web analytics

Open Mike 15/05/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, May 15th, 2017 - 55 comments
Categories: open mike, uncategorized - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

55 comments on “Open Mike 15/05/2017 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Ed 1
    15 May 2017 at 7:01 am

    We need a better media.
    One not owned by foreign billionaires and multinational finance corporations.

    No wonder so many New Zealanders are only capable of infantile political conversations.
    This is the garbage they are fed.
    It would appear that the only thing about the French elections that interests our 4th estate is the age of the President’s wife.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11855835

    • tc 1.1
      15 May 2017 at 7:35 am

      The kardashians must have been busy then.

    • Psycho Milt 1.2
      15 May 2017 at 7:38 am

      Personally, if I were looking for analysis of overseas elections, I wouldn’t go to the lifestyle section and read the opinion columnists therein, but maybe that’s just me?

    • Ed 1.3
      15 May 2017 at 7:38 am

      Garner and Espiner running 2 separate branches of the National Party’s comms team on this morning’s radio at 7.10 a.m.
      Both with the same message.
      Labour’s housing party is bad.

      Espiner a puppet of the establishment and Garner a muppet.
      Rich speculators need muppets and puppets like them.

      • Craig H 1.3.1
        15 May 2017 at 8:46 am

        Figures… Here’s Hosking to cheer us up:

        http://m.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/video.cfm?c_id=466&gal_cid=466&gallery_id=175950

        Actually reasonably positive!

      • jcuknz 1.3.2
        15 May 2017 at 9:37 am

        LIttles housing proposals is a GREAT IDEA with disasterous unintended consequences for the ordinary working renter like rent increases between $80 and $400 per week …. but of course the government will make it up one way or the other , figures depend on which RNZ commentator is correct.
        Thank goodness I am an owner with his own home and nothing else or I would be stung by this GREAT IDEA 🙂

        • Craig H 1.3.2.1
          15 May 2017 at 2:20 pm

          Unless Labour also built 100,000 additional houses along with 20-30,000 Housing NZ houses (2-3K p.a. over 10 years), in which case private landlords who try increasing rents too much might just find that they have empty houses instead.

  2. Ad 2
    15 May 2017 at 7:45 am

    This guy Rob Quist is trying to get Montana to turn Democrat.
    Something like trying to overturn Jackie Blue in Waitaki.

    He does it with some policy tendencies that would make an urban lefties’ hair curl – such as protecting the Second Amendment by shooting his tv – but his core message is reversing economic inequality. Also too many millionaires trying to represent good folk. And then taking a risk on medical marijuana. Plus wear a Stetson.

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/13/montana-special-election-rob-quist-democrat-215128

    It made me think about the kind of candidate it would take to really pull away a hard-held rural seat away from National.

    • Andre 2.1
      15 May 2017 at 9:59 am

      Montana isn’t particularly solid Republican. As the article points out, currently the governor and one of the senators are Democrats. It’s more of a mystery why Montanans reliably go Republican for their one House seat.

      Winston’s already shown one way to win in deep-blue New Zealand. High profile with local roots. But with MMP there’s even the question of whether winning the seat is a worthwhile goal if it means the local MP has to go significantly off-message from the rest of the party.

    • Sabine 2.2
      15 May 2017 at 3:42 pm

      he does live there.
      he is a respected folks musician there.
      he is a ‘montana’an”

      hence he does as people in Montana do and still likes to advocate for social justice?
      Oh dear, let’s all clutch our pearls. 🙂

  3. bwaghorn 3
    15 May 2017 at 7:59 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11855979

    councils having to turn a blind eye to dodgy flats , no housing crisis in nz !

  4. The Chairman 4
    15 May 2017 at 9:03 am

    “Our members are not going to subsidise public transport by taking a cut in their terms and conditions of employment.”

    Union threatens industrial action on a scale never seen before
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/92573940/wellington-bus-services-will-stop-as-drivers-meet-to-discuss-dire-new-employer

  5. Rosemary McDonald 5
    15 May 2017 at 9:49 am

    More shitting in our pond…will we ever learn?

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/92472364/high-levels-of-ecoli-found-in-creek-that-runs-into-treasured-springs

    >>”Te Waikoropupu Springs is the southern hemisphere’s largest coldwater springs and has some of the clearest waters ever measured on earth.

