Open mike 28/11/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 28th, 2021 - 114 comments
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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 …

114 comments on “Open mike 28/11/2021 ”

  1. SPC 1

    The Herald has been looking at the hole the government has been digging for itself by not meeting standards expected of responsible landlords.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kainga-ora-the-human-cost-of-living-next-to-neighbours-from-hell/F6EAATWTSTH2ORNM7ED3U3M5FY/

    Exempting tenants from accountability has a parallel with another extreme policy, its deal with National to let developers ignore urban planning rules.

    • Gezza 1.1

      From the link:

      “At the heart of the problem is a government policy to “sustain tenancies” rather than turfing people out on to the street. It has resulted in just three Kāinga Ora evictions since the Labour Government came to power in September 2017.

      Those who endure the consequences are going without sleep, suffering severe stress and mental anguish, with some seeking court-ordered restraining orders for protection, and others selling their homes to escape.

      The policy has been panned by political opponents, who say it breaches the Government’s legal responsibilities as a landlord to ensure its state housing tenants are safe and free from being terrorised by other Kāinga Ora clients.

      The policy also emboldens rotten apples and lets them off the hook, National claims.

      The Tenancy Tribunal has ruled the no eviction stance is at odds with the state’s legal obligations, ordering Kāinga Ora to pay thousands of dollars to affected claimants.

      There is now talk of a class action to hold the Government to account and there is no shortage of people keen to sign up.”
      ……………………………….

      A good investigative reporter article, well worth the read. A classic case of Labour academic woolly wishful thinking that if you are just nicer to horrible people, they’ll be nice back.

      And, typically, no Plan B.

      • Treetop 1.1.1

        Being intimidated and harassed by the tenants of a property also happens in private rentals. The cost of a private rental adds to the daily stress so people head for the bottle or drug. When off your face the ugly you is shown or waiting for the next fix as small stuff will set you off.

        In a lot of cases it is the drugs, alcohol and homes that people grew up in with violence, physical , sexual and verbal abuse, alcohol and drugs.

        One problem property affects the whole street. Those on the anti social property know that they can get away with a lot, often it is the people who they bring to the property which also increases the bad behaviour.

        Semi detached rural properties are required, drug and alcohol rehab, education on what the boundaries of being a neighbour is. Counselling to understand the damage that occurred in the childhood home.

        • Gezza 1.1.1.1

          Yes. I think you’ve nailed the core problems & the solutions.

          Do you see this Labour government doing these things, implementing these harm & harassment mitigations, & underlying problem solutions?

          I’m afraid I don’t.

          I actually think they’d be more likely to have occurred under Bill English / Whanau Ora & the targeted spending he envisaged for dealing with specific people & whanau who were identified as in most need of comprehensive state-funded help & deliver a return of less needed social spending on them in the future.

          Saying such things here is not likely to be popular tho. ☹️

          • Tricledrown 1.1.1.1.1

            Yeah right Gezza National paid lip service setting up Whanau Ora to fail by under funding .

            Labour has thrown a lot more money at Whanau Ora.

            But with lack of stable housing intergenerational violence and neglect it is bound to fail. And as a former front line voluntary worker its pissing into the wind raking water uphill a former Social Worker told me over 40 years ago.

            Nothing has changed in that time.

            Social Workers don't last long in this failing system they get burned out very quickly compounding the problem.

            It's not going to be fixed until direct intervention takes place.

            That it is putting social workers into the families in a stable housing situation.The family Court's and child protection are not making any difference but have contributed to making it worse.

            The Canterbury University research project of having live in Social Workers had a 72% success rate of turning dysfunctional, violent drugs including alcohol, gang families .It only took 6 months of intensive intervention,fixing communication,discipline,budgeting,getting rid of losers out of influencing families,keeping drugs including alcohol out. It cost $72,000 per intervention.That sounds like a lot ,but these families are million dollar plus welfare,crime.education failures that can cost multi millions.

            It's time for this trial to be expanded into the community.

            That's not happening any time soon so the band aid solutions continue and continue to fail.

            So instead of building more houses we will be building more Prison's finishing schools for criminals to gain their PHD's in crime and failure.

            • Gezza 1.1.1.1.1.1

              Labour has thrown a lot more money at Whanau Ora.

              Labour’s too good at “throwing money” into problem areas. It’s shite at getting value out of that hastily flung money in terms of improved outcomes, because its Ministers are so inexperienced they allow themselves to be confused, diverted & hamstrung by overwhelming departmental inertia.

              Look at what they threw at Mental Health, just as one example. Results? No improvements at all, in fact Covid’s reportedly making the lack of mental health services deliver even worse MH statistics.

              …getting rid of losers out of influencing families,keeping drugs including alcohol out.

              Wonder how they did that? Do you know? When did this project actually start?

            • Puckish Rogue 1.1.1.1.1.2

              Labour want a 30% reduction in the prison population over 15 years

              • weston

                And you see that as a bad thing do u PR ?

                • Puckish Rogue

                  Depends.

                  Lowering the prison population because less people are committing crimes = good

                  Lowering the prison population because people that should be sent to prison but aren't = bad

                  • weston

                    What improvements would you make to the system if you could hold sway …not including bringing back the rack etc

                    • Puckish Rogue

                      First off you have to reach these people before they're born

                      Go to any unit and you'll see any amount of guys in there with older family members already in prison

                      Actively target these families with all manner of support networks required

                      As an example the average prisoner will be/have

                      1. Poorly educated with probable learning disabilities, not necessarily dumb but basically never went to for very long

                      2. Mental health issues and/or addictions

                      3. Lack of empathy. They are the single most important person in the world, not their kids, not their families, them.

                      They start off not seeing Plunket or other health services

                      Do poorly at school

                      Have…chaotic home lives

                      Have no real job prospects nor even want a job

                      Yet prison is where its supposed to sort them out?

