Labour’s new Oceans Ministry

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, November 3rd, 2020 - 23 comments
Categories: climate change, Conservation, david parker, Environment, food, global warming, jacinda ardern, science, Shane Jones, stuart nash, sustainability - Tags:

One demotion that has not attracted huge attention so far has been that of Stuart Nash.  He has lost the Police portfolio and also that of Fisheries although he has been given the important role of Economic and Regional Development.  In Police I thought he was ok, in Fisheries I have criticised him in the past.

He has some history as was detailed in this earlier Standard post:

He is mates with Cameron Slater. Just read any blog post of Slater’s that does not also include Judith Collins and see how positively he is treated.

He was implicated in an attempt by Simon Lusk to set up a centrist party. Friends of Lusk paid $20,000 to investigate the possiblity. Nash said he torpedoed the idea and did not know about it until the report had been prepared.  Troy Bowker, the person behind the report, disagrees and says Nash told them to see him when the report was completed. Why Nash was having anything to do with one of the people most implicated in Dirty Politics is hard to understand.

He was also implicated in the attempt by Josie Pagani to set up a right wing faction within the Labour Party.

More recently as Fisheries Minister he made the alarming decision to slow down and possibly stop the implementation of monitoring cameras on fishing boats. Talley’s must have been very pleased with that decision. Cabinet considers this decision next week.

On top of that in 2018 at the last minute Nash pulled the pin on a fundraiser that Matthew Hooton had set up a thousand dollar a plate fundraiser for Nash at that most progressive bastion, the Auckland Northern Club.

While he was Fisheries Minister Nash repeatedly refused to install monitoring cameras on fishing boats to deter against activities that could net the endangered Maui’s dolphin.  Even the earlier National Government had decided to implement the scheme.  The fingerprints of New Zealand First, Shane Jones and the Talley brothers on these decisions were pronounced.

In the reshuffle Fisheries has been rebranded as “Oceans and Fisheries” which is a very welcome change of emphasis.  The Government’s policies should address the health of our oceans, fisheries health being an important aspect of this but not the only aspect.  Current fish stock trends are generally disastrous.  But the ocean’s role in acting as a carbon sink and as an indicator of the world’s environmental health will never be more important.  We really need to do better.

Greenpeace thinks that the new emphasis is a good idea.  From its press release:

Greenpeace says today’s Ministerial announcements hold some fantastic news for the sea and everything that lives in it.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that the Fisheries Ministry will get a name change to the Ministry for Oceans and Fisheries.

“The oceans have never had a dedicated portfolio and this change signals that the Government recognises the need to protect our big blue backyard, not simply use it as a resource to be extracted from”, says Greenpeace campaigner Jessica Desmond.

“Not only has Labour put Oceans in the name of the ministry, it comes before the very industry that’s been threatening it, I take that as an encouraging sign.”

Greenpeace says accelerating biodiversity loss is one of the biggest risks facing humanity. Here in New Zealand 80 percent of our native biodiversity lies below the low tide mark.

“The ocean is being pushed to the brink by multiple threats, from overfishing to pollution and climate change.”

Greenpeace sees the appointment of political heavyweight David Parker as vital to meeting these threats.

“Labour’s promises to review the management of New Zealand fisheries were stymied by New Zealand First, but the so-called ‘handbrake’ is off. Now is the chance for transformative change.”

Desmond says Minister Parker must get straight to work.

“David Parker showed his mettle on the freshwater reforms and the synthetic fertiliser cap last term.

We are hoping he’ll apply the same strength of purpose to ensure the long term health of the oceans.”

Parker is an ideal choice for the role.  He is tough, respects the evidence, understands the issues and concentrates on the outcomes that are necessary.  And we really do need to stop treating our oceans as places to plunder food and dump rubbish.

23 comments on “Labour’s new Oceans Ministry ”

  1. tc 1

    I noticed Nash's loss of portfolios as a sign ardern is onto it.

    Twyford being the more obvious demotion media did it's usual crap job of missing Nash's non performance being dealt with.

  2. Stuart Munro 2

    Fisheries is long overdue for a generational reform. It was supposed to happen under Nash – nada. Our littoral resources dwarf the land that produces the so-called dairy boom, but thanks to the de facto monopoly created by the risible QMS they have utterly failed to develop.

