Open Mike 16/11/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 16th, 2016 - 114 comments
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114 comments on “Open Mike 16/11/2016 ”

  1. save nz 1

    Rust-belt romantics don’t get it: the middle class is being wiped out too
    Aditya Chakrabortty
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/15/rust-belt-middle-class-wiped-out

    • Paul 1.1

      A rebellion against neoliberalism

    • Draco T Bastard 1.2

      Along the same vein:

      If you look just at polling data- the biggest issues concerning New Zealanders are poverty/inequality and housing. Logically, the road to political success would be for politicians who can articulate a solution to these problems. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple.

      The government policies that cause the housing crisis and inequality turn out to be very profitable for those with lots of money. For example, more than a third of the 2016 Rich List members have investments in property, real estate or development. Housing prices are largely being driven up by these investors seeking strong financial returns. These same investors are the same people who can fund- or not fund- a politician’s campaign.

      Even if a politician found other avenues of funding, it doesn’t fix the problem. These big investors might pour resources into opponents.

      • Gosman 1.2.1

        Donald Trump spent well under what Hillary Clinton spent and won. Money does not seem to have the influence you think it does in deciding elections.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1

          You’re trying to distract from the message that politicians are owned by the rich.

          And, yes, money does have an influence on voting.

          • Chuck 1.2.1.1.1

            “And, yes, money does have an influence on voting.”

            Then Dotcom and Colin Craig would of succeeded based on the millions they each spent.

            In 2014 the Greens spent more than Labour, but that did not translate into more MP’s for the Greens (compared to Labour).

            Money has an effect…after all how does a political party get out its message to potential voters? But its a mistake to say throwing money at a party influences voters to any great degree. Its more if a voter agrees with the party policy’s and personal to carry out said policy’s.

            • Gosman 1.2.1.1.1.1

              Exactly. Money plays a part but ultimately you still need to have ideas. Those ideas are more influential than the money that is used to promote them. Draco’s problem is his ideas are so wacky and out of kilter with mainstream thinking that he has to conjure up the idea that there are people trying to stop others from accepting them.

            • DoublePlusGood 1.2.1.1.1.2

              Nope. Money has an *influence* on voting. It does not guarantee anything.

          • Gosman 1.2.1.1.2

            If money plays less of a role in politics than you think it does why would all politicians be owned by the rich? I think your issue is you can’t convince politician’s that your ideas are something they should follow so you use the role that you think money plays in politics to explain the failure of your ideas to be adopted more widely.

            • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1.2.1

              Again, you’re trying to distract from the main point – that the rich own the politicians and because of that the politicians won’t even entertain ideas that will affect the wealthy negatively even though those ideas will be better for the society.

              • james

                OK – since you state it as a fact – do you think Andrew Little is owned by the rich?

                Do you believe that he will never entertain ideas that will affect the wealthy in a negative way?

                **BTW _ I do not think he, nor most are ‘owned’ in the slightest. Just curious on your view.

                • Draco T Bastard

                  I believe that politicians will listen to and do what the wealthy want more than they do everyone else. If they didn’t then lobbying wouldn’t be worth it now would it?

                  An oligarchy has broken our democracy. It must be dislodged

                  I define the American Deep State as a hybrid association of elements of government and top-level finance and industry that is able, through campaign financing of elected officials, influence networks and co-option via the promise of lucrative post-government careers, to govern the United States in spite of elections and without reference to the consent of the governed.

                  These operatives use their proximity to power and ability to offer high-paying jobs to government officials to achieve outcomes foreclosed to ordinary citizens. As professor Martin Gilens of Princeton, who studied the correlation between American popular opinion polls and public policy outcomes, concluded: “[T]he preferences of economic elites have far more independent impact upon policy change than the preferences of average citizens do … ordinary citizens have virtually no influence over what their government does in the United States.”

                  I’m pretty sure that the same is happening here in NZ.

                • Craig H

                  The Labour Party gets very few donations from businesses or the wealthy currently.

                  Another issue is getting lambasted in the media, whether fairly or unfairly.

                  Another issue is believing a lot of the macroeconomic misinformation peddled over the past 30 years.

                  Hopefully Grant Robertson’s speech at conference repudiating trickle down economics is the start to everyone moving to a better macroeconomic place.

                  • BM

                    The Labour Party gets very few donations from businesses

                    Do you consider that good or bad?

                    • james

                      Another question would be – Is this because Labour dont want them, or businesses have little faith in labour (or simply dont like and/or trust them)

  2. gsays 2

    Weka, stephanie and others, thanks for your efforts over the last few days in respect to the ban hammer.
    Obviously I aren’t privy to all that has gone on, but the niggle from some authors was getting really petty.

    Yes it is a last resort but I feel it has been appropriate recently.
    Keep up the good work.

  3. Morrissey 3

    “I want to start by apologizing to all the U.S. military members,
    their families, and the fans who I offended by my actions on Sunday.”

    When you see how easily intimidated are moral pipsqueaks like this fellow, you realize just how strong and resilient Colin Kaepernick is….

    http://deadspin.com/mike-evans-has-already-caved-on-his-national-anthem-pro-1788997001

  4. Bill 4

    Remember the TPPA and the line about how it’d be really good for you and me and for NZ in general?

    Now, John Key’s own words..

    I still strongly believe the United States still gains more than it actually gives from free trade and I’d urge him (Trump) when he gets a chance to sit back and get some advice on how we might be able to progress it.”

    So there you go folks. Liberal politicians (yes, both National and Labour are quintessentially liberal) are knowingly out to throw you and me under a bus. It’s not an accident. It’s not that they have a different understanding from yours or mine of what transpires under free trade deals. It’s just that in their calculation, you and I don’t matter.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/president-elect-trump-calls-key-following-quake

    • weka 4.1

      Why are you using ‘liberal’ instead of ‘neoliberal’ there?

