NZ Inc

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, September 14th, 2014 - 119 comments
Categories: business, Economy, economy, employment, exports, jobs, labour - Tags:

David Cunliffe has announced his final big policy. It’s called NZ Inc and it’s a bloody smart move.

To quote Labour:

NZ Inc will pull together the value of our resources, and use them to build a publicly owned asset base that drives long-term sustainable economic growth.

It will stop future privatisations. Each SOE and Mixed Ownership Model company will have a Kiwi Share created and held by the Crown under new legislation, which will state that the Crown cannot sell-down its shareholding in these assets.

But even more importantly it will use the profits of those assets, and our future oil and gas revenues to grow the a sustainable economy and regain public ownership of more of our wealth.

NZ Inc will be mandated to buy, own, and build strategic assets that will help to grow our economy. And because it belongs to you, it will keep its profits in New Zealand. For all of us.

NZ Inc – it belongs to you

NZ Inc will have the mandate to help transition New Zealand to a smart, clean, and fair nation. So we have a sustainable base to grow even stronger in the future.

It’s about making sure our children and their children have a decent stake in New Zealand and have the power to make decisions about the New Zealand they want for generations to come.

Labour knows New Zealanders deserve the right to choose their own future. NZ Inc will help make sure we can.

This will appeal to the Greens and to Winston. More importantly it will appeal to a huge number of New Zealanders who are sick of having National sell down their assets and take their future away.

119 comments on “NZ Inc ”

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  1. greywarbler 1
    14 September 2014 at 10:39 am

    This is something to vote positive for. The right direction. Otherwise we will get more of what Dave Armstrong has summarised about present economic policy.

    The Government’s approach to economic growth seems to be one of loudly championing businesses that succeed, hope like hell that dairy prices don’t tank, and borrow overseas or sell state assets in order to keep the country living in a manner to which it’s accustomed.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/dave-armstrong/10470277/Is-this-a-taxing-time-to-be-rich-a-politician-or-both

  2. RedBaronCV 2
    14 September 2014 at 10:53 am

    Can a future right wing government change the kiwishare legislation and sell anyway?
    Needs to be a 75% vote or something?

    • Rich 2.1
      14 September 2014 at 11:01 am

      Yes of course they can, but then if the citizens know what this is & how it works then it will be up to them to enforce it. Unfortunately as is now obvious there is no generation who can drop off the ‘the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance’.

      Labour now has to sell this as Norway though, that might be quite hard as Key will have other countries in mind. I’m not absolutely sure that this policy and the debate on it (because in a democracy these things are debated) should not have waited until after the election. It will be the end of the TPP, or at least the end of it with US involvement which is not a bad thing.

      • Zolan 2.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 12:11 pm

        Ensuring NZers understand that it will belong to them is critical.
        Kiwis have a justified suspicion of anything that sounds vaguely like privatisation, including corporate language, so it needs to be corrected decisively from the start.

        Entrenching that understanding in the public consciousness will make it as difficult for parliament to undermine as would entrenching it in law.

    • AmaKiwi 2.2
      14 September 2014 at 1:13 pm

      “Can a future right wing government change the kiwishare legislation and sell anyway?”

      My question, too.

      This is why I want binding referendums. Why create great NZ Inc. assets so some future version of John Key can sell them to their mates at bargain basement prices?

      • Lan 2.2.1
        14 September 2014 at 3:03 pm

        Greens recognise “Inc. Assets” as “natural assets” and environmental economists/accountants know (or will have to acknowledge in due course) that “Inc Assets” must be included as properly “valued” natural assets in the National Accounts.

        None of this is new and, if enshrined in legislation (no, not necessarily the RMA) natural asset valuation will be difficult to meddle with, even given a change of government, particularly as “climate change” requires measurement on the evidence (eg property insurance) and will increasingly need scientifically informed, accurate, numerical evidence for financial environmental valuation accounts.

  3. Richard Christie 3
    14 September 2014 at 11:19 am

    Great policy. One of the best in the bag, if not the very best.

    Why was if left so bloody late in the day?
    Too late for me, my vote is now parked elsewhere.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1
      14 September 2014 at 2:46 pm

      Probably to prevent National attacking it as much as possible.

      • Colonial Viper 3.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 3:21 pm

        But you want National to attack it – so you can defend it vigorously and show them up for being Hollow Men with no new ideas.

        • Olwyn 3.1.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 3:47 pm

          I think it is a significant and heartening policy. As to potentially showing up National’s hollowness in the defense of it, you are overlooking the climate in which these discussions currently take place. An interview is just as likely to go, “Yes, yes, Nz Inc, but tell me, what does Key’s choosing coffee and ginger crunch and your choosing sushi and water say about the differences between you?”

          • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.1.1
            14 September 2014 at 4:38 pm

            There is that…until there are serious alternative media channels it’s not going to change. Even Dirty Politics/Hager did nothing but cause a few short lived behavioural ripples in the MSM

        • Macro 3.1.1.2
          14 September 2014 at 8:19 pm

          Sorry CV but all Key has to say is “Yeh! Nah! It’s a stupid idea” and that is that – end of story. This will be the “sound bite” our “journo’s” will repeat. Dunne and dusted.

