Open mike 20/11/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 20th, 2023 - 67 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

67 comments on “Open mike 20/11/2023 ”

  1. Tiger Mountain 1
    20 November 2023 at 7:12 am

    New Govt. negotiations are heading for week six…the media channels would be beside themselves if it were the Labour/Green/TPM group in discussion–though odds are it would have been resolved by now anyway.

    “Arch negotiator”, “I ran an Airline”–Mr Luxury Baldrick Luxon–has proven to be a non event. The big money backers of NZ Nats and Act must be in constant face palm mode. They want to shaft the working class to keep the wealth flowing in their direction, but bungler Luxon has not delivered yet.

    Labour, Green and TPM need to become an opposition force now. The election result will not change, but an articulated position from the Parliamentary opposition will assist fightback from unions, NGOs and communities.

    Reply
    • Sanctuary 1.1
      20 November 2023 at 8:37 am

      Luxon won on the back of a very negative mood fostered by a very well funded and sophisticated social media campaign run by Topham Guerin. His personal numbers are terrible and National's share of the vote wasn't a ringing endorsement of his party. He has to contend with a aggressive ACT party which sees a path to greater power in stoking GOP style culture and race wars and a NZ First led by what to me looks like an increasingly senile Winston Peters who has elevated tilting at windmills and cultivating fringe merchants from something doe for effect to being the point.

      So he is discovering in real time that how you get to power has consequences on how you try to run the country.

      Either he'll concede some massively divisive culture war moment for the sake of unity and power (a la Davind Cameron) and probably lose heavily next time or he'll cobble together something and limp along – I reckon Willis will roll him on the back of terrible poll numbers around February 2026.

      Reply
      • Kat 1.1.1
        20 November 2023 at 9:03 am

        Luxon is there because the voters put him there. Unfortunately in politics we only get what the fickle electorate serves up and it certainly appears the electorate can be easily swayed by influences such as a complicit media, almost at will……..

        Reply
      • Bearded Git 1.1.2
        20 November 2023 at 9:24 am

        To say Luxon "won" is not really accurate. Luxon got 38.1-English got 44.4 in 2017 and could not form a government.

        You only win/lose if you can/can't cobble together a working majority, so Luxon has yet to win because even now we don't know that Winston will agree to work with Luxon and Seymour though this appears to be odds-on.

        Pedro Sanchez in Spain is a winner, in fact he has pulled a rabbit out of the hat to form his coalition government this week and boy are the establishment pissed. This has cheered me up immensely. Sanchez has asked for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza -good man.

        Reply
        • Tiger Mountain 1.1.2.1
          20 November 2023 at 9:43 am

          Yes tough road ahead for Mr Sánchez…
          https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67436378

          “Shortly before the vote, Mr Sánchez linked attempts to question the legitimacy of his new government to part of a global trend. He referred to the presence of former Fox News TV anchor Tucker Carlson at a recent protest outside the Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid.

          "We've seen it in the United States, in Brazil and other parts of the world where there is a political right and political far right who do not accept the result of elections," he said.”

          A lot of people still seem to view elections as FPP even when they are run under another system, torys particularly seem fond of “winner takes all”.

          Reply
          • Bearded Git 1.1.2.1.1
            20 November 2023 at 4:13 pm

            From your link Tiger:

            "The conservative Popular Party won elections in July, but leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo failed to form a majority"

            The BBC really doesn't understand the partly PR system in Spain. As lprent says below, only Sanchez "won" as he is the only one who was able to form a majority government.

            Reply
        • lprent 1.1.2.2
          20 November 2023 at 1:15 pm

          To say Luxon “won” is not really accurate. Luxon got 38.1-English got 44.4 in 2017 and could not form a government.

          Yep. You ‘win’ if you can convince the Governor General that, as PM, you can form a majority in parliament for confidence and supply vote. Then you have to deliver because one of the first votes in parliament is going to be a C&S vote.

          That GG convincing requires credible assurances from any other party or even leaders of factions of a governing party, that they won’t disrupt the process of governing.

