Open mike 11/09/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 11th, 2022 - 74 comments
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74 comments on “Open mike 11/09/2022 ”

  1. Stuart Munro 1

    There has apparently been an official call for Putin to resign.

    The more Russia makes use of its constitutional apparatus, the better, I suspect.

    • Jenny are we there yet 1.1

      “The arc of history may be long but it bends towards justice”

      Martin Luther King

      The dismissal of the evidence of atrocities committed by the Russian Federation invading forces as false flag operations committed by the Ukrainians themselves to discredit Russia. Or were faked by crisis actors. Is par for course for the blood thirsty partisan supporters of Putin's war against Ukraine.

      But what I find most amazing about the pro-Putin trolls, is their continual assertion against all evidence that Russia is winning this war.

      But the long arc of history may be shortening and the Russian military collapse may be quicker than even the most optimistic military predictions.

      Ukraine retakes Russian-controlled cities and supply hubs in a swift eastern push

      By Nicholas Slayton | PUBLISHED SEP 10, 2022 2:00 PM

      Russia is pulling its forces back from several towns in Ukraine's east as Ukraine's counteroffensive made major gains in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian troops retook multiple towns and captured the cities of Izvum and Balakliva, according to local reports and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. In a rare admission of things going poorly for its forces, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed soldiers had left those areas and announced it will regroup its forces today….

      https://taskandpurpose.com/news/ukraine-retakes-cities-near-kharkiv/

      • Francesca 1.1.1

        "Filtration " about to start

        "Collaboration "with the Russians extends to helping distribute humanitarian aid it seems

        State police say a “reckoning” is coming for pro-Russian residents of “de-occupied” town

        Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) announced on Friday that it had begun conducting a “filtration” of civilians in Balakleya, the town in Kharkov Region reportedly taken by forces of the Kiev government. SBI agents will be checking for those who “may pose a threat to national security,” the agency said.

        In line with the assassinations of officials within pro Russian areas who are suspected of being pro Russian .

        Applaud this as much as you like, I think it points to a deeply divided country which won't be cured by war.You can kill all the Russians within Ukraine I suppose, but even that genocide won't solve the problems of Ukraine.

      • mikesh 1.1.2

        But what I find most amazing about the pro-Putin trolls, is their continual assertion against all evidence that Russia is winning this war.

        Not coming from a military background, I consider myself unqualified to comment on how the war is going, preferring instead to focus on what I believe to be the causes of the conflict. The question of who will win I leave to future historians.

      • mikesh 1.1.3

        “The arc of history may be long but it bends towards justice”

        Words. And though words may stir up the emotions, that's all they do. Words are cheap, but not necessarily true.

      • mikesh 1.1.4

        What do we lack that becoming a republic might change?

        • mikesh 1.1.4.1

          Sorry. This comment was not intended as a reply to someone’s earlier comment, but should have been an independent comment at the end of the post. I don't why this has happened.

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.2

      Well….putin being a psychopath….similarities to his besty trump…so obvious (but with more vicious violence) there could very well be an extremely violent reaction from him.

      I really hope no more innocent people are killed.

      An ongoing tragedy….

    • Blazer 1.3

      That video with the thumbs up poster seems a tiny bit suspect…don't you think?

      The 'dialogue with the wife an easy ..construct.

      • Stuart Munro 1.3.1

        So you think phone intercepts will all be critical masterpieces?

        Things are going fairly poorly for Russian troops, with many surrounded and obliged to surrender, and others fleeing under artillery fire. The intercepts show something of their human side.

        a tiny bit suspect?

        Well if you're uncritical enough to prefer RT, these are probably too good for you.

        • Blazer 1.3.1.1

          RT is banned in the 'land of the free'.

          • Stuart Munro 1.3.1.1.1

            I should think so – it is the organ of an enemy state, one that practices every political vice known to humankind from genocide to rape as a weapon of war, and it poses a real danger of duping the hard-of-thinking.

            • mikesh 1.3.1.1.1.1

              By crikey, you've really got it it bad, this Russophobia.

