Pick up the ball

Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, September 28th, 2014 - 30 comments
Categories: climate change, election 2014, energy, mana, peak oil, uncategorized - Tags: ,

Yes the Left have taken a drubbing, but never mind, time to pick ourselves up off the floor, patch up our wound pride, dust ourselves off, cast around for our friends and allies, and re-enter the fray.

Lots of work for us to do, no more time for the factional fighting that has proven so destructive for the Left.

In the spirit of new badly needed Left Unity…..

The Left opposition needs to start setting the agenda

First up: Hone Harawira’s ‘Feed The Kids’ bill. This bill to address childhood poverty is still live on the floor of parliament and is likely to be one of the first things on the order paper.

With the departure of Harawira from parliament, this bill will have to be lobbied and fought for by the other parties of the Left and Centre, NZ First, Labour, The Green and Maori Party, and if possible United Future.

The government will counter that there is no money for such a program, however within a short time will announce New Zealand’s support for the endless war in the Middle East. The link needs to be made between the fact that there is never any shortage of money and treasure for war, but never any money to feed hungry children, or lift them out of poverty. On behalf of the 100,000 children that struggle to learn on an empty stomach, it is incumbent on Te Ururoa Flavell to pick up this dropped Taiaha, and spearhead this campaign in parliament.

Second up: For the second time the government is again bailing out the technically insolvent Solid Energy, this week the government announced another $103 million bail out on top of the $150million the government gave them last year.

It is not often I agree with the Taxpayer’s Union, but I find myself agreeing with them this time, when the Executive Director of the TU, Jordan Williams says that all parties need to commit to abolishing New Zealand’s culture of corporate “Corporate Welfare”.

But more than just being an act of corporate welfare this is also a chilling climate crime.

Despite the huge continual endless bailing out of Solid Energy, the continuing stream of heartless redundancies of mine workers with little compensation, show that the time has well past for the government hear the call made by Gareth Hughes last year, that this money would be better spent paying for a just transition to jobs that don’t fry the planet.

Coal is not going to be the fuel of our future if we are to stabilise our climate.

“New Zealanders and Solid Energy workers need a just transition into more sustainable jobs – jobs that don’t fry the planet.”
Gareth Hughes October 1, 2013

Thirdly: And on Thursday the government announced another $8 million of the public’s money will be given to help make it easier for people to invest in oil and gas exploration. No doubt this other piece of corporate welfare will have been written at the behest of the fossil fuel industry, worried at the growing international fossil fuel divestment movement.

This subsidy of the oil company investors using tax payers money is an open slap in the face to the international divestment campaign.

Business As Usual needs to be opposed

As John Key declares, “Business As Usual”.

In response, the combined Left need to make a big showing at the March to Stop Deep Sea Oil

If you are in Auckland on Tuesday Midday, take time to join the march leaving from the Britomart Centre 12.00 up to the Sky City where the National Petroleum Industry is holding their conference.

The Norwegian oil giant Statoil, the same company who is threatening to drill for deep sea oil off the coast of Northland (and the Arctic) are partly funding this conference. Together we will tell Statoil and the oil industry that we want clean energy not dirty deep sea oil.

At the same time this conference is being held in Auckland World leaders are meeting in New York for a conference on climate change. Unfortunately for us, New Zealand will be embarrassed before the world by being represented at this conference by the National Government.

The point needs to be made, (here and in New York), that by massively subsidising the coal industry and actively opposing the international divestment movement, New Zealand, from being a world leader on environmental and peace issues, has on climate change, become a world scab for the fossil fuel industry.

Pat O’Dea

Mana Movement climate change spokesperson
 

 

30 comments on “Pick up the ball ”

  1. Rosie 1

    Kia Ora Pat. Nice post 🙂

    Re Peter Dunne supporting the Feed the Kids bill, he won’t. Last year when it looked like Hone’s bill was coming up and there was talk of Dunne supporting it he made clear his position.

    Here in Wellington there was quite a focus on the Bill on Radio Active, with several interviews with Deborah Morris Thingo, formerly with Every Child Counts (and who is now with Unicef). Listeners were contacting Dunne to encourage him to get him on side, to no avail.

    Dunnes former flunky, Pete George asked him about it and this is what he had to say (distilled into NO for those of you not feeling like reading it)

    http://yournz.org/2013/05/07/dunne-wont-feed-the-kids/

    It will up to the Left to put up a fight for the kids. Dunne can’t be relied upon or even trusted. When the time does come, People’s Power Ohariu have a stash of placards ready go, to put up around the neighbourhood that read “Hey Peter! Voting no on feed the kids?” (We were all ready to go with them last year and then the Bill was put on the back burner)

    And “NZ, world scab for the fossil fuel industry” – Line of the day!