    Cameras are, frankly, window dressing. Any business with an employee they need to keep a camera on round the clock would replace the employee. It should be the same with our perennial fisheries lawbreakers – the cost to the country of having to ride herd on these bandits is incalculable. They refuse to develop the resource or New Zealand jobs – they make our dysfunctional real estate parasites look like model citizens.

    Reform would look something like this:

    Establish a genuine fisheries institute producing actual experts rather than the entry level fishers the current industry prefers to exploit.

    Develop sustainable fisheries and sustainable recreational practices with an emphasis on low impact techniques like live capture, seaweed culture, artisanal fisheries and aquaculture other than mass salmonid cage farming.

    Move up the value chain by providing live mussels to Asia instead of the horrid cooked and frozen halfshell rubbish that destroys our reputation in every market. The shipping technology has been around for awhile now.

    Sort out a sane position on Wakami. Wakami, Undaria Pinnatifida, is considered an invasive species by DoC and is sporadically if somewhat ineffectually "controlled". It is also a premium source of the umami flavour, and prized in some markets.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.1

      Any business with an employee they need to keep a camera on round the clock would replace the employee.

      No, they won't, they'll get the cameras. They'll get the cameras even if they don't need to keep an eye on the employee.

      It's what McDs did when I was there.

      They refuse to develop the resource

      Its pretty much impossible to develop the resource. All that can be done is drag it out of the water. What the QMS was for was to make that dragging sustainable and it failed at doing that because the fishers were purposefully misreporting their catch so that they could catch more and thus make more profit.

      That's what the cameras on fishing boats are for – to count the catch.

      Move up the value chain by providing live mussels to Asia instead of the horrid cooked and frozen halfshell rubbish that destroys our reputation in every market.

      Considering the state of our fisheries we probably need to stop the export of fish and give them time to recover rather than continue to try and provide for markets that we simply don't have enough to supply.

      • Stuart Munro 2.1.1

        It's what McDs did when I was there.

        The fishing industry is not McDonalds – the cameras are the successors to the fisheries observers, which companies disliked because they all too frequently exposed illegality and dysfunction.

        The state (ie the public) paid for observers, and most recently for cameras too, because the industry are as habitually criminal as P dealers, and aren't about to support any effort to regulate.

        The sector needs a certain amount of tough love.

  3. Ad 3

    I would not push expectations too high with Parker – he already has a massive workload and will be the grunt behind the RMA reforms.

    More importantly, it changes nothing inside MPI – the people doing the Fisheries work.

    I don't see MPI emerging behind their defensive crouch any time soon. It's the one Ministry that has the strength of industrial patronage to wait out multiple terms of a leftie government – and MPI appears to be doing that just fine.

    The protected supply chain between MPI as regulator-enablers, key fishing companies, and our supermarket oligopoly is something to behold.

    • Stuart Munro 3.1

      I have grown old waiting for fisheries reform, and fully expect to die before I see it.

      But the sector is ripe for smart development – actual productive growth in an economy that desperately needs it. There is strong logic for change, and an energetic leadership smart enough to recognize that.

      And Parker, though I didn't like his freshwater work, is diligent almost to excess. If he recognizes the issues I expect he would pursue them to completion.

      • Ad 3.1.1

        Parker has been at bullying weak regional councils. Good as it goes but pretty easy politics.

        But he's up against a tougher beast at MPI. Also iwi interests work deep into the numerically strong Labour Maori caucus. The industry knows its new targets.

        Good that you are hopeful. It will take me a lot of convincing.

  4. RedBaronCV 4

    Any other MP's he could tap to help him with the work and be a sort of under secretary in his office if he needs the assistance?

    Good that Nash is gone from the police. They need a serious reset which I couldn’t see Nash doing

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1

      Any other MP's he could tap to help him with the work and be a sort of under secretary in his office if he needs the assistance?

      I'm sure that the Greens would be more than happy to help.

      • Robert Guyton 4.1.1

        The fishing industry would welcome The Greens with open claws.

      • RedBaronCV 4.1.2

        Which would actually be a good idea. Why do we elect bright smart people mainly and then leave them sitting around doing stuff all when we could give them access to policy formation and public service resouces?

    • Stuart Munro 4.2

      I believe Rino Tirikatene is "Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries". Let us hope he is less of a trougher than Shane Jones, though, as a hereditary MP, the auspices are not felicitous.

      • Brokenback 4.2.1

        Great posts, all of them.

