Open mike 08/11/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 8th, 2012 - 77 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

77 comments on “Open mike 08/11/2012 ”

  1. Red Rosa 1

    Why Wilkinson should resign as Minister of Conservation as well.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/7920646/Wilkinson-shuns-farm-runoff-control-appeal

    Could then become the Minister for Federated Farmers

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4569111/Ministers-step-in-on-DOC-lease

    Worst Minister of Labour ever? Worst Minister of Conservation ever? Would have to run both close.

  2. Te Reo Putake 2

    Crisis, what crisis?

    Another 60 jobs go in manufacturing as kiwi company Dynamic Controls closes its Chch plant. This announcement comes two days after high tech company Rakon also laid off a similar number of workers and adds to the 40,000 jobs lost in manufacturing under this dismal Government. It almost makes me pine for the days when the National Party weren’t just anti-worker but were actively pro-business.

    Just who do the Nats represent these days?

    • Draco T Bastard 2.1

      And unemployment to 7.3%

      “New Zealand manufacturing is collapsing, and just this morning we learned unemployment hit a horrific 7.3% in September.

      • David H 2.1.1

        And it’s Keys own favorite The Labour Household Survey. The one he uses as a club to beat all other claims down with. Now that’s been turned into Fish… Sorry No Tequila

      • mike e 2.1.2

        Worst in 13 years when bungling bill english was last finance minister.
        175,000 unemployed!
        175,000
        new jobs promised!
        Difference 350,000
        Bennetts promise of 40,000 fewer on benifits into jobs
        Hollow promises from hollw shallow party!

    • muzza 2.2

      Who do Labour represent is a better question!

      Its always been clear who the Nats represent, at least they are somewhat honest about it!

      Imagine if the real figures were published!

  3. marsman 3

    A truck with two (!) trailers crashed on the Desert Road. Another truck crashed near Dunedin.
    Oh lets have more trucks on our roads AND lets also let trucking companies write their own Warrants of Fitness.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7921868/Search-for-driver-after-truck-crash

    • vto 3.1

      And bigger trucks too don’t forget. Recently on some roads the weight limit has risen, I think, from 45 tonnes to 60 tonnes, and the length gone out.

      Yeah, this lot are clever there’s no doubt ………………….

      Unfortunately people will get killed because of their cleverness with these trucking industry changes. Killed dead. Dead. Killed. Like Pike River. Dead.

      • Bill 3.1.1

        Is that an increase in tonnage and length over and above those allowed for by the last Labour led government?

        • vto 3.1.1.1

          Don’t know all detail but increasing weight was brought up early in this government’s term and is now in place as I understand. I seem to recall there had been some changes prior to that too, under labour I guess.

          I don’t really care who did it – the political philosophy behind these trucking industry changes has been a proven deadly failure at Pike River, as well as being behind finance company debacle and the leaky home monster. The philosophy needs amending quicksmart because these changes will lead to people being killed dead. It might be you. It might be me. If such an eventuality comes close to our bones then consequences will be brought to bear very personally to the politicians making these changes. I don’t know how the Pike River families keep themselves so calm. I would be knocking on Bill Birch’s door and Gerry Brownlee’s door. They did things which allowed these men to be killed dead. It is direct and personal.

          • Bill 3.1.1.1.1

            Yeah, my comment wasn’t meant to infer any finger pointing. I’m just curious as to whether weight and length limits have been pushed out even further is all. And for the same reasons as yourself…it’s crap, dangerous and stupid and reflects a ‘de-human’ aspect of neoliberal market thinking.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1.1.1.1

              Gerry Brownlee was talking about allowing for larger trucks to help with Chch but there was, IIRC, some discussion about allowing for bigger trucks in general. The Chch bit that Brownlee mentioned would, effectively, have become a trial period.

        • mike e 3.1.1.2

          National brought in the legislation bill!

          • Jim Nald 3.1.1.2.1

            And Labour can build a strong case for reversing the changes.
            And being well-prepared to counter-respond to any stupid trucking protest that tried to block up the main streets of the cities.

            umm aahh yeahh … w… a… i … t… i… n… g…

      • mike e 3.1.2

        Yeah and the damage to roads is increasing with these heavy trucks and the cost of repair is continuing to go up as the rest of us road users have to put up with huge dips and more broken surfaces making the roads even more unsafe especially at night and in bad weather conditions when you can’t see those huge dips that lurch cars sideways out the lanes!

  4. rosy 4

    Nice work Jacinda Adern

    Papers obtained under the Official Information Act show that Ms Bennett was told by Ministry of Health officials that it did not support parents having their benefits cut if they didn’t stay up to date with Well Child checks.

