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Lane Walker Rudkin

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, April 30th, 2009 - 54 comments
Categories: business, workers' rights - Tags: ,

lwrsmallI see poor management and a bitter marital tiff have put the jobs of 470 workers at Lane Walker Rudkin on the line and cast doubt on the future of yet another iconic Kiwi company.

As the NDU’s Maxine Gay points out, communities like Timaru, Greytown and Pahiatua simply can’t afford to take a hit like this. If you take jobs out of these communities it’s going to be devastating.

Once again, the people who we entrust to run our economy have failed us. Perhaps it’s time we considered some alternatives to the current model. Alternatives like industrial democracy that empower workers to make their own decisions and provide some accountability to management.

Because one thing’s for sure, you’d struggle to do any worse than the clowns who’re currently running the show.

54 comments on “Lane Walker Rudkin ”

  1. cocamc 1

    “Once again, the people who we entrust to run our economy have failed us.”
    Who do you mean?

    • Tane 1.1

      In a wider sense, the financial elite who got us into the current recession. In this particular case, the incompetent management of LWR.

      We’re seeing the dogma that our business ‘leaders’ know best being discredited all around us. Perhaps it’s time we democratised our workplaces and gave workers a say.

      • cocamc 1.1.1

        So there is then an opportunity for the workers to get together and buy the company off the receivers andn then run as a “co-op”. If that can be achieved then I’m all for it.

        • Tane 1.1.1.1

          They tend not to have a lot of capital, cocamc, that’s why they’re workers.

          My proposal is to recognise that people should have a say in the way their workplace operates and the decisions that affect their lives. It’s called democracy. You’re all for democracy, aren’t you cocamc?

          Or is democracy only allowed once every three years so we can elect our new rulers?

          • cocamc 1.1.1.1.1

            Tane – of course I am for democracy – don’t know why you raised that?. Again – nothing stopping the workers at LWR pulling together, raising some capital and setting up the business that way. Why doesn’t the union help them do this?

          • Daveski 1.1.1.1.2

            An interesting view of democracy. There are plenty of business owners who are putting their money into businesses to try and keep them afloat. Employees don’t put anything in. That’s not democratic either.

            Workers will benefit from an environment the encourages investment yet the bulk of the policies espoused here simply make it less attractive for investment in business compared with say more passive investment in housing.

            There will always be bad management just as there will always be “bad” union officials and workers. It’s a human condition.

            But by all means, take one business failure and use to brand all businesses as failures.

          • Bill 1.1.1.1.3

            How much is the company worth?
            How many of the 470 willing to take on the responsibility? ( including those in ertswhile positions of management.)
            How many houses that can be used a collateral?
            How much total redundancy to be used in buy out?

            Why not a low or 0% loan from union bodies if need be?

            And why, oh why, oh why do unions not already a vast body of literature on the various structures of Collectives and legal advice on their set up sitting and waiting to be utilised?

          • Tim Ellis 1.1.1.1.4

            I don’t believe workers don’t have access to capital, Tane. I suspect that at least half of the workers own their own homes. They should be able to raise $20,000 each against their mortgages to invest in the business and buy the business for themselves.

            Of course, if they owned the business and managed it themselves, then they wouldn’t need a union representing them against the bosses. Collectively these employees would save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in union dues, which they could put together as capital towards the business.

            Unless they’re just unwilling to take the financial risks that entrepreneurs and businesspeople do.

          • The Baron 1.1.1.1.5

            Because then the unions wouldn’t have enough money for salaries and propping up Labour’s campaign budgets.

            Really though Tane, he has a point. By providing union funding, this could really get of the ground – it would be a great experiment to prove whether the concept could work. If it did, then other workers would have a model that they could take to the bank to secure access to capital. That would be quite exciting – I would really like to see it tried out myself!

            There needs to be a “first” to prove the merit of the idea. Do you know any unionists, Tane? Maybe you could pitch the idea to them?

          • Inventory2 1.1.1.1.6

            Tane – are you seriously suggesting that employees should have control over how the employer’s money is spent?

            As business-owners and employers, it is my wife’s and my money that is on the line. It is our reputations that will suffer if the business does not perform. It is my wife and I who agonise over adverse financial times. It is my wife and I who have used our home as collateral for money loaned to the business. It is my wife and I who work ridiculous hours. It is my wife and I who have everything to lose should the business fail.

            Your proposal is simplistic. You forget the fact that without business owners who are prepared to take risks and invest in something that they believe in, such as Mrs Inventory and I have done, there would be no businesses; there would be no jobs, and in fact, there would be no need for unions.

