Perhaps the Standard could compile an ongoing list of election promises broken by the Nats and their sidekicks? It will soon be a long one, to be constantly updated.
This should include all such examples, regardless of whether you think the U-turn is welcome. A Luxon pork pie is still a pork pie, even if you like the taste.
The biggest so far is the foreign buyer's tax, but there are more tax frauds to add, such as …
"Luxon said he was confident they would find the revenue to fill the shortfall from elsewhere – and said National was no longer planning to repeal the so-called “app tax”.
That is a tax on app-based services such as Airbnb and Uber, which National campaigned on repealing along with others introduced by Labour."
Many times in the campaign I heard the Nats say that they would implement measures that would meet NZ's climate change commitments. In which case this is already perilously close to a U-turn, as the climate change minister and the environment minister have been left outside the cabinet. This is a tactical mistake and probably a crude and nasty dig at Ardern’s “Climate Change moment” that they couldn’t resist.
Has the environment minister ever been outside the cabinet before?
I think, it's possibly more relevant to look at who the Climate Change ministers are, and what their other roles are.
Simon Watts (also Minister of Revenue) and Nicola Willis (Associate CC) – Minister of Finance.
Two people with a very heavy financial leaning in their portfolios – I think that the new government will be looking at Climate Change very much in a financial context.
There are also two Ministers for the Environment (both outside cabinet): Penny Simmonds (who also has Tertiary Education – and will have her plate full with that one); and Andrew Hoggard (who will be looking at it from an Agriculture perspective).
Neither are likely to stand up to the rest of cabinet in ensuring that Climate Change mitigation is on the agenda.
Yes, there has been a Climate Change minister outside the Cabinet, before. James Shaw was Minister for Climate Change, outside Cabinet, in 2017-2020. David Parker has been Minister for the Environment (inside cabinet) since 2017. But it's pretty much Shaw who's been doing the heavy policy lifting in the climate change space.
All in all, I'd say that it's a very strong indication that Climate change will not be at the core of this government's policies. Which is not surprising.
Going on this type of witch hunt is a wee bit pointless and could end up as an own goal because under MMP pre election promises mean nothing until after coalition negotiation agreements have been written and published. At that point those pledges are what you hold the government to account for.
The danger here is that at some point the parties on the left will likely be in a position to also negotiate a government and the same brush of criticism could be used against them to paint a picture of broken promises as you are trying to use now.
One of the areas that showed up the current National party's inexperience and possible naivety during this election was the nature of their absolute promises of abolishing this that and the other and introducing other pies in the sky. The lesson here is the dropping of the foreign buyers policy and the TAX they expected to generate from it. ACT and NZF also made promises using similar language and they both seem to have had win's in regard to getting most of those accepted in one form or another, that's the advantage of the smaller parties because they will always have the balance of power in their favour if the bigger parties want to govern.
During the negotiations Peters had the option available to him of walking out and supporting Labour instead. Luxon had no other option except that of settling for the position of leader of the opposition. That gave Peters a certain amount of power, but not an unlimited amount.
Income tax cuts were a cornerstone of National's campaign, with Luxon repeating "$250" until the CTU exposed his dishonesty and the media belatedly reported it.
And prior to that, he spelled it out with no ambiguity. Not "here's a policy to be negotiated", but a cast-iron promise to the voters. If words mean nothing, then we all lose.
"Here's my commitment to you. When I become Prime Minister, I'll reverse Labour's tax grab, National will repeal each of these tax increases implemented by Labour."
No, I doubt anybody voted National because they believed Luxon was going to make tackling climate change a priority. It was barely mentioned in the campaign.
Income tax cuts were a cornerstone of National's campaign
the point I was trying to make is that it doesn't matter what any party says during an election campaign because all of it is up for negotiation during the formation of a government under MMP.
That Luxon kept on talking in absolutes all through the election just shows how naive he is and also shows how little he or his current National Party colleagues understand the nature of MMP.
The only statements that matter after the election is the policy documents agreed on by the coalition partners, in this case the three headed dog Nactnzf, and then the speech from the throne..
Would fees-free tertiary study going from the first year to the final year of study, despite a promise to retain it, constitute a broken promise?
They've done it to reduce total cost because it will deter some people from even starting and others will start and then drop away. There's also more than a touch of malice – they don't want to open an opportunity to a class of people who otherwise might never have started, they'd rather subsidise a class of people who were always going to go and were always likely to finish.
The points you make are valid but you miss a big one –
Why are they doing it? Well the answer is that fees- free will not cost a cent in the next 2 years – they won't be giving anyoine a last year free that has already had one so the people qualifying for fees free will be …/drumroll Nil, No-one, Zero and Nobody. Political chicanery dressed up as "we're so fucking clever'. As Mr Creosote said “bucket!!”
Good point. It will still be first year fees-free in 2024. Then from 2025 it goes to last year. As Labour introduced it in 2018, a student would need to have started in 2017 and be finishing in 2025 to receive anything that year, which would be unusual. As you say, pretty much a 2-year hiatus on paying anything in 2025/6 and then tapering in from 2027 as some degrees are longer than 3 years.
Given that, it would not be a surprise if National's 2026 manifesto kills the policy entirely from 2027 onwards.
I doubt that anyone who has benefitted from a 'fees free' year at the beginning of their qualification will be able to get another one at the end of it.
That is certainly the case, now. If you sign-up for fees-free for one qualification, you don't get another go, if you then sign up for another one.
[NB: this has caused major issues for people, who are doing a low-level tertiary certificate – and don't realize that getting fees-free for that minor qualification – precludes them from then getting it for the undergraduate degree, they then decide to do]
Sure – realise that and clearly if the policy is to support only 1 year of study, that can be the first or the last, not both. However, Barfly appears to be correct in saying that the act of switching from first year to last year creates a two-year hiatus where expenditure on the policy drops to almost nothing.
If the government then uses this hiatus to 'review' the policy, it looks like a golden opportunity to cancel the whole thing at that point. Effectively, the policy would then have been killed from the end of 2024, even though the 2023 election promise was to continue it.
While we can all remember the challenge to National's figures for their tax plan – especially the $700m from a tax on and return of foreign buyers CLuxon said this to the Herald about the veto of NZF on this funding
Instead, Luxon said the tax package – National’s centrepiece in the campaign – would be funded by other means, given there were already “buffers” in its fiscal plan and there would be other savings and “reprioritisations” that could be dipped into.