          • Hanswurst 3.1.1.2.1
            14 September 2014 at 8:38 pm

            It’s a big problem. The standard template for headlines, regardless of an article’s context is “[Some bad stuff about Labour] – Key”.

      • TheContrarian 3.1.2
        14 September 2014 at 9:57 pm

        “Why was if left so bloody late in the day?
        Too late for me, my vote is now parked elsewhere.”

        Just like I was trying to explain to you Draco.

    • TheContrarian 3.2
      14 September 2014 at 9:57 pm

      “Why was if left so bloody late in the day?
      Too late for me, my vote is now parked elsewhere.”

      Exactly the point I have been making about early voting. Great to have the option but I think it should be used only if you have too

      • David H 3.2.1
        15 September 2014 at 12:20 am

        Which is why I have not voted yet I was thinking of Not voting Labour for the first time. But they will get my Electoral vote, probably wasted, because he’s up against Nathan Guy. BUT it’s the Party vote I am not sure about yet. But I got a few days yet.

  4. red blooded 4
    14 September 2014 at 11:28 am

    A smart policy, but pretty complicated to explain in the last week of the campaign. Plus, it seems to me that this election Labour has focused a lot of attention on economic reforms, which are pretty abstract and not the central concern of most voters. Key’s “steady hand” claims haven’t come under much scrutiny and it’s easy for him to write of policies like this as “extreme” or even (a phrase from the past) “nanny state”.

    I know Labour has announced minimum wage rises and more support for families with young children, but on the whole these issues haven’t dominated the debate. It’ll be interesting to see the impact this new policy has on the discussion, but my fear is that with the “Big Reveal” tomorrow and only a week to go it will be hard to argue it coherently in public. I hope I’m wrong, of course…

  5. Dialey 5
    14 September 2014 at 11:49 am

    Wait for the globalisation screamers and corporate rent seekers and TPP proponents to deride and pull this to shreds. It sounds good to me, but there are a lot of hugely vested interests in stopping such a policy being implemented

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      14 September 2014 at 2:52 pm

      +1

      That’s exactly what will happen. The rich get really antsy when their source of unearned wealth is threatened.

  6. JRT 6
    14 September 2014 at 12:01 pm

    Long overdue. Well done Labour.

    • Colonial Viper 6.1
      14 September 2014 at 3:22 pm

      I do wish this policy had been released earlier – in fact the entire of Labour’s campaign appears to have run 2-3 weeks too late. It will be close but I think we will get it.

      • Chooky 6.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 6:24 pm

        yes it should have been released earlier …but GOOD Policy!…and great visual advertising….lets hope this gets the airing it deserves.

      • mickysavage 6.1.2
        14 September 2014 at 7:14 pm

        Need to spread it out. The media have been saying that Labour had run out of policy. No doubt they will now say we released it too late …

  7. Dakta Green 7
    14 September 2014 at 12:04 pm

    This election campaign has not been focused on policy for good reason. We are rightly judging our leaders in light of ‘Dirty Politics.’

    The quality of policy must surely play second fiddle to Honesty, Ethics, and Truthfulness of our Leadership. We expect it of our business leaders and punish those who fall short. Finance company Directors spring to mind.

    Surely those to whom we grant the right to make laws affecting us all should be held to higher standards.

    The power of the ballot box looms. I predict the worst trouncing of the National Party in their history. From ‘Hollow Men to Shallow Man’ in 8 years is the death knell of National.

    NZ Inc confirms we as a country will be well served by our new Government in waiting.

  8. Thinker 8
    14 September 2014 at 12:08 pm

    Wow! To think that between the status-quo and this is just a few votes. It’s one more reason to bang one’s head against the wall, if we get the same-old back, this time next week.

    Neoliberalism came in just as I started working. Even 30 years ago, with relative inexperience, it seemed obvious that models based on competition were all wrong for a country with a small population base, and where many things that could be competitvely supplied overseas were monopolies here. Even if you agreed with neoliberalism in principle, which many didn’t.

    This policy, properly implemented, is just what we need, in my opinion.

    NZ would suffer just as terribly from a move to state ownership of everything as it would from selling off all assets. The important word here is ‘strategic’.

    The government should not own things where there are low barriers to entry and enough market to keep many suppliers in business. Let people own those and make profits, and pay taxes.

    It isn’t a bad thing to have several telecom retailers, for example. Competition keeps prices reasonably right.

    What was bad was privatising the core of the telecom network – the bit that can only sustain one supplier, and where the cost of setting up in competition was prohibitive. That meant that the one supplier could maximise its revenue, knowing no-one was ever likely to undercut it. Remember paying 70c a minute for cellphone time?

    I try to look at it simplisticly. Governments tend to supply services on a cost or cost-plus basis, while the private sector operates on a market basis (what you will pay vs what a competitor will charge).

    A good example of how market pricing works is with dentistry. You would only pay a few dollars for a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush, but when your tooth hurts really badly, the market value of a filling is whatever you’ll pay to stop the pain. And that’s generally whatever you can afford – sometimes, more. Now, imagine what would happen to prices if there was only one dentist company for the whole country.