    Levels as high as 20,000 E-coli per 100 ml were discovered at the boundary where the creek runs into the reserve after testing by by Friends of Golden Bay at four different sites from November 2016 – April, 2017.

    The new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management states that safe swimmable levels should not exceed 540 E-coli per 100 ml and for drinking it is less than 1 E-coli per 100 ml. “<<

  6. Rosemary McDonald 6
    15 May 2017 at 10:10 am

    And on the subject of degrading our ‘pristine’ environment…

    …DOC achieves what must surely be an all time low….or conversely an all time high (on the tacky scale.)

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/330769/doc's-'moa-town'-plan-doesn't-fly-with-conservationists

    The only development needed in this area is to improve access…both the road from the main highway (it may have improved since last I visited) and to perhaps raise the category of at least some of the tracks from ‘easy’ to ‘wheelchair friendly’.

    http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/west-coast/karamea-walks-brochure.pdf

    The concrete earmarked for giant moa could be redeployed to facilitate this.

    Please.

  7. Pete George 7
    15 May 2017 at 12:06 pm

    An MP from which party presented this list at a conference in the weekend?

    An MP from which party presented this list at a conference in the weekend?

    1. People living in warmer, drier homes.
    2. Grants for first-home buyers.
    3. Better healthcare.
    4. More paid parental leave.
    5. More jobs and higher incomes.
    6. Benefits raised to help children and others in hardship.
    7. More police to keep communities safer.
    8. Putting more money in your pockets.
    9. Breakfasts in schools.
    10. Better education for our children.

    [link from whence PG plagiarised now added – weka]

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/15-05-2017/national-is-cloning-labours-identity-and-other-lessons-from-its-weekend-conference/

    • Robert Guyton 7.1
      15 May 2017 at 12:14 pm

      I’ll have a go; was it Alfred Ngaro of the “Mafiosa Party”?

      • Pete George 7.1.1
        15 May 2017 at 12:31 pm

        No. What Ngaro said has been widely publicised and widely and strongly criticised (as it should have been), as I’m sure you know.

        In case you weren’t aware there’s another post for bagging Ngaro here:
        – https://thestandard.org.nz/alfred-ngaro-reprimanded-for-being-naive/#comment-1329484

        • Robert Guyton 7.1.1.1
          15 May 2017 at 1:19 pm

          I do know, Pete, yes. I also know this is the Open Mike thread, where all sorts of issues can be discussed. So, not Alfred “The Don” Ngaro, eh!
          Chester Borrows? Nah, he’s been tied up in the courts and hasn’t had much to say since…Mike Sabin? Not sure what happened to him and haven’t heard a peep from him for a while…John Key? Was it John “Dunnarunna” Key? Joyce and al have also been busy defending this and that in the court lately; the copyright stuff, remember, so probably not them…I give up. Willie Jackson? He’s ascending at the moment. It might have been him.

    • McFlock 7.3
      15 May 2017 at 12:35 pm

      Give us another clue: did the MP announce a coherent way to put each or any of those goals within reach of lower income NZers or other NZers in need, or was it a thinly- disguised way to funnel more money to their private-sector chums and throw a few crumbes to everyone else?

    • The decrypter 7.4
      15 May 2017 at 12:38 pm

      Pete. What do you want me to say? Slip me a backhander and I can help . Seems like it probably is national . If not you won’t reply.

      • The decrypter 7.4.1
        15 May 2017 at 12:44 pm

        Times up,–no reply so must have been the Maori party.

        [lprent: Beware of the pwned heresy. My instinctive response to fools who use it like you appear to have just done is to demonstrate exactly how long I can ‘pwn’ them for with a substantial ban. It is not useful in online debates and usually leads to tiresome stupidly repetitive flame wars of the type that I detest. Don’t try to set the victory conditions. Learn to agree to disagree. Or you’ll find that I and other moderators will demonstrate our lack of agreement with your choice of tactic. This is your warning. ]

    • Pete 7.5
      15 May 2017 at 12:59 pm

      Has to be the WunderKid – Seymour.

    • lprent 7.6
      15 May 2017 at 1:03 pm

      Perhaps a better question is which party has a history of actually substantially delivering on their actual promises. Conversely which party has a history of promising and never delivering even a fraction of what they promised.

