NZ First and the SFO

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, September 30th, 2020 - 38 comments
Categories: Judith Collins, law, law and "order", national, nz first, winston peters - Tags:

Some random musings on the news yesterday that persons associated with NZ First had been charged by the Serious Fraud Office.

I had no idea that over the past week there had been rather intense court activity trying to suppress news that the SFO had laid charges against two individuals.  Then at 5 pm yesterday there was this strange language in a press release from the SFO and a stand up from Winston to announce and discuss the results.

Yesterday morning National announcing it’s law and order policy. I expected it to highlight raw meat for its base. I thought it would be tough on drugs or something.  And its general policy does contain this detail.

But National chose to concentrate only on the SFO, highlighting increased funding and a new name.

Well give me a tinfoil hat but why would National give up chance to loudspeaker the raw meat policy and announce increased crown spending instead? Think they might have wanted to draw attention to and express support for the SFO?

And while I am at it with the tin foil hat why did the SFO delay the response to now when they said they would announce the result before the election when it was scheduled for September 17.  They claim that the lockdown has slowed things down and some interviews had to be conducted face to face.  I struggle to understand why.

The SFO announced details of the NZ First investigation at an early stage.  But it appears that National and NZ First and for that matter Labour have been treated differently.

The investigation into National’s funding arrangements commenced on March 12, 2019.  No doubt former National MP Jami-Lee Ross’s decision to visit the police and complain on October 17, 2018 had a part to play in this.  The SFO announced that it had received a referral from the police in relation to a complaint received in October 2018.  I presume this was the Ross complaint.  Interestingly the press release said that “[t]he SFO does not disclose the detail of ongoing investigations to protect the integrity of the investigation and those involved” and no party was named.

By way of contrast the press release in relation to NZ First said “[t]he Serious Fraud Office has today commenced an investigation in relation to the New Zealand First Foundation”.  No subtlety there.  And also tellingly the SFO announced an investigation into Labour naming the Labour Party without even telling Labour about it.

As to the merits it is cute in the extreme for Peters to claim that the party has been completely exonerated yet at the same time the SFO is involved in a witch hunt.

Not that I am sympathetic to NZ First. I hope they disappear this election.  But I can’t help but be puzzled by the SFO’s actions.

38 comments on “NZ First and the SFO ”

  1. Dennis Frank 1

    Occam's Razor suggests that the SFO hierarchy is biased in favour of the establishment. That's obviously why it had to defer verdicts on National & Labour until the election is safely past.

    Observers will note this looks like a conspiracy theory. No shit! If the SFO hierarchy conspired to produce the deferrals, they'd be right. If, on the other hand, they have a boss, and the boss pointed out that the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slowly, so the chances of verdicts on the two mainstreamer parties couldn't reasonably be expected until several years had passed, staffers would conclude that a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse, nudge nudge wink wink say no more.

    Winston told Duncan Garner this morning that the Labour investigation was launched in 2017. No excuse for the lengthy delay on that, right??

    So the credibility of the SFO rests on whether the NZF controversy predated JLR's exposure of National circumvention of the donations law. However the SFO decision to charge the conduit instructor (JLR) rather than the party official who informed the instructor of the method to be used (National Party secretary) makes it clear to perceptive observers that the SFO believes its higher moral duty is to insulate the mainstream political parties from prosecution. To preserve the delusion in the public mind that our system of democracy is credible.

    • Incognito 1.1

      Socrates’s Razor suggests that we don’t know what’s going on in SFO; Socrates didn’t shave but only trimmed his beard 😉

  2. Ad 2

    Yes I had been thinking exactly the same thing Mickey.

    Firstly coming out with the result 3 days before voting starts is simply wrong. They are not Judges nor Police, so they are public servants. They should not be seen to be interfering in an election. Collins' networks within the Auckland senior legal networks are well known.

    Secondly actively putting your fingers on the scale by trying to take out Winston Peters is definitely an offence to democracy worthy of a day in court, even if Winston will lose. Someone in the public service tried to take him out in 2017 with the NZSuper revelations – irrespective of the State Service Commission denials. It was a clear hit.

    There was no need for National and their Deep Legal State supporters to stride across our political battlefield bayonetting the wounded.