    “The Ministry was clear in its advice that introducing mandatory checks risked ‘undermining the effectiveness of the programme’ and that using sanctions in the way proposed by Ms Bennett ‘would have a negative impact on the health of sanctioned beneficiaries and their families’.

    “The Ministry of Health also highlighted the fact that enrolments in the Well Child programme currently exceeds 95 per cent of the birth cohort each year and that the onus was actually on them to ‘do better to reach the families not currently receiving the full entitlement to well child checks by improving programme delivery’.

    It makes sense that organisations responsible for delivering programmes should make those programmes accessible to the 95% of the target population enrolled in them.

    • prism 4.1

      5% not enrolled in the Well Child check programme. That means that those people are likely to be in a difficult position in their lives and could be offered a helping hand with transport, a mentor that assists but isn’t authoritarian and in your face. Encourage autonomy, that is a given but let the service be there when needed with an offer to cope with say monthly checks for the child and a social chat with the parents.

    • David H 4.2

      Yep Bennet don’t care. None of them give a rats arse for you, me, your or my children.

      And you can probably imagine when there’s a disaster, the rich pricks who owns it only want to know one thing, How much is it going to cost us. they don’t care how many of us are killed as long as they make their money.

  5. prism 5

    I have been sent an email by a relative with Australian connections. This tells in an outraged tone about a Middle East mall owner who refused to allow the Anzac badges to be sold on his property. We don’t know the facts and it seems an example of trying to build prejudice over the internet. I guess this is how the anti feelings to any group that has been designated as contemptible can be spread. Half-truths, rumours, factual but isolated examples of behaviour deemed unacceptable. When did the sender stop beating his wife I wonder? Anyone can make up or magnify stuff and make trouble.

    • Bill 5.1

      Didn’t know you could buy Anzac badges in the first place. And anyway – any retail outlet has a right to stock whatever the hell they want (within legal bounds). What if the guy was a pink coloured Australian who felt Anzac badges signified something of a glorification of war riding on supposed sentiments of remembrance?

      That’s not denying your point about the internet promulgating bullshit and prejudice. Facebook is particularily pernicious in that respect (photo that could be from any context accompanied by an unverifiable text designed to get people all up in arms over whatever cause).

      And the MSM does the same shit. youtube footage overlaid with ‘fitting’ commentary, for example all those reports pertaining to Syria where youtube images lacking identifying features reinforced somewhat spurious or dubioous ‘news’ claims being made in the voice overs.

  6. Jackal 6

    Karl du Fresne bigot

    Another favourite thing that right wing propagandist’s love to promote is elitism. They do this by trying to ensure the class structure of capitalism, which is characterized by the conflict between the haves and the have nots, does not change. Without the poor, the rich simply cannot stroke their egos and feel superior about their wealth. And as usual, the bigots believe thet best way to achieve this is to attack the poor…

    • Uturn 6.1

      Through some inexplicable lapse of sensiblity yesterday, I clicked a link through to Kiwiblog, where they were talking about the US election results as they came in. The theme in the comments was that the working class are a drain on our tax dollars. I’m not sure what kind of education you need to join that elite club, but I’m pretty sure that charter schools won’t fix the problem.

  7. karol 7

    Life in NZ just goes from one depressing statistic to another. Especially when i am attending to twitter. David Cunliffe has just tweeted:

    Unemployment up to 7.3%! While other countries look to better days ahead there’s no hope in NZ with National.http://cunliffe.co.nz/no-hope-for-nz-manufacturing-with-national/

    And Bomber has tweeted just a short while ago:

    Unemployment jumps to 7.3% – when will NZers accept that a PM in the top wealth class just doesn’t give a damn about their job security?

    When will we get an opposition with traction amongst more ordinary Kiwis?

    And Scoop tweeted the link to the Press Release with the latest depressing stats:
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1211/S00308/household-labour-force-survey-september-2012-qtr-key-facts.htm

    • Jackal 7.1

      Bill English again tried to blame the global recession on the $500 million blowout yesterday, even though many other countries that were impacted the most are doing a hell of a lot better than New Zealand. National will no doubt try to duck and cover about the unemployment statistics as well, although their usual meme is that “it’s all Labours fault” is a more likely excuse to be given in the house today. Or perhaps they will simply deny there’s a problem, and resort to their “National has created jobs” blather. Personally I don’t think their outright lies and obfuscations are going to fix the problem of growing unemployment in New Zealand though… Only a competent government that has the interests of the people in mind when formulating policy could do that.

      • karol 7.1.1

        Well, whatever he says, it will be damage-control spin in the House today from English – there’s an indication in qu 2 for today’s Question Time:

        TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: What steps is the Government taking to support jobs as part of its programme to build a more productive and competitive economy?