          It can be as part of a coalition, or just support in C&S votes.

          Reply
    • gsays 1.2
      20 November 2023 at 12:36 pm

      Just had a wee ironic chuckle.

      In my lunch break I clicked on a stuff article about govt. nogotiations @ Luxons house.

      Blank screen comes up with a message "…took too long to respond".

      Reply
  2. Ad 2
    20 November 2023 at 8:19 am

    Brownlee sounded petulant essentially agreeing with Hipkins sending out a call for a Gaza cease-fire but chiding him for "jumping the gun" (perhaps not his best turn of phrase).

    Looking more likely in the UN exchanges that Qatar and the US have negotiated a 5-day ceasefire in return for the kidnapped citizens. Sure needs to happen.

    Reply
    • Bearded Git 2.1
      20 November 2023 at 9:35 am

      I think that Qatar and the US (pathetically) refuse to call it a ceasefire but rather call it a humanitarian pause.

      The NZ Jewish Council guy on Morning Report used the argument that there should be no ceasefire until the hostages are returned. This is nonesense and simply an excuse to keep bombing. It amounts to "Let us kill another 10,000 Palestinians because 200 hostages have not been returned". A ceasefire would enable much more positive negotiations around the hostages. Meanwhile the hostages themselves are put in danger by the IDF attacks on Gaza.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018916062

      Reply
      • Ad 2.1.1
        20 November 2023 at 9:44 am

        The NZ Jewish Council guy sounded mean but a pause+hostages deal looks close.

        The Muslim association guy refusing to confirm Hamas was a terrorist organisation – which I would have thought uncontroversial – was also shall we say odd.

        Reply
    • SPC 2.2
      20 November 2023 at 5:07 pm

      I would guess it would involve all children and their parents. I would doubt it would be all.

      Otherwise those who needed medical care and the elders.

      There might be talks about access to remaining hostages and or verification about whether they are alive or not.

      Reply
  3. Tricledrown 3
    20 November 2023 at 8:20 am

    Geriatric Brownlee finally makes a decision to put NZ's position on the Israeli /Palestine conflict complaining Labour jumped the gun.National have had all the time to make a decision but sat on their hands and only made a statement after chippy chipped in complaining National were doing nothing.Same at the pacific forum Brownlee didn't get up to speed.Luxon is rinsing and repeating his boring constant reheated same old same old story.From the man who claims to be the expert negotiator.Sounds more like Trumpish narcissism. The news media will get stuck into him if all he can do is avoiding questions like he did in the election.it is what it is .The treaty poll that Seymour wants luxon should say Epsom will no longer be an option.Winston probably is siding with Seymour.Looks like it's going to be a tough 3 years.Could be an early Election.Winstons last stand will turn to Custertard.Luxons has painted himself into a corner. National have treated Winston badly in the past so Winston is making them squirm.

    Reply
    • Kat 3.1
      20 November 2023 at 8:42 am

      Unfortunately the "news media" are owned by the very backers of Luxon and Seymour……don't expect any in depth revelations, it will all be glossed over and sanitised for the sheeple consumption…

      Remember money doesn’t just talk it often swears, especially in politics…….

      Reply
  4. Sanctuary 4
    20 November 2023 at 8:28 am

    Why does Ingrid Hipkiss feel the need to suffix any comment crticial of Israel with… "Of course, the IDF say..?"

    Reply
    • AB 4.1
      20 November 2023 at 8:39 am

      Obviously it's terrified self-protection, donning the armour of perceived 'balance'.

      Reply
      • Anne 4.1.1
        20 November 2023 at 10:37 am

        Or to put it another way:

        Israel's lengthy and prolific tentacles together with Western establishment tendency to favour right-wing solutions? Best not to get too off-side with them.

        Reply
        • Anne 4.1.1.1
          20 November 2023 at 11:17 am

          Case in point:

          Brownlee is misrepresenting what Hipkins said. Unsurprising:

          https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/502803/israel-gaza-ceasefire-call-will-not-help-until-certain-conditions-met-national

          What Hipkins did say (see link below above link)

          It runs against Labour Party values to see the horrific scenes we are witnessing without calling for a ceasefire," he said.

