November Stuff Poll; Nats Knackered

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, November 25th, 2019 - 95 comments
Categories: election 2020, elections, greens, jacinda ardern, labour, national, nz first, Politics, polls, Simon Bridges - Tags: , ,

Stuff have released their latest YouGov political poll. It’s grim reading for the Tories and current leader Simon Bridges.

Labour are on 41%,  3 points ahead of National, who languish on 38%.

 

But that’s not the only bad news for the embattled Bridges; at 8% each, either the Greens or NZ First would be both able to form a two party Government with Labour.

That won’t happen, of course, because Labour are committed to continuing the current three party arrangement. It will, however, make cross party discipline easier to maintain in the next government (Shane Jones, I’m looking at you).

No preferred PM poll, but the YouGov alternative is ‘favourability’. Ardern wins hands down, and her deputy PM also outscores the bumbling Bridges.

 

The big questions for National remain. When to get rid of Simon Bridges and who to replace him with?

 

 
 
 

 

95 comments on “November Stuff Poll; Nats Knackered ”

  1. mango 1

    I Have to say that I am skeptical of all opinion polls. But at least this one counters the false narrative that the msm drew from the last couple of polls.

    • cleangreen 1.1

      Mango How cqn any poll be free of bias when every poll is either run by corporates or finance industry pundits?

      At least Yougov was begun by a UK conservative politician and then listed on the public stock exchange for offer to the public so I am o/k with this pollster.

  2. Anker 2

    terrific. As it should be. Aren’t YouGov known to be very accurate.? Seem to remember exit polling on a British election

    • YouGov use a fixed panel of voters as their base point for polling. They stick with the same people as much as possible and it is the individual changes in views that are reflected in the results. According to YouGov, this allows for a more accurate reflection of changes in voting intention than randomly ringing different people each time as other pollsters do.

      YouGov are regarded as being among the more accurate pollsters in the UK, though none are entirely reliable.

    • Dukeofurl 2.2

      Exit polling in UK election was very accurate

      https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-election-exit-poll-2017-what-is-an-exit-poll

      Its worthwhile knowing the difference.

      NZ with MMP and party vote which directly gives party seats in parliament ( excl the 'one seat wonders') is far better than polling for FPP seats on such a regionally diverse electorate like UK.

      as example only Labour could lose seats in London with ( say) 50% vote but gain seats in the country side with that vote and stay stable in other areas.

      [Your user handle contains a piece of text from a previous comment. Could you please deal with it?]

  3. Sanctuary 3

    If this poll is accurate then it represent a huge defeat for the relentlessly negative culture war tactics of the Topham-Guerin social media strategy adopted by Bridges since the unexpected Liberal victory in the Australian federal election.

    You would think alarm bells are ringing in National about strategy, and given how heavily Bridges is identified with the all-out online culture war approach the implications for him personally are dire.

    • cleangreen 3.1

      Yep Sanctuary,

      Alarm bells are obviously ringing over there at National for sure.

      Notice now that Bridges is now not fronting daily the media with his off hand statements about labour loosing their way?

      Interesting times ahead.

      Thanks for the info on the national adopting the Topham-Guerin social media strategy.

  4. mosa 4

    Conservative commentator Peter Hitchens laid out the issue with polling, writing:

    Polls are now the best way to influence public opinion, largely because they’re treated… as impartial oracles of the truth by most people who read them. As readers of the excellent political thrillers of Michael Dobbs (serialised on TV with the incomparable and much-missed Ian Richardson playing the ultra-cynical politician Francis Urqhart) will know, it’s not quite that simple. Dobbs has one of his characters say (roughly) “The thing you must realise about polls is that they are not devices for measuring public opinion – they are devices for influencing it”.

    • observer 4.1

      That is mixing up two very different things:

      1) What the polls are

      2) How the polls are treated

      The media require change, for their headlines. News is – by definition – new.

      Say there's a series of polls which (for example) give NZF 5%, then 6%, then 4%, then 6%. Each of those polls would get a different, shouty headline: "NZF Out! NZF Back!", etc. All spun by the various parties, for and against.

      The real story would be "NZF support steady, over several months, changes statistically insignificant". That is information. But it isn't news.