        • David H 7.1.1.1

          It’s Thursday Karol, so as usual Key, English, Bennett, and a couple of others with sticky questions will not be there as usual. And as usual there will be No hold over of questions and it will be either Joyce or Brownlee’s bullshit as usual.

      • muzza 7.1.2

        Yeah, nah, until people start asking questions like:

        Who really runs NZ, and just how corrupted is this place, then waiting for the fallout of the question, can people begin to wrap their heads around whats going on!

        Until then keep scratching around wondering why the theatrics decend into deeper problems for our country!

        • Dr Terry 7.1.2.1

          Oh, if only the people would start demanding answers to the current hard questions! Will apathy continue still? Some responses I have so far seen to the latest slump in the economy and the terrible unemployment news, make it sound as though these matters are actually good news for the country!!

          • Dr Terry 7.1.2.1.1

            One would expect Mr Joyce to be up on his Shakespeare! If so, how has he overlooked the words “”comparisons are odorous”?

      • Draco T Bastard 7.1.3

        Of course he’ll blame that. He certainly won’t be taking responsibility for the fact that the blow-out is a direct consequence of his government cutting taxes for the rich.

        • Jackal 7.1.3.1

          Yeah! There’s also the fact that National has borrowed New Zealand into a huge financial hole, and as a result of ratings agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor’s downgrading New Zealand’s credit ratings last year, we started paying more interest on those extensive government debts.

          There’s been complete and utter financial incompetence from National on many levels.

          Great link btw DTB, well worth reading.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.2

      Hah, snap :mrgreen:

      And the NZHerald version:

      New Zealand’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to a 13-year high as the pool of jobs shrank for a second straight quarter with a flat labour market in Auckland and fewer full-time workers. The kiwi dollar tumbled about half a US cent.

      The unemployment rate rose half a percentage point to 7.3 per cent in the September quarter, the highest level since June 1999, according to Statistics New Zealand’s household labour force survey.

      Economists surveyed by Reuters were picking a 0.1 percentage point fall to 6.7 per cent.

      The economists prove themselves wrong – again. Wonder if this will get them to start questioning the theory that they hold so close to their hearts? NAH, not going to happen.

      • Treetop 7.2.1

        Not good and uni is winding down and school leavers; unemployment will rise further.

        • Colonial Viper 7.2.1.1

          It’ll be ok they can get jobs in Australia. Well, for a little while longer.

          • Jim Nald 7.2.1.1.1

            The 1% mums and dads don’t care because they have already got their kids summer jobs stitched up at their own or their mates’ workplaces.

    • David H 7.3

      After they are completely decimated in 2014 and then in 2018 there will be nothing left to govern so that will be when they get back in. AND thats all they deserve. They are nothing but a bunch of self serving, wallet watching, bottom feeders. And that is the LABOUR FRONT bench except one. All blindly following Captain Stutterbum.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.4

      Key dismisses unemployment concerns

      The Prime Minister is blaming Auckland for skewing a national survey which puts unemployment at its highest in 13 years.

      Statistics New Zealand released the results of their Household Labour Force Survey this morning, showing 13,000 more unemployed people than three months ago and a total of 175,000 without jobs.

      But John Key says the data is at odds with the Government’s own “anecdotal” evidence and says the Government has created 57,000 new jobs over the last 12-18 months.

      So, Key’s gut feeling is that the numbers are wrong and that it’s all Auckland’s fault anyway.

      Seriously, how the fuck does he think he can get away with BatBullShit?

      • muzza 7.4.1

        “They are just very much at odds with everything else that we see,” he says.

        “In the end it’s one survey and like a lot of surveys, from time to time, it can produce unusual data.

        “It is focussed on Auckland and that runs a little counter to what we’ve actually anecdotally seen in Auckland.”

        Mr Key didn’t go so far as to say the numbers were wrong, but said he’d wait until the December statistics are released.

        Its difficult to be surprised given what comes out his mouth, but this quotes should see him moved on!

        Oh and perhaps a little fiddle with the numbers in time for December!

        • Bill 7.4.1.1

          If the survey was focussed on Auckland, then hey…isn’t Auckland the economic ‘powerhouse’ of NZ? And so if Auckaland is in the shit, then what about elsewhere? Oh, that’s right. Anecdotally overhearing people on the bus saying they will find out next week if they still have a job (printer) and knowing damned full well that early childhood is being gutted of qualified staff to make way for min. wage entrants. And as I sit here thinking it through, is it worth mentioning that I’m struggling to think of anyone I know from around here who has a full time job?

