Open mike 16/08/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 16th, 2019 - 60 comments
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60 comments on “Open mike 16/08/2019 ”

  1. wairua 2

    Jeremy Corbyn urges opposition leaders and Tory rebels to help oust PM.
    Labour leader claims Johnson has no mandate for no-deal Brexit and calls for caretaker government.

    “Jeremy Corbyn has called on rebel Tories and opposition leaders to stop a no-deal Brexit by ousting Boris Johnson as prime minister and allowing Labour to form a caretaker government until a general election.

    The Labour leader proposed that he should lead a temporary administration on a “strictly time-limited” basis with the aim of calling a general election.

    His letter threw down the gauntlet to the Lib Dems, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens and rebel Tories, at a time when MPs opposed to no deal have been discussing a “national unity government” led by a centrist figure.

    Corbyn’s proposal makes it clear that the Labour frontbench consider he is the only politician who could lead a caretaker government, rather than a backbench candidate such as Tory veteran Ken Clarke or Labour’s Yvette Cooper.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/14/jeremy-corbyn-urges-opposition-leaders-and-tory-rebels-to-help-oust-pm

    • greywarshark 2.1

      Wow Jeremy is coming out of his shell, or like a conger eel charging out of the reef. Very wise of him to act while there still is a reef in good old UK home of democracy, or is it? Can't remember, I think something happened a long time ago that was supposed to be good.

      Thanks for that Wairua – we will all be watching this with great interest. We need to keep our eye on Trump and what is going on behind the scenery there – it all seems so theatrical don't you think? Hong Kong protesters pushing the envelope – does China have a mail system to receive it? Likely to have only one result – who is orchestrating this – the young people with no understanding of history, or some entity that is manipulating those young people?

      Anything good happening in the UK is a bonus. Meanwhile what is going on in the other BRIC countries apart from China? (Brazil, Russia, India).

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

    • Dukeofurl 2.2

      Caretaker government ?

      Doesnt happen under UK conventions.

      Again Guardian reporting as news complete fantasy without correcting the politicians claims.

      Its no different from say Daily Mail in its hyper partisan coverage of British politics. Its one thing to to have opinion or editorial taking a position.

    • Sanctuary 2.3

      The reaction to this offer from Corbyn of the Yellow Tories (AKA the Liberal Democrats), the "centrist" PLP MPs who group around Tom Watson and the various self-serving careerist Blairite turkeys still hanging around as independents and whatever the hell the TIGgers call themselves now has exposed Remain as now completely captured by neoliberal authoritarian technocrats and Israel's stooges – a motley crew of chancers and grifters that has the nerve to present itself as "sensible people and centrists".

      If Corbyn has done one thing with this it has been to expose the Lib-dems as an austerity enabling, Tory supporting lying leopard that has not changed it's spots. As i have said all along, the Oxbridge educated liberal urban elite who are the key enablers (and winners from) of neoliberalism would rather have Brexit – and austerity and betray the working class – than Corbyn.

      Corbyn hasn't a hope of stopping Brexit with this proposal – I doubt he ever expected to be able to – but Jo Sinson walked right into the trap and therefore he just destroyed the Liberal Democrats as a the standard bearers of remain.

      The logic of FPP elections means that Corbyn and his allies must have calculated that with the Brexit party splitting the Tory vote and the Liberal Democrats completely discredited, enough Labour voters will return to Labour to allow them to coming sailing up the middle for a Corbynista landslide at any Brexit election…

      • greywarshark 2.3.1

        Ooer Sanctuary that is an excoriating analysis. I don't know what to hope for after reading that. The maze is impenetrable to this rat. My birth father, who ended up a pilot of a Lancaster bomber in WW2 that went down in flames, ended up not thinking very highly of the Brits after he had spent a year or so there. I think he was a fairly good judge of things from what I have heard of him, and the few aerograms I was given.

        It is disappointing to think that they have screwed themselves down so strongly, and have lost the screwdriver. It was interesting to view the doco 'Meeting Gorbachev' in the NZIFF and see him speaking wonderingly of Margaret Thatcher's undiminished surety that nuclear arms were a Good Thing ensuring peace. Exactly the opposite of his beliefs that he was carrying from one leader to another in an effort to contain and reduce the tides of unhelpful responses rife in that time of uncertainty and anxiety.

        Perhaps the Brits still feel the ghost of the God-like empah oblivion, thinking that saying something firmly and strongly makes it true and real and right. That is how Trump behaves though. Is there something in the waters; we are feeling it in our waters for sure?

      • phillip ure 2.3.2

        excellent commentary/analysis..

