National still does not get MMP

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, August 14th, 2019 - 62 comments
Categories: making shit up, national, same old national, Simon Bridges, spin, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uncategorized, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: ,

I appreciate that has only been 23 years since the first MMP election but National is still fixated with the idea that electorates are the most important thing.  If this news about its response to problems with the Census is anything to go by.

From Henry Cooke at Stuff:

The National Party still plans to dispute any new electorate boundaries drawn for the 2020 election based on the 2018 census, despite a review finding the data was sufficient. 

This position could cause a legitimacy crisis for the next election as the largest opposition party could reject the basis of the election itself.

The damning independent review of last year’s Census 2018, released on Tuesday, found multiple failings in the way the census was carried out.

But it also said Statistics NZ “should” be able to cover for its failings enough to meet top-level population goals for the census, which included the numbers used to redraw electorate boundaries.

There are big holes in the data, particularly the iwi response rate, that mean that the data is not useful for some significant purposes.  But for the electoral system the basic data, who lives where, has an estimated 98.6% accuracy and this is more than enough for the purposes of setting electorate boundaries.  

But this has not stopped National from playing politics with the issue.  Again from Stuff:

National’s statistics spokesman Jian Yang said administrative level data was simply not accurate enough to draw such important boundaries with.

“We are not confident that this information from other sources will be accurate enough to draw up the boundaries for the electorates,” Yang said.

“In the past, every census cycle half of families would move. Even if you get the data from other sources, it doesn’t mean the information is accurate.”

“It is unprecedented, I don’t know how we can proceed with this level of data.”

Yang restated the National Party’s desire that the 2020 election be run with electoral boundaries from the 2013 census, and that the census due for 2023 be brought forwards so new boundaries can be drawn for the election that year.

“At this stage if we do not have confidence in this data then we should not go ahead with the redrawing of the electorate boundaries. We might have to wait until next time.”

Electorates are not the exact same size.  There is a 5% tolerance which dwarfs concerns about the Census’s accuracy.  And the basic figure, 98.6%, is actually higher than the target of 98%.  It is also more accurate than the results from the last Census.

And besides this is an MMP environment.  Concerns about some electorates being slightly bigger than others do not matter.  Putting to one side the electoral shenanigans that National has engaged in over the years the Party vote is the vote that determines which parties form the Government.  Every party vote is worth the same.  It does not matter in which electorate it is cast.

Raising false concerns about the validity of the electoral system will do the country a disservice.  And it is so Trumpian it jars.

Of course National is trying to blame the Government for the Census problems.  Given that it was in power when the scheme was designed and the budget set this is more than a little disingenuous.

And this morning Simon Bridges went all hold my beer on us and questioned the validity of Statistics NZ’s GDP data.  I wish he would stop.  Writing almost daily posts about the weird things he is saying is not something that I relish.

Bridges backed up Yiang’s suggestion that the country should stick to the 2013 boundaries.  Shame on him.

It feels like we are descending into American style politics where hard data is questioned for political purposes and the setting of the electoral system is politicised and scrutinised for advantage.  Can calmer heads in National please stop this.

62 comments on “National still does not get MMP ”

  1. Sacha 1

    Of course National is trying to blame the Government for the Census problems.

    Hence the ongoing noise, I agree. They are relying on it being a complex topic and many people mistaking the conviction of their denunciations as leadership.

  2. Barfly 2

    "woof woof…..woof woof woof!"

  3. tc 3

    Look at MOI ! screams simple slimon…..we should be in power wah wah wah.

    Based on Trump/Johnson it's all your going to see from the hollow side of NZ politics till the likes of Luxon does a Shonky IMO.

    Bridges, Collins, Pullya etc all have way too many skeletons and history. It’ll be dog whistle all the way and pray for that legendary kiwi electorate apathy.

