Open mike 28/12/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, December 28th, 2010 - 41 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

Comment on whatever takes your fancy.

The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner).

Step right up to the mike…

41 comments on “Open mike 28/12/2010 ”

  1. Finally, Date lines and other mishaps not withstanding here is the link to my radio interview with Dr. Kevin Barrett. For those of you interested in 911 and why it was scientifically impossible for the official Conspiracy Theory to be true have a listen.

  2. just saying 2

    http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2010/12/24/gordon-campbell-on-the-government%e2%80%99s-war-with-itself/

    I’ve cobbled together some bits from Campbell’s latest article on our government’s poor decision making when shelling out large sums of public money. Peter Jackson is a good example of welfare for the wealthy, and I reckon the many cases like this are a weak point in National’s armour. Key has already announced that welfare reform will be one of National’s four main election platforms. This has the potential to provide the forum, and the preset public mood, for the left to exploit to ram home the message about who the real bludgers are.
    (italics are mine)

    Campbell:
    “The government has provided support to several aspects of Weta Digital’s development, including the recently announced $5.8 million of Tech NZ funding to help establish a dedicated r&d unit, strengthen connections with local and international research groups, and develop a long term r& d programme………..

    ……..It is somewhat mind boggling that this late in his career, Peter Jackson would even apply – let alone be given – a government subsidy to develop a ‘dedicated r& d unit’ at Weta Digital, and thereby ‘develop a long term r&d programme.’ You mean if taxpayers hadn’t paid for it, Weta wouldn’t have an r&d programme ?………………

    ……………..Arguably, government subsidies should not be means tested, but that additional $NZ2 million to help build the Kong sound stage in 2004 was handed over at roughly the same time Jackson was reportedly pulling down a $US20 million fee for his work on the movie. Little wonder that the New Zealand private sector has one of the lowest r&d investment rates in the entire OECD. Are such gifts a hand-up or a handout? You be the judge, because you’re paying for it…………..

    ……………….Can these chumps be trusted to be any more savvy with public money when it comes to public-private partnerships in say…education, or in transport infrastructure? That’s the worry, as we head into 2011″.

    • >but that additional $NZ2 million to help build the Kong sound stage in 2004 was handed over at roughly the same time< … as we had a labor government!
      So who are you suggesting 'you' vote for? twedal dumb or twedal dummer?
      Giving tax money to business is what all fanciest governments do. live with it.

      • just saying 2.1.1

        I’m not a Labour supporter. I said “the left” not ‘Labour’. Watch out for those knee-jerk assumptions. (There’s a rumour going round that there are more than two political parties in NZ…)

        “Giving tax money to business is what all fanciest governments do. live with it”

        God forbid even suggesting the possibility anything ever changing. It’s not like NZ is a democracy or anything.

        • Robert Atack 2.1.1.1

          All left wing parties are just sub branches of labour, the greed party was set up to soak up the ‘organic’ vote … and in turn hand it to Helen.
          They are all politicians first, second and third, telling the truth and doing good comes way way down their list of ‘to dos’ … and as we see on election day most people are happy with this arrangement
          Nothing has changed for thousands of years, people at the top are despots, they will keep doing what they do until they can’t. Peak growth is their boogie man.

          • mcflock 2.1.1.1.1

            I dunno that nothing has changed for thousands of years.

            They didn’t really have elections a thousand years ago (Iceland might be an exception), and if they did slaves couldn’t vote.

            A thousand years before that they had folk chop each other to death for fun.

            So we’re moving on slowly but surely. And the Alliance ain’t a sub branch of labour, FWIW.

            • Colonial Viper 2.1.1.1.1.1

              A thousand years before that they had folk chop each other to death for fun.

              Bayonets were still standard issue in WWII.

              • mcflock

                Still are today. But at least today we’re not supposed to find it fun for people to use them right in front of us.

                Well, not right in front, admittedly. That means we’d be on the pointy end.