    Possibly no one will sing his praises, but Winston has put more capital into more deals in more degraded small country towns than any other politician in living memory.

  3. greywarshark 3

    It certainly seems partisan of the SFO. For a while they have seemed less of a serious body devoted to dealing with fraud and corruption, and more of a well-paid group devoted to successful missions. If they don't think they can take a Court action and win, it seems that they don't even bother to investigate. It certainly was their response to one seemingly serious allegation I read about, can't remember details. Like the police they have much discretion. Where is the balance between control from the state and control from the director and management team? J Edgar Hoover loomed for decades in the USA. Do we have to put up with similar to their shonky systems undermining respect for government so people see it as either a toothless tiger or skewed against the little guy who ends up oppressed by it?

    Winston this morning on Radionz appeared grumpy as well he might be, when questioned about the Foundation and its money-gathering tactics. He claimed he didn't know, that it followed National's fund-raising methods, and was pestered by Suzy about who was paying for the Court fees about it and how much. He said he didn't know, and stuck to that.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018766212/winston-peters-accusing-sfo-of-interfering-in-election

  4. Gabby 4

    Occam's extra sharp triple blade disposable razor suggests one of these cases might be easier to close than the others, which would appeal greatly to a lazy civil servant.

  5. Anne 6

    Well, it's no coincidence that Collins announced the mass increase in SFO funding yesterday morning, followed later in the day by the press release from the SFO about the NZ First Trust fund.

    Communications behind closed doors? Well, Collins knew something didn’t she.

    Labour should respond after the election by reducing SFO government funding. wink

    • Jae 6.1

      Pretty sure Labour and National would have been told, as there's IIRC a statutory requirement that both major parties are informed of significant announcements under 'No Surprises'

      • Anne 6.1.1

        Why would they have been told? The investigation had nothing to do with either major party, nor is it appropriate in the middle of an official election campaign – especially when the other two parties are facing investigations (in the case of National an investigation which is related to the original) as well.

        Like mickysavage I am not an NZF supporter nor ever have been, but I don't like government agencies playing favourites with political parties and this smacks of favouritism.

    • tc 6.2

      Nope labour should re-consider the legislation Clark was proposing that turned them into an organised crime agency.

      The next PM, Banksta JK, binned it and charted a different course for the regulatory bodies.

    • Pat 6.3

      If 'concerned individuals' had taken court action to delay the release of findings then it would be reasonable to expect that information to become known to interested parties…no need for official heads ups.

      “Newly released judgements show the SFO had originally planned to announce the charges last week, only for New Zealand First to seek a High Court order barring the agency from revealing the news until a government had been formed after the election.”

      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/two-charged-over-nz-first-foundation-donations

    • Gabby 6.4

      Doubling the funding and setting up a donations and trusts sub department.

  6. Jae 7

    This is tinfoil hat territory, in my opinion. The NZFF and National Party Donation investigations have been treated almost exactly the same: Investigation announced, and when investigation has been concluded, the charges announced. The announcements were legally specific – in the JLR case, the investigation was into the donors and how their money was split up and solicited by JLR. In the NZFF, the investigation was into the foundation as a whole.

    Further to that, the SFO are legislatively mandated to only prosecute cases where they are highly positive they can win. This is largely because fraud law in particular is ridiculously dense and vague and tautological – largely you can only commit fraud if you commit your fraud fraudulently. This isn't going to be solved by going after the SFO, it's only going to be solved by actually changing the laws to make them clear. Hell, there's not even any precedent or guidance in the law to state how much investigation a Party Secretary has to do into corporate donors, meaning that all the multiple $14,999 donations sent through different corporations fly under the radar.

    The people here saying that the SFO should have what, hidden their investigation until after the election is just ridiculous, in my opinion. Giving the public more information is something we should want from our public service, especially the parts around corruption. It isn't the SFO's job to keep parties clean or to try and get dirt to stick to them, that's the media's job and our job to sort through it. The fact that the Nats have come out relatively clean after the JLR Fiasco isn't the SFO's fault, it's the medias fault for basically deciding that anything that is legal is perfectly ethical.

