O Winston I love you

Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, October 18th, 2020 - 50 comments
Categories: nz first, uncategorized, winston peters - Tags:

Winston you were my man when your dark brown wavy hair and beatific smile rose to glory within National when National needed to prove again that Maori could rise to elected respectability within even the most tilted of social structures. You were partnership material at Russel McVeigh like no Maori before you. Women secretly swooned for you. You were like George Hamilton III had emerged fully formed as a perfect symbol of bicultural New Zealand before the term was even invented.

You were the highest of one of those few loyal and deeply patriotic families of New Zealand who felt that serving both the law and as a Member of Parliament was the essence of honour and of being a patriot for your country. Like serving in law and in parliament was the kind of patriotism we used to feel from our military. But you rose even higher, and for longer, than your brothers.

Winston you were my man because straight after graduation you stood up for your people the Ngati Wai successfully against Labour’s attempt to take land for coastal reserves – giving inspiration to Dame Whina Cooper and the great Land March. You rose to fight, and won, and you did so for your people.

Winston I love you because you were the one who in defeating Malcolm Douglas in Hunua in 1978, ensured that there was no succession plan for Roger Douglas his brother. Labour would crest and crack in the late 1980s, but it would never recover its foolish Rogernomics ways without a broader core of support.

Winston I love you for loving our country as much as your namesake loved his. Rising under the nationalist economics of Birch and Muldoon in the face of global crisis, you understood the deep and permanent reliance of New Zealand business on a very strong state which needed large subsidies for production sustained by taxing wealth highly. It always has and always will. Back – though few now remember it – when state-enforced egalitarianism through tax was an actuality, not running like a dog hiding under the political bed from thunder.

You kept alive that memory of the state working to develop the weakest with real and believable enterprise for five decades of public service in Parliament, until you could truly bring it out once more in its strong form of the Provincial Growth Fund. Maybe it will take us a decade to understand its impact, but you back yourself enough to know that it will be good.

Winston I love you because you were the one who really first sank the shank into the Lange-Douglas regime through ripping open the corruption of the Maori Loan Affair in 1986. In December 1986 you completely sideswiped that government with revelations that the Department of Maori Affairs had sought to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from a fraudster. As Labour ex-Minister and eminent political historian Michael Bassett commented: “Several ministers would agree in later years, that it was about the time of the Maori loans affair that cabinet solidarity began to fall apart.” The following Commission of Inquiry fully vindicated you, and set your course to prepare the full reform how Maori were engaged by the Crown as a Department. You saw the infection of fraudulent international capital for what it was, when most in government and in the financial sector were bedazzled by it.

You would describe players like John Key  as “apologists for crooks“. You would name those crooks like few would have the courage to do so.

Winston you were my man who loved the law. Not the law as a set of enforcement measures that gets changed according to policy whim. No: law as the very warp and weft of our social order which has grown thread by thread since 1840 andas the utter substance of the operation and constitution of New Zealand as a nation. You who went by the law, saturated your mind and cloth in the law, recognised the primacy of the law, you fought for all to be held to that sacred framework of common accountability – like no one else had before. Because without all being subservient to the law, we would remain a colony and Maori forever colonised.

Winston, I loved you for being the regulator we always should have had. Your scorching of the Serious Fraud Office and Inland Revenue Department through the Winebox inquiry was a first. You appeared to fear no one – neither government departments, nor our richest citizens. The Commission that followed was weak. And those who could like you draw the inter-party webs (such as Brian Easton and Bruce Jesson), knew precisely how deeply the money men had taken over our country in the late 1980s from the true nationbuilders who had grown through the 1930s, to the 1970s.

Winston I loved you because you smashed the white barrier of the whitest in the Tauranga electorate, being elected in a general seat as very few Maori had before. Even in 2020, there are very, very few who can do that in the Labour Party. That Tauranga victory rebuilt our national confidence that biculturalism really was possible, so soon after the joyous patriotism of our 1990 sesquicentennial.

You really were a symbol of something about us all.

Winston I love you because you raged against the sale of our long term wealth, and you were prepared to politically die for it. Has any other politician in our history done this as much or with as much cost? When National agreed to the sale of Wellington Airport, you said this was why you were quitting, and you did so. And now, nearly four decades later, cities who sold off their airport shares like Auckland and Wellington are bereft of funding, unable to support even the barest of essential services, precisely because corporatisation and privatisation of our assets stripped them of their income. You raged against the sale of Silver Fern Farms when few others would. You raged against the sale of the national electricity generators. You raged against what Brian Easton called The Commercialisation of New Zealand. You were a shining knight against the forces who weakened the power of the state to have the income to keep us all going. If you had won more of your battles, New Zealand would be strong like Australia is now, not a weak state with low ambition, low savings, and a hollowed out business sector craven to foreign capital.

