NRT: “Too hard”

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, March 20th, 2017 - 54 comments
Categories: accountability, bill english, farming, national, water - Tags: , , ,

I/S at No Right Turn writes…


“Too hard”

That’s what Prime Minister Bill English thinks of the issue of charging profiteers for water:

There will be no price put on the country’s water before the election because it’s “too hard” to work out who owns it, says Prime Minister Bill English.

While Environment Minister Nick Smith has called any move to charge bottled water companies or put a ban on them exporting water “farcical” – English’s response has been a bit more watered down.

“In New Zealand for a long long time it’s been the case that no one owns the water. You’d be disrupting 100 years of practice and we’ve had a system in New Zealand where it’s first come first served,” he told Newshub.

“You’d have to work out pretty basic things like who owns it? What would you charge them? Who else would you charge?

“Because other people make money out of water, including the tourist boats that float on it…If there was a simple, easy answer here it would already be in place.”

“Right now, it is too hard,” said English.

Sure, it’s hard. But too hard? Not really. Unlike Bill English, I don’t think its beyond the wit of the government’s policy analysts to craft a solution here, or of their Treaty negotiators to settle the immediate Treaty issues that it raises (because lets be honest: like the rest of New Zealand, its stolen property, and Maori deserve to be compensated for it). In fact the last bit seems particularly easy; based on past precedent around fisheries and aquaculture, the government would just end up paying 20% of such charges to local iwi.

The real barrier to National (and therefore English) acting on this is because that “no-one owns water, first come, first served” policy disproportionately benefits one group and allows them to profiteer from a public resource while destroying its value to others. That group is farmers – and they donate to the National Party. Again, I don’t believe its beyond the wit of MfE’s policy analysts to devise a charging scheme which differentiated between low-value uses like farming and high-value ones like water-bottling while ensuring free use for public purposes like town supply, but it would mean farmers having to finally pay for that public resource they are stealing from us. And that will never happen as long as National is in government.

54 comments on “NRT: “Too hard” ”

  1. Draco T Bastard 1

    There will be no price put on the country’s water before the election because it’s “too hard” to work out who owns it, says Prime Minister Bill English.

    Actually, it’s really easy. It’s just like all that oil and minerals that we charge royalties on – it belongs to the entire country as a scarce resource which the government is there to properly manage.

    “In New Zealand for a long long time it’s been the case that no one owns the water. You’d be disrupting 100 years of practice and we’ve had a system in New Zealand where it’s first come first served,” he told Newshub.

    Continuing to do something wrong because it would upset the precedent of doing it wrong is not a valid reason for preventing change.

    Because other people make money out of water, including the tourist boats that float on it…

    We do charge tourist boats for the use of the water that they’re floating on in the form of taxes that the business pays.

    Of course, that’s a distraction from the fact that we’re giving away a scarce resource to businesses to make a huge profit on.

    • inspider 1.1

      More water passed under the Mercer Bridge on the Waikato river, and out to sea in less time that it took to type this post, than is exported in bottles from NZ in a year.

      Good luck explaining to pensioners or parents of teenagers they will have to pay for every bath or shower to fix this crisis in public policy.

      • Corokia 1.1.1

        Lots of us already pay for household water

        • inspider 1.1.1.1

          We all pay for distribution. Some pay via a meter (good for single people with low use), some via a fixed charge on rates (good for families with high use). Draco wants you to pay an additional fee for every litre used.

          • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1

            No, it seems to only concern those who exploit a public resource for commercial advantage would be expected to pay for that privilege.

          • You_Fool 1.1.1.1.2

            I am pretty sure my water bill has a charge per L used, not per km transported… SO I am being charged for the water I use.

            Also the ownership issue seems pretty straight forward. New Zealand owns it, thus NZ should charge for it, via it’s proxy called the “government”. I could pay for it too but then I will likely pay less tax anyway (or should) so win/win

      • McFlock 1.1.2

        Bullshit scaremongering.

        Water is a public right, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t owned. Domestic water should be free, supplied by the government where reasonable domestic supplies can’t be sorted as a reasonable part of dwelling development.

        Businesses need to pay for the profit they make from the public asset. No business has a right to exist, but people do.

        • inspider 1.1.2.1

          So hospitals need to pay more for the oxygen they use that is captured from the public atmosphere? Maybe bring back a window tax for the businesses that benefit from the public sunlight? And charge the ferries for use of the sea while we are at it.