      Polls are useful. They aren't responsible for what people then do with them.

      • CLEANGREEN 4.1.1

        Yep stuff polls are very accurate.

        We daily observe most faces are smiling as if they are satisfied so we are seeing a labour coalition returned next year for sure.

        • observer 4.1.1.1

          You seem to have posted that in the wrong place, as it has nothing to do with my comment.

          There are no "Stuff polls" (plural), not for years now.

  5. Alan 5

    Have you read the methodology on how the poll operates? It would pay to do that before you get too excited.

    • mosa 5.1

      Too answer your question Alan

      From stuff

      The methodology for the YouGov poll is different to other political polls in New Zealand, which rely on phone-calling or a mix of phone calling and online responses. It is conducted entirely online by a panel of respondents, as other YouGov polls around the world are.

      Also

      It is the first poll published by Stuff from YouGov, a global polling firm which runs regular polls for The Australian, The Times, The Economist, and CBS News.

      • Alan 5.1.1

        and how is that panel selected?

        Any poll that has Winston First on 8% at the moment is highly questionable, perhaps they are having "teething issues" with their methodology.

        Lets see what Reid and Colmar Brunton have to say before getting too ahead of ourselves.

        • Formerly Ross 5.1.1.1

          The poll was taken before the latest controversy about donations to NZF. But seeing as the party got 7.2% of the vote at the last election, 8% is hardly extravagant.

        • observer 5.1.1.2

          8% would be surprising, except that commentators tend to forget how the "bugger the lot of them" vote responds to stories like the NZF foundation.

          It doesn't matter if 90% of voters change their opinion of Winston from "low" to "rock bottom". What does matter is the tiny percentage who say "media beat-up" and consolidate NZF support. They are not at all representative of the wider public – but they don't need to be.

        • mosa 5.1.1.3

          You are correct as this poll is " somewhat out of date "

          The poll was conducted between 7 and 11 November by YouGov, before Stuff published a series of revelations about donations to the NZ First Foundation, so is likely to be slightly out of date.

          • Dukeofurl 5.1.1.3.1

            Silly that they keep the poll results in the cupbaord until now , nearly weeks later.

            Im guessing the CBON comes out this week or next as well (they did one last year for last week on November) and they want to be ahead of the buzz on that.

            • weka 5.1.1.3.1.1

              please check your username before your next comment, this is why you’re getting caught in the mod filter.

              • cleangreen

                Hi Weka, if this was for me yes thanks.

                As I wondered why I dropped off the 'Standard Planet' a week or so ago, so great to be back again.

                • Incognito

                  That was because you had received a two-week ban on 4 Nov. You also received a warning that bans will escalate. Ignore at your leisure or peril, whichever you choose but ignorance is no defence.

                  • cleangreen

                    Incognito I missed the ban notice so can you post it as I looked in my postings and did not spot the warnings.

                    If I did something wrong. then please notify me now, as I am not aware what it was for yet as it seems that Weka's .notice was Check your username before I make a comment. My username is always the same as greengreen?

                    • weka

                      What kind of device are you using to comment on TS cleangreen? Because my comments is clearly a reply to Duke, so I'm not sure why you are thinking it was for you. Can you see the 'nested' comments? Can you see the numbers on each comment? Do you use the Comments tab on the side of the page that shows who is commenting and who they are replying to and under what post?

                    • Incognito

                      Weka’s comment @ 5.1.1.3.1.1 was a direct reply to Dukeofurl\\\"Shaft enough people and they will bite you. @ 5.1.1.3.1. You should know by now how the threading/nesting of comments works here.

                      When you receive a ban, at least one warning usually precedes it.

                      Most moderators leave a reply too to help draw attention to their moderation and to avoid it being ignored missed.

                      If you pay no attention to those replies, you have only yourself to blame. It also begs the question whether you pay attention to replies to your comments at all.

                      For your convenience: https://thestandard.org.nz/dunedins-hillside-rail-workshop/#comment-1664659

                      Please do not litigate that ban because that is a bannable offence in its own right.