Winston few loved you like I did. You were stabbed deeply and often by National. No other politician would have survived what they did to you. For daring to side with Labour in 2017, someone at a very high level in National leaked your superannuation details. Because you were unable to prove your case in court, you were clearly in the right to all but the law and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. Every other single other politician in parliament this century would have been laid waste and fired and bankrupted from that. But you dared continue. For daring to hold those treacherous villains to account, and losing, and continuing bloodied but unbowed, I loved you still.

Winston, I love you for smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, and having good taste in tailored six-button suits. Damn them all.

Winston I loved you for being the walking counterfactual history of a dignified and strong nation who could take care of itself. If you had been born 2,000 years ago you would be Belisarius. You’d be at the Rhine against the hordes, whether the Rhine froze or not.

Winston I love you still. You love this country, you love its people. That’s enough for me.

50 comments on “O Winston I love you ”

  1. Martin 1

    I for one won't miss this dinosaur at all. We don't need bullies in govt.

    • greywarshark 1.1

      Sometimes you have to bully to get things done in government – that need to be done. Balance is what is needed, and wisdom – the experience, the maturity, the vision for better for people and the land, to know when to bully and when to defer, change, improve some policy idea. Your comment Martin is naive and wet.

  2. Ovid 2

    I’d really like Winston to write a memoir. I bet with 40 years in politics he’s got some stories to tell.

  3. Treetop 3

    Peters got it right in 2017 when he formed a coalition with Labour. Had this not have happened I dread to think the shape which the country would now be in.

    Peter's needs to be his best friend now and to look back on his political achievement spanning 4 decades with pride.

    • cathy-o 3.1

      totally irrelevant to this thread, but how can you possibly put an apostrophe in the middle of someone’s name ?

      apostrophes have two purposes only

      1 to indicate possession – fred’s widget

      2 to indicate missed out letters – wasn’t

      that’s all. (that is all)

      sorry to be a pedant but ….

      and yes, Winston has been our most entertaining politician by far, i will miss him

  4. Rupert Watson 4

    Thanks for a fine political eulogy. I love the reference to Belisarius. Spot on.

  5. Foreign waka 5

    He will be missed indeed as he was known of not being afraid to call out when something did not make legal sense and he also recognized that the average old person needed assistance not euthanasia.

  6. dv 6

    Sir Winnie

  7. Stuart Munro 7

    I wonder if he could be sent to bedevil Trump…

    • dv 7.1

      HA

      Sir WINNIE US ambassador

      • Stuart Munro 7.1.1

        I think he'd be too polite. But it would be good to see him go after Trump the way he's gone after local ne'erdowells.

        • greywarshark 7.1.1.1

          Let him choose – Trump and Bedlam or some time with his horses and encouraging the racing industry, with some possible work for the government when they need someone to sum up a situation.

    • George 7.2

      Trump wouldn't actually know he was being bedevilled. He would tweet about "the fellow from NZ who thinks he's just tremendous…"

  8. Rosalene Bradbury 8

    Time to make Winston Ambassador to CHINA.

    Winston was a great foreign minister. He will be a fantastic ambassador. I know the part about Winston being a great foreign minister how? Because that most diplomatic of corps, the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the merest of facial expressions lets it be known who they do and don’t accept as foreign minister. And they had Winston back.

    Winston would be an excellent ambassador to China. His whole life has prepared him for the role.

  9. AB 9

    Very well said – and why on the whole I found myself cheering for Winston more often that gritting my teeth and wanting him to eff off. His particular ability to get under the Nats' skin was unmatched.

  10. SPC 10

    In death many of scandals are damned with praise.

    I presume you are hoping to encourage him on his journey from political life with such exuberant politeness.

    Arise Sir and begone, begone I say.

  11. swordfish 11

    .
    First time I ever saw one Winston Raymond Peters was in National's 1978 Election Campaign ads … he pretended to be a neutral journalist interviewing Muldoon … and at the end turned to the camera, as if an objective observer who had clearly just been thoroughly convinced by Rob's answers & looking straight down the barrel at viewers concluded: "So you see, it's true ! National really is keeping its Word !" … immediately followed by the Campaign song: "It's time you hear-er-er-erd, We're Keeping our Wor-or-or-ord, It's time you heard. we're keeping our Word … (pause for added gravitas) … We're keeping our Word" (final 4 words sung like a highly emotional ballad in a particularly idealistic way with clear hippie overtones … incongruous for a Party dominated by Rob's Mob, I would've thought).