          • McFlock 1.1.2.1.1

            🙄

            Are we running short of oxygen? Then yes, private hospitals seeking to profit from that scarcity should be charged. Just as air polluters should be charged financially if not criminally, just as the people who put shit in our waterways aren’t.

            • inspider 1.1.2.1.1.1

              So you are basing your position on scarcity or profit off public assets?

              • McFlock

                Both. Maybe it is too hard for tories to understand.

                Resources of the land, air and see are public assets. Dominion over these assets in NZ is shared ownership between the Crown and Iwi, as a result of the Treaty of Waitangi.

                If the resource isn’t scarce but is automatically shared amongst everybody in the community to a sufficient and generally equal level, you could charge for it, but nobody would buy it because they just get their own for free.

                Where it is scarce but is an individual’s right, it therefore needs to be distributed equitably. This means that if somebody wishes to make a profit off it, they need to pay a dividend back to the community because they’re using more than their equitable share.

                Seems consistent and easy enough to me.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.3

        More water passed under the Mercer Bridge on the Waikato river, and out to sea in less time that it took to type this post, than is exported in bottles from NZ in a year.

        Which, of course, is meaningless. Water flowing in a river helps to keep the river healthy. Taking water out of the river helps to kill it.

        Good luck explaining to pensioners or parents of teenagers they will have to pay for every bath or shower to fix this crisis in public policy.

        Aucklanders already pay for every drop they use and I don’t recall them ever complaining about it. It’s part and parcel of the market system.

        You’re now demanding that we don’t use a market system to allocate resources?

        Sure, what do you think we should use? USSR command economy maybe?

        • inspider 1.1.3.1

          It’s not meaningless when people are claiming bottled water shouldn’t be exported due to claims of scarcity. It puts that claim into perspective.

          I’m not against a market solution, just conservative on the benefits vs the disruption. I don’t think it will be the panacea you think.

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.3.1.1

            It’s not meaningless when people are claiming bottled water shouldn’t be exported due to claims of scarcity. It puts that claim into perspective.

            Only in the perspective that you don’t think that the environment counts.

            Which is delusional at best and probably psychopathic.

    • Wayne 1.2

      Draco,

      It is actually quite hard.

      The problem is consistency of treatment.

      For instance irrigation water will necessarily have a much lower value than water used in beverages. Otherwise all irrigation will cease, since if all water had the same charge it would be infinitesimal on a litre basis, probably less than a cent or two.

      Picking up on simony’s comment below. A 15 c/l charge is quite significant. It gets added to the price and therefore the margin. By the time it gets to retail it could be an extra 30 c/l. That might be enough to cause consumers to switch brands.

      Similarly all users of beverage water (wine, beer, soft drinks, bottled water) would presumably pay the same irrespective of whether the final product is consumed in NZ or exported. New Zealand does not do export taxes, and neither should we.

      What about industrial users, those who incorporate water in the final product compared to those who use it for cooling?

      What about hydro dams which just run the water through?

      One could go on and on about all the issues. And that is before we get to the TOW issues.

      It will be like the ETS, very difficult to do without wrecking the economy.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1

        A 15 c/l charge is quite significant. It gets added to the price and therefore the margin. By the time it gets to retail it could be an extra 30 c/l. That might be enough to cause consumers to switch brands.

        It might be enough to realise that buying bottled water is a truly stupid idea.

        What about industrial users, those who incorporate water in the final product compared to those who use it for cooling?

        What about them?

        The pricing mechanism isn’t there to ensure that businesses can make a profit but to encourage our scarce resources to be utilised in best way possible.

        What about hydro dams which just run the water through?

        Technically, they’re not actually using the water. As in, they’re not removing it from the river. Although a pollution charge may be worth considering.

        It will be like the ETS, very difficult to do without wrecking the economy.

        It wouldn’t wreck the economy – neither would the ETS. A few unsustainable businesses would go under but that’s part and parcel of the pricing mechanism and, as I’ve been told, capitalism.

        In other words, it would save the economy because we’d no longer be subsidising unsustainable businesses.

        • RedBaronCV 1.2.1.1

          Maybe we charge when the water is moved off site in a non natural way.
          And permits can’t be traded so that water moves off site – has to be used where extracted – in parts of the US some places have been left without water/ farms/local economy/jobs etc as the permit has been moved upriver or some variation of.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.2.2

        For instance irrigation water will necessarily have a much lower value than water used in beverages. Otherwise all irrigation will cease, since if all water had the same charge it would be infinitesimal on a litre basis, probably less than a cent or two.

