Open mike 14/05/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 14th, 2021 - 119 comments
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119 comments on “Open mike 14/05/2021 ”

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    • Incognito 1.1
      14 May 2021 at 7:44 am

      From Noel’s link:

      Report of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response: making COVID-19 the last pandemic

      In May, 2020, with COVID-19 affecting just about every country on the planet, the World Health Assembly requested the WHO Director-General to initiate an independent, impartial, and comprehensive review of the international health response to the pandemic. He asked us to convene an independent panel for this purpose. The members of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response have spent the past 8 months examining the state of pandemic preparedness before COVID-19, the circumstances of the identification of SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, and responses globally, regionally, and nationally, particularly in the early months of the pandemic. The panel has also analysed the wide-ranging impacts of the pandemic on health and health systems, and the social and economic crises that it has precipitated.

      Apparently, Noel reckons the most salient point is something about a fee increase, which seems to be missing and ignoring much …

        • Forget now 1.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 9:26 am

          Firstly; Noel, that article is from April 2020 (14 months is a long time in a pandemic), so quite out of date with its focus on what Trump and Bolton are doing.

          Secondly, that is one of the things this report makes specific recommendations to address:

          The World Health Assembly to give WHO both the explicit authority to publish information about outbreaks with pandemic potential immediately without requiring the prior approval of national governments and the ability to dispatch experts to investigate pathogens with pandemic potential with rapid and guaranteed right of access.

        • Incognito 1.1.1.2
          14 May 2021 at 1:03 pm

          Right about what? About you writing a non-intelligible context-free clickbait headline comment with a non-descriptive link?

          Yes, I guess I would be right about that. Maybe you can avoid this in future, yes? That would grand, thanks.

      • Forget now 1.1.2
        14 May 2021 at 9:17 am

        There seem to be three options:

        1. Do nothing, and all affected countries will separately pay as they go during the next pandemic.
        2. Adopt the recommendations of this report to: "Establish a high-level Global Health Threats Council", and use the already established systems and resources (with admittedly extra funding to support the extra work) of the WHO to implement this.
        3. Develop various regional Pandemic Preparedness Councils from scratch. Which will not have established systems or resources, and may not too work well together when the next Global Health Threat occurs.

        Of the three options; 1 is just gambling with the lives and livelihoods of everyone in the world. Though within any single year it may be the cheapest, in the longterm; it is likely to be the most expensive. 3 would be better, in at least allowing some internationally coordinated preparation, and possibly more responsive to regional needs and cultures. However, there would likely be a lot of redundant duplication (which is good for resiliance, bad for expense), and in a Pandemic with a mutating virus; no one is safe until everyone is safe. 2 seems the cheapest and best of the three options.

        Unless you just don't like Helen Clark, or the WHO; Noel? In which case, I am not willing to see more people die to assuage such petty concerns:

        The message for change is clear: COVID-19 should be the last pandemic. If the global community fails to take this goal seriously, we will condemn the world to successive catastrophes.

  2. esoteric pineapples 2
    14 May 2021 at 8:49 am

    Independent journalist Aaron Mate of The Gray Zone explains in this video how inspectors of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) went in person to investigate the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria but found that although people had been killed, it was not through a chemical attack. However, their findings were not included in the final report due to political pressure. They have since spoken out about this but to no avail.

  3. Rosemary McDonald 3
    14 May 2021 at 9:10 am

    The New Normal.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-coronavirus-how-will-new-zealand-open-up-to-the-world/A4WBL7TU2PWGDPAPYEJN5H7ZHA/

    Interesting piece. Demands discussion. Uncle Ashley and Aunty Nikki pretty much saying that despite vaccination, level 2.5 Public Health measures will need to be in place if the borders are opened to tourism.

    On the back of Our Leader's address to the People That Matter most.

  4. Janet 4
    14 May 2021 at 9:11 am

    Dr Ashley Bloomfield is considering….in NZ Herald today

    “Opening up the border to vaccinated tourists to resurrect this country's tourism industry could require Kiwis to return to life at Covid alert level 2.5.

    Because it could provide the financial boom that Kiwi tourism operators need. Pre-Covid, the industry was worth $40.9 billion to the economy.”

    This would mean New Zealanders are being asked to subsidise tourism because many New Zealand business and activities would be down-sized and restricted again eg: Gym class sizes restricted and funeral attendee limited etc. and all New Zealanders daily lives are again impacted in many small but very annoying ways by social distancing and mask wearing.

    Tourism was already out of control and spoiling NZ and it is a fickle business – as covid has proven. I say no to returning to Level 2.5 to let tourists in.

    • Graeme 4.1
      14 May 2021 at 10:35 am

      Dr Ashley just told a part of our tourism industry to go away and grow up.

      Tourism, and by that I mean the whole industry including domestic, wouldn’t be able to operate profitably at Level 2.5. Most businesses wouldn’t be able to trade for long. We know, we’ve been there, and a lot have been there several times.

      But there’s some in the industry who can’t or won’t realise that the world has changed and won’t be going back the way it was. Hopefully they will depart the industry in a reasonably orderly fashion before they and those around them are too badly damaged.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 4.3
      14 May 2021 at 11:02 am

      Yes. The tourism industry is overated. Maybe its something like the 'new car assembly' industry, once it was gone with the high prices with it, we then wondered why 'it was a thing'.
      Many of the 'industry' numbers include all local tourism and they count all hospitality spending 'as tourism'…. and they now moan as the tourists on longer visas themselves provide the staff.

      In Australia they found they are 'nett Tourism exporter' as Aussies spend more on tourism overseas than it brings in.

      We have more in bound tourists for our population size but are still big spenders offshore.

      • woodart 4.3.1
        14 May 2021 at 12:27 pm

        good post ghost. I have long thought that more money is taken out of NZ by kiwis touring overseas, than is properly bought in and spent here by foreign tourists. when proper costings are done, and things like environmental damage etc are factored in, as well as honest costings for cruise ship passengers(amounts claimed as spent by cruise ship passengers on day visits are wildly overstated), and foreign owned tourism businesses have there amounts honestly tallied(much of their revenue disappears straight back to country of business ownership, and all NZ gets is a portion of gst), tourism is NOT a silver bullet.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 4.4
      14 May 2021 at 11:11 am

      "Pre-Covid, the industry was worth $40.9 billion to the economy.”

