Open mike 10/12/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, December 10th, 2019 - 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 Policy).

Step up to the mike …

77 comments on “Open mike 10/12/2019 ”

  1. Jenny How to get there 1

    Thunberg says 'our voices' being heard but not translating into action

    Teenage activist Greta Thunberg says although the voices of young climate strikers are being heard — politicians are still not taking action.

    https://play.stuff.co.nz/details/_6113747997001

    Case in point:

    “The Zero Carbon Act does not introduce any policies to actually cut emissions but rather sets a framework”

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/12/world-doomed-to-3c-temperature-rise-if-everyone-copied-new-zealand-report.html?fbclid=IwAR1BPVSmGqtbeWSVq0GrBWHFIP9Siv-DcCAR-y4uwudNL0WPNtBJvXvgldE

    • Peter chch 1.1

      Well maybe she should lead by example and cease her constant Twitter and Facebook posts. Social media has now been identified as a significant factor in climate change. Apart from the power consumed, the heat of the servers used worldwide is a significant factor.

      Human made climate change is real, but screaming crazy hypocrits abusing people without offering solutions just turns people away from the crisis.

      • weka 1.1.1

        "screaming crazy hypocrits abusing people without offering solutions"

        Who are you referring to there?

        If using the internet causes CC and stopping using it is a valid solution, then presumably your posting here means you don't want to stop CC?

        • Peter chch 1.1.1.1

          My social media footprint is tiny, unlike prolific professional users like Thurnberg, who is obviously who I was referring to.

          Additionally, I dont make a career out of telling others what to do and throw tantrums to get attention.

          • weka 1.1.1.1.1

            You appear to be quite the idiot then. For one, Thunberg does offer solutions, they're central to her whole position. The other is that reducing GHG emissions has to happen across the board. NZ is well into overshoot for its ecological footprint. Nothing to do with Thunberg, everything to do with you and me.

            The crazy slur is sign of someone who is ignorant of neurodiversity but also who can't formulate an argument and so seeks to undermine the credibility of the person they are critiquing. I'm being rude here because I'm sick of the low level of political argument from some.

    • McFlock 1.2

      I reckon she's underestimating her effect. According to Clarkson, she has managed to "kill the car show" and stopped young people being interested in cars.

      I think the phrase most suited to his claim is "ok, boomer" lol

  2. Sacha 2

    No signs of life, 8 people still on Whakaari White Island, volcanic activity at level 3. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/405170/white-island-eruption-eight-still-missing-police-believe-there-are-no-survivors

  3. Sanctuary 3

    NZ Helicopter pilots – Kiwi sangfroid, daring do and flying skill at its best.

    • Or maybe just crazy…..

      "…based on figures from 2011 to 2017, the fatality rate for commercial helicopter pilots per 1000 workers on an annual basis was 75 times the national average for all workplaces, compared with 44 times the average for forestry, which was the next worst workplace."

      • Sanctuary 3.1.1

        Sometimes it helps to be a little crazy, like when putting your slick onto a literally hot LZ to rescue people…

        I have an in-law who was a chopper deer shooter back in the days of the good ol’ boys down south, and while they not as crazy these days as back then I believe the spirit lives on in NZ helicopter pilots.

      • James 3.1.2

        Depends on the industry. A lot of commercial pilots are using little under powered ones chasing cattle or spraying which have a far higher crash rate.

        eurocopters etc that are used in higher end tourism have a very low crash rate.

        which is why I chose never to fly in the small helicopters and never let the kids do so either.

        most of them don’t want to die – so are far from crazy.

  4. pat 4

    "The authors warn this vast water tower – a term they use to describe the role of water storage and supply that mountain ranges play to sustain environmental and human water demands downstream – is unlikely to sustain growing pressure by the middle of the century when temperatures are projected to rise by 1.9C (35.4F), rainfall to increase by less than 2%, but the population to grow by 50% and generate eight times more GDP."

