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Labour Leadership Campaign – Blackball Meeting

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, September 9th, 2013 - 58 comments
Categories: david cunliffe, grant robertson, labour, Shane Jones - Tags:

Blackball Socialist Group

Today the candidates are off to the spiritual home of the Labour Party, Blackball on the West Coast.

It was here in 1908 that the local Miners Union struck for better wages and conditions.  This was the first strike since the passing of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act in 1890.  It marked a more militant attitude by the Trade Union movement to securing improved wages and conditions for their members.

It was sparked by the firing of Pat Hickey and six others after Hickey refused to finish his pie after his 15 minute crib time was up.  At the end of the strike the employers gave in, reinstated the sacked workers, and improved everyone’s conditions.

This event had a significant impact on the trade union movement and was a massive blow to the arbitration system.  The various local miners’ unions joined with other unions formed the “Red Feds” or the National Federation of Labour.  Direct negotiations with employers caused considerable improvements to workers’ wages and work conditions and started a series of events that led to the Labour Party being formed in 1916.

The past weekend saw three meetings, a second opinion poll and the announcement by four unions that they are supporting David Cunliffe.  The opinion poll had David Cunliffe well ahead of the other two contenders.  He was picked by 39% of voters as being the most likely to defeat John Key in next year’s general election.  Jones was second on 18% and Robertson was third on 15%.

The media still appear to be struggling to understand the nature of the contest.  Audrey Young said in the Herald this morning:

Despite the popular support for Mr Cunliffe, Mr Robertson still has by far the greatest support in caucus, thought to be at least 17 votes out of 34; with 10 for Mr Cunliffe and five for Mr Jones.

Caucus votes are worth more than other votes cast, with 34 MPs making up 40 per cent of the vote; the support of 17 MPs would give Mr Robertson almost 30 per cent of the total allowable vote.

She does not appear to understand that the vote is a preferential vote.  Robertson has, on these figures, 20% of the total vote and with the distribution of preferences the caucus could, again on these figures, be tied up.  Earlier suggestions that Robertson had overwhelming support in caucus appear to be incorrect.

Last night’s meeting in Dunedin has received an interesting write up from the ODT with the author suggesting that Robertson was the local sentimental favourite but Cunliffe performed best at the podium.  It was also suggested that Cunliffe was the winner of the popular vote despite local MP Clare Curran announcing her support for Grant Robertson and that [Cunliffe] had delivered the quote of the day:

Labour has underestimated John Key. I won’t. I have his number and he knows it.

Finally to repeat the service announcement people entitled to attend the meetings include members, former members and new members who sign up at the door.

Media can attend but for the preliminaries and the speeches only.

If you are going you should get to the meeting early as there will be a vetting process and this could take some time. People should bring their membership cards or ortherwise photo ID so that they can be identified. Photos and social media can be taken and used during the open part of the meeting.

And a reminder that current members and those who have been financial members of the Party sometime between January 1 2011 and August 22 2013 but have not yet paid their membership for 2013 can renew their membership and vote, so long as they have done so before 12.00am on Friday 6 September.  New members will not be able to vote.

If you were a member or have joined up again but have not received your papers you can chase this up by emailing [email protected].

Finally for your vote to count you will have to list all candidates in preference. The second preferences of the third ranked candidate will then be distributed amongst the other candidates.  There is an online voting option that works well and I recommend this.

And just in case anyone is not aware of this I am a supporter of David Cunliffe and a member of his LEC.

58 comments on “Labour Leadership Campaign – Blackball Meeting ”

  1. karol 1

    Thanks, micky. Love the photo! And who is that woman amongst the men?

    A very good post, but this bit is confusing:

    It was also suggested that Cunliffe was the winner of the popular vote despite local MP Clare Curran announcing her support for Grant Robertson and that he had delivered the quote of the day:

    Labour has underestimated John Key. I won’t. I have his number and he knows it.

    The link implies the link article is about Clare Curran’s support, but isn’t. The link also doesn’t include the quote that follows. In that part of the post it looks like the quote:

    Labour has underestimated John Key. I won’t. I have his number and he knows it.

    was said by Robertson (which is why I checked the link, because that’s not what I remembered). It is a Cunliffe statement reported in the previously linked ODT article “Cunliffe seizes the day”.

