Open mike 20/03/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 20th, 2012 - 73 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 link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

73 comments on “Open mike 20/03/2012 ”

  1. Jenny 1

    “Keep The Coal In The Hole”

    Please circulate throughout your lists

    The Frozen Planet, is a disappearing world

    David Attenborough, Episode 7, On Thin Ice

    Are you concerned about global warming?

    Do you want New Zealand to give a global lead?

    Show John Key Your Opposition To Coal Mining On Conservation Land!

    This Wednesday 21st March, 5 pm, 1 Willeston Street, Downtown Wellington, John Key will officially open Bathurst Resources’ new New Zealand office. Bathurst Resources plan to develop New Zealand’s largest open-cast coal mine on conservation land and we plan to oppose it every step of the way.

    Join Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Forest and Bird, Greenpeace, 350, Ora Taiao, Generation Zero, and other concerned groups and individuals from around the country to say ‘NO Mining Pure NZ’.

    In May 2010, over 50 000 people marched up Queen Street in Auckland to protest the Government’s proposal to open up National Parks and other protected areas, after which the government executed a remarkable backdown and committed not to mine in National Parks and other significant conservation areas protected under Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act.

    They also stated that “significant applications to mine on public conservation land should be notified”. In November 2011, Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson advised that the application for Australian-owned Bathurst Resources to have access to mine the fragile and unique Denniston Plateau will not be publicly notified.

    Bathurst’s proposal for a resource consent to mine coal on the Denniston Plateau on the West Coast is currently under appeal to the Environment Court. This proposal is the thin edge of Bathurst’s wedge which would see a unique ecosystem destroyed and the volume of coal exported by New Zealand increase by 40% and more in the future if we don’t stop this.

    So bring your placards and help give John Key and Bathurst Resources our simple message: “Keep the coal in the hole”.

    Find out more here
    Or email: coalactionnetwork@gmail.com

    • Colonial Viper 1.1

      Around the time Brent becomes $140-$160/barrel, I predict that the popularity of coal is going to skyrocket through the roof. October or November probably, during the northern hemisphere winter.

      • Jenny 1.1.1

        Around the time Brent becomes $140-$160/barrel, I predict that the popularity of coal is going to skyrocket through the roof. October or November probably, during the northern hemisphere winter.

        Colonial Viper

        No doubt you are probably right CV. And vested interest and their government toadies will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect. We might as well tcelebrate the victory of greed over nature and throw the last Hectors Dolphin onto the fire to use the little store of blubber these creatures possess to stoke the flames, as the acidification of the ocean caused by burning all that coal will kill them eventually anyway.

        Do I sound bitter?

        Last week I asked the editors at ‘The Standard’ to give notice of the above public event protesting against open cast coal mining on the Deniston Plateau. A proposal that if it goes ahead as well as destroying a unique eco-system will increase New Zealand’s coal exports by 40%.

        Nothing but silence.

        I again sent a request to put up a notice about this event to the editors last night, fully expecting to see something today.

        To admit to the problem but not want to do everything in your power to help those who want to do something practical about it. In some ways is worse than being a denier.

        • Colonial Viper 1.1.1.1

          The $60K-$120K pa middle classes want their creature comforts, cars and their consumption.

          They have been promised by many cohorts of marketeers, politicians and economists, and they will not be denied.

        • Fortran 1.1.1.2

          Can’t make it to Denniston Mine protest – cost too much in petrol and exhaust gasses.
          Its a hell of a long way to nowhere, even from Westport, to seed some snails

    • Jenny 1.2

      Your comment is awaiting moderation.

      Why?

  2. Bored 2

    As an exercise in nausea I visited the national party 2011 election website. Looking primarily for the things Key did not mention they would do after the election. We all knew he would sell the SOEs off but we had nothing there about the more extreme rightist policies.

    Charter Schools anybody? Hear about that from National pre election? Ditto private prisons? Whats next?

