Legalize it!

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, January 12th, 2019 - 51 comments
Categories: class war, democratic participation, drugs, Ethics, Media, Politics, polls, Social issues, workers' rights - Tags: , , ,

Most Kiwis are in favour of legalizing Marijuana, according to a new poll reported on NewsHub.*

New Zealand medicinal cannabis company Helius Therapeutics commissioned the poll. Executive director Paul Manning says it will be encouraging for the many New Zealanders who support the liberalisation of recreational cannabis use.

“From this survey, it appears a majority of New Zealanders will vote yes at the 2020 referendum,” Manning says.

“It’s also encouraging for us to see an overwhelming 81 percent of Kiwis continue to support the legal production of medicines from cannabis.

“This very strong support for medicinal use reflects other poll results we’ve seen calling for widespread access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes.”

However, not every one is convinced. Family Fist’s national director Bob McCoskrie, who is leading opposition to the 2020 referendum says the poll is “simply not robust or reliable”.

I guess McCroskie prefers smack.

The voter breakdown is interesting:

Agreement by age:

  • 18 – 24 years: 68%
  • 25 – 34 years: 75%
  • 33 – 44 years: 72%
  • 45 – 54 years: 58%
  • 55 – 64 years: 58%
  • 65 – 74 years: 30%
  • 75yrs & over: 37%

A few grumpy pensioners, but the older they get, the more they seem to value the therapeutic value of herb.

By political leaning (Yes/No):

  • ACT:        49% / 26%
  • Green:     84% / 14%
  • Labour:   63% / 17%
  • Nat:         33% / 48%
  • NZF:        56% / 26%

I wouldn’t have picked NZ First as being in favour, but apparently so. Also interesting that ACT’s ‘personal liberty’ theories only go so far in practice.

And what a dilemma for the Nats! If they publicly oppose a Yes vote in the referendum, they risk alienating potential voters by being seen as squares, maaan.

Ironic given that their leader is a dope.

I’m with the late Peter Tosh on the referendum:

Doctors smoke it
Nurses smoke it
Judges smoke it
Even the lawyer do
So you got to …

Legalize it!

 

*(Tip of the TS titfer to Dennis Frank).

 

51 comments on “Legalize it! ”

  1. solkta 1

    The important thing now is that the gummint come up with a good model for legalisation and have the legislation passed before the election so that it is very clear for people what they are voting for.

    • Dennis Frank 1.1

      I’m inclined to agree, but there’s an equally good counter-argument. Dunno if you have been following the various threads on Public Address in recent months, but a strong body of opinion prefers simplicity.

      The basic idea is the most voters are simple-minded, so give them a simple question. Legalise or not? Informed choice theory presumes enough decades have passed for most voters to feel they are sufficiently informed to choose.

      Then, representative democracy theory tells us that a referendum vote in favour of legalisation empowers representatives to vote in favour of appropriate legislation. The devil will work his way into the details of that, in the minds of those who design and write the law.

      • greywarshark 1.1.1

        Basic information,should be available on flyers and advertisements weeks before and to be read before voting. Facts about the present failure and brief reasons. Facts about the expected advantages and the expected rise in stats of users who can come out from cover.

        Set out with bullet points in honest fashion and underneath what it is costing the country in solid dollars, untaxed earnings by sellers, and ill health from overuse or degraded ingredients.

      • solkta 1.1.2

        I don’t think just asking “legalise yes/no” is simple at all. Clearly the drug will not be fully legalised as in no controls at all. And at the other end of the scale there is not a clear line between legalising and decriminalising.

        What exactly would be legalised? Having a quite smoke at home? Smoking in public places like at a park or the beach? Buying at fat cone at a bar along with ya vodka shots? And how would the supply be controlled? Cannabis clubs? Grow your own? Buy it at the bottle store? Special cannabis shops? At the supermarket?! What would the age limit be?

        While it is clear most people see the need to change the law, many will still want reassurance as to the details. Those strongly in support will want reassurance that the changes go far enough. There are many people out there in the don’t-vote community who will only take this seriously if it has a clear and binding outcome.

        Not having the specifics sorted would i think make it difficult to make the referendum binding.

        Also, getting on and drafting the law would mean less delay as it would take effect immediately after the election. This change has been too long coming. This would also make it hard for National to scuttle the thing or water it down on the slim chance that they form the next government. They would have to pass legislation to delete the bill already passed.