    • mickysavage 1.1

      Thanks Karol. Obviously even back in 1908 the Labour Movement believed in equality for women!

      I have changed the link. Technical snafu. I have also clarified who made the statement.

      • karol 1.1.1

        micky, too often there’s been women involved in significant social developments and changes, to be later written out of history. One woman among 6 men is not exactly equality, but it shows a step in that direction. And it shows that women were there in the early days of the labour movement.

        Thanks for the edits.

        • Greywarbler 1.1.1.1

          karol
          The woman in the photo is listed in the Te Ara information sheet.
          http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21116/blackball-socialist-group
          Although unions had long been associated with major mines and other industries, they were mainly concerned with local working conditions. In the early 1900s a broader discussion of social and political issues began in small socialist groups, such as this one in Blackball, about 1910. Standing (from left): A. Kells, T. Campbell, J. Divis (holding placard), Mrs W. Bromilow, A. Wright. Sitting: W. Bromilow, W. Rogers.

          Mrs W Bromilow it is. And a strong support with both her and her husband behind the movement.

  2. Rich the other 2

    Will any of them take the opportunity to announce support mining on the coast ?

    Given what’s happened to the greens in Tasmania and the backlash against their destructive anti forestry industry policy’s , similar to their anti mining position on the coast , it would be an appropriate time distance them selves from the toxic greens.

    It’s time for labour to stand up and distance themselves from the greens.

    • karol 2.1

      Cunliffe supports environment friendly policies.

      Expect Jones to support mining over environment. We are supported by our environment in many ways – damaging it is toxic. Opposing environment sustaining policies is toxic.

      Nice use of Orwellian doublespeak, Rto.

    • Tracey 2.2

      I would expect Jones to be in his element preaching to the converted about mining.

      At some point someone has to have the courage (I thought the clark govt started) to say tot he coasters you are dooming your children if you continue to see their future as being only in a mine or a forest.

      I have family in Westport, my maternal grandfather and his ancestors were forestry men on the coast.

      I can say that not a single one of my second cousins is still on the coast. ONE was at Holcim and looking to go teaching in westport but after holcim announced redundancies she began looking for work and is now off to otorahonga… her brother is is nelson and her cousin in Christchurch and Australia.

      I recall a big payout to the coast after the logging changes, and perhaps they need more to support non mining dependant growth.

      • Rich the other 2.2.1

        Tracey ,
        That’s shameful ,what’s wrong with working in the forestry or mining.
        We can’t all be doctors or lawyers.
        Being employed is what counts, providing for family’s with well paid jobs must be the priority, the Tasmanians have made that very clear.
        Is it good that your family has been forced to leave the coast??

        The greens are the ones who are dooming people to the scrap heap.

        • Tracey 2.2.1.1

          It’s not shameful. History suggests two thing about mining/forresty as a source of employment for coasters;

          1. it is not constant employment;
          2. people die or get hurt (forestry has an appalling record for safety for workers – see comment below about shareholders)

          The world has changed and the older coasters need to start to understand that if they want their families to stay on the coast, which they do, then they cannot rely on mining or forestry to keep them there. None of my second cousins are lawyers. None are doctors. One is a plumber and gasfitter, one has a chemistry degree and a teaching diploma, and the one in Australia is a fitter and turner, and the christchurch one is an accountant. I have watched westport wax and wane over the last 40 years and they are so much at the mercy of the mines. AT THE MERCY RTO, that means they rely on coal prices and companies who only give a shit about their shareholders for a future.

          However, westport with its population on 5000 doesnt even have a GP in the town. That’s appalling.

          We need to bond medical students who want us to pay their way, then we can send them upon graduation to places like Westport.

          FAR from wanting people to leave Westport I would love them to be able to stay, but coal mines and forestry wont achieve that.

    • millsy 2.3

      The only thing that is ‘toxic’ is the mining waste destroying our natural spaces and making our children sick.

