Open mike 26/07/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 26th, 2020 - 81 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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

Step up to the mike …

81 comments on “Open mike 26/07/2020 ”

  1. Dennis Frank 1

    Good to see the PM doing follow-through on the coalition's strategy for weaning Taranaki off fossil fuels: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122219979/pm-jacinda-ardern-reflects-on-taranaki-and-its-global-potential

    Ardern was in the region for a flying visit on Thursday launching the new energy centre Ara Ake and announcing $48 million in new spending to support projects across Taranaki. “I hope that demonstrates to the people of the region that we genuinely believe New Zealand’s success will be based on investment in our regions.”

    During her day-long visit, Ardern met with the district’s three mayors and other leaders in a behind closed doors sit-down to do a bit of stocktake of where things were at in Taranaki. “We spent a bit of time reflecting on some of the initiatives that have been supported in recent times…Parihaka, the waste treatment injection, obviously the announcement of the launch of Ara Ake and then looking ahead to the opportunities that come with the Covid recovery.” This included what support the Government could provide regarding the skills and trade training required to support new work opportunities.

    Being able to respond to the needs of the community was one factor Ardern identified as a Labour Party tactic to break National’s stranglehold over seats which encompass the Taranaki region, namely New Plymouth, Whanganui and Taranaki-King Country. She said having candidates who are tapped into their communities and know the issues “makes a really big difference.”

    A Labour activist who knocked on my door last week told me their candidate is a community organiser. Well, it worked for Obama.

    One thing Labour would champion if it was elected to Government after September’s general election was the Taranaki 2050 roadmap, which she called an “impressive piece of work”.

    That's good to know. I attended several of the workshops early in the coalition's term and reported on them here – been waiting for the follow-through.

    Leveraging off the work Ara Ake intended to do in creating new forms of energy, Ardern posed the question “why wouldn’t Taranaki be a world leader?.”

    Also encouraging to see that she get's how to implement the roadmap:

    “It’s yours and you’ve already identified what it is that central Government needs to champion alongside you here and I think that will be its strength as you will never succeed if central Government comes in and identifies what a local community’s priorities should be. But we will succeed if we come in and support and work alongside delivering what it is that you determine is the future of the region.”

    Hegel's dialectic, updated into the 21st century: local knowledge & aspirations applied to co-design the plan; implementation via govt supervision. Bottom-up & top-down thinking synthesised via both/and logic. I hope she succeeds in sharing this gnosis so that it becomes general thinking within Labour & the Greens. No sign of National figuring it out…

    • Muttonbird 1.1

      They have also followed through on a national water body which was announced yesterday. No doubt the opposition will complain that govt shouldn’t be governing during the election period.

    • Sacha 1.2

      I'm sure the Greens have never thought of that approach Dennis. Thank goodness they have Labour to show them the way.

  2. Dennis Frank 2

    Renewable energy development in South Taranaki: https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/300061761/waipipi-wind-farm-taking-shape-in-waverley

    Installation of the first of 31 wind turbines began last month at the $227 million Waipipi Wind Farm, being developed near Waverley by Tilt Renewables. https://www.tiltrenewables.com/about-tilt-renewables/

    The Waipipi Wind Farm will directly employ 150 staff during construction, then three full-time staff during its 30-year operation.

    Trucks carrying hubs, blades and towers for the wind farm have been travelling through Taranaki to the site from Port Taranaki over the past few weeks… blades 160 metres long

    Overtaking would have been traumatic!! I saw them from the hill above the port. Enormous things, roughly the size & shape of the biggest whales in the ocean, but probably even bigger. Just not so heavy, being mostly air inside. A smaller blade and it's truck tipped over in transit early last month: https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/121692399/truck-carrying-massive-wind-turbine-blade-topples-over-on-sh45?rm=a

  3. ScottGN 3

    Apart from the fact that Twyford (annoyingly) seems to have done an about-face on his passion for a grade separated CBD to airport metro, the main takeout from this article is that airport to CBD express trains and good local public transport services don’t mix very well. Probably we need to be planning for both.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300063919/election-2020-light-vs-heavy-rail-to-determine-future-of-auckland-transport

    • Andre 3.1

      I really don't understand what benefit light rail has over buses. The footprint of tracks for light rail is bugger-all less than what is needed for bus lanes, and buses have vastly better operational flexibility.