                      No. It needs to happen before they get to prison, when they're young.

                    • Gezza

                      @ Pucky

                      That’s the approach Bill Emglish wanted to take.

                      Evidence based, targeted funding to those most in need of the full range of support & remedial.

                      Because he called it Social Investment the woke & the stupid & the Opposition at the tiime sneered, derided, & shouted it down, not bothering to work out that it didn’t mean rewarding execs & shareholders of private companies providing contracted services.

                      It meant getting a social return on the investment of that targeted funding. Turning broken families & individuals around. Giving them better education – even if just basic literacy & numeracy, tools many still lack. Teaching them saleable, useful skills, creating more choices for them, more options for their future that included becoming increasingly more financially independent & better socially connected , more skilled, more secure in themselves as contributing members of the societies they live in.

                    • Puckish Rogue []

                      Would have been good to see it implemented

                    • Gezza

                      🙄 Bill English
                      * Evidence based, targeted funding to those most in need of the full range of support & remedial *services
                      .

              • mac1

                At the moment, about 8400 inmates, including pre-trial, in a population of just over 5 million, 164 per 100,000. In 2035, predicted population 5.3 million.

                Will that population in 2035 include more or fewer of the age which most often ends up in prison, as our population ages?

                Does the target figure include pre-trial detainees? Are home detention figures included?

                • Puckish Rogue

                  Not sure about the pre-trial but home d doesn't count, only those in prison I believe (but who really knows with a government)

                  • weston

                    So school then is that what you,re saying ?

                    • Puckish Rogue

                      One part of it but there is no quick fix, there is no one thing

                      Take a crim, remove their addictions, teach them functional literacy and then what?

                      Return them to the same family, same community that produced them and then be surprised when they reoffend?

                    • Gezza

                      Return them to the same family, same community that produced them and then be surprised when they reoffend?

                      Exactly. Bill English’s Social Investment policy aimed to break that cycle by changing the famiily & background to which they were returning & (unsurprisingly) reoffending again because nothing which caused them to be anti-social & /or criminal offenders had changed.

            • pat 1.1.1.1.1.3

              When was that Canterbury trial project run?

          • Treetop 1.1.1.1.2

            I wrote a long reply and it did not post.

            Government works in silos when it comes to addressing the cause of difficult behaviour due to waiting times and not having the specialist support. The welfare of children is my priority as there are no bad kids just bad parenting.

            The worst tenants require some sort of new tenancy conditions clearly stated which cover harassment, intimidation and unlawful use of the property. Tenancy education classes and refuge support services for the person who signed the lease as they could be being intimidated by the new partner and their mates. OT needs to step up and place children in a safe environment away from adults who are incapable of looking after their self.

            I have seen it that once you provide a skip bin people clean up and this is self rewarding. Then provide a vegie box with quick growing plants, either the plants die or the person nurtures them. People need purpose.

          • Puckish Rogue 1.1.1.1.3

            It was a good idea, would have been interesting to see it implemented

        • Gezza 1.1.1.2

          I would add, it’s been 14 years now since I retired from the Public Service, so I don’t know if departmental Policy policy & Operational policy are still developed in the same way.

          But we used to have to do a Strategic Risk Analysis (using a well-respected Risk Assessment Tool – the RAT) of all new policies, looking at what could go wrong across multiple areas identified as to be impacted by the proposed policy change. You had to identify what risk mitigation or elimination strategies would be employed were the foreseeable problems to arise after implementation.

          I’d love to see the Risk Assessment for this “sustain tenancies” policy – if there ever was one.

          • Patricia Bremner 1.1.1.2.1

            The covid ruling of "no evictions during lock down' has contributed imo.

            Plus housing all the homeless during and after lock down. With people 'home' all day and night, these problems are magnified. (Though some cases look like 'benign' neglect by the Minister not responding to cases .)

            We have not since World War two had such problems of people having to accommodate others and/or stand lengthy separations. Stress and anxiety is at a very high level after 2 years of covid rules.

            Covid has laid bare the inequities and their horrible outcomes. Many of those inequities began with Meth and lowered "job seeker" benefits plus cruel penalties, when people lost homes for very minor infringements. That pendulum has swung too far in some cases.

            Those trying to find systems to work for such disparate individuals have a hard unrewarding task, as one leader said "some have meth as their main need and they are selfish with it." It would be unfair to say those same Public servants are not looking at outcomes, just they are trying to meet all needs and failing another group.

            RATs are many in these covid times, and the PM commented "These are hard times to plan" . Now we have a new strain for the Government to worry about.

        • Anker 1.1.1.3

          Treetop private landlords are less likely to take on problematic tenants as they can chose from the best of the best tenants (you know the one who have glowing references, no pets are scrub up well etc).

          Social housing and motels are used to house people in extreme need, who likely wouldn't stand a chance in the private rental market.

          I am not saying tenants in private rentals or even home owners can be shitty neighbors.

          • Treetop 1.1.1.3.1

            Kainga Ora numbers would be higher. I had across the street class A addicts who had a lot of guests, roaming dogs, screaming domestics. Neighbours on either side (shared main wall), were too scared to complain. The rent usually becomes too much so they get kicked out. Person who signed the lease was great with her kid for 18 months until the rent ballooned and due to desperation she took in a boarder. She got hooked on drugs and she lost the control of her home.

            • Gezza 1.1.1.3.1.1

              Why don't TV1 & TV3 have proper investigative journos looking at this kind of scenario that flows on directly from rent increases going so high they go beyond someone responsible's ability to pay.

              In that one example you cite there, Treetop, the collateral damage of unintended / unforeseen consequences (aka blowback) is so immense that no ordinary person would ever have expected that outcome.