  2. Bill 2

    My tuppence worth is that people could do far worse than view policies first and foremost in terms of global warming and then demand politicians justify their various policies against that unfolding reality.

    I know it doesn’t apply to every policy, but it applies to a hell of a lot of them…anything that is punted out 20 or 30 years (retirement policies, savings policies etc)… as well as the more obvious policies relating to fossil fuel exploration/extraction.

    In other words, I’m suggesting we change the frames of reference politicians are allowed to operate within. Unity of purpose then, if not organisational unity.

  3. Dialey 3

    Climate change is a civilisational wake-up call – of fire, flood, drought and extinction – a call for an entirely new economic model and way of sharing the planet. (Naomi Klein)

    • Bill 3.1

      Indeed.

      So the question becomes one of how to divorce politicians from their current economic management roles. Only way I can see is to constantly highlight the fact that current economic arrangements won’t persist in the face of AGW – to call bullshit on them, and then throw the wording of the commitments they’ve signed up to on AGW at them at every turn. (eg the Copenhagen Accord)

      Make them explain and justify. (They won’t be able to)

      • Colonial Viper 3.1.1

        But politicians have long been divorced from their economic management roles via the dogma of central bank independence and economic/monetary orthodoxy.

        • Bill 3.1.1.1

          CV – you know damned fine well what I mean.

          Yes, a lot of control was passed onto international and unelected people via so called ‘independence’ for central banks etc. But they still defend and promote neo-classical economic hegemony. And they still endeavour to ensure society structurally accommodates market economics (neo-classical or otherwise).

          • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.1.1

            OK. I look at the example of the UK, Greece, Spain, USA. Your points have been made again and again by economists, NGOs, civil society groups – against austerity, against the XL tar sands pipeline, against the wealthy becoming richer while everyone else gets poorer, against the persecution of whistleblowers, against the fracking of land against landowners wishes.

            And still, what do the power elite do in the face of protests, riots, Occupy (the latest being in HK where peaceful students protestors were tear gassed for no legitimate reason of law enforcement), legal action, widespread public dissatisfaction with mass surveillance.

            They ignore us and continue with their agenda. Look at the Australian government – and senate – and the Australian Labour Party – pushing through sweeping nearly unlimited post-Weimar style surveillance state powers even after all the Snowden and Greenwald revelations – legislation that I have no doubt was drafted in direct co-ordination with other FVEY countries especially the USA.

            None of this is a reason not to act; if anything, it increases the moral imperative for each of us to get involved and resist peacefully and bring many others with us. Our leaders need to be held to account for their actions against the 99%. But its coming to the frightening situation now that people in western nations are (more clearly than ever) no longer in control of their democracies. And I’m really unsure who is. Probably a shadowy group of corporate elite and their paid lackeys who rarely ever make the public media, the 0.1%.

      • Tom Jackson 3.1.2

        No. The answer is that you can’t be a democrat and get anything done. You would be better off getting wealthy people and companies who have something to lose from climate change to bribe politicians to do something about it. Electoral politics is a non-starter.

        • adam 3.1.2.1

          Tom are you being glib? Do you not see what the wealthy and the corporations are doing? The wealthy and the companies are the problem. And yes we are past the point where by the electoral process can do anything – they have that, brought and paid for.

    • Gosman 3.2

      The proposed solutions from many on the left aren’t new. They are just variations of big government socialism. That is likely why they haven’t been implemented.

  4. blue leopard 4

    Great to see someone from Mana writing a post on the Standard, thank you, Pat O’Dea.

    It would be heartening to see the ‘Feed the Kids’ bill picked up by other parties.

    Countering ‘unaffordability’ thinking by pointing out what we are currently (or soon to be) spending money on is a good plan. This highlights our priorities and encourages us to redress them.

  5. Gonzo 5

    I fed my kids. my parents fed their kids, my grandparents before them fed their kids. Down through the generations all the adults in our family have gone without some things in order that the kids be fed.
    Why the hell should I now have to feed someone else’s kids because a group of self entitled refuse to make the necessary adjustments to their own lives to be able to feed their kids?

    • greywarbler 5.2

      @ Gonzo
      My grandfather went to war, my father went to war, just so you could be on the planet and have kids. He and a lot of people died for you. Why now shouldn’t you pass some of that concern and support for others that you were given, onto others.

      (And if you are an old forces man, you would want to make that fighting and killing and dying stand for something other than a passing hell and armaments rotting away.)

      So don’t harden your arteries, and have a heart attack, as you will expect us to save your life. Some people are always wanting stuff from others.