    I fail to see why people on this site are leaping to the defense of a grubby, unethical party, who diverted funding for regional development to build a racing tack in Christchurch that benefitted their Horse Studding donors. The closest I get to an argument is that National are also grubby and unethical, and that's not an argument. Especially since there was an investigation into the Nats that had almost the exact same result as the NZFF one!

    Note to Mods: this is the 'James' who was commenting on yesterdays SFO article. I have changed the name to be distinguished from the apparent troll who has the same name, to my chagrin.

    • mickysavage 7.1

      When the National Party investigation was announced they did not name the party. I am not sure why they did not follow the exact same model in this case. And why announce that the investigation would be wound up before the election? Investigations need to take as long as they need to take.

      • Jae 7.1.1

        They didn't name the party in the NZFF case. As Winston is so fond of saying, "The New Zealand First Foundation is totally seperate" sarcastic eyeroll But yeah, the difference was that the National investigation wasn't into the Nats finances, they recieved the 8 donations from 8 seperate people and current law makes that a non-issue. The investigation was on the donors end to discover whether they split it illegally. They weren't investigating the National party or anything that had the National Party's name on it. It's a dumb difference to be sure, as everyone knew it was in relationship to the National party, but as an investigatory agency the SFO has to follow the dumb letter of the legal specifics.

        • Dennis Frank 7.1.1.1

          Your reasoning seems valid. I didn't comment in support of NZF, just to point out the double standard that the establishment in Aotearoa is operating. Happy to see NZF permanently exit the scene!

          I agree re law-changes necessity as remedial governance. Public faith in democratic process is contingent on the general perception of fairness & a level playing field. If you're a lawyer, you may not see the import of such mass psychology.

          Just because I got cynical from observing the system long ago, yet managed to retain some naive faith in common sense, doesn't mean others won't spiral into despair as a result of their ideals being defeated by reality. The pandemic reminds us that many are thus vulnerable. Defenders of the system ought to shift from denial of wrongdoing into fix-it mode…

        • mickysavage 7.1.1.2

          SFO National release:

          "The Serious Fraud Office has received a referral by the Police about a complaint they received in October last year in relation to the disclosure of political donations under the Electoral Act.

          The SFO does not disclose the detail of ongoing investigations to protect the integrity of the investigation and those involved. The SFO has no further comment to make."

          SFO NZ First release:

          "The Serious Fraud Office has today commenced an investigation in relation to the New Zealand First Foundation."

          Spot the difference?

    • greywarshark 7.2

      Jae That's quite a lot of dense info and as I am rather dense it will take time to read but thank you for talking us through it . I caught the line –

      This is largely because fraud law in particular is ridiculously dense and vague and tautological – largely you can only commit fraud if you commit your fraud fraudulently.

      which is intriguing and I will enjoy reading on later I am sure.

      • Jae 7.2.1

        Oh, that's nothing compared to corruption law basically worldwide. It's entirely tautological – a bribe is only a bribe if it is done 'corruptly'.

        • greywarshark 7.2.1.1

          Jae – It becomes obvious that all the years Transparency International have been holding up our shiny mirrored escutcheon of righteousness, they never sampled you for reference.

          • Jae 7.2.1.1.1

            Well, that's because the Corruption Perceptions Index, which TI notes every time but everyone ignores only covers one very narrow area – how much corruption impacts upon business practice. But people don't like to read, they just like to look at the numbers. TI haven't actually been all that glowing about New Zealand in literally all their other work, especially around our donation law and government transparency work.

            • greywarshark 7.2.1.1.1.1

              Jae I hope you stay around. There are lots of good commenters here who know what they are talking about, so there are lots of precedents for you to follow.

    • Pat 7.3

      "Especially since there was an investigation into the Nats that had almost the exact same result as the NZFF one!"

      Yep…the fact that Winston has many political enemies (hes hardly alone it that) who would not hesitate to seize any opportunity to damage him is light years away from being able to influence any investigation ….as much as they may wish to be able to.

      As someone noted, the SFO were damned if they did and damned if they didnt, and the situation will be spun either way depending on agenda.

      At the end of the day what has anyone learnt?….nothing, party funding is widely known to be dodgy and a ruling on 'legality' changes little.

      • lprent 7.3.1

        Pretty much – been saying that sincevthe 1990s. But also that the SFO isn't capable of dealing with it.