    What we are seeing is a creeping rash of extreme right policies: what I am not hearing is a dialogue from Labour as a leftist (or even centrist) counter. Must we all whistle Dixie whilst Shearer considers a response rather than a minor display of visceral anger and opposition? Get a spine Labour, stop Shearer from appearing like a filleted jellyfish.

    • Kotahi Tane Huna 2.1

      Don’t hold your breath Bored. The response is probably going to be along the lines of:

      “We are putting bad prison guards and badly run prisons on notice.”

    • RedLogix 2.2

      NACT have one term left and they don’t care about being re-elected.

      I was going to write an article on the local govt reforms but Gordon Campbell has done it much better. Worth a read.

      There are some elements of the proposed legislation that are potentially good. It’s not all bad, especially around the possibility of making it easier to create larger more efficient council structures. But the real weasel is in the first section of the document released yesterday:

      1. The Local Government Act 2002 will be amended to replace references to the ‘social, economic,
      environmental and cultural well-being of communities’ (the four well beings) with a new purpose for
      councils of ‘providing good quality local infrastructure, public services and regulatory functions at
      the least possible cost to households and business.’

      The important words in the new purpose statement are ‘local’ to differentiate from services better provided by central government and ‘public’ to clarify that councils should not try to replace services provided by the private sector. The proviso requiring least cost is to emphasize the need for efficiency. The definitions will make it plain that ‘least possible cost’ means costs now and into the future, to ensure decision makers do not take a narrow, short term view of cost effectiveness.

      The crucial loophole here is that it is entirely a matter of interpretation … presumably the discretion of the Minister… as to what is a public or private activity. And given that the Minister is given drastic new powers to intervene in Local Government then he can impose his intepretation however he likes.

      If the Minister for instance deems that a Port operation is a ‘private sector business’ then he can force a Council to sell it. If he deems Water Supply to be the same.. the same applies. There is no limit to what the Minister can impose.

      Especially if the political cost is irrelevant to him.

      • Colonial Viper 2.2.1

        Especially if the political cost is irrelevant to him.

        Then other pressures can and should be imposed on the Government by the local communities which are dictatorially affected, beyond purely political ones. After all, political costs come in many shapes and forms.

      • mickysavage 2.2.2

        Can you imagine how Auckland feels with this announcement.  One of the super city reforms required the Council to prepare a “spatial plan” the purpose of which was to “contribute to Auckland’s social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being through a comprehensive and effective long-term (20- to 30-year) strategy for Auckland’s growth and development.”

        The plan was not a wish list.  It had to “identify policies, priorities, land allocations, and programmes and investments to implement the strategic direction and specify how resources will be provided to implement the strategic direction.”

        Now Smith is telling Auckland not to bother with the social, environmental or cultural well beings.  He could have saved a lot of work and bother by excluding them from the start.

      • Bored 2.2.3

        The key line from Campbell sums it up This reform is not about ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’. It is about imposing a right wing strait jacket on communities and their elected councils, in order to further commercialise the provision of quite basic needs..

        You might ask the questions:
        1. How much do all of the services put out to tender to the private sector under the LATE legislation etc cost?
        2. How much does it cost to do in-house?

        I suspect that the difference is the “profit” that has to be paid to the private sector. If we were to total the cumulative profit implicit within LATE contracts since the Bassett legislation in 1987 (25 years) how much I wonder would that offset the council debt loadings?

    • prism 2.3

      @Bored How about threatening to call him Doctor John Zoidberg the fishy intellectual with lobster arms from Futurama?

  3. Kotahi Tane Huna 3

    No doubt this will need to be pushed through under urgency.

    “Councils would be steered away from spending on social and cultural activities in favour of “core” activities such as key infrastructure, regulations and public services.”

    The whole Objectivist playbook.

    • Bored 3.1

      Lets face it bigger is better, bigger is cheaper, bigger is more efficient……fuck these bastard rationalists really give me the heebies. Show me the evidence.

      • Colonial Viper 3.1.1

        Not rational to ask them for scientific evidence when their decision making is ideological and profiteering in basis, not scientific.