              But you do. Why isn't Sunday, starring Miriama Kamo, covering this kind of nightmare – instead of many of the soft fluffy magazine-style snippets it features

              • Treetop

                When the wrong person gets in the door of a vulnerable mum she is at risk of being abused and manipulated and thinks the rent will be halved having a flat mate or a boarder's portion of the rent will pay the rent. A cycle of abuse starts, then Kainga Ora eventually find the mum an affordable rental but her self esteem is so low and the wrong type exploit her further.

                To not see that outcome, the people not seeing it have not got the right people doing the blowback.

                How do the government think a single mum can afford to pay $370 pw?

                • Gezza

                  The answer to that one is that they aren’t living on the benefit or in a low-wage job so they have NFI of the stress and struggles of those who live from benefit paycheck to paycheck & have nothing left over when something breaks or they encounter a sudden unexpected financial burden.

                  Short answer: The university-educated policy wonks are all far too well paid & too distant from their “clients” to know or really care.

                  This is where a Minister with community connections, intelligence, & a bit of steel up their spine can make all the difference. Rejecting policy papers that don’t tackle the problems they should already be well versed in. Too many of them seem to just read departmental briefing papers.

                  They need to read relevant werking gruppe reports & also to get out & about & and find out for themselves what & where the problems are. Imo.

              • gsays

                " Why isn't Sunday, starring Miriama Kamo, covering this kind of nightmare – instead of many of the soft fluffy magazine-style snippets it features"

                From Sunday's blurb Kamo says; "Our journalists are the country’s finest. I’m proud to work alongside them and to be a part of bringing their stories to the nation. They are trusted practitioners who fearlessly hold power to account, who make change in the lives of New Zealanders, and who help shape our country’s narrative and identity.”

                https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/sunday/the-team/miriama-kamo

                Maybe stories about poor people, gangs and inequality don't fit with Audi's (principle sponsor) brand image.

                Also, the "flagship current affairs programme" is there first and foremost to keep eyeballs on the screen for the advertisements.

                That is how chief executives get paid.

                • Gezza

                  Exactly, gsays. It’s not really about in depth examinations of significant national & international current affairs, it’s about catering to the widest audience – hence the relatively short duration of multiple “stories”.

                  It’s not to say they don’t sometimes have items covering significant issues, particularly in Kiwiland, but they are nearly always too short, have an “angle” rather than a neutral presentation, & are too “once over lightly”.

                  TV journalism in Kiwiland is nowadays mostly of rubbish quality, compared to, say, the 70s, 80s, & 90s, maybe some parts of the 2000s. ☹️

                  • gsays

                    It has gotten to the point where we will have to support the journalism we want directly eg donation or subscription.

                    While also not coming off all Tory with grievances about our 'tax payer $' going towards TVNZ & RNZ

            • RedLogix 1.1.1.3.1.2

              She got hooked on drugs and she lost the control of her home.

              Stories like that make my guts churn.angry

        • McFlock 1.1.1.4

          The semi detached rural still leaves them with a connected neighbour.

          I don't see any "good" solution – hiffing them from tenancies of last resort puts them on the street, with the kids, and that will make everyone more difficult to locate and help. Taking the kids away for being bad neighbours might be a bit much, too.

          Putting them all together makes a slum, and that's before looking at different gang affiliations folks might have.

          Leaving them there can torment the neighbours.

          Damned if I have any solutions.

          • weka 1.1.1.4.1

            permaculture would say find the solutions at each site rather than trying to design generic ones that can be enforced from the top down.

            Is the problem anti-social behaviour? Is it socio-economics? The effects of colonisation? Trauma? Patterns of thinking that are hard to change because of all the above plus drugs and alcohol and violence?

            What do the people behaving badly actually need?

            • Treetop 1.1.1.4.1.1

              It comes down to loss of personal control or being controlled. The injustices of life, not being nurtured with love, economic pressure, violence, addictions and not having a purpose or the opportunity to reach your potential.

          • Treetop 1.1.1.4.2

            Semi detached rural is not suitable for children due to being unsafe. I needed to clarify semi detached rural. A property which has no neighbours too close.

            • McFlock 1.1.1.4.2.1

              So you mean a fully detached house on a large section?

              Sounds idyllic, especially for kids.

              • Treetop

                This has nurtured many in the past. A smaller dwelling depends on where it is placed.

                Has squash em in housing created some of the problems for people who need more space to sort their shit out?

                • McFlock

                  dunno, but as soon as folks figure out they can go from an apartment to a detached country home if they act badly…

                  • Treetop

                    The detached country home is what is suitable. Just like how some individual health services are more expensive due to the need. It is as much a health need as a housing need.

                    I would not just leave a person there without addressing the issues which put them there.

                  • weka

                    Isn't that John Key's story?

      • Anker 1.1.2

        "Sustaining tenancies, but not if they were the neighbours of the politicians or bureacrats who came up with this policy (whoever they are) ……….

        Its utter cruelty towards the decent tennants, all of whom will be social disadvantaged. What a way to treat these people. Shameful.

        And those anti social tenants should be kicked out. They need to know the consequences of their actions…….The what about their children arguement doesn't really stack up either. What these people are modelling to their kids is I can be a real a….hole to other people and get away with it.

        Its naive to think that people who induge in nasty anti social behaviour will suddently change if we show them "kindness". These people have deeply entrenched problems that there are absolutely no quck fixes to. Moreover I would bet that there are no signs of these people wanting to change "I have been a real b…d to my neighbors, and I realize I feel bad about that. I will get counselling".

        Meanwhile they get away with terrorizing vulnerable people, making their life miserable.

        Whoever is responsible for this policy lacks empathy

      • swordfish 1.1.3

        I'll be looking at signing up on behalf of my Parents … currently in the process of outlining their situation to Thorn Law, the law firm concerned.