        There seemed to me to be some pretty clear political positioning in how the SFO handled the timing of this investigation. I notice that you have been avoiding commenting on that aspect of the events. NZF may not be the most salubrious political party around- but I know of at least 3 political parties currently using this kind of lawful but morally repugnant donation regime.

        Regardless of the other aspects of our corruption driving political donation laws, the idea that a judicial authority seems to be operating on the basis that the ends justifies the means is just dangerous. That they appear to be picking when they act for maximum political effect is a praterion guard play.

        You know that if these kinds of idiots establish this as a modus operandi, it starts to corrupt every damn thing around it. We really don't want a state where a charging aspect of the state starts to act like Sydney cops of the 1980s. Or any of the thousands of other worse incidents through history.

        Better to clip the SFO out of history before they get too corrupt. The probable longer term consequences are worse than the benefits.

        • Pat 7.3.1.1

          "There seemed to me to be some pretty clear political positioning in how the SFO handled the timing of this investigation. I notice that you have been avoiding commenting on that aspect of the events."

          My sparse comment on the timing (the post you replied to was a comment on the timing) is quite simply because I see no problem with the timing or explanation given….as said they were damned if they did etc.

          As to the judiciary acting as 'praetorian guard' for the establishment …really? are we to expect them not to do the job they are designed to do?

          Corruption is indeed a very real risk, but the myth that corruption in NZ institutions hasnt and dosnt exist has always been that….it is the type of corruption that is at issue and in that I have concerns, particularly where it comes to the influence of money.

    • lprent 7.4

      Jae: I'm not jumping to their defense. That is your pig ignorant interpretation. Speaks more of your ignorance than anything else.

      What I am saying is that I smell the pattern of behaviour of corruption in the stupid laws we have governing political donations (they don't work). But also in the actions of a law enforcement body. The first does not excuse the second.

      Quite simply if the laws around political donations lend themselves to clear actions like 100k donations being broken up into 15k amounts for the benefit of a political party – but that benefit is not unlawful – then corruption is deep. It won't be corrected by some fuckwit vigilantes in the SFO doing the white sheet manovere and corrupting the legal system by making political moves to 'correct it'.

      That is a direct use of the argument that the ends justify the means. If you took the time to read an understand some history of where that exact approach has been used in the past you'll find that just making that the basis of action invariably causes major problems years or decades down the line.

      Do rather that making up your own fairy tales about what you think that we're saying, how about just reading what we actually say. Without your mindless embellishments.

  7. tc 8

    SFO/CommComm/FMA all ineffective by design and who you place up top IMO. Much like RNZ is currently but I digress.

    Part of Police aren't they so is the minster allowed to crack the whip as that judgement was due before pre-voting fortnight on the 17/9 initial pole date by the SFO's own timeline.

    They stated it which IMO infers they had the issue dimensioned, or were committing to that so to speak and put a commitment out there .

  8. Peter 9

    The National Harridan has Peters as a trophy head. "It's all over red rover," she reckons.

    To ponder:

    Sucking and sipping from a loafer at Whananaki Peters will have trophy heads looking down from the wall:

    Bill English

    Steven Joyce

    Paula Bennett

    Jonathan Coleman

    Had Peters gone with National in 2107 they'd be bullshitting us right now about how their 5th term would be their best.

    They look better on his wall.

    • Andre 9.1

      Peters going with National in 2107?

      I know he's the undead and all that, but he really makes it that long without copping a silver bullet or wooden stake? Fuck, we're screwed.

  9. PaddyOT 10

    Come on ! Stop hiding the real money theft, Judith with your companies and properties. (or any other benign Party ).

    Throwing money at the SFO is merely opportunistic, Judith is capitalising on headlines of Winston's demise and public naivety of these election party's monies being very puny in comparison to the billions of 'missing' tax by corporates.

    More needed and welcomed for every ordinary kiwi, would be an announcement of substantial money for IRD to boost resources for revamping of corporate tax laws, a larger resourcing with personnel for huge tax investigations with a global money trail eg. fake foreign loans to write off tax in NZ for property.

    When evasion or avoidance is pervasive, specialist tax accountants become more creative the bigger the corporate profit becomes in either legal cheating through loopholes or dispersing of tax on profits by transferring monies to a corporate entity's other businesses. ( eg. Trump's fifteen years ).