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/09/billion-people-risk-water-supply-rising-demand-global-heating-mountain-ecosystem

    "Citing recent research by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Davies said 75% of high-altitude snow and ice would be retained if global warming could be kept within 1.5C. However, 80% would be lost by 2100 if the world continued on a path of business as usual."

    Where will the world place 1.9 billion migrants?

  5. Cricklewood 5

    Unfortuantly the real elephant in the room is that many areas of the planet are over populated, such over population has only been made possible by cheap energy in the form of oil and we all know what that is doing to the climate.

    • Peter chch 5.1

      Agree effect of population growth but that has not been enabled by cheap oil, but eradication of many diseases through better hygiene and science. And what is the solution? China tried one child policy and it failed miserably. Roman Catholicism and its anti birth control stance being banned would be effective but not going to happen anytime soon.

      • Cricklewood 5.1.1

        Sure hygiene has played a role, but without oil and industrialization there is no way you could feed cities of millions or support populations in the millions on a relativly small landmass.

        In essence oil has allowed vast areas of the planet to support populations far greater than local resources would otherwise allow.

      • greywarshark 5.1.2

        If one looks at death notices with all the family descendants named, do family history searches with all the family descendants named down generations, look at local histories, the descendants still alive, from two people – back to the great-great-grandparents, is massive.

        It goes relatively slowly – say two having six living to adulthood who become the great grandparents, three of them having families (three didn't, killed in war, never married). We now have better medical care so babies don't die, and old people can live till 80+ and not late 70's as previously. Parents of the present generation can become great-(great?) grandparents while still living.

        Say if the original parents, now elderly, had had four children who went on to reproduce, but limited their families to the extent that each generation had only two living children. Which would be reasonable one would think. I can't work it out in my head – so have attempted below to see the multiplying numbers.

        Year 1 – Originating 2 people both aged 20,
        By years 11-21 have 4 children (6 in current family),

        Years 21 to 31- 4 young adults average 1 child = 4 (10 in current family; 4 reproducing and 4children/2adults),

        Years 31-41 four young adults repeat x one = 4 (14 in current family; 4 reproducing and 8children/2adults ),

        (Four young adults have had average of only 2 children each).

        Years 41 – 51 children of young adults start having babies at 20 years still averaging two babies. In first decade (20 in current family; 8 reproducing and 8 children/4 adults),
        Years 51 – 61 repeat (28 in current family; 8 reproducing with 16 children/4adults)

        Year 62 the elders die at an old age of around 80, leaving a family of 26, plus the partners of their children who fathered and mothered the additional babies for each generation.

        • alwyn 5.1.2.1

          You have to do the calculation properly. You can't just talk about 2 becoming 26 or whatever. You gave to count in all the partners parents, gran parents etc as being the founding stock.

          If we use your method for a case where a couple has 2 children. They marry and each has 2 children. The a third generation does the same. You would say that the family grew from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16. What has really happened is that the final generation of 16 actually have 16 parents, and 16 grandparents and 16 great grandparents. The number of people in each generation is not increasing at all.

        • Ad 5.1.2.2

          A quick trawl through the NZStats site will give you accurate tracking of the relative strength of replacement cohorts.

          No need to guess this stuff.

          • greywarshark 5.1.2.2.1

            It is interesting that no one wants to think for themselves. You have to follow a set formula that the state has set up. How do you know they have done that correctly – they want to blind the unknowing with science. And to get put down by the ones who have the training and who are in the know, that stops the ordinary person from trying to think for themselves, and many don't try.

            I wasn't guessing Ad I followed a process based on stated factors and showed how even a modestly fertile family proliferates.

            As to Alwyn, fluff around, find fault, as you want. I couldn't care less about your opinions.

            • Ad 5.1.2.2.1.1

              Which bits of the NZStats population forecast methodology do you disagree with and why?

              The ones you are looking for were released in March this year called the "New Zealand Cohort Life Tables".There are pretty well-rehearsed statistical pathways about replacement in there.

      • Gabby 5.1.3

        Cos of the rocketing birthrate in Italy right Peetee.

