More bluster, still no policies

Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, June 20th, 2008 - 49 comments
Categories: im/migration, national, slippery - Tags:

Every month, Stats releases migration figures. Each month, they show little change in the pattern from last month. And each month, National comes out all in a fury over the figures as if they herald Armageddon while offering no substance, just a lot of bluster.

Nothing has changed from April. In the month of April, a net 3210 Kiwis emigrated to Aussie, in May 2,833. We are at a high point of the migration cycle, and it remains well within the trends of previous cycles. Net immigration in the April year was 4666, in the May year: 4,931.  As before, in the last year 99.33% of Kiwis liked New Zealand so much they stayed here.

We could have a serious debate about how to improve wages and public services so more people will stay here but National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign is not about serious debate. This is just another hit and run attack from National designed to sow discontent, not provide answers.

No mention in the Nats’ press release of the wage gap they used to be so obsessed with, either. Because they’ve got no policy, no answer, only attack lines and they think that’s all it will take to get them back into power.

49 comments on “More bluster, still no policies ”

  1. T-rex 1

    Steve – check the second to last sentence of your first paragraph.

    That seems like an unlikely figure for net migration within a month? I think you mean gross emigration.

    Interesting to look at net long term arrivals over the past ten years.

    This list is long term arrivals – long term departures.

    1,056
    -11,343
    -9,063
    -11,114
    31,231
    42,541
    23,983
    8,799
    10,192
    10,682
    4,931

    So some people leave, and even more come here to replace them.

    In a few months I’m going to be along term departure-er.

    I’m gonna write an open letter to National when I do, and explain precisely what kind of country I hope to come back to in 10 years time.

  2. T-rex 2

    Lol, you just changed graphs on me!!!

  3. mike 3

    “and they think that’s all it will take to get them back into power.”

    Steve the way labour are self-distructing (corrections the latest fiasco)the Nats don’t even need to attack.

    Why are you not more critical of Labours failing tactics and inability to stop the bleeding?

  4. I think the concern some people have surrounding the migration numbers has more to do with “churn” than the actual net numbers. Departure numbers rose strongly over the past 18 months, and arrivals have risen strongly as well – helping to keep the net number positive.

    But, the people that are leaving often have specific skills (they are used to working inside New Zealand businesses), while new arrivals need time to get this new institutional knowledge (its sort of like learning by doing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning-by-doing). As a result, this churn of employees could be damaging productivity even if the net inflow of people is not changing much.

    The fact that much of the new labour we get in is skilled should help to moderate this impact, however I can understand why this feature of the migration numbers may still be concerning

  5. mike. we are. look at the hit and run post, it’s critical of Labour, look at our posts on what we think labour and the greens should do policywise, there’s dozens of them.

  6. kk 6

    “Nats don’t even need to attack.”

    The Nats have been constantly attacking, I mean what’s been the point of this post? National are clearly misleading the public in despiration. They simply don’t represent the average NZer.

    The wage gap, emigration to Australia, North of $50 tax cut… it’s all emotional

    Has the standard not successfully countered these claims?

  7. Steve: “We are at a peak point of the migration cycle”: so do you have some numbers to prove that we are at the peak of the cycle ?

    Previous upsurges in migration to Australia occurred during times of economic downturn in New Zealand, this one has occurred during a period of economic growth. With even Michael Cullen forecasting recession surely it is more likely that migration to Australia will increase rather than fall away.

  8. roger nome 8

    Bryan:

    “Previous upsurges in migration to Australia occurred during times of economic downturn in New Zealand, this one has occurred during a period of economic growth.”

    As did the huge down-turn in net migration. Which would tend to indicate that there’s more to it than economic circumstances in NZ. What about economic circumstances in Aus? What about the global minerals bull-market, and the massive increase in wages in the mining sector?

    All we can take out of this is that National’s migration attack lines are spurious and misleading.

  9. Quoth the Raven 9

    But, the people that are leaving often have specific skills

    I suggest you look at this Standard post.
    From the Independent Financial Review:
    Far from losing our “best and brightest’ as business lobby groups insist about half of Kiwi migrants are blue collar or “no collar’ workers, according to departure card information collated by Statistics New Zealand

    It’s that old reality thing again. You National supporters really struggle with it.

  10. Matt:”helping to keep the net number positive.”

    Net long term migration has been steadily trending down and is currently negative.

