Open mike 15/01/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, January 15th, 2020 - 63 comments
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63 comments on “Open mike 15/01/2020 ”

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  1. Jenny How to get there 1
    15 January 2020 at 7:19 am

    Visit Australia, see the climate destroying politicians. Visit the amazing disappearing Great Barrier Reef, wonder at the world's biggest new coal mine. Join the interactive online campaign to blame the Greens for the bush fires.

    AUSTRALIA WILDFIRES: PM URGES TOURISTS TO KEEP VISITING AMID ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

    Cathy Adams, The Independent, 8 Jan. 2020

    The Australian prime minister has urged tourists to continue visiting the country despite the deadly wild fires that have so far killed 26 people.

    “Australia is open, Australia is still a wonderful place to come and bring your family and enjoy your holidays,” Scott Morrison told local reporters on Kangaroo Island in the state of South Australia, which has been particularly badly hit by the blazes…..

    https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/australia-wildfires-travel-advice-safe-scott-morrison-state-emergency-a9275291.html

    Be photographed comforting a singed koala.

    Fun for all the family

    • Jenny How to get there 1.1
      15 January 2020 at 7:35 am

      The politics around the Australian bush fires is almost beyond parody.

      The absurdity of extreme Australian bush fire politics is totally out of hand

      Shannon Molloy, NZ Herald, 13 Jan, 2020

      …..I wrote a story on Wednesday about the volume of misinformation and bizarre conspiracies about the bushfires circulating online…..

      …..An academic I spoke to explained how some of these theories begin and spread, but the bulk of the story was devoted to the views of a decorated firefighter named Drew.

      Drew sought to "myth bust" some of the common ones, including environmentalists blocking backburning efforts and that climate change plays no role longer, hotter and more unpredictable seasons.

      For that effort, I was accused by many of inventing the firefighter – that he doesn't exist and is a character in my own warped narrative – because I didn't include his last name.

      I didn't, at his request, because he anticipated a flurry of abuse and trolling from certain groups. He was right…..

      …..My favourite email was from one climate change denier kindly described me as a "soy boy f****t" in bed with environmentalists to push some leftie agenda.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12300104

      Add to this the hypocrisy of the right, ‘to not politicise the bush fires’.

    • Ross 1.2
      15 January 2020 at 7:46 am

      There have been worse bushfires in Australia which have usually led to a commission of inquiry. The current bushfires will result in a commission of inquiry but it is not clear what, if anything, will be learnt that was and is not already known.

      http://royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Commission-Reports/Final-Report.html

      • aj 1.2.2
        15 January 2020 at 10:44 am

        There have been worse bushfires in Australia which have usually led to a commission of inquiry.

        There have been bushfires that have resulted in a higher number of fatalities….

        FIFY

        • Ross 1.2.2.1
          15 January 2020 at 1:17 pm

          aj

          Yes, you are correct. I was focused on people. I’m not sure what you’re focused on. Houses, perhaps? 🙂

          • McFlock 1.2.2.1.1
            15 January 2020 at 1:48 pm

            No, you're not actually focused on people. You're focused on immediate mortality in order to minimise the current fires' overall impact on people.

            For example, did the fires you think were "worst" have people collapsing from the smoke 200 miles away?

            • Ross 1.2.2.1.1.1
              15 January 2020 at 2:23 pm

              McFlock

              That was the impressive thing about the devastating 2009 fires. It was the first time in recorded history that such large fires produced absolutely no smoke.

              • McFlock …
                15 January 2020 at 2:56 pm

                you dodged the question:

                For example, did the fires you think were "worst" have people collapsing from the smoke 200 miles away?

                Feel free to say "no". Feel just as free to say that you have no fucking idea – that would be an equally plausible response.

                Or feel free to say "yes" and provide a link to prove it.

                • Alice Tectonite …
                  15 January 2020 at 4:06 pm

                  McF: Ross is "ignoring a few facts", obviously didn't bother with the article I posted up thread that counters the sort of stuff Ross is peddling.

                  Anyway, a summary from that article:

                  Of course, Australia has a long history of bushfires. But several factors make eastern Australia’s recent crisis different to infamous bushfires in the past.