    "A good example is the capitalisation of debt to equity for a company in financial difficulty or the introduction of a holding company as part of a corporate group restructure."

    Without tax law changes for big Corporations to collect a fairer tax revenue from massive profits made in NZ, it is then a fiscal and social debt on ordinary workers to suffer from or make up the shortfall.

    More rigorous tax laws would also stop large costings of drawn out Court cases at NZers expense and Big corporate lawyers milking millions.

    https://www.findex.co.nz/insights/article/tax-avoidance-the-real-tax-issue-in-2019

    " Information of more than 100 multinational corporations and their New Zealand subsidiaries showed that, had the New Zealand branches of these 20 firms reported profits at the same healthy rate as their parents, their combined income tax bill would have been nearly $490 million."

    The Green's Shaw said the potential sums involved vastly exceeded other areas of government priority for enforcement and could be put to good use.

    "It obviously exceeds benefit by several orders of magnitude. That $500m could pay for 26,000 hip operations, 4,000 doctors or 7500 cops. This is a boatload of money," he said. "

    An interactive from the Herald.
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11607336

    Instead in NZ, without full resourcing, we have arguably an IRD chasing up relatively pithy money.

    https://media.ird.govt.nz/articles/?tags=Court%20cases

  10. RedBaronCV 11

    Regardless of the mass of strict technicality I find myself falling back on one thing – that the dollar amounts involved in any NZF investigation will be orders of magnitude smaller than any involved in whoever funds the National party which we have never found out despite the rules. And $50k buys a heck of a lot more then $5k

  11. PF 12

    If you ask this question then you have to ask the more troubling question around the timing of the sentencing of the Mosque killer.

    There seems to be an uncanny synchronous between statements by politicians and judical outcomes.

    • lprent 12.1

      You’d have to look at what is the root of the legal system – ie legislation in parliament. All criminal law is encoded in legislation in NZ. Legislators, past and present in a parliamentary system, discuss and write that legislation. That body of legislation and the discussions surrounding it both here and in other countries provides the guidelines for judges to interpret the legislation. It is hardly surprising that given that there is a common framework and understanding between waht politicians believe will happen and what the courts actually do. The appropriate behaviour for judges is crystallised in legislation and in the precedents based on that legislation.

      There are those ignorant and foolish nutbars who seem to think that law isn’t a human-made institution, but is something handed down by something like a miraculous appearance of now missing tablets. Those idiots wave Blackstone, religious and common law around like absolute condom against progress in the legal system.

      However invariably when I test fools on their knowledge and understanding of the history and reasoning of each of those bodies of accumulated knowledge. They invariably fall short. All of those bodies of legal knowledge, then you look through the sources, explicitly do not treat anything inside their legal frameworks as being absolute. What you find is that at some point, some human fool (for their own immediate reasons) cast an fractured and limited interpretation over a general principle because it made it simple enough for some dumbarses to get into a slogan.

      I’m afraid that frantic conspiracy dimwit with a fractured understanding of the process of law trying to wave their misunderstanding of legal systems as talisman as a substitute for thinking really doesn’t impress me.

  12. PF 13

    There is a group of feminists that have been calling or an end to judical neutrality. IN other words , if your a women bend the system to the advantage of all women.

    So that group would be happy if this unusual timing by the SFO was the result of what traditionally would have been biased influence by the Director Julia Reid.

    https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2017/new-nz-law-book-shows-how-to-judge-like-a-feminist.html

    Its not irrational to ask the question if this is the cause if those of that ilk are literally calling for it to occur and there are consistent female appointments to most senior positions.

    • lprent 13.1

      While I realise that you're probably some kind of misogynist uncivilised primitive incapable of thinking past your dick and your bigotry. But perhaps you'd listen to an outline of some basic facts. Who knows, you may not have the head of solid rotting granite that I visualise based on your two comments I let through moderation purely so I could answer them.

      When I went through university 43 years ago, I looked at doing law. I decided against it mostly because I could see the flood of people heading towards that . More than 30% of those then were women. Less than 8 years later my partner started to do her law degree. At that time the intake of women into law courses was close to even.