      • Bill 4.1.1

        Because neo-liberal is just a re-hash of late 19th C liberalism.

        • weka 4.1.1.1

          Ok, but isn’t that a bit obscure for most people who use the term liberalism differently now? (ie not referring to the late 19C)

          • Wayne 4.1.1.1.1

            Since when did free trade become a “neo-liberal” concept in that the only people who use the term do so as a point of abuse.
            For instance are any of CER or NAFTA or the China FTA an invention of the evil right.
            In fact without either CER and the China FTA New Zealand would not have survived the GFC as well as it has. In fact this is the reason why we don’t have the angst that led to Trump. Unlike the US the “right direction/wrong direction” poll has NZers consistently voting right direction.
            This bodes well for John Key’s re-election chances.

            • Bill 4.1.1.1.1.1

              There is no ‘evil right’….just liberalism. There is a well established and understood economic theory based on free trade that is referred to as ‘liberal’ or ‘classical’ economics. (Throw in the ‘neo’ if you must)

              Interestingly (disturbingly) according to the words of Andrew Little (and I disagree on this point) the Labour Party has always favoured free trade.

              Which is essentially to claim that the Labour Party has always been liberal.

              • adam

                Which means Andrew is either being obtuse, or just another liberal rewriting history.

              • Macro

                Andrew Little would be quite wrong on that point.

                8
                New Zealand has a long history of protectionism . Tariffs, first introduced as a source of government revenues, assumed their role as an instrument for protecting domestic industries in the late nineteenth century. Fifty years thereafter, in 1938, the government made the tariff protective structure redundant by an introduction of an extensive import licensing scheme. Originally justified as a response to the country’s deteriorating overseas currency reserves, the import licensing controls remained the dominant means of protection in New Zealand over the next fifty years to come.

                http://www.econ.canterbury.ac.nz/downloads/quota.pdf
                The import licensing scheme was a 1st Labour Govt initiative, and it served us well until it was trashed by the 4th Labour Govt.

                • Wayne

                  Macro,

                  You are right about the establishment of import licensing by the first Labour government, though elements to were pre-existing. Which is why Andrew Little is wrong with his history, at least that part of it extends prior to 1984.

                  By the early 1980’s import licensing and all the associated controls had reached the end of the road. It was hugely holding back NZ, and was leading to massive economic problems. Anyone who travelled overseas could see that it was no longer useful.

                  That is why Muldoon got voted out and the reformers were voted in.

                  Not withstanding Trump, there is zero prospect of import licensing or anything like that being reintroduced.

                  And I am pretty certain quite a lot of his anti-trade rhetoric is just that. Which is why we could yet see a son of TPP. And Trump will be able to say what a great deal it is – in fact a tremendous deal!

                  • lprent

                    Personally I have no problems with Trade deals. Such a pity that the TPP isn’t one.

                    Much of it is about things that have nothing to do with trade, but more with defining the laws by overriding the local legislative and regulatory environments. In the case of NZ that means that many of those changes are retrograde – they actually constrain our trading environment unfavorably.

                    Since about the only trading benefits were for tariffs for a small minority of companies in the rural sector, and with most of tariffs being decades away – why would we be interested in TPP or any similar deal? It is a crap trade deal for us.

                    Basically for NZ, TPP just looked like a photo-op deal for Key and some of the ministers. The deal that was on the table before the US jumped on board looked a whole lot more useful for NZ and its future economy.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Personally I have no problems with Trade deals.

                      I do as they bring about increased poverty for all nations involved while a few people get inordinately richer.

                      Far better to fall back on the basis of free-trade:

                      Willing buyer, willing seller.

                      But treat the country as a single entity rather than putting it in the hands of individuals.

                      Put in place standards that the other country must meet before we trade with them. This will be better for us – they won’t be able to undercut us by cutting back on worker and environmental protections as an example – and better for the other country as well because that other country must bring their own countries living standards up to meet ours.

                    • lprent []

                      Yeah I agree about the standards. But…

                      Those usually have to be done at a multi-lateral level in something like the WTO or the current changes to international tax agreements or whatever. But generally they tend to get done country by country. That is effectively what most agreements do, including most trade agreements. Have a look at the large amount of legislation about standards that has gone on between NZ and Aussie over the last 3+ decades post CER.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Those usually have to be done at a multi-lateral level in something like the WTO or the current changes to international tax agreements or whatever.

                      No, they don’t have to at all. We could set the standards that we will trade at with some variance that allows for tariffs or other types of restrictions around those standards. Other nations do the same.

                      Taxes shouldn’t need to be negotiated at all. Just have it so that all local economic activity will be taxed locally with no transfer pricing or shifting of that activity offshore by any means.

                      That is effectively what most agreements do, including most trade agreements.

                      I know that’s what they’re supposed to do but they actually don’t. Or are you really going to claim that China has the same environmental and worker protections that we do?

                  • DoublePlusGood

                    For corporations perhaps. For the people? No.

                    • Brutus Iscariot

                      Inequality within Western nations has increased, yes. Essentially wealth has been transferred from the working and middle classes in western countries, and been passed to workers in emerging economies like China.

                      The argument that trade and globalisation have benefited no-one is incorrect.

                      Since you’re all enlightened humanists here, you should be happy to have taken the hit so that poverty in other countries is decreased.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Since you’re all enlightened humanists here, you should be happy to have taken the hit so that poverty in other countries is decreased.

                      Why should we have go into poverty just so that another nations people can be slightly better off but not out of poverty themselves while a few people get very much richer?