      That counts ALL local tourism and ALL hospitality spending, no way is it a loss of $40 bill to GDP ( which is $200 bill per year ?).

      Takeaaway government spending from $200 bill ( which is around $115 bill) and you get supposedly Tourism is 40% of non government spending. Utter nonsense

      The GDP bounceback shows its a tiny fraction of 'lost GDP'.

      • Pat 4.4.1
        14 May 2021 at 11:45 am
        • Total tourism expenditure was $40.9 billion, an increase of 4 percent ($1.6 billion) from the previous year.
        • International tourism expenditure increased 5.2 percent ($843 million) to $17.2 billion, and contributed 20.4 percent to New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services.
        • The number of short-term arrivals to New Zealand increased 1.3 percent over the same period.
        • Tourism generated a direct contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of $16.2 billion, or 5.8 percent of GDP.
        • Tourism is our biggest export industry, contributing 21% of foreign exchange earnings.
        • The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $11.2 billion, or 4.0 percent of GDP.
        • 229,566 people were directly employed in tourism (8.4 percent of the total number of people employed in New Zealand), an increase of 3.9 percent from the previous year.
        • Tourists generated $3.8 billion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue, with $1.8 billion coming from international tourists

        https://www.tourismnewzealand.com/about/about-the-tourism-industry/#:~:text=the%20same%20period.-,Tourism%20generated%20a%20direct%20contribution%20to%20gross%20domestic%20product%20(GDP,or%204.0%20percent%20of%20GDP.

        None of which shows the net position which appears to be roughly balanced by Kiwis offshore travel

        • Nic the NZer 4.4.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 12:26 pm

          I would have picked NZ to be net trade deficit regarding tourism. That, for me, explains why we only run trade surplus for brief times around domestic recessions (when the income taps stop flowing briefly). But could be convinced otherwise by comprehensive statistics. Though of course any such statistics say little about anything as your fundamentally comparing non-NZers who come here to NZers who go anywhere else.

          • Pat 4.4.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 12:49 pm

            roughly (pre covid) 3 million offshore trips each year by Kiwis as opposed to 3.8 million overseas travellers arriving here….duration and travel will be determining factors but would suggest that the net position is not huge either way, as borne out by trade balance numbers during covid.

          • Graeme 4.4.1.1.2
            14 May 2021 at 1:12 pm

            From our viewpoint in the industry (very small retail that’s about 65% domestic and mid price point) a big indicator we’ve got a balance of payments issue in tourism is the effect a low NZD has on out turnover. Below .65 USD and the good times start, get below .60 and yipee. And most of the increase is domestic. International visitors, or at least the ones we deal with, tend to see New Zealand as good value at .75 USD or less.

            I hope there’s some independent analysis of the balance of payments effects of tourism now there’s counter data from the border closure. It might make a few if the cocky buggers in the industry sit down and think about what they are doing to the country

        • ghostwhowalksnz 4.4.1.2
          14 May 2021 at 12:39 pm

          Like I said , you cant rely on the ' tourism industry' to provide accurate numbers about the tourism industry.

          Its absurdly over inflated by including any social/travel activity – probably include movie business – which will have the 'screen industry' up in arms.

          • Pat 4.4.1.2.1
            14 May 2021 at 12:54 pm

            Believe the stats will be drawn from arrival/departure declarations from Immigration/customs…as to income generated I would imagine there will be multiple sources including IRD but to what degree income is apportioned I couldnt say.

            It is to be expected that the industry will present the most favourable (to itself) expression

            • ghostwhowalksnz 4.4.1.2.1.1
              14 May 2021 at 3:06 pm

              Arrival/departure doesnt count spending. But lets look at that

              Say 3.9 mill tourists and the $40 bill 'tourist industry would suggest the average spend inside NZ is $10,000 each . That would put a couple at $20k . Thats an average!

              MBIE puts 'true' holiday spending from international tourists at $7 bill ( 2019) Thats 3.5% of GDP

              We know 1 mill are 'friends and family' visitors so likely kiwis resident offshore and such. Only 2 mill are 'holiday's others are on business etc.

              • Pat …
                14 May 2021 at 3:32 pm

                From your link

                Total expenditure ($ millions) $11,310 2%

                Average expenditure per person per trip $3,350 2%

                Median expenditure per person per trip $2,390 9%

                Holiday / vacation $7,029 0%

                Visiting friends / relatives $2,151 -5%

                Business $759 -11%

                Other $1,371 53%

                No spending figures for outbound but that difficult to gather

                • ghostwhowalksnz …
                  14 May 2021 at 4:13 pm

                  Excluding 'friends and family' we get $7 bill. To coin a phrase, I've have sent the $40 bill claim 'packing'

                  tears are shed in Queenstown from the highly geared airBNB rental owners

                  • Pat …
                    14 May 2021 at 4:35 pm

                    The 40 billion is total spend including support services …24 billion of that is internal/domestic tourism…the 7 billion figure is solely international holidaying tourists spend…..and then there is another 4 odd billion from business/family/other.

                    They attribute international tourism's share as 17 billion (approximately 42%)

      • Adrian 4.4.2
        14 May 2021 at 1:39 pm

        Exactly, $40 billion my arse, the bullshit pisses me off. In the last few months the industry has been saying they will welcome back the Aussie tourists as they are 40% of the market at about 3.8 billion dollars of revenue. Thats the true figure which equates to about 8 billion for inbound tourism, it also includes assumed night stays on cruise ships so its still dodgy. Kiwis banked over 8 billion extra in 2020 which analysts put down to saved spending on overseas travel.

        If you are going to bullshit people get your facts right because you will always be found out.

        • Tricledrown 4.4.2.1
          14 May 2021 at 10:28 pm

          Adrian 40% of the numbers of tourists Australians don't spend as much as the other 60% .

          It helps balance the billions the Aussie banks take out of our economy.

    • Ad 4.5
      14 May 2021 at 11:34 am

      Small tours of wealthy people undertaking highly curated experiences are also best for track and trace.

      So value-add and public health measures can possibly mesh.