  3. Jono 3

    No wonder Jones bailed on the actual hui at Whakapara Marae, after fronting for the cameras at the powhiri and kapu ti…the Marae has been very visibly Protesting at any attempt to reopen the Puhipuhi plateau at the top of their rohe’s watershed for prospecting and mining for years, and have an ongoing protest on SH1 outside the Marae. They almost came to blocking the highway earlier in the year by occupying a piece of Maori land under the road that was accidentally left out of the road survey years ago and which they still have title to.

    • Rich the other 3.1

      jono,
      Clearly your people prefer the dole to mining ,that’s your choice .
      Someone some where needs to work to pay the taxes so the dole can be paid, the coasters are happy to work.

      • Tracey 3.1.1

        It’s the fact that it is mining or the dole that is the problem rich, you wanting more mining doesn’t actually solve the problem. I would rather we paid money into the coast to encourage/boost alternative employment opportunities. To be innovative and sophisticated about it so the coasters dont have to rely on the whim of coal prices and shareholder demand for dividends for their futures.

        People blinkered by mining are the ones selling out the coasters because they condemn them to perpetual uncertainty of employment, risk of injury/death and periods on the dole when it goes pearshaped as it always does.

        Damien O’Connor went to school in Christchurch, university in Christchurch, didn’t work in mining or forestry. Stop limiting the futures of the coast children by condemning them to reliance on coal and trees.

        “Damien O’Connor was born in Westport and attended primary school there before going on to St Bede’s in Christchurch and Lincoln University.

        Before becoming an MP, he worked in a variety of jobs in farming and tourism. During a five-year stint in Australia, he worked as a machinery operator and in sales. On his return to New Zealand, Damien established Buller Adventure Tours, an adventure tourism company he owned and operated in a partnership.

        Damien is past president of the Buller Promotion Association, a member of the West Coast Tourism Development Group, a member of the West Coast Business Development Board and a founding director of the Buller Community Development Company. He was also West Coast Young Farmer of the Year.”

        • Rich the other 3.1.1.1

          Tracy,
          The core of the matter is this.
          It doesn’t have to be mining or forestry only ,NOBODY is suggesting that.
          All types of business should be encouraged.
          The greens want mining and forestry closed down , that’s bizarre .

          As for damien oconner , it’s time he came out strongly in support for all business on the coast , mining included, tell your man to stand up and be counted.

          Labour has been infiltrated by the greens ,it’s time they grew a spine and distanced themselves from the them.

          Labour leadership actually hid from the greens when having there meeting with Key about the spy bill , scared they might upset them , UNBELEAVIABLE.

          • Tracey 3.1.1.1.1

            You are entitled to your view but I just want to clarify that O’Connor is not my man. I am not currently supporting labour and if I were it would be in spite of O’Connor, not because of him.

      • Jenny Kirk 3.1.2

        To Rich the Other – the Whakapara people are protesting about toxic mining in an extremely dangerous environment for it. Its riddled with mercury throughout the soil and rocks, its extremely wet, has numerous rivers/streams on the surface and innumerable underwater aquifers.
        Any mining of any sort disturbs the mercury and has it leaching into the waterways where it kills
        vegetation and fishlife and makes animals (eg cattle) browsing the vegetation extremely ill.
        THAT is why they are objecting to mining.
        And at the hui at Whakapara, the local people put up feasible alternative economic development ideas for thousands of jobs in the region. But Jones wasn’t interested enough to stay to listen to them ! A very poor showing on his part.

      • Jono 3.1.3

        Dude, WTF? “My people” were shipwrights and chip shop owners from Portsmouth, French Jews from Glasgow and Irishmen. Are you actually presuming I am Maori just because I know some of the doings in my local Maori community?? You do know what they say about assumptions eh?

        Puhipuhi is still a toxic dump from the last lot of mining, which was never cleaned up and I tautoko Jenny’s comments above and note the many of the farmers in the Hikurangi swamp are also not particularly keen on mercury leaching into their water supply.

        I will tell you another thing too, the history of miningt in that area is nothing if not the history of the mine owners’ specials pleadings and continually asking for handouts and subsidies from the governments of the day to keep their uneconomic, poisonous (ask around about miners with mercury poisoning in the area) but supposedly necessary ‘in the National interest’ business from going tits up.