    [yeah maybe if you use Bernard Hickey as your source (whatever happened to his daily blogs on govt waste, anyway). If you use a reputable source like Stats NZ, there is net migration, just a touch under 5000 last year. SP]

  11. ” Net long term migration has been steadily trending down and is currently negative.”

    Seasonally adjusted monthly net migration has not been negative for a long time (go to the tables to check, http://www.stats.govt.nz/products-and-services/hot-off-the-press/external-migration/external-migration-may08-hotp.htm?page=para004Master).

    Net migration is almost always negative in May for seasonal factors – not adjusting for that is highly inappropriate.

    Also as the person in the black text underneath says, it is better to look at annual totals than monthly totals anyway – as even seasonal adjustment can be a bit finicky

  12. burt 12

    Looking at the graph and reading this post I can interpret the following.

    As shown by the graph net emigration doubled in 5 years under National and that was really really bad.

    It’s doubled in 5 years under Labour and that’s OK because it’s just part of a cycle as evidenced by the graph.

    CAPTCHA: em- country : Spooky thing this standard captcha.

  13. alex 13

    99.33% means 0.67% of kiwis emigrated… that’s almost 1%.
    If that rate continues over the next 100 years how many kiwis would be left back in NZ?

    If 99.9% or higher stayed in NZ that would be impressive, 99.33% I’m not so sure.

  14. bill brown 14

    If that rate continues over the next 100 years how many kiwis would be left back in NZ?

    Well:

    Some people reproduce
    Some people come back
    Some people from other countries come here

    So I would say, more Kiwis will live in NZ in one hundred years than live here now.

    And we’ll all be flying hydrogen powered helicopters – yippee!

    And the capcha’s IGNORES con-, which is just freaky

  15. T-rex 15

    Alex – I’ve got no prob with you so don’t take this as a personal attack, just putting the “issue” in perspective.

    Actually it’d have to increase by another 50% before it was 1%, but whatever.

    “If that rate continues over the next 100 years how many kiwis would be left back in NZ?”

    0.9933^100 = 51%

    OH NO!

    Of course… those people coming TO NZ are in many cases returning, and in other cases immigrants… who kinda BECOME kiwis, unless you’re so xenophobic as to declare that you’re only a kiwi if you were NZ born and living here on the 21st of june 2008.

    Lets be ultra pessimistic, and say it takes 20 years to become complimentary to ‘kiwi’ culture, and that every person who comes here is completely incompatible (ignoring the fact that we’re actually a multicultural nation already etc etc, worst case the sky is falling).

    Given that net immigration is currently positive, despite the terrible exodus, and that we’re seeing 0.66% leave each year, and that all of the people who leave are well adjusted ‘Kiwis’ and everyone who arrives are cannibals from indonesian tribes who enjoy ritual sacrifice… we get…

    0.9933^20 = 87% purebred kiwis after 20 years. But by that point, all the ones who arrived at the start of our timeframe are fully integrated, so it never gets any lower.

    So, even if you’re a crazy xenophobe with an incredibly restrictive definition of ‘Kiwi’, you’re still going to have a country absolutely full of them.

    If you’re anyone who’s even remotely reasonable you’d barely bother to consider the issue, except for saying hi to your neighbors regardless of where they happen to be from.

  16. T-rex 16

    Helicopters are noisy and slow Bill.

    I want one of these puppies

  17. bill brown 17

    Quicker – probably,
    Quieter – not so much!

    Not so sure of the crap coming out of the exhaust either.

  18. T-rex 18

    Pfft, details!

    Crap coming out of the exhaust isn’t so flash, but you could run it on a oxyhydrogen mix just as readily as you could a helicopter (probably more so, since it’s a far more potentially efficient design in terms of general aerodynamics – wing rather than rotor disc).

    Also it is more awesome than… well, pretty much anything ever.

    Actually, the fact that we can send a probe to mars and land it without breaking and dig around and find water is pretty awesome.

    If they find strong evidence of life I’m going to cheer my ass off.

  19. NOYB 19

    It’s not hard to have net positive migration: you just increase the flow of immigrants to New Zealand by turning on the tap faster. There are plenty of people from different parts of the world wanting to come to New Zealand, from China, South Africa, Korea, etc. That isn’t the same as returning New Zealanders and the experience shows that many immigrants to New Zealand stay long enough just to get their New Zealand passport and then move to Australia.

    The real damage is in the number of New Zealand-born people moving to Australia and not coming back, and the small number of New Zealand-born people choosing not to return to New Zealand.