      Minister Nash needs some hard measures and processes to come out of that $200m industry funding announced last week, to step up to Bloomfield's stern advice.

    • left for dead 4.6
      14 May 2021 at 3:42 pm

      Re: $40 billion odd, over 50% is internal.

  5. Foreign Waka 5
    14 May 2021 at 9:41 am

    This must be the quintessential test of how greed can override the health of an entire population.

    We could have just thrown 16 Billion dollars out the window and now another 16 billion are to follow?

    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know#protection

    "Data from the vaccine trials indicate strong immunity at least months after vaccination, indicating possible long-term immunity"

    Note: Indication and possible does not mean proven

    "If I get a coronavirus vaccination, do I still have to wear a mask? Physical distance?

    Yes. It may take time for everyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccination to get one. A vaccine that is 95% effective means that about 1 out of 20 people who get it may not have protection from getting the illness"

    • Forget now 5.1
      14 May 2021 at 10:38 am

      Getting scientist to make definitive statements that something is definitely proven, without further study being required, is like pulling teeth, FW. Especially with ascertaining immunity against a mutating virus – even if the vaccines give long-lasting immunity (they haven't existed for that long) against past strains, that does not necessarily mean that they will provide protection against new variants.

      The problem is not just a vaccine's efficacy, but also the proportion of a population who are willing to take it for the good of all. A 95% effective vaccine taken by only half the population will not give that population herd immunity (depending on the Rate of Transmission) without a lot of dead people from the remainder being infected to acquire natural immunity. This Nature piece from last year gives some insight into the difficulties of calculating that moving target:

      “Most of the herd-immunity calculations don’t have anything to say about behaviour at all. They assume there’s no interventions, no behavioural changes or anything like that,” he says. This means that if a transient change in people’s behaviour (such as physical distancing) drives the Rt down, then “as soon as that behaviour goes back to normal, the herd-immunity threshold will change.”

      https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02948-4#:~:text=The%20formula%20for%20calculating%20the,immune%20to%20reach%20herd%20immunity.

      • Incognito 5.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 1:14 pm

        One of the best comments on this topic so far! Indeed, herd immunity depends on herd behaviour. Differences in behaviour were also underpinning different actions in/by different countries. Sweden is a case in point.

        • Patricia Bremner 5.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 1:49 pm

          Changed behaviours and self preservation happened after the influenza pandemic and tuberculosis outbreak.

          It led to gloves handkerchiefs no spitting except in spittoons brass door plates and handles, brass entry steps brass taps , brass did not allow a pathogen to live long.

          In this pandemic we are seeing mask wearing on public transport better hand hygiene coughing into elbows social distancing and using technology to scan in as helpful. The herd develops helpful behaviours, but like the vaccine they are used when a threat is perceived.

        • McFlock 5.1.1.2
          14 May 2021 at 2:12 pm

          ISTR that the report (Hendry?) that persuaded Cabinet of the urgent need for a L4 lockdown had an upper incidence and mortality estimates based on zero behaviour change. But it included other estimates for partial lockdowns and behaviour changes.

          The only one that didn't end in overloaded ICU and crematoria was L4 ASAP.
          looking for link but the wifi where I am is unreliable.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 5.2
      14 May 2021 at 10:54 am

      " A vaccine that is 95% effective means that about 1 out of 20 people who get it may not have protection from getting the illness"

      Any sort of medical treatment mostly doesnt have even 95% effectiveness (19 in 20) especially in the area of drug therapy.

      For the current flu vaccine which I have every year, if I dont then a bout of flu will lay me low for a week at least. With having the vaccine there may 1 or2 occasions I have very mild flu symptoms for a day or so.

      With Covid 19 , there are existing people, could be 40% who have none or little symptoms, the vaccine pushes that up as well as some sort of immunity. Then there is the herd effect where it just doesnt spread widely because reproduction rate is so low.

      • Foreign Waka 5.2.1
        14 May 2021 at 12:44 pm

        All I am saying is that having the borders open for tourists poses a risk that I personally feel is under current circumstances not prudent.

        It only takes one person going up and down the country, seeing al the sites etc. to potentially put us into lock down. The elderly, the ones with underlying conditions such as asthma, immune deficiencies of all kinds will not have much of a chance. The health system will not be able to cope at all given the current issues, let alone having an influx of covid patients.

        Is it not utterly selfish to assume that a certain % of people can be sacrificed like collateral damage for those who want to open the borders?

        Also, I like to see the list of those, in private and public sector who would be approving and influencing such a move, publicized.

        • McFlock 5.2.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 2:31 pm

          OK, so infected people coming here would be a given. Just common sense for looking at the likely outcome, can't pretend it's impossible.

          Two numbers in particular matter about whether vaccination will protect people: the population immunity level and vaccine efficacy. Those, together, tell us how safe we are as a society exposed to an infected person at a given vaccination rate.

          If 80% of people need to be completely immune to get to the point that an infected person (on average – nuance #1) will infect less than one other person (R0<1), and we know that the vaccine has 95% efficacy for complete immunity (nuance #2), then out of 100 people about 85 would need to be vaccinated to be reasonably sure any outbreak would fade away without further intervention (nuance #3).

          Nuance #1: if the tourist goes to weirdoville which is full of unvaxxed essential oilists, that community is screwed without other interventions. Not matter what they think about vitamin d.

          Nuance #2: even if a vaccinated person gets covid, it's still a win if they are less infectious and less incapacitated. If we can keep them alive and out of hospital, the money wasn't wasted. If they isolate at home, they needn't infect anyone else.

          Nuance #3: basically, if infectious tourist spreads it, that vulnerable locality would possibly need to go all the way to level 4.

    • Tricledrown 5.3
      14 May 2021 at 12:44 pm

      Foreign Waka 1 in 20 who have been vaccinated may get Covid but may not be hospitalized because even those 1 in 20 most won't get severe or long covid.

      If we get to 90% plus immunization rates the risk of transmission goes down so even better.

      But new variants may still be transmissable by up to 40% of those vaccinated.

      The good thing about NZ's envious position is we can watch what's happening in the rest of the world and adapt to the latest scientific knowledge.