            We take our responsibilities as business owners and managers very, very seriously. We are fully aware that we are the source of income for our staff, in many cases the sole source of income. Every decision we make is made with that to the forefront of our minds. Our business is far more democratic than many, but at the end of the day, we are the risk-takers.

        • Tane 1.1.1.2

          I’m not suggesting it should apply to all business regardless of size at the current time. Nor am I suggesting that every business owner will like it, or that exceptions won’t need to be made. I can see how it would work in large companies like Fairfax, Air New Zealand and Carter Holt Harvey.

          Like Marx pointed out in the Communist Manifesto, with the concentration of capital production has already been collectivised. My proposal is to democratise it.

      • ben 1.1.2

        Didn’t those same people get us into the decades and centuries of growth that went before it? They feed the world, provide 80% of the jobs in the economy, put a pc in every office and lower the per seat mile cost of flying across the world to about that of a car. To name just a few things.

        Then the economy drops 2% and you want to jump ship.

        Nice one.

  2. Stephen 2

    What’s the usual answer to the proposal that workers just start their own business where ‘all the workers have a say’?

  3. vto 3

    Tane, nothing to stop people doing that now. Why don’t you take the lead and set one up for the rest of NZ to see. You’re in the union industry – you give it a go. Or someone in the unions. Don’t wait for the gummint to do it. Don’t wait for ‘them’ to do it. Don’t just write letters to the editor (old school blog). I’m sure the rest of NZ would watch with great interest.

    Oh, and I note no sympathy for the owners of LWR who have clearly just lost a great deal as well. You don’t care about them?

    • Tane 3.1

      By the same logic you could also argue that there should be no statutory employment rights such as health and safety, minimum wage, right to join a union, the right to appeal against unfair dismissal etc.

      Why, there’s nothing to stop people having basic employment rights without the law, is there? Rather than having laws you could take the lead and set up businesses that grant their employees rights for the rest of NZ to see. No need to wait for anyone else to legislate for fairness. The market shall provide.

      Of course, you don’t argue that because you and everyone else to the left of Roger Douglas knows that it’s absurd.

      Industrial democracy is like any other work right – a recognition that production is social and that the workers participating in it should have a degree of control over the workplace decisions that affect them. That our lives should not subject to the whims and mistakes of the powerful, as the workers at LWR have just tragically discovered.

      I’m just taking that principle a little bit further. Industrial democracy is about dignity and control over our lives.

      • Quoth the Raven 3.1.1

        I couldn’t agree with you more about industrial democracy. I would go a little further and say worker’ self-managment As you’ll note in the wiki that the first to argue for this was, the man himself, the first self-described anarchist, Proudhon who also advocated for a free market.

      • vto 3.1.2

        Tane, I don’t think the reverse applies, as you have explained (its not even the reverse). Those other things you mention are for the protection of some against others – what would any such legislation be protecting against. What would it do, such legislation? There is no need for it.

        And nws that, in my post I didn’t argue that there should be no legislation to create such structures. What I said was ‘dont wait for the govt etc and talk endlessly about it, just go and do it’.

        It’s not as if its a new idea. And there have been plenty of MBO’s last few years or so, just adapt that and go.

        Never picked you as an excuse-making procrastinator.

        • Tane 3.1.2.1

          What would it do, such legislation? There is no need for it.

          Clearly there is. The capitalist system perpetuates inequality of wealth and of power relationships. To expect the market to create industrial democracy on an economy-wide scale is just batshit crazy.

          Instituting industrial democracy would requires either direct industrial action by workers, either through strikes or seizures, or legislation.

          Sure, a union or a bunch of workers might be able to buy a failing business here and there if they really wanted, but it would be a single, isolated example. You’re not going to be able to buy the entire economy. And nor should you need to purchase the business to have industrial democracy.

          We’ve seen variants of more democratic workplaces overseas. Germany’s co-determination model is a rather conservative first step and it seems to work very well. Have a look at the Wikipedia article I linked to. Why not do that here for a start and see where it takes us?

          Never picked you as a excuse-making procrastinator.

          It’s called being realistic vto, and having a basic understanding of political economy. Something you seem to lack given your strawman arguments.

          • vto 3.1.2.1.1

            see below

          • Daveski 3.1.2.1.2

            You’ve enough straw in your arguments to feed NZ’s dairy industry.

            The inconvenient point raised above is that the trade off between risk and return is the issue. You are arguing for all return and no return.

