My Labour Party Caucus and Rankings

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, December 1st, 2015 - 61 comments
Categories: uncategorized - Tags:

I’ve just finished reading all the comments on the reshuffle thread. It gave me an idea.

Post here YOUR rankings of the top 20 Labour Party  MPs, the role you would give them and WHY.

So that is 3 criteria for posting

 

  1. Rank the top 20 of current Labour Party MPs; and
  2. The Role you give them; and
  3. On what basis (WHY) you give them that ranking and role.

 

Easy enough right? You DO NOT get to have people who are not current MPs. I know for my part it is easy to fall into the trap of being critic rather than creator, and I recognise the danger of that here.

http://campaign.labour.org.nz/news

This post will be moderated and is intended for people to have a chance to put forward their alternatives and to back it up.

61 comments on “My Labour Party Caucus and Rankings ”

  1. Cybeny 1

    Front Bench:

    1. Grant Robertson – Leader – Personally, I feel that he is better at speaking on a wider range of issues, and I feel he would be better at managing the various factions at caucus.
    2. Andrew Little – Deputy Leader/Finance – Has a firm understanding of what is needed to make a strong economy, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. But trips up on other issues.
    3. Jacinda Arden – Social Development – I feel she needs another crack at this, after she was over-promoted by Shearer, and put out of her depth.
    4. Phil Tywford – Housing/Auckland Issues – Has been a strong performer (Asian sounding name debacle aside), and shows that housing is Labour’s top priority.
    5. Chris Hipkins – Education/Shadow Leader of the House – I highly rate his work in Education, and he puts Parata to shame each week in the house.
    6.Annette King – Health – Needs to be on the front bench, as she is currently Labour’s best health spokesperson, but needs to take on an apprentice to take over after the election.
    7. Kelvin Davis – Maori Development/Corrections/Police – Been a strong performer on the Christmas island debacle, and deserves the promotion given to him
    8. Megan Woods – Environment (Inc Climate Change/Conservation) – Has been quite able to take the government to task, and has pulled above her weight as a first-termer.

    Rest of Shadow Cabinet:
    9. David Cunliffe – Economic Development – As many commentators have pointed out, a criminal waste of talent in the backbenches.
    10. Sue Moroney – ACC – Has been one of Labours best performers with her continued efforts on PPL.
    11. David Parker – Shadow Attorney General – I hate this pick, but unfortunately Labour have no one else to take this role. Similar to King, needs an apprentice badly.
    12. Louisa Wall – Foreign Affairs – Desperately needs more to do. Would probably be more respected than Shearer
    13. Damien O’Connor – Primary Industries – It’s glorious to watch him destroy National’s farming credibility.
    14. Carmel Sepuloni – Transport – Like Arden, promoted to Social Development too early. Needs more experience before going to the front bench
    15. Kris Fafooi – Broadcasting – Hasn’t really been given much to do. Not hard to be better than Curran though.
    16. Iain Lee’s Galloway – Workplace Relations and Safety – Underperformer, needs to shape up or be replaced soon. Had a nice easy hit with Nationals Health and Safety laws but failed to land the hit.
    17. Suia William Sio – Pacific Island Affairs – Who else can go here really?
    18. Rino Tirikatane – Assoc Shadow Attorney General – Should replace Parker after the election.
    19. Jenny Salesa – Assoc Health – Should replace King after the election.
    20. Poto Williams – Canterbury Issues/Local Government – New and untested, and deserves a shot over the deadwood.

    • tracey 1.1

      Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

      Poto Williams – Yes she is new and untested but Opposition is the best place to start. She is also 53 years old so has experience on the planet.

      “worked for the Ministry of Education, BirthRight, Healthcare NZ and disability agencies.[1] She moved from Auckland to Christchurch’s suburb of New Brighton in January 2013 to take up a position as regional manager of the St John of God Hauora Trust…

      She has served as a member of the Community Child Protection Review Panel, was involved in the Waitakere Community Law Service and Community Waitakere, and was part of the Living Wage Campaign and the LIFEWISE Big Sleepout” wikipedia

      This a woman who has been working for the vulnerable amongst us for a long time. I would have put her much higher up and given her Associate Health so she could get the necessary political education from Annette King and maybe rolled Christchurch under Economic Development with Cunliffe. As someone who has been working for NFP/NGO’s she will already understand political nuances from one side.

      • Cybeny 1.1.1

        Fair enough.