    We did laugh somewhat sarcastically at the contrived set-up at the time … while simultaneously noting Winston as a potentially significant New Kid on the Block (& a Muldoon Favourite to boot)

    • swordfish 11.1

      Interesting / Surprising that, back in the early-mid 80s, Colin James had Winston down as one of National's Drys (in the Ruth Richardson Camp).

      • millsy 11.1.1

        He did sell 100% of the Crown's shareholding in Contact Energy in 1998 (when he didn't have to).

  12. left_forward 12

    Kia ora … thank you for your mihi to Wynston.

  13. millsy 13

    With Winston goes the last pre-Rogernomics link in the NZ Parliament.

    It really is the end of an era.

    • SPC 13.1

      Winston, a former Prime Minister, leaves through one door and the only politician around longer sleepwalks through another into the Oval Office.

  14. observer 14

    His decision in 2017 saved lives. He should be thanked and remembered for that. It's his greatest legacy.

    The rest of his career achieved little of note. Rhetoric is not results. Being "colourful" or a "character" or any of those descriptions commonly heard over the decades … means nothing. He was in Parliament/government to serve the public, not to provide entertainment for reporters.

    Yes, there were all kinds of episodes that made headlines. But what laws did he shepherd through Parliament? What lasting change did he bring about? He was the ultimate "Not" politician, so the lasting image of him holding the "No" sign is ironically apposite. He opposed. But did not create.

    • rawsharkyeshe 14.1

      Cab you spell GOLDCARD ? Simply but one of his innovations. And can you spell WINEBOX ?

      I am so grateful for his presence in our lives.

      • observer 14.1.1

        Reaching for glorified supermarket vouchers as a legacy of 3+ decades really does illustrate my point.

        • rawsharkyeshe 14.1.1.1

          Clearly, I have a different wattage lamp to illustrate his career and benefits to us.

          • greywarshark 14.1.1.1.1

            Who benefits from the Goldcard – I know that one! If he could have brought it in so that all bennies benefited from it, that would have made him great, we would all have been greatfull then.

            I am grateful for the Gold Card myself but I think back to being younger, poor and honest and striving and if Winnie had won with a bennies gold card that alone would have deserved a knighthood for having cut through the thick contempt that burdens welfare delivery to parents and young people.

  15. RedBaronCV 15

    Well I've never voted for him but very grateful for a lot of his actions over the years.

    Going with Labour in 2017 kept a lot of us alive, the wine box of the 1990's outed a lot of upper level financial wrongdoing that the right have still not forgiven or forgotten – hence the regular attempts to take him out of play.

    The political mastery and humour of the "Great Ferry bottom grounding incident" that he hounded Richard Prebble so successfully about. The great sound bites that usually cut to the heart of the issue. Everybody leaked to Winston – who will take his place for this?

    Lets hope he has a job now worthy of his talents, ambassador or governor general? and time to go fishing.

  16. Patricia Bremner 16

    Winston has always been for NZ, and like all of us he has faults, but I will always value the wine box work, the gold card and his choosing Labour last election.

  17. Shanreagh 17

    Winston I love the fact that having worked in parliament when you were a Minister I know that you were a good boss to your staff. (Some Ministers are not)

    I know this because your staff told me you were. I know this because the spouse of one of your staff told me after she had rung you to talk to you directly about one of your forays into the seedy world behind politics.

    Winston I love you for the fantastic jokes & stories you told at Thursday drinks, one of which I still tell.

    Winston I love you for when you were so good to my bro in law one time having a meal in the staff cafeteria, when he could not restrain himself and leapt up to shake your hand which had a tray in it at the time…..nothing happened to the tray but you quickly made him welcome.

    Winston I love you for coming from a family with manners and having a brother, Wayne, also an MP for a time, who often walked me down to catch the bus home after drinkies, one day a week.

    Winston I love the fact that you have a command of the verbal and written word. And for not being afraid to speak or write.

    Winston I love the fact, as pointed out by Advantage, that you pursued the appalling breach of privacy by low flying turds that saw details of your superannuation leaked. I am ever hopeful that one day we will know exactly who this was and be able to gaze on the leaker and say 'well you at least have no honour, scruples or honesty unlike the person you aimed to hurt'.

    Winston I love the contribution you have made to the political scene over the years.

  18. McFlock 18

    Never voted for him, always liked him.

    Although he's come back from the electorally-dead before, lol

  19. Byd0nz 19

    The wine box thingy, his only saving grace.