        Over the past two years, I’ve speculated here & elsewhere on social media that it’s a widespread situation as Kianga Ora appears to almost exclusively allocate social housing to deeply dysfunctional (read ruthlessly violent & anti-social) people with “complex needs”. I guessed that, like my Parents (90 & 91 yo), they’d be elderly enduring enormous suffering throughout the Country … and so it turns out …

        Absolute Fucking Scandal.

        • Anker 1.1.3.1

          great stuff Swordfish. I wish you all the very best with the legal action.

          It is an absolute fucking scandal.

          I think the reality is there is some people we can't help and a significant part of that is they don't want help. Not the whole picture. Your parents neighbour doesn't sound like he has kids, but if he did, that would be an unsafe environment for those kids.

          I say evict this neirbour. Its not as if the house is going to stay empty because there are only 2 people on waiting list for a state house and neither of them in Whangarei. Would be interested to hear any updates.

          • swordfish 1.1.3.1.1

            .

            Thanks for your moral support, Anker … really appreciate it.

            He does indeed have kids … & they are pretty clearly turning into / aping their Parents … very sad to see. They were last seen around 10 weeks ago, there for just a couple of hours in the morning … from the moment they arrived just a constant stream of "Fucks" & "Fuck Offs" shouted outside & slamming front door repeatedly … exactly like both of their parents … really dysfunctional family. Can see quite clearly how it becomes intergenerational.

            But a real shame … the son seems to be about 11, the daughter around 6 or 7.

            • Anker 1.1.3.1.1.1

              God that is disturbing Swordfish (the kids). And those who say we have to keep these people there because of the kids, no, no, no.

              If the Govt is serious about the problem of anti social people, then give them a state house, but with conditions. 2 or 3 at the most strikes and you are out. So clear expectations of how to treat the neigbourhood. No loud noise after 9pm, no abusive or threatening behaviour etc etc. And all the blahing on about what to do we these people. Well I don't care too much about them. I do about your parents and all the others who have put up with these sorts of neighbours. Perhaps if they don't behave they do get sent to a country complex with others of their ilk. It might be really bad for them, but its terrbile for decent tenants. These people can then get a get out of jail card with good behaviour………….I mean really its like basic parenting. If the kids don't behave, they get the "naughty seat".

              I do believe there are some people who can't be rehabilitated. Someone mention sending in social workers, but I am not sure what they would do.

            • Anker 1.1.3.1.1.2

              In solidarity Swordfish, I have just left a comment on The Daily Blog where Pat O'Dea has written a column "No more evictions"I suggestion he read your piece about your elderly parents and also challenged him to live in a State house for two weeks next to these anti social tenants (of course a challenge that is not possible, but I did hope he might put himself in the shoes of people whose lives are blighted by these tenants).

              I also wished the tenants all the best with their legal action.

              And yes of course these kids would be apeing their parents.

              Social workers sent around to spell out the rules and offer a course on emotion regulation and respecting others. Totally up to the anti social people whether or not they take it, but they are out very quickly if their behaviour doesn't improve. Sad for their kids of course, but we can't solve every problem.

              • swordfish

                .

                Thanks, Anker.

                Had a quick read of O'Dea … typifies the Woke & their fellow travellers … pre-determined abstract theoretical views on good vs bad demographics, divorced from reality … & hence paternalistic romanticisation of entire social groups … for all the Intersectional talk of Lived Experience, there is, in fact, zero interest in judging each individual case on its merits through empirical observation [unless it adheres to the pre-determined precepts of Critical Theory] …

                … well, apart from supplementing his abstract views of eternally innocent & virtuous social housing tenants across the board with an assumption that his own experience is typical / universal … it seems he's had just a couple of relatively minor noise, behaviour issues from social housing neighbours over the years … and apparently has decided that this must be not just the norm but in fact the universal experience.

                Kids of the Prick nextdoor to my Parents have largely lived elsewhere with their mother ….. (many major borderline-violent confrontations between he [tenant] & her [estranged former partner] over the last 4 years, Parents often woken by them) ….. an extra source of stress … but kids were there around 30-40% of the time through 2018 / 19 … then hardly there at all in 2020, then on and off this year. They never settled at night … often screaming & stomping tantrums at 2am / 3am / 4 am a few metres away from my Parents on other side of non-soundproof dividing-wall … and often transported there in early hours of morning !!! (like I say deeply dysfunctional family) so were another source of stress & sleep deprivation.

                Although he was largely OK with his kids, there were more than a few exceptions where he inflicted violent intimidation on one or both … usually through the early hours of the morning … my Parents worried for their safety.

                One of the key reasons the daughter hated being there … often screaming to her mother {dropping her off] that she didn’t want to go in.

                • Anker

                  'Predetermind abstract theoretical views about good versus bad divorced from reality". How well you put it.

                  I am a member of the Labour Party who have adopted this type of idealogy. What can be done?

                  • swordfish

                    .

                    Cheers, Anker (& also Hetzer below).

                    Left a comment on O'Dea's Daily Blog post this morning … but hasn't been published yet (possibly never) … so I might as well stick it here … as you can see, I'm rapidly losing patience with these people:

                    You casually assume your situation – "isolated and infrequent" behaviour – is somehow the universal experience … you're wrong … and, like the blindingly dogmatic Middle / Upper-Middle Woke, your really quite callous core demand in this post (ludicrously dressed up as some sort of moral purity) represents a clear & present danger to innocent people, low income people & elderly people living next to these violent anti-socials … it's a form of narcissism = ostentatious moral posturing while simultaneously enabling elder abuse & supporting a kind of State-sanctioned domestic terror (both of which you seek to obfuscate because they don't fit into your pre-determined ideological dogma).

                    The way I'm feeling at the moment … I'd happily see you forced to live with my elderly Parents' nightmare … & have armed guards making sure you didn't leave for a year. Same goes for HNZ Senior Managers, certain Cabinet Ministers & the casually sadistic Woke enablers.