        To be completely honest, I’m not hugely familiar with the new intake of Labour MPs so I don’t really know what roles they would be best suited for, nor their abilities, so I took a cautious approach to them.

        However, your suggestion seems very reasonable, and I think we can agree it’s a shame that she has been left out of the actual Shadow Cabinet altogether.

        • tracey 1.1.1.1

          I wasn’t criticising your choices, I just was putting in a plug for Poto. 😀

          Yesterday’s opining by everyone has made me go and look for furthe rinformation about many of them. My sense is some people are being very hard on people who are in Opposition, some for their whole career. There is only so much you can do. If you read the LP press releases you start to see what the media doesn’t report.

        • Atiawa 1.1.1.2

          Thanks Grant. However you had your opportunity to win the party leadership last year and were pipped at the post. Perhaps 2023 will be your time.
          Such folly.

          (Tracey: were the 3 criteria for posting on this thread too complex?)

          • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1.2.1

            I hope this string of negative remarks about Robertson from various commenters is driven by something other than personal speculation. If anyone has evidence of his alleged perfidy I’d love to see it.

            How many actual real-life corpses have to accumulate before you notice the enemy?

            • weka 1.1.1.2.1.1

              “If anyone has evidence of his alleged perfidy I’d love to see it.”

              Me too. Or at least if people could say that their comment is based on evidence or speculation. For instance if CV comments, I can hazard a guess as to where he might be getting actual information from (and then mixing it with his own perspectives). But with the pseudonymous and unknown commenters there is no way to know what the opinions are based on. I’m not suggesting that people give detail about their real life identities, but I do think it’s reasonable for people to say something about why they believe what they do. Otherwise there’s a big rumour mill going on ts that has no way of being judged as real or not, and that’s counter productive to what most of us are wanting to see happen.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 1.1.1.2.2

            I hope these allegations (and I note you aren’t the only one making them) about Robertson are driven by something more substantial than personal speculation. I’d love to see some evidence of his alleged perfidy, ‘cos, y’know, while you lot attack one another the National Party is accumulating a pile of real-life corpses.

            Priorities much?

          • Atiawa 1.1.1.2.3

            Juggle all you wish, but considering the torturous party leadership changes endured by the voting public and party membership, any list and reasons for that list I produced would begin with Andrew Little at # 1.
            Anything less would be imo an exercise in folly and dare I say it STUPIDITY.

            • Tracey 1.1.1.2.3.1

              And yet here you are commenting… when you could have ignored it or followed the criteria.

              • Atiawa

                I’ve read your post twice before deleting it. There is an Open Mike thread where you can write pretty much anything you like (read our policy first though). As I said in the this thread there are always critics etc. This was a chance for people to put up or shut up (in this thread at least).

                If you are not qualfied to make a list, then don’t make one. Those who did make lists had to give reasons. I have allowed some challenge but you seem to want to use this thread to push a particular viewpoint about Andrew Little versus Grant Robertson. Re-read the Post. This is nOT the place, unless you want to rank your top 20, give them a portfolio and reasons for those rankings/portfolios.

      • Karen 1.1.2

        +1 Tracey
        I was also disappointed by Poto’s backbench position (amongst other).

        Good challenge BTW. I will attempt something later today.

    • Colonial Viper 1.2

      Rino Tirikatane is NOT a David Parker replacement. I’m not a huge fan of Parker due to his orthodox/globalisation leanings but he is capable at what he does.

      • tracey 1.2.1

        Can you list your top 20 as per the above criteria. Genuinely interested to see the list, their roles and your reasons.

      • Cybeny 1.2.2

        Who would you set up to replace David Parker then?

        I’ve got to admit I struggled with that one.

  2. Shona 2

    Grant Robertson would lead Labour to an even greater defeat than Cunliffe. I see the haven’t got a clue why Labour keeps losing section of TS readership still haven’t been to the provinces lately. The NZ news media would run rings around Robertson and nail him flat in a nano second. You see they actually know how kiwis think, unlike the wittering Wellington careerists. Robertson is a poor speaker . He spends a lot of time when speaking saying a lot without conveying ANY meaning. He has the finance portfolio . The economy is in a shambles. Yet we hear NOTHING from him. Because he has nothing to say.He doesn’t have a handle on Finance . He is the wrong person for the job.

    • tracey 2.1

      Can you list your top 20 as per the above criteria. Genuinely interested to see the list, their roles and your reasons.