      Looking at the overall levels of actual police relative to population is probably a good place to start.

      National is busy promising more police yet again. Of course if you look at their performance over the last 3 National governments, all you ever see is a static level of police staff against a rising population. At the end of their term of office, we always find rising crime levels and a drop in solving crimes as the inevitable consequence….

      God, I remember 1999. That was the era when you couldn’t get police to attend any burglaries unless someone got sent to hospital. Consequently burglaries were endemic. It looks like the same thing is happening again – but in South Auckland it is aggravated robbery.

    • Ethica 7.7
      15 May 2017 at 1:23 pm

      It was Nikki Kaye and she was saying what she wished she had concentrated on in her years in Parliament, but unfortunately she joined the wrong party.

      • Pete George 7.7.1
        15 May 2017 at 2:01 pm

        Not very ethical misrepresenting what someone was saying.

        The list was reeled off by education minister Nikki Kaye. It’s her 10-point list of accomplishments by the government.

        I presume you knew that was how it was described at The Spinoff, is so you’ve been deceitful.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 7.7.1.1
          15 May 2017 at 2:39 pm

          Kaye’s whole list is a deceitful, cherry-picked attribution fail. No wonder you admire it.

      • Pete George 7.8.1
        15 May 2017 at 1:57 pm

        Not stealing anything. It’s simple to find where it came from, but as an exercise in seeing how overlapped party policies have become it was better to put a bit of distance to the source.

        Including the link initially would have defeated the purpose.

        [you cut and pasted without attribution and now you have this moderator’s attention. I don’t care what your rationales or intent were, if you are going to take other people’s work, then link or cite. If you can’t figure out how to do that without ruining your personal fun for the day, maybe find something else to do – weka]

        • McFlock 7.8.1.1
          15 May 2017 at 2:03 pm

          Dude, you literally cut&pasted someone else’s list without any attribution whatsoever, or even any indication that it was someone else’s list and you’d say whose after we played your wee game.

          • Pete George 7.8.1.1.1
            15 May 2017 at 2:14 pm

            You really didn’t know it was someone else’s list?

            My comment actually repeated this twice (accidentally): “An MP from which party presented this list at a conference in the weekend?”

            • McFlock 7.8.1.1.1.1
              15 May 2017 at 2:29 pm

              No, I thought you were just a bit shit at pasting. Sometimes if I really want to hack out a thought or a comment and know it’ll take a few edits, I’ll write it in a text editor rather than using the wordpress comment box, and then paste it in as a complete comment. But I try to always clearly identify which bits are mine and which bits are other peoples’. And is the line you pasted twice even from the post you plagiarised? I couldn’t find it. So are you arguing that your comment obviously contained unoriginal work because an original line was pasted twice?

              But even so, the concept of oh look I’m just a bit shit at pasting, so you should have inferred that not a single word of ‘my’ comment was original work by me is still a piss-poor excuse for plagiarism.

            • weka 7.8.1.1.1.2
              15 May 2017 at 3:02 pm

              see my moderator note above.

              • Pete George …
                15 May 2017 at 3:34 pm

                Whatever, but do you realise the list has been copied from somewhere else and maybe was just copy/pasted into that article with no linked provided?

                • Robert Guyton …
                  15 May 2017 at 3:36 pm

                  Much ado about nothing (not my own words).

                • McFlock …
                  15 May 2017 at 4:05 pm

                  Oh, so you maybe only plagiarised a plagiarist?

                  Hmmm. It’s not really plagiarising, though, because after the teaser the Spinoff author writes :”The list was reeled off by education minister Nikki Kaye.” That looks like an attribution to me.

                  Basically, you tried to do teasing question thing that the Spinoff did, but the only thing you didn’t steal was actually doing it properly and without plagiarism.

                  • weka …
                    15 May 2017 at 4:11 pm

                    roflnui. I’m so glad you wrote that because it’s way better than anything I could have done 😀

        • Robert Guyton 7.8.1.2
          15 May 2017 at 4:44 pm

          Like picking lint off an old cardy?

          (something else for Pete to do, that is).