  2. marty mars 3

    This is good imo. It enhances all parties mana and specifically the land protector mana, reduces tension, creates space for solutions and really puts all parties in a good light. Nice one.

    All the police cars and Fletcher Building contractor vehicles have left the front line at Ihumātao, leaving fewer than 10 officers.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/396814/police-dramatically-reduce-presence-at-ihumatao

  3. marty mars 4

    life.

    cool article

    A new organ involved in the sensation of pain has been discovered by scientists, raising hopes that it could lead to the development of new painkilling drugs.

    Researchers say they have discovered that the special cells that surround the pain-sensing nerve cells that extend into the outer layer of skin appear to be involved in sensing pain – a discovery that points to a new organ behind the feeling of “ouch!”.

    hmm interesting

    The team’s biggest finding was that these Schwann cells can sense pain.

    nice

    The discovery was made using optogenetics, which involved the researchers genetically modifying mice so Schwann cells in the skin of their feet produced a protein that could absorb light.

    ooookay – some other reactions being pinged

    When light was shone on these cells, the mice lifted their feet. They also showed behaviour including licking, shaking and guarding of their paws – signs that stimulating these Schwann cells caused pain.

    As the pulses of light increased in duration, the number of nearby nerve cells firing increased, supporting the idea that these Schwann cells send a signal to the brain through the nerve cells.

    feeling a bit sick now

    Prof Peter McNaughton, an expert in sensory systems from King’s College London, said the study was interesting and radical. “If borne out by subsequent studies, this paper will be a paradigm shift showing that pain-sensitive nerve cell terminals are not in fact always directly driven by a painful stimulus but instead can be driven by associated [Schwann] cells,” he said.

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/15/scientists-discover-new-pain-sensing-organ

    yep

    just mice who cares>will help people with pain>we use mice for a reason cos they feel it>I kill mice>I don't torture mice>bloody humans>bloody mice>bloody pain>…

    life…

    • weka 4.1

      It's one of the things I loathe about reading medical research. So much unnecessary suffering.

      • greywarshark 4.1.1

        It is wonderful to find how far scientists will go when they believe they have something that will be good for humans and actually try it on themselves. It isn't always animals used to do the testing. And sometimes their short and unknowing lives are pivotal to being able to find an answer to something very big and hard to learn about if used on humans. We do hurt each other too, so we don't just pick on animals.

  4. greywarshark 5

    Edit:
    This is a comment from Wild Katipo from Fertile Land is Priceless:

    WILD KATIPO 7.2.2.1.1
    15 August 2019 at 12:04 pm

    And large helpings of steamed vegetables for all those attending free of charge. What does a few bottles of Olive oil and peanut butter cost ,- all cooked on a few barbeque’s?

    Think of it… the sharing of gardening ideas, in a festival atmosphere,.. where all generations can participate…from the things one can do with herbs to vegetable recipes to tree planting and ecology… the list is endless.

    Bands could play ! Lolly scrambles for the kids ! Select wine tasting !

    It would be a smash hit !

    And it has sparked me to think this:

    That's what we should have at booth sites on election days eh? Not offer to pay people for voting which as many commenters on RadioNZ pointed out wouldn't promote thought and real interest in civics and policies.

    But making interest in being part of the support group for community politics into something to enjoy. Going to vote and be welcomed by buskers throughout the last voting day, ie Saturday, kids from schools who learn the arts showing their activities, singing songs, playing ukes, elders with demonstrations of activities – tai chi, akido, etc. A sausage sizzle, people making pikelets, showing how to make fresh fruit drinks with gadgets, etc. Businesses showing up with useful services and The community showing how it wants to include everyone to participate, join the real party, The Garden Party (being a joke name for people who get together to show their love of NZ)! That is a pretty attractive idea don't you think?

    You wouldn't be able to keep people away from the voting booth. And I suggest that there should be a group of teenagers chosen from various schools to be monitors, keeping a clear space around the door, and watching that everything went smoothly, ensuring a good future for them from guarding the means of their citizen power. It is time to revitalise our concern for NZ and the young and to adopt new approaches to our rather weary and worn democratic system.

    • greywarshark 5.1

      Thinking further, it could be such a great day that people would forget to vote or forget what its actual purpose was. So at the entry gates people would be channelled into the voting booth BEFORE they could take part in the fun that had been organised for VOTING. Some people think that the country is run by fairies and goblins and people living in The Cloud, and forget that it is just us getting together and being committed to a common object. Taking everything for granted has been a fault that has developed.