    In the past, NZ has sold off some things that were sensible. And a lot more that weren’t.

    We mentioned the telecoms network core.

    Forests may seem like commercial investments and not part of a public sector, but their sale led to the exporting of raw timber, and many people currently on welfare or low-income jobs could instead have been established, apprentice-trained cabinetmakers, while NZ built high-value export industries, like Ikea furniture does, or boats. So, their retention could have offset much state support to families, often over several generations, that could have been avoided.

    In short, instead of paying welfare with taxes from low-paid workers, the government could have run the forests at cost or cost-plus, and benefitted from taxes from highly-skilled, higher-earning workers. Who knows, but the revenue generated from selling the forests may well have long been offset in 25 years of welfare costs and foregone tax-take.

    Similarly, Air NZ also looks like a business, but if privately-owned airlines increase their fares to fly here, our whole tourism sector would be ruined. So, like the forests, there are two ways to look at it. Which is why it had to be bought back.

    And the list goes on.

    Done well, this policy will identify those ‘Critical Success Factors’ (the things that, if we don’t protect them, we lose, big-time), and protect them and price them in such a way that higher-end manufacturers can export competitively. Seemingly, Cunliffe’s using the word ‘Strategic Assets’ where I’ve used ‘Critical Success Factors’ and that’s they key bit to it all.

    I’d better say this is just my opinion, and I’m not an economist.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1
      14 September 2014 at 2:56 pm

      The government should not own things where there are low barriers to entry and enough market to keep many suppliers in business.

      What the government should own and run as a government service is, IMO, those services that are ubiquitous (everyone needs access to those services), massive amounts of R&D to develop the economy and military production.

  9. tinfoilhat 9
    14 September 2014 at 12:10 pm

    Sounds a bit like a re-run of Muldoon’s ‘Think big’ to me.

    • Rich 9.1
      14 September 2014 at 12:31 pm

      Yes well I’ve never been National but Think Big wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. It’s a little before my time so I’d have to have a closer look at it to make sure that I wasn’t up shit creek without a paddle but Taranaki looks like it’s doing pretty well these days. Who was there first, government or private industry?

      Even a stopped clock is right twice a day (b4 the non digital age anyway).

      • KJT 9.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 1:57 pm

        Think big was mostly a success. The fire sale by Labour and National afterwards meant that private owners got most of the benefits however.
        Refinery. 3 million expansion before sale. 3 million sale price. 3 million in private profits in the first year.

        The problem is that they were debt financed, unlike our forestry, State houses and infrastructure in the past which was successfully State financed, otherwise called money printing. How both NZ and USA extracted themselves from the 30’s depression.

        Also they were not to know, at the time, that the USA would be changing a few Governments, to reverse steeply rising oil prices, which dropped the initial value of the projects.

        And, yes, Maui A was one of them.

        Funny that the same people who claimed NZ was bankrupt after Muldoon are happy with levels of debt, with no corresponding assets, now, which would have horrified him.

        • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 3:05 pm

          Yep, there was nothing fundamentally wrong with Think Big – it was just the debt financing. Think Big is pretty much what the government should be doing all the time. It would be what develops our economy from a low wage agricultural economy into high tech, high wage economy.

          It is, in fact, where a space program would fit in very well as it would push high tech R&D and manufacturing – exactly as it did in the USA. Ramped up over time to $5b to $10b yearly government investment and we’d soon see our nation developing to where it should be rather than going backwards to becoming a Banana Republic. Our young would have something to do when they graduated.

          • sockpuppet 9.1.1.1.1
            14 September 2014 at 5:46 pm

            “It is, in fact, where a space program would fit in very well as it would push high tech R&D and manufacturing – exactly as it did in the USA. Ramped up over time to $5b to $10b yearly government investment and we’d soon see our nation developing to where it should be rather than going backwards to becoming a Banana Republic. Our young would have something to do when they graduated.”

            WTF are you smoking bro ?

          • greywarbler 9.1.1.1.2
            14 September 2014 at 5:49 pm

            If we can only get onto green tech instead of space tech there will be just as much advanced scientific and technological thinking and understanding. Iit will be of more benefit to us and less tied up in 20th century subservient military and fantasmagoric living in Mars mining in Jupiter? nightmares.

            • Draco T Bastard 9.1.1.1.2.1
              14 September 2014 at 6:41 pm

              Most of today’s green tech originated or were further developed into usable products in space tech.

              • Colonial Viper …
                14 September 2014 at 8:35 pm

                So how about focussing resources on relevant Green Tech, instead of as a by-product of useless Space Tech.

                • weka …
                  14 September 2014 at 8:47 pm

                  I’d only support a space programme if its purpose was to return the expats to Planet Key.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  14 September 2014 at 8:49 pm

                  A space program has the capability of getting NZers behind it the same way that they get behind The America’s Cup, rugby and The Volvo Ocean Race with all the same benefits and a few more (A space program covers pretty much the entire scientific field). Meanwhile green tech will just get continuously undermined by National and other RWNJs which would be less likely with a space program (There’s very good reasons why the Republicans haven’t shut down NASA – they provide a hell of a lot of basic research to the private sector).