      • Phil 5.1.2

        The methodology for the YouGov poll is different to other political polls in New Zealand​​​​

        I always chuckle when people start panicking about whether or not polls are calling cellphones or landlines or sampling on internet panels… when the contact method is at least an order of magnitude less important to the final polling outcome than the weighting and turnout-model methodology (which polling companies very jealously protect and, understandably, refuse to make public).

        • Nic the NZer 5.1.2.1

          Also that the margin of error of the poll doesn't (can't) say how biased (wrong) that modelling error is. The margin of error itself is accurate only if the model and weights are exactly correct.

    • Clive Macann 5.2

      Alan. Explain what you mean. Did you read above about how YouGov derive their info?

      • Alan 5.2.1

        Figure it out for yourself Clive

        • Drowsy M. Kram 5.2.1.1

          Alan, could outline your concerns regarding the accuracy of this poll? Is it primarily the higher than expected % for NZF?

          Are you suggesting that YouGov's polling methodology means that this result is likely to be less accurate than Reid or Colmar Brunton? Whereas some analyses suggests the opposite, and that the YouGov methodology is particularly accurate when it comes to assessing trends in voter intentions.

          Welcome to the new kid on the ‘political poll block’.

          • Dukeofurl\\\\\\\"Shaft enough people and they will bite you. 5.2.1.1.1

            Reid and Colmar also partly use online panels for political polling result

            The main usage is to get the hard to find millenials etc , currently they quickly fill the 50+ quota so have to make lots of calls to get some 25 and under and of course its cheaper for a larger sample.

  6. Sacha 6

    Stuff have released their first YouGov poll, not their 'latest'. Only useful once a trend has built up.

  7. observer 7

    Ardern's 62% approval rating is entirely in line with the most recent TV3 and TV1 polls (Reid Research, Colmar Brunton).

    Polls on party vote can jump around, and especially with minor parties, get over-analysed for statistically insignificant changes. But the approval rating is a very consistent pattern that can't be dismissed as "rogue" or "margin of error" or "name recognition" like preferred PM.

    It makes a mockery of the fantasists whose "evidence" is to say "me and my mates don't think much of her and we're everybody innit?".

  8. Jimmy 8

    Perhaps William Wood will be the next National leader to be prime minister!

    • observer 8.1

      Coming soon: Wood insists Bridges has "my full support" … uh oh.

    • Fireblade 8.2

      Simon will keep the opposition seat warm until baldylocks Luxon takes over, but the 17 year old from Palmerston North will be itching to stab a few boomers in the back.

      • Dukeofurl\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Shaft enough people and they will bite you. 8.2.1

        Hes not going to win in Palmerston North…

        • NZJester 8.2.1.1

          That is how we got the current government. National just shafted Winston to many times for him to consider going with them. The knife wounds in his back from National MPs where still fresh after the last Election.

  9. Michelle Gray 9

    If people truly want transformational change they need to give labour more party votes or bump up the Greens Party vote then we truly will see transformation having three parties to appease is not easy too much trade offs

  10. Anne 10

    A general observation:

    Stuff have been doing some good stuff in recent times. Their extended Erebus podcasts (together with RNZ) has been riveting stuff.

  11. Gosman 11

    Good to see ACT making some upward progress.

    • Robert Guyton 11.1

      "Good to see ACT making some upward progress."

      Thanks to Sean Plunket's stirling efforts.

    • observer 11.2

      National's problem is that ACT only add to the "Bridges failing" narrative.

      See the headline on that Stuff story: "Labour ahead … ".

      The media still think FPP, so if ACT gained 3 and National lost 2, a result that would be good for the Right, the headline would be "National down again". Good news would be made bad.

      This is exactly what they do with Labour and the Greens, so I have no sympathy, but it is still stupid.

    • Fireblade 11.3

      ACT are a joke. They're floundering around in margin of error territory.

    • Tiger Mountain 11.4

      Ker-Sploosh!…as another Gosman floater is deposited in the pool…

  12. NZJester 12

    I don't think Simon will be kicked as their leader for a while yet as I think National party members already know they are unlikely to win the next election.

    But his replacement is already set up, they just need him to be elected as an MP before they can dump Simon as their leader. He only still has the job as no one in his party wants it right now.

    Maybe if JLR gets voted in as an independent for the seat it would scuttle their plans or have they put him in on the list at a place to guarantee he will become an MP?