      • Dr Terry 7.4.2

        Draco – the problem is that he goes on and on getting away with it! Now Key talks about “anecdotal” evidence. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do people really buy into statements like that? Look up the meaning of “anecdote” – my dictionary defines it as “short usually amusing account of an incident” (in the Greek “unpublished” – meaning what we hear is only the sick scrambling within Key’s own mind) Well, he was short alright and amusing only in a highly bizarre kind of way. Fancy selecting this word, “anecdotes” in responding to the facts of unemployment!

  8. Draco T Bastard 8

    The Great Reset

    If you haven’t seen those posts then a quick recap, all across the developed world we have seen stats showing that traffic and total distances travelled by people have not only stalled but fallen.

    So, traffic volumes are falling across the world including NZ and

    So I was looking through some other numbers yesterday and noticed a similar trend. In this case the numbers were the annual registration of new cars. These record the new registration of vehicles including those which are used imports. The numbers peaked in about 2005 and since have plummeted back to ~1995 levels.

    Now it appears that we’re even buying less cars. National, of course, keep building new roads. Considering this data the question that comes to mind is: Who are they building them for?

    • vto 8.1

      “Who are they building them for?”

      For John Key to drive to his Omaha Beach beach house. And for all those John Key wannabe’s to drive their boats and flash cars to all them beaches and catch snappers. And for the ladies to drive to the country beach cafe and read the local real estate mag.

      Who are they building these roads for? Well, Northland’s permanent population hasn’t grown in about the last twenty years so it isn’t for them. And Northland’s economy certainly hasn’t grown like that either so it isn’t for the economic activity. So that leaves all of that extra traffic basically coming out of Auckland for purposes other than either the people who live in Northland or the economic activity. Which leaves beaches.

      It’s for the beaches Draco.

  9. weka 9

    Anyone know how to turn off sound on a single webpage? (it’s an online game that I want to leave open). Safari.

  10. Rosie 10

    Today is the anniversary of Rod Donald’s death.

    The video below made my eyes leak a little. He is speaking with a panel on an American politcal show, dicussing among other things our MMP system and NZ’s view of American foreign policy at the time (Iraq war, East Timor)To hear him speak in such a wise, warm and down to earth way at this very point in time when it feels like we have shit raining down us really sums in my mind how much we have lost.

    http://blog.greens.org.nz/?p=25863

    • weka 10.1

      Donald was a massive loss for NZ. Thinking about what he might have brought to NZ politics in the last 7 years, very sad.

  11. Chris 11

    We are all drowning in keyshit.

  12. Rhinocrates 12

    Unemployment reaches a thirteen-year record and Labour’s spokespotato on employment, the utterly, utterly useless Su’a William Sio, has nothing to say relating to his portfolio. Is he leaving it up to Shearer to issue another flimsy and banal “e-newsletter” to allow him to feel that his job has been done, albeit by another hopeless inadequate… or has he genuinely not even been aware that he should be DOING HIS FUCKING JOB?

    That man should be making headlines, he should be embarrassing his opponent, he should be in the television studios, but no, he’s not. If he can stir himself out of bed, he’s campaigning to restrict basic human rights.

    When the Hell is it going to get through to these guys?

    Now assuming for the sake of argument that Shearer is a “nice guy” (which I doubt), he shouldn’t be. Since he hasn’t inspired any loyalty and verve in his front bench, they should damn well fear him and more specifically, they should fear his disapproval… but they don’t. He’s useless as a leader of a political party and they’re troughers, seeing the party as something that serves them, not something that serves the people with them as representatives.

    • Bill 12.1

      Yup. Welcome to somewhere we’d all rather not be.

    • Red Rosa 12.2

      Got it in one. We are paying these guys $150k+ per year- for what?

      Just possibly, some fresh ideas on how to engage the unemployed thousands on useful community work…. you know, like FDR and the CCC in the New Deal?

      DoC are having budgets cut all over the country – a good place to start?

      • Colonial Viper 12.2.1

        you know, like FDR and the CCC in the New Deal?

        forget the US New Deal.

        Macmillan, Davidson and Nordemeyer figured it out for ourselves, right here in NZ, and the Savage Govt delivered it, starting with a Christmas bonus for every unemployed and poverty stricken person in NZ.

      • just saying 12.2.2

        http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/an-election-day-history-lesson.html

        A brief reminder of the history of the ‘new deal’ by Trish Kahle and a stark reminder of what we are up against, and how much nastier things are set to become for the working class. If the above link doesn’t work, it’s from Steve Cowan’s “Against the Current” blog.

        One of the disadvantages this time around is the ever burgeoning surveillance industry which will be a major weapon in the arsenal of the elite and their enforcers. The prisons are already being built to “house” those able to organise effective disssent. And thanks in part to the welfare state the government already has a mountain of personal information to use against anyone putting their head above the parapet.