      • McFlock 7.9.1
        15 May 2017 at 5:23 pm

        jeez, now nikki kaye is a plagiarist, too? You’re in a big club, petey boy

  8. Rosemary McDonald 8
    15 May 2017 at 12:10 pm

    Mike King, member of the New Zealand Suicide Prevention External Advisory Panel has told Coleman that the new draft plan is a crock…and he’s quit the panel.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11856284

    >>”The plan has buried all new ideas in such impenetrable language they are beyond recognition and unlikely to ever see the light of day. It is a strategy that is so broad in its effort to please everyone it will eventually collapse under the weight of public expectation. This will please no one except you and the politicians you serve,”<<

  9. Robert Guyton 9
    15 May 2017 at 1:23 pm

    “pwn” pronounced in the same way as the verb own, the tail of the p being “silent”.
    I’d never seen the idea of “the tail of the p being “silent”. What a curiosity!

    • McFlock 9.1
      15 May 2017 at 2:12 pm

      lol

      one way to explain away a coding typo, I guess 🙂

    • greywarshark 9.2
      15 May 2017 at 2:34 pm

      Hard to keep up Robert. Before something comes to mean anything it is replaced by a new slang word. I’ve just looked up pwn which seems to mean I’ve power-won-owned from you.

      And leetspeak is supposed to come from elite speak which apparently comes from hacker elites and includes a sense of humour so you don’t have to say a joke. Must be like the elite jokes of commercial travellers so often repeated that they were numbered, and a bloke just had to say that reminds me of #14 to have everyone rolling on the floor.

    • lprent 9.3
      15 May 2017 at 3:58 pm

      It was probably originally a typo of ‘owned’. However it was picked up by several online communities starting in the early online games.

      I think that I ran across it on the BBS’es or usenet in the mid-90s. Apparently it fell out of the modem or early net games like doom or quake.

      Those games were the reason that I had multiple phone lines at home (later followed by ISDN lines) in the early 90s. Some serious hours ‘wasted’ socialising online whilst exploring graphic effects. 🙂

      Incidentally, this opinion piece from the NY Times amused me this morning. An addiction to Zelda rather than the rocket launcher.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/opinion/the-nintendo-switch-of-my-dreams.html?_r=0

      I have not actually touched a Nintendo Switch with my own hands or even been in the same room as one, but from my sophisticated online snooping, I can tell you that the controller vibrates and can be detached, and the graphics are elaborate, unlike the pixelated eight-bit renderings of my memories, punctuated by a primitive synthesizer score. In the several decades I’ve been out of the game, the Nintendo has grown up. What a reunion it would be, the two of us together again as adults, I often think.

      I’m at a point in my life when a lot of big decisions need to be made. My partner, Michael, annoyingly wants to talk about them. I want the opiate release of a Nintendo Switch.

      I’ve dropped Michael many hints to this effect. I’ve signed him up for the notification, too. If he is the one who actually buys it, then I am absolved of responsibility, and my life of lying on the couch absorbed in escapist gameplay can begin.

  10. NZJester 10
    15 May 2017 at 2:56 pm

    TYT has a good video looking at Sweden’s booming economy.
    They have upped their Taxes and social welfare and unemployment has dropped and their economy is growing.

    • weka 10.1
      15 May 2017 at 3:04 pm

      looking at that, can NZ please get some decent architects and town planning rules too?

      • adam 10.1.1
        15 May 2017 at 3:32 pm

        As for architecture – have you been to Auckland weka? It has to be in the top ten ugliest cities in the world. You can’t walk down a street in this place without some nightmare slapping your eyes with ugly acid. As for the city center’s, shining example of Muppet’s with no taste. Albany has to take the cake, being a grey monstrosity devoted to bad taste and cost cutting.

        This is one ugly city, thank goodness the folk who live in it are nice.

        • weka 10.1.1.1
          15 May 2017 at 4:14 pm

          haven’t been in Auckland for 25 year 🙂 The thing about NZ is that we had beautiful buildings like in that picture and we just tossed that out. Even the plain, mid range buildings are ugly, how did we manage that?

        • Draco T Bastard 10.1.1.2
          15 May 2017 at 4:43 pm

          Albany has to take the cake, being a grey monstrosity devoted to bad taste and cost cutting.

          That pretty much describes a lot of what NZ has been doing for decades.

          IIRC, the outside of the Skytower was supposed to be either tiled or painted to make it look better. Still bare concrete and looking bloody horrible.