                  First is the enormous geographic spread of this season’s fires, and second, the absence of El Niño conditions typically associated with previous severe fires.

                  Thirdly and most important, these fires were preceded by the hottest and driest conditions in Australian history.

                  (source)

                  Worth a read IMO, written by a couple of ANU scientists (one climate, one bushfire).

                  • McFlock …
                    15 January 2020 at 5:44 pm

                    Yeah, he's interpreting "worst" in pretty much the only possible way (immediate bodycount) that lets him argue that there have been, like, two "worse" fires in 200 years. Both in the last 40 years. So AGW is therefore not a problem. It'd be funny if it weren't so damned tragic.

                    • Ross …
                      15 January 2020 at 6:31 pm

                      AGW is therefore not a problem.

                      Those are your words.

                      I did make the point that there was a commission of inquiry into the 2009 bushfires. I very much doubt anything new will be learnt from the latest fires that wasn’t already known.

                    • Psycho Milt …
                      15 January 2020 at 6:50 pm

                      Those are your words.

                      It's funny how everyone commenting here who has a few clues comes to the same conclusion about your comments, at which point you disavow any intent of having meant it. I wonder if there's a word to describe what you're doing?

                    • RedLogix …
                      15 January 2020 at 7:18 pm

                      @PM

                      Not necessarily. I've seen this sort of conversation here many times, at least part of it must arise because when conservatives comment here they know they must walk on eggshells. Hence they tend to prevaricate and hedge their bets more than if they felt free to be forthright. It leads to clumsy communication and often comes across as disingenuous. Hell even I laid that exact charge at Wayne the other day.

                      It doesn't help that we tend to automatically assign conservatives the worst of motives without pausing to read them carefully. Done it myself often enough.

                    • Ross []
                      16 January 2020 at 8:21 am

                      I’ve never hedged my bets. Many commenters here have criticised Israel and their occupation of Palestine but funnily enough I’ve never had the urge to label them anti-Semitic.

                    • McFlock …
                      15 January 2020 at 8:52 pm

                      Even if those six words are a scurrilous misinterptretation of your actions, is the rest of the comment fair?

                    • Ross []
                      16 January 2020 at 8:21 am

                      About as unfair as you can get. 🙂

                    • McFlock …
                      16 January 2020 at 2:04 pm

                      so in what ways other than immediate bodycount have previous fires been "worse"?

                    • Alice Tectonite …
                      16 January 2020 at 4:06 pm

                      @McF

                      Bodycount is a particularly poor measure IMO, as the Aussies actually learnt from 2009 fires.

                      Arguably the greatest change to bushfire management since Black Saturday, at least in terms of community preparedness and response, has been the shift in messaging to emphasise that leaving is the safest option.

                      (Whittaker 2019)

                      Suspect that discouraging stay & defend is a significant part of why the number killed by the current fires is much lower than Black Saturday. I wonder if something like number of buildings burned might give a better idea of severity? (Particularly when comparing between fire seasons where evacuate/stay messaging has been different.)

                      @Ross

                      How about explaining your stance on climate change a bit more? You deny that you're a denier while pushing lines/points frequently made by deniers. You then refuse to elaborate, which just invites the obvious conclusion …

                      Ref.: Whittaker, J., 2019. Ten years after the black Saturday fires, what have we learnt from post-fire research?. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 34(2). link

                    • McFlock …
                      16 January 2020 at 4:18 pm

                      yeah, but gotta give Ross a chance to demonstrate he isn't resting his entire case just on bodycount.

                  • weka …
                    16 January 2020 at 5:29 pm

                    thanks for that Alice, I hadn't seen the connection with the absence of El Nino before.

      • Exkiwiforces 1.2.3
        15 January 2020 at 1:26 pm

        The problem is with the Royal Commissions into the Bush Fires over here in Oz, a lot of the recommendations between the States and the Fed's don't get enacted for what ever reason, and some cases the States and local councils don't always enacted some of the recommendations either.