So the plan all along was to fix the hole in their budget by doing this.
1.There will be no further adjustments to income tax brackets to deliver further tax cuts — as they cannot afford to.
2.The slight of hand over free fees
3.No adjustment to the WFF tax credit threshold
Hitting pause on future changes to income tax beyond next year is also not going to lose Luxon any credibility; National’s tax package was to continue adjusting the income tax thresholds for inflation only if it was “affordable and responsible”.
Among those is the estimated $555m National will no longer be spending to lift the Working for Families abatement threshold from $42,700 to $50,000 in 2026.
None of this planned duplicity made known to voters before the election.
So the debate over amounts and the reassurance that they were confident about the numbers was just a deception.
The money no longer to be spent lifting the Working for Families abatement threshold from $42,700 to $50,000 in 2026 means the so called $10 a week IETC low income workers get would be outweighed by this change – they will soon be worse off.
Re news that National have dropped their overseas property buyers' tax policy and need to find revenue of $740 million p.a. from other sources for their planned tax cuts, it was widely reported that this amount was never accepted as realistic by various economists.
"National's policy document stated it expected the policy to raise $715m in the first year it was introduced, increasing to about $764m in 2027/28, averaging out to about $740m a year.
Economists Sam Warburton and Michael Reddell – who lean left and right respectively – decided to do their own analysis using data from Stats NZ, real estate data from Corelogic, and the information National has so far publicly revealed about its policy.
Their independent modelling resulted in a "best estimate" of $210m a year in revenue, leaving a gap of $530m or 71 percent between their data and National's proposal. A more generous "higher-end estimate" calculated at $290m in revenue – still falling $450m, or 61 percent, short".
Did National really believe overseas property buyers would generate so much revenue? Surely they knew NZ First did not agree with this policy and might be needed to help form a government. Did National always intend to cancel this policy, and plan to cut funding and staff from public services and perhaps increase GST? How will the new government fund their tax cuts?
National knew that if they said "tax cuts" loud and often, it would work. And it did.
They could have said they were going to pay for it by making banknotes smaller, it wouldn't have mattered. A magical treasure was needed so they conjured one up. That's all it ever was.
Unfortunately the new Government has a lot of work to repair the economic and social damage the last six years of a Labour/Green party has done to New Zealand.
However based of the documents released yesterday if they achieve only a quarter of it New Zealand will still be a thousand times better off.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: Authors have the option of limiting the trolls who can comment on their posts. Don’t waste my time trolling on my posts ever again. You appear to be too stupid or too lazy to actually do anything more than run the troll playbook. ]
Yeah right. If you ignore the pandemic related tourism, trade and employment issues, I'd love you to actually point out any policies that actually caused any significant damage to the underlying economy. This would give me opportunities to point out again just how much of a unthinking simpleton you are.
Unlike you, I actually appear to have been working in a growing economy. One where we've been starting to get on top of a multi-decade chronic housing shortage.
Offhand I suspect that every example that your simple brain ( that so resembles that of a parrot) can come up with will involve something about the benefits to those who exploit them of having readily available low wage workers.
Lprent does this policy apply to everybody here or just the sycophants who parrot the echo chamber's preferred narative?
We encourage robust debate and we’re tolerant of dissenting views. But this site run for reasonably rational debate between dissenting viewpoints and we intend to keep it operating that way.
What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others.
If you would like to actually engage in a discussion I would be more than willing to once you stop acting like a child with name calling and whining because you didn't get the election results you wanted because more New Zealanders felt your side were the worse of the available choices.
Please see a doctor you appear to have an untreated head injury
Does this statement comply with this sites stated policy of:
We encourage robust debate and we’re tolerant of dissenting views. But this site run for reasonably rational debate between dissenting viewpoints and we intend to keep it operating that way.
What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others.
"if they achieve only a quarter of it New Zealand will still be a thousand times better off" (my bold)
Well ye of the thin skin I rest my case (thousand??) although I will concede you may simply be dishonest or delusional rather than having an untreated head injury.
Clearly you've never heard of hyperbole so hopefully, this helps.
hyperbole
noun
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
"he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles"
If however, that is your issue let me help you and rephrase my comment to:
However based off the documents released (1 & 2) yesterday if they achieve only a quarter of the program of work outlined in them New Zealand will still be significantly better off than it has been over the previous Labour led government.
Ah , the great futurologist who believes in the magic powers of one deodorant salesman
Australias Reserve Bank has had a triple mandate for some generations now and has led to higher growth over NZ previously single focus for the RBNZ , so what higher power provides certainity that going backwards will change what was a poor past outcome
Our new govt and their backers aren't interested in 'repair', unless you mean the repair of unearned income streams. As for your assertion that:
…if they [NActNZF] achieve only a quarter of it [their work] New Zealand will still be a thousand times better off…
perhaps "very big brain" Willis can help you with "the technical numbers", now that her woeful miscalculation of the foreign buyers tax revenue won't be further exposed.
Like Barry @3, I'm picking another rise in the regressive GST to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, although this lot won't wait as long as Key did – Luxon is “very impatient“.
Key defends tax cuts for wealthy [19 May 2010]
He [Key] was attacked by the Greens in Parliament for suggesting on Monday that people should not be envious of tax cuts for the wealthy and for its plans to increase GST.
Our new govt and their backers aren't interested in 'repair', unless you mean the repair of unearned income streams.
I disagree completely, just read the policy agreement, there are so many positive outcomes for New Zealand in my opinion that as I said even if they achieve a quarter of what it contains New Zealand will be a thousand times better off.
Take for example just the Strengthening Democracy section, these are tangible steps to reduce the massive social division that has occurred over the last 6 years by ensuring all citizens are equal, something the last Labour/Green/Maori Government seemed very keen to destroy.
Can you give us examples of how you, as a citizen, have been discriminated against? Can you tell us how you have suffered, in reality? And can you tell us how the new government is going to stop that?
And since you say "6 years", not "3 years", why are you accusing Winston Peters of doing it?
(and by the way, you have also invented a government that never existed in the past 6 years).
Can you give us examples of how you, as a citizen, have been discriminated against?
I never said I had been discriminated against.
Can you tell us how you have suffered, in reality
Example 1:
I have two children with significant medical issues I have spent a lot of time over the past 16 years dealing with the medical system.