    • ianmac 10.2
      15 May 2017 at 4:21 pm

      Pretty good summary of Sweden’s socialist Economy NZJ. And they didn’t even mention the Free Public Health System or the falling Prison rates. Shock in USA to have Public Health for all. Impossible.

      Wonder how NZ ers would respond to higher taxes to fund Mental Health, Hospitals, Employment and Housing. Reckon many would applaud that on condition that the money was so spent.

      • NZJester 10.2.1
        15 May 2017 at 5:42 pm

        Sweden’s growth is like what we used to have in New Zealand before the National Party tore it all down with their mantra of trickle-down economics and lowering taxes. It shows how higher taxes actually improve an economy rather than stagnate it like the trickle-down economics model does. New Zealand needs to only look at the results from our past when we used to do what Sweden has now done to see it is the way to go here also. Up the P.A.Y.E. and dump the G.S.T.
        At the end of the day, the lower wages after tax will be more than made up for in the lower cost of food and colthing, as well as the enormous savings in free healthcare for the average worker. Businesses will be able to afford higher wages due to increased profits from more money kept flowing in our economy, instead of being siphoned off overseas.

  11. rhinocrates 11
    15 May 2017 at 5:46 pm

    John Oliver lets rip on Trump, Congress and then moving on to our Blinglish (starting at 10.15 to 15.20):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voMtHigbU9Y