    • Pat 12.1

      Can't see even a desperate National Party anointing a less than one term MP as leader somehow

    • cleangreen 12.2

      NZJester;

      Bang on correct, as JLR is the fly in the national ointment today and perhaps JLR will come back as a push back to the way National tried to destroy him savagely.

    • Peter 12.3

      If JLR gets voted in as an independent I won't care because if that happens cures would've been found for all cancer, there'd everlasting goodwill and peace in the Middle East, drug dependence would've disappeared from New Zealand and Donald Trump would be serving a 23 year prison sentence with all of his scumbag mates.

    • observer 12.4

      If Ross wins Botany, all we get is one more right wing MP in Parliament. An overhang.

      It does not affect National's party vote, or their caucus.

      (MMP, MMP, MMP … 23 years and counting)

      • logie97 12.4.1

        Collins has to roll Bridges now.

        Otherwise Luxon will, post general election, and her chance will be gone.

    • Michelle Gray 12.5

      The replacement we will see

  13. observer 13

    A couple more points on the details:

    1) See the NZ First voters' responses on Ardern and Bridges. Completely squashes the myth that they might favour National over Labour.

    2) The combined vote for ALL "other parties" is 1%. So that's Sustainable NZ (who?), the New Conservatives (who?), the Tamakis (who?), and any other fantasy partner for National.

    And this is after Tava got his headlines from the launch.

    There really is nothing there, and it's high time lazy commentators stopped pretending there is.

  14. roy cartland 14

    I'm sure earlier into this term there was a lot of talk around Simon's mission being purely kamikaze, i.e. with no expectation of winning 2020; just place-holding for someone like Judith to take over and start swinging.

    Is that still a thing? I know Simon himself has to pretend that he means it but does the MSM still need to? Do we?

  15. Fireblade 15

    It's very amusing reading the comments on Kiwiblog and YSB arguing that this poll must be fake. Not only that, but the conservative old fogies can't get their head around a 17 year old standing for the National Party. Add that to their disgust that every Nat MP voted for the Zero Carbon Bill, and I get the impression the wheels are falling off the blue party bus.

    National Party supporters are pissed off and disillusioned.

    • tc 15.1

      'National Party supporters are pissed off and disillusioned.' they didn't need the blue party for that, it's mostly a job done all by themselves .

    • Wensleydale 15.2

      I can't get my head around a 17 year-old standing for the National Party, not because he's 17, but because it's the National Party. Someone should hand that young man a copy of 'The Hollow Men' and 'Dirty Politics'. It's only fair he truly understands the nest of vipers he's getting into bed with.

      • cleangreen 15.2.1

        Wensleydale,

        National has dumbed down the young ones to do what they are told, and not ask questions so that's why they go for the young ones.

      • mac1 15.2.2

        They'll possibly learn. At 17 I was a CQSM in the school cadets. At 19 I registered as a CO. Change can happen. World events and exposure to new ideas and people like I found in the Peace Power and Politics in Asia Conference in Wellington in 1968.

        Best of luck to this young man to find his true morality and awareness.

  16. Dazzer 16

    The responses here are looking a little desperate ie looking for good news.

    I have no idea how the writer can claim this is the latest Stuff YouGov poll given it is as I understand it the first. That surely suggests that regardless of what this specific result says, it is effectively meaningless until a trend can be established based on the methodology.

    However, you will believe what you want it to be

    • observer 16.1

      No need to "believe". Simply read.

      As I've pointed out, there is a trend, and it is across all polls.

      Feel free to rebut specifics, rather than generalise with men of straw.

      • Dazzer 16.1.1

        I don't normally bit but you last sentence is laughable and misses the entire point. This is the first survey – you cannot generalise or indeed draw any conclusions from a single poll. This is the outlier – it could be right, or it could be wrong and it could be the different methodology.

        So how about you address specifics than ignoring the central point I made which is still valid. It is the first poll so on its own is effectively meaningless.

        • observer 16.1.1.1

          I already did at comment 7.

          Data from three different polling organisations, with a consistent pattern across all three.