  4. Dukeofurl 4

    The real story behind this is that National uses the detailed Census data down to mesh blocks for its version of the US GOP gerrymandering project called RedMap

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP

    National uses this – Farrer seems to be deeply involved for them- to pre empt the NZ government officials who draw the electorate boundaries. National and Labour both have seats on the committee so can push for their preferred solution.

    Of course a lot of boundaries dont change much, but National still wants the seats.

    We can see in the central North Island plenty of illogical boundaries . Taranaki is split into 3. Whanganui includes part of Coastal Taranaki but excludes the inland areas like Taumaranui , Te Kuiti which historically looked to the port city.

    Waikato area show signs of gerrymandering as the Taupo electorate goes from the Desert Rd to Cambridge. King Country runs from outskirts of Ngaruawahia to outskirts of New Plymouth and includes Inglewood!

    Rotorua excludes the 'timber towns' of Tokoroa and Kawerau which would look to Rotorua, but includes Te Puke which is the outskirts of Mt Maunganui-Papamoa

    In Wellington once recent boundary changes in Hutt Valley excluded Naenae National knew the numbers and a well funded campaign by Beehive staffer Chris Bishop would bring the seat within reach.

    This is why National is beating the drums, no longer can they have census data which they construct a model of mesh blocks who vote national or lean that way. Probably by using individual income data , home owners etc.

    MMP of course gives a total number of seats based on nationwide party vote , not electorates but I see Nationals strategy as to build the party vote by on ground work from its electorate Mps using the money from party donors to fund astro turfing groups aligned to partys electorate office.

    We can see the result in Nationals still high party vote in the polls.

    And Bridges goes around saying things like this-
    “‘you know what, actually National at the last election got 44 per cent, the system was, in a sense, gamed, there was one old rooster who held the country to ransom’.”

    The system wasnt gamed, National lost, as it didnt matter to them in pre MMP days that Labour could get more votes than National and still not be in government.
    In those days ‘less than 200 votes’ in 2 or 3 seats would decide the government’
    Thats Ok for national when it advantages them.

    • mickysavage 4.1

      Thanks interesting … so the data is not sufficient to allow National to continue with its inbuilt advantage …

      • Sacha 4.1.1

        They will be wanting to micro-target for influence like the trump and brexit campaigns did.

        Because our Electoral Commisison does its job well, no NZ political party is able to "gerrymander" boundaries – unlike the US where it's as natural as A,B,C .. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kx8qn/this-font-is-made-of-ridiculously-gerrymandered-congressional-districts

        • Dukeofurl 4.1.1.1

          Not to the extent that they do in US.

          But a lot a electorates that national hold their boundaries dont make sense, the finger prints of gerrymandering are there.

          Not really micro-targetting anymore , that was in the old days of direct mail …so last century.

          That is done on Facebook now.

          There cant be any real reason for National to break the Census-Boundaries lock unless they need the extra household data from the census.

          Auckland will likely get a new seat , and national wants to make sure its drawn to their advantage..already seats wind all over the place and ignore community interest criteria.

          Pukekohe is banged in with Whitford – because they are national voting areas and in between is Flat Bush !

          Collins seat of Papakura is curved round to grab expensive areas of Manurewa ( The Gardens , Wattle Downs) and the rich enclaves of Karaka and lifestyle belt to cancel out labour voting Papakura central

          • Sacha 4.1.1.1.1

            Not really micro-targetting anymore

            Does the name Cambridge Analytica mean nothing to you?

          • Sacha 4.1.1.1.2

            national wants to make sure its drawn to their advantage

            What advantage? It's not FPP any more.

        • Rapunzel 4.1.1.2

          Just prior the "flag referendum" and the numbers not looking good for change I am pretty sure there was a pamphlet mail-out that only went to suburbs that were National/Key friendly and therefore likely to be influenced to change their option.