      • Foreign Waka 5.3.1
        14 May 2021 at 12:58 pm

        How many people in NZ are vaccinated right now and what progress are we making (stage 1-4)?

        https://www.google.com/search?q=What+is+the+progress+of+covid+vaccination+in+nz&rlz=1C1GCEA_enNZ927NZ927&oq=What+is+the+progress+of+covid+vaccination+in+nz&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i22i29i30l7.14292j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

        According to the last reading

        389 000 people have been vaccinated, of those 120 000 had 2 doses, and this comprises 2.4% of the population. Is there an expectation that everybody just tries for herd immunity like the UK a year ago?

        • Tricledrown 5.3.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 1:44 pm

          Foriegn Waka ,389,000 is 10% of NZ adults given the first dose which gives high immunity.

          The Scare mongers are saying the role out is to slow .I say BS.

          The UK a year ago didn't have a vaccine available or did it have a hard lockdown. We need to make sure countries like Brazil the US the UK India etc where people are dying the virus has mutated and continues to mutate in these populations. Until those populations are vaccinated we are not safe so for us to be safe we should not be selfish it may backfire.

          We have options one is not to panic or pander to scare mongers.

          • Foreign Waka 5.3.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 3:42 pm

            I think we need to have at least 80% vaccinated before we think about opening the boarders. At least the people here, who have not just to cope with the consequences of that pandemic but also the next 2 generations paying back the 16 billion bill, ought to be reasonable protected.

            • Tricledrown 5.3.1.1.1.1
              14 May 2021 at 10:55 pm

              Foreign Waka Compared to Australias $1.2 trillion .Our economy has rebounded so be thankful that the capital injection for without it our future generations would have to rebuild the economy as well as pay down this small amount of debt .When you look at our recent debt history inflation included it's around the debt National borrowed for the Canterbury rebuild.

              [spurious letters removed from user name]

  6. Ad 6
    14 May 2021 at 11:29 am

    With the IDF now rolling ground troops etc into Gaza, this is now a full lopsided war.

    I'm no supporter of Hamas but Netanyahu is the worst-ever Israeli state leader and fatally damaged its people.

    Nothing good comes from this.

    • Sabine 6.1
      14 May 2021 at 11:32 am

      I'm no supporter of Hamas but Netanyahu is the worst-ever Israeli state leader and fatally damaged its people. keeps getting elected over and over again.

      Some say that all this started to hide the fact that he is up on corruption charges and has a court case for it.
      https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/world/middleeast/netanyahu-on-trial-israel.html

      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56606223

      • Ad 6.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 11:38 am

        The Wag The Dog of war is strong on both sides of this. Netanyahu certainly needs to shore up his electoral support after 3 hung elections. Same for Hamas who have elections next week.

        But ground invasion is a bigger step than standard gaming.

        • Sabine 6.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 11:43 am

          there is a big difference between Israel and the Ghetto that is Gaza.

          And there is a big difference between a home made rocket from Hamas, or even a donated small rocket from Syria and the weaponry that Israel has. And there is an even bigger difference between throwing these rockets on the open air prison that the Ghetto Gaza is then the defiance by the Palestianians to just roll over and die.

          One has a state, and the other does not. That too needs to be looked at. What is going on is slaughter to remove some bad news of one of the most despicable figures global politics could have spawned.

        • Sanctuary 6.1.1.2
          14 May 2021 at 12:40 pm

          I think I predicted this 😉

          The question now is can Hamas inflict a level of attrition on the IDF that prevents an Israeli ground victory. Hamas can easily trade 20 or 30-1 in lives and still "win" if they kill really significant numbers of Israeli soldiers – although the outcome is most likely to be simply a return to the antebellum stalemate where Israel can't defeat Hamas without inflicting a true genocide that'll weaken support even amongst their most sycophantic supporters in the Anglosphere political elites that they've worked so hard to lock in as unconditional supporters of Israel, and Hamas win a tactical victory by surviving, forcing the IDF to retreat but are incapable of a strategic victory that’ll force Israel to the table – like breaking the blockade or really carrying the fight into Israel itself.

          Ultimately this latest war will be the third stalemate. The problem is Israel is now run by racist ultra-nationalist fanatics whose dehumanising rhetoric is dangerously similar the likes of stuff you can read in any number of rants from other certain nations who retained large, dehumanised populations in ghettoes, so this time they may try and reach a final solution to the Palestinian problem.

          • McFlock 6.1.1.2.1
            14 May 2021 at 2:42 pm

            I reckon they've had that solution in mind since before Ariel Sharon was minister of agriculture.

            • ghostwhowalksnz 6.1.1.2.1.1
              14 May 2021 at 2:55 pm

              David Ben Gurion had in mind expulsion of Palestinians and he was 1st PM.

              'Ben-Gurion said that "without Deir Yasin there would be no Israel."

              • Forget now …
                15 May 2021 at 8:28 am

                Deir Yasin being the unprovoked massacre of that Palestinian village by the Lehi (Stern gang) along with: The Irgun – the paramilitary (/terrorist) group that later became the Herut political party, which in turn became part of the Likud alliance.

                On April 10, 1948, one day after the Deir Yassin massacre, Albert Einstein wrote a critical letter to the American Friends of Fighters for the Freedom of Israel (the U.S chapter of the Stern gang) refusing to assist them with aid or support to raise money for their cause in Palestine. On December 2, 1948, many prominent American Jews signed and published an op-ed article in NYT critical of… the massacre at Deir Yassin.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin

        • McFlock 6.1.1.3
          14 May 2021 at 2:35 pm

          Well, he is in deep legal ca-ca.

          But also, some successful rocket impacts make the expense of "Iron Dome" a perceived waste and boondoggle.

      • ghostwhowalksnz 6.1.2
        14 May 2021 at 12:36 pm

        "getting elected over and over again"

        Its his coalition deals , hes been losing seats for some time ( their MMP is all list) for his Likud party in parliament of 120

        2021 -7 seats to have 30

        2020 +4

        2019 Sept -6

        2019 Apr +5

        2015 +12 to get 30 or 25%

        • Sabine 6.1.2.1
          14 May 2021 at 3:26 pm

          Yes. and that is what gets him elected again and again. And everyone that goes into coalition with him supports him and his ideas.

    • Tricledrown 6.2
      14 May 2021 at 12:46 pm

      Netanyahu deliberately set this off as he is being prosecuted and in the process of trying to form a minority coalition.