        • Dennis Frank 1.1.2.1

          There’s been much discussion of these details in the lobbying and design forums. I’m inclined to agree with you in regard to the merits of a prescriptive design for the referendum, but the outline of the alternative I posted ought to inform you why so many prefer simplicity in the referendum question.

          Essentially, the divide is between people who want a principled choice and people who want to vote for well-designed legislation. As I pointed out, representative democracy was designed to cater for the first crowd. It was deliberately designed not to cater for the second crowd. That’s the reality we’re stuck in.

          The front-running progressive lobby groups seem to have coalesced around two questions: one for civil rights and one for commerce. I don’t have them handy, but google has relevant search results: cannabis reform nz, legalisation cannabis nz, legalise marijuana nz – one cannot assume they will list the same websites, of course!

          • solkta 1.1.2.1.1

            It is still representative democracy as only one option for law change will be offered, and this will have been formulated by the representatives.

            • Dennis Frank 1.1.2.1.1.1

              Yes, that’s true. It remains to be seen how much progressive MPs go along with the consensus of reformists…

  2. ropata 2

    Yes. Police ignore cannabis use.

    Peter Dunne has a lot to answer for. Ever since he outlawed pseudoephedrine, illegal analogues of party pills and cannabis have regularly killed young Kiwis.

    Fuck the War on Drugs

  3. greywarshark 3

    Be practical Labour Coalition – legalise or de-criminalise – whatever wise counsel and recovered or controlled users recommend. Just do it as well as regarding it as a biosecurity threat or something, so that tonnes of the stuff can’t be imported. Get together with leading gangs and see if they are willing to contract to grow to a standard.

    • ropata 3.1

      “Get together with gangs” ?!?
      No thanks. One huge benefit of ending Prohibition was the removal of criminal thugs from the supply chain, and ending their lucrative income stream. These are not good people.

      • greywarshark 3.1.1

        ropata
        I agree. But they are set in their ways, have structure, and have purpose. What will they take up to replace their income stream? The country is basically diseased at its core, no thriving internal domestic business structure, and pockets of groups, iwi, working to limit the spread of apathy and anger, but only so much available work for NZs.

        Gang members need something to do; can they turn to horticulture, tame, adapt themselves to work at a useful business where they can get respect and money. Could they cope with that after living a defiant, disobedient, outlaw lifestyle. And all gangs aren’t the same – could some manage it and not others? Why shouldn’t the ones who want to try not be given the chance because other gangs are embedded in their ‘wild west ways’?

        The researcher who did a sociological study of gangs might like to put some ideas forward about this.
        Dr Jarrod Gilbert Sociologist – Jarrod Gilbert Home Page
        http://www.jarrodgilbert.com/
        He is currently writing a book on murder and he writes a bloody great blog. … ​If you’re looking for some help with research or expert evidence feel free to drop … on gangs or my book Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand go here or …

        https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/74576543/null

        Book
        http://www.press.auckland.ac.nz/en/browse-books/all-books/books-2013/Patched-The-History-of-Gangs-in-New-Zealand.html
        Based on ten years of research among gangs, Patched is the first major history of gang life in New Zealand. Jarrod Gilbert traces the story from the bodgies and widgies of the 1950s, through the rise of the Hells Angels and other ‘bikie’ gangs in the 1960s, the growth of the Mongrel Mob and Black Power in the 1970s and on to shifts in gang activity around drugs and organised crime over the last ten years. Throughout, Gilbert brings us the gang members, the police and the politicians in their own gripping and gritty words.

        In this violent and sometimes horrifying book, Jarrod Gilbert takes readers for the first time inside a tough but revealing part of New Zealand life….

        Author
        Jarrod Gilbert spent ten years with New Zealand gangs researching this book. He received a University of Canterbury Doctoral Scholarship and a C. Wright Mills Award, earning his PhD in sociology in 2010. Gilbert now conducts independent research, lectures at the University of Canterbury and is frequently sought by the media to comment on gangs.

        Winner, People’s Choice Award, New Zealand Post Book Awards 2013

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.1

          I read, sometime ago, that many gang members belong to gangs simply because they don’t feel that they belong anywhere else.

          By being open and welcoming to them maybe many would ‘return’.

      • Anno1701 3.1.2

        Most of these gangsters are fundamentally more honest and less of a danger to society than the suits that will replace them if ganja is corporatised

      • Tamati Tautuhi 3.1.3

        Gangs like the Chinese Triads, Hells Angels, Mongrel Mob, Filthy Few & the Head Hunters are sometimes not particularly nice people especially if you owe them money for drugs you have bought from them, just IMHO.