        • Greywarbler 3.1.3.1

          Jono
          Interesting. And going on from the point about special pleading for powerful interests in the mining business, it reminds me of the Hawkes Bay group wanting water and thinking of flooding the Resource Council up there with their own people. They may be justifiably angry at ineffective government, or they may be just focussed on their rights to the water for the uses and crops they aspire to. But, like Canterbury, lobbying govt to make a special case for some reason, you refer to the national interest, is an ongoing practice! To be aware of by the rest of the country.

  4. Hilary 4

    Not sure if David C’s claiming of Richard Seddon as his whanau member is such a good strategy. Richard Seddon was on the right of the Liberal Party and fought hard against votes for women. (Until the suffragists and left wingers in the Party eventually worked out a strategy to circumvent him.)

  5. Hilary 5

    By the way women have always been very active in the Labour Party. They weren’t allowed to stand for parliament until 1919 and it took a few years for the first woman MP, Elizabeth McCombs to be elected. But many women were active on local government boards such as Janet Fraser who was on the Wellington Hospital Board in the 1920s. In the 1970s and 80s there were big philosophical battles between women from the left (eg Helen Clark) and right (Connie Purdue) of the party.

    I have written on the topics
    ‘Janet Fraser – making policy as well as tea’ in Peter Fraser: master politician, edited by Margaret Clark Dunmore, 1998, Chapter 4
    and
    ‘Labour owes us’ – the 1984 women’s forums’ in For the record – Lange and the fourth Labour government, edited by Margaret Clark Dunmore, 2005, p 119-128

    There is also a very good biography of ‘Margaret Thorn (the wife of early Labour MP Jum Thorn) called ‘Stick out keep left’ edited by Elsie Locke and Jacquie Matthews, which covers the early decades of the LP and the significant role of women in it.

    There is a lot more fascinating history of women in the LP awaiting research attention.

    • Tracey 5.1

      Thanks for this Hilary, much appreciated.

    • Greywarbler 5.2

      Hilary
      I have been lucky enough to track Margaret Thorn’s book through helpful people – Morrissey and Murray O, on this blog. It’s very good. I had heard about it years ago, and was overjoyed to finally track it down. So if anyone else is interested we can guide them to a source, not dear either. What an interesting life she had, and what a fine, sterling woman.

    • karol 5.3

      Thanks, Hilary. Very useful information.

  6. JoshL 6

    Tracey, Westport in fact has two permanent GPs and a number of locums. But I agree with your sentiments that the extractive industries have not served the Coast well. At present, property and rent prices are inflated on the back of the last coal price boom, and Westport’s hopes are pinned on Bathurst mining the Denniston escarpment.

    The locals largely don’t see the international coal price, along with the NZ dollar being what will determine whether the mine goes ahead. With the encouragement of Bathurst, Forest and Bird are seen as being to blame.

    But what the Coast needs is meaningful jobs as an alternative to mining. If they were there, Coasters themselves wouldn’t want the mines either – working at Stockton is not a very pleasant job, and the miners earn every cent they earn.

    The Greens suggestion of tourism, and pest control jobs is not a realistic alternative. They are not well paid jobs, and too much tourism does not contribute to a strong community. That’s where Cunliffe’s focus on regional economic development could benefit the Coast.

    Coasters need meaningful employment alternatives to mining. And something like the forest accord dollars from the stopping of the native logging will not do the job either. The resulting trust was ill conceived and doomed to achieving little. I am sure that Cullen knew that at the time, it was just a means to an end.

    • karol 6.1

      The Greens have indicated a number of alternatives to mining. this from Catherine Delahunty a week ago:

      The Petroleum and Minerals Sector Report released by the Government today shows that mining employs just 6,000 people, compared to nearly 200,000 in manufacturing. It also shows that exports of coal and oil are declining and states that “most of the easily mined resources [of coal and gold] in New Zealand are close to exhausted” and “increasingly unprofitable”. The report fails to account for the environmental and economic cost of polluting our climate with more fossil fuels.
      […]
      “If our largest employer, manufacturing, got even half the attention that National lavishes on the jobs-poor mining sector, we would have a lower unemployment rate and more Kiwis in good jobs. National has ignored manufacturing while 40,000 jobs have been lost, concentrating instead on mining, which employs just 6,000 people in total.