        ….”After a decade of right-wing reaction and working class retreat, crisis led to an explosion–but I’m not talking about the revolutionary explosion of the Arab Spring, or the occupation of the Wisconsin state capitol by union members and their allies, or Occupy Wall Street. I’m talking about 1930.

        A reporter for the New York World described March 6, a day that began with President Hoover claiming employment would rise and ended with more than 500,000 people in the streets of 25 US cities, like this: “Women struck in the face with blackjacks, boys beaten by gangs of seven and eight policemen, and an old man backed into a doorway and knocked down time after time…. One of [the women] fought savagely howling curses…. A detective ran up and while the policemen held her crashed his blackjack into her face three times before a man dragged her away.“………..

        …….Much like the people who formed unemployed councils in the early years of the 1930s, the American working class finds itself in a barely contained free-fall. Living standards, which had been in decline since the 1970s, took a nose dive after the 2008 economic crash. Around the world, poor and working people have been blamed for a crisis they didn’t cause. And instead of making the banks and multinational corporations that caused the crisis pay for it, the ruling class–the 1%, as it were–are ramming through austerity packages around the globe, causing their profits to spike while wages, benefits, and real employment numbers continue to drop. Now, to add insult to injury, American politicians, Democrat and Republican, have put the social welfare policies on which millions of American rely on the block to receive the budget axe. The same policies for which women were beaten by policemen in the streets of New York, for which tenants defied eviction orders, for which unemployed people and workers were shot at by gun thugs are being stripped away. Critically, not only will these austerity measures not fix the financial crisis, they will create a social catastrophe.

        But if there’s one lesson we can learn from the struggles of the 1930s that culminated in, among other things, Social Security, the cornerstone of the too-meager American social safety net, it’s this: FDR might have signed the SSA into law, but it was the people like us–the workers, the farmers, the unemployed–who created it….”

    • David H 12.3

      As I said before they will need to be voted out in the biggest bloodletting ever. Then Maybe in 2018 they can rebuild, and try to pay for all the fuck ups and money pouring overseas. Because everything has been sold. And The fact that national sold the assets is not the biggest obscenity here, it’s the fact that Labour didn’t even lift a finger to stop them.

    • Jim in Tokyo 12.4

      With these shock unemployment stats, Labour have just been handed a loaded political shotgun, yet the whole front bench seems to be content to sit and watch as Shearer peers down the barrel and tries to remove specks of dust with his tongue.

  13. Anne 13

    English actor/comedian, Clive Dunn has died aged 92. Most famous for his role as Corporal Jones in that classic of classics “Dad’s Army”. His most famous line “don’t panic”, at which point he always panicked. I think he was the last one of that wonderful 1970s TV comedy left alive. Apparently also a great Labour stalwart. RIP Clive Dunn.

    http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/dad-s-army-star-clive-dunn-dies-video-5204921

    • Rhinocrates 13.1

      Must be the last of the Dad’s Army crew too. Sad. I recommend that everyone try to track down at least an episode of that. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp would be worth one’s while too. Here’s to bumbling decency that actually makes its way through!

  14. weka 14

    Key’s slip of the tongue for today, on Checkpoint, with regards to the increased unemployment rate and NACT’s economic plan: “we not going to change tact”.
     
     

CommentsOpinions

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

FeedsPartyGovtMedia

  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 hours ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    8 hours ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    8 hours ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    10 hours ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    16 hours ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    17 hours ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    2 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    2 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    2 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    2 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    2 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    3 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    4 days ago
  • What it is

    I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • A government-funded hate campaign

    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    4 days ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

    Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been soaring high with his hubris of getting on and building motorways but some uncomfortable realities are starting to creep in. Back in July he announced that the government was pushing on with a Northland Expressway using an “accelerated delivery strategy” The Coalition Government is ...
    5 days ago
  • Never Enough

    However much I'm falling downNever enoughHowever much I'm falling outNever, never enough!Whatever smile I smile the mostNever enoughHowever I smile I smile the mostSongwriters: Robert James Smith / Simon Gallup / Boris Williams / Porl ThompsonToday in Nick’s Kōrero:A death in the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital.A sad homecoming and ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

    Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

    Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Inside the public service

    In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

    This is a re-post from This is Not Cool Here’s an example of some of the best kind of climate reporting, especially in that it relates to impacts that will directly affect the audience. WFLA in Tampa conducted a study in collaboration with the Department of Energy, analyzing trends in ...
    6 days ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Motorway madness

    How mad is National's obsession with roads? One of their pet projects - a truck highway to Whangārei - is going to eat 10% of our total infrastructure budget for the next 25 years: Official advice from the Infrastructure Commission shows the government could be set to spend 10 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Our transport planning system is fundamentally broken