    Steve Pierson is again trying to fudge some pretty dodgy figures to begin with to spin his silly argument. New Zealand has experienced, according to the Standard, the longest sustained period of economic growth in several generations, yet increasingly New Zealanders are proving that they have no confidence in their ability to make a decent living in New Zealand, by choosing to move elsewhere.

  20. T-rex 20

    NOYB – I’ll give you ten minutes to find the glaring inconsistency in your argument while I make a coffee.

    Sorry. Inconsistencies.

  21. outofbed 21

    NYOB by name NYOB by nature

  22. T-rex 22

    It’s not hard to have net positive migration: you just increase the flow of immigrants to New Zealand by turning on the tap faster.

    Assuming of course that they want to come here… meaning your country needs to be a nice place to live.

    the experience shows that many immigrants to New Zealand stay long enough just to get their New Zealand passport and then move to Australia

    Right… so the people who you claim we allow to immigrate to keep our population up actually go on to emigrate a few years later, featuring in our LOWER emigration statistics. So most of our emigrants aren’t departing kiwis, but departing recent arrivals. Oh no call batman.

    The real damage is in the number of New Zealand-born people moving to Australia and not coming back, and the small number of New Zealand-born people choosing not to return to New Zealand.

    Sorry? First, as I indicate above, WHAT real damage? Second – you say yourself, the SMALL NUMBER. Yes. It’s a small number.

    Additionally, for an argument to appeal to those of you who resent low earners… who do you think the allure of Australia’s high incomes is greater for? Those on a low income who are forced to compromise their lifestyle, or those on a high income who aren’t? Rhetorical question – obviously if your logic is correct then the immigrants will be the poor people, not the rich ones.

    In reality, NZ IS a great place to live, which is why barely anyone leaves, and those that do largely come back.

  23. T-rex 23

    And for the xenophobes in the audience…

    The liquor store owner in Auckland who was shot recently was an indian immigrant. He owned a business and was a really nice guy by all accounts.

    What the hell is wrong with people like that choosing to move to NZ? If anything we should be getting them to bring their friends.

    Maybe, if we’re really lucky, they’ll get enough for a lynch mob and deal to the guys who shot him.

    Difficult upbringing and societal abandonment are terrible things, but if you shoot someone for a few beers and leave laughing then you’re right off my ‘nice’ list.

  24. NOYB 24

    No T-Rex it wasn’t a xenophobic argument. You’re too quick to pull out the racist card.

    In general, new immigrants are not as immediately productive as current New Zealanders. They take time to adjust to new systems, new locations, new languages. Simply saying you don’t have a migration problem when 80,000 New Zealanders depart, to be replaced by 80,000 migrants is nonsense.

    Yes there are plenty of places in the world less desirable to live than New Zealand. But we don’t market ourselves as being slightly more desirable than China or India. We aspire to being as desirable to live in as Australia, Britain, or the US. If the government wanted to it could open the taps and we’d have an extra million people living here.

    Right now far more New Zealanders are choosing to live in Australia and Britain than are Australians and Brits prepared to live in New Zealand.

  25. T-rex 25

    Did you read what I wrote above on the actual numbers?

    Yes, people come and people go. The same thing happens with employees in companies all them time and the world doesn’t come to an end.

    It prevents cultural and economic stagnation. It’s a good thing!

    If no one left and no one arrived, THEN I’d be worried

  26. I think the problem is people leaving for economic reasons. Welfare people seldom do that, and people doing really well seldom do it either. I can tell you from personal experience it is a lot harder to do well in NZ than the US or UK. Even complete idiots can do well in the US.

    Whether Labour has made this worse I’m not sure (how can you tell anyway, without a parallel universe to compare against), but they certainly haven’t tried to make it better. Policies have all been about soaking and beating the rich, crowding as many people into welfare as possible (WFF) and directly employing as many voters as they can afford. Whether people think rationally about staying or going is highly debatable, but these sorts of things create negative feeling. How many people do you know who have said ‘stuff it, I’m off to Aus’. Half my (enormous) extended family lives there.

    And those who think you can entice people back with silly advertising campaigns or bribe them with student loan incentives: be careful. The former will probably head back just long enough to buy a nice holiday home. The latter will just resent their birth country for the golden handcuffs.

    I wouldn’t be crowing about losing nearly 1% of the population in a year – I’m sure that wasn’t your intention. But how about some thoughts as to how to reverse it. I won’t be the last rat to leave.

  27. Daveski 27

    Hey mod … isn’t this a bit boring and repetitive?? 🙂

    Funny, there was an article in the Dom Post today saying exactly the opposite.