Over the last 6 years I have experienced first hand a significant decline in the quality and availability of health care including:
– Being told I would be better to go private
– Being told when calling 111 for an ambulance that there were none available
– Being told by staff that due to staff leaving treatment options previously available could no longer be provided.
Example 2:
This year I have had to deal with the Police on 3 occasions. Incident 1: I witnessed a road rage incident where a truck driver pulled the driver out of their vehicle and assaulted them before stealing their mobile phone.
When 111 was contacted (approximatley 0900 on a weekday) the victim who I had stopped to assist was advised that there were no police cars available (Tauranga) and that he should go to the local station to report the theft.
Incident 2:
While parked at the beach a car arrived and parked beside a woman's car who was also in her car. The two persons obviously were known to each other and the male driver got out of their car with a length of metal (looked like re-enforcing metal crowbar) and started smashing the woman's rear window while the two screamed at each other.
The male then fled the scene and I followed and called 111 (there were other people also in the carpark so I figured she a) wouldn't be alone and b) they could provide any assistance as well as I could).
After following the vehicle for about 10 minutes with the operator on the line (who had dispatched an ambulance btw) advised that there were no police vehicles available.
This occurred around 3pm-4pm on a Sat/Sun.
Incident 3:
Due to one of my kids medical issues I had to call 111. When the police arrived the office yelled and scream and made the entire situation worse and told us "It isn't our (the Police's) job to deal with mental issues and you should be contact CAHMS (who one of my kids is significantly involved with).
So how will this governmental change help first off:
Fund Gumboot Friday/I Am Hope Charity to $6 million per annum.
This will likely assist my kids with greater options available.
Renegotiate the Crown funding agreement with St John with a view to meeting a greater portion of their annualised budget.
This will hopefully people like me are told to there are no ambulances available when people need urgent medical care.
Better recognise people with overseas medical qualifications and experience for accreditation in New Zealand including consideration of an occupations tribunal.
This will hopefully means my kids might be able to start getter the medical services that were available when they were younger but which we have been told recently are no longer available.
Commit to training no fewer than 500 new frontline police within the first two years
This hopefully will mean cops actually turn up when they're needed.
And since you say "6 years", not "3 years"…(and by the way, you have also invented a government that never existed in the past 6 years
A slight mis-quote of what you wrote which I hope you don't mind as I wanted to deal with both of your points at once.
I say 6 years and not 3 because the state of the nation (IMHO) has decline significantly over that time period including with WP was part of the Labour led Government and the reason for my reference to a Labour/Green/Maori government because the policies, attitudes and influence has been made up significantly by these three party's.
I accept your point however and agree I should have worded that differently/better.
In both these examples, I've included independent assessments (a factcheck, and then the Police Association spokesman).
It is very sad that the right-wing parties have successfully conned voters into believing their rhetoric. That only means false hopes are raised, followed by greater anger when the promises are broken.
Less funding under the National government before, more funding under the one just voted out. And now the promise is only to “renegotiate”, which means nothing.
Again, it pays to look beyond the rhetoric to the reality.
Labour deliberately chose not to fund St Johns properly, or to integrate them into the new national health service when it was amalgamated. Shame on them.
This was despite a full independent review requesting that full service integration from late 2019, released in 2020.
What they got was a one-off $21m in the next budget. Not sustainable funding for their 25% shortfall. So they had to cut over 100 of their staff. Those are staff that could have saved lives.
You may notice they have to put staff outside supermarkets to try and get subscriptions to fill this gap (and I happily have done so). This is a basic emergency service for the whole of New Zealand.
Response times since 2021 have worsened, their budget isn't keeping up, and they continue to have massive vacancies.
Sounds like observer has debated you in good faith and having been soundly whipped (metaphorically) you've decided to take your ball a go home ya wee man!
I disagree completely, just read the policy agreement, there are so many positive outcomes for New Zealand in my opinion that as I said even if they achieve a quarter of what it contains New Zealand will be a thousand times better off.
There are no outcomes (positive or negative) from the policy agreement as yet, but if our new govt does "achieve a quarter of what it [the agreement] contains", then please give an example of how "NZ will be a thousand times better off" – just one.
Reckon I’ll be waiting a while for a rational example – imgo, “a thousand times better off” is simply political hyperbole.
It's so simple to break down every war at the moment.
It's one far right warmongering turd with a hard-on for violence and death verses another far right warmongering turd with a hard-on for violence and death.
Examples in no particular order:
Hemedti
Russian oligarchs
Mohammed bin Salman
Netanyahu
Hamas
Ukrainian oligarchs
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
Putin
and the real meat in the pie,
the Corporate oligarchs
Or if you want, pick a side, and become just another jingoist with a desperate need for war porn.
Which one of my examples did not expound with their actions your point Red Blooded One? They all use what ever tool they have at hand, and for many speaking for/with God seems to be a common trait.
As a theist myself – they only real answer is to hold them to account – including, but not limited to – not let them speak for/with God. Nor let them use the pageantry and trappings of a faith for their political ends.
I am not clear on what exactly is proposed – do they intend to remove all restrictions on purchasers? Whatever it means, they are putting money ahead of lives – killing many with a horrible disease for short term tax cuts for the wealthy. Labour saved 20,000 lives; NactFirst may be trying to reverse that – CLuxon and Willis may not care about their children, but some of us care about ours . . .
Willis was laying it at nzfs feet but was happy to not restrict outlets because it'll increase revenue, that's a level of cold that I struggle to grasp from a leading elected politician.
I had to watch the Newshub item to believe it. She laid the blame at the feet of ACT and NZ First who wanted it "and we agreed to it" she said. She admitted it would bring in an extra one billion dollars for the tax-cuts. I presume it was per annum.
There is their political philosophy laid out in black and white. They regard the lives of [potentially] thousands of NZers to die prematurely as acceptable… in order to fund their big election bribe – tax-cuts.
And they moaned and complained about the Covid mandates because of the loss of revenue stream. Didn't give a damn about the loss of life. They were okay cos they could escape to their holiday homes etc.
I wonder how many of the idiots who voted for NAct are already starting to wonder what they've done.
People on the left need to get smarter about this. The tactic (imported from USA Republicans) is to provoke a response from the people National want to respond.