      “The report shows that the wealth generated by mining isn’t staying with workers, it’s going to foreign mine owners.

      • Tracey 6.1.1

        that’s not really an alternative though karol, it’s a comparisson. Exactly HOW do the Greens see our manufacturing sector competing to gain a foothold strong enough to increase employment

        • karol 6.1.1.1

          Wasn’t that covered by the joint opposition party enquiry into manufacturing? Looking to tackle the jobs crisis in manufacturing?

          • Tracey 6.1.1.1.1

            sure, but your post didnt actually outline greens alternatives to mining …

            • karol 6.1.1.1.1.1

              True. But that’s about the first article I found from the Greens addressing the issue – and it is a recent one. I’d have to look further to find where they have mentioned alternatives.

            • karol 6.1.1.1.1.2

              The manufacturing alternatives don’t need to be heavily resource intensive.

              Press release today from Julie Anne Genter:

              “The crisis in manufacturing is a crisis for the whole economy. As our manufacturing output falls, we export fewer manufactured goods and import more of them, which widens our current account deficit and adds to our crippling international debt.

              “We need high-tech, high-skill, high-wage manufacturing to help us shrink our burgeoning international debt. It is central to a smarter, greener, and more prosperous future for New Zealand. Under National, manufacturing is withering.

              “Our Manufacturing Inquiry Report lays out a set of practical, proven steps to support manufacturing. Top of the list is policies to lower the exchange rate, having the government buy Kiwi-made whenever possible, and investing in research and development,” said Ms Genter.

        • Jenny Kirk 6.1.1.2

          One of the ways Labour has promoted improving job opportunities in the manufacturing sector, Tracey, is to have local firms being given a preference rating over international firms when it comes to tendering for contracts. eg the Hillside rail workshops in Dunedin need not have closed down if when they’d tendered for the new trains contract, the economic benefits of the work staying in NZ had been given equal weight to whatever the overseas tenderers were offering.

          • Tracey 6.1.1.2.1

            I understand that. In the case of the Hillside workers we are talking maybe 200 jobs. I am NOT downplaying that but wondering how both parties intend actually growing the manufacturing industry to create the kind of job numbers we need.

      • Rich the other 6.1.2

        Karol ,just more green garbage.

        This report is just Confirmation that we need all sectors to succeed , the fact that mining employs 6000 in an environment that is anti mining is promising, just imagine what a pro mining attitude could achieve , who knows , perhaps 20/30,000 workers in highly paid jobs ??

        Manufacturing , mostly minimum wage and totally dependant on petroleum and mining products.

        • Jenny Kirk 6.1.2.1

          To RTO – Those “highly paid” workers are a myth if Reefton and Waihi goldmining towns are anything to go by. According to Stats NZ, the locals in these towns have a median income of about $20,000pa (those aged between 15 and 65 years) and are mostly employed as labourers and suchlike in the mines there. The highly paid workers are the specialists, the engineers, project managers brought in from overseas. And they go back overseas when their job is done.
          And as for the maybe 30,000 workers – what would the mining do to the tourism industry which provides over 134,000 direct jobs (plus all the indirect jobs and benefits) ? The mining would decimate the tourist industry, and at the same time – decimate our environment.

          • Rich the other 6.1.2.1.1

            jenny,
            great stats alright , mostly caused by high unemployment caused by you lot.
            The dole is a large part of those figures.

            If 20/30000 people were employed in the resource industry they would be spread around the country on many different projects.

            The point you choose to miss is that we can have both, a tourist industry and a mining industry.

        • Macro 6.1.2.2

          Have you ANY idea of what utter rubbish you spout? Have you visited Waihi? Where goldmining has been going on for over a century – and despite being a nice little town is in the bottom economically as a community- very little of the money mined in the area finds its way into the town. It’s nearly all exported.
          And the social damage that results – the town split between those who want it (because they lack the vision to see any other form of employment, and those who are fed up with the constant noise and disruption caused by the mining process).
          No we don’t want to see any more Waihi’s thank you very much.

    • Tracey 6.2

      Thanks Josh. My family told me if they wanted to see a doctor they had to make an appointment with a nurse who then made an appointment for them with the doctor who visited on a Saturday. I am glad this is not the case.