              • Stuart Munro

                Ok fuck off.

                Russia is a mess. It's been a mess for quite some time, and it has got worse recently under Putin. Nevertheless it professes to be a democracy.

                Let it actually follow its own constitutional provisions and it will free itself from nostalgic fools like Putin.

                And RT is a serious threat – people like yourself have been suborned by it. Hostile propaganda is not privileged speech.

                • mikesh

                  Things seem to have been going downhill in Russia since Gorbachev dismantled the Warsaw Pact and tried to introduce perestroika and glasnost. Then Yeltsin took over, dismantled the Soviet system, and tried to americanise the economy, at which point things became a real mess and Yeltsin took to drink. At that point it was thought that Russia was 'finished' as a world power. However the economy and living conditions seem to have improved in Russia with the rise of Putin, first as PM and later as President. Certainly, he has done things that seem pretty brutal, but he is a pragmatist, and one who tackles problems head on.

                  By the the way, i never watch RT.

                • mikesh

                  PS: Boris Yeltsin has expressed a belief that he made a mistake in appointing Putin PM. He knew that because Bill Clinton, when he met Yeltsin later during an official visit to Moscow, told him so.

                • Bill Drees

                  It is disappointing that after all this time many on the left feel uncomfortable with criticising Russia. It suggests to me that some of us lefties either have weak foundation to our values or that some of us with a Marxist Leninist bent are now warm towards fascism.

                  • Stuart Munro

                    I think it goes back to schooling. NZ does not teach history. Educated Americans all know about the European Spring, and the values it was about. The Putin dupes do not understand the importance of such values, and so are easy prey for manipulative entities like RT and the various Trumpist channels.

            • Blazer 1.3.1.1.1.2

              Did you think it unusual re this 'intercept' that the Russian soldier and his wife were having a conversation in….. English? wink

              • Stuart Munro

                I certainly find it unusual that you cannot hear the Russian that the poster is providing live text translation of.

                You need to do a little better, if retaining even a shred of credibility is important to you.

                • Blazer

                  True except…can you rely on either the credibility of the' intercept'..or the translation,from a clearly anti russian advocate?

                  • Stuart Munro

                    I have a little Russian.

                    Ukrainians don't need to make anything up in respect of Russian morale – their recent territorial gains speak for themselves.

                    Of course, you are ignoring the reason I posted it, which was that Russian deputies called for Putin's resignation. This is normal enough for opposition parties (and braying media hacks for that matter) in New Zealand, but in Russia it's asking to be kicked to death in a dark alley – unless the opinion is almost universally held.

                  • Stuart Munro

                    Even a worthless clown like you must have some idea of what happens when a state has total control of polling sources.

                    Lukashenko supposedly got 80% support in his last election, but independent polls put his support at 3%. The nationwide street protests following his 'election' were only suppressed with the help of Russian troops.

                    Do you find it rewarding singing the praises of murderers and tyrants? If so what in the name of absent gods are you doing on a left wing site?

  2. Ad 2

    What's the latest on the Auckland mayoral race?

    Is the rumour correct that Beck is fading but Brown is closing tight against Collins?

    • Jack 2.1

      I suspect you are right Ad. Although I’d hope there will be a poll out this week to assist the majority of Auckland who don’t want Collins know who we are best to get behind.

      • tc 2.1.1

        Brown being close is a sad state of affairs given his track record of self service and division.

        Lots need doing in a city that looks constantly under repair not destroyed.

    • weka 2.2

      Dunno, but Marcus Lush has stepped into provide some local colour for the Invercargill mayoral election.

  3. tsmithfield 3

    I am calling Russia to be strategically defeated in Ukraine now.

    Here is a good summary of the stunning Ukrainian counter-offensive.. Though, later reports I have seen suggest that Ukraine has progressed considerably further since this video.

    In an incredible few days the Ukrainian forces have liberated most of the Kharkiv Oblast, and captured and cut off critical road and rail supply routes in K'upyansk for the Russian forces in the east.

    I am calling the Russians to have strategically lost the war now, with the result just a matter of time.