        • ropata 3.1.3.1

          The gangs threaten people’s lives and families and profit from misery. I have no respect for this soppy wet liberal view that we just need to love each other and sing Kumbaya.

  4. I think the aspect of legalizing something that people are already doing is important. I really can’t see great hordes going yay now I might try it – lol – you like, you not like… already.

  5. joe90 5

    Pleased to see Chlöe Swarbrick realises that the venture capitalists eyeing up the industry will almost certainly move to exclude those with experience.

    People with previous cannabis convictions should be able to supply legal medicinal cannabis and, if recreational use became legal, be offered a clean slate, Green MP Chloe Swarbrick says.

    But the National Party say only “fit and proper persons” should manufacture legal cannabis.

    Swarbrick’s comments follow an email exchange – released to the National Party under the Official Information Act – showing that the Greens had asked Ministry of Health officials to look at proposals for the medicinal cannabis legislation, including one that would “allow individuals with previous drug convictions to manufacture cannabis”.

    The Greens’ proposal never came before the House, but that door has not closed.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12188844

    • Anno1701 5.1

      Once legal people with convictions on there record should have them expunged, how can you reasonably be penalised for something that isn’t a crime?

      • SHG 5.1.1

        Once legal people with convictions on there record should have them expunged, how can you reasonably be penalised for something that isn’t a crime?

        Please tell me more about the Nuremberg Trials

        • Anno1701 5.1.1.1

          Nice false equivalency there. I really don’t think genocide and floriculture belong in the same sentence, You feel the same way about people convicted of homosexuality before it was legalised?

  6. Draco T Bastard 6

    I wouldn’t have picked NZ First as being in favour, but apparently so. Also interesting that ACT’s ‘personal liberty’ theories only go so far in practice.

    To be honest, I’m not surprised by either of these.

    NZ1st may be a bit of a gerontocracy but they do seem to look at what works to at least some degree.

    As for ACT, well, Scratch a libertarian and find an authoritarian. They’re very much in favour of rich people doing what they like and everyone else doing what the rich people tell them to do.

    • greywarshark 6.1

      Like that summary of ACT types. They are types actually, not people with really functioning brains.

    • Tamati Tautuhi 6.2

      ACT Seymour scratching his head with one hand and scratching his arse with the other ?

  7. greywarshark 7

    However, not every one is convinced. Family Fist’s national director Bob McCoskrie, who is leading opposition to the 2020 referendum says the poll is “simply not robust or reliable”

    His job depends on keeping an unrelenting line on cannabis. It keeps him on his perch, and the important, solemn job of being the favourite go-to conservative on drugs for the media.

    His theme song:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEm9vivjW1E
    Do nothing till you hear from me
    And you never will…
    If you should take the words of others..
    I haven’t a chance.

  8. ropata 8

    Smearing a citizen engaging the democratic process is not a good look for the Left. McCroskrie is perfectly within his rights to express his values and conscience.

    • greywarshark 8.1

      ropata
      How can you say McCroski is being smeared. Fact – he is a go to person for the media. Fact – he has a perch from which he looks down and criticises others who want drug/drugs decriminalised. I question your version of free speech ropata, I thought you were more concerned about ordinary people getting a better deal than this. Seems I was wrong. I do recognise that I can be wrong about some things. Can you also, ropata?

      • ropata 8.1.1

        Yes you can be wrong about some things.

        TRP called him “family fist” and said that he “prefers smack”. His front lawn has been targeted by activists in the past in a clear intimidation tactic.

        I support decriminalisation, but freedom of speech and a proper democratic process is actually more important than some stoners’ need for weed.

    • Dennis Frank 8.2

      True, but when he crosses the ethical line and issues disinformation then he becomes a valid target of criticism, eh?

      “The poll had a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level”. Note that he asserts that it is not robust or reliable without providing any evidence to back up his claim – unless he did and Newshub failed to include it in their report.

      On the face of it, the poll meets normal scientific standards because it uses the same margin of error and confidence level as a political poll, right? So it looks like he is trying get away with unethical conduct.

  9. RedLogix 9

    Sighs … this debate will go on until we understand why people self-medicate with drugs.

    The ‘war on drugs’ was doomed to be a miserable, cruel failure because it never addressed the root causes.

    Yet everyone who claims drugs did them ‘no harm’ cannot measure what ‘might have been’ had they not used them. Every choice has consequences.

