Open Mike 14/08/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 14th, 2017 - 49 comments
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49 comments on “Open Mike 14/08/2017 ”

  1. swordfish 1

    Indications from UMR’s Stephen Mills & Politik’s Richard Harman (via”National Party sources”), that both Labour’s & National’s Internal polling (post-Graham / Clendon / Turei resignations) suggest – Greens polling around or sub-5%

    • James 1.1

      That would be an awesome result. They have earned it.

      Still 5ish weeks to go. I’m sure they will get over 5% by then.

    • Ad 1.2

      !

      Sure hope the centre and left can do more than eat itself.

  2. swordfish 2

    The English-Ardern match-up in the Preferred PMs is looking very 1999.

    (English 28 / Ardern 26 – Numbers rounded 2–8 August 2017 Newshub Reid Research)

    In both cases – 1999 & 2017 – both Main Party Leaders were / are scoring in the 20s, with the Tory PM ever so slightly ahead.

    Wild Bill English = almost exactly mirroring the contours of Shipley’s leadership ratings during the first half of the 99 Election campaign.

    Cindy Ardern = actually around 7 points up on Helen Clark at the same point in the campaign.

    Just over a Month out from the 1999 Election, Clark was on 19% / Shipley on 27% in the New Zealand Election Study’s 5-day Preferred PM rolling average. Despite a bit of movement over the next few weeks, Shipley generally maintained her lead (albeit varying in size), before slumping a little during the final 2 weeks of the campaign after the first head-to-head debate, with Clark briefly eclipsing Shipley. But the effects were short-lived – by the final Poll just before Election Day. the two were neck-and-neck, each on 24%.

    Over the whole campaign, Clark fluctuated between 19 and 26, averaging about 23 / Shipley remained largely in the 20s, averaging around 25.

    The One News Colmar Brunton Polls suggested a very similar pattern of support for the two – Shipley maintaining her lead for most of the campaign

    Just goes to show – winning the Preferred PM isn’t necessarily a prerequisite for a Left victory – (although Ardern may well end on top)

    • Timbeau 2.1

      Anyone know when the next Roy Morgan poll comes out? Must be due soon.

    • North 2.2

      The preferred PM thing was always a fat old stroke-fest. Sure it shows ‘something’ but what exactly ? Probably nothing more than the power of incumbency and the power of political marketing. And an opportunity for the loathsome Gower to flatulate, gnash, and eject spittle.

    • Nic the NZer 2.3

      Comparing Shipley and English poll histories seems a bit foolish. Shipley was a rightwing tack on the tail of a government which had already issued the ‘mother of all budgets’. English take over from Key (and Keys history) has been rather more subtle than in the publics face.

      Arderne seems very popular but it doesn’t look like history repeating at all.

      • swordfish 2.3.1

        On Party support, this Election’s more like 2005 (with a slight hint of 2008) – but strictly in terms of Preferred PM stats = looking very 1999 (wouldn’t read any more into my comment than that)

  3. NZ Herald misleading headlines:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11903486

    “Treaty Warning over Labour’s Water Tax”…. said by National. Maori say no issue, I am sure we can sort it out.

    Some of this is getting quite ridiculous, can they try for balanced headline? Even the writing (by a Ms Audrey Young) was biased… first half all about how it would be the biggest issue ever, and it is not until the very end of the article that we get a view from the someone representing Maori views, which was that there was no issue and the whole article was misleading (almost actual quote)

    • Muttonbird 3.1

      Not to mention it’s not a tax. The Nats and their adoring media have framed it as a tax yet this is actually a charge for a commodity – water.

      • You_Fool 3.1.1

        The funny thing is, when you frame it the way Labour and The Greens actually state it, most people agree with it: That corporations shouldn’t be able to sell “Pure NZ water” with out paying something for it. At the least they should be made to pay for leveraging off the “pure NZ” image, let alone big users paying for what they take and pollute

      • Fairly typical lying from the RWNJs then.

    • can they try for balanced headline?

      Of course not – that would give the Left an advantage over the right-wing.

      Biased writing in favour of National is pretty much normal for our MSM.

  4. Tautoko Mangō Mata 4

    The latest Jonathan Pie SHOWDOWN: North Korea vs Donald Trump.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dQ2arjiT_g

  5. lprent 5

    Snuffling with a head cold. Bit of a pain. I had to give up adding a fan to the server after sneezing on the inside of the box (who knows what that will do to the circuitry?)