    • AB 4.2

      "but I see Nationals strategy as to build the party vote by on ground work from its electorate Mps using the money from party donors to fund astro turfing groups aligned to partys electorate office"

      That looks like a pretty astute assessment. Anyone who knows provincial areas will have run into National's stranglehold on opinion-forming centres of influence in the local community. Of course under MMP, gerrymandering of boundaries has no direct effect on the outcome any single election – but the indirect effect over a long time of having mostly National electorate MPs may be significant.

      One related thought – would a low census turnout by Maori mean an under-counting of the self-identified Maori population that results in no increase, or even a decrease, in the no. of Maori seats? If so, wouldn't putting the census online be a pretty obvious way of achieving that, at least in the short-term?

      • greywarshark 4.2.1

        This is all very interesting. The democracy that you have that is played by a delicate instrument which is an organ of the ruling Party.

        This is the instrument
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5L0SYpjRls (They get up to all sorts of theings in Arizona – interesting place.)

        We need to bark at their heels:

        (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKT0fLgkLmI

      • Dukeofurl 4.2.2

        "mean an under-counting of the self-identified Maori population that results in no increase, or even a decrease, in the no. of Maori seats? "

        That mostly comes from the Maori roll. As a rough estimate the Maori are 60/40 maori general roll. As the Maori roll option recently hasnt increased as much as previous times the seats wont increase. It wont decrease either.

        The undercounting may make the maori seat boundary adjustments more problematic but not the 'quantum' of seats.

    • Anne 4.3

      That is fascinating Duke.

      And of course National have an advantage over Labour in that these provincial areas already house most of National's support base, so they have a better over-view of the population spread within each region.

      Are Labour fully aware of this mesh system being used by National to gerrymander the outcome of boundary changes? If not, why not? If they are, then why does their representative on the committee not protest loudly and consistently to ensure the government officials are well aware of what is going on?

      I recall back in the late 1970s a former senior Labour MP talking about a similar problem and how Labour acquired the services of someone with a photographic memory as their representative who was able to recall sufficient details enabling Labour to counter the machinations.

      • Dukeofurl 4.3.1

        Labour obviously wants to protect its 'safe' seats- which generally follow the community of interest and compactness.

        Without the data of mesh blocks that favour labour over national they really cant do anything. Doubt they have the money to even go there

        • Anne 4.3.1.1

          Doubt they have the money to even go there.

          They haven't.

          National can afford to hire PR firms and the like who do all the hard yards for them. Imagine what a mess they would be in if they couldn't. I doubt they would even be able to run a cake stall properly without assistance.

    • swordfish 4.4

      Dukeofurl

      But surely if this is National's strategy … they could far more easily accomplish it simply by analysing the Booth-by-Booth Party & Candidate Vote results ? Would they really need to delve into all the minutiae of Census data right down to the Mesh Block level ?

      Maybe, just possibly, this sort of very fine-grained analysis … pinpointing micro-areas with such precision … could be appropriate for Electoral Boundaries in Built-Up Urban Areas like, say, the Hutt Valley (for eg if National were looking at a suburb that was Left-leaning in the Party-Vote but equally divided in the Candidate-Vote … & decided to use multidimensional political modelling to identify the specific cluster of streets most likely to Candidate-vote Right … and thus ensure those streets were on the side of the Electorate boundary most advantageous to the Nat candidate) …

      … but surely this kind of nuance would be utterly pointless when it comes to the sort of Rural / Semi-Rural seats you're talking about ? … The Booth-by-Booth Party & Candidate Vote results would more than suffice.

  5. Sanctuary 5

    Right wing populism is a disease that seems to have infected Simon Bridges. His advisors, encouraged by Australian right wing political operatives, seem to think the path to electoral success lies in asymmetric polarisation by the right with incessant attacks on the legitimacy of state institutions, the politicisation of process and the use of a culture war smokescreen to divide the electorate.

    If National persist in this strategy it will prove an interesting test of MMP, which after all was designed to stop exactly this sort of wing nuttery..