                    • Macro

                      Actually Brutus – your analysis is only partially correct.
                      Canadian Dr John Mc Murtry in his book “Unequal Freedoms – the global market as an ethical system” written in 1998, writes:

                      Such “necessary sacrifices” however applied not only to Mexico’s indigenous people, but also to farmers across Canada, as established tariff and marketing board systems of secure prices and sales were to be progressively dismantled by NAFTA. The problem also applied to the estimated 500,000 manufacturing workers, who according to the Canadian Labour Congress, lost their jobs within 3 years of the original US – Canada FTA because goods could be produced elsewhere at lower wages (for example at 63 cents per hour paid out by US corporations operating in Mexico). ….The problem was also applicable to Mexican workers. Their life – wages eventually collapsed by 60%, and unemployment rates sky-rocketed as transnationally mobile capital left the Mexiacn economy in massive splurges of speculative currency ventures, quick-profit investments, and capital flights

                  • Macro

                    “It was hugely holding back NZ, and was leading to massive economic problems. Anyone who travelled overseas could see that it was no longer useful.”

                    Tell that to the women machinist in our clothing factories, the rubber workers in our tyre factories, the car assembly workers in our assembly plants, the small businesses around the country manufacturing home appliances, the boat builders, the glass makers – we now even import wine bottles for the wine we make here. The list is long. The forests we planted arenow owned by foreigners. Our logs are shipped off-shore to be milled in Japan and China, and our log-truck drivers are instructed to drive even longer and faster or else loose their tenuous contracts, endangering themselves and every other road user.
                    The effect of the US-Canadian FTA was the loss of 500,000 jobs in Canada alone. Free Trade agreements also hurt workers in the US, (over a million seamstresses in what was the largest clothing industry were made redundant not to mention the near demise of the automotive industry. How else can you explain the reactionary response we have just witnessed in the US?

                    • Wayne

                      The Lange/Douglas reforms are more than thirty years ago. The world has moved on.

                      For instance in 2005 unemployment was about 3.2%. Today is under 5%. Participation rates are higher than the 1980’s. The employment effects of the reforms are long gone. Sure, old jobs have gone, but new jobs have been created.

                      The road toll is around half of what is was in the 1980’s with 2 million more people.

                      The pre 1980’s world is not coming back, even in a modified form.

                      As for the reactionary impact in the US, as evidenced in the election. Yes, it is real. But that is why I referred to the “right direction/wrong direction” poll. In the US the majority of people have been saying wrong direction for 15 years. In NZ people have been saying right direction for 15 years, except in 2008, but that was why there was a change in government at that time.

                      Maybe in the last 15 years successive governments have handled the effects of the market reforms better than in the US.

                      For instance there has been no change in income inequality in NZ since 1992. A lot of that is due to government policy such as Working for Families, accommodation supplement, free doctor visits for kids 12 and under, increases in welfare payments, minimum wage of $15.25, etc.

              • lprent

                Which is essentially to claim that the Labour Party has always been liberal.

                In economic terms? It isn’t a binary issue. Our economic responses tend to interrelate with those of the rest of the world.

                There has always been a significiant part of the NZLP and its precursors that have been strongly in favor of it over a long period. Tariff barriers or import rationing usually cause internal costs to be higher and act like a drag on the economy. It makes it harder to get the goods and services required to develop the resources and industries here in NZ.

                However those same people are also quite aware that there are penalties for that as well. Winding up being a freeish trade economy in the midst of the fortress tariffs of other countries of the 1930s to 1970s means that it was hard to sell goods and services from here.

                So we kept a rationing system (import licensing) to allow the balance of payments issues to be handled. Since we we still having quite severe periodic balance of payments problems in the late 60s and early 70s, the slow reduction of our own barriers took some time.

                The other rationale for trade barriers is to allow for local nascent industries to form – often for strategic reasons. However if they can’t be reasonably efficient and have prices that are similar or lower that competitors form offshore then they act as a tithe on locals and other businesses.

                • Draco T Bastard

                  It makes it harder to get the goods and services required to develop the resources and industries here in NZ.

                  Oh noes, we might have to work a bit harder and develop that ability ourselves.

                  Oh, woe is us.

                  /sarc

                  However if they can’t be reasonably efficient and have prices that are similar or lower that competitors form offshore then they act as a tithe on locals and other businesses.

                  It’s pretty much physically impossible for other nations to be more efficient than us. That’s simply the nature of physical reality.

                  • lprent

                    Oh noes, we might have to work a bit harder and develop that ability ourselves.

                    It is the usual thing. Why expend effort and resources on something that we can’t do well, when we could expend those same resources and effort on something that we can do well.

                    Doing a penance of the chores of hard and boring work to me is such strange fetish – on the par with self-flagellation.

                    Doing something that is more productive makes work enjoyable.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      Why expend effort and resources on something that we can’t do well, when we could expend those same resources and effort on something that we can do well.

                      Except that we can do it as well as anyone else – once we develop the capability. And those other nations can do what we do well and they will develop the capability – as China is developing its dairy capability. China already develops its own IT hardware.

                      By refusing to develop our economy because of trade we’re actually making it worse for ourselves in the long run. Keep doing what we’re doing and in a couple of decades we’re going to be a bunch of paupers down at the bottom of the world with absolutely nothing as we would have failed to develop our economy and exported all of our raw resources as well.

                      Societies specialising results in the collapse of that society.

                    • stunned mullet

                      DTB – there are always going to be some items which it is far simpler and cheaper to import than manufacture ourselves – many of which we don’t have the capability to manufacture locally.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      there are always going to be some items which it is far simpler and cheaper to import than manufacture ourselves

                      Actually, it’s physically impossible for it to be any cheaper. It’s still going to use the same resources.

                      many of which we don’t have the capability to manufacture locally.

                      We may not have it now but we could develop that capability. Simply being human allows that to happen.