            Rather than talking about it (you guys are good at that), why don’t you put it into action seeing you present your opinion here as fact? Indeed, it would be an interesting exercise to see how/if your views changed if your livelihood was reliant on others and your financial reserves were at risk.

            I have no doubt that some businesses are not shining lights of capitalism. Likewise, the concepts you have developed look lovely at university or at a conference but you won’t do anything about trying to make it a reality.

        • Bill 3.1.2.2

          “I didn’t argue that there should be no legislation to create such structures”

          The legislation already exists.

          http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1908/0081/latest/DLM144406.html

          Ltd liability. Full right to borrow and lend, Nominal shares. ($1 non-tradeable non- transferrable which confers full right to input in decision making) ie Fully participatory democratic structure.

  4. Tigger 4

    And where is NACT in all of this…? I don’t see that nice Mr Key running into create stimulus packages to encourage job creation, especially in small towns where they cannot afford to continue being slammed like this.

  5. vto 5

    Oh I see Tane, you think legislation should be introduced to provide that employees get some control over their workplace. Tricky one. That means reduction of ownership rights etc. Which means less investment and everything that flows from that.

    However, if one was set up without any legislation and showed that in fact while it may mean a reduction in ownership rights etc the business and employment result is in fact improved, then you may be most of the way towards what you want. That way there could be little opposition to such legislation (or less anyway).

    Again though Tane, this still points to you guys in the unions setting one up.

    Seriously, don’t wait for the govt. They are bloody useless and monumentally slow.

    LWR may in fact be the perfect opportunity to try this. You would be a hero! Not just to LWR workers, but, if legislation followed, to all NZ workers. You may even get made a knight of the realm for just such a manouevre. Imagine it …

    • vto 5.1

      Or try someone like Dick Hubbard for setting up an example.

      Don’t get me wrong I’m totally open to such ideas and can see how they could work to more people’s benefit.

    • Tane 5.2

      It’s already been tried overseas. As I said, the German co-determination model is one of the more conservative options and it works very well. You can take it anywhere from there.

      As I said, I don’t see a need to purchase the business. I’m all for worker ownership, but given that’s not practical on a large scale at this stage other than through nationalisation, seizure or gradual transfer of ownership (and that’s a whole other argument) the proposal is for industrial democracy within the existing framework of ownership. Baby steps, vto.

    • Quoth the Raven 5.3

      vto – I don’t know entirely what you mean by “reduced” ownership rights but I’m wondering if it’s similar to this old chestnut of an argument here: Vaguely Defined Property Rights Indeed You should certainly read it if you’re saying what I think you’re saying.

  6. Pascal's bookie 6

    So did any of the righties

    Actually read the post?
    Click on the little blue linkies?
    Understand what Tane was talking about?
    Have anything to say about that?

    If so, why are they all blathering on about how the shift workers should buy the company, or whatever the fuck it is they are saying?

    edit: vto now gets it. So there’s 1.

    • vto 6.1

      Am I a rightie p’s b?

      Here’s a bottom line – if such industrial democracy actually works then the business owners will be all for it.

      One of the most simple equations in the world.

      • Bill 6.1.1

        “Here’s a bottom line – if such industrial democracy actually works then the business owners will be all for it.”

        Em. No they wont. At least, not the existing ones.

        Under the existing legislation (link in previous comment), the vertical division of labour is done away with…an end to ‘one man management’. And the business comes to be owned by the shareholders (ie the workers).

    • Daveski 6.2

      Isn’t it a reasonable statement that Tane himself has confused the issue of ownership with industrial democracy?

      Instituting industrial democracy would requires either direct industrial action by workers, either through strikes or seizures, or legislation.

      • Pascal's bookie 6.2.1

        Not necessarily, no. Only one of those options is about ownership.

        • Tane 6.2.1.1

          That’s right. Read the text again Daveski, you can have degrees of industrial democracy with or without worker ownership. I was simply pointing out that the market’s not going to provide it.

          In this post I’m not discussing the issue of worker ownership. It’s everyone else who seems to be.

          • vto 6.2.1.1.1

            “the market’s not going to provide it.”

            I wouldn’t be so sure. As said above, if it works then the business owners will be all for it (despite what Bill says imo).

            You discount the business owners too much and to the workers detriment imo. Your ideology may be impeding the advancement of your ideology.

          • Tane 6.2.1.1.2

            Industrial democracy severely fucks with power relations in the workplace. Bosses don’t tend to like that.