        That’s actually the point of the pricing mechanism. If something can’t be done at the market price (note: SINGLE) then it doesn’t get done.

        You don’t have multiple prices for multiple uses as that’s actually undermining the pricing system.

        • Antoine 1.2.2.1

          Can I just say that a single price for water would be quite wrong.

          At a minimum, the pricing should reflect:
          – scarcity – with the price being higher when the water is more scarce (Water should be free when there’s a flood and it would otherwise be wasted, but extremely expensive when it’s from a heavily depleted aquifer)
          – distribution cost – with the price being higher when the user is benefiting from public water reticulation assets – or lower if the water is taken directly from source, or taken via assets that the user has already paid for
          – whether the water is returned in good condition (as per a hydro dam) or lost to the system (like a farm)
          – grandfathering – with parties with long standing usage rights paying less than new comers.

          If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that a charge for water will not materially affect bottlers, because their markup is so high. This is basically about farming.

          A.

          PS As I write this, I see McFlock is making a similar point

          • Draco T Bastard 1.2.2.1.1

            – scarcity – with the price being higher when the water is more scarce (Water should be free when there’s a flood and it would otherwise be wasted, but extremely expensive when it’s from a heavily depleted aquifer)

            Are you sure about that? Because indication are that it’s soon going to cost more than gold.

            The simple fact of the matter is that potable water is very, very scarce.

            distribution cost – with the price being higher when the user is benefiting from public water reticulation assets – or lower if the water is taken directly from source, or taken via assets that the user has already paid for

            Why should it cost more when the reticulation is paid for by rates?
            Why should farmers get a discount?
            Why are you confusing the price of reticulation for the cost of water?

            grandfathering – with parties with long standing usage rights paying less than new comers.

            Nope – everyone gets treated the same because otherwise we build injustices into the system.

      • McFlock 1.2.3

        We already look at water resource use and management and issue permits. What we don’t do is charge businesses a fair price for the resource everyone owns but they get to exploit to the detriment of everyone else.

        Dams should have fish ladders/bypasses. Land farms and fish farms should not pollute adjacent waterways and land with industrial levels of biowaste. Server farms and factories that use water as coolant shouldn’t return water at a temperature that doesn’t kill fish.

        The cost of water should reflect its scarcity at each source: you want to irrigate your land rather than use it for more appropriate crops/intensity? It should be uneconomical to take so much from your local aquifer that the river dries up. It you can ship it in from somewhere that water is cheaper, fine. But don’t fuck it up for everyone downstream.

  2. There is a management system ” Just in time”,which as an option, may be used to increase efficiency across many business activities. Lo and behold this present govt have eclipsed this or any other method to address problems facing this country with their very own solution , –via their think tank . they have evolved a world first method of addressing problems by introducing “Just to hard methods.–” As a back up, their down the track ,someday ,one day alternative is one day soon to be announced ,- “The just too late ” governing method. All their own work.

  3. AB 3

    Water is part of the Commons – owned equally by everyone. Therefore it can’t be appropriated for private gain without both the permission and the compensation of the public. Start from that principle and work something out.
    Rain we need to treat differently – but lakes, streams, rivers, aquifers etc. are part of the Commons.

  4. Tophat 4

    Auckland council didn’t think it was too hard to price water;
    Volumetric charge: $2.454 per 1,000 litres, including GST
    https://www.watercare.co.nz/common-content/billing-and-payment/Pages/default.aspx

    • inspider 4.1

      That’s the wastewater charge. It’s $1.444 for supply. But that’s the reticulation cost, not the selling price of water.

      • Tophat 4.1.1

        Thank you clearing that up. :/

      • Whispering Kate 4.1.2

        I don’t know what Watercare bill you are looking at but mine reads volumetric charge for water is $1.444 / kL, waste water is $2.454/kL and then the Fixed wastewater charge of $205.00 pa.

        Obviously we are paying for fresh water coming into the house – why else would people want to conserve to try and keep their bills as low as they can. If it was only a reticulation charge for potable water then there would be a fixed charge only. The Council can tell it how ever way they like – we are having to pay for potable water here in Auckland. The more you use they then can charge it as grey water to get out of the truth which is we are charged whatever we do with it potable or grey.

        When the Government try and say nobody owns the water – why can they not just come to an agreement with Maori that the water belongs to New Zealand – that way they could stop foreign interests from bottling it for free. I wonder how it would be if countries came in here first in first served and started digging for our gold and coal or oil and exporting it for free.