            • Bill 2.1.1.1.1.2

              Athenian democracy. Not perfect. And neither is what we have today. And a thousand years before Athens and beyond, tribes people may well have participated in tribal decisions on a level way beyond anything we experience today. And that continued in some societies until colonisation…our ‘crusade of salvation and civilisation’… got to them.

              And there are millions of slaves in the world today. And they can’t vote. And their lot is far worse than that of many slaves in the ‘classical’ world you reference.

              And today, in countries ripped apart by economic deprivation and plunged into civil war, child soldiers hack people to death…just for fun.

              Now, where are we moving to again?

              • mcflock

                In NZ, we’re moving forward, slightly back over the last 30 years, but generally forward.

                And the slaves in the world today are at about the same level in slaves of classical times – from gold miners for the Romans to asbestos workers in Ancient Greece.

                Improvement doesn’t imply perfection.

                • Bill

                  “More than 5,000 children are being forced to work as sex slaves in the UK,…”
                  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/5000-child-sex-slaves-in-uk-437800.html

                  “…pimps and organised-crime bosses are transporting up to 500,000 women and girls, some as young as 14, into the European Union each year to be “sold like cattle” into sex slavery and enforced prostitution,…”
                  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/shame-of-eu-over-50000 sex-slaves-1269821.html

                  And so it goes on…article after article. And just from one newspaper search…browse them for yourself

                  http://www.independent.co.uk/search/index.jsp?eceExpr=sex+slavery

                  And if you agree that economic deprivation feeds slavery, then you might want to reflect that the economic differential of the UK and eastern Europe is probably not dissimilar to that of NZ and the rest of Polynesia

                  • mcflock

                    Okay, you guys are right.

                    A dep10 unemployed adult in NZ has as little say in the government of NZ as a slave in ancient Rome. Or does that sound slightly stupid?

                    • Bill

                      Mcflock

                      I commented because you seemed to be peddling the fallacy of inevitable ‘progression’ in human affairs. But overall, human affairs seem to more subject to churn than any linear (halting or otherwise) process of improvement.

                      As such, ‘better’ and ‘worse’ are wholly subject to specific locations in time and place. Some things, like medical care, are certainly better for me than they were for my parents or their parents before them. But that’s beside the point. It’s the application or practice of that knowledge that marks whether we are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than our predecessors. And I don’t think that our ancestors were indifferent to those among their number that needed medical attention to any greater or lesser degree than we are. ( Maybe we recoil at historical instances of lepers or such like being generally shunned and think of ourselves as ‘better than that’, only to shun victims of HIV in our own turn.)

                      Where certain, self referencing, linear progressions might be discernible in western social democracies, when we look through history we can identify other societies that were, by our criteria, and on specific matters, ‘better’ than us. (The position of women in society for example, or the treatment of conquered foes [The Persian Empire?], or on any number of specific moral attitudes.)

                      This is a long way of saying that specific socio/economic or cultural expressions are subject to change. And whereas we prefer to view that change as progression, it is probably more accurate to perceive any change as churn over the longer term…some things get incrementally ‘better’, some ‘worse’. And then the whole dynamic eventually dissipates and new, not necessarily linearly connected socio/economic or cultural dynamics come to the fore.

                      It’s like everything always changes at the same time as everything stays the same…variations of a constant theme.

                    • mcflock

                      There is a floor of human behaviour, where it might not be solitary but is definitely poor, nasty, brutish and short.

                      There is a ceiling, which we probably haven’t attained yet.

                      I like to think we’re farther away from the floor than we were a thousand years ago. It might be just “churn”, but I think we’re moving up. True, a village society 2,000 years ago probably didn’t have complete extermination in mind when it disputed territory with another village, but then I’m not sure that their treatment of the sick, frail or maybe women was as egalitarian as all that. Oh, and their life expectancy was probably 35.

                      We can slip, and we’re sure as hell not all we can be, but if my view of human progression was as bleak as yours I’d probably want serious medication.

                      And I think the Athenians might disagree with your attitude to the consequences of a persian invasion. That’s the thing about true autocrats – no impulse control.

                    • Bill

                      …if my view of human progression was as bleak as yours I’d probably want serious medication.