          "Israel and Gaza need to immediately ensure that conditions for a ceasefire be met. We call on all parties to strive to restore calm and restraint.

          "We remain very concerned about the humanitarian impact of the conflict."

          Hipkins has called on Israel to allow supplies to be delivered and for Hamas to free its hostages.

          "Ultimately we want to see a just and lasting peace.

          "The violence and the killing has to stop."

          Reply
          • Bearded Git 4.1.1.1.1
            20 November 2023 at 11:57 am

            So Labour's ceasefire stance is not conditional on the hostages being released as Brownlee said. Rather Labour is asking the hostages to be released as well. Corin Dann should have been aware of this and picked him up on it.

            Brownlee starts with a lie-the Nats are back.

            Reply
        • Michael P 4.1.1.2
          20 November 2023 at 7:21 pm

          I’m hoping you are ignorant as to why your comment could be seen as quite problematic? If not and it is deliberate then shame on you.

          Reply
          • Anne 4.1.1.2.1
            20 November 2023 at 9:10 pm

            ??

            The first was tongue in cheek and the second was a link to a news item. You are reading into it something that is not there. 🙄

            Reply
            • Michael P 4.1.1.2.1.1
              20 November 2023 at 9:22 pm

              "Israel's lengthy and prolific tentacles…"

              I'm reading into it exactly what it says

              Reply
              • Anne …
                20 November 2023 at 9:57 pm

                Not too many years ago, a couple of Israeli spies came to NZ in order to obtain NZ passports by illegal means. The PM of the day, Helen Clark was – quite rightly – extremely displeased. The two culprits were brought to justice and spent a short time in a NZ prison before heading back to their homeland. It was noted at the time that this practice was likely far more widespread than just NZ.

                However, it is to be hoped that the NZ experience forced Israel to accept that 'the passport' is recognition of a nation’s sovereignty and is to be respected. To use it as a rite of passage by people for possible nefarious purposes is what was shameful my friend.

                Over the years I have had numerous Jewish friends both in NZ and in Britain. I have also lived and worked with them. They are no more responsible for what is done in their name as most Palestinians are not responsible for what Hamas has done in theirs.

                Reply
  5. Adrian 5
    20 November 2023 at 8:41 am

    For someone who has spent a life in deodorants Luxon really is stink.

    Reply
  6. Blazer 6
    20 November 2023 at 8:50 am

    So Capt Chris Hipkins is starting over with a blank sheet.

    I suggest he writes on it…'if you don't like my principles…I do have…others'!(G.Marx)

    Reply
  7. Barfly 7
    20 November 2023 at 9:17 am

    Well… what will Winston's presence save us from?

    Asset sales

    Frozen minimum wage increases

    State housing sales

    Cuts to superannuation increases

    An increase to the Superannuation age

    Anyone got more?

    Reply
    • aj 7.1
      20 November 2023 at 9:58 am

      That would be enough to be considered a win for reason. Trouble is what he may trade that for would be a win for 'feelings'

      Reply
    • UncookedSelachimorpha 7.2
      20 November 2023 at 11:51 am

      Probably foreign land purchases?

      Reply
    • lprent 7.3
      20 November 2023 at 1:16 pm

      Apparently what it won’t save us from is Winston wanting to pervert the justice system. It appears that his revenge intention is just that – and is one of the 3 sticking points to a coalition agreement.

      Reply
    • SPC 7.4
      20 November 2023 at 5:25 pm

      What will he block

      An increase in super age – yes

      A reduced rate of super – yes (he will will want 66 per cent maintained as the base)

      National's plan to open up sale of all homes over $2m to foreigners – yes

      Freezing MW (ACT wants this not National) – yes

      What might he block

      Asset sales uncertain (Rail/Kiwibank are probably safe from sale).