                    • Actually, it’s physically impossible for it to be any cheaper. It’s still going to use the same resources.

                      Yes, if I print one copy of a book myself it uses the same amount of paper and ink as if a professional publisher does it for me. So, if we just ignore the cost of the time it would take me to learn how to create a book and to become sufficiently practiced at it that I could print one that was worth owning, and if we ignore the cost of the machinery involved or the time it would take me to replicate the work of the machine via handcraft, and the wastage involved in me doing all that for the sake of one book, yes it would cost about the same because it uses the same resources. Of course, we’d have to be completely delusional to ignore those things, which is why we don’t ignore them.

                    • lprent []

                      Indeed. Good answer to whoever you were replying to.

                      Time is a resource and usually counted as a direct cost. Skills and education are resources and is an overhead cost. Plant, tools and machinery are resources and a overhead cost. Providing power, heat, water, mailboxes, etc to sustain a business involves resources and services provided by others and is expressed as an overhead cost.

                      All of those things (and many more) make up the true cost of the resources used in a product or service. There is a whole branch of accounting (cost accounting) that apportions the cost of overhead resources for an enterprise across their products or services. Like basic economics it is deadly boring, and something that most people should learn because it looks at the dismal reality of dealing with and using scarce resources.

                      Forgone returns from not using those resources in a more productive enterprises is an opportunity cost.

                    • Macro

                      That is very true – if talking about one off manufacture. But for instance, when we manufactured tyres in NZ, NZ had one of the most efficient tyre factories in the western world – despite having the use of cast off machinery that no one else wanted. The 600+ workers were well paid (causing one National MP to decry in the House the rates as scandalous!) So with the closure of the factory – because the international company could do so and bring the tyres in from Asia, 600+ families lost their income. Wage rates declined, and now both partners are required to work full time. Whereas just 30 + years ago, one income could not only buy a house, but support a family.
                      Wayne says that times have changed. Yes they have and not for the better. He quotes unemployment rates in justification that things are all well and good. Of course he completely overlooks the fact that we now count a person as being “employed” if they have 1 hour per week of work. Futhermore, as has been pointed out to Wayne numerous times, the cost of putting a roof over ones head has now risen exponentially in the past 30 years whereas wages have not. Food banks were unheard of 30 years ago. Homelessness was something that only occured overseas. Young people could leave one job and begin another overnight. Nowadays the unemployment rate of people under 25 is national disgrace.
                      Just a street away from where I now live a man and his family had a business in the basement of his house where he manufactured Freezers for the local market. I still have one bought 40 years ago and it is still working as well as it did when it was first bought. When we bought the freezer I didn’t know Gane nor the fact that it was constructed in a house basement by him and his family. In fact we lived at the other end of the Island. It was only in recent years that I learned the history of these remarkable products.
                      There are still NZ manufactured freezers available but they are under pressure from cheaply made and cheaply constructed overseas competitors. If we are really serious about work for NZers (and at the same time preserving resources) we need to bring back import restrictions.
                      The first free trade agreement in recorded history was between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.It seems that things went very well for a while. But if you read further, the downside of this trade was devistating to both countries and Israel went through a rapid decline which took years to recover.
                      It is often said that there is nothing new under the sun. Its also said that those who fail to learn from history are forced to repeat it.

                    • Draco T Bastard

                      @PM

                      Yes, if I print one copy of a book myself it uses the same amount of paper and ink as if a professional publisher does it for me.

                      Good job I’m not talking about individuals doing everything for themselves but our society.

                      Simple fact of the matter is that an automated factory is just as efficient in NZ as it is in China. And it doesn’t even have to be a big factory – size makes no difference. A small factory is just as efficient as a large one.

                      @Lprent

                      Forgone returns from not using those resources in a more productive enterprises is an opportunity cost.

                      But we’re not really doing that are we?

                      We’ve still got ~7% of our working age population in agriculture. That should be down at 2% – enough to feed ourselves. The ~100k people freed up should be going into more productive fields.

                      How productive is our service industry considering that it pays minimum wage and makes up ~70% of our economy?

                      The loss doesn’t come from diversifying our economy but from spending too much effort to do more of the same. That’s what happened to dairy.

          • Bill 4.1.1.1.2

            I don’t think so, no.

            You were able enough to pick up on what was being referred to, and as you’ve indicated on occasions in the past, political labels and what they refer to or indicate aren’t your forte.

            Liberalism, whether in its first outing or in its new garb was, in my opinion, only ever all about free trade and an attempt to increase the purview of the state or establishment via the loosening up of social mores. (The social dimension – accentuated this time around – was or has been merely intended to act as a distraction from, or compensation for, the deleterious consequences of the economic dimension)

            • Robertina 4.1.1.1.2.1

              Neoliberalism is characterised by the much freer moment of capital and goods made possible by technology, which is partly why it gets its own name.

              More immediately it’s right to question the term because liberal and liberalism have become pejoratives in the alt-right.
              It’s chilling as the subtext is hostility towards a free press, women, and so on.
              I’m not suggesting you’re using it in that sense, and I’m not suggesting you’re alt-right.
              I disagree with your suggestion though that the ‘social’ or positive side of liberalism was a deliberate distraction. There is a relationship but it’s more complex.

          • adam 4.1.1.1.3

            Weka you may have noticed, people have moved away from liberal as a term for progressive politics. Apart from the continued poisonous use by the right, which is ironic because the majority of them are liberals in a classical sense. The term fails, because of it’s on going association with a particular brand/ideology of economics.

            What has become more common are words like progressive, open minded, and/or free thinker.

    • Scott 4.2

      But you are thinking of it as a zero sum game.

      I don’t know if they are right or not, but proponents of the TPP would probably say that the US would gain more than they lose, and so would every other member of the TPP, including us – that the result would be improvement for all involved not a redistribution from state to state.