                      But you miss my point. I have no view on human progression. It doesn’t exist.

                      Look at it this way. All things being equal…ie cultural prerogatives or conditionings aside…would mutual comprehension and affinity exist between you or I and typical people from 1000, 20 000 or even 100 000 years ago? Or would we feel lost and confused due to some evolutionary process of psychology having put distance between us? (ie, would we be confronting, essentially, a different species?)

                      I reckon the former.

                    • mcflock

                      but a positive change in cultural conditioning (e.g. slavery = bad rather than slavery = legitimate business) is actually human progression.

                      And over the last thousand or few thousand years humanity has moved in that direction. Yes, there have been backward steps, yes there are some for whom their lot is as bad now as it would have been a thousand years ago, but at least now we belief this is bad and look to laws to change it. And maybe in a thousand years (hopefully sooner) laws and law enforcement will be more effective in eradicating such practises.

                    • Bill

                      There have always been people who thought or believed slavery was a bad thing.

                      Making laws around it isn’t any progression of the human condition.

                      The human condition remains the same.

                    • Remove oil from socity and bang we are on the floor again.
                      This snip from a talk given in 1957 … we have surely got a shit load more stupid since then.
                      With high energy consumption goes a high standard of living. Thus the enormous fossil energy which we in this country control feeds machines which make each of us master of an army of mechanical slaves. Man’s muscle power is rated at 35 watts continuously, or one-twentieth horsepower. Machines therefore furnish every American industrial worker with energy equivalent to that of 244 men, while at least 2,000 men push his automobile along the road, and his family is supplied with 33 faithful household helpers. Each locomotive engineer controls energy equivalent to that of 100,000 men; each jet pilot of 700,000 men. Truly, the humblest American enjoys the services of more slaves than were once owned by the richest nobles, and lives better than most ancient kings. In retrospect, and despite wars, revolutions, and disasters, the hundred years just gone by may well seem like a Golden Age.

                    • mcflock

                      yes there were always people who thought slavery a bad thing, most notably the slaves.

                      But there is a difference between it occurring in criminal enterprises that society frowns upon (tries to shut down) and it occurring freely on the street with the militia or soldiery returning runaway slaves.

                      That difference is a progression.

                    • Bill

                      Seems your sunk in being unable to differentiate between what we do and what we are.

                      But even on the what we do front.

                      Question…

                      What is the qualitative difference between getting directly supplied with food and shelter in return for your labour and getting paid money with which to compete with others to secure access to food and shelter ( and multifarious shiny baubles ) in return for your labour?

                      The dynamic is essentially the same, is it not?

                      Yet, isn’t it the case that ‘earning a wage’ is seen as right and proper and something to be aspired to in the modern age?

                      Progression of the human condition or progression in the art of cunning manipulation in order to make that which is unacceptable appear acceptable?

                    • mcflock

                      Seems that you are unable to realise that what we do counts for something.

                      Assuming that your question was a false equivalence between earning a wage and wage slavery and feudal slavery, then the main difference is lack of legitimised brutality. Yes, law enforcement is force, but we do tend to shy away from beating people to death these days. Not 100%, admittedly, but at least we try. And yes, I do think the attempt (even if unsuccessful) counts for something.

                      Can we move beyond the GDP wage economy? Yes. Is it still better than a feudal economy? Yes.

            • Robert Atack 2.1.1.1.1.3

              >They didn’t really have elections a thousand years ago<
              As far as 'democracy' goes we might as well be living in China or Russia, our choice on election day is about the same, 'they' manipulate everything from sand pit to polling both, 'they' know human nature, it is a breeze in a fossil fueled growth at no cost disposable society to run this scam, wait till 'we' can't afford a 2/3/4/5 party system … then the truth as to who rules will come out. So called democracy is a luxury, we and 'they' will soon miss.

              • mcflock

                We all have a choice about who to vote for.

                Don’t blame a “them” for the people electing the government they deserve.