      • ScottGN 3.1.1

        Capacity really. One light rail unit can fit the equivalent of about 4 of the current AT double decker buses. Mostly because everyone has to have a seat on the double deckers due to the low grade ride quality (they lurch around a lot and standing is just dangerous). So as demand (hopefully) increases you need to squeeze more buses onto a finite amount of road space. Eventually you will run out of road. We’re already seeing that at peak times as services from across the isthmus converge on the inner city, the NNR, Mt Eden Rd, Symonds St intersection is an example. Plus we’re running out of street capacity to terminate the services in the city.

        • satty 3.1.1.1

          Another problem with busses, especially double decker busses is the time to board and un-board the busses. I know people here in Wellington that avoid double decker busses for their commute, because it takes too long to get through the "Golden Mile" with too many stops and longer boarding times.

          Trams are usually only one level and have more doors than busses.

          A tram system, in my opinion, only makes sense if you have a dedicated tram line. In some areas of Melbourne the tram has to share the road with cars, which is a complete disaster at car congested times.

          So the people fearing trams are mainly car drivers and their associations (AA). Because it means taking road space away, often rightfully gives trams right of way at crossings and therefore often have significantly lower commute times than cars.

          • ScottGN 3.1.1.1.1

            For what it’s worth station dwell times on the trains in Auckland are way worse than the busses. Though all-door boarding would help on the busses. The main problem though, is once again, safety, the driver can’t move off from the bus stop until they’re sure everyone is safely seated.

        • newsense 3.1.1.2

          Labour's policy was a dedicated light rail corridor before the last election, with light phasing to minimise wait times. Wtf is it now and does the transport minister know?

          From the Stuff article quoting Doug Wilson:

          "Light rail does, but for most of the route it is going to be mixed with traffic, so travel times are affected and you’re going to have a fairly slow journey to the city,” he said."

      • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2

        Well, there's the efficiency:

        Trains are in general one of the most efficient means of transport for freight and passengers. An inherent efficiency advantage is the low friction of steel wheels on steel rails compared especially to rubber tires on asphalt. Efficiency varies significantly with passenger loads, and losses incurred in electricity generation and supply (for electrified systems),[60][61] and, importantly, end-to-end delivery, where stations are not the originating final destinations of a journey.

        And passengers per hour by train far exceeds what buses can achieve. Buses, of course, achieve far more than cars.

        With trains we're truly seeing economies of scale and high efficiency in the mode of transport. Heavy rail is better their than light and suburban rail is better again.

        https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Passenger_Capacity_of_different_Transport_Modes.png

    • Muttonbird 3.2

      Twyford might have a point about capacity on the Southern line and extra services from the airport via a spur would slow everything down (I don't know if this is resolvable), but it's really annoying when he says:

      A heavy rail spur is only really useful to airport users going to and from the CBD.

      That is plainly bullshit. People change trains at stations and have been doing this for nearly two centuries now.

      • ScottGN 3.2.1

        Let’s just hope the PM has somebody else in mind for the role of Transport Minister after the election.

        • Sacha 3.2.1.1

          Genter would be a good choice.

          • newsense 3.2.1.1.1

            How responsible are the Greens for the Wellington bus mess? A huge part of it will be selling it to the public and cleaning up the mess of this term. Maybe Genter can do it, but I'm not entirely confident.

            • Sacha 3.2.1.1.1.1

              Do the Greens control either the regional council or the inner city one?

    • Sacha 3.3

      Useful practical post about Akl airport access: https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2020/06/29/63283/

      I’m not sure where the idea has come from that getting between the city and the airport in 30 minutes is so important and it sounds like another case of what I call “airport derangement syndrome”. Almost exactly a year ago I wrote about how there is an over-emphasis put on airport trips with two key reasons being:

      • Politicians, senior bureaucrats, business leaders, media and other members of the ‘elite’ use Airports far more frequently than the average person – so therefore connections to airports are a much bigger deal for them than for most people.
      • A very wide variety of people travel to the Airport over the course of a year, compared to other key places. This means that a lot of people experience travel conditions to and from airports, even if they do so quite rarely.

      Notably, [the Auckland Transport Alignment Project between local and central govt] ATAP suggested just 4% of trips during the morning peak using light rail would be people travelling/from the airport terminals. More importantly the [light rail] project was considered needed to

      • address bus capacity constraints in the city centre
      • improve access to the employment areas, especially those near the airport which would likely be bypassed by a metro system focused on speed to the terminals, and;
      • to unlock growth opportunities in communities along the route.