      • Gosman 5.2.1

        Your grandfather and father are unlikely to have gone to war so as to ensure some unrelated person not yet born in NZ could have kids. Even if they did think that both the second world war and especially the first would not likely have stopped NZers getting on with our lives even if the side we were on lost.

    • Murray Olsen 5.3

      Gonzo, when as a nation we decide we don’t want any of our children going hungry, why should you be excused duty? On what grounds is your conscientious objection based?

  6. Yoyo 6

    Are there any kids seriously hungry because of poverty, or do their parents just have other priorities. I would be skinny as a rake before I sent my kid to school without breakfast and yet the parents tend to be huuuuge. If I didn’t have an emergency fund I would not overeat myself and save the food money until I had one, because I feel that to ever leave yourself in a position where your kids might not have food is neglect. Apart from those who are sick, all many of them need to do is cut out the booze, sky fags, gambling, debt from loan sharks and over-eating themselves and they’ll be able to feed their kids. The debate should be over shoes and clothes – I’d be prepared to fund that if they couldn’t afford it, but not being able to feed your kids in my opinion is a joke – I think they can afford to feed their kids, it’s just not a priority for them.

    • Murray Olsen 6.1

      I have never seen so much ugly dog whistle bullshit rolled into one post. I don’t give a toss about your self-satisfied opinions and sense of superiority. You sound like the sort that would piss in soup you didn’t want rather than see a hungry person eat it. You’d justify it by saying you had no desire to encourage dependency.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1

        Well said Murray. Yoyo is full to the brim with hate, and small wonder when the government goes out of its way to encourage it.

  7. alwyn 7

    You say that
    “Hone Harawira’s ‘Feed The Kids’ bill. This bill to address childhood poverty is still live on the floor of parliament and is likely to be one of the first things on the order paper.”

    Not according to the Parliamentary website it isn’t. It has lapsed.
    According to them, in their material about Parliament having been dissolved

    “What happens to business before the House and select committees?
    All business before the House and its committees will lapse when the 50th Parliament ends on 14 August. These items of business may be reinstated by the new Parliament when it meets, resuming at the point they had reached at dissolution.”

    Thus the bill is not live, and it will depend on the new Parliament whether it is reinstated. See the word “may” in the comment. Presumably someone in one of the opposition parties will try to take it over, now that neither Hone nor his party will be there any longer.

    • Pat O'Dea 7.1

      Presumably someone in one of the opposition parties will try to take it over, now that neither Hone nor his party will be there any longer.

      @alwyn

      Indeed, and therein lies the challenge.

      Will any of the other opposition parties pick it up?

      Will they champion it?

      Will they lobby Peter Dunne and any Left(ish) Nats to at least get it to its first reading so as the merits or not of this measure can be properly debated in the house?

      Will public sumissions be allowed to be heard?

  8. philj 8

    xox
    The new ‘tunnel’ (really a covered trench) to create a memorial park to commemorate Gallipoli cost 124 million dollars. Can’t afford to feed the kids or to have a non commercial public tv channel. Priorities are seriously out of whack. And 12 bilion for motorways.

  9. Zolan 9

    For a long time I’ve felt that relentless reporting on Corporate Welfare could be a foundational meme that is easy for anyone to understand and scorn as well as setting the stage for more specific debates.
    Highlighting where the money goes, the opportunity cost, and the active choice in what’s “unaffordable” etc.

    —–

    “Feed the Kids” should be a no-brainer for the left and moderates, and it would be an outrage if Labour and Greens at least don’t champion it. It would be politically astute for the Maori Party to do so as well, before cynical opinions of them harden further.

  10. adam 10

    Pat I disagree on you call about left wing unity. I really do – I think the left has been working quite well together – yes we argue, and sometimes we throw a hissy fit. But the left is working fine.

    It’s the wolves in sheeps clothing, that was the problem. The labour-rights who deliberately use pathos and other tactics to disguise their hard core cupidity. The very fact they support capitalism untethered, makes them right wing. They have, for some time, been able to pull the wool over one’s eyes. Those days are over.

    So back to my point, I think the left have woken up to that and we are, and have been working together. Indeed, great posts like your Pat, and the comments that follow – just prove that point.

    • boldsirbrian 10.1

      @ adam (10)

      “It’s the wolves in sheeps clothing, that was the problem. The labour-rights who deliberately use pathos and other tactics to disguise their hard core cupidity. The very fact they support capitalism untethered, makes them right wing. They have, for some time, been able to pull the wool over one’s eyes. Those days are over. “

      Rant
      Smear
      Enlightenment: Zilch

      A few links to support the hatred would be a little helpful.