    I made a decision decades ago to avoid all drugs, including alcohol. And here I am still working damn nearly at retirement in a high tech, high stress roles that involve 14 hour days for weeks on end in remote locations, commissioning big machines and plant worth hundreds of millions of dollars for demanding project managers who expect miracles on a daily basis.

    I’m fairly sure this wouldn’t be on the table if drugs/alcohol had been a regular part of my adult life. It’s just anecdata I know, and n=1. But it’s my view for what it’s worth.

    Maybe a more evolved society, maybe decades or hundreds of years into the future will have a better collective understanding and outlook on this question. But for now there is no silver bullet; every individual gets to face up to the role drugs will play in their life, their relationship to their unique genetics and physiological make-up, plus their own life experiences. It’s something everyone gets to take personal responsibility for and is best left to the individual conscience.

    This seems to be the experience of those countries which have decriminalised; although I’d like to see more data on their outcomes over a longer period of time. The unanswered question is this; if someone chooses to abuse drugs/alcohol to the point where they become a problem/cost to other people … how do the rest of us respond?

    • greywarshark 9.1

      The thing to include in your thinking Red Logix, is where and how do these people get their drugs from? Are they from a culture in which drugs are embedded? Did they buy them from people and a company that enriched itself on people drinking till all hours, to excess. Probably. Myers is one, and a number of our upper crust have beer or wine-flavoured meat in their pies. But then they can buy kits and make their own which is a great skill and can result in many enjoyable conversations with other taste connosieurs? and may not, but can lead to heavy drinking only at home, and more cheaply.

      In NZ the colonists brought their love of the drug alcohol with them. There is a love-hate relationship about booze and some people grow up handling life without it, lucky you didn’t start, and some like to have a beer/wine/port/sherry/spirits in hand at every possible occasion. Maori were seduced by drug (alcohol) to give up many of their values and resources.

      Alcoholics are hooked on to the surface easy-going persona, of the habitual drinker, nothing fazes them. Even when they can’t manage life and their own bodily functions, if they can make excuses for not being in a happy place all the time and blame someone else, they will. It’s basically whether you can bullshit yourself so as not to see anything too clearly, or whether you can manage your way through the problems and uncertainties to succeed at your projects as you have done Red Logix.

      Perhaps we should be allowed a short time of irresponsibility before we die when we do bloody well what we like after having fretted and trained and responsible and dependable and kind and worthy all one’s life. Then let it rip!

      • RedLogix 9.1.1

        Yes alcohol has always been the 300 kg silverback in the room when it comes to any discussion about drugs in the Anglosphere. We have a long history with it; going back to medieval times at least when fermented beers and brews where pretty much the only safe liquids to drink.

        But the sad fact is that it takes out around 5 – 10 % of the population. It’s a terrible price to pay.

        I’m thinking of a brother-in-law, a decent bloke, skilled and hard-working, good-hearted and talented in many ways … but his life-long relationship with boozing has defined who he is and placed a tight little fence around what he might have achieved. By contrast on the rare occasions I drink, I’ll have 2-3 glasses, enough to relax, then I stop. If I go past that I know either I’ll fall asleep or hurt too much the next day to function effectively.

        The difference is largely genetic I think; I certainly don’t put it down to willpower or moral superiority. There is so much about this we really don’t understand well.

        • Cinny 9.1.1.1

          RL, re alcohol… the brainwashing into society….

          Looking for an anniversary card for my parents and so many had pictures of champagne. Manufacturing consent.

          Made me reflect again about the spider web of companies attached to the liquor industry.

          Was like, girls check this out, here’s how they try to brainwash you into normalising alcohol.

        • Jim 9.1.1.2

          “The difference is Genetic” I agree totally some can handle alcohol some can’t.
          From a personal perspective I have found that Marijuana helps too fight against what is possibly a pre disposed genetic desire to drink far too much.

    • Dennis Frank 9.2

      The question of how much any particular drug impairs any particular person is a fraught one. Politicians using the `one size fits all’ approach make it worse, and they still infest our democracy like cockroaches. On the left as well as on the right.

      I found cannabis had an upside more often than a downside in my high-tech, high-stress career. But I was always careful to use it similarly to a homeopathic. A problem with blood-tests is they apparently can’t differentiate between long-term storage of thc in the body & any recent intake catalysing the brain.

      • RedLogix 9.2.1

        I get that; to be crystal clear I somewhat reluctantly accept that drug use is best left to the individual conscience.