      However, the purpose of this post was to consider if we could achieve that 30 minute travel time from the city any other way using the network we have planned (or under consideration). …

  4. Pat 4

    "It is up to voters in the precious few weeks until the election to push political parties into ambitious action"

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/oram-we-are-ambitious-people

    While agreeing with the general thrust of the piece by Oram I fear he makes one fundamentally incorrect assumption…..that there is a majority seeking a common outcome

  5. I Feel Love 6

    If our border is closed how can ACT/Plan B can invite the international "experts" here? Will they be paying for their own quarantine?

    • Incognito 6.1

      I reckon they’ll zoom in and zoom out. It’s a shame that the debate is hijacked by a bunch of biased folk pushing their biased opinions and agenda under the pretence of being sound science. The fact that this branded as COVID-19 Science and Policy Symposium hides that in reality it is propaganda aimed to influence NZ policy. Could be an election stunt by Seymour too. It is free and I wonder who funds this.

  6. greywarshark 7

    In case people haven't sighted Rod Oram's opinion on Tiwai Point's demise here is the link from 19 July. It's well based on wide facts, stuffed with them, and probably The Last Word that anybody should bother reading.

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/oram-how-the-global-aluminium-market-killed-tiwai-point

    Some people who should know better still keep calling on fellow New Zealanders to save the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.

    The latest is Winston Peters. He pledges that any future government New Zealand First is part of would support a worker/management buyout. It’s an idea he’s touted since 2011, he reminded us in an article under his name in the Herald on Thursday.

    Similarly, Steven Joyce, the National Party’s chief economic strategist for nine years in the Key and English governments, was all for subsidising the smelter to keep it alive in his Herald column last week.

    Here, though, is the case the smelter really is dead. The sooner we acknowledge that, celebrate its past and work on Southland’s future the better off we’ll all be – particularly the 1,000 people directly hit by the smelter’s planned closure next August.

    What else then? Tesla?

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/elon-musk-may-answer-keeping-jobs-bluffs-tiwai-point-smelter-southland-entrepreneur

    • Gabby 7.1

      Elon's such a great employer, and he wouldn't be digging into the government's pockets at all.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.2

      Tiwai Point aluminium smelter only has a future if:

      • We use all the aluminium it produces here, in NZ, for end products. Exporting the aluminium itself simply isn't worth it.
      • We develop our own bauxite source and refine that so that the smelter can use it.
      • It's government owned (or self-owned cooperative) and thus doesn't need to produce a profit for bludging shareholders.

      Chances of this coming about is pretty close to zero – unfortunately. This seems to be because the governments of NZ have given up on actually developing our economy to utilise our own resources and to only export end products and not the raw resources.

  7. Incognito 8

    Our podcast was not made for everyone. Everyone is welcome to it, and to learn something from it, but we’re done with gently educating people who should know better. People who lack the basic respect it takes to do the work to understand why things are the way they are for Māori, their fellow New Zealanders.

    Kia Kaha!

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300058729/the-myth-of-mori-exceptionalism

  8. weka 9

    Interesting to see TOP's keeping on with the dissing the Greens election strategy (this kind of tweeting isn't uncommon from TOP). Not sure what they think is to be gained (attracting swing voters who hate the Greens?), but I guess it makes them a natural partner for National somewhere down the line.

    https://twitter.com/sparksedit/status/1287164072115363841

  9. AB 10

    Disappointing to see Jack Tame giving airtime to the fool James Carville with his ridiculous ideas about Trump stepping down before the election, and asserting that Biden had the "most progressive agenda ever…"

    Sadly this guy, who might have provided Jack Tame with an intelligent alternative is dead at 37. Michael Brooks in talking to Robert McChesney asks the single most pertinent question … "is there a way of thinking about a Biden presidency that is constructive while being grounded in the realities of power dynamics…" The answer, as you'd expect, is a mixture.

    • newsense 11.1

      The basic take away there is that deprivation creates crime and that inter-generational deprivation even more so.

      It's just about to affect some of the tough on crime mob and others who have sniffed their smelling salts and voted National.

  10. Byd0nz 12

    Time for a Universal Government more like. Based on a world without the corruption of money where people would get their needs met in exchange for working for the betterment of a habitable Planet and a sense of brother/sisterhood.

    Ankraux uzi Esperanton kiel la unuversan lingvon.

    • Foreign waka 12.1

      Byd0nz, a universal government makes it even less possible to prevent corruption, its pretty much an Orwellian scenario.

      Nature favors variety or biodiversity if you will, its better for survival.

      Esperanto has been used for decades but seem to have not that much of an impact as people usually try to associate within their social structure, local lingo. The experiment of mixing different people has not gone that well in Europe.