        The big problem we are facing at the moment is the fire season weather you are in the Sth or Eastern parts of Oz or like me in the Nth NT is getting longer, the fire environment/ conditions are getting more extreme aka crown fires hence the poor koala getting smash this fire season, more running fires due to the lack or no moisture in the soil which also effects fire management in cooler seasons aka burn off or traditional fire management practices and the ember attacks are getting more dangerous etc etc.

        With all the above adding in with CC, the current set up of the Rural Fire Services, inaction from the Fed's down the local councils if you have one over CC etc. The whole system of Fire management and Fire Fighting is a train wreck waiting to happen. This being the yr its happen for the Southern, Western and Eastern States on the conditions that we faced last Nth NT fire season and going on current rainfall for our Northern Australia Monsoon Season atm we are going to be up shit creek again this coming fire season.

        I did submit a piece to be posted here on "The Standard" on last yrs Northern NT Fire Season from my POV on the ground as a resident in the Darwin's rural as we come under the townie firies and as a bush firey out at the NT Bush Fires Dundee Brigade.

  2. Herodotus 2
    15 January 2020 at 8:02 am

    Climate Change

    So we have an every increasing NZ population why allow this to continue when we are one of the highest per capita emissions? We have been told by

    In total, these changes are estimated to reduce net migration by 20,000-30,000. Without these changes there would be up to 10,000 more houses needed and up to 20,000 more vehicles on our roads annually.

    so over a 50k increase in immigration in the last year has required an additional 20,000+ houses and added 40,000 more vehicles to the road.

    https://www.labour.org.nz/immigration

    Who is to make the effort to reduce these GHG when we have policies like this Tourism with MBIE forecast an increase of 37.1% from 2017 to 2024.

    https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/5c05b7bfce/nz-tourism-forecasts-2018-2024-report.pdf

    And we wonder why NZ is increasing its GHG emissions. These are not samples of leading the way – Perhaps just a nod and smile to make us feel better as the world turns 😱

    [edited formatting to make it clearer who was saying what – weka]

    • weka 2.1
      15 January 2020 at 10:07 am

      Population is very difficult to talk about on the left, because it's tied to immigration and that debate has often had racism woven through it. Trad lefties also seem to hold the position that perpetual growth is possible (and desirable?). I see that as a consequence of philosophies that are grounded in human justice without being built on ecological justice. This is changing but too slowly imo.

      If we decouple population from immigration for a minute, and just look at population as an ecological issue, then it gets easier to see and talk about. Any given landbase can only sustain so much life. If we want food, water, shelter and modern lifestyle, those all come from what nature provides and this is where the accounting should begin. If we're not growing food and other resources in our local watershed we are expecting to extract them from someone else's. That may be done fairly and sustainably, but not under the perpetual growth economics we currently use. We are depleting most things, but outsourcing that so it is less visible. Looking at what each landbase in NZ could potentially sustain is a useful way to reframe population issues.

      When I bring this up the most common response I get is that we have plenty of land and could easily support far more people. But no-one can produce the actual accounting for that, it's just an assumption people have. I remain unconvinced, because in addition to the food and resources, we also need to do habitat restoration and carbon sequestration to prevent the climate and ecological crises. We also need a buffer for future weather events that will take out sometimes large parts of ecosystems (fire, flood, wind, drought).

      Ditto tourism, which is a huge problem that NZ is likewise not ready to face.

      • Sacha 2.1.1
        15 January 2020 at 11:50 am

        If we stop exporting so much of what we produce from the land, NZ can feed many more people here. But then we need other, more sustainable, forms of foreign-sourced income..

        • weka 2.1.1.1
          15 January 2020 at 12:33 pm

          true, but then if a really large % of land is in dairy and other export livestock, and we convert that to cropping, there are GHG emissions associated with the plough farming, and with the presumed increase in population. Regenag/organics takes more land.

          That freed up land still needs to also be used for reforesting and increasing biodiversity, climate mitigation, and climate buffer, so I'm wary of the idea that it becomes easily available for food growing for lots more people, especially when we take into account climate change affecting the growing of crops. My main point here is that few are looking at the overall picture (from a sustainability pov) and we're basing our political debate on some distinct assumptions rather than data and analysis.