    In what must be one of the most brilliant war strategies of modern times, the Ukrainians simultaneously lured Russian forces to reinforce the Kherson Oblast then isolated them by cutting supply routes and bridges to the area. The Ukrainians are performing a slow squeeze in this region at the moment, with the Russians slowly running out of fuel and ammunition.

    But the brilliant part of the strategy was that it was entirely predictable where the Russians would draw forces from to reinforce the Kherson region.

    The Ukrainians had been publicly announcing for weeks their intention of a counter-offensive towards Kherson. The Russians either had to accept losing the region or reinforce it. Predictably they chose the latter option. The Russians were never going to draw their forces away from the Luhansk/Donetsk region due to the strategic importance of those regions to them, and that they still were trying to take over that whole area.Thus, the only real option for the Russians was to redeploy troops from the Kharkiv region.

    During the Kherson offensive, the Ukrainians had been quietly building up their forces in the Kharkiv region. Due to that area being so sparsely defended due to the Russian redeployment, the Ukrainians have swept through and taken Kupyansk, and also the Russian stronghold of Izium.

    This has resulted in a complete routing of the Russians in the area, and a huge transfer of military assets and ammunition to the Ukrainians.

    I am calling the Russians defeated now because it is going to be very difficult for them to keep their troops in the east supplied. And those in Kherson are cut off, and defeat is inevitable now. Plus there is a huge snowball effect in favour of the Ukrainians now. The loss of Russian equipment is largely resulting in a transfer of this weaponary to the Ukrainians. So, the Ukrainians continue to get stronger and stronger as the Russians get weaker.

  4. Joe90 4

    An interesting piece on lock-downs.

    Tl,dr; the only certainty is that countries that locked down hard and fast did much better in terms of health and the economy.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02823-4

    • Nic the NZer 4.1

      I think that has been very obvious for a while, but with the slight caveat that income supplement was necessary to achieve that economic outcome. NZs scheme was #1 for discretionary stimulus in the world and our economic outcome followed from that combination.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2

      Thanks Joe90 – a big rat for 'Covid Plan B' to swallow. Hope it hits them where it hurts.

      One lesson that Klimek takes from lockdown studies is that there was an early window of opportunity when the virus could have been eliminated — as it was, in effect, in countries such as China, Australia and New Zealand. Had harsher measures been adopted sooner, and more widely, the pandemic might have played out very differently. “I think this is the big learning that we need to take away,” he says.

      Lockdowns hold another clear lesson: they exacerbate inequalities that already exist in society. Those already living in poverty and insecurity are hit hardest. Guarding against these unequal impacts requires improved health access and financial safeguards when times are good.

      And transparency is key, too: the public needs to know more about how pandemic-control policies are decided, says Tsai. “That makes public-health policymaking seem less capricious,” he says, “because it’s reactive to both the science and values.

      • Belladonna 4.2.1

        Had harsher measures been adopted sooner, and more widely, the pandemic might have played out very differently.

        What harsher measures do you think the researcher envisages?

        NZ and Australia were (and are) island nations – where it is possible to restrict border crossings – and, indeed, close the border completely – just by refusing permission for planes to land. They are also relatively wealthy countries, with a developed social support system – which supports people being able to survive without work. None of that is true for countries like India, Peru and Kenya – or even the US. Lockdowns are just not practicable or even possible in those socio-geographic environments.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 4.2.1.1

          What harsher measures do you think the researcher envisages?

          Maybe greater restrictions on freedom of movement, as per China?

          The author mentions repeatedly that (remote) island nations have an advantage.

          It’s about trade-offs – a pandemic balancing act. Imho, NZ got the balance roughly right – others less so. Analyses will be on-going, much like the pandemic.

    • AB 4.3

      Watch this news disappear without trace (or never appear) in legacy media as the history of the pandemic is re-written to make it sound like the NZ response was a disaster and that National were right all along.

    • A very interesting article indeed. But I don't take the same message that you did.