    • Robert Guyton 5.1

      Good assessment, Sanctuary.

    • Stuart Munro. 5.2

      It's hardly surprising – his personal take on drumming up popularity – a limo tour of NZ, wasn't an outstanding success. By using professional advice he avoids being in the gun when the wheels fall off in 2020, in the absence of a credible leadership contender. If Luxton gets a lukewarm seat result, and Bennett runs the campaign and gets blamed for it, Simon may survive to help the Gnats shamble towards defeat in 2023.

  6. Stuart Munro. 6

    I wonder that the Gnats haven't worked out yet that Yang's negative associations from state links and possibly bought list places makes it difficult for him to lead any issue, in spite of being manifestly much smarter than Bridges. In a party of embarrassments he is not the least.

  7. alwyn 7

    If, as you say, "And besides this is an MMP environment. Concerns about some electorates being slightly bigger than others do not matter.".

    If you really believe that what is wrong with using the 2013 boundaries? After all you don't seem to think it will make any difference do you?

    Leave the boundaries the way that are is perfectly valid conclusion from your argument, after all. Can you actually show, without destroying your whole argument that there would be any problem in doing so?

    Apart from some thoroughly deserved embarrassment for the failure of the Minister of Statistics, the XY leader of the Green Party.

    • Sacha 7.1

      More than one Minister owns that failure, and moreso the previous 5 the report mentioned, who signed off the census programme plan and approved budget for it.

      • veutoviper 7.1.2

        Give up Sacha. Alwyn and I had that argument re the number of National Ministers involved pre Shaw back in January and February 2019 and nothing will convince Alwyn that the whole 4+ year process preparing for the 2018 Census was basically already set in concrete by the time Shaw became Minister on 26 Oct 2017.

        On 14 February 2019 @ 7.2 on Open Mike14/02/19 I replied to a comment by Sanctuary @ 7 re a post at Kiwiblog about the 2018 Census at this link https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-02-2019/#comment-1583143 In it I summarised my earlier response to Alwyn on 8 January 2019 re the various Nat Ministers involved which aligns with the Review report now out (and your photo of page 72 of that report).

        That comment was reasonably short so here is a quote from it:

        In Open Mike 8 January 2019 I called bullshit on a claim by Alwyn @ 7 that James Shaw was to blame for the problems with the 6 March 2018 Census held just 132 days (4 and a half months) after Shaw became Minister of Statistics on 26 Oct 2018. By that time all policies, processes, procedures had been well set in concrete leaving Shaw with very little if any ability to change anything – by no less than five National Ministers, none of them Nick Smith*.

        In my reply at 7.1.1.1 on OM 8 Jan 2019 (won’t attempt to link due to problems with those currently, I summarised the whole process for the 2018 Census which began immediately after the 2013 Census had taken place and the National Ministers of Statistics involved.

        In summary the latter were:
        — Maurice Williamson 2013 – May 2014 (c. 14 months)
        — Nicky Wagner, May 2014 – Oct 2014 (c. 6 months)
        — Craig Foss, Oct 2014 – Nov 2016 (c. 26 months)
        — Mark Mitchell, 01 Dec 2016 – 24 April 2017 (c. 5 months)
        — Scott Simpson, 24 April 2017 – 26 Oct 2017 (c. 6 months)

        So Craig Foss was the National Minister responsible for longest time (2+ years) , followed by Mitchell and Simpson for a matter of five and six months respectively in the latter stages of the 2018 Census processes, procedures etc being finalised, before Shaw became Minister on 26 Oct 2017.