  6. ianmac 6

    For those interested in the Matthews Auditor General issue yesterday, Kim Hill had an interview with him this morning.

    The critical thing is that fraud was never raised with Mathews until he was tipped about the previous fraud conviction which had been withheld by court and Joanne Harrison had changed her name. He then acted in accordance with the rules and she was "uncovered." So the "whistle blowers" were actually complaining about non-compliance of invoicing, and not fraud.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018726190

    • gsays 6.1

      Isn't invoice non-compliance a white collar euphemism for fraud?

      In the preamble to the interview, it was said that the legal eagle at NZTA got the whistle blowers to pipe down.

      • ianmac 6.1.1

        "sn't invoice non-compliance a white collar euphemism for fraud?"

        Not necessarily. Can be sloppy accounting. Matthews said he addressed that and she promised to do better. Out of thousands of invoices I bet it is not unusual to slip up.

    • greywarshark 7.1

      I thought that the innkeeper told the enquiring, needy couple something like this below. The innkeeper apparently did what he could for the pair.

      1 There is no room in the inn – it is full of paying guests.

      2 I do have stables where you can have a roof over your heads, and a place to sleep. Basic, but with straw the animals have, to sleep in but you should be okay.

      This is a following of events around the birth of Jesus looking at Mary's history. http://kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/Mary

      Soon after this the decree of Augustus (Luke 2:1) required that they should proceed to Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), some 80 or 90 miles from Nazareth; and while they were there they found shelter in the inn or khan provided for strangers (Luke 2:6, 7). But as the inn was crowded, Mary had to retire to a place among the cattle, and there she brought forth her son, who was called Jesus (Matthew 1:21),

      To say that the innkeeper was at fault so Herod can't be blamed is a bit of a 'strawman' isn't it.

      • Sabine 7.1.1

        the innkeeper was at fault for not providing a save space for a women in labour to give birth.

        giving birth in a shit infested cow/sheep stall at the time would have been a good chance to die of birthing.

        essentially it was greed that won and not compassion and humanity.

  7. Gosman 8

    Please name me a country on the planet with a more vibrant and diverse media than the UK?

    FFS the UK has a massive public service media organisation that many lefties in NZ have been demanding we have in NZ yet apparently that isn't good enough for some.

    I think the real problem is some lefties don't like the fact that many people don't like either hard left policies, or certain hard left political leaders, or both.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

    • Bill 8.1

      You're not pulling that shit on my post. You want to talk about media diversity? Okay. Show me the plethora of diverse takes from UK pop media on…Syria, Russia, Corbyn, Trump, US elections…etc, etc, etc.

      • Gosman 8.1.1

        I asked you to name me a more diverse media environment than the UK. I bet you can't.

        • Bill 8.1.1.1

          In terms of a "diverse media environment", the USA is probably ahead of the UK because there's more 'independent' media of all spots and stripes using internet platforms in the US than in the UK (or elsewhere).

          • Gosman 8.1.1.1.1

            Except the UK also has a plethora of those sorts of outlets. What the real issue seems to me is you don't like Right wing media full stop. You seemingly would prefer all your media came from a narrow band of views. In my mind you are a prime example why the hard left is dangerous to a open and pluralistic society. You want to control the message and how it is delivered rather than work within the constructs of a complex media environment.

            • Bill 8.1.1.1.1.1

              It really is a stretch to suggest that the number and diversity of political youtube channels in the UK stacks up against the situation in the US. Same goes for podcasts and web based news sites.

              My bug bear with pop media is precisely the issue you claim I'm supportive of. Pop media is basically homogenised – it's far too bound/narrow – some of the reasons being that they're keen to maintain government access for their easy stories and are dependent on revenue streams from advertisers(who are anything but neutral in their politics)

              Meanwhile, if you care to cast your mind back to the whole Laura Southern/Molenyeux debacle, you can read, right here on this site, how I vociferously opposed efforts to shut them down. Hardly indicative of this assertion you make about me wanting to 'control the message'.