      Wars set off a rise in Nationalism.

      • greywarshark 6.2.1
        14 May 2021 at 1:57 pm

        Some info about Israel elections. I needed to remind myself. FYI

        Elections in Israel are based on nationwide proportional representation. The electoral threshold is currently set at 3.25%, with the number of seats a party receives in the Knesset being proportional to the number of votes it receives.
        Elections in Israel – Wikipedia
        .

        A total of 39 parties registered to contest the elections.
        2021 Israeli legislative election – Wikipedia
        https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › 2021_Israeli_legislative_…

        Seems a good reason to keep a higher threshhold for parties to avoid proliferation of parties then splitting the vote and allowing people to slip in who are not a clear choice. We have 5% I don't think ever below 4% would be wise.

        • ghostwhowalksnz 6.2.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 2:47 pm

          Not really that many parties win seats between 3.25 and 5%. ( I think NZ should have a minimum seats of 5 or around 4.1%)

          They just have so many parties between 5 and say 12%. Likud is at 25% or so , which is around what National got in election here, and yet they are the biggest party.

          They definitely need a waka jumping law as that is a 'full pandemic' of splitting and creating new parties/ member sharing deals.

          • greywarshark 6.2.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 2:53 pm

            Oh thanks. I don't like what has happened in Israel politics so if you say stop waka jumping is good I agree.

  7. Siobhan 7
    14 May 2021 at 11:34 am

    (in reply to the MICKYSAVAGE piece ..but possibly off topic so I'll dump it here…)

    "I watched the video and my initial reaction was concern that Jacinda was showing human weakness and frailty in trying to address a very complex issue with compassion. My second reaction was admiration that Jacinda was showing human weakness and frailty in trying to address a very complex issue with compassion."

    …eh? What?…is life for Labour supporters getting that desperate and cultish we need to start babbling this sort of meaningless rhetoric? Praising our PM for "human weakness and frailty" in Parliament … and in a time of a massive housing crisis and an economy increasingly built on inequality and exploitation requires something with a bit more backbone…what with Jacindas "human weakness and frailty" and "incremental change"…at this rate, before you know it we'll be dealing with Labour Leaders on par with Starmer …

    STARMER: This is not a question of left or right*. It’s a question of whether we’re facing the country. We have changed as a party, but we’ve not made a strong enough case to the country. We’ve lost that connection, that trust, and I intended to rebuild that and do whatever is necessary to rebuild that trust.

    BBC: But what does change mean in, say, policy terms?

    STARMER: It means stopping, as a party, quarreling amongst ourselves, looking internally, and facing the country, and setting out that bold vision for a better Britain . . .

    BBC: Sorry, Sir Keir, what is that vision?

    STARMER: . . . changing the things that need changing, and that is the change that I will bring about.

    https://jacobinmag.com/2021/05/keir-starmer-bbc-meltdown-labour-election-hartlepool

    …which would be funny……except this sort of lack of vision, and lack of action, is one of the factors that leads to Progressives and Centrists standing by while the Right takes power…I am increasingly worried, as we all should be, that the only reason Labour might get in next election is if National can manage to keep up their internal implosion…

    *.and I know the idea of "not Left or Right" has a certain appeal to many on The Standard

    • Sabine 7.1
      14 May 2021 at 11:53 am

      The best the country can hope for is for Labour to lose its majority and be forced to create a coalition.

      • Siobhan 7.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 12:07 pm

        (groans inwardly)..yep…back to blaming their coalition partner for the lack of actual progress ..you have to wonder if the disaffected masses will buy into that narrative a second time around…

        • ghostwhowalksnz 7.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 2:41 pm

          Yes. Its a small section of minor parties who think that with under 10% the tail should wag the dog.

          • Sabine 7.1.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 3:03 pm

            Heck if the dog needs the tail to get to the food bowl, then yes, the tail is wagging the dog, or else the dog goes hungry and goes no where.

            MMP is very decent system, if the Parties have a bit of respect for ech other. But if two parties think that the smaller parties are there to wipe their bums and put them into seats and other then that shut up, both Parties should not be surprised to find out one day that neither of them have friends left.

    • Sanctuary 7.2
      14 May 2021 at 12:43 pm

      The Standard really has degenerated significantly recently into an axe grinding shop for any number of the terminally bitter, single issue fanatics, and intolerable whiners.

      • Siobhan 7.2.1
        14 May 2021 at 1:03 pm

        …deep breaths Sanctuary, deep breaths…atleast we'll be after you with sharp axes…quick and clean…

        • Sanctuary 7.2.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 1:13 pm

          Look, I get it that being wild eyed, bitter and demanding a peoples revolution or something is a luxury reserved for those in society who for whatever reason have never (yet?) got to taste the heady elixir of responsibility and Byzantine combinations that characterise complex institutions.

          But if you could refrain from constantly favouring those of us who perhaps may have had something of a sip from the Sisyphean cup of organisational intricacy with that uninformed and fevered opinion then that would be just splendid.

          • Siobhan 7.2.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 1:40 pm

            …rather presumptuous there sanctuary ..I don't actually recall sending you my CV…but that's neither here nor there…you do realise that people can come into power and actually change things ..almost overnight…should they have that clarity of vision and determination one would hope for in a Politician that desires to rule the land?

            No one with an interest in NZ politics will forget the Fourth Labour government ( for better or worse) or the First Labour government for that matter…they are reference points to us all for various issues…I suspect Jacindas 6th Labour Governments legacy will be how nice she was after the Mosque shootings ..and how that was the moment horrendously expensive dystopic motel/slum style housing ghettos became normalised …

      • woodart 7.2.2
        14 May 2021 at 2:16 pm

        quite correct sanctuary. the Standard has unfortunatley degenerated into a near constant whinge session, mostly by three or four of the terminally bitter, who have driven many thoughtful posters away.

  8. Forget now 8
    14 May 2021 at 12:02 pm

    This isn't quite as insane as the headline promises, but the video footage of a marine food web in action is quite fascinating. The krill eat the plankton, and in turn are gobbled up by fish and a whale, with the fish then chomped up by a swarm of sharks, with gulls hovering to snatch the scraps:

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/300307221/it-was-insane-drone-captures-whale-sharks-off-australias-coast

    • Tricledrown 8.1
      14 May 2021 at 12:51 pm

      I don't mean to drone on but your above post mirrors Wall st.The peasants get eaten by the middle classes who get gobbled up by the ruling classes.