        * [Sanctuary’s comment @7 on OM 14 Feb 2019 suggested that Nick Smith had also been involved. Much as I have no time for Smith, he was not involved as a Minister in the work leading to the March 2018 Census.​​​​]

        And here is the link to my earlier much more detailed comment on Open Mike on 8 Janaury 2019 on the above timeline, Ministers and actions and decisions taken over the four plus years preparation for Census 2018 https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-01-2019-2/#comment-1569487 A long thread developed in which Alwyn would not accept that the Nat Ministers were responsible for the vast majority of the decisions etc leading to the problems with the 2018 Census; and again he refused to do so in Feb 2019 despite the long thread that also resulted.

        • Sacha 7.1.2.1

          Thank you. They do seem resistant to facts, but that's the new game I guess. Another year of bullshittery and obfuscation..

        • adam 7.1.2.2

          I thought Shaw did well being handed such a sack of shit.

          Funny story, the 0800 number the nats had put at as the census 0800 number, got you a loan/credit outfit on the other end of the line. It was when a college of mine and I called that we found it. Then when we followed up and talked to Statistics, they didn't even know a number had been published. To there credit, they had the number under their control by the time the forms went out.

          Anyone who thinks you can fix a broken process from the previous 4 years in 3 months is in lala land.

          Maybe that is what we call Alwyn now, LalaAlwyn.

          • Dv 7.1.2.2.1

            just imagine the crap natz would have thrown IF Shaw had cancelled the census

          • Dukeofurl 7.1.2.2.2

            You look at detail in the report and the cost cutting is everywhere.

            After the last census , the staff and systems they had to employ short term census workers was closed up and thought they would just use a recruitment firm.

            Another factor is Statistics , is like most other government departments full of managerial careerists who job hop around the bureaucracy, and tend to not have much real knowledge about what that department is doing.

            I had pointed out to me the new Ministry of Housing 'leadership team'

            below the CEO is about 8 or 9 people with Deputy CEO job titles, which includes the person who runs 'the Office of the CEO' is also a deputy CEO (DCE), a glorified executive assistant.

            https://www.hud.govt.nz/about-hud/leadership-team/

        • greywarshark 7.1.2.3

          One would think that an excellent, detailed and comprehensive comment like that would have laid that matter to rest. But it has long been apparent to the regulars here, I would think, that the RW dilettantes who come here are really just time-wasters with no intention of conducting an intelligent and illuminating debate about anything. It's just a mouse wheel for them to constantly regurgitate their petty points, not pretty!

    • Dukeofurl 7.2

      Auckland will get another seat , maybe two.

      That changes a lot of other things downstream. It cant be 'undone' just because national still wants to gerrymander where it can

    • mickysavage 7.3

      Auckland Central may be 50% oversized. Why should the redraw be delayed?

      • Sacha 7.3.1

        Makes no difference to the party vote – I do have some sympathy with that view. Biggest harms from the Census undercount will be to funding of social services, especially Māori ones.

        • Dukeofurl 7.3.1.1

          Maybe there is some numbers for marginal electorates which show that the party with the electorate MP boosts the party vote in the electorate.?

          Its muddied a bit as its not a binary situation, National exists on its own on the right but Labour and Greens and the left.

  8. Wayne 8

    A major part of the issue is that it is now too late in the electoral cycle. The census results are not even finalised.

    Doing electoral boundaries involves consultation, draft boundaries, further consultation, then final boundaries. That puts it into June next year. Way too late.

    Better to go with the current boundaries for 2020, and do the new boundaries in 2021. No-one is advantaged or disadvantaged.

    I know MickyS wants to make every single thing a highly partisan battle (going by his posts over the last few months). But sometimes the issues are simply a matter of pragmatism.

    • observer 8.1

      Or we could just draw a reasonable conclusion from National's bad faith behaviour over the past months.

      The electoral roll is not determined by the census. We provide our details to the Orange Man, not the Minister of Stats. Of course you know that, people who follow politics generally do. Simon Bridges and his MPs know it too.