      There could be a fun scarf that is knitted to wrap around the voting booth, everyone invited to put a stitch – as an example of what we have in our democracy, a dropped stitch here and there and some imperfections would only underscore the example of our reality, not perfect but something we can see and participate in and repair if need be. And at the end it can be measured, announced in the media along with reports about highlights of the day, and given to a group that knits blankets for those who need them.

      And then the counting, the booths finished, the apparent direction of the voting, the comments about the candidates, the general discussion about the country's state, will all be of more interest and better understood than ever before. People will want to wait up for the results, it will be like the New Year's celebrations.

    • SHG 5.2

      In Australia election advertising is legal on election day and legal in the grounds of polling locations up to a no-fly-zone border a few metres from the buildings. Getting from the street to the polling booth often means running a gauntlet of party volunteers in colourful t-shirts handing out pamphlets.

      Now this sounds awful but I think it actually does something positive for the Australian voting experience. The voting booth locations are always active places with helpful people who have an obligation to be friendly – no party wants to see their volunteers in their shirts on the news because they were abusing people.

      Many of the Australian polling-booth sites I've visited on election day have resembled greywarshark's description – sausage sizzles ("#democracysausage") and other food, kids playing games, music playing.

  5. weka 6

    testing to see if the old smilies still work

    :mrgreen:

    😎

    😈

    🙄

    😮

  6. cleangreen 7

    smileyNew German study. Scientists find microplastics in Arctic snow, suggesting significant air pollution even in remote locations New German study. Scientists find microplastics in Arctic snow, suggesting significant air pollution even in remote locations

    CEAC calls for action for rail – Tyre dust found here in new study. – we note trains don't use tyres. – only trucks do. – stop trucks – use rail.

    QUOTE; “They are usually formed by the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic – for example, from shopping bags to the wear and tear on tires. Microplastics might contain varnish, rubber, or chemicals used in synthetic fabrics and cause significant air pollution.

    Published on : 10:28 PST, Aug 14, 2019

    “Plastic pollution is a problem of growing environmental concern, and annual waste production is projected to rise to 3.4 billion metric tons (MT) in the next 30 years.” https://meaww.com/scientists-discover-plastic-waste-arctic-snow-air-pollution-remote-locations-study

    • Pat 7.1

      "It seems easy, doesn’t it? The first of these options involves business as usual. It means that the company remains at the mercy of gyrating energy prices and of low-cost producers flooding the market with cheap steel. The second of the options would allow British Steel to be more forward-looking when there is pressure on the steel industry to do its bit in the fight against climate change.

      In all the circumstances, the decision might look like a no-brainer. After all, the government is committed to a long-term industrial strategy and, by 2050, a zero-carbon economy. Yet it is gearing up to make Oyak the preferred bidder.

      That decision, of course, has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the Liberty House plan involves 400 more job losses than the Oyak proposal, that Scunthorpe is a marginal with a Labour majority of less than 3,500 and that ministers are preparing for a snap general election within the next few months. Perish the thought."

      https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/15/spend-spend-spend-spirit-of-viv-nicholson-lives-on-britain-brexit

      • Dukeofurl 7.1.1

        Zero NETT carbon.

        Governments have committed since Kyoto to reduce NETT emissions, NZ does this ,when its gross emissions are rising, by buying carbon credits off others. The taxpayer pays something like $1 bill per year to do so, some industries that dont get the taxpayer to pick up their rising emissions maybe pay another $250 mill ?

        Places like Ukraine which 'de industrialised/de populated' have made a lot of money being a sink for others.

        Zero carbon doesnt mean no carbon , far from it.

        • cleangreen 7.1.1.1

          Agree with you sadly Dukeofurl, they buy phoney carbon credits too from saby countries like ukraine.and follish they are.

          This begun with John key though but you would think that labour would not do this now but my suspicion is that you are right they probaby are still buying them today from Ukraine now.

        • Pat 7.1.1.2

          There was no suggestion of otherwise….the point of the post (which appears to have been overlooked) is that even with the legislation (the UK has had it longer than anyone else) the logical decisions will be overridden for political expediency…NZ will be no different

    • greywarshark 7.2

      I have been interested for a while in Graeme Hart's packaging arm and finding out some more about what he does, and thinks about what is happening in this field. He is supposed to be an astute businessman and I would think would be moving out of some areas. His wealth is calculated at $10 billion IIRC.

      It is interesting when searching on google to find there is so little about him. And fascinating to find that there was a journalist Graeme Hart, now deceased, who wrote about him in The Listener in 2010. This is a good article and rare I imagine. There is this about packaging:

      If market rumours are correct, Rank Group is seeking to acquire US packaging company Pactiv Corporation in a bid to challenge Tetra Laval's food-packaging dominance. Among Tetra Laval's varied operations, the Tetra Pak business is the world leader in liquid food-processing and packaging.