        • greywarshark 4.1.2.1

          Interesting thought about foreign companies using another country’s resources. I was looking at an item from stuff about salmon farming in Tasmania. They are worried because farming is in an enclosed bay and the sedimentation is affecting the sea floor health and the condition and quantity of the sea life
          .
          Now wait for it – one owner of salmon farms is suing the local Council and government for not keeping its harbour pollution free. The company is complaining there is an excess of salmon farming allowed, causing pollution. So the probably foreign companies are costing the Australian government in administration and monitoring costs and the companies are going to cost big legal fees as they jostle for position and argue for better conditions than they can get back where they came from. I wonder what the net profit to the host country is after all the costs are counted.

          http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/aquaculture/90541014/marlborough-sounds-salmon-farm-relocations-compared-to-troubled-tasmania-situation

          ABC published statements from a scientific report in January saying salmon and other marine creatures in Macquarie Harbour were suffering due to drastically low levels of oxygen. No living marine creatures could be found within 500 metres from the cages at one salmon farm site.

          Environmental organisation Environment Tasmania released a report on salmon farming in the harbour, saying a build-up of sediment from fish farm waste in sites with low current speeds could cause an environment where oxygen was scarce and flora and fauna could not survive.

          “Scientific research shows that sheltered bays and harbours cannot support the amount of pollution introduced by intensive farming, or provide optimal conditions for fish health and growth,” the report said. …

          Salmon farm company Huon Aquaculture is taking the Tasmanian government to court for allegedly failing to protect the harbour environment….

          In Tasmania, Huon was claiming the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), and the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) allowed companies to intensively farm salmon in numbers in Macquarie Harbour far greater than the environment could sustain.

          • Draco T Bastard 4.1.2.1.1

            I wonder what the net profit to the host country is after all the costs are counted.

            Companies only set up shop if they can leave with more than they came with. In other words, the host country will be losing on the deal.

  5. adam 5

    All right I’m off to dam the local stream and claim my first user fights. Who gives a rats about the people who live their, I’m just enforcing my first in, first served right!

    Long live King Bill!

    For the literalist types, the above is sarcasm; lowest form, and all that.

    • Whispering Kate 5.1

      Quite agree, it would seem we are a country which says first in first served for everybody. You can even buy citizenship if you offer enough money. Its happening with our housing all over New Zealand although the housing isn’t for free, but it may as well be at the rate of knots our residential suburbs are being invaded. We personally are seeing the turnover of home ownership changing hands two and three times in a year, it becomes a bit confusing as one is never too sure who lives in what house anymore in our suburb. We live with auctions going on on our doorstep on a weekly basis – what has happened to suburban cohesion where folks knew each other and helped each other out. Obviously its too easy for just anybody to own homes in this country, come on it, help yourself, bugger our own first home buyers and their endless struggle to find the cash to own a home. No wonder our kids are becoming angry and who blames them – I feel for parents who have more than two kids as it will be impossible to give them all a leg up on to the housing market.

      I think the Government has lost the plot personally.

    • miravox 5.2

      “All right I’m off to dam the local stream…”

      In that case, as water is free, I’ll be off to the shop to open a bottle of water and freely transfer it to my own storage container. I’ll replace the empty bottle and leave a few cents to cover the cost water collection, transport and storage.

  6. greywarshark 6

    Poof. Those of us who own freehold land have a certificate of title which refers to it being granted bt the crown. So when government wish to take that land from us they can by cancelling our interest in it in favour of the crown. Patricia Grace put up a terrific fight against the government taking land for roading that had special importance to Maori.

    In the same way government can claim rivers and a riparian strip. Government can agree to give this back to Maori or share interest in the river and the water pertaining to it. Any movement of water from it should be on licence and paid for and monitored. But we have always had a class of self-made men trying to dominate the country’s financial opportunities to gather more, and land is a good bet
    if it is in the right place, which once was with nearby water, but now it can be sucked off to poor drylands.

    The Colorado River once fed fertile lands in Mexico, then the USA divided its flow and allocated Mexico only 10% of the water.
    http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/rivers/

    Tracing the once mighty Colorado River after the depredations of land owners
    which in turn probably has affected climate change which limits it more.
    http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-colorado-river-runs-dry-61427169/?page=2

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/opinion/where-the-colorado-river-runs-dry.html

    • Andre 6.1

      If you ever want a trip down the rabbit hole, try getting your head around water laws in western states. It really is an alternate universe. Colorado particularly. Up until last year you weren’t even allowed to collect rainwater from your roof.