We could call it Hone Harawira syndrome. John Key's government would do something questionable, "middle NZ" or swing voters would say "I don't like the sound of that" and then Hone would pop up on TV saying "f*** you National" and those voters would say "but I'm not on his side".
The Newshub piece was, through the lens of those voters, about Maori getting angry, not health policy. Bait … and hooked. Expect much more of this.
This should be reprinted far and wide. If you can do it contact Webworm. Hayden Donnell has my admiration, again and again. Labour should be contacting him, because I’ll sure as f be listening to what he thinks of the results of their soul searching or not.
‘The World’s Biggest Hypocrites
Free speech is actually under threat – and our loudest free speech warriors are nowhere to be found.
This has to have corruption at its very core. The scrapping of the smoking cessation legislation and wait there’s more!!!! the scrapping of the de-nicotineising of smoking products. Pressure for these measures could have only come from the industry, one of the shoddiest industries in the world which is well represented by ex ( really? ) sales people of this shit in the new government. Follow the money, if only some journalist had the ability.
Evil is being complicit in the suppling of lethal drugs for profit.
I wonder if someone who fell out with Ardern/Labour over a difference of opinion on a matter of principle may have disappointed some influential backers who demanded value for that support. Just musing.
Maybe we need a huge petition to present to the government.
That is not only inaccurate but venal and unwarranted.
I was referring to the likes of Goldsmith and Seymour in particular who claim to have a modicum of Maori blood in them. No doubt they do, but they are not Maori in the accepted sense of the word. Indeed Seymour is 'the racist' and a fascist to boot.
A bit of mea culpa would suffice but I doubt you are up to it.
The bolter must surely be Tama Potaka who picks up Conservation, Whanau Ora, Minister for Crown – Maori relations, Maori Development, and Associate Housing.
Casey Costello will certainly be a strong understudy to Mitchell as Minister of Police. She's a great pick and great to see in Cabinet already.
Nicole McKee picking up Courts and Associate Justice is a big step up.
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
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In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and 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). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
The reality is that we have no obligation to tolerate the intolerant. They are using violence to shut down and silence others. The result of tolerating intolerant views is the loss of everyone’s freedom of speech except for the one who most effectively ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University Adwo/Shutterstock Humans have been poisoning rodents for centuries. But fast-breeding rats and mice have evolved resistance to earlier poisons. In response, manufacturers have produced second generation anticoagulant rodenticides such as bromadiolone, widely ...
Alex Casey unearths Simon Court’s full sales pitch for how menstrual cups could end poverty. On Friday last week, Act MP Simon Court was accused of “mansplaining” during a parliamentary committee hearing about benefit sanctions. After submitter Rachel Dibble shared her concerns about period poverty and the impact that sanctions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted February 10–14 from a sample of 1,244, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the previous Newspoll, ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you enjoy whip-smart satire: The White Lotus (Neon, February 17) HBO’s award-winning The White Lotus is back for what critics are calling “an absolutely exquisite third ...
NZPF called for a slowdown of the curriculum change, asking for one subject at a time, so that teachers and principals could be fully trained and feel confident and competent to implement the changes, New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) President ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Indonesia’s TVOne launched an AI news presenter in 2023.T.J. Thomson Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has taken off at lightning speed in the past couple of years, creating disruption in ...
Many of the young vapers interviewed by a team of public health researchers said they felt unable to resist the pro-vaping environment that surrounded them. New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree ...
Analysis: While most Wellingtonians enjoyed a rare but unbeatable sunny day on Saturday, some New Zealand diplomats will have been briefly shocked by a screenshot making the rounds on social media showing US President Donald Trump calling us a “third world country”.The image, it appears, was a fake – certainly a ...
ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp says that the Treaty Principles Bill has galvanised the biggest movement in support of Te Tiriti in modern history. ...
While it is in the interests of Wellington ratepayers to sell off this subsidy for the rich, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point. The council should have never spent a penny on this programme, and the $3.4 million spent is a flagrant abuse ...
A search for the person behind a social media account ridiculing Māori.Last week, while scrolling Facebook, I came across a post shared to the New Zealand Centre for Political Research group. The post began, “From Matua Kahurangi on X”, before pasting his critique of iwi leadership – particularly Ngāpuhi ...
On the heels of The White Lotus season three, Tara Ward travels to Koh Samui, Thailand, to live her best life as a five-star wannabe. I’ve never been one for luxury travel. Despite religiously watching TV shows like Luxury Escapes: World’s Best Holidays and harbouring grand dreams of one day ...
The Treaty Principles Bill submission hearings continue at Parliament today with a range of submitters expected including councils, iwi, community organisations and individuals. ...
It’s become of one of Christchurch’s most famous landmarks online, but why? Alex Casey steps through the portal of the brutalist Timezone. Ask anyone what Christchurch’s most iconic building is and you might expect to hear some of the dusty old classics like the Cathedral, or the Town Hall, or ...
New Zealand’s alignment with the White House is further underscored by its refusal to oppose Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is a serious blow to the soft power of the United States and disastrous for many poor countries ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Hoek, Professor in Public Health, University of Otago Shutterstock/Aliaksandr Barouski New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree generation would have ended sales of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Disney, Research Fellow, Social Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne Edwin Tan/Getty Images When the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established in 2013, one of its driving aims was to make disability services and support systems fairer. However, our new ...
The resignation of the director general of health is the latest departure in what Labour is calling a ‘purge’ of health leadership. Another day, another health resignation It’s a dangerous time to be a top health executive. On Friday, Dr Diana Sarfati announced her resignation as director general of health ...
Labour and the Greens say the government should focus spending on tourism infrastructure like tracks, toilets and protection of nature instead of more advertising. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
After a morning spent calf marking, Flock Hill Station manager Richard Hill headed up Bridge Hill – about 100km from Christchurch on the way to the West Coast – to check on a fire near the station’s boundary.It was December 5 last year, and the Craigieburn area had experienced three ...
It can’t be much of a surprise that a relatively inexperienced Act MP, handed the workplace relations portfolio, doesn’t want to entertain the country’s biggest union in her office.But it still astonishes the head of that union, the CTU’s president, Richard Wagstaff.After all, he’s met regularly with ministers of all ...
Late 21st century Christchurch will be unrecognisable when compared with Christchurch today.Flooding will prompt retreat from all eastern and many northern suburbs. These areas, together with land near the Heathcote and Avon Rivers, are in a fifty-year flood zone. Fifty-year floods can happen more than once every fifty years; there ...