    NZ has had 9 brilliant years of economic wonders under Labour … yet NZers still leave for Australia. What do you think will happen when the proverbial hits the fan (and I’m not talking about the mod modding me either!).

    The same article pointed out that one of the main problems is the Labour’s targetting of the “rich pricks” – the politics of envy.

    But then that’s a media beat up isn’t it?

  28. r0b 28

    The same article pointed out that one of the main problems is the Labour’s targetting of the “rich pricks’ – the politics of envy.

    Sure beats National’s targeting of the poor – the politics of greed.

    But then that’s a media beat up isn’t it?

    Pretty much, yeah.

  29. burt 29

    Ugggg Labour flog the rich – grunt – so National must flog the poor. Grunt. Uggg – Labour good – National bad.

  30. It seems a poor time to say so, burt, but I thought your comment at Cameron’s blog was immensely appropriate and showed real integrity.

    (Ugggggg)

  31. burt 31

    Robinsod

    It’s a crap post. It lowers my opinion of him. Bloody hell I agreed with NRT today, I told DPF he made a crap argument as well. Must be the Ritalin.

    Cheers.

  32. zANavAShi 32

    …or the Blue Fairy visited you in the night and Robinsod is Jiminy Cricket?

    (Awwwww)

  33. Clinton,
    You are wrong. Here’s why.
    http://www.interest.co.nz/ratesblog/index.php/2008/06/22/the-emigration-surge-to-australia-is-not-normal/

    On your comments about my focus on government spending a lack of posts. My apologies to you and others looking forward to regular posts. I’ve been unable to post because of a family funeral. I’m back now and will have to work hard to catch up on my promise of one a day. There’s a post in the locker at http://www.stuff.co.nz/showmethemoney that will be published in the next day or two to get things cracking again.
    I’m enjoying the Standard. You should take advertising to help pay for some of your publishing costs…

    cheers
    Bernard

    [lprent: Why bother with advertising. It doesn’t cost me much. I would say less than smoking, but I’m giving that up]

  34. erikter 34

    “I’m enjoying the Standard. You should take advertising to help pay for some of your publishing costs.”

    Sound suggestion, although the question is: does The Standard need it? They appear to have an endless source of funds.

    Of course, the Labour Party has nothing to do with it!

    [lprent: Ah the Wishart style of ‘facts’. Take two correct statements, put them together and insinuate a totally incorrect conclusion. The dickhead lie that assumes the audience is stupid – I am not.

    Care to offer any reason I shouldn’t give you the boot for lying about me?]

  35. T-rex 35

    I’m enjoying the Standard. You should take advertising to help pay for some of your publishing costs

    LOL!

    GROSSLY disingenuous suggestion I fear! For the sake of $70 a month you’d get to face endless heckling about various EFA infringements! What a BARGAIN!

    I’ll go through your post in detail later on, from a first read your conclusions are too speculative to warrant a statement such as “you are wrong”. However, I like the way you write and act – nice to have you here.

  36. bill brown 36

    I think the problem is people leaving for economic reasons

    Reading this:

    The grass isn’t greener across the Ditch

    I would say that people are leaving for perceived economic reasons.

  37. erikter: “Labour has started The Standard.” Colin Espiner appears to agree with you.

  38. bill brown: “I would say that people are leaving for perceived economic reasons.”

    The Sunday Star Times article was interesting (though the link you gave appears to go nowhere now).

    It was interesting that the examples they offered for housing were within 4km of the central city, I suspect the situation would be similarly unaffordable within 4 kms of downtown Auckland i.e. Herne Bay, Newmarket, Parnell, Remuera, Ponsonby. It would be interesting to compare Botany Downs with its equivalent in Australia: this is more the kind of dormitory suburb young families would be headed to.

  39. T-rex 39

    Lynn – It might just be me but you seem to be getting pretty heavy handed with the ban threats lately. Is this nicotine deprivation frustration, or is there a policy drift going on? I don’t really like most of the people you threaten anyway, but I’m just really wary of bans. I assume you want to keep this a forum for ideas and not a podium for moderated speech? Irish, you made a similar comment about “not appreciating being told how to run our blog” just the other day.
    I know we’re guests, and you are hosts. But why the menace?

    Maybe it’s not really menace and I’m just overly sensitive to it. The rules on banning just seem very subjective.

    Bernard, I re-read your article and can barely be bothered commenting on it. I think your analysis is quite weak. A couple of points.