          • Phil 16.1.1.1.1

            In comment 7 you've claimed that an approval rating can be compared to, or used to validate, a preferred PM rating. And then you've made up garbage about how an approval rating poll is not subject to the same margin of error and name recognition issues as a preferred PM poll.

            You'll have excuse me if I put less than zero faith in your ability to analyse the results.

            • observer 16.1.1.1.1.1

              You seem to have misunderstood. I said that

              "Ardern's 62% approval rating is entirely in line with the most recent TV3 and TV1 polls (Reid Research, Colmar Brunton)."

              Both TV3 and TV1 included the approval rating question in their latest published poll. In both cases it was 62%.

              TV 3 poll

              TV1 poll

              You seem to think I've got it mixed up with "preferred PM". I haven't. That is a different question.

              • Phil

                Ah, sorry, apologies – I hadn't seen the approval question in the One and Three results. I mistakenly assumed they'd only published the pref.PM.

                Nevertheless, the comment you made about approval rating polls not being subject to the same margin of error and name recognition issues as a preferred PM poll is still plain wrong.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 16.1.1.1.1.2

              To express "less than zero faith" in another's ability is nonsensical – "garbage", followed by "less than zero faith" would have been solid jibes, IMHO.

              • Phil

                My rationale was that "zero faith" implies total ambivalence to a statement, and that the statement would not sway my opinion one way or the other.

                I used "less than zero faith" to mean I would take the statement as a warning indicator. I would actively take an opposite path or action – like if your friend who *loves* Taco Bell told you to try out a great new restaurant.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  I (mis)interpreted "zero faith" as 'no faith', i.e. an complete absence of faith, and I couldn't think of an instance when I had had less than a complete absence of faith/belief, so was struggling to understand your phrase as anything other than hyperbole.

                  Thanks for your rationale – makes more sense now.

    • Dukeofurl 16.2

      That doesnt mean anything either . Polls dont have memories like you suggest. The only way and I stress the only way to check for accuracy like that is to have an eelction next weekend.

      I have a suspicion Stuff/Dominion Post , a well known Tory media group has tipped off National back when the numbers came in two weeks ago.
      The tip off policy would be called No surprises
      The Nats threw the kitchen sink to boost Bridges profile …they have been releasing policy now …in the run up to Xmas , when that would normally wait to Feb or later in election year.

      My guess is a Colmar Brunton poll will be out tonight or next week and Bridges hopes the results will be OK for him.

      • Phil 16.2.1

        I have a suspicion Stuff/Dominion Post , a well known Tory media group has tipped off National back when the numbers came in two weeks ago.

        Fuck off with this conspiracy theory garbage.

        It's YouGov's first poll. They're experienced operators and they know full well that the first 'live-fire' output needs to be double and tripled checked to make sure all their systems and analysis are robust.

        They've taken the extra week or so because YouGov are prudent and 'small c' conservative with how they treat information. Stuff wouldn't have had access to anything meaningful until very recently.

        • Dukeofurl 16.2.1.1

          Its two full weeks.

          Yougov know all about the polling game , not new like you suggest ( founded in 2000).

          Clearly they use their existing resources in Australia and help from HQ in Britain.

          Checking …please a panel process that runs for 5 days needs 14 days for 'checking'

          I once worked for a large metropolitan Australian paper , stories are often held for some time for various reasons, in those days 'space' was always a factor. Fast breaking political stories , not so much

          And yes political parties have their own favoured sources within the media to give thema heads up on news affecting them in the pipeline.

  17. Paul S 17

    This poll provides a nice positive backdrop to the Labour Party Conference this weekend 😊👍🏽.

  18. AB 18

    I don't really take much notice of polls – they tend to shift focus onto the game of politics itself, rather than onto structural analysis of issues. But the erasure of this poll from mainstream public discourse is certainly impressive – shows what can be achieved when like minds work together..

  19. Karol121 19

    Perhaps compare a similar poll (Stuff) taken in November 2016 (around 9 to 10 months prior to the 2017 election) if one exists, and try to determine just how the 2016 poll equated to the results on the evening of the 2017 election, then extrapolate if you can.

    Still, there appears to be something not so satisfactory with the feel of National right now, and with the three or more faces of Simon Bridges as mugshots appearing so regularly, accompanied with some of his rather interesting comments and statements, (although some may be a little harsher with their descriptions pertaining to such statements), will it get any better for National?