                    You / they need to be parachuted into social housing on the other side of a dividing-wall from all the relentless violent intimidation & extreme anti-social behaviour that results in severe sleep deprivation, constant high stress & all the dire health consequences that inevitably follow … you think you're one of the Good Guys but you've actually drifted into borderline-Sadist territory, prioritising your own prestige enhancement among your little cadre of clueless ideologues.

                    Let's be clear, people like you are the antithesis of the genuine Left.

                    If you want to create a Kiwi version of Britain's crumbling Red Wall then you're going the right way about it … you're doing your rhetorical little bit to destroy the lives of lifelong Labour / Alliance / Green voters.

                    • Anker

                      Thanks Swordfish. I hope he publishes it, but he probably won't. At least he will have read it.

                      I have had a few comments to make on the post. The usual "well what would you do with these people". While I did make some suggestions, at one point I said "I'd evict them". That's all I said.

                      Somehow we think we have to solve these peoples unsolvable problems. One person suggested counselling and I almost said "you have to be f…g joking", but refrained.

                      I don't know of anyone in your parents situation, but it takes very little effort to empathize with the nightmare they and others are experiencing, how it could be fixed so easily and what an outrage it it is. I do feel very angry about it.

                      I am equally angry with Labour and Greens about the gender ideology bills, because I think gender ideology is just that an ideology and the party seems to be completely captured by it. You may not share my view of it and that is o.k.

                      As a member of the Labour Party (just)I am not sure what to do really

                  • swordfish

                    .

                    I am equally angry with Labour and Greens about the gender ideology bills

                    Yeah, of course one The Standard's former authors along with her Green MP boss have been central to these campaigns.

                    Queer Theory zealots, hopelessly immersed in all the esoteric fantasies of 1960s French Postmodernist dogma associated in particular with Derrida & Foucault [albeit acquiring these ideas second-hand … unlikely they've actually read any of this from the original sources]. They're much more likely to have been influenced by the more recent application (& quite often mangling) of these theories by Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick & others.

                    It's probably the most Year Zero of the various branches of Critical Theory in terms of its attempts to destroy all social norms & more generally the foundations of liberal democratic society. A kind of Permanent Cultural Revolution with all the never-ending social mayhem that that entails.

                    Anything associated with the normal, the commonplace, the majority, anything that is widely-accepted or can be categorized – in fact any sort of stability whatsoever – is deemed inherently "oppressive" & hence must be disrupted, subverted, dismantled. It's particularly keen, of course, on destroying social binaries … esp around biological sex, gender, sexuality. Hence their Blank Slatism fantasies & so on.

                    There's a rational middle-ground between Sex Essentialists & Queer Theory/Gender activists.

                    With Gender activists, & more generally Woke Critical Theory cultists, we're talking about inflexible dogmatists who've deluded themselves they're some sort of intellectual-cultural elite that exclusively possesses morality & wisdom … whereas in reality they've developed a highly dubious moral compass & have zero understanding of complex reality, not least because most appear relatively divorced from day-to-day society.

                    It's no surprise that this sort of elitist little cult, prioritising esoteric whims over cold hard material reality, attracts those from more financially privileged backgrounds … high decile single-sex schools have so much to answer for … they tend to create these Walking-Talking Horror Stories.

                    • Anker

                      Thanks Swordfish. You put that very well.

                      I am a left winger from way back, but gender ideology first drew my attention to cancel culture and the shut down of debate.

                      I am a second wave feminist and I know it is not possible to change your sex. I have enormous concerns about the affirmation only approach and the medical transition of children.

                      Its good to know of other people on the Standard who see what is really going on.

                    • RedLogix

                      Very colorfully written swordfish.

                    • weka

                      … in terms of its attempts to destroy all social norms & more generally the foundations of liberal democratic society

                      I'm curious what you see as their desired outcome of this (the theorists) ie what they believe their end goal is.

                • Hetzer

                  It must be absolute misery for your poor parents Swordfish. Such human excrement should be kept well away from civil society. We all know the issues of gangs and drugs and that your parents are suffering the end result of that is awful

    • Anker 1.2

      The urban planning things seems a cheap way to try and solve the housing crisis. It has to potential to pit neighbours against neighbours and to create a shitty landscape from an archetectural point of view.

  2. Dennis Frank 2

    On Tuesday, the New Zealand government enshrined in law a treaty between Moriori and the Crown, which includes an NZ$18m (£9.3m) settlement, the return of land, and an apology acknowledging the wrongs Moriori have suffered since the arrival of Māori and Europeans to their shores. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/26/long-fight-for-justice-ends-as-new-zealand-treaty-recognises-moriori-people

    Solomon’s ancestors began the fight for justice long before him, but he has been instrumental in moving a settlement forward. For nearly 40 years, he has led the fight for reparation, first filing a claim on behalf of the imi (tribe) in 1988, which culminated in this week’s bill being passed.

    Moriori had a pacifist philosophy which chief Nunuku-Whenua introduced to his people around the 16th century. The covenant of peace banned rank, violence and warfare. The imi lived undisturbed for many centuries until their first contact with European settlers in 1791, who arrived on the HMS Chatham, bringing with them diseases and the start of a new colonial era.

    “In late 1835, about 900 people of two mainland Māori tribes sailed on a British ship to Rēkohu … the newcomers were welcomed and fed by Moriori in accordance with tikane Moriori (Moriori custom). Some Moriori wanted to resist the invaders, but the elders…urged the people to obey Nunuku’s law of peace … Upon returning to their villages they were attacked, and many were killed. Māori accounts put the number of Moriori killed in 1835–36 at about 300, or about one-sixth of the population. Those Moriori who survived the invasion were enslaved and forced to do manual labour,” the official account of Moriori history states.