              Anyway. If there's a breeze up by your way, you might not suffocate in any fug being generated by your endlessly farting brain Gosman. Talking of fresh air….I'm off.

        • Grafton Gully 8.1.1.2

          What do you mean by "vibrant media" ?

        • Gabby 8.1.1.3

          Germany, gozzeroni.

  8. joe90 9

    Pentagon Papers 2.0

    A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

    […]

    Several of those interviewed described explicit and sustained efforts by the U.S. government to deliberately mislead the public. They said it was common at military headquarters in Kabul — and at the White House — to distort statistics to make it appear the United States was winning the war when that was not the case.

    […]

    Year after year, U.S. generals have said in public they are making steady progress on the central plank of their strategy: to train a robust Afghan army and national police force that can defend the country without foreign help.

    In the Lessons Learned interviews, however, U.S. military trainers described the Afghan security forces as incompetent, unmotivated and rife with deserters. They also accused Afghan commanders of pocketing salaries — paid by U.S. taxpayers — for tens of thousands of “ghost soldiers.”

    None expressed confidence that the Afghan army and police could ever fend off, much less defeat, the Taliban on their own. More than 60,000 members of Afghan security forces have been killed, a casualty rate that U.S. commanders have called unsustainable.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/

    http://archive.li/VZ53a

    • ianmac 9.1

      During the Vietnam War the US Military were notorious for vastly exaggerating the number of enemy killed and softening their own casualty numbers. Strangely the Iraq war figures minimised the number of Iraq casualties, I suppose because 100s of thousands were civilians.

      Think of our Army minimising the number of dead during the current enquiry.

    • Jenny How to get there 9.2

      joe90

      10 December 2019 at 10:43 am
      Pentagon Papers 2.0

      ……The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

      Obfuscation and denial from the people in positions of responsibility.

      Watching Chernobyl on Prime. The same massive denial and downplaying of that disaster by the authorities there.

      Vietnam, Chernobyl, Iraq, Afghanistan.

      “making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false”

      It forms a distinct pattern.

      A pattern that helps us comprehend the downplaying by establishment authorities of the climate disaster.

  9. Incognito 11

    The Al1en, apologies.

    Do you have a copy of your comment posted @ 10:02 AM?

  10. I don't, but I kept it simple, so I'll have another go at it. Ta.

  11. UncookedSelachimorpha 13

    If child poverty is caused by neoliberal policies, and the one thing you refuse to change is your neoliberal policies, this is what happens:

    Ardern government fails to reduce child poverty in New Zealand

    The children’s commissioner, Andrew Becroft, released the annual child poverty monitor on Monday which has found 148,000 children live in homes experiencing material hardship in six or more areas, including lack of access to basics such as warm clothing, health care and food. The figures are unchanged since the first report into child poverty in 2012.

    “I want to see family incomes dramatically raised by increasing benefits and making the minimum wage a living wage,” Becroft said.

    • Adrian 13.1

      You have obviously missed ( deliberately ? )the full radio interview with Becroft when he stressed that the latest figures available predated the Ardern government and that he expected considerable improvement in the next lot with the things that have been done by the coalition.
      Eleanor Aige does have a tendency to selective reporting.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 13.1.1

        I did miss that, although not deliberately!

        Here's hoping things do improve – and yes, the last government made things worse. But "National did it" is a very poor excuse when you are now in the driving seat (with an NZF handbrake, to be sure) – we need things to become significantly better.

        Simply increasing benefit rates (plus scrapping the claw back when people start working) and lifting the minimum wage to the living wage – would give very rapid results. Only the barest minimum has been done by the coalition so far and I still hold they are hamstrung by being neoliberal at heart and believing that redistribution is a dirty word.

        Child poverty, welfare: government inaction frustrates advocacy groups

        The government has failed to take any immediate measures to fix child poverty, a member of an expert group set up to help reduce it says.

        ..nine months on from the report and its 120 detailed recommendations, just three would have been implemented.