    People might like to look at this rather spiky graph of the page views for the last 30 days, and contemplate what this week will bring.

    Notice that this weekend was larger than most of the first two weeks of the 30 days 🙂

    • weka 5.1

      There has to be a joke in there about something going viral.

      Do page views normally bounce around like that pre-election?

      • DoublePlusGood 5.1.1

        Well, they probably do if we have as much drama as the last fortnight!

      • greywarshark 5.1.2

        Page views bouncing – It’s the sneeze effect.

        Watch for bugs in your system lprent. You seem to have proofed it against surges pre-election. Touch wood.

      • lprent 5.1.3

        Yep. Whenever there is a political ‘event’. We find people coming here to argue about it.

        It is why I have to do the capacities based on peak loads rather than normal loads because it isn’t uncommon to have loads up to 4x ‘normal’.

    • Eco maori 5.2

      That’s awesome to see people looking for real people’s opinion and information and not just read and be conned by the big MSN that’s why I found this site

  6. Maui 6

    Boot Camps ? Nah, send them to Botany Bay where they will have the fear of Malcolm put into them.

  7. Paaparakauta 7

    Hey Kelvin, go easy with the peroxide.You look like something out out of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
    I don’t think most Northern Maori voters think of themselves that way ..

  8. Ad 8

    On the one hand, neither Labour nor the Greens have much skin in the game in any of our regions.

    On the other hand, if they are really going to “wade” into the broad water argument, here’s how hard any nitrogen-lowering policy is going to be.

    Horizons Regional Council were taken to court over their One Plan that would have really restricted farmers’ application of different minerals and chemicals. The Council lost, and now they have to eat it:

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1708/S00191/intensive-farming-decision-results-in-one-plan-change.htm

    Horizons Regional Councillors moved a recommendation for Council to investigate partial One Plan change options.

    Horizons chair Bruce Gordon says the decision was made today because the committee was clearly informed that, following an Environment Court’s ruling, if farmers had to meet the current nitrogen leaching numbers in the One Plan a significant number of businesses would no longer be viable.

    “Council is responsible to its community and I want to reassure farmers that while our intention is to improve water quality, we are unified in not wanting to bankrupt multiple businesses. As a result, the Strategy and Policy committee have recommended Council instructs officers to prepare options for a change to the One Plan’s policies and rules around intensive agriculture,” says Mr Gordon.

    “In the meantime, new application forms and guidance material for applicants seeking intensive land use consents under the One Plan have been produced as required by the Court’s decision.”

    The Environment Court’s decision followed declaratory proceedings by Environmental Defence Society (EDS) and Wellington Fish and Game. Council officers will be meeting with EDS and Fish and Game representatives later this month to clarify their expectations.”

    I have a feeling that Jacinda will resile from irrigated water charges, and just stick to bottled raw water for export. It’s a fight she doesn’t need, in a constituency with no political upside whatsoever.

    • This is what happens when you allow large numbers of people to create businesses that are only viable if they’re given free reign to pollute lakes and waterways. By the time people start kicking back against having polluted waterways, there’s a sizable constituency dependent on continuing the pollution. As usual, the parties of the left will get stuck with the responsibility for cleaning up the Tories’ mess and copping the flak for it.

      • Ad 8.1.1

        “The parties of the left” would actually have to win an election first.

        I think Labour’s water policy would be improved if it focused more on the “polluter pays” principle for agriculture, not just on the price of water as input.

        That way the political heat would fall on the regional councils and not the government.

      • greywarshark 8.1.2

        PM Too true.

    • if farmers had to meet the current nitrogen leaching numbers in the One Plan a significant number of businesses would no longer be viable.

      Exactly as it should be as they’re obviously not viable businesses.

      Council is responsible to its community and I want to reassure farmers that while our intention is to improve water quality, we are unified in not wanting to bankrupt multiple businesses.

      Translation: Some of us want the rate payers and future generations to continue subsidising the farmers.

    • Gabby 8.3

      Had the Council been trying to get farmers to clean up pre-existing messes as well as their own?