    1)

    My view is that the long term decline in our productivity growth and our foreign-debt fuelled property investment and consumption binge of the last 5 years have left us weaker than our Trans-Tasman neighbours, with slower growth and a similar inflation problem.

    We need a dose of long term tax reform, a more robust inflation-fighting monetary policy framework, more productive government spending and an infrastructure building spending spree, as opposed to a townhouse and apartment building spree. This might do something to make us more attractive to our own people

    Tax policy clearly will have almost no impact on the disparities you mention earlier in the piece, especially since you’re simultaneously condemning what people DO with their discretionary income when they have it. The rest of your second paragraph is just meaningless platitudes.

    2.

    That argument also ignores New Zealand’s own abilities to profit from the great Asian growth surge. We have huge advantages as a producer of clean, green food and as a quiet, fresh and safe place for newly rich Asian middle classes to visit.

    That’s your vision for NZ? Farming and tourism? Oh yeah, real high value stuff that – if we followed your guidelines then all the professionals who are leaving would really have a reason!

    You also ignore my point above, that the actual level of immigration is almost meaninglessly small and is unlikely to result in any long term skill or culture shift, and the stuff article which Bill linked to (functional link here), which says that (with the obvious exception of those who are unemployed in NZ and become employed in Aus) many are likely to be worse off economically in Australia.

  40. T-rex

    Oy T-rex what are you saying here?

    Crap coming out of the exhaust isn’t so flash, but you could run it on a oxyhydrogen mix just as readily as you could a helicopter

  41. T-rex 41

    Just talking to bill about helicopters and person-sized jet wings.

    If you’re wondering about the oxyhydrogen reference – Things like jets and helicopters traditionally require fuels with high energy and power density. While there are numerous replacement technologies potentially becoming available in the time frame we’re talking about, they’ll both be equally applicable to each technology, so not really relevant. I just took the most obvious existing one – reasonably high power density combustible which would work in a gas turbine engine and was low emission (I’d say zero, except there are some issues with high-atmosphere water vapour).

  42. T-rex 42

    Although really you’d never carry the oxygen around with you. Way too heavy considering it’s abundantly available all around.

    I think the only reason the electrolysis systems you’re playing with inject oxyhydro rather than just hydrogen is that you’re generating it anyway and it’s far less effort just to squirt it in as well than to try and separate the two (for no benefit).

  43. bill brown 43

    yeah, but in 100 years I’ll want to go out of the atmosphere, so taking O(subscript)2 will be necessary anyway.

  44. T-rex 44

    Nah, combustion will be old hat by then 🙂
    Unless you meant to breath.

    Maybe breathing will be old hat by then too though. 100 years? You’re a nano-medicine fan then?

  45. T-rex 45

    Your helicopter wouldn’t work in space anyway 😉

    Mods – after careful consideration (while driving to buy delicious iskender kebab for dinner, mmm) I decided that actually “We’ll ban you if you piss us off” is a fantastic system and subjective justice is fine with me. If you’ve got the time to apply it, more power to you!

  46. Dan 46

    The NZ Sucks Party will be cancelling their Sunday Star Times subscriptions today. At last someone is writing in depth on the reality that the grass is not so green as Key and the Kiwi Sucks Party make out on the other side of the Tasman.
    Well done SST.

  47. lprent 47

    T-Rex: Partially will be nicotine. But mostly ‘policy’.

    I do tend to cycle my moderation anyway for general uncertainty reasons. The point is that if we stuck in actual written down rules or followed a absolutely consistent pattern, then some damn legal orientated person will try to rort the system. So what we have is vigilante justice with some general principles which each of us interpretes as we choose and as we have time. That leaves it up to the commentators to assess their own level of risk.

    You’ll note that I usually warn first these days. But I’m quite sarcastic because a lot of this should be obvious to anyone who has bothered read the blog comments before putting in their penny’s worth. Hell if they read the policy it’d be obvious. So I reward stupidity.

    So it is subjective and yes we’re very aware of the need to not stifle debate. But we’re also aware of what happens when it isn’t moderated. It was tried and we got threads with massive number of comments with essentially zero useful content.

    It seems to work for the majority of the commentators both left and right and other. Certainly shows up in the quality of the comments.

  48. bill brown 48

    “Your helicopter wouldn’t work in space anyway”

    You’re right – I think you may have a convert – baby steps.

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    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

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  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

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  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

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  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

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  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

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  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

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  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

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  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

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  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

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  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

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  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

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    7 days ago
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  • Update on global IT outage

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  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
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  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

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  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
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