                  And being in space itself isn’t useless.Don’t want to mine NZ so as to save the environment? Fine, lets go mine the moon and the asteroids.

                  • weka …
                    14 September 2014 at 8:59 pm

                    Re the last bit, we don’t need more resources and accessing more resources off planet will increase all our other problems (over population, pollution etc). This is why concepts of free energy are so wrong headed. Our problems aren’t caused by living in a finite world, they caused by wanting perpetual growth in a finite world. Eventually the moon and asteroids wouldn’t be enough either.

                  • TheContrarian …
                    14 September 2014 at 10:02 pm

                    “Don’t want to mine NZ so as to save the environment? Fine, lets go mine the moon and the asteroids.”

                    Cool but you have to mine to get the resources to build the technology to mine the moon/asteroids. And given you think we can produce everything we need in New Zealand we’d have to mine here and given NZ doesn’t have many of the rare earth metals needed to create a large scale viable space program we’d have to trade but given you don’t think we should trade offshore as we can mine what we need here I think you have created yourself quite the conundrum, Draco.

                    Be peach and dissect this for me because it is a quandary.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      14 September 2014 at 10:19 pm

                      Two things:

                      1. We actually do have enough minerals here
                      2. I’m not totally against trade. What I’m against is trade stopping the development of our economy.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      14 September 2014 at 10:29 pm

                      And the third is that I’m not against mining in NZ.

    • Murray Olsen 9.2
      15 September 2014 at 1:46 am

      What I didn’t like about Think Big was that some of the projects were very much “Socialise the risks, privatise the profits.” We saw this with Maui gas and Comalco, if my memory still works. I don’t think Cunliffe is proposing this. The thing I don’t like about this one is the important role that seems to be planned for mining and drilling. I think we need to plan and act towards the end of these industries, not make them strategically important.

  10. Stuart Munro 10
    14 September 2014 at 12:11 pm

    It won’t need too much explaining – the public will grasp it fairly easily, the Gnats and their media dancing bears will pretend to be confused – close enough to their default state to seem pretty normal for them. It’s probably not a game changer at this point, but it may win Labour the next election if they grow it well.

  11. rich the other 11
    14 September 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Future oil and gas revenues ? .
    There won’t be any new $s coming from off shore Taranaki , labour’s new policy is to ban any new ventures in the taranaki basin , something about a dolphin .
    Interesting to see labour sinking even further in the polls , norman couldn’t stop smiling on Q&A this morning .
    Do we really want to reinvest in the assets that were sold ?? or even new ones ,

    • Paul 11.1
      14 September 2014 at 12:40 pm

      Your concern is too transparent.

    • Rich 11.2
      14 September 2014 at 12:44 pm

      How much were they sold for? How much has been invested since. Base the offer on that allowing for inflation. (because undoubtedly they were sold cheaply). Nobody gets ripped off. If the seller complains that they are then we’ll just point out the original transaction.

      Now should we buy? What is the future revenue stream. How much is that worth in today’s dollars?

      A decision that is therefore easy peasy to make.

    • Lan 11.3
      14 September 2014 at 1:25 pm

      Has been done before, for those who are aged enough or bright enough to recall! I can see Mr Cunliffe has done a course at Harvard…even if some time in the past. Is this a “bloody smart move”? Too little too late one suspects.

    • Stephanie Rodgers 11.4
      14 September 2014 at 2:21 pm

      Yeah, investing in profitable enterprise is a total mug’s game, I mean who even does that? 🙄

  12. Valleyman 12
    14 September 2014 at 12:59 pm

    Don’t tell Key, he will want to sell it.

  13. TheContrarian 13
    14 September 2014 at 1:22 pm

    This touches on a point I have raised a couple of times in recent days. If you have voted early for Winston in the belief that he is the only one who has properly committed to buying back assets you might suddenly regret that decision and wished you had waited to hear all the policy announcements and gone for Labour.

    My 2.3c adjusted for inflation

  14. Ad 14
    14 September 2014 at 1:23 pm

    Just love this. Great to see them tying it with NZSuper in management.

    I hope in time – as I have long advocated – that they pull the ACC fund management and NZSuper Fund into the same management.

    Finally, our own little Temasek!

    • Lanthanide 14.1
      14 September 2014 at 5:51 pm

      “I hope in time – as I have long advocated – that they pull the ACC fund management and NZSuper Fund into the same management.”

      It’s not a good idea to put all your eggs into one basket. Having these funds separately minimizes risk.

      Also the super fund has a very different goal than the ACC fund. The super fund is designed to begin being drawn down around ~2030 or so, but ACC is managing for a longer / perpetual term.

      Same reason as making a government-backed Kiwisaver fund managed by the superannuation fund looks good on paper, but in practice it’s not as straight forward.

      • Colonial Viper 14.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 8:39 pm

        It’s not a good idea to put all your eggs into one basket. Having these funds separately minimizes risk.