      I had hoped the trust would have a similar impact as, say, the Ngai Tahi system created from their treaty settlement.

    • karen 6.3

      ‘tourism does not contribute to a strong community’

      …. tell that to Kaikoura

      • Winston Smith 6.3.1

        I suspect that the amount of dairy farms in and around Kaikoura is slightly more importent…

        • Colonial Viper 6.3.1.1

          Indeed. Unfortunately most dairy farms pay miserable wages too. $35K pa for 50-80 hour weeks? No thanks.

        • Retired Engineer 6.3.1.2

          $2m dairy farm.
          1 low tax paying capital growth focused owner.
          1 PAYE tax paying worker.
          $100k pa BoP outflow of interest to an Aus Bank.

          $500k tourism business
          1 low tax paying capital growth focused owner.
          5 PAYE tax paying worker
          Zero pa BoP outflow.

  7. Sable 7

    Good old Blackball. My family on my father’s side harked from there and were instrumental in founding the NZ Communist Party and had a role in Labour too.

    Personally hate the place, to call it a whistle stop is an understatement.

  8. vto 8

    there is a lot of anti-greens sentiment on the coast but it is an older generation thing and they are getting fewer each and every year. Dealing with those with that sentiment is near impossible as they just steam up and can’t see anything when confronted.

  9. millsy 9

    Rich the other, are you prepared to destory our national parks with mining and pollute the ground and water? Are you prepared to have children go sick from mercury poisoning for a few $$$?

    Personally, I belive that there needs to be some sort of deal about mining. Ending it altogether is unrealistic, but ripping up every single square inch of land, and destroying our national parks (even the Republicans wouldnt open up Yellowstone to mining) is not not something I want to do.

    I suggest letting a certain amount of mining go ahead in return for the protection of other areas. Perhaps letting Bathurst go thru to shut the rednecks up, but no new coal mines for 10 years, apart from in areas that were mined before, have the royalties go into a fund to purchase new conservation land, and also set up a School of Mines.

  10. Colonial Viper 10

    Is it too much to hope for an update from the Blackball meeting?

  11. nadis 12

    “after Hickey refused to finish his pie after his 15 minute crib time was up”

    Can anyone historically minded explain the incident? Not written very well on the encyclopedia. Do they mean he refused to go back to work after 15 minutes and continued eating his pie? Not sure he was sacked for refusing to finish his pie, unless his mum was his supervisor.