  3. Wainwright 3

    Fair to say there’s not huge depth on the bench. Ranking the top 22 so idiots like Cosgrove don’t throw their toys is idiocy. Most portfolios are so minor only the policy wonks care who has them.

    For the ones that matter –

    1. LITTLE – LEADER he’s the best option Labour has.
    2. SEPULONI – deputy and social devp. Needs to be a woman to keep the feminists happy, needs to be an Aucklander.
    3. CUNLIFFE – FINANCE because he knows wht he’s doing
    4. ARDERN – HEALTH like I said not a lot of depth on the bench but shes got profile
    5. LEES-GALLOWY – LABOUR despite what Cybeny says he’s worked damn hard and had good success especially compared to the rest of the idiots
    6. MAHUTA – MAORI DEVP you’ve got to keep her up there, Labour doesn’t get anywhere without maori support
    7. ROBERTSON – education – he’s not a bad guy but he sucks at finance
    8. DAVIS – corrections and police. They go together and he’s a natural.
    9. WALL – JUSTICE she deserves a huge boost as a proven campaigner
    10. KING – TRANSPORT AND HOUSING – I reckon these two are part and parcel of the same issue. Can’t address housing in Auckland without addressing transport in Auckland. Call it ‘urban development’ or something wonky.
    11. TWYFORD – AUCKLAND ISSUES to work with King
    12. WOODS – CANTERBURY because she’s the best Chch MP and ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE because like a lot of people said they need to go together.

    You have to keep some of the Thorndon bubble crowd and you can’t shaft all the ABCers but at least it’d make a change. Give the n00bs minor portfoolios and free rein to get some profile. And stick Goff, Mallard, Cosgrove, Nash, Sheaerer and Dyson on a raft in the middle of the Tasman. Then win.

    • Colonial Viper 3.1

      Mahuta led a Maori caucus election strategy last year which was the most successful part of Labour’s dismal election results. That her performance got her bumped down the rankings sends a bad message.

    • Aaron 3.2

      Maybe we could have a second posting for people’s votes on who gets put on the raft and pushed out to sea? That we can the finger pointy stuff out of our system too 🙂

      • tracey 3.2.1

        Every second post here addresses who people think shouldn’t be there, including yesterday’s.

        This post, ,as I thought I had made pretty clear, is about people prepared to list their top 20 current Labour party MPs, in order of preference, assign them a role and state your justifications for havig them in that roll.

        • Aaron 3.2.1.1

          Don’t get me wrong I think this article is an excellent idea and I keep coming back to se of anything new has been added. I don’t consider myself well enouigh informed to contribute my own list but am finding the lists by others to be fascinating.

          I was just amused at the thought of a “put them on a raft and push them out to sea” list for those who are truly a liability.

          • tracey 3.2.1.1.1

            Seriously, why don’t you type up a guest post and submit it around this? Let’s see if it floats 😉

      • seeker 3.2.2

        I agree with the passenger list on Wainwright’s raft and quite liked his ordered top 12 and reasons.

        Maybe more from me later if I feel well enough to do a larger think.

        Great,creative, useful and becoming idea for a post Tracey, thankyou.

      • Michael 3.2.3

        What about the lot of them? A reboot option seems necessary.

  4. Colonial Viper 4

    1) Cunliffe. He’s the highest voltage leadership material in that caucus. No one else comes close. However he needs a completely new staff team in and around the Leaders Office. The Thorndon Bubble strategists need banishing.

    2) Louisa Wall. Provides no holds barred principled backbone to the party and applies discipline accordingly.

    3) Grant Robertson. Grant is a better political operator than either Cunliffe or Wall, but despite the aspirations he has had since university days, he isn’t Leader material. His political skills and foresight will be critical in navigating the difficult course that Cunliffe and Wall need to take the country though.

    4) Annette King. Capable and experienced with solid leadership qualities.

    5) David Parker. Capable and experienced. Need an experienced lawyer in the top 10. Stuck on orthodox monetary and economic policy but no one is perfect.

    6) Chris Hipkins. Capable and experienced; strong potential but has to be careful not to buy into his own PR.

    7) Carmel Sepuloni. Capable and experienced. Successfully campaigned for an electorate seat.

    8) David Clark. Capable but still finding his feet. Pro-TPP and typically orthodox in his economic/monetary outlook…but that’s the Labour Party of today.

    9) David Shearer. Capable, experienced; a pro US/western alliance globalist – but that’s not all bad.