        Well there’s a lot of ways to manage the risk even within a single large fund with hundreds of billions of different assets. In some ways the co-ordination and visibility of asset allocation from within a single fund might prove a better risk management approach than two funds not able to see what the other is doing in different market places.

      • Draco T Bastard 14.1.2
        14 September 2014 at 8:52 pm

        It’s not a good idea to put all your eggs into one basket. Having these funds separately minimizes risk.

        Actually, it does nothing of the kind. All it would do is increase the bureaucracy necessary to manage the funds. What decreases risk is having the funds spread across many investments which is the whole point of having such funds.

        • Ad 14.1.2.1
          15 September 2014 at 8:54 am

          Thankyou.
          More buying power to the public good.
          More public good buyers standing in the market.
          More security for older people who rely on those funds.

  15. millsy 15
    14 September 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Looks like they saved the best till last here. Too bad it won’t win the election so I hope that they roll this policy over for 2017. Surely even the tradies would like this….

    • Draco T Bastard 15.1
      14 September 2014 at 3:11 pm

      Actually, it’s entirely possible that it will win the Left the election. It’s different enough and far closer to what NZers have wanted from their governments for the last thirty years that it may be the game breaker, the economic revolution that many of us have wanted for a long time.

    • greywarbler 15.2
      14 September 2014 at 5:51 pm

      Millsy
      Always a little cheer germ.

  16. jackp 16
    14 September 2014 at 2:15 pm

    Q&A tried to rip it apart calling it too complicated. I could see where Cunliffe was going with this the first time I heard it and it is a brilliant idea. Cunliffe looked good on Q&A but where do they get these commentators?? Always putting Labour down while Key was lying through his teeth but that is another story.

    • Draco T Bastard 16.1
      14 September 2014 at 3:12 pm

      Cunliffe looked good on Q&A but where do they get these commentators??

      From the RWNJ monkey barrel.

      • Colonial Viper 16.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 3:25 pm

        And Deborah Mahuta-Coyle, former Labour Party staffer and candidate, now doing PR for the NZ petroleum lobby

        • mickysavage 16.1.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 7:06 pm

          Yep this is so weird and they did not state her position. Really weird.

          The only two lefties worth going to for comment is Helen Kelly and Robert Reid. The rest just do not get it.

          The criticism is weird too. Labour has opposed privatisation all the way through. Of course there was going to be a proposal for buying the shares back. And the Norwegian way of doing things is pretty compelling.

      • Hanswurst 16.1.2
        14 September 2014 at 8:51 pm

        … Right-Wing Nut-Monkeys: swinging on John Key’s nuts and gobbling his banana since 2005.

  17. Local Kiwi 17
    14 September 2014 at 2:29 pm

    tinfoil hat
    You are joking?

    This policy a think big?

    This shows why the Nat’s and their Tin hat cronies hang on to any Nah poo poo policy plank when they spot a dangerously good idea advanced from the opposition.

    We were starting our family when my adoped hero a National P.M. R Muldoon come to power.

    Strangely as a traditional Labour voter we actually benefited by Muldoon’s Think Big projects.

    Muldoon was truly the meaning of old National, which meant for the people. He did not like big banks dictating monetary policy and high interest rates.

    He carried off think big well, as car-less days were liveable.

    He always looked after in his mind “the ordinary kiwi Bloke”

    He said so repeatedly, who many didn’t like him he was a borderline socialist.

    Keys version is just a sellout mob, “just sell what you can’ con artist we should be worried about if they return.

    David & our new labour for the people must sell this “Kiwi Inc.” policy repeatedly this week as the policy to save our country for future generations’.

    Labour’s “Kiwi Inc. to save our country”.

    • mike 17.1
      14 September 2014 at 3:02 pm

      This sounds vaguely like ‘rehabilitate Muldoon month’.
      Not so fast.
      Muldoon unilaterally ditched the NZ Super Fund as one of his first actions.
      Portrayed it as creeping socialism with the dancing cosack ads.
      We’ve since discovered that was a really stupid idea.
      Oh, and the man was a shouting bully.
      We cheered when he was chucked out!

      • Colonial Viper 17.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 3:32 pm

        the ‘National Super’ that Muldoon introduced was universal and affordable. It continues to be very affordable now and into the future. Of course, it would’ve been nice to have that major sovereign fund going right now, as well.

        • millsy 17.1.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 4:58 pm

          The NZ Superannuation Corporation would have been broken up and parcelled off to the financial industry in the 1980’s like everything else.

        • KPC 17.1.1.2
          14 September 2014 at 8:04 pm

          CV
          I Can’t find the history of the Super Fund to support this – but if I remember rightly, Muldoon’s government of the day, did not introduce the NZ Super Fund, but ended up destroying it?
          Did he not give the people of NZ the ‘opportunity’ to get the funds they had paid in to the fund returned, matched for every dollar by the government – then the fund was closed?
          Too far back now to remember the facts clearly, but I do remember my left leaning parents being furious with the move.