                • -We all have a choice about who to vote for.-
                  No we haven’t, take the con Kiwi Saver for example, I know people will never see a return on their money if they are under 60 (being kind here). It is an out and out lie to expect this fast self-destructing system to keep itself together much more than 5 years, let alone have growth over the next 47 (time for 18 yo to retire) I think every politician voted for this scam, hence they all have their fat over paid heads up each others butts, they are in the same ponzi scam IE vote for us and life will get better, trust us, we will give you XYZ till the sun stops shining. The right think wealth and happiness will flow down to the masses and the left think we will get/deserve our ‘fare share’ -come by yar-
                  They are all feeding us the same crap, and because 99% of ‘the people’ are apathetic brain dead baby factories, they get away with it.
                  And every 3 years the fools think voting will change things, ha bloody ha ha, the joke is on us, well you as I don’t have a KS account, and if I vote it is always a protest one.
                  Please wake up.

                  • just saying

                    Believing ‘we’re-all-going-to -hell-in-a-handcart-and-there’s-nothing-we-can-do-about-it’ isn’t quite the mark of genius you seem to think it is RA.
                    Pretty common in my experience.

                    • JS – Pretty common in my experience.
                      Alas my anonymous friend it is not common enough as witnessed by all the bloody maternity wards.
                      Oh and the happy happy joy joy crap in the papers about all the kids being born over the past few weeks. poor buggers.

                    • Also JS there is KS …. with around 500,000 fools joined up, guess that is only $500 million more the govt owes? Yet another bill never to be paid.

            • ianmac from UAE 2.1.1.1.1.4

              Actually the Irish had elections for rulers, equal rights for women like in medicine or education and a restorative approach to crime. All this around the 7th Century AD. It eroded under the Roman Catholic Church influence where segregation and punitive justice become the norm.

              • M

                Yes indeed ianmac – have you read ‘How the Irish Saved Civilization’ by Thomas Cahill?

                St Patrick worked very hard at bringing the different tribes together in Ireland, perhaps a little too well considering what happened to them later. Women were certainly freer and not bottom feeders in Irish society before the arrival of suffocating Augustinian/Roman Catholicism. Irish monks and priests wishing to avoid conflict (as well as political influence from leaders) gave in at a synod in England in the seventh century to avoid a schism in the early Catholic church over various matters concerning faith and conduct which is a damn shame because it all goes to explain the existence of places like Magdalene laundries, because you know it’s all those damned women’s faults for enticing poor, innocent men to sin.

                Augustine was lucky that texts, both secular and religious, were preserved through the labours of generations of Irish monks while Rome’s empire crumbled under pressure from barbarian hordes so he could really get his misogyny groove on and message out after being the most shocking Lothario.

                Hell knows what he would have made of St Patrick helping pregnant nuns – maybe some long pork for dinner barbequed a la Augustine?

            • KJT 2.1.1.1.1.5

              Now we bomb people to bits in their millions to ensure the oil supply to the USA.

              Primitive tribespeople in New Guinea have more self determination than the average Westerner in UK, USA, Ireland, NZ or Greece.

              Athens, Rome and many other early cultures had a greater degree of democracy than we do. The current Swiss democracy has rather a long history also.

  3. Tigger 3

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.php?c_id=1&objectid=10696773

    Truly bizarre piece – not even marked Opinion in the mobile site so it appears as ‘news’.

    No free lunch except for the rich. Because when English says tighten your belts he only means working class.

    • Vicky32 3.1

      Further more he uses the Americanism “different than”! (No, I am not being silly – I am assuming that his use of an Americanism – which BTW is simply grammatically wrong, not an allowable variation) shows where his thinking comes from!
      Deb

  4. John 4

    Senator Bernie Sanders rails against America’s NeoLiberal Greed Machine which has destroyed a once great Nation now reduced to Banana republic Status. This is the way Key and Wodney want us to follow to our own disaster and decline while they line the pockets of their mates! Is John giving Corporate OBama a xmas call from his Hawaiian retreat?