    Imi?? I thought it was a typo but no, it's state-sanctioned terminology. Moriori language must transpose imi for iwi. See section 2 here:

    https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2020/0238/latest/LMS238062.html

    An excellent succinct summary of our history! Note how the settler govt exercised native admin via recognising slavery as the traditional Maori prerogative. Such de facto creation of third-class citizenry seems quite innovative (section 3).

    Particularly noteworthy are the consequences delineated in Section 5. Ownership produced by conquest as state policy integrated pakeha & maori trad political practice.

    I see no evidence that the treaty signed by this govt includes an apology from the two offensive Taranaki tribes to the Moriori for that 1830s genocide. Put that alongside the apparent failure of the Waikato tribes to apologise for their earlier genocide in Taranaki, and various other maori genocides around the country in different eras. I suppose it's technically possible that apologies have been made without any subsequent media reportage to inform us of such occurrences. More likely, nobody feels apologies for genocide are necessary, since genocide is traditional.

    Moriori ought to be honoured for pioneering peaceful coexistence in Aotearoa, long before Te Whiti got the idea. I doubt I'll live to see that, but rectifying historical injustice does actually need to be done properly. Tokenism is insufficient.

    • Gezza 2.1

      Yes, that’s something that has intrigued me. The Crown has – rightly – acknowledged its outrageous, oppressive, suppressive behaviours toward “rebellious” resisters & innocent Māori & offered it unreserved apologies in Treaty Settlements.

      But I never see or hear anything about Māori warring on & enslaving other iwi/nations, & driving some iwi completely out of their traditional nga rohe, as occurred in – and following – the Nga Puhi-inspired Musket Wars.

      One sees occasional multi-iwi disputes arising over settlement claims where more than one hapu or iwi claims for recompense for the same parcel of land. But I don’t know, where these claims are the result of iwi taua invasions & land stealing, whether the affected iwi sort out any muru/utu/compensation & expression & acceptance of apologies between themselves post the official Crown Settlement.

      • In Vino 2.1.1

        I agree, Dennis and Gezza. I have heard Maori accept the 'Right of Conquest' for pre Treaty of Waitangi events, but it seems that apologies and compensation apply only to post-treaty things.

        This does seem a bit dodgy on pure moral grounds. Letter of the law rather than spirit of the law?

      • RedLogix 2.1.2

        The case of the Seven Tenths Trust always struck me as very peculiar:

        Wakatū owners are descendants of the chiefs and families of these hapū that belong to four tribes, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama and Te Ātiawa. Our ancestors travelled from Kāwhia and North Taranaki to conquer the region (Te Tau Ihu) between 1828 and 1834.

        What is not mentioned is that they slaughtered all the peoples already living there. Just a decade before the ToW.

        But according to the wookies – only white people are capable of wrong.

        • In Vino 2.1.2.1

          That is the power of the treaty, it seems, Maori 'conquer' hundreds of people pre-treaty, but Pakeha 'massacre' people post-treaty.

          • Puckish Rogue 2.1.2.1.1

            Could everyone on this thread please make their way over to this re-education centre…

          • RedLogix 2.1.2.1.2

            I don't have any objection to telling the whole of NZ's history. Unless we can come to terms with our past and repudiate it's errors we will remain entangled with it's ghosts.

            But the moment you see that history being selectively re-written, you know some other agenda is in play.

          • In Vino 2.1.2.1.3

            Just to clarify – I regard the invasion of the Waikato and Parihaka, etc, as despicable breaches of the Treaty, and agree with belated (if inadequate) compensation for the descendants of those wronged.

            But I am a teacher of language, and I struggle to accept the wording which pretends that pre-treaty Maori never committed any offences themselves, and that offences happened only after the treaty was signed.

            I also struggle to understand why sometimes in the late stages of the NZ wars in the South of the North Island there were as many Kupapa as British colonial troops repressing the local tribes.

            To me there seems to be an obvious imbalance in terminology.

            • RedLogix 2.1.2.1.3.1

              Ah yes – you touch on another verboten topic – that almost always alongside British colonial troops were Maori from other iwi playing an often vital role in crushing their own former enemies.

        • swordfish 2.1.2.2

          .

          Yep, if you want truly brutal genocidal violence … you'd need to head back to the Musket Wars .. three decades of horrendous massacres, at least 20k dead (vs about 2k in the New Zealand Wars), tens of thousands enslaved, some really brutal torture, cannibalism, massive upheaval, iwi massacred, others permanently driven from their nga rohe.

          Bears zero relationship to the Woke's highly paternalistic 'Noble Savage' Romanticisation of pre-1840 Māori as some kind of peace-loving flower-power San Francisco Hippies.

          The brutal inter-tribal warfare that dare not speak its name among polite Woke society.

          And, no, that doesn’t remotely justify what happened after 1840 … but it’s important to highlight the bullshit double standards, the sheer hypocrisy & the Peter Pan fantasy world that sits right at the heart of Critical Theory / ID Politics and its on-going application in New Zealand.

  3. Blazer 3

    Govts have used the 'we don't have the data'..excuse….here is the…data.

    Mega Landlords: Over 22,100 homes owned by small group of very large investors | Stuff.co.nz

    • Dennis Frank 3.1

      Good to see that graph. It provides the basis for class analysis of investors. Let's pretend there are still leftists who can do that. As a non-leftist, I'll provide this simulation to help them:

      Class A: 10,254 own more than 50 dwellings

      Class B: 11,944 own between 21 & 50

      Class C: 96,107 own between 6 & 20

      Class D: 264,366 own between 3 & 5 dwellings

      Class E: 223,051 own 1 or 2 dwellings

      So we immediately see that the legendary mum and dad investors are a minority of the investor class as a whole, ranked only 5th in the hierarchy. The five sub-classes are accompanied by business owners as capitalist vested interests in Aotearoa, and it would probably be pc to include iwi too.

