wairarapa Water Storage Scheme towards procurement, consenting, ...
    NZ First Press Release
    2 weeks ago

  • Housing consents hit highest level since 1974
    Housing consents have hit a 45-year high, as Statistics NZ data shows a total of 37,010 residential consents were issued in the year to November --- the first time they have breached the 37,000 mark since the mid-1970s. Statistics NZ said the trend had been rising since late 2011, when ...
    NZ First News
    2 weeks ago

  • Darroch Ball MP: “Violence against first responders is a problem on the rise”
    New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball says that a paramedic being kicked unconscious last night in an attempted burglary in Warkworth, north of Auckland, is a symptom of a larger problem. "Incidents like this are becoming more and more frequent...and it’s getting worse," Mr Ball said. The MP is pushing for ...
    NZ First News
    2 weeks ago

  • Statement on evacuation of New Zealanders from Wuhan
    “I spoke with Prime Minister Morrison again this afternoon and we have confirmed that we will work together on a joint ANZAC assisted departure of Australians and New Zealanders from Wuhan,” Jacinda Ardern said. “Specific details of the evacuation plan, including the medical protocols that will be applied to returning ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • The New Zealand Upgrade Programme
    Rail, roads, schools and hospitals will be built and upgraded across the country under the new $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The programme: Includes investments in roads, rail, hospitals and schools to future-proof the economy Will give a $10 billion boost to New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • School infrastructure upgrades ramping up
    The New Zealand Upgrade Programme is already underway, with schools busy getting building work started over the Christmas break. The Coalition Government announced just before the end of last year $400 million in new funding for most state schools to invest locally in building companies and tradies to fix leaking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Flicking the switch on a clean powered public service
    Our Government’s programme to upgrade infrastructure and modernise the economy will help more communities to be part of the solution to climate change through a clean-powered public service. Minister for Climate Change James Shaw today announced the first group of projects from the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s clean powered public ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Government of Infrastructure delivers for New Zealanders
    Infrastructure and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says today’s capital investment announcements show the Coalition Government is the Government of Infrastructure. $7 billion in projects have been announced today as part of the Government’s $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme, which will see capital spending at its highest rate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Boost for child, maternity and mental health
    $300 million dollar capital investment in health, divided among four focus areas: Child and maternal health - $83 million Mental health and addiction - $96 million Regional and rural service projects – $26 million Upgrading and fixing aging hospital facilities - $75 million Contingency of $20 million The New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Transport infrastructure upgrades to get NZ moving and prepared for the future
    $6.8 billion for transport infrastructure in out six main growth areas - Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Canterbury and Queenstown. $1.1 billion for rail. $2.2 billion for new roads in Auckland. The Government’s programme of new investments in roads and rail will help future proof the economy, get our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Growing and modernising the NZ economy
    A new programme to build and upgrade roads, rail, schools and hospitals will prepare the New Zealand economy for the future, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme uses our capacity to boost growth by making targeted investments around the country, supporting businesses and local ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Future proofing New Zealand’s rail
    Minister for State Owned Enterprises Winston Peters says the funding of four major rail projects under the New Zealand Upgrade Programme is yet another step in the right direction for New Zealand’s long-term rail infrastructure. “This Government has a bold vision for rail. We said we would address the appalling ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Delivering infrastructure for a modern NZ
    Roads, rail, schools and hospitals will be built and upgraded across the country under the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in New Zealand – modernising our infrastructure, preparing for climate change and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • $1.55m support for Hawke’s Bay three waters services review
    The Government is pleased to announce a $1.55 million funding contribution to assist Hawke’s Bay investigate voluntary changes to the region’s three waters service delivery arrangements. “Over the last 18 months, the five Hawke’s Bay councils have been collaborating to identify opportunities for greater coordination in three waters service delivery across ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Minister welcomes report of nation’s household plastic rubbish, recycling practices
    A new report on New Zealand’s plastic rubbish and recycling practices is being welcomed by the Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage.  “The report by WasteMINZ provides a valuable insight into what’s ending up in household rubbish and recycling bins around the country. It highlights the value of much ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government considers retirement income policy review recommendations
    The Government is now considering the recommendations of the Retirement Commissioner’s review into New Zealand’s retirement income policies. “The review raises a number of important issues in relation to New Zealanders’ wellbeing and financial independence in retirement, particularly for vulnerable people,” the Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • PM announces election date as September 19
    The 2020 General Election will be held on Saturday 19 September, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the Government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long term ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund supports Waikato youth into constructionProvincial Growth Fund supports Waika...
    Two projects focussed on supporting Waikato youth into the construction industry have been given combined funding of just over $1 million from the Te Ara Mahi allocation of the Provincial Growth Fund, Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today.  The two Te Ara Mahi PGF projects announced are: ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund supports Waikato youth into construction
    Two projects focussed on supporting Waikato youth into the construction industry have been given combined funding of just over $1 million from the Te Ara Mahi allocation of the Provincial Growth Fund, Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today.  The two Te Ara Mahi PGF projects announced are: ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand to support Pacific Public Sector Hub
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced New Zealand’s support for a Pacific-led hub that will strengthen public services across the region. “Strengthening public services is a core focus of New Zealand’s Pacific Reset, as efforts to improve democratic governance in the Pacific contributes to a strong, stable and more ...
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    2 days ago

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