      A universal income needs to be sooner rather than later discussed as many people will loose their job due to automation. There is a change of how business operate in progress, the outcome most likely similar like the industrial revolution. Those who are right now have a say in the future have a responsibility beyond an individuals preference, political hue or whatever makes them exited. This is about the next generations and their security, be it food, land or resources.

  11. dv 13

    How about

    UBI tax free

    Inc Taxrate over 100k and 150k and 200k

    And a transaction tax to catch the big money movement.

  12. I Feel Love 14

    https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/josiecox/2020/07/25/leadership-bropriation-covid-boris-johnson-jacinda-ardern-viral-twitter-video/amp/

    Forbes hyping up our PMs leadership skills.

    & saw a funny Tweet comparing Adern rattling off the Govts past achievements with Trump repeating "Person man woman camera tv".

  13. Muttonbird 15

    Ad will be in heaven. The Labour-led government showing intent on major, environmentally sound, forward thinking infrastructure projects.

    The government is doing a great job in the last few days of announcing some major achievements. Serious stuff, and very high quality campaigning.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300066128/government-wants-100-per-cent-green-electricity-by-adding-battery-power-to-hydro-dams

    • Graeme 15.1

      A bit more detail and indication of the scale of what is being proposed, it's pretty big.

      https://medium.com/land-buildings-identity-and-values/pumped-hydro-update-ec4538cbdb87

      • Brendon Harre 15.1.1

        It is huge step towards 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and a fully carbon zero economy by 2050.

        • Graeme 15.1.1.1

          I was quite surprised by the scale of the thing, it's a Clyde sized undertaking. 23 km of hard rock tunnel is getting into it. Some good employment there. Might even see machines 5 & 6 finally installed at Clyde too.

          But yeah,

          huge step towards 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and a fully carbon zero economy by 2050

    • Pat 15.2

      Brilliant…but the question has to be asked why they waited until the end of their term to fund the investigation….and it needs to be combined with an upgraded fully electrified nationwide rail network.

    • Ad 15.3

      Any Minister can do a report.

      Hard to see any fresh energy investment for years when Tiwai comes off.

      • Andre 15.3.1

        Dunno. If Huntly shuts down the remaining two oldest boilers, and there gets to be a push on to convert other coal users to electricity, we're going to be looking for more generation pretty quickly. And now, decisions won't be distorted by the threat of unleashing all of Manapouri's power onto the market, that will have been done and dusted.

        • Ad 15.3.1.1

          That would need a whole different set of price signals to generator investors than we have now. Even strong changes in Ministerial policy can only operate difficult levers through the Electricity Authority, and through browbeating listed shareholders.

          The geothermal projects around Taupo are in a much more developed state than anything currently in the South Island. Plus they are closer to Auckland.

          Once Manapouri really comes on stream – and takes 6 months to settle – I'd see the geothermal ones as much more likely to proceed.

          Maybe we start to see a stable investment playground in late 2022. Maybe.

          Investment cases after that, project formation and consenting after that, project procurement and construction after that.

          That makes it a third term thing.

  14. I Feel Love 16

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122208708/sarah-dowie-other-women-were-my-harshest-critics

    In the party of hair puller John Key, saying being an MP is hard because of long hours away from her children, like many other parents. esp solo working parents. Nope, no sympathy from me, she could have highlighted that while in parliament, tried to change policy so all parents get to spend time with their kids, be more sympathetic to parents on the benefit, esp solo ones. Of course she makes some good points (double standards), but mostly comes across "poor me" & justifying why she cheated.

    • Robert Guyton 16.1

      Dowie said:

      "Feminism is about women coming together and celebrating in other women …"

      Dowie also said:

      "“There are women down here [in the Southern region] that I term ‘the witches’."

    • Incognito 16.2

      Justified cheating is an oxymoron.

      • I Feel Love 16.2.1

        I just remembered the "part time PM" bullshit, don't remember Dowie standing up then.

  15. PaddyOT 18

    Lest we forget the decampers !

    Ann Tolley validectory speech abridged.
    ( From Valedictory Statements – New Zealand Parliament).

    I came to Parliament with a busload for my first day.
    I now have a segway about a Greek phrase, " I am reminded of the meaning of the word "politics". From the Greek "polis", meaning "city", comes the Greek word "politēs", meaning "citizen",… because it is all about citizens.

    My speech will show that for years I was shuffled around in Parliament and I was successful. I thank many, many parliamentary people ( many more than citizens mentioned) who helped my success including the VIP transport team.

    Now onto some 'people' I remember who are the real highlights of my career… (though I will just call them people because I don't know their names nor what happened to most of them, but they were memorable).

    *hundreds and hundreds of parents who contacted me about national standards.