      • greywarshark 6.1.1

        Andre
        Amazing eh. And there are other aspects to the water situation relating to how the implacable farmers managed to get water that the native Indian people always had and still needed. I am fairly sure that is part of the Colorado story.

  7. simonm 7

    The Fijian government seems to have worked out how to successfully charge royalties for water that’s being commercially bottled and sold offshore. See the quote from the ‘Living Traditionally’ site below.

    “The (Fijian) government receives taxes per litre for its exported water. In 2010, the government proposed a tax levy increase rate, per litre. Raising from 1/3 of a cent to 15 cents per litre, equalling F500,000 to F22.6 million ($231,397 USD to $10,644,254 USD).

    The Fiji Water company considered moving to a new water source in New Zealand but the Fiji government threatened to lease the well to a competing company. Fiji Water accepted the new tax levy and continued to collect and export Fiji’s water.”

    I don’t see why it should be difficult for New Zealand to implement a similar scheme that allows us to share in the enormous profits that are being made from this industry.

    http://livingtraditionally.com/what-you-didnt-know-about-fiji-water-but-should/

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1

      The only difficulty the government is having is explaining why businesses get to make a huge amount of profit at our cost.

  8. Ad 8

    English is rightly worried.

    One subtext is iwi:
    – Tainui have a special ‘ownership’ of the Waikato.
    – The Wanganui River is now legislated as a person.
    – Let’s not forget fishing rights and the Key-Smith debacle over the Kermadecs

    Then there’s the problem that some councils like Auckland pretty much monopolize it from fresh to stormwater to sewerage

    Other non-unitary councils can’t even regulate and prosecute for pollution let alone sale.

    The health regulator for water commodification is Min Health.

    Then there’s the power companies who own dams and the water within them – the government no longer get control them.

    We haven’t even got to pricing irrigation with and consistency.

    Definitely too hard before election.

  9. Thinkerr 9

    It is possible to charge for water…

    I’ve been paying for the trickle down policies since the day I started working (86).

  10. Tamati Tautuhi 10

    Sounds like a shit of a problem for Bill, it is an absolute buggars muddle, no forward planning by Central Government what so ever?

  11. Antoine 11

    Putting in place a good national charging regime for water is a hard hard job. Its gonna take decades not months, based on experience from other utilities. Doesnt mean we shouldnt start soon, though.

    • Draco T Bastard 11.1

      No, really, it’s not and it should take months to do. It most certainly should not take decades which is the same as saying that we should do nothing – which is remarkably similar to all your other arguments about where things that need to be done but you insist that nothing can be done.

      • Antoine 11.1.1

        Do you know how long it took to establish water charging in Auckland, from the start of metering to the charging regime being in place?

        Or how long the electricity market has taken to develop, so far?

        These things don’t happen quickly.

        A.

        • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1.1

          Do you know how long it took to establish water charging in Auckland, from the start of metering to the charging regime being in place?

          Wrong question.

          The question is: How long did it take to investigate and write the regulations?

          Or how long the electricity market has taken to develop, so far?

          There isn’t an ‘electricity market’ and never will be because it’s a natural monopoly. The artificial attempt we have now isn’t working because it’s humans trying to force into effect something that will never exist.

  12. Tui 12

    stop stealing our taonga!!!

    ~ Tui

  13. Smilin 13

    When your govt consistently sells off the sovereignty of the country for 8 yrs is it any wonder we get a statement from the current PM
    in regards to water
    A munted reply to the fact they have created a commodity definition for water
    So its a resource like anything else we sell and the current ownership models that Maori have and the govt with the irrigation of farms should easily apply to this new money spinner of bottling
    Pay for the resource its that simple and the control of it should not be a corporate based system as it is a renewable resource therefore it needs to be governed in a sustainable manner ie those who actually have done the studies on every source of our water should be the power in how these commercial entities get resource consent instead of some band of corporates who think they should have the power to control the resource without it having any sovereignty issues to deal with
    But thats too hard because it gets to the crux of the matter these profiteers want it all just like every other commercial enterprise
    Corporate tax 28% what more do they want is that not enough incentive to pay your share you greedy bastards

    • Draco T Bastard 13.1

      You don’t get rich by paying for anything, you get rich by getting others to pay you for what’s theirs.

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    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
    11 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
    12 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
    13 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
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 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
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 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
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 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
    11 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
    11 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
    1 day 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 ...
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  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
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