      • Gosman 4.2.1

        I think the issue here is most people don’t understand the point of freeing up trade. Most people I have come across think it is to allow nations to sell their goods and/or services to the other country. What it really does is allow consumers and businesses in your own country to access goods and servcices that are either better quality or better price or both.

        • save nz 4.2.1.1

          Sounds good on paper Gosman until you realise it is the leading cause of inequality. The greediness and lack of fairness and transparency of the last 20 years is now causing a back lash from voters around the world from the UK to USA.

          • Gosman 4.2.1.1.1

            Incorrect. In fact trade protection causes greater inequality than free trade. For example most people can afford electronic items that even rich people only dreamed of even 20 years ago. Slap on trade barriers on those items and the only people able to afford them will be the wealthy.

            • Clump_AKA Sam 4.2.1.1.1.1

              Wtf r u going on about noob

              [looks like you are the noob here. Please tone down the abuse (a read of the Policy might be a good idea too) – weka]

            • save nz 4.2.1.1.1.2

              It’s great most of us can afford a TV and cellphone (often made by slave labour in factories and the e waste being dumped into the environment) but the issue now is that people can’t afford the basics, housing, power, water and food or they can afford it, but then low and behold their job gets cut unexpectedly and they become homeless or what have you.

              I think if you surveyed people and asked if they would prefer a stable house and job over TV with Real Housewives of Auckland and a cell phone – I think most people would prefer the former.

              If you have a look at Cuba for example – they seem to be having much better outcomes in some areas by not having free trade. I’m not advocating that trade is bad, more that it has been captured by a global elite of lobbyists and not working in societies best interests only their own.

              (from wiki) “Cuba’s literacy rate of 99.8 percent[190][267] is the tenth-highest globally, due largely to the provision of free education at every level.[268] Cuba’s high school graduation rate is 94 percent.

              Cuba has the highest doctor-to-population ratio in the world and has sent thousands of doctors to more than 40 countries around the world.[280] According to the World Health Organization, Cuba is “known the world over for its ability to train excellent doctors and nurses who can then go out to help other countries in need”. As of September 2014 there are around 50,000 Cuban-trained health care workers aiding 66 nations.[281] Cuban physicians have played a leading role in combating the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.[282]”

              • Wayne

                I have not been to Cuba, but based on what I see on TV, it looks to be one of the poorer countries in the world. Part of that is the embargo, but a lot of it is due to their socialist system.

                Their agriculture and infrastructure (trains, roads, industrial plant, electricity, etc) look appalling. There was a recent TV programme on Cuban trains. The narrator was a UK train enthusiast and was clearly sympathetic to the socialist cause. But the trains he was on were worse than any I have seen in any country I have visited which includes a lot of third world countries. The people in the towns and villages that the trains went through were obviously very poor, though the people were not malnourished. Cuba has never bought Chinese or Russian trains, they are still using US General Electric trains from the early 1950’s.

                Socialist agriculture everywhere it is practised is a failure, at least compared to family farms or for that matter corporate farms. That was obvious from the agriculture adjacent to the train.

                Frankly I am skeptical about the doctor ratio. I suspect the doctor training does not relate to a seven year training programme that we expect in NZ.

        • lprent 4.2.1.2

          Sure, but since we already have that – then why would we want to restrict it with something like the TPP?

          Perhaps if you confine yourself to looking at the situation here rather than doing some dumb puff quoting from international economics 101 you might actually find out why people think that something like the TPP absolutely sucks.

          • Gosman 4.2.1.2.1

            Whether the TPPA in it’s entirety is a good quality trade deal is a separate matter. What can be stated is that coming to an international agreement on trade and investment is generally better than not having any agreement at all. For example would you prefer a flawed UN or an international free for all?

            • Clump_AKA Sam 4.2.1.2.1.1

              I wrote this in reply to some one else but thought I’d put it here with some unedited bits in it just so I can say one again goose you come across as bat shit crazy.

              The Gold Exchange Standard[1] primary objective was to increase trade and it was supposed to do that through stability. So instead of trading a ton of gold for a ton of milk you could go in and pay for goods on the international markets with US dollars and obviously notes are much more easily transportable. As a consequence the US dollar is the world reserve currency. It’s the default currency traded between trading nations including New Zealand.

              If you think about what this means it means that New Zealand requires a large amount of US dollars at any one time. The upside is as long as every one plays by the rulz and the terms of trade is predictable. So that will increase trade between member nations leading to increased prosperity and potential peace amongst member states.

              But there was a problem. Between 1950 and 1969 Japan and Germany recovered after WW2[2] and the US share of global economic growth fell from 35% to 27%[3] so Japan and Germany recovered structurally and started producing goods. And what happened was New Zealand increasingly became a net importer[4] of Japanese and German goods vs the rest of the world resulting in a negative balance of payment vs the United States so New Zealand ends up managing deficit. During this process New Zealand did muddle through but the down side become apparent when the US had to brake the rulz in order to finance their Vietnam war so the US was forced to print more US dollars to finance the war and print them at a rate that was higher than newly mind gold and this makes the kiwi dollar increasingly more questionable vs gold and nations became nervous and started to sell US dollars for US gold. As the system became A symmetric because the US became willing to do what ever they pleased because they’ve been printing more and more money.

              The US has sealed its own fate because the US dollar fell[5] against the kiwi dollar. Other nations started stepping away from the gold standard as it was seen as artificial stimulus had started to protect US political interest. So instead of using reserves of US dollars to purchase New Zealand’s currency ie to revalue the kiwi dollar to defend our exports. Foreign governments started selling US dollars for gold. At the time NZ unemployment[6] was about 6% and all of this culminated in the President Nixon weekend when Nixon decided to brake up the Breton Woods system[7] and they broke it up by suspending conversion of US dollars into gold. So they dis aloud foreign countries from buying US gold and this created an overall currency crises. And this is used as a political weapon by political leaders to divert attention away from the realities of these causes. This is America having a protectionist system protecting looking after its own political interest and New Zealand says those are our interests to and maintaining deficit spending.