    10) Jacinda Ardern. Has definite potential to be developed. People say she is good in the media but against Nikki Kaye she keeps losing.

    • seeker 4.1

      PS to my previous. Think Hipkins doing well in education, maybe Grant should have Social Development which could be informed by his new learning and experience on finance to combat child poverty and go with his ‘future of work ideas’ and perhaps he could share such a huge, vital, portfolio with Carmel.

    • seeker 4.2

      PS to my previous on agreeing with Wainwright’s list and agreeing with his raft passenger list……I think Hipkins is doing well in education (I’m sure Parata loathes him) maybe Grant should have Social Development which could be informed by his new learning and experience on finance to combat child poverty and go with his ‘future of work ideas’ and perhaps he could share such a huge, vital, portfolio with Carmel.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 4.3

      I can’t help but observe that these are the same people you have been denouncing as unprincipled neo-liberal running dogs. Hyperbole maintenance budget taking its toll?

      Tracey – I wish you had helped but observe cos it is not require din this thread. By all means bookmark it for reference in another discussion but CV has met the criteria for posting on thuis thread.)

    • Tracey 4.4

      The deomgraphics of auckland central have changed alot in the last 30 years CV. You cant get in a house for less than a million bucks otherwise it is an apartment for you and your family. So I dont hold it against Ardern that she struggles to win this very blue seat. That she got so close is worthy of notew

      • Colonial Viper 4.4.1

        if you observe, almost every seat in the country has turned blue or is in the process of doing so. But at the same time, outright poverty in the nation is increasing.

        An interesting paradox to resolve.

  5. Stuart Munro 5

    Cunliffe – leader – the others are weak on the intersection of social justice & economics
    Little – deputy – solid and represents healthy union values
    King – health (but should train a deputy)
    Twyford – immigration, housing, & OIO (knows when to say no)
    Parker O’Connor Tirikatene – to develop a regional reform package (including regulation) to produce finished products, sustainable living practices, services, and employment.
    Parker would probably be a good fit with state services.
    Adern maybe Robertson maybe Hipkins – to develop an urban reform package toward similar ends.

    They have energy this is an opportunity to establish their value.

    Nanaia Mahuta & Poto Williams – know what they’re doing and where they should be.

    I think we should do a list for the Gnats too:

    John Key – [r0b: deleted]
    Bill English – life imprisonment for fraud, asset theft, and gross economic negligence
    McCully – Ambassador to ISIL
    Gerry Brownlee – [r0b: deleted]
    Paula Bennett – given a desk job at Winz [r0b: deleted]
    Judith Collins – employed to sour milk for Fonterra
    Whaleoil – recycled as biodiesel

    [r0b: sorry – amusing but over the line]

  6. rhinocrates 6

    off topic

  7. Dav 7

    We’ll I don’t know them well enough to rank most.
    They shouldn’t have cunliffe so low, he’s capable.

    1 little. He needs to stay on even if they loose the election (like shearer and cunliffe should have been persisted with for a consolidation period. Instead of knee jerk changes.

    Higher ranks for: Davis, Nash, king (been around for ages but eminently capable, lands hits )

    Not certain on: Robertson (was he involved in white anting former leaders?? ), adern – still a lightweight in my book, popular in some quarters. Mahuta- agree with littles move there, but he doesn’t have much to play with ( numbers wise or fresh faces).

    Decent, somewhere in the middle: shearer, Parker.

    Need to be jettisoned: goff (well I guess mayoralty has sorted that choice) cosgrove, dyson, mallard.

  8. rhinocrates 8

    Argh, most embarrassing. WordPress is like the London buses it seems – you wait for ages and then three turn up at once. Feel free to delete redundant posts (including this one).

    • Colonial Viper 8.1

      3 times in this case means 3 times the goodness

      • tracey 8.1.1

        Actually it doesnt. The post was REALLY clear abut what this post was for. And warnings were made to the first few. IF you want to be a destroyer then take it Open Mike or a thread that doesn’t definitively call for creative input.

    • weka 8.2

      It’s not wordpress, it’s that all comments are going into moderation before being published. Good move by Tracey IMO.

  9. weka 9

    Great thread Tracey, thanks.

    • tracey 9.1

      Thanks Weka

      The idea was to, amongst other things, highlight how much people do or do not know about the Labour Caucus and from what basis they criticise (including me). It’s much easier to pick apart Little’s choices than to make an argument for an alternative. Sme peopel have admitted they don’t know enough about the “rest” to make an informed comment. Good on them. Fo rmy part I went and read more abouot a number I knew nothing about.