      • Forget now 8.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 2:05 pm

        Yeah, your trickledrown theory is pretty much what I was going for. "Whales" being a dehumanising term used by videogame execs for bigspending/ addicted players. I was going to put in a line about; the faeces falling down to the nourish bottom-feeders, as well, but couldn't get the phrasing right.

        Mostly I was just a bit miffed that it was just a drone filming oceanic predators, rather than some robotic submarine cage actually capturing a whale-shark. That would have been insane!

  9. Byd0nz 9
    14 May 2021 at 12:13 pm

    This rap from a few years back still relevant.

    Holocaust Rapper. (read it in rap)

    He is a holocaust denier
    Put Netanyahu on the fryer
    Make John Kerry stoke the fire
    Coz he’s a fuckin liar
    Yea, he says, he is a holocaust denier
    Israel stole Hitlers mantle
    And imprisoned the Palestinians
    Walled them in with the blessings
    Of western politicians,
    The Jewish State will always rank
    As a land of terror
    Born by terrorist deeds
    The British turned a blind eye
    The U.S. sowed the seeds
    Why shouldn't he be a holocaust denier
    Whenever he saw the phosphorus fire
    Hearing Palestinian voices through the smoke
    The cries of infants as they choke
    American weapons of mass destruction
    Vice President firms
    Used for reconstruction
    Yea, he says, I’m a holocaust denier
    Coz that's the only way,
    To provoke their fuckin ire.

  10. Sabine 10
    14 May 2021 at 1:05 pm

    oh heck but this is funny.

    https://www.mediaite.com/news/colonial-pipeline-shut-down-distribution-because-it-couldnt-bill-customers-report/

    Colonial Pipeline reportedly shut fuel distribution down after last week’s cyberattack, not for safety reasons, but because its compromised systems couldn’t keep track of customer bills.

  11. Pat 11
    14 May 2021 at 1:14 pm

    WTF?

    "How does the government not know this? They put this policy in place two years ago. It will have been under development for a year before that. You would expect that in that development process someone would have asked how big the problem was, so they would know how much it was going to cost."

    http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2021/05/how-does-government-still-not-know-this.html

    • Sabine 11.1
      14 May 2021 at 1:44 pm

      from your link

      But I guess that, like school maintenance, knowing means having to pay to fix it, which for an agency under constant budget pressure from a government still dedicated to austerity means a strong incentive to ignore problems and not know things until forced to.

      and that is the same with leaking roofs, rotten class rooms to over crowding and / or no heating at all.

      • Pat 11.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 1:50 pm

        Yes…but that dosnt explain how a policy can be formed and implemented without bothering to acquire the fundamental information needed.

        • Sabine 11.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 1:54 pm

          oh yes, it can.

          We have funds for 90 schools. So that is what the policy covers.

          • Pat 11.1.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 2:19 pm

            "An estimated 1150 state schools burn fossil fuels to heat classrooms, but the Government doesn’t have an exact figure, or a full list of affected schools.

            This suggests the Government’s funding to date – $55 million to convert 90 schools to green fuels – will cover a small fraction of the problem."

            https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/125082069/is-your-school-burning-fossil-fuels-even-the-government-may-not-know

            "But failing to switch would also carry costs. Climate Change Minister James Shaw confirmed that any offsets for ongoing emissions would need to be purchased out of existing budgets. However, he expects clean heating for schools to be arranged before 2025.

            “I'm pretty confident that at the very least we will have funded the replacements of all of those boilers in schools by 2025 [although] the actual work may not be fully complete by then.”

            • Sabine 11.1.1.1.1.1
              14 May 2021 at 2:30 pm

              and the cover ones backside phrase here is

              “I'm pretty confident that at the very least we will have funded the replacements of all of those boilers in schools by 2025 [although] the actual work may not be fully complete by then

              • Ad …
                14 May 2021 at 2:40 pm

                From memory there's only one boilermaker of scale in New Zealand now. It's unlikely to go faster than that.

                Next target is the Fonterra boilers; Fonterra makes up about 20% of our emissions by itself, and 10% of their total is in manufacturing.

                • Sabine …
                  14 May 2021 at 3:04 pm

                  I am sure the rest of the world has some boiler makers too?

                  • Ad …
                    14 May 2021 at 3:27 pm

                    Timelapse to production and arrival here might surprise you.

                    Nothing complex is fast.

                    • Sabine …
                      14 May 2021 at 3:34 pm

                      Of course.

                      T'was ever so, nothing much could be done about it, and why even bother or try. 🙂

  12. Sanctuary 12
    14 May 2021 at 1:28 pm

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125130360/dhb-nurses-vote-to-strike-over-pay-horrific-and-unsafe-staffing

    I don't want to be an iconclast here but nurses start on $57,000PA, I know graduate lawyers and architects who have started on less than that. Pay then rises through eleven automatic pay scales to a maximum of around 80K. That is pretty good money, especially when you consider nursing is a not particularly difficult three year degree and offers enormous flexibility to stay in the workforce if you choose to have a family somewhere along the line.

    On top of that base rate there is over-time pay that can seriously bump the salary of the industrious, and ambitious nurses can by dint of specialisation earn a six figure sum.

    Nurses work hard, but they are not particularly badly paid in the context of NZ Salaries.

    • Sabine 12.1
      14 May 2021 at 1:45 pm

      Let me put it this way,

      the nurse or nurse aid, will if you need it, wash you, feed you, put your poop away, bring your medication, and do everything else to keep you alive, and happy.

      will you ever need an architect?

      • Ad 12.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 2:32 pm

        Nurse Aid is not the same as qualified Nurse.

        You are confused with RN's.

        • Sabine 12.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 3:21 pm

          Na not really confused, just pointing out that bum wiping in hospitals is an underpaid task, while drafting a house is something that can earn you money over and over again.

          but yeah, lets feel sorry for underpaid architects. 🙂

      • Ad 12.1.2
        14 May 2021 at 2:38 pm

        You have relied on an architect if you live in a house.