      • Kotahi Tane Huna 3.1.2

        First order of business for the next left government. The “Reversal Of Every Single Piece Of Legislation Passed Over The Last Six Years Bill”. To be debated under urgency, naturally.

        • prism 3.1.2.1

          @Kotahi Tane Huta
          😀 I see this government and its moneyed coaches as repeating the taking of the commons land from the English lower classes back when the moneyed classes there decided they could do better with the land than the poor people who relied on it.

  4. I’ve talked about attacks and abuse here before, most of it is really quite tame. Especially compared to what I’ve been witnessing elsewhere online over the past few weeks.

    Confronting the real abuse

    I have been witnessing an online campaign of abuse, false and unsubstantiated accusation, character assassination, misrepresentation of identities, attempts to shut down speech, attempts to shut down organisations. It has ranged from annoying to disgraceful.

    And that’s not the worst of it. Others have linked some of this to criminal and mental health histories, death threats, even incest. This is associated with people who present themselves as working against abuse – some of them are the worst of abusers.

    It puts political bickering into perspective, although it does show how bad fighting and abusing can degenerate on an unregulated web.

    [It is one reason why we moderate this site…RL]

    • Colonial Viper 4.1

      PG are you now promoting a ‘regulated web’ where statutory bodies have a direct say over what can and cannot be communicated over the internet.

      • Pete George 4.1.1

        I haven’t said anything like that.

        • mickysavage 4.1.1.1

          Um petey you are saying an unregulated web is a bad thing and implying regulation is needed.

          • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1.1

            He doesn’t really think this stuff through to the end does he, MS.

          • Pete George 4.1.1.1.2

            I didn’t imply anything like that Greg, if you had a legal background you would understand what an implication was.

            I said there are problems with an unregulated web, nothing about what could or should be done about it.

            RL – yes, I agree that the sort of thing I’m talking about wouldn’t be allowed here. A degree of regulation isn’t always a bad thing.

            • RedLogix 4.1.1.1.2.1

              A degree of regulation isn’t always a bad thing.

              In fact a degree of regulation is always a necessary thing. Politics is essentially the art of striking a desirable balance between too much and too little.

            • Rosemary 4.1.1.1.2.2

              Whatever, Wormtongue.

    • Well, they’re protecting us against big bad terrorists by filtering them big baddasses out of being able to get on planes so regulating the net is gonna help against bad words too. I reckon. Good on ya George for being such an obedient MSM regurgitator.

    • vto 4.3

      Pete George, try a little more thinking first …. “I have been witnessing an online campaign of abuse, false and unsubstantiated accusation, character assassination, misrepresentation of identities, attempts to shut down speech, attempts to shut down organisations.”

      Start with your own ambition and types Pete – Parliament and politicians…

      abuse … feral inbreds on the west coast
      false and unsubstantiated accusation … Winston Peters tirades under the shade of privilege against any number of private people – shameful.
      character assassination … Bennett in exposing the private details of the Auckland women.
      misrepresentation of identities ….
      attempts to shut down speech … NZ on Air contorting to only show certain programs last year to aid election of incumbent.
      attempts to shut down organisations … kim dotcom

      I am sure others would be aware of more and better examples but the bottom line is that it is your own arena Pete George which is the most abusive and should be better regulated. Think first man.

      • Tigger 4.3.1

        PG – I find your trolling here to shill for Dunne abusive.

        • muzza 4.3.1.1

          It is also dishonest as PG the eternal fluffer attempts to inflate or is that fellate, the leader of his pack, with truth bending, missleading and flat out denial of facts on this blog as a start..

          The word offended is far too soft when used towards PG the Dunny Brush supporter on this site…its flat out insulting!

      • Pete George 4.3.2

        Curious that I’m getting attacked and abused (mildly) here for posting that.

        • vto 4.3.2.1

          Oh how pathetic. And you stood for Parliament?

          And no answer I see.