        "It seems nothing has actually happened that's actually making a significant change in the welfare system to most people in the nine months since our report came out,"

  12. McFlock 14

    Greens scrapping the budgetary responsibility rules.

    Labour looking to loosen the rules.

    The BRR were all about spiking tory allegations of spending the country into bankruptcy. They were training wheels to prove the coalition won't fall over. Well, it looks like next term a left govt will be able to control its cash like grown ups.

    • weka 14.1

      Good news and good timing. Next year's budget should be interesting too.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 14.2

      Excellent news! Well done Greens!

      Hopefully we will now see a more mature discussion of the role of economics and the way economies actually work, instead of the right-wing bullshit and lies that underpinned the BRR commitment.

      National will keep to their debunked austerity / neoliberal / Chicago School ideology no doubt.

      • McFlock 14.2.1

        lol I reckon you're optimistic about a more mature discussion.

        But the big change is that now labgrn can say "our economy is going gangbusters, let's help normal people rather than overseas billionaires".

        • UncookedSelachimorpha 14.2.1.1

          You are right, unfortunately!

          The relaxation / abandonment of the BRR is based on the "economy doing well" (whatever that means), instead of the actual truth – that the whole rationale behind the BRR in the first place is bunkum.

          • McFlock 14.2.1.1.1

            It's a bit like dealing with small children – sometimes it's easier to use reasoning they understand, even if it's incorrect and irrelevant to your motives lol

  13. Eco maori 15

    Kia Ora 1 News.

    That's awesome putea to spend on making Hospitals heating environmentally friendly putea for Railways and renewable energy projects.

    I will be watching the British elections.

    The farmers milk will be covered by insurance.

    Ka kite Ano

  14. Eco maori 16

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    That's is cool to see some technical buoys design to warm Aotearoa and our Pacific Cousin about Ngaru Ngaru Tsunami being setup in the Pacific Moana.

    That's the way get the tamariki into Maori sports and teach them their history at the same time.

    Ka kite Ano

  15. Eco maori 17

    Kia Ora 1 News.

    People with superiority complex can not admit they are at fault.??????????????.

    Art is like any Phenomenon that gets people attention.??????.

    Congratulations on your win Te Rapa see one doesn't need chemicals to grow food just natural products like worm casting.

    . Ka kite Ano

  16. Eco maori 19

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.

    https://youtu.be/cEXhZ8PwM-Y

  17. Eco maori 20

    The corupt new Zealand sis look like they are going to try and frame me again today what have I done to deserve this SHIT THEY are showing the world how corupt new Zealand is I have seen 5 marked police cars going past around me with their lights flashing the muppet

  18. Eco maori 22

    In the last week I had 2 of the SIS actors stop in front of my truck and step me out for a fight I know that is what they want to lock me in the jail and drug me and beat me and never bail me fucken wankers

  19. Eco maori 23

    Kia Ora 1 News.

    Keep up the good mahi Time will tell keep up the pressure as once it becomes economically insane to back carbon the pollies will come running.

    I think that Te Tai tokerau doesn't want a port built making a mess of their Taonga harbour.

    Ka kite Ano.

  20. Eco maori 24

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Samoa would be a great place for a holiday.

    I think TVNZ needs more Tangata Whenua Culture included in its profile after all we are 16 to 20 % of the population not 1 %. Some of

    My best memories is home at our Marae.

    Ka kite Ano

  21. Eco maori 25

    Kia Ora Breakfast.

    That's good acting.

    Democracy is being tested.

    On the Big Farm we had a Bovine / Cow sauna to help Cows recover from paralysis caused by birth problems it worked. very well.

    I don't no why they cancelled School dental nurses.???????

    Ka kite Ano.

  22. Eco maori 26

    Mark our Coalition Government is going to save your mahi they believe in ballance media.

  23. Eco maori 27

    The public can see you sis actors driving right up the ass of my truck were ever i go sandflys muppets

  24. Eco maori 28

    Keep up the excellent mahi the pollies have to stop putting money before your futures.