      They were also averaging better marks than the men (especially my partner). From what I understand that better quality of work from women continues into the law firms. Certainly in my occasional dealings with law professionals, lawyers and judges, over the decades I've never noticed anything except good quality from any gender – even the reduced cohort of beleaguered men.

      That change in the rate of women admission rate to law hasn't changed – it has merely increased. A brief search on google and you get (for instance) Auckland University Faculty of Law stats from 2016. See Figure 6a: Faculty and Large Scale Research Institute (LSRI) EFTS by gender 2016. I see that women were 60.8% of the students.

      That is despite the still routine harassment of the dickhead males in the students and even the faculty. The same continues into law firms. Frankly given that obstacle course you can guarantee that only the very best and most dedicated of women reach the position of judges. The process that judges them is far harder than that governing the men of law.

      It has been 30 odd years since my partner graduated. You'd expect, just under a normal progression of students to professionals to seniors, that there would be an increase in the appointments of women judges in line with the intake. There isn't – it falls far short. However quality and experience eventually shatters almost any glass ceiling. Especially when there are more women gaining the required skills to even enter law as an undergraduate than the minority of men.

      While I suspect that this explanation won't make any difference. Fortunately I suspect that you're irrelevant to the discussion anyway. People who prefer to deal with myths rather than facts are largely irrelevant in the long run.

  13. georgecom 14

    Interesting move from National. Maybe they think that because the SFO has had some work from National and Collins in the past that it needs a funding boost in anticipation of future work from Collins and National?