            The reason I say this is experience. Business owners are very big on managerial prerogative. They will strongly oppose anything that weakens the fundamental control of management over the workplace and over staff, even if it means higher production and happier workers.

            You see, the corporation, at its most very basic level, is an authoritarian institution. Authoritarian institutions don’t tend to yield power without a fight.

          • The Baron 6.2.1.1.3

            Well you can’t really blame them for that, Tane – they own the place.

            “I need you to make more stuff” – if the answer was “No” to that, then I would get a bit pissy too…

            I’m not sure how that conversation works any other way. What does an industrial democracy look like, apart from a lot more talking, and a lot less productivity? Genuine question.

          • Tane 6.2.1.1.4

            It’s about workers having control over the decisions the company makes rather than having decisions dictated to them by management.

            What you find is that workers actually want the place they’re working to succeed, they just want some control over their working lives and a fair share of the proceeds.

  7. djp 7

    of course these jobs would never have existed in the first place had some entrepreneur not started the business in the first place

    • Tane 7.1

      I’m sorry, I don’t mean to use exclusionary language, but that’s just too stupid for words.

      • djp 7.1.1

        Is that the best reply you can come up with?

        In my experience people use a dismissal such as this when they aren’t able to come up with a reasoned response to the point.

        In other words “teach me oh wise one”.. why do you think is it so stupid?

        • Tane 7.1.1.1

          Um, because natural resources and labour exist without private entrepreneurs. It’s not like we’d all be sitting around with our fingers up our arses if there weren’t business folk around to tell us what to do.

          Jobs exist because there’s work to do, they don’t exist because an entrepreneur creates a magical job machine to create them out of thin air.

          • The Baron 7.1.1.1.1

            Ah, I think you’re both missing each others point.

            Production needs an idea = “what shall we make?”. Enter entrepreneur.

            Ideas need production = “how do I make this real?”. Enter production.

            Both are necessary. Where I think you fall down is in thinking that the two are mutually exclusive, the origins of class warfare and all that. Tane, I’m afraid you’re guilty of that by equating “entrepreneur” to “business people” above. That’s a fucked up conception of entrepreneurialism, Tane.

            There is nothing to prevent any of these workers from becoming entrepreneurs. All they need is an idea, some gumption to see it through, and some producers to make it.

          • djp 7.1.1.1.2

            Thats kinda my point.. I am not saying the workers are or should be at the mercy of the owners of businesses for opportunity.

            My point is that people created LWR which provided jobs.. great! Now that business is ending.. not so great but hey why are you bagging them so much? If you think you can do a better job at creating (and running) a business then go for it!

            free enterprise FTW

          • Kevyn 7.1.1.1.3

            Tane’s last response is one of the dumbest arguments I’ve read this side of Das Kapital.

            First sentence is missing a critical word that would make it true. Labour and natural resources exist unused or underutilised without entrepreneurs. .

            Second sentence totally false, more obviously so if you replace ‘business folk’ with ‘leaders’. Of course we wouldn’t be sitting around with our fingers up our arses, we would be too busy trying to find food to sate our hunger.

            Third sentence starts with an obvious truth and ends with one of the most absurd untruths possible. Entrepreneurs create either the product that needs to be worked on or the system that makes it possible to do that work within the resource constraints of the economy existing in that time or place.

            Note that I haven’t used the phrase ‘private entrepreneurs’ because anybody who activates a new idea is an entrepreneur, whether primarily for private benefit or communal benefit. Once the organisation of the work reaches the point that a beuracracy is needed then it makes no difference whether the form of the organisation is corporate or government, the effect is eventually the same – stifling of innovation.

            Leaving aside the relative importance of the various tools of production – brain, brawn, nature – which are mere details within any organisation, what is really the fatal flaw in Tane’s post is the implicit assumtion that democracy is what employees naturally aspire towards. No study of human behaviour has ever found this to be true. Group dynamics almost inevitably lead to the appointment of a leader, or ‘boss’, and the subsuming of democracy by politics.

            Tane, You are quite right to claim that Germany’s industrial democracy is only baby steps, Japan has a far more advanced form which was hugely successful.