    Is Judith Collins likely to muster more favour as leader perhaps, and will we see a change of captain any time soon. Or might it occur closer to the day, or after the 2020 election, if it occurs? (This presupposes that she has gone from the position of “not interested” in being leader, to “interested” if others support her in relation to such a re position).

    Does anyone really know her that well?

    Would appeasing those further up in political management, and perhaps demonstrating a mission mentality, potentially put her at risk of perilous navigation, or is she in full control with a deliverable and reasoned mission mentality of her very own?

    From the link below, (courtesy of the Morgan Foundation); can anyone determine which one's Judith?

    http://morganfoundation.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/1440312729065.jpg

  20. peterlepaysan 20

    I do not have much credence for polls. I am more with Jim Bolger, "bugger the polls, the only that counts is on election day".

    Polls give media layabouts something to blather about, after their employers have paid for the poll.

    All statistics are highly suspect when i used to draw conclusions

    thr

  21. Sanctuary 21

    One of the most interesting aspects of the current UK election is the weaponising of polling as a disinformation channel as a political tactic – the Lib-Dems are particularly guilty of this, but all sorts of dodgy polls – often from reputable firms but with secretive funding – are popping up everywhere.

    • ianmac 21.1

      Maybe there is a case for banning polls within so far of an Election? 90 days perhaps?

      • Sanctuary 21.1.1

        The rise of disinformation, black propaganda and targeted fake news means I would ban all social media advertising and polling for 90 days before an election. Only traditional free to air broadcasting and print media would be allowed. And don't tell me the likes of facebook can't do it. Just change your country setting the Germany, and see how much far right stuff suddenly gets filtered.

        • Phil 21.1.1.1

          I would ban all … polling for 90 days before an election.

          This is a terrible idea that would make our society more poorly informed in virtually every facet.

          One of the key reasons regular political polling is important is that it gives us a natural test of methodology. The fact that polling companies continue to have a pretty good track record of picking most NZ political parties within a few points and/or the margin of error means that they're doing the process and analytical grunt-work right. That fact in turn means that when those same companies come out with a poll saying something like "60% of New Zealanders favour marijuana legalisation" the public can actually have confidence that the figure being quoted is broadly true.

          Otherwise, in a world without the 'test' of polling before an election… who the fuck knows with any confidence what we collectively think?

          • Sanctuary 21.1.1.1.1

            No is stopping them polling, they just can't publish them until after the actual, real polls close.

      • cleangreen 21.1.2

        Ianmac I agree.

    • cleangreen 21.2

      Yes Sanctuary,

      I agree as it is also occurring in the US with the democratic party politics.

      I regard any political Party needs to be treated with suspicion now sadly.

  22. soddenleaf 22

    The right have a problem The facade of economic competence is falling away.

    https://m.slashdot.org/story/363880

    National obvious lying, take prisoner voting, obviously disconnecting criminals from engaging politically feeds gang outlaw identity. They already cannot stand for office, so why totally ban them, and then managing the costs of exclusion, really!

    • Wensleydale 22.1

      It's low-hanging fruit. Many prisoners don't vote, even if they have the right, and how likely are the ones that do vote to vote for National? It's an easy win as far as they're concerned. Throw some red meat to the baying hounds in the form of "tough on crime" rhetoric, and drop the hammer on a group of powerless citizens largely free of consequence. Who cares about prisoners? Or beneficiaries? Or sex workers? It's like kicking a beggar. What are they going to do? File a complaint with the United Nations?

  23. mac1 23

    In fact the argument of economic confidence sits in the government's favour. It's a pity that the business 'doomers' don't read this and take heart.

    https://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/news/nz-ranks-first-for-ease-of-doing-business-for-the-fourth-year/

    Sent out by the local chamber of commerce CEO to its members. At least he gets it.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    59 mins ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 hour ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 hours ago
  • 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
    6 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
    7 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
    7 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
    7 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
    8 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
    9 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
    11 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
    23 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
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    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
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    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

  • 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
    5 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
    7 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
    7 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
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-19T04:06:00+00:00