              So John Keys publicly stated intention lower interest rates in order to protect New Zealand dairy prices and housing prices and to stabilise the currency against speculators[8] is all just political speak because it’s counter intuitive when you try to protect the value of your currency by letting it go down. IT DOSN’T MAKE ANY SENSE. When you read the attached article[8] what John Key means by this is a devaluation of the Kiwi Dollar in order to make NZ exports less expensive and foreign goods more expensive to stimulate the demand for domestic goods and create jobs. Essentially what they did by braking the Breton Woods system is create a trade and currency war. I’ll link this video[9] of Nixon and I want you to watch this video now and listen to the political speak this is very important for ant one to begin to understand when things go wrong central authorities such as governments and central banks will use political language to defend positions that are hopeless. So go and watch Nixons speech then return here.

              What you saw in the video turned out to be a huge political success Nixon and the New Zealand Government. The entire public think this leaders are saving us from speculators and a foreign caused exchange rate or trade crises. So it’s the begged thy neighbour policy. Blame a some one else for the problems in our currency which peg to commodities[10] or at the wrong value and couldn’t maintain international trade with trading partners sensibly.

              So it ended up being a political success but in the 4 months since John Key told the reserve bank to “get on with it” the kiwi dollar rose 3% against the Australian dollar which isn’t a huge move but IMF (International monetary fund) members are able to choose any form of exchange rate agreement[11] that them access except paying fair prices for NZ milk solids.

              So the NZ dollar is a currency that floats freely and is pegged to a bundle of commodities weighted against the US dollar.

              This ends the investor rights lesson and there’s a reason why it’s kept complicated in the eyes of the public, and as soon as you take a look at them it’s easy to see why, and notice I said from the public. They’re not complicated to all the lawyers and accountants who write the detail and regulation, but of course in the interest of constituents, dosnt happen to be the public, or there own countries. So these are highly protectionists for the benefit of private power, not small business owners, effectively raising tariffs through patient of value add or trade marks. If you can figure out what all this means, it has nothing to do with provisions that undermine the dairy industry, including incidentally, regulation of environment protections and rather strikingly the phrase climate change isn’t mentioned in any modern business literature which are illustrative of the whole economic and dairy structure.

              References:

              [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard
              [2]https://www.quora.com/How-did-Germany-and-Japan-recover-in-such-a-short-amount-of-time-after-WW2
              [3]https://ourworldindata.org/gdp-growth-over-the-last-centuries/
              [4]http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/ReserveBank/Files/Publications/Bulletins/2009/2009dec72-4zhang.pdf
              [5]http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/currency
              [6]http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/the-1970s/overview
              [7]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system
              [8]http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/national/81890667/Prime-Minister-John-Key-says-Reserve-Bank-needs-to-get-on-with-it-on-housing-measures
              [9]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD99SGj4IGM
              [10]https://www.oanda.com/currency/iso-currency-codes/NZD
              [11]http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/2014/areaers/ar2014.pdfu

              • Gosman

                This is nonsense. John Key has not advocated any preferences around the NZ Dollar indeed I remember a few years back The Greens were pushing for essentially what you are asking for and John Key stated that it was a bad idea to try and manipulate the market.

                Your analysis falls down on a number of areas of fact:

                1 – NZ real interest rates are amongst the highest in the developed world. Countries like Japan are offering negative interest rates on their government back bonds.

                2 – The NZ dollar is at historically high levels compared to many of our key trading nations such as Aussie and US Dollars. It has not develued during John Key’s term in government.

                3 – The NZ Dollar is not pegged to any commodities but floats freely and is set by whatever the demand and supply for it is.

                • Clump_AKA Sam

                  FYI the float is dirty not free

                  • Gosman

                    Evidence for this please. I suspect you can’t find any independent source that backs up your claim that the NZ dollar is a quasi-pegged currency against a basket of commodities.

                    • Clump_AKA Sam

                      I told you to read the article again

                    • Red []

                      It’s difficult as it puts you to sleep

                    • Clump_AKA Sam

                      That’s what the designers intended

                    • Gosman

                      No. Your article makes claims that the dollar is essentially pegged to a basket of commodities. I want you to link to something that actually states this is the case.

                      BTW your references are bollocks. Most of them are just references to articles telling you basic economic information not supporting your arguments.

                    • Clump_AKA Sam

                      Do you even know what a free float is?

                    • Gosman

                      It is quite simple – Provide a reference to a source that backs up your asertion that the NZ Dollar is essentially pegged to a basket of commodities.

                      Do that and you have won this round.

                    • Clump_AKA Sam

                      The infomation you require is in the #8th link. You’ve yet to demonstrate even basic knowledge of currency regimes yet profess to know it all so I’ll assume you understand the economic terms you throw around

                    • Gosman

                      The 8th link is all about the housing market and immigration. It doesn’t mention the currency at all.

                    • Clump_AKA Sam

                      Ok I’ll now assume that you haven’t a clue what a free or dirty float is. A dirty float is when you manipulate interest rates.

                      You’ve also demonstrated that you can’t even grasp the basic concepts that you talk about so you will learn a lot from those investopedia links I put up

                    • Gosman

                      Now you are trying to claim that the currency is manipulated via interest rates and NOT pegged in a quasi basis to a basket of currencies. Your story keeps changing.