Is humanising a mountain the path to real transformation, or does it signal the need for a cultural paradigm shift in the operating system? Recently, a family member shared their delight at the news of Taranaki Maunga becoming a legal person.Of course, I was pleased for the eight Taranaki ...
Why New Zealanders donate money and who they give it to – and how tools like Givealittle are changing the giving landscape.Is New Zealand really a generous country? It’s difficult to quantify. Giving to registered charities can be counted through tax returns, but giving to overseas causes, giving money ...
Perhaps the Standard could compile an ongoing list of election promises broken by the Nats and their sidekicks? It will soon be a long one, to be constantly updated.
This should include all such examples, regardless of whether you think the U-turn is welcome. A Luxon pork pie is still a pork pie, even if you like the taste.
The biggest so far is the foreign buyer's tax, but there are more tax frauds to add, such as …
"Luxon said he was confident they would find the revenue to fill the shortfall from elsewhere – and said National was no longer planning to repeal the so-called “app tax”.
That is a tax on app-based services such as Airbnb and Uber, which National campaigned on repealing along with others introduced by Labour."
National, Act, NZ First coalition: Incoming PM Christopher Luxon on Nats’ tax sacrifice and stopping the coalition falling apart – NZ Herald
Many times in the campaign I heard the Nats say that they would implement measures that would meet NZ's climate change commitments. In which case this is already perilously close to a U-turn, as the climate change minister and the environment minister have been left outside the cabinet. This is a tactical mistake and probably a crude and nasty dig at Ardern’s “Climate Change moment” that they couldn’t resist.
Has the environment minister ever been outside the cabinet before?
I think, it's possibly more relevant to look at who the Climate Change ministers are, and what their other roles are.
Simon Watts (also Minister of Revenue) and Nicola Willis (Associate CC) – Minister of Finance.
Two people with a very heavy financial leaning in their portfolios – I think that the new government will be looking at Climate Change very much in a financial context.
There are also two Ministers for the Environment (both outside cabinet): Penny Simmonds (who also has Tertiary Education – and will have her plate full with that one); and Andrew Hoggard (who will be looking at it from an Agriculture perspective).
Neither are likely to stand up to the rest of cabinet in ensuring that Climate Change mitigation is on the agenda.
Yes, there has been a Climate Change minister outside the Cabinet, before. James Shaw was Minister for Climate Change, outside Cabinet, in 2017-2020. David Parker has been Minister for the Environment (inside cabinet) since 2017. But it's pretty much Shaw who's been doing the heavy policy lifting in the climate change space.
All in all, I'd say that it's a very strong indication that Climate change will not be at the core of this government's policies. Which is not surprising.
99 out of 100 rightist politicians can't see past the $ on anything.
Andrew Hoggard doesn't speak for all farmers , just the act aligned ones and the ones who haven't worked out that act has taken over fed farmers.
Bring back blip, i miss blip
Going on this type of witch hunt is a wee bit pointless and could end up as an own goal because under MMP pre election promises mean nothing until after coalition negotiation agreements have been written and published. At that point those pledges are what you hold the government to account for.
The danger here is that at some point the parties on the left will likely be in a position to also negotiate a government and the same brush of criticism could be used against them to paint a picture of broken promises as you are trying to use now.
One of the areas that showed up the current National party's inexperience and possible naivety during this election was the nature of their absolute promises of abolishing this that and the other and introducing other pies in the sky. The lesson here is the dropping of the foreign buyers policy and the TAX they expected to generate from it. ACT and NZF also made promises using similar language and they both seem to have had win's in regard to getting most of those accepted in one form or another, that's the advantage of the smaller parties because they will always have the balance of power in their favour if the bigger parties want to govern.
Na I have 5 working dogs to HELP me govern this farm ,
I make damn sure they know who is boss though. One thing key did that was right is ran a coalition not letting the minions run it
Luxin and Ardern where /are weak .
During the negotiations Peters had the option available to him of walking out and supporting Labour instead. Luxon had no other option except that of settling for the position of leader of the opposition. That gave Peters a certain amount of power, but not an unlimited amount.
Winston did not have that choice, they had ruled each other out, and a 4 way coalition hell no in any case.
Luxon is weak ,willis ,winston and seymour are going to run rings around him.
It's not a "witch hunt".
Income tax cuts were a cornerstone of National's campaign, with Luxon repeating "$250" until the CTU exposed his dishonesty and the media belatedly reported it.
And prior to that, he spelled it out with no ambiguity. Not "here's a policy to be negotiated", but a cast-iron promise to the voters. If words mean nothing, then we all lose.
"Here's my commitment to you. When I become Prime Minister, I'll reverse Labour's tax grab, National will repeal each of these tax increases implemented by Labour."
Christopher Luxon's State of the Nation speech: Government needs to stop its 'tax grab' | RNZ News
There'll be tax cuts, likly targets for nat savings , the Cullen fund, kiwisaver contributions, oh and the poor they always fuck the poor.
But can you find an equivalent bottom-line commitment from Luxon on climate change? I'd suggest not.
No, I doubt anybody voted National because they believed Luxon was going to make tackling climate change a priority. It was barely mentioned in the campaign.
Neither was covid mentioned. They ignore the elephant in the room until they can't.
Would fees-free tertiary study going from the first year to the final year of study, despite a promise to retain it, constitute a broken promise?
They've done it to reduce total cost because it will deter some people from even starting and others will start and then drop away. There's also more than a touch of malice – they don't want to open an opportunity to a class of people who otherwise might never have started, they'd rather subsidise a class of people who were always going to go and were always likely to finish.
The points you make are valid but you miss a big one –
Why are they doing it? Well the answer is that fees- free will not cost a cent in the next 2 years – they won't be giving anyoine a last year free that has already had one so the people qualifying for fees free will be …/drumroll Nil, No-one, Zero and Nobody. Political chicanery dressed up as "we're so fucking clever'. As Mr Creosote said “bucket!!”
willis' work nodoubt, I know her type.
Good point. It will still be first year fees-free in 2024. Then from 2025 it goes to last year. As Labour introduced it in 2018, a student would need to have started in 2017 and be finishing in 2025 to receive anything that year, which would be unusual. As you say, pretty much a 2-year hiatus on paying anything in 2025/6 and then tapering in from 2027 as some degrees are longer than 3 years.