      State House sales (he does not oppose people buying the home they live in – this occurred 1996-1998, when he accepted market rents) otherwise uncertain

      Small increases in MW uncertain – he might call for CPI rate increases

      Reply
    • Muttonbird 7.5
      20 November 2023 at 5:34 pm

      I read somewhere he wants retirement villages for over 65 renters of which there will be many in the years to come.

      If he can get that over the line I'll probably forgive him for most things.

      Reply
      • bwaghorn 7.5.1
        20 November 2023 at 5:43 pm

        Sounds good, I.might need one yet,

        Reply
      • SPC 7.5.2
        20 November 2023 at 6:24 pm

        I'd read that he was concerned at the lack of planning for a sufficient number of aged care places.

        One answer to that problem is community housing and sharing support – with meals and health checks/care providers. So people can stay in that environment

        Government payment AS for places of those without ownership and others buying a place.

        Taking business off the Oz bloodsuckers (right of occupancy) would be smart government action (savings and keeping value domestically rather than profits offshore).

        Reply
  8. Sanctuary 8
    20 November 2023 at 9:36 am

    Fun fact of the day:

    The Soviet Union came into being 7th November, 1917 and ceased to exist 26th December 1991. It lasted 74 years and 49 days.

    The People's Republic of China came into existence on the 1st October 1949 and has lasted 74 years and fifty days.

    As of today, the PRC has existed longer than the USSR.

    Reply
    • Mac1 8.1
      20 November 2023 at 11:08 am

      Even more fun…. I have outlasted then both by nearly four weeks……. so far…. work in progress.

      I have seen eleven governments fall in New Zealand and voted Labour 19 times, twice for myself. I have lived 48 years under National, and 27 under Labour.

      In my voting lifetime I have seen four Labour-led governments and four National-led governments,

      And as we change governments in 2023 what do we remember of those governments? Which changed our lives? Which do we remember positively and which PMs do we respect?

      Reply
  9. adam 9
    20 November 2023 at 10:11 am

    WINZ already acting like the Tory fucks have directed them to beat down on the poor and disabled.

    Three days trying to call them to get a client emergency dental work, and at every hour we call, they hang up the phone. (four days if you count calling on Saturday)

    Edit: Before some dick says go to the web site – we did and they told us to call the 0800 number.

    Reply
    • Tiger Mountain 9.1
      20 November 2023 at 11:43 am

      MSD/WINZ do not require much direction to put people through their sadistic maze, their deep culture since the 80s is to punish the ‘underserving’ vulnerable. Full entitlements are not explained, mobile phones and internet access required–keep enough data while unemployed or poor? yeah right…MSD are world experts at “losing” previously supplied documents, and not having a “record of that call”…

      The legislation is still based on the 1964 Social Security Act, from a time of often single earner families, married, with kids. Now in the era of single carers and blended families, they still spy on people’s social media and encourage dobbers regarding relationship status. Benefits should be personal to holder regardless of who you live with. Labour managed that for a second tier middle class COVID benefit.

      I don’t need to go on adam, I totally get your situation, I know many in the North seeking urgent assistance for food or health issues that have just got the runaround. My partner has been an unemployed and beneficiary advocate previously, and one of the disturbing things is that a number of case managers etc. are bloody PSA union members.

      Reply
      • Visubversa 9.1.1
        20 November 2023 at 3:19 pm

        I remember having a lot of fun with some WINZ flunky who rang me at my office trying to track down a refugee friend of mine for whom I had done some advocacy work in the past. She had moved to Australia and the WINZ guy was saying that she owed them some money and did I have her address.

        I said that it did not matter whether I had her address or not, that I was going to treat him in exactly the same way that WINZ had treated me when I had rung them to try and make a booking to take her in to see them the week after she was discharged from hospital. They quoted the Privacy Act at me and said that she had to ring them, or I had to have her with me when I rang for the appointment.

        I told the WINZ guy that I would give him some very important information about her which might help him. The information was that most Ethiopian people of her culture do not have family names (surnames) which pass down through the generations. The last name drops off in every generation. Accordingly, he should not waste his time looking at telephone directories in the city he thought she had moved to in order to find the same family name.