    *I remember ” taking PM John Key to the Whakatāne-based academy,( trades) where we met a large group of excited but very focused young people, and two stood out for John and me. They came from way up the coast. They left home at about 5 a.m. to ride—possibly a horse—down to catch the bus to Whakatāne, which was over three hours away.”

    *took an enormous risk and OK'd the Rimutaka Prison taking part in Wellington on a Plate with Martin Bosley. I even went out to the prison kitchen talking to a man who… with a real light in his eye….

    * I went to another prison for the puppy in prison project. " I remember talking to this enormous man. He was huge. He was covered in tattoos. He was a real fierce-looking dude. He wouldn't meet my eye, because many of them wouldn't, of course. But I .." " Then this great big fierce man bent down and picked up this little puppy, this golden Labrador ball of fluff, and with this gooey look on his face tucked it into his neck and told me that Daisy had scratched at the door to go out to the toilet for the first time the night before."

    * I met Tusha Penny." I well remember her recounting the story of a woman whose history of abuse was only really uncovered by agencies. " … " This woman I remember I never met, I never knew her name, but I know we saved her life."

    * I met two young people who had been in State care, " finally grabbed the opportunity to address the system that was failing them so badly," but will talk about only one of them.
    The first young man's story didn't actually have a happy ending. … He was sullen… I think he'd been with cousins up the coast… " I listened to him…" Sadly, I know that this wasn't enough to make up for everything else that had damaged him."

    * Quickly moving along, next minute, it was all good though no matter because, "But one of that group, a bright, intelligent, and determined young woman, took every opportunity to contribute to the redesign process. She came along to Parliament and she sat up here and she watched the lawmaking process when she could, because she was at university studying to be a social worker. I ran into her a year ago at a local school. She had a very successful career." Because she sat up in the gallery and WATCHED.

    In the last nearly 12 months, " We didn't manage to negotiate a full code of conduct with consequences ( because of covid or because some had an entitlement to scoff at rules) —.So "seven statements of expectations of behaviour" have now been passed on to the Speaker.
    " I sincerely hope everyone in the next Parliament commits to these expectations, because—I tell you what—the public expects nothing less."

    With that nod to ' good behaviour being expected only because the citizens are watching ' .

    …. "So I say thank you to the National Party and to my caucus colleagues for your friendship and support over the years. As Deputy Speaker—sorry, I can't read."

    SPEAKER: You're not meant to read anyway!

  16. observer 19

    Colmar Brunton polling now, results expected by Thurs, TV1.

    Their last poll in June had National at 38, up 9 (Muller bounce, and it was a bad news week for the government). Probably an exaggerated high, up from an exaggerated low, but it would be funny if they went down again.

    • Anne 19.1

      Reid Research were polling 3 days ago. These polling companies seem to have a penchant for women between 25 and 45 years. They're not interested in those of us who are well past our prime. Can't think why. 😕

  17. Treetop 20

    I really like the contribution from the younger TS commenters. They may not always get what a baby bomber is trying to say and I may not always get what a person 20-40 ish is trying to say.

    The thing which I really like from age 20 – 40 ish is that they can find a couple of words to explain a behaviour e.g. "love bombing and gaslighting."

    Aha, think I am beginning to get it now why so much bad behaviour is occurring in parliament.

    Some politicians have the agenda of being spiteful (cutting their nose off to spite their face) toward another MP just to achieve a goal. The spiteful politician does not care what means they use as long as their goal is reached which is to take an opponent out and then wipe their hands as if they did nothing to harm someone.

    • Tricledrown 20.1

      JLR is set to release more bad news for National.

      This is politics it's a dirty business putting laws in place isn't going to change anything but just push more underground.

      ie Donations conveniently split into unidentifyable smaller amounts.

  18. newsense 21

    Dunedin needs to find the tree Pete Hodgson came from. Clark, Curran, Woodhouse and Benson-Pope definitely a mixed bag of talent in terms of success in national politics.

    • Tricledrown 21.1

      We need good quality locals not carpet baggers who are rejected up North.

  19. Bollox 22

    I see prosperity X-tian, and conspiracy nutter most likely to jam out a Stevie Ray Vaughan lick Billy Te Kahika has thrown his lot in with that oh-so X-tian and deeply principled politician Jami-Lee Ross in a desperate attempt to get his NZ Public Party registered. I wonder who swallowed the bigger rat? And what for?

  20. joe90 24

    60.9%!

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    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
    14 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
    14 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
    16 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
    17 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
    19 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
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 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
    6 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
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
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    5 days ago
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