          • Draco T Bastard 17.1.1.2.1
            15 September 2014 at 7:00 am

            Muldoon destroyed the paid into super-fund that the previous Labour government had set up and introduced National Super which would be paid for from general taxation. It was nothing more than massive vote buying.

  18. marty mars 18
    14 September 2014 at 3:28 pm

    “NZ Inc – it belongs to you”

    I like the sentiment but can’t stand the corporate speak.

    • Colonial Viper 18.1
      14 September 2014 at 3:36 pm

      Yes that is one shite element of it. I can’t quite decide whether it’s super clever undermining of the neolib agenda or whether it is not so clever buying into it…

      • weka 18.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 3:43 pm

        Or is completely oblivious to it, which IMO is worse. However I decided today to try and not let that little matter detract from the important bits 😉

        • Colonial Viper 18.1.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 4:00 pm

          Yes that is a good call I believe.

          • quartz 18.1.1.1.1
            14 September 2014 at 4:21 pm

            I think it’s a clever move to hijack the positive perceptions of the NZ Inc brand the right have created among apolitical Kiwis and attach them to a left-wing policy.

            The funny thing is the right have always use “NZ Inc” as a label to try to make rapacious capitalism sound patriotic. They’ve lost that now.

        • Stephanie Rodgers 18.1.1.2
          14 September 2014 at 5:45 pm

          It’s not a case of obliviousness.

    • crocodill 18.2
      14 September 2014 at 3:44 pm

      Stuff like that always reminds me of George Bush reading the riot act:”…those oil wells belong to… the people of Iraq…”.

    • Draco T Bastard 18.3
      14 September 2014 at 4:08 pm

      Yeah, that gets to me as well. We’re not incorporated, we’re a country and nation.

      • Kat 18.3.1
        14 September 2014 at 5:52 pm

        Agree, drop the “inc”….we are a country not a corporate business.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 18.3.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 7:14 pm

          Um, the proposal is for an agency called NZ Inc, not to change the name of the country. Some perspective please 🙂

    • Hanswurst 18.4
      14 September 2014 at 8:56 pm

      On the bright side, at least they didn’t give it a stupid name like “Kiwishare”… oh, wait a minute…

  19. hoom 19
    14 September 2014 at 4:08 pm

    I am very excited about this.
    Its what should have been done in the ’80s or even the ’70s (FU Nats!).

    Sovereign Wealth Funds are key to the economic success of many other countries, not least Singapore & like with Capital Gains tax we’re currently one of the odd ones out who doesn’t have a proper one.

  20. Steve Wrathall 20
    14 September 2014 at 5:13 pm

    How about Labour’s pollies trial this policy by putting their own money into “NZ Inc”, and after a few years show what amazing returns it has made. If fact they’ll become so rich through investing their hard earned do-re-mi in a Napier-Gisborne railway that they’ll be able to retire as MPs…won’t they?

    • quartz 20.1
      14 September 2014 at 5:17 pm

      And once again the whacky libertarian right show they have no grasp of economics.

    • Sans Cle 20.3
      14 September 2014 at 8:02 pm

      Now you are talking Steve! Micro-financing within NZInc….. Peer to peer lending and putting a halt onto the wholesale current exodus of our profits out of this country to Australia, through debt.
      Not sure of the title also – but seeing as everything has been reduced to utilitarian terms, it is in a language that suits the Zeitgeist.
      I love the idea, but also am aware of pitfalls of valuing natural assets; reducing them to monetary terms which I don’t agree with. Value under neoliberal economics equates with money; value in non-neoliberal paradigm equates with what is important to people (certainly not money……as money is only a vehicle to attain or achieve other higher order objectives).
      But love the policy, and room to be creative in how it will be applied.
      Yippee. Out with the conservatism and dearth of innovation of the last 6 years. Bring on benign change.

    • tricledrown 20.4
      14 September 2014 at 9:43 pm

      Steve Wrathall Any investment would be better than SCF $1.6 billion loss.
      Then the Cullen fund has kept growing at a faster rate than market average same with the the ACC fund geeze Steve you might have an Idea tat works for a change Don,t tell anyone in National as they have no original ideas they just steel them from the left and call them their own!

  21. dave 21
    14 September 2014 at 5:37 pm

    wow we need to get behind this winstone Russell its here buying back the assets and more i could see winstone as the minister for nz inc

  22. Poission 22
    14 September 2014 at 6:31 pm

    Each SOE and Mixed Ownership Model company will have a Kiwi Share created and held by the Crown under new legislation

    It would be nice if they would provide some constraints on the manipulation of public assets ( being natural monopolies ) to also avoid tax on the basis of tax minimization.There is no reason as the redistribution by tax or dividend is into the common purse.

    A good example is transpowers dealings with a well known money laundering bank, and Eaglesons argument “made good commercial sense for Transpower…and directly benefited… the country as a whole” fails

    http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/11/06.htm

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs

  23. MrSmith 23
    14 September 2014 at 6:53 pm

    “But even more importantly it will use the profits of those assets, and our future oil and gas revenues to grow the a sustainable economy and regain public ownership of more of our wealth.”