  8. vto 8

    Well it all actually sounds like an idea worth a jolly good shove. Two things;

    1. Onus appears to be on the left to show it works. In NZ.
    2. Still no sympathy for the poor LWR owners. I have to quote Dr Seuss again “a person is a person no matter how small”.

    edit: Horton the elephant, not Dr Seuss

  9. gingercrush 9

    My question would be what role would the Unions play in something like Industrial Democracy. I would think there is itself a danger when giving workers the ability to hold management to account, and make some of their own decisions if the unions play too big a role in the negotiations and ultimately their part in committees etc. Unions aren’t always democratic themselves and sometimes the leadership of unions are in a much different world to that of the normal worker, the union worker. Would it not be possible for union leadership instead of enhancing worker democracy they rather facilitate in the interests of the leadership and not that of the worker? Would this require compulsory unionisation or would we see only union workers have a say?

    I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea. I wouldn’t like to see it compulsory but rather be something ownership could decide. Though in saying that, I struggle to see how a business would implement something like this without it being compulsory. I certainly would only be in favour if it actually enhanced workers and not the Unions themselves. I’m very distrustful of unions and I believe they do a lot of harm because while they pretend to sympathise with the worker. They are of themselves, part of the elite in this country. I would worry that too much democratic control is actually in the hands of the unions and not that of the normal worker.

    —-

    In regards to LWR. The left is right. The management there were disgusting and the management deserve no sympathy whatsoever. They were absolute shambolic and the business has clearly been in trouble for some time. Receivership doesn’t mean closure. But the company clearly has to undergo some massive changes which will lead inevitably to job losses. My guess, is that some of the meaningful brands left will be sold to other clothing businesses and one or more factories closed. The danger is that they’re left with a “no brand low cost clothing goods company” which, would actually lead to more factory closures and more job losses further down the road.

    {and fuck me I need to learn to write properly)

    • Tane 9.1

      gc, you obviously don’t spend a lot of time in modern unions. It’s not 1976 any more. In any case, I don’t see why such a structure couldn’t run parallel to the union movement. Workers could decide themselves what role, if any, their union played.

      If it’s a model like the German one where workers elect representatives to the board, for example, it would be up to workers to decide whether they chose to put their elected union delegates on the board or whether they put someone else entirely on there. It is, after all, about democracy.

      • gingercrush 9.1.1

        I never said it couldn’t run parallel to a union movement. My questions were largely against the Unions ending up controlling everything. Something I think the Union leadership would do. The leadership is very different from the normal worker. The Union leadership would clearly want a big role in any relationship where a worker is able to hold a company to account and where workers are part of the decision-making.

        • Tane 9.1.1.1

          Which union leadership are you talking about? The elected workplace delegates, the paid organisers, the elected councils and executives, or the general secretaries? You seem to have an idea of the Stalinist “union boss” used to such great effect by right-wing propagandists.

  10. Pat 10

    A worker’s collective could buy the business from the receivers if they got organised and there was a good business case.

    Say 70 workers want out and 400 want in. At $10,000 each that is $4M. LWR’s existing bankers would probably lend $10,000 to each of them individually, either secured or unsecured. Much better than losing money on the company receivership and mortgagee sales on the workers homes.

    So $4M capital to buy the company assets and for working capital. In addition, the Business itself could retain some of LWR’s existing funding lines for working capital.

    The catch is: just like Animal Farm, you need a good pig to take the lead and pull it all together. Surely the Unions should step up to the plate?

    • Bill 10.1

      No pig, but.

      Redundancy payments could well average out at around the $10 000 mark. If the company agreed to the redundancies being paid out under S123, then the total redundancy payment would be about 20% higher than otherwise at no extra cost to the company.

      Since the business itself doesn’t seem to have been the problem, then is it not possible to use projected turnover to help secure any additional loan?

      Plus the security of collective collateral (plus the plant?)

      Anyway. If a substantial number of LWR employees were able to raise the necessary capital, I’ve the legal blueprints for setting up a Worker Collective and practical experience on some of the more fundamental do’s and dont’s of such endeavours.

      More than willing to share. Not holding my breath.

      • Pat 10.1.1

        Andrew Little might be the union’s best pig to lead/set up a workers collective. Except he too busy trying to win a by-election, a general election, become an MP, and get ready to lead Labour after Goff.

        I’ll do the job for $250K and all expenses paid. One year contract.

  11. Bill 11

    Representative industrial democracy?

    Ok. So worker’s reps sit on the board. And the hierarchies of the workplace are maintained.

    So far, no good.

    And what benefits do those reps enjoy? Any perks there that they might have a mind to defend….or that would lead to them developing interests that are different to the interests of those they are meant to be representing?

    Co-opted reps are in many ways worse than no reps.

    I guess what I’m suggesting is that a half way house on the question of democracy is no democracy at all and any attempt to construct such a scenario will be inclined to drift further away from democratic ideas as time goes by due to influences (or the drag effect) of the workplace structures which are fundamentally undemocratic.