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    Buzz from the Beehive The Nanny State has scored some wins (or claimed them) in the past day or two but it faltered when it came to protecting Kiwi citizens from being savaged by one woman armed with a sharp tongue. The wins are recorded by triumphant ministers on the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Acceptance, decency, road food.
    Sometimes you see your friends making the case so well on social media you think: just copy and share.On acceptance and decency, from Michèle A’CourtA notable thing about anti-trans people is they way they talk about transgender women and men as though they are strangers “over there” when in fact ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Climate Change: More Labour sabotage
    Not that long ago, things were looking pretty good for climate change policy in Aotearoa. We finally had an ETS, and while it was full of pork and subsidies, it was delivering high and ever-rising carbon prices, sending a clear message to polluters to clean up or shut down. And ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Is bundling restricting electricity competition?
    Comparing (and switching) electricity providers has become easier, but bundling power up with broadband and/or gas makes it more challenging. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā TL;DR: The new Consumer Advocacy Council set up as a result of the Labour Government’s Electricity Price Review in 2019 has called on either ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Westland Milk puts heat on competitors as global dairy demand  remains softer for longer
    Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products  has  put the heat on dairy giant Fonterra with  a $120m profit turnaround in 2022, driven by record sales. Westland paid its suppliers a 10c premium above the forecast Fonterra price per kilo, contributing $535m to the West Coast and Canterbury economies. The dairy ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 day ago
  • BRYCE EDWARDS’ Political Roundup:  The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    * Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Bryce Edwards: The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public office and becoming lobbyists and ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    1 day ago
  • A miracle pill for our transport ills
    This is a guest post by accessibility and sustainable transport advocate Tim Adriaansen It originally appeared here.   A friend calls you and asks for your help. They tell you that while out and about nearby, they slipped over and landed arms-first. Now their wrist is swollen, hurting like ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago
  • The Surprising Power of Floating Wind Turbines
    Floating offshore wind turbines offer incredible opportunities to capture powerful winds far out at sea. By unlocking this wind energy potential, they could be a key weapon in our arsenal in the fight against climate change. But how developed are these climate fighting clean energy giants? And why do I ...
    2 days ago
  • The next Maori challenge
    Over the past two or three weeks, a procession of Maori iwi and hapu in a series of little-noticed appearances before two Select Committees have been asking for more say for Maori over resource management decisions along the co-governance lines of Three Waters. Their submissions and appearances run counter ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Secret “war-crime” warrants by International Criminal Court is mischief-making
    The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue war crimes arrest warrants for the Russian President and the Russia Children Ombudsman may have been welcomed by the ideologically committed but otherwise seems to have been greeted with widespread cynicism (see Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants ...
    2 days ago
  • How to answer Drunk Uncle Kevin's Climate Crisis reckons
    Let’s say you’re clasping your drink at a wedding, or a 40th, or a King’s Birthday Weekend family reunion and Drunk Uncle Kevin has just got going.He’s in an expansive frame of mind because we’re finally rid of that silly girl. But he wants to ask an honest question about ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • National’s Luxon may be glum about his poll ratings but has he found a winner in promising to rai...
    National Party leader Christopher Luxon may  be feeling glum about his poll ratings, but  he could be tapping  into  a rich political vein in  describing the current state of education as “alarming”. Luxon said educational achievement has been declining,  with a recent NCEA pilot exposing just how far it has ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: More Labour foot-dragging
    Yesterday the IPCC released the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report, warning us that we have very little time left in which to act to prevent catastrophic climate change, but pointing out that it is a problem that we can solve, with existing technology, and that anything we do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Te Pāti Māori Are Revolutionaries – Not Reformists.
    Way Beyond Reform: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have no more interest in remaining permanent members of “New Zealand’s” House of Representatives than did Lenin and Trotsky in remaining permanent members of Tsar Nicolas II’s “democratically-elected” Duma. Like the Bolsheviks, Te Pāti Māori is a party of revolutionaries – not reformists.THE CROWN ...
    2 days ago
  • When does history become “ancient”, on Tinetti’s watch as Minister of Education – and what o...
    Buzz from the Beehive Auckland was wiped off the map, when Education Minister Jan Tinetti delivered her speech of welcome as host of the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers “here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. But – fair to say – a reference was made later in the speech to a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Climate Catastrophe, but first rugby.
    Morning mate, how you going?Well, I was watching the news last night and they announced this scientific report on Climate Change. But before they got to it they had a story about the new All Blacks coach.Sounds like important news. It’s a bit of a worry really.Yeah, they were talking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • What the US and European bank rescues mean for us
    Always a bailout: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Government would fully guarantee all savers in all smaller US banks if needed. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: No wonder an entire generation of investors are used to ‘buying the dip’ and ‘holding on for dear life’. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Who will drain Wellington’s lobbying swamp?
    Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in Guyon Espiner’s in-depth series published by RNZ. Two of Espiner’s research exposés ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago
  • It’s Raining Congestion
    Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
    2 days ago
  • Checking The Left: The Dreadful Logic Of Fascism.
    The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
    3 days ago
  • Good Friends and Terrible Food
    Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • At a glance – What evidence is there for the hockey stick?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    3 days ago
  • Carry right on up there, Corporal Espiner
    RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are we shortchanged democratically by the way ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • This smells