      (Or perhaps you are National Supporter, trying to fill the Standard up with Whaleoil like comments to “prove” that the blog is “as bad as Whaleoil” and “everybody does it”)

      I can think of a few policies that I’m concerned about. eg marching into the TPPA. Are supporters of this the evil “Right”? If they are, I would like to disagree with them vigorously on this policy. But reserve my right to agree with them on other policies.

      It’s a glass half full / glass half empty type of situation. In my mind, better to enjoy what is shared, rather than spending the same effort on how to amputate the differences.

  11. Gosman 11

    I’m curious what policies do people think National has a mandate to implement given it is obvious from this post that some believe the left should try and get left wing policies adopted in the next three years despite the Left losing badly at the last election?

    • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1

      National didn’t campaign on policy, and how many times will it take you to get it into your head that people don’t vote for entire policy packages? National has a mandate to govern and little else.

      In fact, given that Bill English said the plan is to carry on exactly as before, they have a mandate to make no legislative changes whatsoever.

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    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    5 days ago
  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Old habits
    Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
    Real ClimateBy rasmus
    5 days ago
  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    5 days ago
  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    5 days ago
  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    5 days ago
  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • STEPHEN FRANKS: Press seek to publicly shame doctor – we must push back
    The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Competing on cruelty
    The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Further funding for Pharmac (forgotten in the Budget?) looks like a $1bn appeal from a PM in need of...
    Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan  – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Bryce Edwards: The Vested interests shaping National Party policies
    As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 days ago
  • Labour may be on way out of power and NZ First back in – but will Peters go into coalition with Na...
    Voters  are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris  Hipkins’  valiant  rearguard  action.  So  where  are they  heading?  Clearly  not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that  the  outcome  will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a  few weeks  ago  was ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago
  • GRAHAM ADAMS: Will the racists please stand up?
    Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out. Graham Adams writes –    With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on whether Winston Peters can be a moderating influence
    As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
    6 days ago
  • Tuesday’s Chorus: RBNZ set to rain on National's victory parade
    ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • After a Pittsburgh coal processing plant closed, ER visits plummeted
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
    6 days ago
  • September-23 AT Board Meeting
    Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
    6 days ago
  • Electorate Watch: West Coast-Tasman
    Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Big money brings Winston back
    National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • 20 days until Election Day, 7 until early voting begins… but what changes will we really see here?
    As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    6 days ago
  • A night out
    Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • A pallid shade of Green III
    Clearly Labour's focus groups are telling it that it needs to pay more attention to climate change - because hot on the heels of their weaksauce energy efficiency pilot programme and not-great-but-better-than-nothing solar grants, they've released a full climate manifesto. Unfortunately, the core policies in it - a second Emissions ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • A coalition of racism, cruelty, and chaos
    Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago
  • More migrant workers should help generate the tax income needed to provide benefits for job seekers
    Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago
  • Letter To Luxon.
    Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago
  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Alarming trend in benefit numbers
    Lindsay Mitchell writes –  While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON: Has there been external structural change?
    A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.   Brian Easton writes –  Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago
  • CRL Progress – Sep-23
    It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
    7 days ago
  • Monday’s Chorus: Not building nearly enough
    We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Game on; Hipkins comes out punching
    Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago
  • Tax Cut Austerity Blues.
    The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • 100 new public EV chargers to be added to national network
    The public EV charging network has received a significant boost with government co-funding announced today for over 100 EV chargers – with over 200 charging ports altogether – across New Zealand, and many planned to be up and running on key holiday routes by Christmas this year. Minister of Energy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Safeguarding Tuvalu language and identity
    Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago
  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
    40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Appointment of District Court Judge
    Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today.  Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
    The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
    Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
    The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
    The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
    The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today.   “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
    Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
    An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
    The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
    The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
    Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago
  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago
  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
    The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.  A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago
  • Government invests in Greymouth’s future
    The Government has today confirmed a $2 million grant towards the regeneration of Greymouth’s CBD with construction of a new two-level commercial and public facility. “It will include a visitor facility centred around a new library. Additionally, it will include retail outlets on the ground floor, and both outdoor and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago
  • Nanaia Mahuta to attend PIF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Suva, Fiji alongside New Zealand’s regional counterparts. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to working with our pacific whanau to strengthen our cooperation, and share ways to combat the challenges facing the Blue Pacific Continent,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago
  • PREFU shows no recession, growing economy, more jobs and wages ahead of inflation
    Economy to grow 2.6 percent on average over forecast period Treasury not forecasting a recession Inflation to return to the 1-3 percent target band next year Wages set to grow 4.8 percent a year over forecast period Unemployment to peak below the long-term average Fiscal Rules met - Net debt ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago
  • New cancer centre opens in Christchurch
    Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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