    Not stating anything, just asking the question

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    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 day ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    1 day ago
  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    1 day ago
  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    1 day ago
  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago
  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago
  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    2 days ago
  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • MIKE GRIMSHAW:  It’s the economy – and the spirit – Stupid…
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 17, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 23, 2023. Story of the Week  Opinion: Let’s free ourselves from the story of economic growth A relentless focus on economic growth has ushered in ...
    3 days ago
  • The End Of The World.
    Have you been looking out of your window for signs of the apocalypse? Don’t worry, you haven’t been door knocked by a representative of the Brian Tamaki party. They’re probably a bit busy this morning spruiking salvation, or getting ready to march on our parliament, which is closed. No, I’ve ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Climate Town: The Brainwashing Of America's Children
    Climate Town is the YouTube channel of Rollie Williams and a ragtag team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians. They examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you. The latest ...
    5 days ago
  • Has There Been External Structural Change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase. Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was similar to the May Budget BEFU, ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago
  • Another Labour bully
    Back in June, we learned that Kiri Allan was a Parliamentary bully. And now there's another one: Labour MP Shanan Halbert: The Labour Party was alerted to concerns about [Halbert's] alleged behaviour a year ago but because staffers wanted to remain anonymous, no formal process was undertaken [...] The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Ignoring our biggest problem
    Its that time in the election season where the status quo parties are busy accusing each other of having fiscal holes in a desperate effort to appear more "responsible" (but not, you understand, by promising to tax wealth or land to give the government the revenue it needs to do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • JERRY COYNE: A good summary of the mess that is science education in New Zealand
    JERRY COYNE writes –  If you want to see what the government of New Zealand is up to with respect to science education, you can’t do better than listening to this video/slideshow by two exponents of the “we-need-two-knowledge-systems” view. I’ve gotten a lot of scary stuff from Kiwi ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Good news on the GDP front is accompanied by news of a $5m govt boost for Supercars (but what about ...
    Buzz from the Beehive First, we were treated to the news (from Finance Minister Grant Robertson) that the economy has turned a corner and New Zealand never was in recession.  This was triggered by statistics which showed the economy expanded 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, twice as much as ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The Scafetta Saga
    It has taken 17 months to get a comment published pointing out the obvious errors in the Scafetta (2022) paper in GRL. Back in March 2022, Nicola Scafetta published a short paper in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) purporting to show through ‘advanced’ means that ‘all models with ECS > ...
    Real ClimateBy Gavin
    5 days ago
  • Friday's Chorus: Penny wise and pound foolish
    TL;DR: In the middle of a climate emergency and in a city prone to earthquakes, Victoria University of Wellington announced yesterday it would stop teaching geophysics, geographic information science and physical geography to save $22 million a year and repay debt. Climate change damage in Aotearoa this year is already ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: Calling the big dog’s bluff
      For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The electorate swing, Labour limbo and Luxon-Hipkins two-step
     Another poll, another 27 for Labour. It was July the last time one of the reputable TV company polls had Labour's poll percentage starting with a three, so the limbo question is now being asked: how low can you go?It seems such an unlikely question because this doesn't feel like the kind ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • A Womance, and a Nomance.
    After the trench warfare of Tuesday night, when the two major parties went head to head, last night was the turn of the minor parties. Hosts Newshub termed it “the Powerbrokers' Debate”.Based on the latest polls the four parties taking part - ACT, the Greens, New Zealand First, and Te ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • When The Internet Rushes To Your Defense
    Hi,You can’t make this stuff up.People involved with Sound of Freedom, the QAnon-infused movie about anti-child trafficker Tim Ballard, are dropping like flies. I won’t ruin your day by describing it here, but Vice reports that footage has emerged of executive producer Paul Hutchinson being inappropriate with a 16-year-old trafficking ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Doubts about Robertson’s good news day
    The trading banks yesterday concluded that though GDP figures released yesterday show the economy is not in recession, it may well soon be. Nevertheless, the fact that GDP has gone up 0.8 per cent in the latest quarter and that StatsNZ revised the previous quarter’s figure to show a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • The Votes That Media Dare Not Speak Its Name
    .Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..A recent political opinion poll (20 September) on TV1 presented what could only be called bleak news for the Left Bloc:National: 37%, down two points equating to 46 seatsLabour: 27%, down one point (34 ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    6 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38 2023
    Open access notables At our roots Skeptical Science is about cognition of the results of climate science research in the minds of the entire human population. Ideally we'd be perfectly communicating understanding of Earth's climate, and perfectly understood. We can only approximate that, but hopefully converging closer to perfection. With ...
    6 days ago
  • Failing To Hold Back The Flood: The Edgy Politics of the Twenty-First Century.
    Coming Over The Top: Rory Stewart's memoir, Politics On The Edge, lays bare the dangerous inadequacies of the Western World's current political model.VERY FEW NEW ZEALANDERS will have heard of Rory Stewart. Those with a keen eye for the absurdities of politics may recognise the name as that of the ...
    6 days ago
  • Pick this Chris, you get the Greens. Pick the other one you get Seymour.
    A bit of a narrative has been building that these two guys, your Chris and your Chris,  are not so very different.It's true to a point. The bread and butter timidity has been dispiriting to watch, if you have a progressive disposition. It does leave the two of them relatively ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • RICHARD PREBBLE: Who won the Leaders’ debate?
    Richard Prebble writes –  There was a knockout winner of the Leaders’ debate. Check for yourself. Recall how they looked. If you cannot remember or missed it, the debate is on TVNZ’s website. Turn off the sound and ask: “Which one looks like a Prime Minister?” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Thursday's Chorus: GDP up an extra 33c per person per week