Given that, it would not be a surprise if National's 2026 manifesto kills the policy entirely from 2027 onwards.
I doubt that anyone who has benefitted from a 'fees free' year at the beginning of their qualification will be able to get another one at the end of it.
That is certainly the case, now. If you sign-up for fees-free for one qualification, you don't get another go, if you then sign up for another one.
[NB: this has caused major issues for people, who are doing a low-level tertiary certificate – and don't realize that getting fees-free for that minor qualification – precludes them from then getting it for the undergraduate degree, they then decide to do]
Sure – realise that and clearly if the policy is to support only 1 year of study, that can be the first or the last, not both. However, Barfly appears to be correct in saying that the act of switching from first year to last year creates a two-year hiatus where expenditure on the policy drops to almost nothing.
If the government then uses this hiatus to 'review' the policy, it looks like a golden opportunity to cancel the whole thing at that point. Effectively, the policy would then have been killed from the end of 2024, even though the 2023 election promise was to continue it.
While we can all remember the challenge to National's figures for their tax plan – especially the $700m from a tax on and return of foreign buyers CLuxon said this to the Herald about the veto of NZF on this funding
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nz-cabinet-announcement-live-updates-the-concessions-christopher-luxon-had-to-make-to-get-coalition-over-the-line/PAACRXJNT5FKJAEJMHDSLPQQ6I/
So the plan all along was to fix the hole in their budget by doing this.
1.There will be no further adjustments to income tax brackets to deliver further tax cuts — as they cannot afford to.
2.The slight of hand over free fees
3.No adjustment to the WFF tax credit threshold
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nz-cabinet-announcement-live-updates-the-concessions-christopher-luxon-had-to-make-to-get-coalition-over-the-line/PAACRXJNT5FKJAEJMHDSLPQQ6I/
None of this planned duplicity made known to voters before the election.
So the debate over amounts and the reassurance that they were confident about the numbers was just a deception.
The money no longer to be spent lifting the Working for Families abatement threshold from $42,700 to $50,000 in 2026 means the so called $10 a week IETC low income workers get would be outweighed by this change – they will soon be worse off.
Re news that National have dropped their overseas property buyers' tax policy and need to find revenue of $740 million p.a. from other sources for their planned tax cuts, it was widely reported that this amount was never accepted as realistic by various economists.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/election-2023/497974/economists-analysis-rubbishes-national-s-foreign-buyers-tax-numbers
"National's policy document stated it expected the policy to raise $715m in the first year it was introduced, increasing to about $764m in 2027/28, averaging out to about $740m a year.
Economists Sam Warburton and Michael Reddell – who lean left and right respectively – decided to do their own analysis using data from Stats NZ, real estate data from Corelogic, and the information National has so far publicly revealed about its policy.
Their independent modelling resulted in a "best estimate" of $210m a year in revenue, leaving a gap of $530m or 71 percent between their data and National's proposal. A more generous "higher-end estimate" calculated at $290m in revenue – still falling $450m, or 61 percent, short".
Did National really believe overseas property buyers would generate so much revenue? Surely they knew NZ First did not agree with this policy and might be needed to help form a government. Did National always intend to cancel this policy, and plan to cut funding and staff from public services and perhaps increase GST? How will the new government fund their tax cuts?
Many people's resentment towards Labour overrode their willingness to see National's tax plan for the con job it was. After repeated challenging of National's tax cuts plan: https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/05-10-2023/nicola-willis-confirms-only-3000-households-will-get-full-250-a-fortnight-tax-cut Evidently many people knowingly voted for a party that lied by omission and implication about the supposed benefits of a major policy.
You and SPC have summed it up.
National knew that if they said "tax cuts" loud and often, it would work. And it did.
They could have said they were going to pay for it by making banknotes smaller, it wouldn't have mattered. A magical treasure was needed so they conjured one up. That's all it ever was.
Winston Peters
Shane Jones
Judith Collins
Potentially the most corrupt government Aotearoa has ever had.
Judith Collins is one of the most corrupt politicians New Zealand has been unfortunate enough to be burdened with.
Now she is the top law officer in the country. We are turkeys voting for Christmas.
This "strong and stable" drivel is starting to piss me off. We need a more appropriate moniker
How about ":shitty and sadistic" or "bone-headed and backward"
Strong, stable and stupid!!
This week's buzz word is "historic "
"Bone-headed and backward" has definite appeal
Sick and sadistic would be my take on these unhinged and deranged individuals. God help us.
There are just so many awful policies. Don’t know where to start……
With luck they'll bicker fight and unravel before they can get them up and running.
https://twitter.com/NewshubNationNZ/status/1728163975827702251?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
We need her more than ever!
The Elders Group……..it wouldn't surprise me if Helen is destined for a big part in world leadership……..and great to see her wearing the colours……
Unfortunately the new Government has a lot of work to repair the economic and social damage the last six years of a Labour/Green party has done to New Zealand.
However based of the documents released yesterday if they achieve only a quarter of it New Zealand will still be a thousand times better off.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: Authors have the option of limiting the trolls who can comment on their posts. Don’t waste my time trolling on my posts ever again. You appear to be too stupid or too lazy to actually do anything more than run the troll playbook. ]
You had three numbers in your comment. One was accurate, the other two plucked out of your arse.
Yeah right. If you ignore the pandemic related tourism, trade and employment issues, I'd love you to actually point out any policies that actually caused any significant damage to the underlying economy. This would give me opportunities to point out again just how much of a unthinking simpleton you are.
Unlike you, I actually appear to have been working in a growing economy. One where we've been starting to get on top of a multi-decade chronic housing shortage.
Offhand I suspect that every example that your simple brain ( that so resembles that of a parrot) can come up with will involve something about the benefits to those who exploit them of having readily available low wage workers.
Lprent does this policy apply to everybody here or just the sycophants who parrot the echo chamber's preferred narative?
If you would like to actually engage in a discussion I would be more than willing to once you stop acting like a child with name calling and whining because you didn't get the election results you wanted because more New Zealanders felt your side were the worse of the available choices.
Debate ?
Just pushing out Nationals pre election talking points doesnt come near to starting a debate.
What was the specific damage to the economy- from the Labour- Greens AND NZF after 6 years – you proffer
I noticed how you have airbrushed NZF out of its coalition role from 2017.