          Do we need as much foreign-sourced income as we currently have?

          • Sacha 2.1.1.1.1
            15 January 2020 at 12:45 pm

            We do not need any more land to grow food for ourselves – much less, if anything. That applies to crops, not just animals.

            And the overall design of the economy is a larger question as you say.

            • weka 2.1.1.1.1.1
              15 January 2020 at 12:59 pm

              I'm talking about how big a population NZ can sustain. Obviously there is an upper limit, but no-one knows what it is. Instead we assume that there is plenty of land, but that assumption is based on information from utterly unsustainable systems.

              I get what you are saying here. If 90% of NZ ag is export, and we freed up that land for our own food production then there'd be heaps of land. But, how many people could be fed, clothed, sheltered and so on, taking all the other ecological issues into account?

              • Sacha …
                15 January 2020 at 2:16 pm

                Yes. Our energy and transport systems would be earlier bottlenecks than food. And I’m saying 90% of crops are already exported as well. Someone may have actual data. 🙂

              • pat …
                15 January 2020 at 8:06 pm

                NZ population in 1800 was estimated to be between 100,000 and 200,000….by my calculations (rough) NZ land mass could support just over 4 million at pre industrial revolution stocking rates…it would be reasonable to expect some premium due to technological advance but I'd suggest that premium wouldnt be terribly large so I suspect we are already over carrying capacity at current population of 5 million (and growing)

                • weka …
                  15 January 2020 at 8:35 pm

                  what were you factoring in to your calculations pat? Is that food or all resources (allowing for some imports)?

                  • pat …
                    15 January 2020 at 8:41 pm

                    calculated on world population pre industrial revolution (relatively stable at around 1 billion) and habitable land area…if you apply those factors to NZ we end up with a population of a little over 4 million.

      • McFlock 2.1.2
        15 January 2020 at 1:21 pm

        The reason I think we have plenty of land is because we're the 167/194 lowest population density in the world, almost all our land is highly productive for food (agricultural or pastoral) as opposed to being arid or otherwise inappropriate, and we have the 9th largest EEZ around us.

        I'd even go so far as to say we have such abudance that we have an obligation to help feed the world (just not with dairy).

        That said, the precise "population limit" we have is a sliding function of priorities: what level of pollution are we willing to emit, are we controlling food and (especially) water exports, are we managing stock/crop, arable land, other land use demands, waterways, transport infrastructure towards certain priorities, and so on. So by some models we have already exceeded our limit. By most global models, we're nowhere near.

        Then there is the question of demographics – if we have stable population level, what if we get top heavy in age, like Japan? We'd have to put our foot on the immigration throttle for a bit, just to provide services and food for those less able to supply themselves. Just like at the other end, we need to plan schooling around birth bubbles as they get older.

        Might be interesting to see if there is a government department that integrates all these questions in one place – what population changes do we expect, and what level is sustainable according to different priorities. They all do forward planning on their own patch, but not sure if anyone has the big picture.

        • RedLogix 2.1.2.1
          15 January 2020 at 2:54 pm

          As a footnote to that; interestingly NZ is one of a small handful of developed nations with a flat demographic pyramid.

          Almost all the other more developed regions, with the notable exception of Argentina and a few others, have an inverted pyramid.

          But otherwise yes, most of what your saying here makes good systems sense. My only quibble, and I may be out of date on this, is around the fertility of our soils. We don't have large river basins or loess soil plains with millions of years of accumulated minerals in them … NZ imports much of it. And that's been challenged already IIRC.

        • weka 2.1.2.2
          16 January 2020 at 9:23 am

          Coincidentally I ended up in a convo yesterday about NZ fishing stocks. Looks like we are at our limit already in terms of take.

          Afaik the NZ government bases all its work on the fossil fuelled economy. I'd be incredibly surprised if they were doing work on how much food and other resources we can grow using regenag for NZ use relative to population size.

          Likewise global assessments, although there are better acknowledgements of the value of small, local growers.