        They may not wipe your bum, but they stop the roof falling in on you.

        • Sabine 12.1.2.1
          14 May 2021 at 2:41 pm

          i have needed nurses way more often then i ever needed an architect. Also consider that the house i have was build many many years ago, a Ministry of Works house. Not sure if that architect at the time did not earn more then a nurse.

          And besides, if the architect is any good, he / she / they will earn way more money later in life then a good nurse would ever be able too.

          So excuse me if i don't have any issues with a nurse to be better paid for a few years then some architect, who may or may not is able to draft a decent house.

          • greywarshark 12.1.2.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 3:02 pm

            An architect can design a good or bad house for living in and then that design can be built repeatedly and the houses should not need constant maintenance.

            While a nurse deals directly with people who need careful constant maintenance, and may have to lift the person involving their muscles in physical work. Nurses are vulnerable looking after vulnerable people. An architect works at a desk usually, either designing onto a screen or onto paper.

            An architect and a nurse are doing very different jobs, both important but one with numerous tiring and sometimes unpleasant and intimate tasks as part of the job; that is the nurse.

        • Brigid 12.1.2.2
          14 May 2021 at 5:24 pm

          "You have relied on an architect if you live in a house."

          Utter rubbish

          Most of the houses that exist in the country have been built without the need for an architect. The house we built in the 80s that our 4 children were raised in was built without the need of an architect; we designed and built it ourselves and yes it was fully compliant with government and local council domestic building by-laws.

          All my contemporaries either built their houses themselves or employed one of the construction companies common at the time e.g. Keith Hays, Reidbuilt etc. These houses weren't designed by architects but by Architectural Draughtspersons. I know I was one.

          It was the architecture draughtperson who made sure the plans were correct and the builder who ensured the building was built to those specifications.

          Where the design fell outside the scope of NZS 3604 an engineer was employed. Not an architect. They draw pictures, that's all.

    • AB 12.2
      14 May 2021 at 2:33 pm

      "…they are not particularly badly paid in the context of NZ Salaries."

      Correct – these are actually middle class salaries. But some points in mitigation:

      • middle class salaries no longer buy middle class lifestyles. This is mostly due to house price inflation and the knock-on effects. But NZ also feels like a high cost of living country generally – such as healthcare where the rich with private insurance get seen quickly by the best private specialists and the rest of us wait and wait
      • public sector nurses seem to be perpetually overworked because of staff-patient ratios designed to squeeze every cent of value out of DHB budgets through a process of finding éfficiencies'
      • as a female occupation with a high social value they observe other, more male occupations that are paid more without comparably greater skill or responsibility, and (arguably) with lower value outputs
    • Gabby 12.3
      14 May 2021 at 4:42 pm

      Are they particularly badly paid in the context of dhb ceos?

    • weka 12.4
      14 May 2021 at 5:02 pm

      Three year nursing degrees arent easy. They’re basically an academic degree and an apprenticeship at the same time.

  13. WeTheBleeple 13
    14 May 2021 at 1:29 pm

    I can't participate in this forum any more where openly racist comments are excused by moderators. Racism AND gaslighting is a pattern, and some get pissed off and then banned for their returning salvos aimed at haters, frustrated after being repeatedly brushed aside/mansplained/gaslit after the issue is pointed out. This has been going on, intermittently, for the few years I've intermittently frequented TS.

    Some here think butter wouldn't melt in their mouth. That is because they are dead inside.

    Good luck to all the good folks. Racism is not free speech.

      • greywarshark 13.1.1
        14 May 2021 at 3:25 pm

        That was really good Robert. Getting words sorted out for meanung rather than thrown like confetti is a good job done.

        Also Robert a long while back I talked about a book where somone grew into a tree – very imaginative science fiction. I couldn't remember where at the time but have found it.

        It was Phillip Mann's The Fall of the Families series and is in Part Two of the Story of the Gardener. If you would like to read it I have ended up with two copies and can send it to you at Riverton. So if you want it just say here.

        • Robert Guyton 13.1.1.1
          14 May 2021 at 6:36 pm

          Thanks so much, greywarshark – I would be delighted to receive your 2nd copy and am happy to pay the courier fee 🙂 I'm eagerly looking forward to reading it. You might email me at rguy10@actrix.co.nz and we can arrange… 🙂

          • greywarshark 13.1.1.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 8:11 pm

            Right Robert got that – will get onto it soon – email you first.

      • Gosman 13.1.2
        14 May 2021 at 4:12 pm

        Does that mean ageism is a system designed by young people to keep old people subjugated? If so, how come old people in NZ generally get a much better deal than younger people?

        • Drowsy M. Kram 13.1.2.1
          14 May 2021 at 4:44 pm

          … how come old people in NZ generally get a much better deal than younger people?

          Ageism is a system put in place by older people to keep the youth subjugated?

          What’s behind New Zealand’s shocking youth suicide rate?
          New Zealand has by far the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world.
          https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40284130

          Maybe racism cuts ‘both ways’ in NZ, but some cuts are deeper than others – indeed, some wounds are fatal.

          New campaign says ‘give no voice to racism’
          https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/new-campaign-says-give-no-voice-racism/
          https://voiceofracism.co.nz/

          Triple Jeopardy: Complexities of Racism, Sexism, and Ageism on the Experiences of Mental Health Stigma Among Young Canadian Black Women of Caribbean Descent

          Adultism at the Root of Youth Maltreatment in A. S. King’s Still Life with Tornado
          The emphasis on the perspective of young people provides an informative understanding of youth subordination, parental power, and adultist discrimination in an effort to challenge such practices.

          The Pain of Youth
          How ageism harms young people in our society
          Ageism is one of the most rampant, yet least spoken of, forms of prejudice in our society. The prejudice against and discrimination of people based on their age may not be as big a problem as capitalism. But we’re going to need to address our ongoing and systemic domination of the youth eventually.

          • Gosman 13.1.2.1.1
            14 May 2021 at 5:09 pm

            According to your logic then there can be no charges of Ageism labelled against younger people acting against older people.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 13.1.2.1.1.1
              14 May 2021 at 5:44 pm

              According to your logic then there can be no charges of Ageism labelled against younger people acting against older people.