      I tried to move rhinocrates efforts to OPen Mike rathe rthan delete but could not make the function work. Funny as people may have found them they were not in the spirit of the post which I made explicitly clear.

      Stats are down but I am interested to look at the viewing.

      • weka 9.1.1

        That’s the problem with rhinocrates, you can’t help laughing. But good call on the moderating, I think stopping the Labour-bashing stuff was a great idea.

        I found the rest informative and thought provoking too, much better than the usual bun fight.

  10. tracey 10

    1,311 yesterday

  11. Karen 11

    This was really hard. It was easy enough to be critical of some of the decisions but much harder when you had to pick who gets what and who misses out.

    Anyway, I have made very few changes in the end. Some juggling of order and the elimination of Damien O’Connor , Stuart Nash and Clayton Cosgrove from the top 22. They have been replaced by David Cunliffe, Poto Williams and Louisa Wall. I have dropped David Cunliffe a couple of places because I don’t think he has been doing as much as he could, but I have given him Broadcasting which is a portfolio that has always been neglected by Labour. Cunliffe, of all people, knows the effect of not having well funded public broadcasting. I have also given him Energy as this is also something he can get his teeth into.
    I have given Police back to Davis and Maori Development to Mahuta. I have also pushed Nanaia up two places as it was too big a drop for her. I know a bit about māori politics and this was not a good move.
    I think Jenni Salesa would be a great advocate for social housing so have given her associate housing, and given Megan Woods Conservation as well as Climate Change. I suspect the roles have been split up to allow the Greens to take these roles on in a coalition.
    1. Andrew Little
    2. Annette King
    3. Grant Robertson
    4. Phil Twyford
    5. Jacinda Adern
    6. Chris Hipkins
    7. Kelvin Davis
    #Keep Police, and leave Maori Development with Nanaia
    8. Carmel Sepuloni
    9. David Clark
    10. Nanaia Mahuta
    # Keep Maori Development, drop conservation
    11. Megan Woods
    #Keep climate change, add conservation
    12. David Parker
    13. David Shearer
    14. Iain Lees-Galloway
    15. Su’a William Sio
    16. Sue Moroney
    17. David Cunliffe
    #Give him Broadcasting & Energy
    18. Jenny Salesa
    #Add associate Housing, give assoc. Education to Moroney
    19. Meka Whaitiri
    20. Peeni Henare
    21. Louisa Wall
    22. Poto Williams

    The three left out: Damien O’Connor , Stuart Nash and Clayton Cosgrove.

    • tracey 11.1

      Thanks Karen. I didn’t know enough about 20 Labour MPs to create a list with even adequate justification.

      My impression, and that is all it is, from the last Leadership battle is Nanaia performed very well. I know I was impressed with her when she ran in the previous one.

      • Karen 11.1.1

        The problem for Nanaia is that she has a very low profile in the house and the MSM but she has a lot of support, particularly amongst Tainui and Ngāti Whatua. It may appear to MSM and some other MPs that she is doing nothing, but that is mainly because they don’t understand the importance of mana, or that many Māori still feel a lot of resentment with Labour over the Seabed and Foreshore legislation. Nanaia stuck with Labour and has done a lot to repair relationships.

        Thanks for providing this opportunity, Tracey. It made me realise that the reshuffle wasn’t as bad as I initially thought. Very, very difficult juggling act.

  12. lurgee 12

    1. Annette King. WTF? Yes. She should have taken over from Cunliffe, or perhaps even Goff. Why? Because she’s a capable performer. Because Key’s smart arse routine would look really shoddy being deployed against a granny. Because she’d be a safe pair of hands. No-one would scheme against her, as she would know she wasn’t planning on sticking about.
    2. Andrew Little. Deputy Leader.
    3. Grant Robertson. Health. Big complex portfolio with lots of oportunity for scrapping. Will hopefully keep his attention focused on the enemy.
    4. Jacinda Arden. Education.
    5. Kelvin Davis. Corrections & Police.
    6. Chris Hipkins. Social development. Not impressed with his failure to utterly destroy Parata.
    7. Phil Tywford – Environment. He could have got foreign affairs if he hadn’t done the Asian names thing.
    8. Megan Woods. Primary industries & Christchurch rebuild.
    9. Rino Tirikatane – Maori development.
    10. David Shearer – Foreign affairs.
    11. David Cunliffe – Housing. This is going to be a big issue. See Grant Robertson, above.
    12. Sue Moroney – Workplace Relations and Safety.
    13. Iain Lees-Galloway. ACC. Mostly because he’s my local MP.
    14. Su’a William Sio – Auckland stuff.
    15. Kris Fafooi – Broadcasting.
    16. Louisa Wall. Equality.
    17. David Parker – Shadow Attorney General (nicked from cybeny’s suggestions)
    18. Damien O’Connor. Regional development.
    19. Jenny Salesa – Pacific affairs.
    20. Poto Williams – Associate Health & Associate Equality.