                    • Clump_AKA Sam

                      If markets moving is causing you discomfort then they’re markets Yu shouldn’t have been monitoring in the first place

      • save nz 4.2.2

        If TPP is so great why do governments keep it secret from the public while letting large corporates write it.

        Is it fair that the way these trade deals are written helps the global .1% while making things harder for those in the middle and terrible for those at the bottom.

      • lprent 4.2.3

        It is pretty damn hard to find *any* significiant benefits to NZ from the TPP over the next decade. If you look outside the rural sector, it imposes nett costs to most of the businesses and people here.

        The TPP is what I call crony capitalism. Over decades it provides benefits for a few. It costs the majority a hell of a lot over that same time period.

        And to preempt the usual waffle that you tend to be inclined to do, please remember I’m a MBA programmer who has spent my working life building exports in the private sector. I like free trade (within limits) and agreements that foster a less constrained trading environment.

        If the proponents of the TPP can’t convince someone who has supported every other trade agreement since CER, then it is a seriously flawed agreement. From NZ’s viewpoint it imposes a less free trading environment than the one we have already.

        BTW: If I get an idiotic unthinking and dogmatic response, then I am liable to revert to roasting.

        • Scott 4.2.3.1

          It’s your site Lynn, of course you can call the TPP whatever you want to. I’m not about to argue with you about it.

          But plainly, other people disagree with you (and Kelsey and the like), and many of them know a good deal about the topic. Maybe even as much as you or Ms Kelsey. I’m not going to appoint myself arbiter.

          I was merely pointing out to Bill why the US might think is gains from a trade deal, without that meaning someone else loses by it.

  5. b waghorn 5

    http://feeds.feedburner.com/org/KRXy

    I hit the replies button and ended up here.
    lprent

    • save nz 6.1

      Still waiting for John Key to follow the reports recommendations…

      Among the report’s recommendations:

      Every country should establish a searchable public registry that identifies the directors and actual owners of all companies, trusts and foundations incorporated within its borders.
      Governments should hand out stiff punishments to lawyers and other middlemen who knowingly register a corporation or trust “whose primary purpose is to evade or avoid taxes or to engage in money laundering.”
      Governments should discourage money laundering through real estate by requiring the disclosure of the real owners for all large real estate cash transactions.

  6. Morrissey 7

    Great Moments in Television No. 1:
    Morton Downey praises Oliver North as “a hero.”

    Renowned as the most obnoxious person on television, this fool’s television show used to run in New Zealand, long ago. He was a kind of unholy combination of Murray Deaker, Paul Holmes, Paul Henry, Mike Hosking and Leighton Smith. In this clip he tries, unsuccessfully, to bully a porn star, Seka.

    At about the 2:57 mark Seka taunts him….

    SEKA You probably believe Ollie North!

    MORTON DOWNEY JR. Yes, Ollie North was a HERO, dear, he’s a HERO! Wear your cap as well as he wears his! HE was a HERO! We’ll be right back!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1HPT6rd8O0

  7. Pasupial 8

    Power is out to 430 customers in the Dunedin suburb of Tainui after a line came down.
    The outage happened at 9.10am after the line fell on Cavell St near the intersection with Magdala St.
    Three Delta trucks were on the scene about 9.45am.
    A spokesman said power was also out for an extra 450 customers for three minutes at 9.50am as workers carried out switching to isolate the area and safely carry out repairs.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/hundreds-without-power-tainui

    Forty minutes seems like a long time to isolate the area, though apparently; “Standard safety protection operated immediately”. But then you’d think that “Standard safety” should also ensure that lives wires didn’t fall down on a wet but not stormy morning. If only someone had said something earlier…

    “To me, every day that I went to work at Delta was like going to a storm situation — there was stuff breaking all over the place.”… comments came as the ODT found 68 public safety incidents had been disclosed in the company’s 10-year asset management plan — a Commerce Commission requirement — earlier this year.

    The incidents occurred between April 1 last year and April this year and “not surprisingly failed poles and conductor [power lines] down events account for 80% of total”, the document said… board chairman Dr Ian Parton would only insist the priority remained a “safe and reliable network”.

    That was dismissed by Delta whistleblower Richard Healey, who said the claims and figures could not be reconciled.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/every-day-delta-%E2%80%98storm%E2%80%99

    • weka 8.1

      Was the Tainui one one of the rotten poles? Is that the first one to fall?

      • Pasupial 8.1.1

        No, this a line falling down from the pole, not the pole itself falling (though that does rather beg the question why). Plus, though the pole looks a bit warped, it is nowhere near as bad as many I see walking about.

        For a pole coming down you’d have to go all the way back to Friday, though to be fair that one was hit by a truck:

        The impact left the pole damaged, and wooden debris and broken insulators spread around the base. Neighbours said they lost power as a result.

        The Otago Daily Times understands the pole, which was red-tagged indicating it was unsafe to climb, was installed in 1930 and in 2013 was identified as “condition one”, meaning it was not fit for design load… the top was completely rotted out and it should have long been replaced.

        Other red-tagged poles, which had rotted below the ground, would have been knocked over by the impact.

        https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/pole-hit-power-cut-two-houses

        • Pasupial 8.1.1.1

          Delta’s reassurances to the public don’t feel very reassuring:

          Delta’s claim to the ODT ”there was no danger to the public” from the falling 6600V line was also clearly false as it scorched the earth when it hit the ground.
          ”If there had been someone nearby they would be dead.”
          The line could have also struck a low-voltage line on the way down, sending up to 6600V into surrounding homes.

          This could damage wires, causing fires or electrocuting anyone who happened to be touching a metal surface electrified by the current… High-voltage lines coming down in relatively light winds should not happen on well-maintained networks, but had become all too common in Dunedin and Central Otago as a result of a decades of Delta neglect….