        • Rosemary 4.3.2.2

          With respect, Pete George, please fuck off. We’ve had enough of your ideologically driven duplicitous bullshit. You’re a very dangerous man, and as long as you keep spouting your ill-thought out pseudo-intellectual clap-trap, we’ll continue to tell you so.

      • r0b 4.3.3

        abuse … feral inbreds on the west coast

        Just for the record, that one didn’t happen.

        Clark referred to “some fairly feral attitudes”, and made no reference to “inbreds” at all.

        • prism 4.3.3.1

          Thanks rOb for some facts in this case, the myths blow a lot of dust in our eyes.

        • vto 4.3.3.2

          ha ha, thanks r0b, I wondered if that piece of artistic licence might lure you from your hiding place.

          • r0b 4.3.3.2.1

            I am kinda hiding it’s true – but only because of over work just now. Should pass in just a few more weeks. I hope…

    • Bored 4.4

      Pete, whilst you continue to support that idiot Dunne and his desire to aid and abet the legalised theft of state assets by his larcenous mates in the National party I will continue to “abuse” your viewpoint.

      • Colonial Viper 4.4.1

        Perhaps you could try and disabuse PG of his mistaken viewpoints? Nah, no chance of success.

    • Reality Bytes 4.5

      Hey Pete, welcome to the Internet.

      I’ve read your stuff, and although I disagree with some of the stuff you say, I recon you are a nice person inspite of our ideological differences. But I think you are a little bit naive to think the Internet is some sort of prime time “censored and ok for kids hour” tv slot. People will swear and take the mickey online, mostly in jest and to prove a point about something they are passionate about, and not out of maliciousness. Sure there are trolls and griefers, but I suspect they are dealt with pretty well here. The Internet can be a bit more like a rowdy local pub at times, and that’s why I’m surprised you seem a bit naive considering you’ve been active here for a fair while.

      Cheers.

  5. Food for thought.

    If the chances of dying from a terrorist attack are 1:25.000.000 while the chances of dying from a lightening strike are 1:500.000 than why does this three year old boy in a wheel chair for fuck’s sake have to be terrorised by the TSA on his trip to Disney land?

    Or if you’re not mad you haven’t been paying attention.

    • Colonial Viper 5.1

      Probably because the US is just a year or two away from becoming a “turnkey totalitarian state” able to intercept, decode and store every single electronic message or phone call you make in your life time, anywhere in the world.

      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/%E2%80%9Cwe-are-far-turnkey-totalitarian-state-big-brother-goes-live-september-2013

    • McFlock 5.2

      Short answer: if one mixes paranoia with private security suppliers who employ lowest-wage staff, who in turn have no incentive to think for themselves, one can expect things like this, and the occasional shooting of a distressed passenger (or high-multiple-tasering followed by an unfortunate but “unrelated” demise).
           
      But fear is a good distraction from the other -problems in life. 

  6. just saying 6

    ACC minister alleged to have provided a supportive reference for Pullar on ministerial notepaper

    My second attempt at putting in a link the “neat” way. May not work. If not, it’s in the herald

    This story just keeps getting better.

    If this is true, I find it fascinating that, ACC staff have continued to aggressively manage Ms Pullar’s claim despite her pulling some of the strongest ‘contact’ cards in the pack. She must have really pissed them off because I’m pretty sure that most middle-manager types in the public service would, (and probably do) cave pretty quickly in these kinds of circumstances. Seems like a mini-rebellion.

    Key is predictably relaxed about his ACC minister intervening in this way, and said he had known Pullar for years himself, as she had been a National Party official, and that she had often talked to him about her ACC woes at funtions.

  7. Jenny 7

    Christchurch repairs are in danger due to lack of rental accommodation.

    Christchurch Rental Crisis Deepens stuff.co.nz

    Real estate institute Canterbury director Tony McPherson said the repairs were in danger of being delayed and the problem was going to get worse as rebuilds were added to the repair work.
    ”There is huge pressure on rental accommodation in the city from people who have been forced out of the red zone, the large short-term work force in the city there to assist with the recovery, as well as the normal seasonal demand from tertiary students.”