      To me they seem to be saying that this is not a clear-cut cost/benefit analysis – and that there is lots of competing data (including that fact, that absent a time machine, we can't ever exactly evaluate the path-not-taken).

      There are costs, other than economic, associated with lockdowns. Which are, in any case, only as effective as the population are willing to tolerate (as we saw in the 2021 Auckland one, and the article discusses in Peru).

      Also, subsequent hard lockdowns became increasingly ineffective (how much that is related to lockdown tolerance, and how much to a virus evolving to become more contagious, isn't clear).

      The final 2 paras, I agree with unequivocally

      Lockdowns hold another clear lesson: they exacerbate inequalities that already exist in society. Those already living in poverty and insecurity are hit hardest. Guarding against these unequal impacts requires improved health access and financial safeguards when times are good.

      And transparency is key, too: the public needs to know more about how pandemic-control policies are decided, says Tsai. “That makes public-health policymaking seem less capricious,” he says, “because it’s reactive to both the science and values.”

  5. Adrian 5

    From the evidence so far of Russian armaments deficiencies it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of the nuke delivery systems failed catastrophically, or just exploded in the bunkers. I hope we don’t find out. Already though, the decades of fear and anxiety over the abilities of the Russian Bear has proven to be wasted emotion.

  6. Ad 6

    A tad frustrating when Stuff's reporter is clearly more exercised by the name of a criminal gang in the middle of town, than the fact that a criminal gang is openly operating in the middle of town.

    The police, an offensive flag, and a new gang chapter's racially charged name | Stuff.co.nz

    • Robert Guyton 6.1

      Is "black" not also "racially charged"?

      White Supremist critics baulk at the colour reference.

    • Gives a lot more support to the political desire to ban gang patches (and symbolism) altogether.

      Expect National to make hay by coming out strongly condemning this decision by the Classifications Office.

      And, it seems a strange decision. To draw a parallel: You can read a book about the history of the US Civil War which may feature pictures of the Confederate Flag – but choosing to fly one (regardless of your motivation – honouring a family member, for example) is a completely different action.

      • Hanswurst 6.2.1

        The decision seems pretty spot on (and rather obvious) to me. How can you argue that a term is inherently offensive, when it's being used affirmatively by those whom it is presumed to demean? The police would have to mount a much better case than, 'Look… everyone in their right mind knows it is offensive, so it just is, OK?', and the attempt to get the flag labelled as an offensive publication looks very much like a desperate sleight of hand to make their job easier.

  7. Graeme 7

    Nitrate levels in Canterbury water have reached / exceeded MAV and Councils are having to grapple with what to do about it.

    The council warned users of the Lower Waihao and Waikakahi East Rural Water Schemes not to drink the water or give it to petson August 6, saying nitrate rates were “nearing” the 50mg/L maximum acceptable value (MAV) for drinking water. By the following day, chief executive Stuart Duncan said nitrate levels had exceeded the MAV, measuring 51.3 mg/L of nitrate.

    Unfortunately removing nitrates from drinking water isn't easy, or cheap. There's also large amounts of rather toxic byproducts from the process that have to be disposed of, which again isn't easy or cheap. So the numbers get very large very quickly.

    Selwyn District Council commissioned a report from global infrastructure consultants Beca which was presented to the council in late 2021, and paints a bleak – and costly – picture of the council’s options.

    The report says if all Selwyn’s plants were treated “retrofit costs could be in the order of $322million” – almost five times the district’s annual rate take – with ongoing annual operating costs of $25.6m.

    Price tags for three different sized water treatment plants are presented in the report. Construction costs range from $19.5m for a large plant, $10.4m for a medium plant, and $6.31m for a small scheme.

    Annual operating costs run from more than $2.5m a year for a large plant to $360,000 a year to treat a smaller scheme.

    The water schemes concerned are smaller, rural, or rural servicing communities so the costs will fall very close to the farms that are source of the nitrates. Going to be very interesting how the discussion develops around who pays some very expensive infrastructure serving some quite small communities, and the ongoing viability of those communities.

  8. observer 9

    Queen's funeral is Monday 19th. A public holiday in the UK and Australia.