Please see a doctor you appear to have an untreated head injury
Does this statement comply with this sites stated policy of:
[lprent: yes. It is a shorted way of saying what I said. Don’t comment on one of posts again.]
"if they achieve only a quarter of it New Zealand will still be a thousand times better off" (my bold)
Well ye of the thin skin I rest my case (thousand??) although I will concede you may simply be dishonest or delusional rather than having an untreated head injury.
Clearly you've never heard of hyperbole so hopefully, this helps.
If however, that is your issue let me help you and rephrase my comment to:
I hope this change is acceptable to you.
Ah , the great futurologist who believes in the magic powers of one deodorant salesman
Australias Reserve Bank has had a triple mandate for some generations now and has led to higher growth over NZ previously single focus for the RBNZ , so what higher power provides certainity that going backwards will change what was a poor past outcome
https://www.rba.gov.au/about-rba/our-role.html
Our new govt and their backers aren't interested in 'repair', unless you mean the repair of unearned income streams. As for your assertion that:
perhaps "very big brain" Willis can help you with "the technical numbers", now that her woeful miscalculation of the foreign buyers tax revenue won't be further exposed.
Like Barry @3, I'm picking another rise in the regressive GST to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, although this lot won't wait as long as Key did – Luxon is “very impatient“.
I disagree completely, just read the policy agreement, there are so many positive outcomes for New Zealand in my opinion that as I said even if they achieve a quarter of what it contains New Zealand will be a thousand times better off.
Take for example just the Strengthening Democracy section, these are tangible steps to reduce the massive social division that has occurred over the last 6 years by ensuring all citizens are equal, something the last Labour/Green/Maori Government seemed very keen to destroy.
Can you give us examples of how you, as a citizen, have been discriminated against? Can you tell us how you have suffered, in reality? And can you tell us how the new government is going to stop that?
And since you say "6 years", not "3 years", why are you accusing Winston Peters of doing it?
(and by the way, you have also invented a government that never existed in the past 6 years).
I never said I had been discriminated against.
Can you tell us how you have suffered, in reality
Example 1:
I have two children with significant medical issues I have spent a lot of time over the past 16 years dealing with the medical system.
Over the last 6 years I have experienced first hand a significant decline in the quality and availability of health care including:
– Being told I would be better to go private
– Being told when calling 111 for an ambulance that there were none available
– Being told by staff that due to staff leaving treatment options previously available could no longer be provided.
Example 2:
This year I have had to deal with the Police on 3 occasions.
Incident 1: I witnessed a road rage incident where a truck driver pulled the driver out of their vehicle and assaulted them before stealing their mobile phone.
When 111 was contacted (approximatley 0900 on a weekday) the victim who I had stopped to assist was advised that there were no police cars available (Tauranga) and that he should go to the local station to report the theft.
Incident 2:
While parked at the beach a car arrived and parked beside a woman's car who was also in her car. The two persons obviously were known to each other and the male driver got out of their car with a length of metal (looked like re-enforcing metal crowbar) and started smashing the woman's rear window while the two screamed at each other.
The male then fled the scene and I followed and called 111 (there were other people also in the carpark so I figured she a) wouldn't be alone and b) they could provide any assistance as well as I could).
After following the vehicle for about 10 minutes with the operator on the line (who had dispatched an ambulance btw) advised that there were no police vehicles available.
This occurred around 3pm-4pm on a Sat/Sun.
Incident 3:
Due to one of my kids medical issues I had to call 111. When the police arrived the office yelled and scream and made the entire situation worse and told us "It isn't our (the Police's) job to deal with mental issues and you should be contact CAHMS (who one of my kids is significantly involved with).
So how will this governmental change help first off:
This will likely assist my kids with greater options available.
This will hopefully people like me are told to there are no ambulances available when people need urgent medical care.
This will hopefully means my kids might be able to start getter the medical services that were available when they were younger but which we have been told recently are no longer available.
This hopefully will mean cops actually turn up when they're needed.
A slight mis-quote of what you wrote which I hope you don't mind as I wanted to deal with both of your points at once.
I say 6 years and not 3 because the state of the nation (IMHO) has decline significantly over that time period including with WP was part of the Labour led Government and the reason for my reference to a Labour/Green/Maori government because the policies, attitudes and influence has been made up significantly by these three party's.
I accept your point however and agree I should have worded that differently/better.
Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry that you have had some very unpleasant experiences.
The question then is "Will that improve now? Can these promises be believed?".
The evidence is clear. I'll take just one example for now, policing levels.
First, this is what happened under National before 2017. Police numbers per capita decreased.
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says police numbers declined under National’s leader – Australian Associated Press (aap.com.au)
Then after 2017 police numbers per capita increased.
Police numbers climb by 1800: Government expected to announce target reached today – NZ Herald
In both these examples, I've included independent assessments (a factcheck, and then the Police Association spokesman).
It is very sad that the right-wing parties have successfully conned voters into believing their rhetoric. That only means false hopes are raised, followed by greater anger when the promises are broken.
The funding for St John's ambulances has been covered extensively in the media.
How it was:
Paramedics, St John want more funding | RNZ News
How it is:
St John offers biggest pay correction in the history of the ambulance service
Less funding under the National government before, more funding under the one just voted out. And now the promise is only to “renegotiate”, which means nothing.
Again, it pays to look beyond the rhetoric to the reality.
Labour deliberately chose not to fund St Johns properly, or to integrate them into the new national health service when it was amalgamated. Shame on them.
This was despite a full independent review requesting that full service integration from late 2019, released in 2020.
https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/article/undoctored/release-martinjenkins-review-st-john
What they got was a one-off $21m in the next budget. Not sustainable funding for their 25% shortfall. So they had to cut over 100 of their staff. Those are staff that could have saved lives.
You may notice they have to put staff outside supermarkets to try and get subscriptions to fill this gap (and I happily have done so). This is a basic emergency service for the whole of New Zealand.
Response times since 2021 have worsened, their budget isn't keeping up, and they continue to have massive vacancies.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/02/ambulance-sector-shake-up-on-the-cards-as-funding-staffing-issues-plague-st-john.html
The staff they have are grossly overworked and present massive risks to emergency patients across NZ. So no one applies to work there.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/06/06/st-john-staff-highlight-ridiculous-exhausting-working-conditions/
Good on them for making it a specific coalition line. If only Labour had.