  9. Trump is a nazzi white supremist loving arsehole imo.

    • McFlock 9.1

      It’s fascinating watching his speech about the ramming attack – the bits where he’s reading the prepared statement like a 7year old giving a class presentation, and the bits where he goes off script and speaks directly to the camera.

      Pretty clear which side he’s on, the shit.

  10. Eco maori 10

    Now that everyone in the world is figuring out that margarine is a processed food and worst for one’s health than butter .I predict the price of milk solids to hit 8 NZ dollars kg ie shortage of butter in Europe so the farmer could afford to pay abit more for the environment

  11. Macro 11

    Action on Karangahake Mountain today.
    https://twitter.com/greencatherine/status/896868191766368256
    This is a protest against mining on DOC land. A grandmother is being arrested.
    These people need your support.

    • NewsFlash 12.1

      Nationals only method of creating economic growth, and where’s the infrastructure to support it?

      • AB 12.1.1

        Immigration, dairy, tourism. The Nat’s 3-card trick. Creating a chaotic, unsustainable mess to get a sugar-high of top-line growth from a which a few are doing very well.

  12. greywarshark 13

    Warm news from often cold Dunedin. Rah – support locally owned successful businesses, set up local investment bonds.

    CHOCOLATE – doh!

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201854622/new-plans-for-chocolate-company-in-dunedin
    New plans for chocolate company in Dunedin
    From Morning Report, 8:20 am today
    Listen duration 3′ :56″

    Jim O’Malley unveilled his plans for a new publicly-owned chocolate company in Dunedin. He says when the lights go out at Cadbury on March 31, he wants the new company to hit the ground running.

    • McFlock 13.1

      What’s wrong with chocolate?

      We have the skillsets, might as well try to keep them here and do something with them.

      • greywarshark 13.1.1

        What’s your point McFlock. Are you trying for an argument where there isn’t one. Go down to the gym if that’s what you want. Here we are exercising our brains.

  13. adam 14

    It’s a few days old now, but I thought this site would have been all over this fine piece by Frank Macskasy .

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/08/09/msm-catches-up-on-unemployment-stats-rort/

    As you know, looking after the interests of working people and all that.

    I would ave thought, that 11% underemployment was a conservative figure as well, and quite a frightening one for a Government.

    The other thing I would have thought was maybe the party who uses the name for working people and their endeavours, would have been jumping up and down about this.

    Except it’s all personality politics. Same crap, different packaging, and the consumers are lapping it up.

    • NewsFlash 14.1

      The stats from the bureau of stats are completely distorted and are of little value, Nats have manipulated the criteria involved to produce positive outcomes, to make THEM look good, but it’s all catching up with them now, you can’t help not seeing the homeless, no matter where you live, something you didn’t see less than 10 years ago.

    • Hardly ever go over to the TDB – can’t comment effectively because of the over-ambitious moderation and spam trap so I simply don’t bother.

      • Macro 14.2.1

        Same – but over the past couple of days there have been some particularly good articles well worth the read.
        I do find some of the comments a little OTT – but each to their own.

  14. AsleepWhileWalking 15

    Just read Nats new investments in childre mental health. School based – yea…what about housing based? Basic needs met? That kind of shit.

    • garibaldi 15.1

      Can someone please tell the Nats it would be better to eliminate poverty (if they are serious about mental health) than to superficially tinker with mental health targeting?

  15. Penny Bright 16

    Serious question.

    WHICH PARTS OF THE RADIO NZ CHARTER ARE BEING BREACHED (in your opinion)BY USING PAID PR SHILL$ AS ‘POLITICAL COMMENTATORS’
    ON RNZ NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS?

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/about/charter

    The Radio New Zealand CharterThe Radio New Zealand Charter Te Tūtohinga o Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

    English

    The Radio New Zealand Amendment Act received Royal assent from 1 April 2016.

    The legislation makes some amendments to the Radio New Zealand Charter.

    The updated Radio New Zealand Charter is below.

    The Charter is an important document which sets out our operating principles.

    It defines what we do so that everyone – staff, listeners and other stake-holders – can easily understand our objectives and what we are expected to provide for the New Zealand taxpayer.

    The Charter is reviewed every five years. Radio New Zealand Amendment Act 2016.

    Charter and Principles of Radio New Zealand

    Purpose

    (1) As an independent public service broadcaster, the public radio company’s purpose is to serve the public interest.