      But remember 2017? Mike Hosking on Seven Sharp telling viewers they could only vote for the Maori Party if they were on the Maori roll. This was false, but the intended target was probably hit … viewers who are uninterested in the details, but receptive to a lazy "reckon" (= lie). Smear and undermine faith in our democratic process, it doesn't get more "partisan" than that, does it? And it's coming from the leadership, not some obscure blogger.

      "Cindy gonna rort us" is a bare-faced whopper, but people who claim the last election was stolen and the government illegitimate will lap it up. Those are Simon's people now.

      (of course if they believed any of this for one second they would be employing lawyers, go the the courts, appeal to Governor-General, etc. But they won't, because they don't).

  9. Wayne 9

    observer

    You are wrong. Electorate boundaries are set by the population census. But it is not even complete yet. In my view they have run out of time for the 2020 election. By the time electorate boundaries (and the number of electorate seats) is finally determined, the election will be virtually on us.

    Better to sort it out for the 2023 election. At one level MS is right (though in a different way to his argument). MMP is largely about the party vote. Better to wait and do a proper job on the electorate seat issues, rather than rushing it and doing a bad job.

    • observer 9.1

      Not wrong. I said exactly what I meant. "Electoral roll". Not "Electorate boundaries".

      As you say (correctly) it is the party vote that matters. Like Hosking 2017, Simon Bridges is deliberately muddying the waters – in bad faith. The OP is wrong to say "National does not get MMP", because it is not a genuine mistake, it is a cynical falsehood. Preying on ignorance, and undermining

      It is the same misinformation that says "National won on election night", and gains currency through media repetition. In fact, there is only one election result, and it is not election night. National lost TWO further seats on the final – and only – result. Hence "election night" (an irrelevance) being the preferred (and false) measure for National propaganda.

      Please do not treat us like fools. We know how USA Republicans operate. We don't need that here.

      • Wayne 9.1.1

        Observer,

        Like MS, you have become an ultra partisan on this issue. Just because National raises an issue, you automatically think they are wrong. No consideration of the point raised, just an automatic condemnation.

        You don't even try to address the point about lack of time.

        • observer 9.1.1.1

          I'm happy to engage in good faith. There is ample reason to believe that Bridges is not. And I don't matter at all, but the leader of the official opposition surely does.

          Let's cut to the chase: is the National party raising the issue because:

          1) they are genuinely concerned about the validity of the 2020 election?

          or

          2) because they think they can score political points which (and this is the crucial issue) fit the strategy that they have been following under Bridges' leaderhip?

          You would have to be incredibly naive to think National's real concern is for the democratic process. But then, I'm sure you don't believe Ardern is a "part time PM", or "National won the election", or any of the other attack lines Bridges has used (and repeated even today).

          This is not about the policies of the government. It is about the very legitimacy of the government, especially if/when it is re-elected. And you'll have to decide for yourself if that's a card National should be playing … and a price worth paying.

          • Sacha 9.1.1.1.1

            They are barking at every passing car, as oppositions sometimes do. Nothing ultra-cunning going on.

        • New view 9.1.1.2

          Of course you’re right Wayne. National are doing their best to position themselves for the future. Why wouldn’t they. They’re the opposition. All parties will do it where they can. The government isn’t going to support electoral changes it thinks will disadvantage it. Why would they. Many in this forum take any comment that criticises the current Government as a personal insult and can’t imagine how any comment coming from a Nat could be taken seriously. The fact is nearly half the voters in the country voted National and most likely will continue to do so. Most here think MMP is great but I don’t. This current Government is hobbled by tiny NZF. How dumb is that.

          • observer 9.1.1.2.1

            "The government isn’t going to support electoral changes it thinks will disadvantage it."

            Party vote party vote party vote party vote …

            (Apologies to everyone else for the repetition but after 23 years … sheesh).

            As for MMP, it got more votes than National (or Labour) ever have. Twice. That is a genuine majority … unlike National's fantasy one.

            • New view 9.1.1.2.1.1

              I would suggest many who voted for this version of MMP we have are disappointed with what it dishes up. As for the party vote, sheees, the only decision that counted was whether Winston went left or right.