    Ever since Wayne Brown became mayor (nearly two years ago now) he’s been wanting to progress an “integrated transport plan” with the government – which sounded a lot like the previous Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) with just a different name. It seems like a fair bit of work progressed ...
    6 days ago
  • Thou Shalt Not Steal

    And they taught usWhoa-oh, black woman, thou shalt not stealI said, hey, yeah, black man, thou shalt not stealWe're gonna civilise your black barbaric livesAnd we teach you how to kneelBut your history couldn't hide the genocideThe hypocrisy to us was realFor your Jesus said you're supposed to giveThe oppressed ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In February 2021, several severe storms swept across the United States, culminating with one that the Weather Channel unofficially named Winter Storm Uri. In Texas, Uri knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes and 10 million people. Hundreds of Texans died as a ...
    6 days ago
  • The ‘Infra Boys’ Highway to Budget Hell

    Chris Bishop has enthusiastically dubbed himself and Simeon Brown “the Infra Boys”, but they need to take note of the sums around their roading dreams. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Media Link: “AVFA” on the politics of desperation.

    In this podcast Selwyn Manning and I talk about what appears to be a particular type of end-game in the long transition to systemic realignment in international affairs, in which the move to a new multipolar order with different characteristics … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    7 days ago
  • The cost of flying blind

    Just over two years ago, when worries about immediate mass-death from covid had waned, and people started to talk about covid becoming "endemic", I asked various government agencies what work they'd done on the costs of that - and particularly, on the cost of Long Covid. The answer was that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • Seymour vs The Clergy

    For paid subscribers“Aotearoa is not as malleable as they think,” Lynette wrote last week on Homage to Simeon Brown:In my heart/mind, that phrase ricocheted over the next days, translating out to “We are not so malleable.”It gave me comfort. I always felt that we were given an advantage in New ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Unstoppable Minister McKee

    All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this townI'll do it 'til the sun goes downAnd all through the nighttimeOh, yeahOh, yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hearLeave my sunglasses on while I shed a tearIt's never the right timeYeah, yeahSong by SiaLast night there was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Could outdoor dining revitalise Queen Street?

    This is a guest post by Ben van Bruggen of The Urban Room,.An earlier version of this post appeared on LinkedIn. All images are by Ben. Have you noticed that there’s almost nowhere on Queen Street that invites you to stop, sit outside and enjoy a coffee, let alone ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 week ago
  • Hipkins challenges long-held Labour view Government must stay below 30% of GDP

    Hipkins says when considering tax settings and the size of government, the big question mark is over what happens with the balance between the size of the working-age population and the growing number of Kiwis over the age of 65. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Your invite to Webworm Chat (a bit like Reddit)

    Hi,One of the things I love the most about Webworm is, well, you. The community that’s gathered around this lil’ newsletter isn’t something I ever expected when I started writing it four years ago — now the comments section is one of my favourite places on the internet. The comments ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Seymour’s Treaty bill making Nats nervous

    A delay in reappointing a top civil servant may indicate a growing nervousness within the National Party about the potential consequences of David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill. Dave Samuels is waiting for reappointment as the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, but POLITIK understands that what should have been a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36

    A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 1, 2024 thru Sat, September 7, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is about how peopele are not born stupid but can be fooled ...
    1 week ago
  • Time for a Change

    You act as thoughYou are a blind manWho's crying, crying 'boutAll the virgins that are dyingIn your habitual dreams, you knowSeems you need more sleepBut like a parrot in a flaming treeI know it's pretty hard to seeI'm beginning to wonderIf it's time for a changeSong: Phil JuddThe next line ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Six.

    The “double shocks” in post Cold War international affairs. The end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the global geostrategic context. In particular, the end of the nuclear “balance of terror” between the USA and USSR, coupled with the relaxation … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Buried deep

    Here's a bike on Manchester St, Feilding. I took this photo on Friday night after a very nice dinner at the very nice Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, on Manchester Street.I thought to myself, Manchester Street? Bicycle? This could be the very spot.To recap from an earlier edition: on a February night ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.

    Military politics as a distinct “partial regime.” Notwithstanding their peripheral status, national defense offers the raison d’être of the combat function, which their relative vulnerability makes apparent, so military forces in small peripheral democracies must be very conscious of events … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Leadership for Dummies

    If you’re going somewhere, do you maybe take a bit of an interest in the place? Read up a bit on the history, current events, places to see - that sort of thing? Presumably, if you’re taking a trip somewhere, it’s for a reason. But what if you’re going somewhere ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Home again

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Dead even tie for hottest August ever

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Asia Foundation Board appointments announced

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.  Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    57 mins ago
  • Endeavour Fund projects for economic growth

    New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Parihaka infrastructure upgrades funded