    I expect it will be one in NZ too, though I'd love to hear Jacinda trolling the Nats by saying "after hearing recent representations from the opposition and business lobbyists, I have accepted their argument that another public holiday at this time would be an unacceptable cost."

    Then watch National have civil war between ardent monarchists and capitalists.

    Won't happen, but would be fun.

    • Won't happen because the NZ public would ignore all of the dig-at-National subtext, and just blame Ardern for being mean-spirited.

      Labour is perceived (rightly or wrongly) as the party of the republicans. Not a very popular position to occupy today – though in a couple of years things may well be different.

      • Muttonbird 9.1.1

        Are they? I think you are inventing stuff there. That's ok, but are you old enough to remember the flag referendum debacle, brought to you by the NZ grifter, one Jong Kee?

        • Belladonna 9.1.1.1

          I am indeed. Though I don't recall Key ever declaring that the flag referendum was the first move into Republicanism.

          Are you old enough to remember Helen Clark ditching the knighthoods – which was a massively unpopular move even within her own party (how many Labour MPs up to and including Mallard, have made it very clear that they want to be called 'Sir' or 'Dame')

          And various Labour leaders since, declaring that they are Republicans

          Labour leader Andrew Little, a republican, was hopeful of change earlier than Mr Key had forecast and said he would like to be the Prime Minister that led the debate.

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nz-a-republic-not-in-my-lifetime-key-predicts/NUGD4XFKSNNTG6V2JG53RKHQ4U/

          Jacinda Ardern believes New Zealand will become a republic within her lifetime.

          The Prime Minister says she thinks Kiwis will ditch the monarchy and become a republic in the next few years, but added that she "never sensed urgency" from people in New Zealand to make it happen.
          “I’ve been very clear that despite being a republican, I’m not of the view that in the here-and-now in my term of office, that this is something New Zealanders feel particularly strongly about,” Ardern said.

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jacinda-ardern-believes-new-zealand-will-become-a-republic-in-her-lifetime/362XBOZCWKWZMIVGFDMLNF2RZM/

          I don't think that there is much doubt that the Labour Party (or at least the leaders) are Republican. However, being also practical politicians, they don't see this as a ditch worth dying in. And the flag referendum showed that poking a stick at this bear isn't worth the trouble.

          • Muttonbird 9.1.1.1.1

            None have made stronger moves toward republicanism than the National Party with Keys' failed flag referendum, cosmetic only according to some! Key himself is a strong americanophile with delusions of presidency, no matter his murmurings in public.

            While Key left young Kiwis' travel and visa access to the UK dying embers in the grate, Jacinda Ardern's government has worked hard to rekindle those important connections. She has made no mention of her government starting a debate on the topic.

            Yet it is the Labour Party pushing for Repupirikana o Aotearoa, apparently!

            • Belladonna 9.1.1.1.1.1

              Individual leaders of the Labour party for the last 20 years have made no secret of the fact that they are personally republican – though they recognize that the rest of NZ isn't ready yet to make a change.

              I linked to various quoted statements.

              Of course, Labour is perceived as a Republican party.

              Now, if you can come back with a rebuttal showing that Key, English, Luxon, etc are also Republicans, based on their quotes (rather than some form of mind-reading)…..

              And, in any case, based on the rest of your comments, I should have thought that you'd be delighted that Labour are seen as Republicans!

              • Muttonbird

                Perceived by who, you? That's projection.

                I'll say it again, the only concrete move away from the commonwealth and monarchy was the $26m flag referendum run but the National Party. It is they and ACT who are perceived as republican parties.

                Grant Robertson today is considering a day off for mourning, while David Seymour is adamantly opposed.

                • Still waiting for the links to Republican opinions from the right-wing leaders……

                  And a link giving a summary of the republican views of NZ political party leaders…. pretty much supporting what I said.

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism_in_New_Zealand#Labour

                  I think any projection, here, is coming from you.

                  • Muttonbird

                    Useful link re-enforcing there is no republicanism movement in the Labour Party any more than in the National Party.