    Moteliers and other accommodation providers were becoming consistently full with displaced families rather than the usual numbers of tourists, which was affecting the business of other industries reliant on visitors spending money, he said.

    McPherson said he understood temporary accommodation opened up by Government was fully occupied.

    ”There is a need for a circuit-breaker if the rebuild of homes is to be carried out efficiently. Without it, the rebuild is in jeopardy, causing further frustration, delay and unnecessary stress on Christchurch people, who now want to get on with their lives.”

    What could this “circuit breaker” be?

    I see that there are hundreds of perfectly good and undamaged homes are on the market in and around Christchurch.

    For a government that has been very swift in bailing out the wealthy, burnt by bad investment decisions to the tune of $billions. How about buying up all this housing stock and renting it out to those in need?

    Unlike the bailout of the rich speculators instead of gaining billions of dollars of worthless junk bonds and making a loss, the government, as well as helping people suffering through no fault of their own, will gain an appreciable asset.

    (And I am sure the real estate agents and sellers would appreciate it as well.)

    Check it out!

    1) Harcourts

    2) Professionals

    3) Ray White

    4) Mike Pero

    5) Nation Wide

    6) Total Realty

    7) GlassMiles

    8 ) Hastings McLeod Ltd

    9) Simes

    10) Blue Sky

    This is just some of the houses available.

    Why don’t the government buy up all these perfectly good houses and rent them out?

    There is no need for anyone at all to go homeless in Christchurch.

    Simple.

    The government can spend $billions of our tax money bailing out millionaires who lost money on investments. Why are they sitting around on their hands doing nothing about the rental crisis in Christchurch?

    • Kotahi Tane Huna 7.1

      Brownlee: ” it could have artificially lowered the appetite of private investors to provide a solution that could be lucrative for investors,”

      What a scumbag.

      • Jenny 7.1.1

        It is like Brownlee is reading my criticisms of his government, and giving his reply.

        Either that, or the need to take such obvious action to ease the Christchurch rental housing crisis, must be apparent even to him. So apparent in fact, that he has to come up with his fatuous defence that protecting the market is more important than housing people. Even though the housing crisis is so bad that it is hampering the very recovery and reconstruction of the city which is supposed to be his main responsibility.

        The needs of the “lucrative” “private investors” must come first.

        With this sort of attitude, let’s pray that Brownlee’s government buddies don’t spy another bunch of millionaires that need bailing out.

  8. vto 8

    A starter for 10 …

    What proportion of demolition diggers and nibblers in the Christchurch CBD sit idle all day long?

    • vto 8.1

      Ok, I’ll answer it – try about 80-90%

      That’s right folks. The CBD is like a ghost town with virtually no work going on. All the giant machinery is sitting idle right now, despite a huge amount of demolition work remaining (all the big buildings). There are no workers around, the place is quiet and dead.

      • Colonial Viper 8.1.1

        FFS

        Just wait for Treasury to push out the economic benefits from Christchurch reconstruction yet again.

        Better accept it people, building owners are taking their insurance payouts and have mentally already left the CBD.

        • vto 8.1.1.1

          Yes well it surprised me. I have not been into the CBD for some time but it was quiet. Really quiet. And the giant machinery was sitting idle.

          Perhaps it is lack of insurance money flow again. Perhaps it is owners leaving and simply not bothering to follow things through in good speed.

          Either way, there ainto nothing much going on. And there are a large number of the big buildings which haven’t even been started yet. The small old easy ones have long gone, but not the big and difficult ones. The biggest jobs remain.

          The timeframe is going to stretch way out ………………………

          • gareth 8.1.1.1.1

            I’d bet that machinery is being paid for by someone, Other wise it would be somewhere else working/ making money. No one with that amount of coin invested in machinery likes to have it sitting still for long….
            I bet someone’s paying a healthy retainer to have it sitting there….

            • vto 8.1.1.1.1.1

              Yes. The contractors who took a punt on contracts in Chch and who are about to up-sticks.

  9. Kotahi Tane Huna 9

    We may need to look at providing a commissioner for the environment who can give you a counterview.