    Some of them are in no particular order. But it was fun bumping David “I am passionate” Parker further and further down the list.

    • lurgee 12.1

      Oooh, I forgot all about Stuart Nash. He can go in instead of David Parker, because he’s got a Law degree or summat.. Which means Parker can go right out of the top 20. Byeeeeee!

      I also seem to have neglected to nominate a finance spokesperson. I think Finance pretty much has to be 2nd or 3rd place, and I couldn’t find anyone who seemed capable of being financially competent AND justifying a high list position. So I suppose it would go to Little by default, just as cybeny had it.

      I suppose if an affable farmer from Dipton can do it not too uselessly, it can’t be that challenging a role.

    • The Fairy Godmother 12.2

      Jenny Salesa has a lot of experience in the health and education field a lot it in the Us so I think it would be better to have her as an associate in either education or health.

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    Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation  into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
    2 days ago
  • Driving blind at higher speeds

    An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • 2024’s unusually persistent warmth

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink My inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
    2 days ago
  • National plan for 2000 more Kiwis a year in prison

    Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • I Found a Note in a Tree

    Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Politicians need to lift their game

    Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago
  • Police say they won’t respond to bomb threats anymore as ‘it’s never anything’

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    2 days ago
  • A dysfunctional watchdog

    The reality of any right depends on how well it is enforced. But as The Post points out this morning, our right to official information isn't being enforced very well at all: More than a quarter of complaints about access to official information languish for more than a year, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: The threat of a good example

    Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    3 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    3 days ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    4 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    4 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    4 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    4 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    4 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    4 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    5 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    6 days ago
  • What it is

    I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A government-funded hate campaign

    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    7 days ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    7 days ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    7 days ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

    Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been soaring high with his hubris of getting on and building motorways but some uncomfortable realities are starting to creep in. Back in July he announced that the government was pushing on with a Northland Expressway using an “accelerated delivery strategy” The Coalition Government is ...
    1 week ago
  • Never Enough

    However much I'm falling downNever enoughHowever much I'm falling outNever, never enough!Whatever smile I smile the mostNever enoughHowever I smile I smile the mostSongwriters: Robert James Smith / Simon Gallup / Boris Williams / Porl ThompsonToday in Nick’s Kōrero:A death in the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital.A sad homecoming and ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

    Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

    Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Inside the public service

    In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

    This is a re-post from This is Not Cool Here’s an example of some of the best kind of climate reporting, especially in that it relates to impacts that will directly affect the audience. WFLA in Tampa conducted a study in collaboration with the Department of Energy, analyzing trends in ...
    1 week ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

    The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

    It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024.  First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today.  Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

    Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment.   The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.  “I would ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

    Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Targets data confirms rise in violent crime

    The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Asia Foundation Board appointments announced

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.  Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Endeavour Fund projects for economic growth

    New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Social Services Providers Whakamanawa National Conference 16 September 2024

    Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Parihaka infrastructure upgrades funded

    The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Serious assaults down 22% in Auckland CBD

    Cross-government action to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour in Auckland is getting traction, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Our central cities should be great places to live and work, but in recent years they have become hot spots for crime and anti-social behaviour. In Auckland, businesses and residents suffered as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Increased certainty for contractors coming

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says upcoming changes to the Employment Relations Act will provide greater certainty for contractors and businesses. “These changes to legislation are necessary to ensure businesses and workers have more clarity from the start of their contracting arrangement. It is an ACT-National coalition ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Draft critical minerals list released for consultation

    A draft list of minerals deemed essential to New Zealand’s economy and strengthening its mineral resilience has been released for consultation, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The draft Critical Minerals List identifies 35 minerals essential to economic functions, are in demand internationally, and face high risk of supply disruption domestically ...
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