          The spokesman did not respond to numerous questions, including whether Delta stood by Mr Cameron’s previous statements the network was safe, and whether a transformer had failed this week.

          He also did not respond to Mr Healey’s claim the extra 450 customers only lost power because a switch, which would have isolated the fault, was not working, and would not confirm whether the line fell as a result of an ageing strain insulator failing.

          ”We have maintenance programmes designed to stop preventable faults, but until we know more about the cause, we won’t speculate,” he said.
          He did say the network performed well for its age and given the weather in Dunedin and Central Otago.
          ”The reality is that despite the best efforts of our people and systems, sometimes faults happen on any network.”

          https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/delta-denies-6600v-danger

  8. Ovid 9

    This looks promising for Dunedin with the council doing more in social housing.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/dcc-buy-cohousing-project

  9. North 10

    Charlatans everywhere ! The gay bit……’The Tamaki Westboro Destiny Church’.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11749215

  10. Russell Brown’s “Hard News” has a story on fake news that ought to be read by this blog’s Trump enthusiasts. That realisation was prompted by this sentence:

    The belief that Hillary Clinton, if elected, was going to precipitate World War III was remarkably popular in the weeks and months before the election, especially amongst professed left-wingers.

    And after I got down to this one I had several commenters at this site in mind:

    Every time during this US election campaign that I got involved in a social media argument with someone telling me things about Ukraine or Syria – which was far too many times – I’d find myself explaining that I actually follow a few people who cover those conflicts closely, and none of them say that’s what’s happening. Sadly, I was often referred to screeds by John Pilger that didn’t tally with any reliable reporting either.

    Hmm, yes, you’re not the only one Russell.

    • Karen 11.1

      Yes, it would be good if quite a few people who comment here read Russell’s post.
      I suspect they won’t however.

      • Morrissey 11.1.1

        Shame on you, Karen. You need to do some SERIOUS reading about the U.S.-instigated and supported ISIL insurrection in Syria. Russell Brown is not a serious commentator.

        • Karen 11.1.1.1

          I am talking about the post not extolling the virtues of Russell Brown. I think perhaps you should read the post again.

          There is a problem when people use just an internet story for information without doing some serious research for confirmation elsewhere from reputable sources. I do not mean CNN, BBC etc. I mean investigative journalists and academics who do have expertise in a particular area. For example John Pilger does not have the level of expertise in the Middle East required IMO. That is not to detract from work he has done in other areas.

          Research takes time and energy. Some people seem to think RT is somehow unbiased. It is not. That does not mean everything on it is wrong but it is needs to be evaluated in exactly the same way CNN needs to be evaluated -with a large degree of cynicism. Motive is often difficult to see but the main problem is when people blindly repeat misinformation and then think it is fact because it is being repeated.

    • Morrissey 11.2

      So Russell Brown, who doesn’t seem to read anything serious about politics, is having a go at John Pilger?

      That would be laughable if it were not so sad.

      Brown watchers will recall his gullibility of three years ago, when he indulged the cynical, but much smarter Matthew Hooton after the death of Nelson Mandela….

      https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31122013/#comment-751356

    • mauī 11.3

      He looks to still be very hooked into the BBC and CNN type news which have failed to convince people at election time recently. Disappointing.

    • Paul 11.4

      Russell Brown isn’t fit to lick Pilger’s boots.

  11. Morrissey 12

    “DO YOU THINK it comes under the category of hate speech?”
    A brazen Mike Hosking criticizes Brian Tamaki for misusing a public platform.

    Seven Sharp, TV1, Wednesday 16 November 2016, 7:00 p.m.

    Bishop Brian Tamaki has shot his ignorant mouth off yet again, this time preaching that the Canterbury earthquake of 2011, which killed 185 people, was a result of Christchurch’s sinfulness. [1] The mayor at the time was Bob Parker, who is now Sir Bob Parker. He is understandably angry. Less understandable is his choice to talk to Mike Hosking, especially when it concerns the misuse and abuse of a public platform.

    Less than a month ago, Hosking was the subject of an official complaint by Canterbury University professor Bronwyn Hayward for precisely what Hosking was criticizing Brian Tamaki for this evening. Professor Hayward excoriated Hosking’s ignorant, smug and incendiary comments about Māori, excoriating his “use of a privileged platform to air prejudicial and ignorant opinions.” [2] As repulsive and ridiculous as Brian Tamaki is, Mike “Contra” Hosking is the last person in the world to be admonishing anyone about anything.

    The following is a rush transcript, an impression. No doubt complete transcripts will soon be available….

    MIKE “CONTRA” HOSKING: Do you think he believes it?

    SIR BOB PARKER: It’s absolutely disgusting. For this man to be saying this. I’m told it’s out of context…

    MIKE “CONTRA” HOSKING: [with deadly gravitas] DO YOU THINK it comes under the category of hate speech?

    SIR BOB PARKER: It’s absolutely disgusting. For this man to be saying this. I’m told it’s out of context. … You can’t blame a person for holding a view. But I had a look at Leviticus today, and I think he’s a hypocrite.

    MIKE “CONTRA” HOSKING: The whole world is full of weird and wonderful people and I’m wary about giving him a platform.

    [1] https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/watch-its-utterly-disgusting-former-christchurch-mayor-bob-parker-demands-apology-brian-tamaki-over-outrageous-comments

    [2] http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/201821524/controversial-comments-cleared-but-condemned

    • Chris 12.1

      Hasn’t Parker got better things to be disgusted by? He needs to get down to his local repertory theatre. He’d be good there.

  12. weka 13

    [In order to keep Open Mike and Daily Review free for other conversations, please put all discussion, comments, link postings etc about the US election under one of the posts about the Election – weka]

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    2 days 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
    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
  • 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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

  • 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
    7 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
    12 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
    14 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
    14 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
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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