    (2) Freedom of thought and expression are foundations of democratic society and the public radio company as a public service broadcaster plays an essential role in exercising these freedoms.

    (3) The public radio company fosters a sense of national identity by contributing to tolerance and understanding, reflecting and promoting ethnic, cultural, and artistic diversity and expression.

    (4) The public radio company provides reliable, independent, and freely accessible news and information.

    Delivery

    (5) In achieving its purpose, the public radio company must endeavour to provide services of the highest quality, which—

    (a) are predominantly and distinctively of New Zealand:

    (b) inform, entertain, and enlighten the people of New Zealand:

    (c) are challenging, innovative, and engaging:

    (d) foster critical thought, and informed and wide-ranging debate:

    (e) stimulate, support, and reflect the diversity of cultural expression, including drama, comedy, literature, and the performing arts:

    (f) stimulate, support, and reflect a wide range of music, including New Zealand composition and performance:

    (g) reflect New Zealand’s cultural identity, including Māori language and culture:

    (h) provide awareness of the world and of New Zealand’s place in it:

    (i) provide comprehensive, independent, accurate, impartial, and balanced regional, national, and international news and current affairs:

    (j) provide programmes which balance special interest with those of wide appeal, recognising the interests of all age groups:

    (k) contribute towards intellectual and spiritual development:

    (l) include an international service to the South Pacific in both English and Pacific languages:

    (m) take account of services provided by other broadcasters:

    (n) take advantage of the most effective means of delivery:

    (o) preserve and archive broadcasting material of historical interest.

    8A Principles of operation

    (1) The public radio company must, in fulfilling its Charter, exhibit a sense of social responsibility by—

    (a) having regard to the interests of the community in which it operates; and

    (b) endeavouring to accommodate or encourage those interests when able to do so.

    (2) The public radio company must, in fulfilling its Charter, ensure that it is not influenced by the commercial interests of other parties.

    (3) The public radio company must, in fulfilling its Charter, ensure that it operates in a financially responsible manner and, for this purpose, that it—

    (a) prudently manages its assets and liabilities; and

    (b) endeavours to ensure—

    (i) its long-term financial viability; and

    (ii) that it acts as a successful going concern.

    8B Commercial-free broadcasting

    (1) The public radio company must, in fulfilling its Charter, provide its services in a commercial-free manner.

    (2) Subsection (1) is subject to subsection (3).

    (3) The public radio company may provide 1 or more of the services specified in subsection

    (4), if the provision of the service or services—

    (a) is consistent with its role as a public broadcaster; and

    (b) does not impact adversely on the provision of its services under its Charter; and

    (c) is a fair and appropriate use of public funds.

    (4) Subsection (3) applies to the following:

    (a) providing media services to countries outside New Zealand, other than Radio New Zealand International or any radio services that might replace, in whole or in part, Radio New Zealand International:

    (b) authorising other providers of media services (whether by sale or licensing) to broadcast or publish content that has already been broadcast or published in a commercial-free manner by the public radio company:

    (c) arranging for providers of delivery platforms to provide access to live broadcasts of the content of the public radio company, but only if—

    (i) the content is free to access on the public radio company’s services; and

    (ii) the content is commercial-free, whether or not the delivery platforms are free to access; and

    (iii) any advertising or sponsorship on the delivery platforms is not expressly or impliedly presented as advertising or sponsorship carried or endorsed by the public radio company (other than announcements of the public radio company’s own services).

    (5) In this section,—

    commercial-free

    (a) means—

    (i) free to access; and
    (ii) without advertising and sponsorship; but
    (b) to avoid doubt, does not include announcements by the public radio company of its own services

    delivery platform—

    (a) means any method of transmitting audio, visual, or audiovisual content; and
    (b) includes (but is not limited to) Internet sites, applications, and software.
    ……”
    #SackThePRHacks

    • In Vino 16.1

      And I thought I was a conversation-killer..

      Sorry Penny. I actually agree, but my eyes are dim and I cannot see. I have not brought my specs with me.

  16. Nic the NZer 17

    Have seen many comments repeating that Jim Boldger has disavowed neo-liberalism. Somehow despite saying that on radio he seems less keen to consider turning over a new leaf however.

    http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=36568
    Write up of a few week old discussion involving Mr Boldger.

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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
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