    Youth climate activists have called for a global strike on Friday to protest that human rights and social justice have been sidelined at the UN climate talks in Madrid, where governments look set to wrap up two weeks of negotiations without a breakthrough on the pressing issue of greenhouse gas reduction

    Campaigners have been frustrated not only at the slow progress of the talks but also that groups representing women, indigenous people and poor people have struggled to have their voices heard within the conference halls where the official negotiations are taking place, even while 500,000 people took part in a mass protest in the streets outside last Friday

    “Human rights and gender equity are at the heart of what we are talking about on the climate,” said Mary Robinson, former UN high commissioner for human rights and president of Ireland. “This is about people and people’s livelihoods. Gender and social justice have an enormous impact on what people face from climate [breakdown]. If we don’t have these issues included we are going to make enormous mistakes.”

    She said progress had been made on a gender action plan that was promised as part of the 2015 Paris agreement, but that some countries were still reluctant to include the language of human rights in official UN outcomes from the talks.

    Fridays for Future, the movement that coalesced around the world after Greta Thunberg’s solo school strikes, said the summit “has failed us. On 13 December, local Fridays for Future groups will strike because the outcomes of COP25 [the name for the UN meeting] are not only insufficient, but a painful image of how little the politicians care about the planet.

    “We stand in solidarity with indigenous people, people from the global south, and people already suffering from the climate crises

    Ka kite Ano link below.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/12/activists-protest-un-climate-talks

  25. Eco maori 29

    Kia Ora 1 News.

    That's is the logical thing to do Railways has the lowest transport carbon footprint this will take the huge pressure off our road that big trucks put on our roads.

    Ka kite Ano

  26. Eco maori 30

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Its good to see respect of Maori Tikanga.

    Ka pai Winston for going to tau toko Samoa. The same to the Stars of Samoa going to tau toko Samoa.

    Mana Wahine.

    Ka kite Ano

  27. Eco maori 31

    Thanks Jim I have stated that you are a great Kiwi leader. Our mokopuna need a clean and green environment to have a healthy prosperous life with all the beautiful creatures that the God's gave us not piles of putea.

    Former PM Jim Bolger challenges 'status quo' approach to climate change

    Jim Bolger gives a speech after receiving an honorary doctorate from Waikato University.

    Jim Bolger attended more than 130 graduation ceremonies during his stint as Waikato University chancellor, conferring degrees on thousands of students.

    In a role reversal of sorts, the 84-year-old stepped back into the spotlight at Tuesday's capping ceremony, this time to receive an honorary doctorate.

    And he was happy to admit to a few nerves.

    "If you don't get nervous, then you've lost your sense of occasion," Bolger said afterwards

    Ka kite Ano link below.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/education/118105291/former-pm-jim-bolger-challenges-status-quo-approach-to-climate-change

  28. Eco maori 32

    Condolences to Peter Whanau.

    Peter Snell winning the 800 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

    New Zealand's greatest Olympian, Sir Peter Snell, has died, aged 80.

    Sports historian and friend Ron Palenski confirmed on Saturday morning that Snell had died at his home in Dallas.

    Snell, who first developed heart problems in 2010, passed out while driving and crashed into several parked vehicles last month

    Ka kite Ano link below.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/118196968/new-zealand-athletics-legend-peter-snell-dies-aged-80

  29. Eco maori 33

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.

    https://youtu.be/hlfQVvsNLFk

  30. Eco maori 34

    Kia Ora 1 News.

    Climate change is going to have a negative effect on our wildlife and as the temperatures rise any logical person knows that we will have more fires.

    I read that story of the Octopus and the Eagle locked in battle.

    Ka kite Ano

  31. Eco maori 35

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.

    Awsome the Coalition government and council starting programs for screen to get Pacific tangata mahi on making TV and movies . Pacific tangata Mana shines on TV and Movie screens.

    Ka kite Ano

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  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    8 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    11 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    13 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    16 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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