      • mac1 3.1.1

        Dennis, you might want to look at the figures referenced by Blazer again.

        My reading of the graph in Blazer's reference is that 10, 254 houses are owned by owners of more than 50 houses (about 205 or fewer owners that works out as). Another 11944 owned by owners of 20-50 houses which makes between 239 and 597 owners.

        According to you, investor owned houses would total between 2.3 and 4.6 million houses when there are 1.8 dwellings in NZ according to the census.

        Read correctly, there are some 625,000 houses owned by investors and that leaves some 1.2 million owned by the occupant. The census says that 64% of NZ homes are owned by their occupants.

        • McFlock 3.1.1.1

          Well, owned by one of their occupants, at least.

          Over half of NZers don't own the dwelling they live in (p34).

          • mac1 3.1.1.1.1

            McFlock, I read p 34. How do we reconcile the two figures? One based on census figures of more than just 2018 btw and one based on your reference? Genuinely at a loss here……

            • McFlock 3.1.1.1.1.1

              Two different measures.

              Census is how many houses had an owner-occupier.

              The housing report had that measure earlier in the publication, but the p34 measure is how many people actually own the home they live in.

              So lots of people rent out the spare room, have a boarder (or several) boarders.

              But let it be known that we're a nation of renters, now. And this will only get more concentrated unless the housing market takes a dive.

        • Dennis Frank 3.1.1.2

          Okay, I did take another look. Perhaps different interpretations of the graph are produced by the non-equivalence of investors & humans that Valocity used? When dwellings are co-owned the maths gets too murky for me!

          Regardless, those five classes of ownership are wealth-generated, right? So the differential analysis does produce accurate relativity between classes.

          • mac1 3.1.1.2.1

            The graph titled "Homes owned by investors by portfolio size" referred to the number of homes owned by investors who owned certain numbers of properties. For example, 10254 houses owned by investors each owning at least 50 houses, so at most 200 investors.

            I don't doubt that mum and dad investors are over emphasised. The article states,"The analysis, which cross-referenced names on roughly 1.7 million publicly available property titles, shows investors with up to two properties only own just over a third of investment properties."

            The study referenced by Blazer also said, as McFlock also stated from another source,"Investors are shown to now own more properties than either first home buyers or single homeowners.

            Although the difference is slight – a difference of 15,638 homes – it’s a reversal of 2015 when first home buyers owned 78,086 more properties than investors."

    • gsays 3.2

      Thanks for the link Blazer.

      I look forward to the day that a multi-home owner is as common as a slave owner.

      However, looking to a Parliament of landlords isn't where the solution lies.

  4. Foreign waka 4

    Does anybody really think that the parliamentarians will change anything? Really?

    We wonder why families can't get a roof over their head, drug addicts, aggressive renters of Kāinga Ora properties are not moved on? I doubt that our leaders will give them a roof over their heads.

    It would take some extraordinary guts to end this, almost hero status really.

    We are governed by the same type of people as the elite that earns 70 x a workers income and find they are under paid. Meanwhile all that rort is financed via debt (shall I mention 16 Billion dollars?). Good luck to us then.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/the-number-of-properties-owned-by-new-zealand-mps-revealed.html

    • Koff 4.1

      Yep… and you would think that hundreds of thousands of the disenfranchised and homeless would be out on the streets protesting the obscene inequities portrayed by that data linked to by Blazer in 3 above rather than protesting so called freedom restrictions by public health orders or against government's timid efforts to combat climate change or cleaning up rivers. (not implying that the same cohort of people are involved of course)

  5. Reality 5

    After the barrage of business people and National and Act attacking MIQ, and wanting to be rid of it, they may have been wanting its demise prematurely. Covid Omicron taking off round the world in the last two days sounds very serious and hopefully Jacinda and her advisers will continue to be very cautious about further relaxation of the borders.

    Jim Bolger's appearance on Q&A harks back to a time when National was mostly made up of people who were decent citizens to say the least. Looking back over the last few years to the sleazy, unlikable types National took on board, it would be hoped they can select better candidates and party members. No Mervs or Michelles.

    • RedLogix 6.1

      I've taken the time to read up on the puberty blockers recently – unmitigated child abuse.

      By the medical establishment.

      • Anker 6.1.1

        Agree. Children's bodies are being mutilated by an experiemental treatment that countries such as Sweedon and Finland are rolling back. 22,000 de-transitioners and counting.

    • Puckish Rogue 6.2

      The insanity just keeps on coming

  6. swordfish 7

    .

    Kāinga Ora Scandal

    Brief outline of my Parents' experience (though it doesn't even remotely encapsulate the full enormity … it's a multifacted nightmare that goes beyond the prolonged violent intimidation):

    Kianga Ora Scandal: My Parents Situation (sub-zero-politics.blogspot.com)

    • Shanreagh 7.1

      Horrifying situation.

      I'm believer that spelling matters and in this case the spelling of Te Reo matters. Is there a way that you can do a global correct to Kainga Ora all the way through?

      Also somewhere there is 'entires' that perhaps is 'entries?

      • Shanreagh 7.1.1

        Sounds as though some suggestions for Kainga Ora would not go amiss.

        Perhaps KO needs to sell the other side of this duplex unit where one side is in private ownership. Use the funds to invest in another building for social housing.

        They could also look to see if there are other instances of one in private/one still in public ownership that are causing problems and work out a plan to sell these as well.

        It is called managing the portfolio. I am sure that a private landlord who found that one of their units were becoming a mecca for troublemakers because of whatever they would be cashing in and reinvesting in another place.

        Your parents' neighbouring tenant sounds as if there are mental health issues (perhaps drug or alcohol induced) that seem to be running rampant and not being dealt with. Nobody should be expected to put up with this.