    I’m no english nazi believe me but ” to grow the a sustainable economy” corrected it’s still offensive ‘to ‘Grow’ a sustainable economy’.

    Labour just don’t get it, dribble like lets GROW a sustainable econ……….. wealth …… with profits from the poisons (oil&gas) that are destroying the planet wtf, and Labour wonder why they have been and will continue leaking votes to the Greens.

    I can hear you already, lets just use the rest of that oil&gas to grow a sustainable economy, yeah right! The sign above the bar reads “free beer tomorrow” but to………. and the junky is going to clean up after this one last hit, and anyway what oil&gas? National just spent 6 years looking, what makes you think Labour will find it.

    • tinfoilhat 23.1
      14 September 2014 at 7:04 pm

      That’s why anyone with a left leaning outlook should vote Green in preference to Labour.

    • KPC 23.2
      14 September 2014 at 8:14 pm

      On the nail Mr Smith, green tech – not poisonous tech is the way for us to go. But it won’t happen overnight, we just need to be there early.

    • Hanswurst 23.3
      15 September 2014 at 12:55 am

      I suspect there are a number in the Labour caucus who would privately be very happy if they got into government with a sizeable Green component. It would provide a mandate to run a more left-wing platform and show the remnants of the soft neo-liberal Right of the party that their day in the sun was well and truly over. Of course, all of that would need to be handled very deftly, but it’s better than any of the alternatives.

  24. Tracey 24
    14 September 2014 at 7:22 pm

    i had hoped we would see lees of this brainwashing nz inc meme.

    We are not axcompanybut anation of peope who deserve to thrive not just survive…

  25. SPC 25
    14 September 2014 at 7:27 pm

    Is this policy consistent with buying back the sold power company shares?

    Buying back shares with a cost of public debt lower than the dividend return makes good fiscal policy sense. However the case for taking on the higher debt is diminished if one then commits the dividend flow for spending.

    This policy appears to be an alternative to buying back the shares sold off.

    And there will be budget consequences – the 50% of power company shares still owned generate good dividends and taking them out of the budget revenue stream has fiscal costs – diminished funds for spending on education, health, state housing and alleviating child poverty and Cullen Fund inputs and debt repayment.

  26. DS 26
    14 September 2014 at 9:03 pm

    I fully approve of the policy, but would note that any future Government would be able to repeal the legislation and privatise anyway. That’s the way parliamentary sovereignty works: one Parliament cannot bind another.

    • Rich 26.1
      14 September 2014 at 9:22 pm

      It’s not really the case if you have a big enough mate in the background. The TPP for example is exactly the example that you’re looking for, as is for example writing into a contract with a private company their ability to sue you if you change the rules, or make it so that their business model suffers, or is perceived to suffer (& Judges always seem to be pretty naive financially wise), some loss.

      • DS 26.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 10:28 pm

        There’s an old case called Rothmans v. Attorney General involving the Government reneging on an agreement over tobacco advertising. Parliament changed the rules, and Rothmans sued. The courts threw the case out because you can’t bind Parliament via contract either.

        What the future Parliament would simply do would to repeal the legislation, with a proviso that all contractual obligations be voided.

  27. greywarbler 27
    14 September 2014 at 9:05 pm

    Labour says it is going to improve and encourage coastal shipping including ports. That will be a useful step forward.

    Ports and coastal shipping
    Our port system suffers from a lack of coordination, which results in ports being
    played off against each other by international shipping lines and over-capitalisation.
    This is a poor outcome for New Zealand.

    At the same time, coastal shipping is under-developed, resulting n higher than
    necessary economic and environmental costs as freight that could travel by
    sea is carried on the roads.

    Labour will
    Develop a national ports strategy
    Implement the “Sea Change” strategy we launched in 2008, which aims to revitalise and transform coastal shipping in New Zealand.

    Allocate specificfunding for Coastal shipping
    from the National Land Transport Fund
    https://www.labour.org.nz/sites/default/files/issues/21aug_transport.pdf

  28. tricle up 28
    14 September 2014 at 9:22 pm

    This is a significant advancement to building a sustainable base with cost savings and integration ,who wants to live in a sustainable world,who wants to receive a reduced inheritance through lack of future proofing on climate change .There is much to do within the developing green technology field .A visit to the sciencedaily occasionally is sure to raise conscious levels ..Labour has my vote locked in, this is socially responsible..

  29. Local Kiwi 29
    14 September 2014 at 10:02 pm

    Grey Warbler,

    We must adhere to all transportation projects that will be better sustained long term this requires both a rail and sea policy as EU and UK has now.

    You talk of shipping to be just a panacea answer to the issue.

    We need better land transport options also, not just expensive road transport option that IPENZ studies have proven to Government already that road freight cost is far to costly, to be sustainable long term.

    Steve talking of the Napier Gisborne rail is a classic case in point.

    Now the rail is mothballed, the road cost has exculpated out of control & become unaffordable.
    To make that single hilly winding unsafe road a safe future proof road transport only option billions of serious money would be required.

    Rail uses 5 to 9 times less fuel to move one tonne one KM compared to road freight.