        As someone who initially studied bio-geography and ecology then spent many years working at sea on NZ’s continental shelf in the much maligned offshore oil drilling sector, it has been a constant puzzle to me how the destructive and rapacious Fishing biz has escaped the scrutiny it deserves.

        It puzzles me even more why we still do not have an even fledgling Pelagic fish farming industry .

        Comparatively our nutrient rich [ all that ag runoff] , cool and aerated offshore waters team with life.

        Protect the inshore fishery by banning trawling and increasing marine reserves to around 33% of coastline to 3mile/5km from shore , thereby protecting the unique Hectors and Maui Dolphins and allow tethered, floating cage farming of pelagic fish beyond 12 mile/20km offshore is recipe for a sustainable fishery.

        Burley , RT Hon David Parker ?

      • Ad 4.2.2

        Rino appears to be another Regulator In Name Only.

        • Stuart Munro 4.2.2.1

          A nephew, not a son, of the former MP it turns out, so a presumption of nepotism would be unfair. The man deserves a chance.

  5. Phillip ure 5

    Of course over-fishing must be curtailed..the oceans are getting fished out…so we just continue doing this..?….until it is all gone..?…and how long to that dark day..at our current rates of consumption/use…?…(as with animals on land) we have to stop eating things that can look at us…cameras etc. will achieve s.f.a. in stopping that galloping degradation…consumer demand must be curtailed..one way of doing this could be a publicity campaign telling people of the realities of this…for the fish….'cos y'see recent research has demonstrated that fish are actually quite intelligent…and how that dumb goldfish myth is just that…and what has been discovered previously is that fish have highly develop central nervous systems…surprisingly so..and not that different from our own…so to relate this awareness of the sensitivities of these fish back to ourselves…try to imagine a hook through your cheek..and then being dragged into the water..to drown..'cos that is what is done to fish…they are hooked and then drowned in what we breath…and suffering unimaginable pain as they die….these are facts…this is what happens to the fish most eat….and can we now also bury that b.s. some peddle that fish feel no pain …I realise what I am saying is confronting to many people…but over-fishing has to stop…and lessening consumption must be addressed…and presenting graphic/scientific evidence of the actual uffering fish go through when they are killed for people to eat would be an effective means to that end…or..we can just carry on fucking over the ocean..until it is all done and dusted..?..eh..?..but we will have a filmed record of that demise of the ocean..eh..?

  6. Enough is Enough 6

    Nash lost some port folios but his ranking is the same. I thought he should have gone the same way as Twyford.

    I suppose its a case of keeping your enemies close and therefore in cabinet.

  7. Scud 7

    I hope Park’o read this as a part his brief in this new ministry?

    https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/Images/iuu/IUU_Strategic_Outlook_2020_FINAL.pdf

    As he will realise is problem will only get worse with CC as it tightens it’s grip on the world’s oceans especially in our neck of the woods including the Southern Ocean in the run up to the expiry of the Antarctic Treaty in 2047. During the election we seen the Chinese Fishing Fleet inside NZ’s EEZ Nth- Nth East of the Kermadec’s and it’s rape and pillage In & around the Galapagos Islands which is likely to see its unique biodiversity probably collapse within 18mths because of these Parasites, leeches etc who don’t give a shit.

    What happen during the election is only the tip of the iceberg and I will say these parasites leeches will slowly making their way down the Eastern Edge of NZ’s EEZ and up to at least 50-70 nautical miles (NM) inside NZ’s EEZ.

    And little old NZ wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it because a lack of investment in the NZDF and NZDF Infrastructure on Chatham Islands for RNZAF & RNZN assets to operate out of because the liberal left believe NZ is still in a “Benign Strategic Environment”. Well folks due to CC NZ is no longer in a Benign Strategic Environment as there is a bloody big Ocean around NZand a Southern Land Mass that’s waiting to be rape & pillage by Nations who don’t give a shit about the Liberal Democratic Democracy view of the world’s base rules base order.

  8. ken 8

    Winston's not there to enable the rape of our oceans anymore.

    Get the cameras on all fishing boats NOW.

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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
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  • Two offenders, different treatments.
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    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
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    4 days ago
  • That Word.
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    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
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    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
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    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
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  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
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  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
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  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
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    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
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    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
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  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
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    1 hour ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
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    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
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    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
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    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
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    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
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    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
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  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
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  • Government delivering on tax commitments
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    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
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  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
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    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
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  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
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    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
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  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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  • Minister’s Ramadan message
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  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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    1 week ago

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