        And then I said "goodbye" and hung up.

        Reply
        • Tiger Mountain 9.1.1.1
          20 November 2023 at 3:34 pm

          Yes the stories abound. Friend of mine in wheel chair for years, on dialysis, who knitted small items on a rig with his one good hand for his Church store to feel useful, was dragged into a WINZ meeting and told to make better efforts to be work ready or sanctions would apply!

          His carer asked the new case manager “have you got eyes?”…“read his health records?”…my friend was in tears, luckily a manager who knew him intervened and the family appointed a strong advocate to be present in any future dealings.

          Reply
          • Anne 9.1.1.1.1
            20 November 2023 at 5:37 pm

            I wrote to WINZ in the 1990s at a time when I was looking after my elderly mother who had dementia, and told them that I was well aware they had me under surveillance and there are witnesses (there was one), and I knew who it was who had reported me to them and if I saw those two 'perfed' police officers once more there would be consequences. There was silence and no… I did not see them again.

            It was in the days of Christine Rankin of "dob a beneficiary a day" fame.

            Reply
            • SPC 9.1.1.1.1.1
              20 November 2023 at 6:33 pm

              Work and Income was founded on October 1 1998 and Rankin was its first head. A culmination of her 20 year career there.

              Short skirts big earings – all the better to hear of any entrapment into unapproved sexual activity. It was an inference that the poor were being divided into two groups – deserving and undeserving.

              They had already begun to contract out services to faith based groups by that time.

              Keep an eye on Luxon's plan to install outside contractor management over those under 25 on a benefit – it is a compendium to the easy hire and fire rule (screening out unionists and testing pliability).

              This goes back to early 20th C business thinking about workforce management/quality control. And onto the American regime since then – faith based provider term limit welfare and a high prison population etc.

              Reply
              • Anne …
                20 November 2023 at 9:01 pm

                Short skirts big earings – all the better to hear of any entrapment into unapproved sexual activity.

                You forgot to mention the boobs almost falling out of her tops. It was as if she was taunting the less fortunate… I'm important and sex is okay for people like me, but woe betide you sniveling slobs if you think you can have sex and a benefit as well.

                Reply
    • SPC 9.2
      20 November 2023 at 4:16 pm

      Think about their staff for a moment.

      How many want those jobs under a NACT government?

      Many are taking unused leave while looking for other jobs.

      They will be operating with skeleton staff levels.

      ACT will not need to cut their staffing, the trouble will be finding staff.

      Reply
  10. newsense 10
    20 November 2023 at 10:33 am

    Didn’t hear this during the campaign from…anyone.
    By trying to wind shadow the opposition, Labour smeared itself and its good work in shit. Chippy has a lot of work to clean up in the Education sector, which obscured the excellent work done on apprenticeships and other non-university training. Perhaps it comes as a surprise that some ministers and policies had beefed implemented more successfully, despite what the opposition and their expensive PR people said.

    The reset and focus on cut backs and how terrible the cost of living was ignored the ways that things were much better for a lot of people because of government action.

    Max Rashbrooke is no cheerleader for Labour. He managed to save this column until after the election and focuses on the work done by ‘many governments’ and how the areas like truancy were ‘National’s focus on this should improve this result.’

    However, in a way that almost takes the piss, topic after topic of progress ‘could reverse under the new government.’

    Lament and bang your head against a wall, that our current crop of politicians don’t at all look like leaders.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/20-11-2023/12-graphs-that-show-new-zealand-isnt-doing-as-badly-as-you-think

    Reply
  11. Visubversa 11
    20 November 2023 at 11:47 am

    This is what happens when cults interfere in politics. Who can forget the Herald picture of the dozen or so well fed Pakeha blokes from the Exclusive Brethren sitting around a table admitting that they had been behind an anonymous leaflet drop targeting Labour and the Green Party?