    The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Serious assaults down 22% in Auckland CBD

    Cross-government action to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour in Auckland is getting traction, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Our central cities should be great places to live and work, but in recent years they have become hot spots for crime and anti-social behaviour. In Auckland, businesses and residents suffered as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Increased certainty for contractors coming

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says upcoming changes to the Employment Relations Act will provide greater certainty for contractors and businesses. “These changes to legislation are necessary to ensure businesses and workers have more clarity from the start of their contracting arrangement. It is an ACT-National coalition ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Draft critical minerals list released for consultation

    A draft list of minerals deemed essential to New Zealand’s economy and strengthening its mineral resilience has been released for consultation, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The draft Critical Minerals List identifies 35 minerals essential to economic functions, are in demand internationally, and face high risk of supply disruption domestically ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Government eliminates $190 million in trade barriers to boost the economy

    The Government has successfully removed trade barriers affecting nearly $190 million worth of exports to help grow the economy, Minister for Trade and Agriculture Todd McClay today announced.  “In the past year, we have resolved 14 Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs), returning significant value to kiwi exporters. These efforts directly boost our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Reo Māori the ‘beating heart’ of Aotearoa New Zealand

    From private business to the Paris Olympics, reo Māori is growing with the success of New Zealanders, says Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka. “I’m joining New Zealanders across the country in celebrating this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week, which has a big range ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Need and value at forefront of public service delivery

    New Cabinet policy directives will ensure public agencies prioritise public services on the basis of need and award Government contracts on the basis of public value, Minister for the Public Service Nicola Willis says. “Cabinet Office has today issued a circular to central government organisations setting out the Government’s expectations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Minister to attend Police Ministers Council Meeting

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell will join with Australian Police Ministers and Commissioners at the Police Ministers Council meeting (PMC) today in Melbourne. “The council is an opportunity to come together to discuss a range of issues, gain valuable insights on areas of common interest, and different approaches towards law enforcement ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Bill to crack down on youth vaping

    The coalition Government has introduced legislation to tackle youth vaping, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping.  “While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rise in youth vaping ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Interest in agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review welcomed

    Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard have welcomed interest in the agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review. The review by the Ministry for Regulation is looking at how to speed up the process to get farmers and growers access to the safe, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Bill to allow online charity lotteries passes first reading

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is moving at pace to ensure lotteries for charitable purposes are allowed to operate online permanently. Charities fundraising online, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and local hospices will continue to do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Tax exempt threshold changes to benefit startups

    Technology companies are among the startups which will benefit from increases to current thresholds of exempt employee share schemes, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Revenue Minister Simon Watts say. Tax exempt thresholds for the schemes are increasing as part of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024-25, Emergency ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Getting the healthcare you need, when you need it

    The path to faster cancer treatment, an increase in immunisation rates, shorter stays in emergency departments and quick assessment and treatments when you are sick has been laid out today. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has revealed details of how the ambitious health targets the Government has set will be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Targeted supports to accelerate reading

    The coalition Government is delivering targeted and structured literacy supports to accelerate learning for struggling readers. From Term 1 2025, $33 million of funding for Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support will be reprioritised to interventions which align with structured approaches to teaching. “Structured literacy will change the way children ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Survivors invited to Abuse in Care national apology

    With two months until the national apology to survivors of abuse in care, expressions of interest have opened for survivors wanting to attend. “The Prime Minister will deliver a national apology on Tuesday 12 November in Parliament. It will be a very significant day for survivors, their families, whānau and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Rangatahi inspire at Ngā Manu Kōrero final

    Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini kē - My success is not mine alone but is the from the strength of the many. Aotearoa New Zealand’s top young speakers are an inspiration for all New Zealanders to learn more about the depth and beauty conveyed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Driving structured literacy in schools

    The coalition Government is driving confidence in reading and writing in the first years of schooling. “From the first time children step into the classroom, we’re equipping them and teachers with the tools they need to be brilliant in literacy. “From 1 October, schools and kura with Years 0-3 will receive ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s misleading information is disappointing

    Labour’s misinformation about firearms law is dangerous and disappointing, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says.   “Labour and Ginny Andersen have repeatedly said over the past few days that the previous Labour Government completely banned semi-automatic firearms in 2019 and that the Coalition Government is planning to ‘reintroduce’ them.   ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Govt takes action on mpox response, widens access to vaccine

    The Government is taking immediate action on a number of steps around New Zealand’s response to mpox, including improving access to vaccine availability so people who need it can do so more easily, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. “Mpox is obviously a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Next steps agreed for Treaty Principles Bill

    Associate Justice Minister David Seymour says Cabinet has agreed to the next steps for the Treaty Principles Bill. “The Treaty Principles Bill provides an opportunity for Parliament, rather than the courts, to define the principles of the Treaty, including establishing that every person is equal before the law,” says Mr Seymour. “Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government unlocking potential of AI