              • observer

                New Zealanders voted for MMP in 1993. It began in 1996.

                After 15 years they had had enough experience to decide how "disappointed" they were.

                And so in 2011 they voted for it again.

                But anybody who is still disappointed is – of course – entirely free to launch a campaign, petition parliament, march on the streets, take any action they wish to advocate for change.

                There is no such group. No such action. Anywhere. That answers your question.

              • Incognito

                He did the right thing.

  10. peterlepaysan 10

    National, Bridges are desperate and talking rubbish. Which the media love, it gives them headlines. I have met criminals I would trust more than media shouters.

    A botched census does not compromise the next election. A botched census was done under National supervision. Bridges and his advisors (if he has any he listens to ) are idiots.

    The Electoral Commission makes the rules. National risks any remaining credibility if they interfere with that.

  11. observer 11

    On Bridges' bad faith (as described above), you have his interview on Morning Report (see OP) and further …

    Simon Bridges, AM Show, today:

    "But what I would say to you is this: I reckon that there is a very strong majority of New Zealanders right now who say, 'you know what, actually National at the last election got 44 per cent, the system was, in a sense, gamed, there was one old rooster who held the country to ransom'."

    That's the line, repeated often – with zero evidence cited – since the government was formed. If you believe this then the government is not legitimate, and so the democratic process is broken.

    But if you DON'T believe it, then you are only using it as a tactic, and that is very dangerous indeed. Here's the (non-partisan) Andrew Geddis, today (SpinOff):

    "The only way that he [Bridges] could try to force the issue risks damaging a set of very important unwritten societal, political and constitutional presumptions. In other words, this is one of those issues where the long-term consequences matter more than the immediate politics of the matter at hand."

    Well said.

    • Stuart Munro. 11.1

      Bridges is actually talking past the media and us, his message is to anyone dumb enough to fall for his no true Scotsman fallacy "a very strong majority". Those who fall for that line are likely to begin to support him because of the bandwagon effect.

      It's clever in that perverse way that Gnat cleverness is generally expressed – he certainly wouldn't win any votes by honestly representing his policies, and he has no intention of honestly representing our citizens.

    • New view 11.2

      Observer. Zero evidence. The capital gains tax wasn’t shot down by Labour, although they did wilt like a dying leaf. There are more instances aren’t there. And what are these “ unwritten societal blah blah presumptions you’re talking about. Your 11 comment pretty much says what I think is the case along with Simon Bridges and thousands of others. This Government is not proportional or representative. It’s one man who decided at the last moment which way he would jump. You and Thousands like you like this Government because it enabled a labour led coalition. My opinion is if you like labour so much why not vote for them on their merits . This Miss Matched Proportional system let’s the tiny parties rule. Negotiated policy is watered down policy in my opinion.

      • Gabby 11.2.1

        What new poo is that? All policy is negotiated policy.

        • New view 11.2.1.1

          Gabby. When policy is generated within a party, in my opinion you have a better chance of a better result that reflects that parties ideas. Often when outside parties are involved they are trying to prove a point of difference sometimes to the detriment of the policy and sometimes just pigheaded and obstructive. If calling my comment new poo makes you feel witty that’s cool but it’s not much of a contribution.

      • Sacha 11.2.2

        The government represents the votes its parties received, which were more than other options could muster. Same will apply after the next election.

        • New view 11.2.2.1

          But it doesn’t represent a proportional accumulation of policy ideas. NZF has a disproportionate amount of power for the number of people that voted for them. Worse than that labour needs to be nice to them. At least with FPP you knew what you were getting and knew what policies would be implemented whether you liked that party or not. I don’t know how MMP can work better but in my view it has to because what we have now is good intentions that are either shelved watered down or implemented so slowly that the problem it’s trying to fix gets worse.

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  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    8 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
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