Sorry Observer but it appears that this is not a site to discuss, debate or challenge the ideas (especially those of the host or their sycophants).
Perhaps we will encounter each other on another site that seeks to be more than a left wing echo chamber.
Sounds like observer has debated you in good faith and having been soundly whipped (metaphorically) you've decided to take your ball a go home ya wee man!
It was Lprent not Observer that was the issue and you know it.
He didn't ban him and the conversation could easily carry on , nobody needs either a spine or honesty
That's a solid and thoughtful answer.
None should try and argue that mental healthcare got better under Ardern's government.
The really tough stat is how fast gun crime and street assaults went up in Auckland in particular, again under Labour.
501s
I think Ad is a secret supporter of the ACT Party bwaghorn. 😉
There are no outcomes (positive or negative) from the policy agreement as yet, but if our new govt does "achieve a quarter of what it [the agreement] contains", then please give an example of how "NZ will be a thousand times better off" – just one.
Reckon I’ll be waiting a while for a rational example – imgo, “a thousand times better off” is simply political hyperbole.
To Lprent:
Your house, your rules.
All the best for the future.
It's so simple to break down every war at the moment.
It's one far right warmongering turd with a hard-on for violence and death verses another far right warmongering turd with a hard-on for violence and death.
Examples in no particular order:
Hemedti
Russian oligarchs
Mohammed bin Salman
Netanyahu
Hamas
Ukrainian oligarchs
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
Putin
and the real meat in the pie,
the Corporate oligarchs
Or if you want, pick a side, and become just another jingoist with a desperate need for war porn.
Don't forget how much "Religion" and "Faith" have to do most conflicts. "Nothing more Hateful than the Love from a good Theist"
Which one of my examples did not expound with their actions your point Red Blooded One? They all use what ever tool they have at hand, and for many speaking for/with God seems to be a common trait.
As a theist myself – they only real answer is to hold them to account – including, but not limited to – not let them speak for/with God. Nor let them use the pageantry and trappings of a faith for their political ends.
Fuck me just watching newshub nation ,willis is saying removing labours smoke-free policies will increase revenue for funding tax cuts!!!!!
Most fucked thing I've ever heard.
Geez.
I am not clear on what exactly is proposed – do they intend to remove all restrictions on purchasers? Whatever it means, they are putting money ahead of lives – killing many with a horrible disease for short term tax cuts for the wealthy. Labour saved 20,000 lives; NactFirst may be trying to reverse that – CLuxon and Willis may not care about their children, but some of us care about ours . . .
Willis was laying it at nzfs feet but was happy to not restrict outlets because it'll increase revenue, that's a level of cold that I struggle to grasp from a leading elected politician.
I had to watch the Newshub item to believe it. She laid the blame at the feet of ACT and NZ First who wanted it "and we agreed to it" she said. She admitted it would bring in an extra one billion dollars for the tax-cuts. I presume it was per annum.
There is their political philosophy laid out in black and white. They regard the lives of [potentially] thousands of NZers to die prematurely as acceptable… in order to fund their big election bribe – tax-cuts.
And they moaned and complained about the Covid mandates because of the loss of revenue stream. Didn't give a damn about the loss of life. They were okay cos they could escape to their holiday homes etc.
I wonder how many of the idiots who voted for NAct are already starting to wonder what they've done.
Don't fret Anne it's mostly poor Maori especially woman who smoke . I'm sure national voters will sleep soundly.
Of course they will.
People on the left need to get smarter about this. The tactic (imported from USA Republicans) is to provoke a response from the people National want to respond.
We could call it Hone Harawira syndrome. John Key's government would do something questionable, "middle NZ" or swing voters would say "I don't like the sound of that" and then Hone would pop up on TV saying "f*** you National" and those voters would say "but I'm not on his side".
The Newshub piece was, through the lens of those voters, about Maori getting angry, not health policy. Bait … and hooked. Expect much more of this.
This should be reprinted far and wide. If you can do it contact Webworm. Hayden Donnell has my admiration, again and again. Labour should be contacting him, because I’ll sure as f be listening to what he thinks of the results of their soul searching or not.
‘The World’s Biggest Hypocrites
Free speech is actually under threat – and our loudest free speech warriors are nowhere to be found.
by Hayden Donnell.’
This has to have corruption at its very core. The scrapping of the smoking cessation legislation and wait there’s more!!!! the scrapping of the de-nicotineising of smoking products. Pressure for these measures could have only come from the industry, one of the shoddiest industries in the world which is well represented by ex ( really? ) sales people of this shit in the new government. Follow the money, if only some journalist had the ability.
Nicky Hager has but he can't be across everything.
It may be a bit early to be talking legacies but let’s talk Winston Peters. Tobacco, cigarettes, smoking, illness, death.
Evil is being complicit in the suppling of lethal drugs for profit.
I wonder if someone who fell out with Ardern/Labour over a difference of opinion on a matter of principle may have disappointed some influential backers who demanded value for that support. Just musing.
Maybe we need a huge petition to present to the government.
It's great to see a progressive Maori representation in this new centre-right government, with 7 Maori ministers.
And not just with token ministries either, unlike under Labour.
You've put you're pawn in a weak position.
Oh you mean the pretend Maoris – apart from Winston Peters, Shane Jones and Shane Reti.
None of them could be described as ‘progressive’.
Your moist left reflex of simple racist sneer and pearl-clutching is such a skill.
That is not only inaccurate but venal and unwarranted.
I was referring to the likes of Goldsmith and Seymour in particular who claim to have a modicum of Maori blood in them. No doubt they do, but they are not Maori in the accepted sense of the word. Indeed Seymour is 'the racist' and a fascist to boot.
A bit of mea culpa would suffice but I doubt you are up to it.
Disagree – progressive means continuing, developing, growing, ongoing
There's a world waiting out there for those with dreams Anne, as opposed to resignation to victimhood
The bolter must surely be Tama Potaka who picks up Conservation, Whanau Ora, Minister for Crown – Maori relations, Maori Development, and Associate Housing.
Casey Costello will certainly be a strong understudy to Mitchell as Minister of Police. She's a great pick and great to see in Cabinet already.
Nicole McKee picking up Courts and Associate Justice is a big step up.
Well done all three.
Nicole McKee? Isn't she ACT’s gun toting supporter of the American NRA who are closely aligned to the Trump loving Republican Party?