    The cost by road freight per tonne is 2 to 4 times the cost, and just think of the cost of tyres where rail has none.

    Short line rail in USA is now a new booming transport industry
    where closed short haul lines are reopening at a breath-taking pace with over 500 now operating with solid profits.

    Steve had an idea we could use here.

    BERL report proved this rail line would be probable if used as a short line and government wouldn’t listen possibly due to Dirty political lobby from Oil industry + Foreign road transport groups.

    Bad way to go ahead long term without rail in the mix, and environment would suffer also.

    • Draco T Bastard 29.1
      14 September 2014 at 10:26 pm

      We need better land transport options also, not just expensive road transport option that IPENZ studies have proven to Government already that road freight cost is far to costly, to be sustainable long term.

      Link?

    • greywarbler 29.2
      15 September 2014 at 11:18 am

      @ Local Kiwi 29
      You’re right. I was thinking about coastal shipping and did a little search about it. I knew that it had fallen off badly over past decades so was pleased by Labour’s inclusion in policy.

      The lack of adequate transport to regions definitely has to be addressed and not just through roading. It scares me that the term zombie regions should be used by a NZ economist, along with the idea of abandoning them. In the USA some areas, ports, have become legally bankrupt. Our slavish following of zombie economics must be stopped, and this laissez faire attitude permanently buried.

      Gisborne is being stifled by being cheated of infrastructure that a modern country should automatically provide, and a well-made railway track with efficient railway stock to take containers, with people carriage also, is essential.

      Northland is desperate to get its roads upgraded and weatherproof roadways provided. For those interested this is the background to losing the railway which used to go to Okaihau. It was much used apparently, though needed investment to maintain standard. Deregulation killed it off, and now the roads as alterntives, are inadequate also. Poor governmental commitment to the region.
      Wikipedia –
      On 29 October 1923, a branch line railway was opened to Okaihau from the junction with the North Auckland Line at Otiria. … The railway line thus became known as the Okaihau Branch and Okaihau became New Zealand’s northernmost railway terminus. With Okaihau being on the main State Highway north (SH1) it became the transshipping point for goods from rail onto road and vice versa…..
      The northern terminus was changed from Opua to Okaihau, and the railway line rose in prominence and importance. The railcars provided a considerable improvement in service and were very popular throughout their service duration. However, mechanical faults plagued the railcars and they were cancelled in July 1967. Mixed trains continued to operate to Whangarei until 21 June 1976, when the line became freight-only. However, declining freight volumes due to deregulation of the transport industry in 1983 meant that the line did not last much longer, and it closed on 1 November 1987.

      Today, the Okaihau railway station platform edge remains in its former location beside a flat area that was once the railway yard, and just to the north of the town is a tunnel on the ill-fated section to Rangiahua, New Zealand’s northernmost railway tunnel.
      There have been calls and proposals to reopen the Okaihau Branch to carry forestry traffic but to date nothing has yet come to fruition.

      And now the forestry needs are damaging the roads and health and safety and blighting the lives of residents along the forestry routes.
      http://transportblog.co.nz/2011/02/17/north-auckland-line-to-be-mothballed/
      Historic on Northland routes
      http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1921-I-II.2.2.2.5&e=——-10–1—..—0–
      Save Our Rail group
      https://sites.google.com/site/saveourrailnorthland/home/what-s-along-the-line/-Otiria
      Work on modelling the rail system
      http://www.thebookshelf.auckland.ac.nz/docs/NZOperationalResearch/conferenceproceedings/1989-proceedings/ORSNZ-proceedings-1989-04.pdf

      Basic infrastructure serving business, enterprise and industry is unimportant while providing nice routes and pretty places for people who have the time, the money, and the security of well-paid employment to take time off on cycling holidays is paramount for government expenditure. A holiday highway for cyclists is considered to be built on the railway track land.
      http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/northern-news/3306452/Cycleway-to-be-a-huge-boost-for-Northland

      That is interesting about short line rail in USA. Will look it up.

  30. lurgee 30
    15 September 2014 at 6:08 am

    Six months ago, this might have made a difference. Now, it is too late for people to absorb its importance and for it to catch people’s imagination. Why the Hell are Labour announcing things like this 5 seconds before polling day, especially when it will immediately get eaten off the news by Dotcom’s (doubtless underwhelming) big reveal?

    • Draco T Bastard 30.1
      15 September 2014 at 7:11 am

      Dotcom’s (doubtless underwhelming) big reveal?

      Something tells me that it’s not going to be underwhelming.

      • lurgee 30.1.1
        15 September 2014 at 3:44 pm

        The more overwhelming it is, the less attention will be paid to this Good Idea.

        Also, dumping it on us now, post-Lochinver, makes it look rushed and knee-jerk.

        I wish I could believe that Dotcom’s reveal will be devastating.

        I predict, alas, it will be just enough to get everyone here Really Excited, but will have little impact beyond.

  31. ExStatic 31
    15 September 2014 at 7:13 am

    What is this policy? I have only seen it discussed here, everywhere else it is Dotcom, Dotcom, Dotcom…..

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  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
    New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research.   “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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