              Sorry Gosman, I can't follow your reasoning. Are you saying that according to my logic younger people cannot hold ageist attitudes towards older people? If so then you may have misinterpreted my words – people of almost any age can hold ageist views, and people of almost any age can be targets of ageism. Individual consequences of ageism will vary tremendously.

              Some may consider the 7-year disparity between the average life expectancy of Māori and non-Māori to be (at least partly) an outcome of systemic racism.

              And some sensitive souls will perceive the 'pale, stale, male' epithet to be racist, ageist and sexist.

              But one example cuts deeper than the other. Being non-Māori is definitely the healthy 'choice' in NZ, and that’s not choice, imho.

              Ethnic inequities in life expectancy attributable to smoking [NZMJ, 2020]

              Contribution of smoking to the life expectancy gap—Māori
              Among Māori men, 2.1 years (28.4%) of the 7.4 year gap in life expectancy was attributable to the higher mortality rates from smoking attributable deaths. Among Māori women, the contribution from smoking attributable deaths was 2.3 years (32.9%) of the 7.0 year gap.

              Drivers of inequity
              Factors contributing to the pervasive and persisting ethnic health inequities are multifaceted and complex. Three main pathways have been identified: (i) differential access to the determinants of health or exposures leading to differences in disease incidence, (ii) differential access to healthcare and (iii) differences in quality of care received. These pathways are driven by different levels of racism, particularly institutionalised and personally mediated or interpersonal racism.

            • McFlock 13.1.2.1.1.2
              14 May 2021 at 10:32 pm

              Well, according to the video about racism that you're distracting from, in that case the word you're looking for is prejudice.

              According to the video, ~ism is systemic, prejudice is individual bias, which seems a reasonable and simple distinction you are trying to avoid.

        • Robert Guyton 13.1.2.2
          14 May 2021 at 6:37 pm

          Don't be silly, Gosman.

    • Gosman 13.2
      14 May 2021 at 2:26 pm

      Can you give examples of this racism ?

    • WeTheBleeple 13.3
      14 May 2021 at 2:59 pm

    • weka 13.4
      14 May 2021 at 6:46 pm

      Please let me know what you are seeing WTB. Unfortunately if it's another author there is not a huge amount that can be done, more possible with commenters. Either way I'd like to know.

  14. Ad 14
    14 May 2021 at 2:37 pm

    Fortune 500 just ranked Jacinda Ardern as their pick for Number 1 of world's greatest leaders this year, with the commentary:

    "Jacinda Ardern had already sealed her position as a great leader early in her premiership of New Zealand, by empathetically steering her country through the aftermath of a terror attack and the deadly eruption of a volcano. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and Ardern targeted not just suppression of the virus, but its complete elimination. Though there have been a few scares, her strategy largely proved successful; New Zealand, a nation of nearly 5 million people, has seen fewer than 2,700 cases and only 26 deaths. Ardern and her cabinet ministers took a six-month, 20% pay cut in 2020 to show solidarity with people who had lost their livelihoods owing to the pandemic.

    Ardern’s party won landslide reelection in October, fueled by her star power, her straight talk, and the fact that her government’s heavy restrictions on international travel made it possible for life to continue with relative normality within New Zealand’s borders. She has also adopted world-leading climate and gender-equity policies. In March, New Zealand became the first country to require that banks, investment managers, and insurers disclose the effects of climate change on their businesses. And last year, Ardern’s administration made it easier for women to negotiate with their employers for more equitable pay."

    https://fortune.com/worlds-greatest-leaders/2021/jacinda-ardern/

    We don't know how lucky we are.

    • Adrian 14.1
      14 May 2021 at 4:02 pm

      She's a treasure alright.

    • Robert Guyton 14.2
      14 May 2021 at 6:39 pm

      We don't know the extent of the changes being wrought 🙂

    • Patricia Bremner 14.3
      14 May 2021 at 8:49 pm

      They don't even mention mycoplasma bovis, the banking reforms, and just now Kiwi Saver Default scheme overhaul. Yes Jacinda Ardern is a gem.

  15. Morrissey 15
    14 May 2021 at 9:17 pm

    A collection of egregious media depictions of the Israeli assault on Palestine

    Radio NZ's dismal parroting of Israeli government talking points, and the simply laughable TVNZ "news" coverage, should be added to this thread…..

    https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1392143635769081857

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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    Holding On To The Present: The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    Stuck In The Middle With You: As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • A clear warning
    The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    Buzz  from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example.  This shows National down ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    It Takes A Train To Cry: Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    Chris Trotter writes –  New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    Mr Bombastic: Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • “Comity” versus the rule of law
    In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Aotearoa: a live lab for failed Right-wing socio-economic zombie experiments once more…
    Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder. In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    1 week ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    Good evening –   Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure.  The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Residential Property Managers Bill to not progress
    The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Independent review into disability support services
    The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Justice Minister updates UN on law & order plan
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Ending emergency housing motels in Rotorua
    The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Trade Minister travels to Riyadh, OECD, and Dubai
    Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Education priorities focused on lifting achievement
    Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • NZTA App first step towards digital driver licence
    The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say.  “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Supporting whānau out of emergency housing
    Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Tribute to Dave O'Sullivan
    Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Speech – Eid al-Fitr
    Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government saves access to medicines
    Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff.    “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Pharmac Chair appointed
    Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Taking action on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
    Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says.  “Every day, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New sports complex opens in Kaikohe
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Diplomacy needed more than ever
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.    “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address, Buttes New British Cemetery Belgium
    Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service.  It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – NZ National Service, Chunuk Bair
    Distinguished guests -   It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders.   Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, Türkiye
    Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia.   Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • PM announces changes to portfolios
    Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New catch limits for unique fishery areas
    Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Minister welcomes hydrogen milestone
    Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment Bill
    The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Overseas decommissioning models considered
    Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Release of North Island Severe Weather Event Inquiry
    Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Justice Minister to attend Human Rights Council
    Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order.  “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facility
    Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024
    Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing  At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin    Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho    Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.    I am delighted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government to introduce revised Three Strikes law
    The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New diplomatic appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions.   “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says.    “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and Somalia
    New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today.   “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho Collective
    Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale.  “It is good ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Supporting better financial outcomes for Kiwis
    The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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