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

Older posts

  • Next steps for Christchurch Hospital campus redevelopment
    Canterbury DHB will be better placed to respond to future demand for services and continue to deliver high quality care, with the next stage of the campus redevelopment programme confirmed, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Government has approved $154 million in funding for the construction of a third tower ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Five Power Defence Arrangements Defence Ministers’ Joint Statement
    The Defence Ministers from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and United Kingdom reaffirmed their nations’ continued commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), and commended the achievements over the past 49 years as the FPDA moves towards its 50th Anniversary in 2021.  The Ministers recognised the FPDA’s significant role ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Jobs for Nature funding protects health of Hawke’s Bay waterways
    A joint Government and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council project will invest $4.2 million to protect local waterways, enhance biodiversity and employ local people, Environment Minister David Parker announced today.   Over two years, the Hāpara Takatū Jobs for Nature project will fence 195km of private land to exclude stock from vulnerable ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Year border exception for seasonal workers in the horticulture and wine industries
    2000 additional RSE workers to enter New Zealand early next year employers must pay these workers at least $22.10 an hour employers will cover costs of managed isolation for the RSE workers RSE workers will be paid the equivalent of 30 hours work a week while in isolation From January ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government increases support for New Zealanders to work in seasonal jobs
    The Government is offering further financial support for unemployed New Zealanders to take on seasonal work. These new incentives include: Up to $200 per week for accommodation costs $1000 incentive payment for workers who complete jobs of six weeks or longer increasing wet weather payments when people can’t work to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government receives Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mos...
    Minister for Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti has today received the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques, and will table it in Parliament on Tuesday December 8. “I know this will have been a challenging process for whānau, survivors and witnesses of the terrorist attack ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand Government to declare a climate emergency
    The Government will declare a climate emergency next week, Climate Change Minister James Shaw said today.                                       “We are in the midst of a climate crisis that will impact on nearly every ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Call for urgent action on Pacific conservation
    A declaration on the urgency of the global biodiversity crisis and the need for immediate, transformative action in the Pacific was agreed at a pan-Pacific conference today. The 10th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas is taking place this week across the Pacific.  Minister of Conservation Kiritapu ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Speech from the throne
    E aku hoa i te ara o te whai, Kia kotahi tā tātou takahi i te kō, ko tōku whiwhi kei tō koutou tautoko mai. Ko tāku ki a koutou, hei whakapiki manawa mōku. He horomata rangatira te mahi, e rite ai te whiwhinga a te ringatuku, me te ringakape ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Keynote address to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand conference
    Speech to the CAANZ conference - November 19, 2020 Thank you, Greg, (Greg Haddon, MC) for the welcome. I’d like to acknowledge John Cuthbertson from CAANZ, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue Naomi Ferguson, former fellow MP and former Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne, other guest speakers and CAANZ members. I ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Expert independent advisory group appointed to strengthen the future of Māori broadcasting
    A panel of seven experts are adding their support to help shape the future of Māori broadcasting, Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson has announced today. “Today I will meet with some of the most experienced Māori broadcasters, commentators and practitioners in the field. They have practical insights on the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Government to review housing settings
    New Zealand’s stronger-than-expected economic performance has flowed through to housing demand, so the Government will review housing settings to improve access to the market, the Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today. “Our focus is on improving access to the housing market for first home buyers and ensuring house price growth ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Crown accounts reflect Govt’s careful economic management
    The better-than-expected Crown accounts released today show the Government’s careful management of the COVID-19 health crisis was the right approach to support the economy. As expected, the Crown accounts for the year to June 2020 show the operating balance before gains and losses, or OBEGAL, was in deficit. However that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Community launch marks next step in addressing racism in education
    The launch of Te Hurihanganui in Porirua today is another important milestone in the work needed to address racism in the education system and improve outcomes for Māori learners and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis says. Budget 2019 included $42 million over three years to put Te Hurihanganui ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Government to consider recommendations on DNA use in criminal investigations
    The Minister of Justice has received the Law Commission’s recommending changes to the law governing the way DNA is used in criminal investigations. The report, called The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations – Te Whahamahi I te Ira Tangata I ngā Mātai Taihara, recommends new legislation to address how ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Speech to Wakatū Nelson regional hui on trade
    First, I want to express my thanks to Te Taumata for this hui and for all the fantastic work you are doing for Māori in the trade space. In the short time that you’ve been operating you’ve already contributed an enormous amount to the conversation, and developed impressive networks.  I ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Speech to Primary Industries Summit
    Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about the significant contribution the food and fibres sector makes to New Zealand and how this Government is supporting that effort. I’d like to start by acknowledging our co-Chairs, Terry Copeland and Mavis Mullins, my colleague, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Fast track referrals will speed up recovery and boost jobs and home building
    The Government is taking action to increase jobs, speed up the economic recovery and build houses by putting three more projects through its fast track approval process. “It’s great to see that the fast-track consenting process is working. Today we have referred a mix of potential projects that, if approved, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Papakāinga provides critically needed homes in Hastings
    A papakāinga opened today by the Minister for Māori Development the Hon Willie Jackson will provide whānau with much needed affordable rental homes in Hastings. The four home papakāinga in Waiōhiki is the first project to be completed under the ‘Hastings Place Based’ initiative. This initiative is a Government, Hastings ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand ready to host APEC virtually
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took over the leadership of APEC earlier today, when she joined leaders from the 21 APEC economies virtually for the forum’s final 2020 meeting. “We look forward to hosting a fully virtual APEC 2021 next year. While this isn’t an in-person meeting, it will be one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Revival of Māori Horticulturists