  12. Quoth the Raven 12

    Kevyn said:
    Once the organisation of the work reaches the point that a beuracracy is needed then it makes no difference whether the form of the organisation is corporate or government, the effect is eventually the same – stifling of innovation.

    I’m totally agreeing with Kevyn here. Other righties take note of what Kevyn wrote. The dominate corporate form we have today with its large bureaucracy, its bloated middle management epitomises this. This managerialism that conservatives are so fond of is, as Kevyn said, stifling. It’s not only stifling to innovation, it’s stifling to the worker and it’s terribly inefficient. It is exactly this that is an argument for greater worker control in the running of the business and a more horizontal management structure.

    There is a lot of toing and froing between “left” and “right” here, but I believe if we look carefully into the issues at play we’ll see that there is less a degree of difference than one might think. All we have to do is tell the conservatives to go fuck themselves.

    This chapter is on this topic and may interest some people.

  13. Cadwallader 13

    Inventory2: Your words are precise. The agonising over the welfare of one’s business is the side of life my workers never see. I have too much respect for my staff to burden them with it!

    Tigger: You’re an idiot! Why should gumm’int create jobs in out of the way places just for the hell of it? Creating economically dysfunctional employment is demeaning to the workers as much as being perennially on the dole. If small towns are great locations for businesses (and they may well be!) then you set up an enterprise in one of them. There’s plenty of little towns to select from!

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  • Wayne Brown's #Auxit moment
    Boomers voted him in, but Brown’s Trumpish moments might spook Aucklanders worried about what a change to National nationally might mean. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has become our version of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, except without any of the insatiable appetite for media appearances. He ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: NZ needs to distance itself from Australia’s anti-China nuclear submarines
    The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as part of its Aukus pact with the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    20 hours ago
  • Posie Parker vs Transgender Rights.
    Recently you might have heard of a person called Posie Parker and her visit to Aotearoa. Perhaps you’re not quite sure what it’s all about. So let’s start with who this person is, why their visit is controversial, and what on earth a TERF is.Posie Parker is the super villain ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    22 hours ago
  • Select Committee told slow down; you’re moving too fast
    The chair of Parliament’s Select Committee looking at the Government’s resource management legislation wants the bills sent back for more public consultation. The proposal would effectively kill any chance of the bills making it into law before the election. Green MP, Eugenie Sage, stressing that she was speaking as ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #12 2023
    Open access notables  The United States experienced some historical low temperature records during the just-concluded winter. It's a reminder that climate and weather are quite noisy; with regard to our warming climate,, as with a road ascending a mountain range we may steadily change our conditions but with lots of ...
    1 day ago
  • What becomes of the broken hearted? Nanny State will step in to comfort them
    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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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 ...
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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 ...
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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, ...
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
    7 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
    7 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
    1 week 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
    16 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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 ...
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    4 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 ...
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    4 days ago
  • Further humanitarian aid for Türkiye and Syria
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
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    4 days ago
  • Community voice to help shape immigration policy
    Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today.  “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
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    4 days ago
  • State Highway 3 project to deliver safer journeys, better travel connections for Taranaki
    Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
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    4 days ago
  • Ginny Andersen appointed as Minister of Police
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
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    4 days ago
  • Government confirms vital roading reconnections
    Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Foreign Minister Mahuta to meet with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
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    5 days ago
  • Education Ministers from across the Pacific gather in Aotearoa
    Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • State Highway 5 reopens between Napier and Taupō following Cyclone Gabrielle
    A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
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    5 days ago
  • Special Lotto draw raises $11.7 million for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery
    Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government delivers a $3 million funding boost for Building Financial Capability services
    The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
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    1 week ago
  • Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao – new Chair and member
    Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
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    1 week ago
  • Scholarships honouring Ngarimu VC and the 28th (Māori) Battalion announced
    Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today.  The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
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    1 week ago
  • Appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeal and Judge of the High Court
    High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
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    1 week ago
  • NZ still well placed to meet global challenges
    The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Western Ring Route Complete
    Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
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    1 week ago
  • Briefings to Incoming Ministers
    This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Teaming up for a stronger, more resilient Fiji
    Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Investment in blue highway a lifeline for regional economies and cyclone recovery
    The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Next steps developing clean energy for NZ
    The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Statement from the Prime Minister on Stuart Nash
    This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • CPTPP Trade Ministers coming to Auckland
    The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Govt approves $25 million extension for cyclone-affected businesses
    $25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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