      What is not in doubt is that Hart is laying the groundwork for something big after shelling out US$2.7 billion for aluminium producer Alcoa's packaging and consumer group in 2008. He spun off parts of the business – mostly aluminium foil and plastic closures – restructured it with plant shutdowns and hefty job losses, and renamed it Reynolds Packaging Group. It is now the flagship for Rank's varied and far-flung packaging interests.

      From late 2009 Hart started bundling the packaging groups Rank already owned into the Reynolds stable: Swiss drinks carton manufacturer SIB and ­Indianapolis-based plastic bottle cap manufacturer Closure Systems Inter­national. Courtesy of US$1.75 million of debt Hart is raising on Reynolds Group Holdings, he hopes to add further Rank assets to the mix: Memphis-based drinks packager Evergreen Packaging and even the Whakatane Paper Mill (the latter is part of Rank-controlled Carter Holt Harvey).

      The end-game in this has to be a food-packaging group capable of challenging Tetra Pak. Hart wouldn't be interested if the challenge were anything less. That he can even consider this when the global economy is still weak is testimony to more than blatant deal-making. It is about Hart himself – a rare breed of New Zealander who has made it in business overseas and survived as a member of New Zealand's oft-maligned and oft-troubled nouveau riche.

      The Economist predicts a giant Reynolds would give Hart the critical mass to change the nature of the food-packaging industry.

      It is hard being in business!

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12204563
      https://www.noted.co.nz/archive/archive-listener-nz-2010/lord-of-the-deals
      Graeme Hart’s Reynolds Group reports US$5 million loss
      Reynolds Group, the global packaging giant owned by New Zealand’s richest person, Graeme Hart, went into the red last year, because of a greater level of impaired assets and higher raw material costs.

      In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Reynolds reported US$5 million ($7.3m) loss in 2018, against a US$439 million profit in the previous year.

      Some old info – last at 2016
      https://www.interest.co.nz/category/tag/rank-group

      • greywarshark 7.2.1

        I was wrong in the above about journalist name which should have been Graeme Hunt writing about Graeme Hart.

  7. greywarshark 9

    Worrying about machines taking over – sometime in the next century, decade, year, now …..

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/08/15/the-wellington-orac-dangers-of-replacing-bureaucrat-bigotry-with-ai-bigotry-police-wanting-facial-recognition-cctv-empire/

    Martin Bradbury's take on it.

  8. Hey, just as a matter of interest, sometime in the recent past, was Eco Maori advised/encouraged to post his contributions on the Open Mike of yesterday or the day before? Or is he really just two short puffs on the end of a spliff – somehow I don’t believe that

    Yesterday's Open Mike is today's Fish and Chip rapper of course – but really no worse than those than come in here with the intention to divert, or even those running an official ideological agenda (going forward).

    No biggie – just curious from someone anxious for some learnings

    • Fireblade 10.1

      From memory, Eco Maori was asked not to post at the start of everyday, when he was asking for financial contributions. That was a long time ago now. He then chose to post on old Open Mikes.

      I believe Eco Maori should be invited back to the current Open Mike. I find most of his contributions quite interesting. Obviously what I think isn't important and it's not my decision to make.

      • OnceWasTim 10.1.1

        Ditto @ Fireblade re last paragraph. I hadn't realised he'd been asking for financial contributions. Just curious. (Maybe it'll eventually kill this kat)

        • greywarshark 10.1.1.1

          Eco Maori interests and I notice the style of writing changes, and I have a feeling that more than one person pens the comments, or that he sometimes plays with a stream of Maori consciousness approach where he talks a lot about sandflys who are out to get him (cops and bailiffs?).

          But even if his pieces go to yesterday's OM we are still allowed to read them! When his name occurs in the Comments listings, just follow them up and see what pearls he is throwing down. He supports Maori musicians so we can keep up with the young creatives.

          I think he might be writing for another readership actually, some of the ones who follow the blog and don't write in

    • veutoviper 10.2

      I also actually quite enjoy some of Eco's comments, but they did become a problem for the reasons discussed above.

      As far as I am aware, the fact that they appear in Open Mike's of a day or two old rather than on the day they are actually submitted has nothing to do with Eco's choice – but rather what I call "lprent's Magical Time Machine"! lprent waves his wand and just by magic Eco's comments disappear and reappear on older Open Mike posts.