        Although this also means that the consequences are also best left to individual to pick up the tab on as well.

        • Dennis Frank 9.2.1.1

          Yes, I agree. The problem for public policy is what to do about victims of chosen lifestyles. In this case, those in whom self-abuse has become prevalent. Those incapable of self-management, and also unable to pay the cost of health consequences.

          • RedLogix 9.2.1.1.1

            And at that point it’s not hard to see the moderate right asking the hard question “why should everyone else pay for their poor choices?”

            I pose that as a devils advocate question; but in terms of natural justice it’s a hard one to avoid. And one we’d better have a good answer to.

            • Dennis Frank 9.2.1.1.1.1

              Totally. I don’t feel adequate in regard to answering. My best guess is that we still feel okay about following the christian ethic, despite being secular. Look after everyone, even losers.

              I bail out when it comes to serial killers. That when I revert to the Auckand Island solution that I terrified the Greens with long ago!

            • greywarshark 9.2.1.1.1.2

              But Red Logix – you are thinking like a machine. The people who have become addicted, affected badly by drugs or whatever can actually, if one wants to know, be modelled in a system that will demonstrate that a certain percentage will tend towards drugs, looking at past history, proximity to supplies etc. The machine approach can work out the variables and show that in a certain number of a certain make-up, a certain percentage will be vulnerable. This is not just a matter of choice, it is a tendency that has been exacerbated by events and standard of living.

              It is just unreasonable to look at failung people and condemn them for poor choices. Some people can come through extremely hard times and survive and rise, some can’t. Sometimes the ones that fail are those who had everything going for them. A period of not having doting parents and everything laid out for them can be very salutary.

              They are part of life, and while you know that you are superior to them in most things, it is wise to remember the path and supports or lucky chances that led you to where you are.

  10. Sabine 10

    Labour will not find the spine nor the guts to push meaningful cannabis reform, The Greens will be missing in action ( i did vote for them – but it seems i voted for a ghost party), and National once they realise that they are still the Party with no mates and not enough voters to win even a baking contest will promise to legalize weed or decriminalize personal use (at a minimum) and thus will have good chances of winning an election because of it. This ‘reform’ is Labours and the Greens to fuck it up.

    to those that say why do people use it?

    I guess the correct answer is because they want to be high, forget the current day to day misery, might get a good night sleep without pain, etc etc. Not that any of our current/past/future overlords were to give a dime about such things.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pG_LtrffAs

  11. bwaghorn 11

    I was at a smoke free venue yesterday (plenty of booze )
    Will pot be allowed at these things as smokables? Or edibles.

    • Dennis Frank 11.1

      Good question. My guess is that users will be told to vamoose to the periphery of the group. Probably even further, if youngsters are present. Which they will happily accede to, having lived most of their lives on the margins…

      • bwaghorn 11.1.1

        It needs to be very clear to the public what exactly we a voting for in the referendum.

      • millsy 11.1.2

        Smoke free is smoke free, regardless of what is being smoked.

        Also, if and when pot is decriminalized, I am picking that social mores will kick in and pot smoking in social and public spaces will be more or less discouraged. Just as openly reading a porn magazine in a public park, or cracking open a bottle of beer on a Monday morning.

        • Dennis Frank 11.1.2.1

          Yeah, I think you’re right and I made the same point in different words. I have no problem with that outcome. It would be uncool to expect others to tolerate the smoke – even with a vapouriser it would be unreasonable to expect tolerance.

    • Cinny 11.2

      With an ‘edible’ you could eat it outside the event before you go in.

      An edible can take a little time to ‘come on’ maybe 20mins or so.

      The resulting high can last for hours depending on the strength.

      No need to mix it with heaps of alcohol.

      When will they have drinks for stoners at bars/clubs?

      That’s seriously missing.

      Nothing with vitamin C please to make the ‘high’ last.

      Knock back some orange juice to reduce or even stop the ‘high’.

      Pot of tea
      Glass of milk
      Milkshake
      Iced Coffee
      Chai

  12. Morrissey 12

    I presume, Te Reo, that you have read Redmer Yska’s splendid history of marijuana in this country. As well as Yska’s brilliant writing, there is a great picture of Thelonius Monk being interviewed on his N.Z. tour.

  13. ken 13

    People should be allowed to grow a few plants and possess marijuana.

  14. A 14

    Great news!!

    Finally progress on this front

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    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    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’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    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 ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    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
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours 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
    7 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
    9 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
    10 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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    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
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
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