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced a programme to drive Artificial Intelligence (AI) uptake among New Zealand businesses. “The AI Activator will unlock the potential of AI for New Zealand businesses through a range of support, including access to AI research experts, technical assistance, AI tools and resources, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government releases Wairoa flood review findings

    The independent rapid review into the Wairoa flooding event on 26 June 2024 has been released, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced today. “We welcome the review’s findings and recommendations to strengthen Wairoa's resilience against future events,” Ms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Promoting faster payment times for government

    The Government is sending a clear message to central government agencies that they must prioritise paying invoices in a timely manner, Small Business and Manufacturing Minister Andrew Bayly says. Data released today promotes transparency by publishing the payment times of each central government agency. This data will be published quarterly ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Acknowledgement to Kīngi Tuheitia speech

    E te māngai o te Whare Pāremata, kua riro māku te whakaputa i te waka ki waho moana. E te Pirimia tēnā koe.Mr Speaker, it is my privilege to take this adjournment kōrero forward.  Prime Minister – thank you for your leadership. Taupiri te maunga Waikato te awa Te Wherowhero ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Interim fix to GST adjustment rules to support businesses

    Inland Revenue can begin processing GST returns for businesses affected by a historic legislative drafting error, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says. “Inland Revenue has become aware of a legislative drafting error in the GST adjustment rules after changes were made in 2023 which were meant to simplify the process. This ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Strong uptake for cervical screening self-test

    More than 80 per cent of New Zealand women being tested have opted for a world-leading self-test for cervical screening since it became available a year ago. Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti and Associate Minister Casey Costello, in her responsibility for Women’s Health, say it’s fantastic to have such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document sets ambitious direction

    Regulation Minister David Seymour welcomes the Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document, which sets out how the Ministry will carry out its work and deliver on its purpose. “I have set up the Ministry for Regulation with three tasks. One, to cut existing red tape with sector reviews. Two, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Māori Education Advisory Group established

    The Education Minister has established a Māori Education Ministerial Advisory Group made up of experienced practitioners to help improve outcomes for Māori learners. “This group will provide independent advice on all matters related to Māori education in both English medium and Māori medium settings. It will focus on the most impactful ways we can lift ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government welcomes findings of NZ Superannuation Fund review

    The Government has welcomed the findings of the recent statutory review into the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis says. The 5-yearly review, conducted on behalf of Treasury and tabled in Parliament today, found the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • First of five new Hercules aircraft takes flight

    Defence Minister Judith Collins today welcomed the first of five new C-130J-30 Hercules to arrive in New Zealand at a ceremony at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base Auckland, Whenuapai. “This is an historic day for our New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and our nation. The new Hercules fleet ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Have your say on suicide prevention

    Today, September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, a time to reflect on New Zealand’s confronting suicide statistics, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “Every death by suicide is a tragedy – a tragedy that affects far too many of our families and communities in New Zealand. We must do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Action to grow the rural health workforce

    Scholarships awarded to 27 health care students is another positive step forward to boost the future rural health workforce, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality health care and this Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac delivering more for Kiwis following major funding boost

    Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour has welcomed the increased availability of medicines for Kiwis resulting from the Government’s increased investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the Government,” says Mr Seymour. “When our Government assumed office, New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Sport Minister congratulates NZ’s Paralympians

    Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop has congratulated New Zealand's Paralympic Team at the conclusion of the Paralympic Games in Paris.  “The NZ Paralympic Team's success in Paris included fantastic performances, personal best times, New Zealand records and Oceania records all being smashed - and of course, many Kiwis on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government progresses response to Abuse in Care recommendations

    A Crown Response Office is being established within the Public Service Commission to drive the Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. “The creation of an Office within a central Government agency was a key recommendation by the Royal Commission’s final report.  “It will have the mandate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Passport wait times back on-track

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says passport processing has returned to normal, and the Department of Internal Affairs [Department] is now advising customers to allow up to two weeks to receive their passport. “I am pleased that passport processing is back at target service levels and the Department ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New appointments to the FMA board

    Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister has today announced three new appointments and one reappointment to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) board. Tracey Berry, Nicholas Hegan and Mariette van Ryn have been appointed for a five-year term ending in August 2029, while Chris Swasbrook, who has served as a board member ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • District Court judges appointed

    Attorney-General Hon Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new District Court judges. The appointees, who will take up their roles at the Manukau Court and the Auckland Court in the Accident Compensation Appeal Jurisdiction, are: Jacqui Clark Judge Clark was admitted to the bar in 1988 after graduating ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-09-16T02:35:51+00:00