    • Puckish Rogue 7.2

      That's damn rough, it's not right

    • RedLogix 7.3

      I'm genuinely curious if you have had any response from your local MP?

  7. Herodotus 8

    COP26 so now we don’t need to take responsiblility for our CO2 reduction commitments ? and just feed off others doing better by buying credits. No wonder the nuclear free moment of our time is NOT that important. Would it not be more beneficial if we all achieved our reductions as a min. and those that over achieve to contribute even less CO2 ?
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/11/study-finds-nz-could-buy-carbon-reduction-credits-more-cheaply-than-domestic-action.html

    • bwaghorn 8.1

      Have you seen where massive forest clearance has been going on in brazil for mining gold , the same brazil were going to by our credits from supposedly!!!

      • Herodotus 8.1.1

        Yes and this area this area is referred to the lungs of earth and along with man made deforestation we had also forest fires doing their bit.🤯 I could say that their are too many vested interests and applying arbitrage to achieve a financial gain with no tangible benefit to the environment or climate. Just juggling the numbers !!!

        https://ourworldindata.org/deforestation

        https://www.businessinsider.com.au/amazon-fires-satellite-images-map-of-rainforest-blazes-2019-8?r=US&IR=T

        https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145988/tracking-amazon-deforestation-from-above

        • RedLogix 8.1.1.1

          Those links really speak to a complex picture – while Brazil may be at one stage of deforestation – other nations are seeing increases in forest cover. Overall the total is not changing all that much.

          • Koff 8.1.1.1.1

            I respect worldindata but if you have a close look at some of those forest cover stats they look very dodgy. Almost all the Eastern European stats show huge increases in native forest cover. I really can't believe that Malaysia's has increased either. Haven't any way of verifying the figures unfortunately.

            • RedLogix 8.1.1.1.1.1

              Good skeptical thinking there ! What I think is happening – and this comes from other sources I don't have the time to track back down at the moment – is that in Eastern Europe at least there has been a substantial reduction in farming. Especially as populations age and agriculture becomes more land efficient – the unused farms revert back to forest reasonably quickly.

              I can't speak precisely to Malaysia, but it's actually a very developed and rapidly urbanising society – again as people escape poverty and move off the land – it reverts to forest as at least one possibility. This doesn't gainsay the horrible practise of palm oil plantations – but that's another issue.

              That link to the deforestation story is really quite interesting and well worth some time reading. Brazil is indeed a mess and the erosion of the Amazon should be resisted – but the bigger picture isn't hopeless either.

  8. Gezza 9

    Been gently raining here at Pookden Manor since about 1 pm. Southerly breeze so gentle it doesn’t even really exist. 😀

    Are you there, mary? Wildlife clip from a sunnier day:
    https://vimeo.com/308437435

    • RedLogix 9.1

      Just got back from 6 months in WA to our spot in Moreton Bay QLD. We're renting a tiny little unit about 15min drive from downtown Brisbane. But out the back is a 200 acre wilderness that's teeming with wildlife. So we just went for a walk and in a 2hr period we spotted:

      Multitudes of ducks, herons, bitterns, water dragons, sea eagles, spoonbills, white herons, a flock of pelicans, and one snake.

      The only downside is that if you sit down to enjoy a view, you immediately become the subject of a tug-of-war between ants size of small mice and mosquitos you could mistake for dragon-flies.

    • mary_a 9.2

      Cheers Gezza. So serene and calming to watch.

      • Gezza 9.2.1

        Watching that scene, I remember that day well now, mary. It was an amazingly relaxing & fulfilling day. One of the best I’ve had just being at one with the natural world in my backyard, so to speak.

        Being calm, moving very little, talking gently to the birds, waterbirds & eels.
        Quite magic.

        The Creator, whoever they were or are, did a fantastic job of creation.

        • In Vino 9.2.1.1

          I suspect that they all evolved brilliantly, Gezza.

          • Gezza 9.2.1.1.1

            Their (and our) DNA says they did precisely that, & therein lies the fantastic job that the creator did.

            No one has yet explained:

            1. The origin of the Big Bang
            2. The origin of that first spark of life that made the first cell divide, reproduce, continue doing so, & grow the organism.
            • In Vino 9.2.1.1.1.1

              Nor, of course, has anyone explained the origins of those origins..

              • Gezza

                The endless loop. The inevitable flaw in the Christian 8 Muslim apologetics debates. They argue that their Abrahamic God has to exist because everything in the universe has to have had an ultimate cause. To which the atheist response, naturally, is "So who or what caused God?" To which the apologists reply: "God is outside the universe" (or "God is both outside & inside the universe"). "He always was & always will be."

                These things are easy to say but actually rather difficult to get your head around, so I don't bother. Our universe just looks designed to me. With layer upon layer of complexity. I suspect it had one or more designers. That's all.

  9. SPC 10

    From mu, right past nu and xi and onto omicron.

    I suppose we should be grateful that we avoided the nu xi land variants down under.

    With the multiple mutations of the spike protein naming the variant after the letter most suitable for a transformer character was apt. But surely they are now at risk of running out of letters.

  10. Dennis Frank 11

    Richard Harman, editor of the Politik website and former "Chief TVNZ Political Correspondent", told Jim Mora & listeners this morning how Judith Collins made history:

    "She's the first major New Zealand political party leader to have a successful vote of no confidence passed in them, certainly since the Second World War and I would think stretching back before that."

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018822361

    So we ought to give her credit for this remarkable success. Put it on the cv, Jude! Maybe Swordfish will relish the research challenge of establishing how far back the actual precedent lies – presuming there even is one. If not, she really has made history!

  11. In Vino 12

    I see that Judith has backed Luxon because he is "highly intelligent'.

    I am left with the question, "How would she know this?"

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    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
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    5 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
    5 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
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days 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
    6 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
    8 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
    9 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
    22 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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