    The rapid revival of Māori horticulture was unmistakeable at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy Awards, with 2020 marking the first time this iconic Māori farming event was dedicated to horticulture enterprises. Congratulating finalists at the Awards, Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said growing large-scale māra kai is part of Māori DNA. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Emergency benefit to help temporary visa holders
    From 1 December, people on temporary work, student or visitor visas who can’t return home and or support themselves may get an Emergency Benefit from the Ministry of Social Development, Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced today. Previously, temporary visa holders in hardship because of COVID-19 have had ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • School sustainability projects to help boost regional economies
    Forty one schools from the Far North to Southland will receive funding for projects that will reduce schools’ emissions and save them money, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This is the second round of the Sustainability Contestable Fund, and work will begin immediately. The first round announced in April ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Farmer-led projects to improve water health in Canterbury and Otago
    More than $6 million will be spent on helping farmers improve the health of rivers, wetlands, and habitat biodiversity in Canterbury and Otago, as well as improving long-term land management practices, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Four farmer-led catchment group Jobs for Nature projects have between allocated between $176,000 and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Tupu Aotearoa continues expansion to Pacific communities in Nelson, Marlborough, Tasman & Northl...
    Pacific communities in Nelson, Marlborough, Tasman and Northland will benefit from the expansion of the Tupu Aotearoa programme announced today by the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. The programme provides sustainable employment and education pathways and will be delivered in partnership with three providers in Northland and two ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New primary school and classrooms for 1,200 students in South Island
    Education Minister Chris Hipkins unveiled major school building projects across the South Island during a visit to Waimea College in Nelson today. It’s part of the Government’s latest investment of $164 million to build new classrooms and upgrade schools around the country. “Investments like this gives the construction industry certainty ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Minister of Māori Development pays tribute to Rudy Taylor
      Today the Minister of Māori Development, alongside other Government Ministers and MP’s said their final farewells to Nga Puhi Leader Rudy Taylor.  “Rudy dedicated his life to the betterment of Māori, and his strong approach was always from the ground up, grassroots, sincere and unfaltering”  “Over the past few ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Prime Minister to attend APEC Leaders’ Summit
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will attend the annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and associated events virtually today and tomorrow. “In a world where we cannot travel due to COVID-19, continuing close collaboration with our regional partners is key to accelerating New Zealand’s economic recovery,” Jacinda Ardern said. “There is wide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Speech to Infrastructure NZ Symposium
    Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou and thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. This is a critical time for New Zealand as we respond to the damage wreaked by the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is vital that investment in our economic recovery is well thought through, and makes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Pike River 10 Year Anniversary Commemorative Service
    Tēnei te mihi ki a tātau katoa e huihui nei i tēnei rā Ki a koutou ngā whānau o te hunga kua riro i kōnei – he mihi aroha ki a koutou Ki te hapori whānui – tēnā koutou Ki ngā tāngata whenua – tēnā koutou Ki ngā mate, e ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Huge investment in new and upgraded classrooms to boost construction jobs
    Around 7,500 students are set to benefit from the Government’s latest investment of $164 million to build new classrooms and upgrade schools around the country. “The election delivered a clear mandate to accelerate our economic recovery and build back better. That’s why we are prioritising construction projects in schools so more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Keeping Pike River Mine promises 10 years on
    Ten years after the Pike River Mine tragedy in which 29 men lost their lives while at work, a commemorative service at Parliament has honoured them and their legacy of ensuring all New Zealand workplaces are safe. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attended the event, along with representatives of the Pike ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Additional testing to strengthen border and increase safety of workers
    New testing measures are being put in place to increase the safety of border workers and further strengthen New Zealand’s barriers against COVID-19, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “These strengthened rules – to apply to all international airports and ports – build on the mandatory testing orders we’ve ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • More public housing delivered in Auckland
    The Government’s investment in public housing is delivering more warm, dry homes with today’s official opening of 82 new apartments in New Lynn by the Housing Minister Megan Woods. The Thom Street development replaces 16 houses built in the 1940s, with brand new fit-for-purpose public housing that is in high ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Agreement advanced to purchase up to 5 million COVID-19 vaccines
    The Government has confirmed an in-principle agreement to purchase up to 5 million COVID-19 vaccines – enough for 5 million people – from Janssen Pharmaceutica, subject to the vaccine successfully completing clinical trials and passing regulatory approvals in New Zealand, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. “This agreement ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Jobs for Nature funding will leave a conservation legacy for Waikanae awa
    Ninety-two jobs will be created to help environmental restoration in the Waikanae River catchment through $8.5 million of Jobs for Nature funding, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan announced today. “The new funding will give a four-year boost to the restoration of the Waikanae awa, and is specifically focussed on restoration through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Dunedin Hospital project progresses to next stage
    As the new Dunedin Hospital project progresses, the Government is changing the oversight group to provide more technical input, ensure continued local representation, and to make sure lessons learnt from Dunedin benefit other health infrastructure projects around the country. Concept design approval and the release of a tender for early ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Jump in apprentice and trainee numbers
    The number of New Zealanders taking up apprenticeships has increased nearly 50 percent, and the number of female apprentices has more than doubled. This comes as a Government campaign to raise the profile of vocational education and training (VET) begins. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • ReBuilding Nations Symposium 2020 (Infrastructure NZ Conference opening session)
    Tena koutou katoa and thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. Can I acknowledge Ngarimu Blair, Ngati Whatua, and Mayor Phil Goff for the welcome. Before I start with my substantive comments, I do want to acknowledge the hard work it has taken by everyone to ensure ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand's biosecurity champions honoured
    Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor has paid tribute to the winners of the 2020 New Zealand Biosecurity Awards. “These are the people and organisations who go above and beyond to protect Aotearoa from pests and disease to ensure our unique way of life is sustained for future generations,” Damien O’Connor says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

Older posts

Older posts