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/20/we-prayed-helen-clark-would-fall-out-of-a-plane-brethren-book/?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=74b30aac5b-Daily_Briefing+20.11.2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-74b30aac5b-97863395&mc_cid=74b30aac5b&mc_eid=90ced3872f

    Reply
  13. Ad 13
    20 November 2023 at 2:21 pm

    Argentina those poor bastards.

    Javier Milei makes Roger Douglas look like a commie.

    But that’s who they’ve just voted in as President.

    Reply
    • UncookedSelachimorpha 13.1
      20 November 2023 at 5:14 pm

      Argentina and Chile – both drawn towards authoritarians and extreme "free market" (aka looting) types.

      Javier Milei sounds awful.

      Reply
    • Bearded Git 13.2
      20 November 2023 at 6:46 pm

      +100 Ad…..Trump…Bolsonaro…..Milei.

      Reply
    • SPC 13.3
      20 November 2023 at 7:12 pm

      Argentina has already tried the US dollar as currency – they defaulted on their debt last time. Climate change denial and libertarian economics, with a soft sport for a past junta – OK and supported by Bolsonaro and Trump.

      As one bolt hole for those of former regimes closes another one opens up. It's so post 1945.

      Reply
    • pat 13.4
      20 November 2023 at 7:23 pm

      With inflation running in excess 140%pa I imagine the average Argentinian is willing to try anything different…whether they get the difference they want may be another story.

      Reply
  14. observer 14
    20 November 2023 at 3:50 pm

    Old man welcomes new government, hopes to return to golden age when low-paid workers weren't so thoughtlessly inconvenient …

    "We predominantly hire females who go and have babies …"

    Rodney Wayne blasts previous government after 'very tough 12 months' | RNZ News

    Reply
    • Descendant Of Smith 14.1
      20 November 2023 at 4:12 pm

      Baby boomers are getting older, retiring and spending less.

      Retail is going to have to get used to the fact that the golden days of two incomes, mortgage paid off, no children at home big spenders are over.

      This coupled with on-line shopping, building large shopping malls away from the CBD and increased recyling through facebook, etc means many retail outlets will close.

      The young have low wages and high rents so they can't spend much either.

      You reap what you sow.

      Reply
    • AB 14.2
      20 November 2023 at 4:50 pm

      Bloody babies, who needs em? The sacred duty of young "females" is to make old dudes like him richer. Unfortunately, when he needs healthcare workers in future to wipe his arse when he's in a retirement home, they'll import long-suffering Filipinos to do it.

      Reply
  15. Muttonbird 15
    20 November 2023 at 3:54 pm

    Lol. I was just about to post this, but too late:

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/301011504/live-luxon-says-significant-milestone-reached-but-peters-pushes-back

    Luxton making that comment to the media didn't feel like it had been approved by Peters and so it appears. Winston Peters would never allow a person with which he is negotiating to make 'significant milestone' announcements without him.

    Buxton just annoyed him even more.

    The Cordis Coalition of Chaos.

    Reply
  16. observer 16
    20 November 2023 at 4:17 pm

    They will edit it eventually, so enjoy this spectacular headline fail while you can …

    Election 2023: Political commentator says Winston Peters' 'boasting' is 'coming back to bite him' | Newshub

    (if confused, read the article. Newshub did not).

    Reply
  17. Bearded Git 17
    20 November 2023 at 4:25 pm

    From your link Tiger:

    "The conservative Popular Party won elections in July, but leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo failed to form a majority"

    The BBC really doesn't understand the partly PR system in Spain. As lprent says below, only Sanchez "won" as he is the only one who was able to form a majority government.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    45 mins ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    9 hours ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    13 hours ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    13 hours ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    15 hours ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    15 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    16 hours ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    17 hours ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    18 hours ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    20 hours ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    23 hours ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 day ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    3 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    4 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #48 2023
    Open access notables From this week's government/NGO section, longitudinal data is gold and Leisorowitz, Maibachi et al. continue to mine ore from the US public with Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2023: Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population, the authors describe how registered ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    7 days ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    1 week ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-06T16:44:31+00:00