    Freshwater report.

  10. aerobubble 11

    Personal responsibility. Take an aspect of everyone’s life, that people have had to live with the consequences of their actions since the year dot, and then claim they could have done better, should do better, and they are parasites on the backside of society that they ever made a mistake.
    Your government hates you.

  11. Grumpy 13

    The other day we surmised on the real target ofvWhale’s attack on Boag.

    Now we have it, Nick Smith. Internal National politics……….

    • tc 13.1

      Paying the price for his ACC levy drop and upsetting Atilla the Hen as he’s always been a compulsive liar and general nutcase so it can’t be that.

  12. Jackal 14

    Think big prisons fail

    So does National have any intention of actually trying to decrease reoffending or are they just interested in jobs for the boys? Building Wiri is most definitely not in the best interests of the justice system, although it’s obviously in the best interest of Fletchers, Serco and National’s coffers…

  13. Fortran 15

    Am waiting to see where the billions of EQC and Insurance Company money is going. To the banks or ?
    I note thet the sale of new expensive cars is up in the Christchurch area.

    • McFlock 15.1

      The sale of new expensive cars in Dunedin took a drop when the ODHB IT guy got done for multimillion dollar fraud. 

  14. Draco T Bastard 17

    The $8 Billion iPod

    The video is definitely worth a watch, but here are a couple highlights:

    The RIAA argues that $150,000 is lost for every illegal copy of a song. Based on this argument, an iPod Classic could carry up to $8 billion in pirated music.
    The MPAA says that $58 billion and 370,000 jobs are lost annually to piracy, yet, Reid argues, only the music industry is down in revenue since 2000 and by nowhere near $58 billion.

    The more I look at the claims of the copyright industry the more I realise that all their claims are complete bollocks.

  15. Campbell Larsen 18

    Anyone else find it odd that Close Up is interviewing an American professor about the ‘terror’ trials?

    I find it irksome that we are turning to someone from the country behind terror laws for comment about the legitimacy of this trial – couldn’t they find a NZ academic?

    • Campbell Larsen 18.1

      Ooops my bad – he has been here since ’72 so probably is a NZ resident – Sorry Bill, but your accent is still the last one I want to hear when commentary on this issue is being delivered – nothing personal.

  16. prism 19

    ms asked earlier why didn’t nick smith cut out the social cultural thing when Auckland was being turned into a smoothie. I think that this government is like a tag wrestling team with some upfront mixing it with the public and others waiting in the wings with their particular maneouvre ready to utilise.

    Someone on jim mora today pointed out the huge burden that large amalgamations make for the CEOs, which explains their huge salaries. Where did economy of scale go? And flatten the management structure and pay most of the saving in salary to the top banana! That’s a sort of parallel book keeping.

    • vto 19.1

      ” Where did economy of scale go? ”

      I think it went down the toilet.

      It costs more money to all shit together than to shit singularly. How did that happen?

    • Draco T Bastard 19.2

      Economy of scale used to work with factories (back when one factory could be far more efficient than another) – never worked with social institutions.

  17. Jackal 20

    Ongoing nuclear nightmares

    Yesterday, there were more reports of Radioactive cesium levels rising sharply in Fukushima and last week there were a couple of serious nuclear accidents in Canada and South Korea that went largely unreported…

    • Draco T Bastard 20.1

      last week there were a couple of serious nuclear accidents in Canada and South Korea that went largely unreported…

      Of course they went unreported – there wasn’t any natural disaster to cause them and they were in 1) first world country and 2) US nuclear state friends.

  18. Draco T Bastard 21

    Human Revenue Stream

    The essential public good that Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and now Cameron sell is not power stations, or trains, or hospitals. It’s the public itself. It’s us.

    Which is really what this government is selling with their state asset sales program – us. Selling the power will give a few people a permanent revenue stream from our work for doing absolutely nothing.

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    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    13 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    15 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    16 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    18 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    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
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    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
    6 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
    11 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
    13 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
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