          I'm using the term sustainable here in its green sense. Not the sense that's been appropriated into the mainstream. So sustainable is about how a system can by and large keep itself healthy and functional, in perpetuity, without producing pollution and without extracting materials/resources from other systems in ways that deplete those other systems.

          NZ's ecological footprint is something like 2.5x what the planet can sustain. We are a long way off sustainable.

    • bwaghorn 2.2
      15 January 2020 at 11:25 am

      Lowering immigration wont change emmisions you realise ? Sure those people wont show up on our spreadsheet but they'll still be somewhere causing roughly the same emmisions.

      • Sacha 2.2.1
        15 January 2020 at 11:51 am

        We are only responsible for our emissions. Every other nation is the same.

      • Herodotus 2.2.2
        15 January 2020 at 8:02 pm

        We have no control of what other countries do. Someone immigrates here our GHG increase as we now require 0.4 of a house and 0.8 additional cars does the other country have a corresponding reduction ?

        nz has undertaken to reduce in total GHG emissions, not per capita. So we have added GHG outputs where does the corresponding reduction from within NZ come from ?and it has to be within NZ not a corresponding offset from another country

  3. mac1 3
    15 January 2020 at 8:22 am

    Weasel words.

    “I can reveal that I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies,” Trump said.”

    As Washington Post political editor James Downie writes, you can't fact check beliefs.

    "According to The Washington Post Fact Checker, in President Donald Trump's first year, he uttered almost 2,000 "false or misleading" claims. In 2018, he nearly tripled his total from the previous year, adding 5,689 more false or misleading claims. And his 2019 total was more than the two previous years combined – 7,725 as of mid-December."

    He continues. "But now the president has a way around facts: beliefs.

    In an interview with Fox News, Trump-friendly host Laura Ingraham asked the president what attacks Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani had been planning against US citizens and facilities. "I can reveal that I believe it probably would've been four embassies," Trump said."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/118756206/trump-has-a-new-way-around-facts-in-the-killing-of-iranian-general?cid=edm:stuff:dailyheadlines&bid=1248454770

  4. Sanctuary 4
    15 January 2020 at 10:18 am

    Is magic Radio the new Whaleoil? Every fricken wingnut's sob story or conspiracy theory is laundered through there and into the lazy ass MSM…

  5. Exkiwiforces 5
    15 January 2020 at 10:56 am

    This was on the giggle box last night during the news and was quite interesting.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-15/growing-algae-to-brew-greener-beer/11720484?section=good-news

    • Dennis Frank 5.1
      15 January 2020 at 2:33 pm

      Cool, eh? Early days yet. I don't rate their chances of selling lime-green beer tho. Okay, that's not necessarily implied in the story – probably just me looking at the pictures & jumping the gun, huh? 😎

  7. Sanctuary 7
    15 January 2020 at 11:50 am

    Hui all, for those of you interested in UK politics, this is compulsory reading…

    https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/01/13/the-center-blows-itself-up-care-and-spite-in-the-brexit-election/

    • Dennis Frank 7.1
      15 January 2020 at 1:47 pm

      You're right. It's a superb analysis. Even though I can't accept the primary thesis (equating centrism & neoliberalism) everything else rings true. 👍🏻

      • RedLogix 7.1.1
        15 January 2020 at 3:08 pm

        "Centrist" has become a spit word for some around here, yet in my view it has little to do with specific labels or political ideology. I see it more as an orientation that's primarily interested in negotiating agreements across competing interests and getting shit done.

        But yes I agree at first glance the analysis is pretty compelling; the breakdown of centrist consensus, the weakening of national identity and the impact of uncontrolled globalisation has seen a fracturing of our societies in ways we never quite expected.

        It also neglects a rather salient point, that while people tend to vote progressive in their 20's and 30's … accumulated life experience tends to shift them as they get older. If we imagine that all we need for a truly utopian liberal society to emerge is to wait for the bastard boomers to all die off … we're in for a disappointment.

      • Ad 7.1.2
        15 January 2020 at 3:41 pm

        We've always had internal conflicts between the equivalents of "carers" and "administrators" in Labour.