      I take it you have not noticed that lprent has been updating his Time Machine and has it doing other such tricks with other commenters' posts from time to time over the last month or so? LOLOL

      Seriously though I find the current solution completely practical and presumably acceptable to Eco, otherwise he would stop posting at all. It allows Eco’s comments to still appear but without the disruption to other comments/posts etc. I and others have replied to Eco’s posts from time to time but I don’t recall any of us having responses to our replies …

      In fact there are a lot more posts that I would love to see being treated in a similar manner!

      • OnceWasTim 10.2.1

        Yep Mr/Mrs/Ms Veut. I did notice Lprent's wizardry. A true gem when it comes to eloquent and expedient solutions.

        I imagine it all happened when I was away being mischievous and on a venture to find my inner peace – even though I did comment from time to time from the other side. Which reminds me, I'd also noticed Mr Ure is back on his magic scooter, and one or two others that seem to be commenting from their new-found set of mystical realities.

        Unfortunately, it seems no amount of time warp travel affects the likes of a Mapp.

        All part of life's rich tapestry though eh?

        • Incognito 10.2.1.1

          All part of life’s rich tapestry though eh?

          QFT

          • veutoviper 10.2.1.1.1

            Oh, so clever.

            So which definition of QFT are you intending, Incognito? There are several.

            • Incognito 10.2.1.1.1.1

              I only know one that fits here: Quoted For Truth.

              The other one I know (of) doesn’t make any sense here 😉

              Please enlighten me/us.

        • lprent 10.2.1.2

          Another mod used my OpenMike shunt to shift some off-topic junk out of a post. It shunted up to the top of an OpenMike from a later date – because it was earlier. That was because the OM shunt sends it to the current OM.

          I just changed the dates so that it no-longer looked like it was the eco post.

  9. greywarshark 11

    Portsmouth Sinfonia pay the Danube Waltz (or murder it if you wish). Tis is how our democracy is going at the moment. If you want it to be better than the PS sound, then keep working at it. The PS is people who have not had much time learning their instruments though they are good at their own specialty. They need time to learn and at present are giving it a 'good go', I just love it though can't bear to listen too often. The Lord loves a tryer. So help us please oh Lord.

    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmqBzFcHQis

    You will like them at the Albert Hall having a go at the Hallelujah Chorus! What a doughty bunch. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkPGByh_F50

    The main thing is to keep going and not start laughing.

    Another version entirely. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRhjWdr-LAA

    • Pingau 11.1

      I first heard them playing the William Tell overture … I laughed so hard I cried. I think it is a requirement that you have never played whatever instrument you are playing before but that you give it your best shot. They have a sprinkling of people who can play to help the overall music along.

      Thanks for that Gray!

      • greywarshark 11.1.1

        Glad you like it Pingau. I think that the full requirement is that they are musicians but have never played the instrument du jour before. Some of them have a very short practice! And the working guideline is that you all start together and finish together. In between it gets individual.

        It has always tickled me especially the Albert Hall Hallelujah where there were a basic group of singers and musicians and then another hundred or so turned up to be in the shindig. It's very enjoyable and for some it is no more discordant than jazz can be.

        It is more fun than when you are an earnest music student and get to perform at the end of year show and tell, and forget your piece but stumble through, and are outclassed by a six year old who plays Fur Elise like a professional! Happened to one of my children. He still plays though – he's got true grit.

        • OnceWasTim 11.1.1.1

          Is that second one (Hallelujah) the theme son to Brexit?

        • Stuart Munro. 11.1.1.2

          You've hit on something real there – the commodification of recorded music tends to obscure the fun of producing it, of personally improving, and of being part of a creative community.

          Both Karaoke and the punk movement were directed at returning music to small groups and communities, and both enjoyed considerable success. Great link btw.

    • OnceWasTim 11.2

      That sounds bloody familiar @Grey – I've been racking my brain. Finally it came to me. It's the theme song to a few government departments/munstries – especially that one you hear when you enter the old Defence Headquarters in Ballance St. You get the best Theatre Mode there too on an expensive curved screen

      The State Services Commish was so taken by it that he's instructed it to be used at Justice, and I understand Kelvin Davis is asking the Commish whether or not it might be appropriate at Pleece National HQ.

      MSD is so progressive they're considering some sort of 'mashup' using it, but it'll have to go to Cabinet for a final decision

  10. adam 12

    More examples of a media out of wack long video 20 min

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyKHBPvlCFw&ab_channel=TheGrayzone

  11. cleangreen 13

    Greta Thunberg is an inspiring soul and hope for our future lies in her spiritual beliefs that you can’t ‘short change’ “mother nature” and get away with it.

    I believe she will be a world leader one day, as she shows truth to power.

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    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
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