                    Keys thinks it inevitable, Bolger wanted it done by 2001, then in that year a National Party taskforce recommended a referendum be held when the Queen dies. I expect that referendum will happen when if National ever forms a government again.

                    Former National Party MP Winston Peters wants two referenda on this.

                    Simple truth is, you have sprayed a reckon here as you are inclined to do. Problem is, it not true and the case made since is flimsy at best.

                    • Still waiting for the links.

                      I'm sure, given your assertion that the National Party is a hotbed of Republicanism, you'll easily be able to find them…../sarc/

                      And, really, describing Winston Peters as a 'former National Party MP' – is total desperation. He's far more recently been the Deputy Prime Minister in a Labour/NZF coalition government!

                    • Muttonbird

                      I'm not saying that. I'm pushing back on your claim the Labour Party is a hotbed of Republicanism. You invented this.

                      Fact is, there is no real push by any party for change…

                      …except for John Keys flag debacle which was the only active move in that direction.

                      It’s ok to be wrong.

                    • lprent []

                      It is more that the idea of being a republic would be great if only it was really like a monarchy. Without actual professional politicians and the screaming lunatics like Trump involved. I have no particular liking for a monarchy. However I do find having a head of state with mainly moral persuasion and entrusted with the control of reserve legal powers that we want to keep away from politicians like military, police, courts, and the core bureaucracy a very useful fiction.

                      This has nothing to do with the personalities of whoever holds the Crown. It has a whole lot to do with making the use of crown powers by idiots and egotists in cabinet tenuous. A judge appointed by the crown can and will often put their duty to the crown and the body of law above that to the current minister or even parliament. The military will argue against stupid operations because their obligation is to protecting the crown and its subjects – not the cabinet ministers trying to use the organisation inappropriately.

                      Of course we do get some blowbacks the other way for instance only the isolation of the police from common sense and the political process could have caused the police in their foolhardy Urewera raids in 2007 – and their facesaving and silly prosecutions subsequently.

                      On the whole I find the fictions of monarchy preferable to what I have seen of the actual process of republics – most of which were modelled on antique political pretensions that should have died with Rome.

                    • Still no links.
                      I've stated an opinion. "Labour is perceived (rightly or wrongly) as the party of the republicans." And backed it up with evidence.

                      You've stated a counter opinion – and refused to provide any links or other evidence. Either that Labour leaders are monarchist, or that National leaders are republican.

                      I know who's spraying around the reckons, here.

                      And, in any case, I still don't see why you have your knickers in a twist over this. From your other comments, surely you think it's a good thing that Labour is Republican!

    • Anne 9.2

      What Ardern could do is say:

      ",,, despite representation by the Opposition that another public holiday is unacceptable, we have decided that it is appropriate to mark the death of a much loved Queen Elizabeth II and the inauguration of King Charles III with a public holiday…"

      Lets face it if the boot was on the other foot, that is exactly the kind of misrepresentation we could expect from the Nats. 😉

  9. Finn McCool 11

    Michael Laws has been called out by Guy Hatchard to debate on 'excess all-cause deaths' in NZ. Laws has basically called Hatchard a nutter. I doubt Laws will debate. He knows he'd lose his cool quickly as evidenced when he debated Joe Karam. Laws had Karam bundled up against the studio wall at one stage while pointing his finger and talking into Karam's face.

    https://dailytelegraph.co.nz/news/guy-hatchard-what-should-matter-in-journalism/

  10. weka 12

    Don't know why this came up today, but this series of tweets about people protesting Trump is superb 😂

    https://twitter.com/math_sonnets/status/1568575681453346818

    https://twitter.com/MDayne/status/1568715825334616064

  11. pat 13

    "The country's water services could be privately managed under the Three Waters shake-up despite the Government's commitment against privatisation.

    The reforms would allow services to be contracted out – a practice critics describe as "de facto privatisation".

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018858368/three-waters-shake-up-could-still-see-water-privately-managed

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    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
    22 hours 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 ...
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day 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 ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 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
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 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
    6 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
    7 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
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
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