    At this moment in time Senator Bernie Sanders is probably the only honest civil servant on the senate floor with a working mind of his own..Everyone else in the House seems to be bought off by the International Bankers et al I gotta give it to Bernie Sanders… Man, this guy has a set of balls on him, don’t he??.he is talking about the military industrial complex, goldman sachs? rockefeller, the fed .The political stranglehold the super rich have on the American political machine and its policies.

    Refer link: http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com/

  5. May be slightly off topic, if there is one on Open Mike?
    This is a brilliant speech, given in 1957
    http://www.energybulletin.net/print/23151
    Admiral Rickover was considered the Father of the Nuclear Submarine.(don’t hold this against him ra) As an employee of the US Atomic Energy Commission, later Department of Energy, he had great influence on the development of our country’s civilian Nuclear Power Generation Industry. This speech, given almost 50 years ago, sheds an important light on our current discussion about the future of energy in our country. In the 1970s, Admiral Rickover worked closely with President Jimmy Carter on energy issues.

    snip from his speech (which covers lots of topics relating to energy/food/population)
    Calculations give us the astonishing estimate that one out of every 20 human beings born into this world is alive today. .. (it must be around 5 now ?)
    snip 2 –
    For more than one hundred years we have stoked ever growing numbers of machines with coal; for fifty years we have pumped gas and oil into our factories, cars, trucks, tractors, ships, planes, and homes without giving a thought to the future. Occasionally the voice of a Cassandra has been raised only to be quickly silenced when a lucky discovery revised estimates of our oil reserves upward, or a new coalfield was found in some remote spot. Fewer such lucky discoveries can be expected in the future, especially in industrialized countries where extensive mapping of resources has been done. Yet the popularizers of scientific news would have us believe that there is no cause for anxiety, that reserves will last thousands of years, and that before they run out science will have produced miracles. Our past history and security have given us the sentimental belief that the things we fear will never really happen – that everything turns out right in the end. But, prudent men will reject these tranquilizers and prefer to face the facts so that they can plan intelligently for the needs of their posterity.
    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
    With the clowns we have currently pushing us off the cliff what chance youre children?
    Apathy rules though

  6. Did Conor English take the Standard’s comments back in November personally?

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • EV road user charges bill passes
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April.  “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Bill targets illegal, unregulated fishing in international waters
    New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Reserve Bank appointments
    Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates.  Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Stronger protections for apartment owners
    Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Travel focused on traditional partners and Middle East
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend.    “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says.   Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Keep safe on our roads this Easter
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Cost of living support for over 1.4 million Kiwis
    About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Tenancy reviews for social housing restart
    Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary plan halted
    The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Cutting all that dam red tape
    Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track.  “Dam safety regulations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Drought support extended to parts of North Island
    The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Passage of major tax bill welcomed
    The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Lifting economy through science, tertiary sectors
    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government announces Budget priorities
    The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.  The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government to consider accommodation solution
    The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government approves extension to Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
    Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                         “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • $18m boost for Kiwis travelling to health treatment
    The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.   “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM’s Prizes for Space to showcase sector’s talent
    The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Concerns conveyed to China over cyber activity
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government.     “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry
    Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function.  The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Brynderwyns open for Easter
    State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech to the Infrastructure Funding & Financing Conference
    Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Parliamentary network breached by the PRC
    New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to provide support for Solomon Islands election
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ-EU FTA gains Royal Assent for 1 May entry to force
    The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union.    “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • COVID-19 inquiry attracts 11,000 submissions
    Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says.  “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Families to receive up to $75 a week help with ECE fees
    Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Unlocking a sustainable, low-emissions future
    A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Chief of Army thanked for his service
    Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders
    25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government commits nearly $3 million for period products in schools
    Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech – Making it easier to build.
    Good morning, it’s great to be here.   First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.  I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Pacific youth to shine from boost to Polyfest
    Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 2024 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships announced
    ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Breast Cancer Foundation – Insights Conference
    Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Kiwi research soars to International Space Station
    New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Planning Institute
    Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Support for Northland emergency response centre
    The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed.  “Northland has faced a number ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Celebrating 20 years of Whakaata Māori
    New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Some commercial fishery catch limits increased
    Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-29T14:38:43+00:00