  20. sumsuch 20

    I suppose him fighting every interviewer and his strange step work made me sigh at the mention of his name. But my rationalism has confined me to very little influence in government. And he was half Scots, for better or worse. After him, mental cases in the populist space. 2.5 % voted for conspiracy theories. Glad my BAC relatives are in the severe minority.

  21. Marcus Morris 21

    Thanks RSE – you beat me to the "draw". I am a rural dweller but love using the Gold Card when I use public transport in the cities. I have a feeling too that the people of Tauranga have Winston to thank for their second harbour bridge. The country shunned his superannuation proposal in the late nineties but I think that Kiwi Saver was actually quite similar without being compulsory. I have cheered for him and been exasperated by him and I will be eternally grateful to him for going with Jacinda in 2017. A transformational move.

  22. greywarshark 22

    I thought some quotes would be interesting. Winston has been a bright and sometimes sharp star in our firmament.

    This from Labour: "Winston Peters is the blow fly of New Zealand politics."- Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen on the propensity of Mr Peters to wallow in political refuse.

    From Winston – "Smart alec, arrogant, quiche eating, chardonnay drinking, pinky finger pointing snobbery, fart blossom." – Peters on big city media commentators in 2002.

    "That will be a public relations feat! After they have finished they will then portray Osama Bin Laden as tolerant, the Chappell brothers as good sports and the Pope as Jewish." – On ACT intentions to portray leader Richard Prebble as compassionate.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/winston-peters-memorable-quotes-20051018-ge12mh.html
    .

    "Excuse me for laughing, but it's been a long time since I've been ravaged by a toothless sheep." – Winston Peters on Gareth Morgan.

    “For overseas observers, in NZ elections, we all vote then take the ballots—chuck them out—and ask a man called Winston Peters who won.” – Writer Ali Ikram tweeting about the 2017 election.
    https://www.thehits.co.nz/the-latest/these-are-the-finalists-for-new-zealands-quote-of-the-year-vote-for-your-favourite/
    .

    And finally Winston and his media relations are included in this excellent item which is a send-up of how pollies can hold their own against these pesky persons. Winston's use of the 'Headbutt' is so exemplary, he is described as the Master. (The link below gives audio and written content.)

    In this example, Mr. Peters utilises it in a particularly adroit fashion, suggesting that his question is more interesting than the interviewer’s. He is being interviewed about the decision of David Bradshaw, the head of the serious fraud office, not to prosecute those involved in the Winebox transactions.

    When he started the investigation, he did say that he didn’t shirk from prosecution if he found the evidence. Why would he be doing that?

    I’m not interested in what he said. I’m interested in this fact: that if he cannot, as they couldn’t in the past, find evidence in this matter, then they should be removed from their job and someone competent and able to understand the issues be given the job….

    Summary to the item: This is an aural instruction manual for incoming politicians giving guidance on how to answer those tricky questions from the media when you’d rather not. Using examples from the masters, including Sir Keith Holyoake, Sir Robert Muldoon, Winston Peters, Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley, the guide offers advice about giving earnest, fulsome and convincing replies without actually answering the questions. The Guide takes us through the Seven Strategies of Successful Subject-Shifting, including Answering a Slightly Different Question, the "Let-Me-Just-Say-This" Manoeuvre, Attacking the Critic and the Amazing Shipley One-Size-Fits-All Multi-Purpose Response.

    https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=303644

    Commenters on Radionz have said that Labour has about 20? new pollies coming on board and what a job it will be to orientate them. They might like to listen to the masters and mistresses of the political comment, as part of losing their naivety and gaucheness?

  23. Phillip ure 23

    While I recoil from the nativist bullshit he peddled…he gets my respect for being the first to stop/roll-back the rogernomics fuck-the-poor/weakest policies…with his coalition condition being bringing back free healthcare for children…I was a sole-parent raising my son at the time…I remember it well…and more recently of course..in 2017 he opened the door for ardern/labour…it would be somewhat churlish to ignore/forget that..

  24. lprent 24

    I think this post requires a reprise.

    A tribute to the number of times he has arisen from the ashes of his political career.

    This time could very well be the the final time.

  25. Hunter Thompson II 25

    Years ago I heard the live broadcast of the Parliamentary debate in which WP alleged the head of the Serious Fraud Office couldn't investigate his way out of a wet paper bag, there had been a big cover up, tax dodging etc.

    And so the Winebox Affair kicked off …

    Great spectator sport. And in those days we had real investigative journos too, so NBR's Warren Berryman was right onto it.

  26. Chris T 26

    Might have been mentioned and I have missed it, but do we know if the Profential Growth Fund is still ok with Labour, or has it dies a death?

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    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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