    RNZ has continued its look at the role of lobbyists by taking a closer look at the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Andrew Kirton. He used to work for liquor companies, opposing (among other things) a container refund scheme which would have required them to take responsibility for their own ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Major issues on the table in Mahuta’s  talks in Beijing with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has left for Beijing for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019. Mahuta is  to  meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang  where she  might have to call on all the  diplomatic skills  at  her  command. Almost certainly she  will  face  questions  on what  role ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago
  • Inside TOP's Teal Card and political strategy
    TL;DR: The Opportunities Party’s Leader Raf Manji is hopeful the party’s new Teal Card, a type of Gold card for under 30s, will be popular with students, and not just in his Ilam electorate where students make up more than a quarter of the voters and where Manji is confident ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Make Your Empties Go Another Round.
    When I was a kid New Zealand was actually pretty green. We didn’t really have plastic. The fruit and veges came in a cardboard box, the meat was wrapped in paper, milk came in a glass bottle, and even rubbish sacks were made of paper. Today if you sit down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on how similar Vladimir Putin is to George W. Bush
    Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – Syd Holland, Richard Prebble, Juduth Collins, Chris Hipkins – or by far lesser lights like Keith Allen, Frank Gill, Ben Couch, Allen McCready, Clem Simich, ...
    3 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER:  Te Pāti Māori’s uncompromising threat to the status quo
    Chris Trotter writes – The Crown is a fickle friend. Any political movement deemed to be colourful but inconsequential is generally permitted to go about its business unmolested. The Crown’s media, RNZ and TVNZ, may even “celebrate” its existence (presumably as proof of Democracy’s broad-minded acceptance of diversity). ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Shining a bright light on lobbyists in politics
    Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who believes vested interests shouldn’t have a place at the centre of decision making. Chris Hipkins’ newly appointed Chief of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Auckland Council Draft Budget – an unnecessary backwards step
    Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
    4 days ago
  • Talking’ Posey Parker Blues
    by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    4 days ago
  • More Māori words make it into the OED, and polytech boss (with rules on words like “students”) ...
    Buzz from the Beehive   New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Social intercourse with haters and Nazis: an etiquette guide
    Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • The Greens, Labour, and coalition enforcement
    James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • This sounds familiar…
    RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Letter to the NZ Herald: NCEA pseudoscience – “Mauri is present in all matter”
    Nick Matzke writes –   Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • So what would be the point of a Green vote again?
    James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Gas stoves pose health risks. Are gas furnaces and other appliances safe to use?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
    4 days ago
  • Genetic Heritage and Co Governance
    Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON: Radical Uncertainty
    Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War
    This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    4 days ago
  • The motorways are finished
    After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
    5 days ago
  • Kicking National’s tyres
    National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • As long as there is cricket, the world is somehow okay.
    Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • So much of what was there remains
    The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report   IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
    6 days ago
  • Financial capability services are being bucked up, but Stuart Nash shouldn’t have to see if they c...
    Buzz from the Beehive  The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Things that make you go Hmmmm.
    Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • The hoon for the week that was to March 19
    By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
    The KakaBy Peter Bale
    7 days ago
  • Saving Stuart Nash: Explaining Chris Hipkins' unexpected political calculation
    When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    7 days ago
  • Radical Uncertainty
    Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • Jump onto the weekly hoon on Riverside at 5pm
    Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Dream of Florian Neame: Accepted
    In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
    1 week ago
  • Snakes and leaders
    And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • This station is Karanga-a-Hape, Chur!
    When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Greens don’t shy from promoting a candidate’s queerness but are quiet about govt announcement on...
    There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • Ask Me Anything about the week to March 17
    Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Slow consenting could create $16b climate liability by 2050
    Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • THOMAS CRANMER: Challenging progressivism in New Zealand’s culture wars
    Thomas Cranmer writes  Like it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges.  Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
    A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • National’s education policy: where’s the funding?
    After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment.  “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Free programme to help older entrepreneurs and inventors
    People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government target increased to keep powering up the Māori economy
    A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Continued progress on reducing poverty in challenging times
    77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech at Fiji Investment and Trade Business Forum
    Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government investments boost and diversify local economies in lower South Island
    $2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government future-proofs EV charging
    Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • World-leading family harm prevention campaign supports young NZers
    Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • First Chief Clinical Advisor welcomed into Coroners Court
    Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Next steps for affected properties post Cyclone and floods
    The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointment to Māori Land Court bench
    E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government focus on jobs sees record number of New Zealanders move from Benefits into work
    113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Vertical farming partnership has upward momentum
    The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Conference of Pacific Education Ministers – Keynote Address
    E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New $13m renal unit supports Taranaki patients
    The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Second Poseidon aircraft on home soil
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Further humanitarian aid for Türkiye and Syria
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