    Just like National when it was in government, Labour bought nominal GDP growth and momentum by pulling as hard as it could on the population lever. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Stats NZ has reported better-than-expected GDP growth in the June quarter, thanks largely to record-high net migration of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Climate Change: National’s policy for failure
    We already know that the National Party are de facto climate change deniers who want to reverse virtually all climate change policy. So how do they think they'll cut emissions? According to their climate change spokesperson, polluting corporations will do it out of the goodness of their hearts: The ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • NZ’s  big dairy company reports a massive profit jump – but the lobby group Greenpeace doesn’...
    Dairy farmers, or at least  those who are also shareholders in the Fonterra dairy co-operative would have received  a second dose of good news this week, when the dairy giant reported a massive profit  jump. This followed news of  a better sale  at the Fonterra  GDT auction this week. Net ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago
  • Big issues out of the mouths of giant babes
    A longtime New Zealand broadcaster and commentator is taking a theatrical turn in advance of the General Election to draw different kinds of attention to the issues New Zealanders will be voting on in October.In a pre-election event that invites audiences to consider New Zealand politics through a theatrical lens ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • That new hospital which Labour is promising – is it the same one which Sepuloni mentioned in May ...
    Our busy ministers – desperately busy trying to whip up voters’ support as their poll support sags, among other things – have added just one item of news to the government’s official website over the past 24 hours or so. It’s the news that the Government has accepted the Environment ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Queenstown was keeping rates low
    On Monday, we learned that Queenstown, one of the country's largest tourist destinations, suddenly had to boil its water to avoid cryptosporidium. Now, it looks like it will last for months. Why? The usual reason: they'd been keeping rates low: Queenstown could face months of having to boil water ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on chaotic coalitions, drinking water and useless debates
    This week’s ONE News-Verian poll had the National/ACT coalition teetering on the edge of being able to govern alone while – just as precariously – having its legislative agenda vulnerable to a potential veto by Winston Peters in the House. So close, but so perilous. During the run-up to election ...
    6 days ago
  • An ill wind
    National Leader Christopher Luxon likes to bag the way the Resource Management Act worked. Though it has been repealed and replaced by the Labour government, Luxon plans, before Christmas, to repeal the new legislation and, for the foreseeable future, revert to the old Act that he has consistently criticised. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • Further Adventures with Martin the Chess Bot
    Earlier this month, I had a bit of fun with Chess.com’s worst AI, the one and only Martin Bot: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/09/02/nine-queens-against-martin-chess-hilarity/ Well, in the past few days, I’ve achieved a trio of notable personal firsts against Martin. I thought I would record them in the morbid interests of ...
    7 days ago
  • The Inflation Reduction Act is reducing U.S. reliance on China
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Over a year later, its climate provisions remain a hot topic. The law’s proponents argue that it’s created a boom in domestic manufacturing jobs within the United States while paving ...
    7 days ago
  • Relief  for dairy farmers – and the NZ economy – as prices rise again at latest GDT auction
    New Zealand’s dairy  farmers  will  be relieved that prices rose  for the second  time this month at the latest Fonterra GDT auction. The encouraging  feature of the sale was the activity of  Chinese buyers who drove  up prices. As a result, the GDT price index rose 4.6%, helped by a 4.6% lift ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    7 days ago
  • Democracy McNuggets
    Here is a review of last night’s Democracy McNuggets debate, delivered in the style of last night's Democracy McNuggets debate.McNugget #1This format was very advantageous for the man who speaks in lazy SLAM DUNK.To hark back a few editions: The lazy SLAM DUNK doesn’t bother to make its case. It simply offers ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • A Forced Pause.
    Unfortunately I will need to take a bit of time off from this blog. After months of misdiagnoses and a change in GPs, my precious son is in Starship Hospital about to have major surgery. He already has had one … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    7 days ago
  • Better-than-expected BoP figures give Robertson something to bray about – but revisions helped, a...
    Buzz from the Beehive Source:  ANZ The latest balance of payments statistics – providing a broad measure of what the country earns and spends internationally – gave grist to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s publicity mill today. The current account deficit narrowed to 7.5 per cent of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • Dirty dairy corrupts our democracy
    The planning process under the RMA is meant to be one of public consultation: the council prepares a plan, and we all get to have a say on it. But it turns out that in Otago, the dirty dairying industry has been trying to rewrite the new land and water ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Calling The Big Dog’s Bluff.
    Can This Be Possible? For nearly thirty years the pundits have been telling the minor parties that they must be good little puppies and let the big dogs decide. The parties with a plurality of the votes cast must be allowed to govern – even if that means ignoring the ...
    7 days ago
  • Climate Change: “Offsets” aren’t
    Since we began worrying about climate change, the market fundamentalists have pushed the idea of "offsets" rather than actual emissions reductions. There's just one atmosphere after all, so in theory it doesn't matter where the reductions are made, so you can just pay someone on the other side of the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Is Ardern a liability for Labour?
    Ministers are pretending the former PM has simply vanished. Graham Adams writes – Late last week, Tova O’Brien asked Grant Robertson on her Stuff podcast if Jacinda Ardern should be “rolled out” to “galvanise the base” to help save Labour’s faltering campaign. Robertson laughed. ”I’m sure for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
    40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Appointment of District Court Judge
    Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today.  Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
    The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
    Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
    The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
    The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
    The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today.   “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
    Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
    An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
    The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
    The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
    Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
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