        Now we can stop with all this endless Why Labour Lost wank and get to the business of winning government in one of the last social democrat governments in the world.

        • RedLogix 7.1.2.1
          15 January 2020 at 4:28 pm

          Yup. 'Caring and fairing' are perfectly fine as personalised goals; but operating (administering) complex moderns societies demands a lot broader competency than this, and voters damn well know it at a gut level.

    • Ad 7.2
      15 January 2020 at 3:05 pm

      Sanctuary, before you do any more commentary on why any party of the left loses, do yourself a favour and join one, and fight to win the 2020 election.

      The experience will do you a lot of good.

  8. joe90 8
    15 January 2020 at 1:51 pm

    Fucking nazis aren't even trying to hide their herrenrasse goals.

    https://twitter.com/MichaelEHayden/status/1217104704032911365

  9. joe90 9
    15 January 2020 at 2:14 pm

    Any apologies from the morons who swallowed republican ratfucker's lies and then regurgitated them in their entirety?

    While it is true that the former secretary of state’s emails garnered the most attention thanks to James Comey, the Berkman Klein Center devoted an entire section of their report to an exposé titled, “Dynamics of Network Propaganda: Clinton Foundation Case Study.” They documented how the false allegations in Peter Schweizer’s book, Clinton Cash, were legitimated, not just by right-wing media, but by the New York Times and later by major outlets like the Associated Press and the Washington Post.

    Even after Trump won the election, he and his enablers in right-wing media wouldn’t let the story go. In an obvious attempt to win the president’s favor after recusing himself from the Russia investigation, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed U.S. Attorney John Huber to look into the allegations about the Clinton Foundation.

    According to the Washington Post, Huber found nothing.

    A Justice Department inquiry launched more than two years ago to mollify conservatives clamoring for more investigations of Hillary Clinton has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current and former law enforcement officials said they never expected the effort to produce much of anything.

    John Huber, the U.S. attorney in Utah, was tapped in November 2017 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look intoconcerns raised by President Trump and his allies in Congress that the FBI had not fully pursued cases of possible corruption at the Clinton Foundation and during Clinton’s time as secretary of state, when the U.S. government decided not to block the sale of a company called Uranium One.

    As a part of his review, Huber examined documents and conferred with federal law enforcement officials in Little Rock who were handling a meandering probe into the Clinton Foundation, people familiar with the matter said. Current and former officials said that Huber has largely finished and found nothing worth pursuing.

    [,,,]

    Beyond getting the story wrong so many times, it is important for those who colluded to be held accountable because we are now witnessing the same group of people spread conspiracy theories about other Democrats. Peter Schweizer is the one who initiated the whole Biden/Burisma lie in his book, Secret Empires. Just in case Biden isn’t the Democratic nominee, he is about to publish a book this month titled, Profiles in Corruption, that will attempt to smear the rest of the 2020 presidential candidates.

    Keep in mind that Schweizer is president of the Government Accountability Institute, which was founded by Steve Bannon and is funded by the Mercer family. He is also senior editor-at-large for Breitbart News. Jane Mayer summarizes what we learned about the Bannon-Schweizer method of collusion from Joshua Green’s book, Devil’s Bargain.

    Bannon designed the [Government Accountability Institute] as a means of transmitting partisan dirt-digging to the mainstream media. He realized that, though mainstream reporters were suspicious of partisan opinion, they were open to damning facts about public figures, regardless of the sourcing. He set out, with Schweizer, to produce material that would generate mainstream coverage, and right-wing outrage.

    https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/01/13/hillary-clinton-has-been-exonerated-again/

  10. sumsuch 10
    15 January 2020 at 11:20 pm

    I expect no one will respond at this late hour. Mike Williams blowing like a bull on RNZ's holiday conversation at 4 concentrated on Law and Order. It quickly came clear it was down to poverty, which the convict advocate had helped produce as the chief promoter of Labour in a previous career. 84: War on Maori.

    Not an election winner. Despicable.

    But this is the age of the talkers (Sanders, Trump), despite the NZ political scene. If it isn't a Savage it'll be a fascist.

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    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

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