Plenty of pixie dust for the cycleway

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, July 21st, 2009 - 39 comments
Categories: benefits, national/act government - Tags: , , ,

small pixiesJohn Key says there are “no pixies printing cash” to help Kiwis who’ve lost their jobs under his government’s watch.

Funny, because there’s plenty of pixie dust for Key’s cycleway.

Pixie dust is in no short supply to subsidise Key’s rich mates who want to send their kids to elitist private schools.

And there’s buckets of pixie dust to throw at Hide’s undemocratic supercity experiment.

It’s just a matter of priorities I guess.

39 comments on “Plenty of pixie dust for the cycleway ”

  1. So Bored 1

    Eddie,

    Lay off of Jonkeys cycleway, its my one and only hope that he might deliver something useful. As Fairy Dust perhaps we should get Bruno over here to hurry him up, if that doesnt scare him nothing will (well perhaps Brownlee in Spandex might come close).

    • Ari 1.1

      I think Bruno is more offensive* than scary, but perhaps that’s because I failed my homophobe licence.

      *In that the character is essentially a wrap-up of every homophobic stereotype about gay men ever.

      • So Bored 1.1.1

        Given the homophobic and unjustified nature of the Nats supporters comments about Helen and the Labour ladies, sending Bruno after Key would be rich irony indeed (and not a little fun). And yes, Bruno was appalingly offensive to absolutely everybody, no prisoners taken.

  2. Ari 2

    That’s a pretty revealing comment. Does he seriously think we’re complaining that he’s not spending money on creating jobs without having cuts in mind to fund said initiatives? I’m sure someone would do the bloody accounts for him if it would result in him actually stimulating the workforce.

  3. Tim Ellis 3

    It seems strange, Eddie, that you are attacking a subsidy to private schools, which allows many parents to send their children to private schools instead of making them a burden on the taxpayer, but you are happy for three hundred million to be spent providing a universal dole even to millionaire parents.

    • Its a big INCREASE in subsidy to ‘millionaire’ parents. It breaks even the targeting mantra

      • Tim Ellis 3.1.1

        ghost do you know how much money the taxpayer saves by not having to pay for the education of children who attend private schools? Far more than $35 million I suspect. Parents who send their children to private schools are paying twice: once for the schooling of everyone else’s children, and a second time for themselves.

        • Joel Walsham 3.1.1.1

          Well actually not Tim, you are wrong, why? Because everyone who is a tax-payer is subsidising elitist private school education since your buddies got into power. While there have been cuts to public education funding (90 Million over the next two years) there has been a LOT pored into private schools at the expense of everyone else.

          I dont have a problem with private school’s. But they are that…. PRIVATE, and this not the taxpayers responsibility to prop them up.

          • Tim Ellis 3.1.1.1.1

            It isn’t about the taxpayer propping them up, Mr Walsham. What happens if a private school collapses? The students go and study in the state system. Who pays then? The taxpayer.

            It is all very well to say that rich kids’ parents shouldn’t be subsidised, and it’s a nice headline, but there are many examples of the government intervening in private businesses to protect risk to the taxpayer or the economy in general.

            Just a few weeks before the election, Dr Cullen announced a retail bank deposit guarantee scheme, involving a substantial potential taxpayer subsidy to an otherwise very profitable banking system. If Dr Cullen hadn’t acted as he had, the viability of the banking system, and the economy as a whole, would have been severely undermined.

    • Bright Red 3.2

      Tim. Do you even read the posts anymore? eddie’s post on the dole specifically said that it shouldn’t go to everyone regardless of income – it talks about lowering the abatement rate so people on incomes “upt to $70,000” can get at least something.

      Dork.

      • Maynard J 3.2.1

        No, he takes the same line on every post, because no one can be bothered explaining the same simple things over and over again to him like a child. We know eddie explained a useful method to cap the idea, Tim know that, everyone reading this probably knows it but it unfortunately does not save us from Tim’s attempts to spread a meme. As I said yesterday, at least Tim has gotten over calling Goff a panty-sniffer, and has maybe gotten over calling him a right-winger. The meme today is “Goff wants welfare for the rich”. There will be a new one in the next few days..

        “For example, the dole policy should have been designed as a lowering of the abatement rate for partner’s income from 70 cents in the dollar to 25 cents. Then it would have meant anyone whose partner earns up to $70,000 could get some level of dole and it would have cut off the Nats’ line of attack. ”

        Yet he is still talking about supporting millionaire parents, of which we also know there are probably about three affected by the recession, as opposed to the tens of thousands who are really struggling but get no assistance at this point.

    • Ari 3.3

      How is subsidising something less of a burden on the taxpayer? o_O

  4. Bright Red 4

    that pic – lol

    By honestly, what a hypocrite the guy is.

  5. The Voice of Reason 5

    But the subsidy is a burden on the tax payer, Tim! I’d rather the money went to public education, where it will do the most good. Private schools offer significant advantages and provide a great education (or so I’m told), but they shouldn’t be propped up by the taxpayer.

    Much more of this creeping communism and I’m joining ACT!

    • Tim Ellis 5.1

      It’s $35 million over four years, TVOR. Five million this year, and ten million in the following three years. It’s designed to lower the costs of private school fees so that more parents can shift their children from public schools to private schools, and reduce the costs to the taxpayer.

      At a rough estimate, if all of the children who currently go to private schools shifted to state schools, the cost would be an extra $300 million a year, or $1.2 billion over four years.

      A $35 million subsidy to an industry that provides a $1.2 billion saving to the taxpayer doesn’t seem outrageous to me.

      What it says is that the parents of children who go to independent schools are subsidising the taxpayer to the tune of $1.2 billion.

      • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1

        Got a source for that?

      • $300 mill extra costs to bring 3% of the school population into state schools ( per year).
        This doesnt count integrated schools)

        That would mean the existing primary and secondary education budget would be $30 billion per year.

        Its more like $30 mill extra costs per year, not the $300 mill you talk about.

        • ghostwhowalks 5.1.2.1

          The total payments to ‘choice’ schools sound like its much of the saving they make by not being a ‘burden’

          • mickysavage 5.1.2.1.1

            I suspect the subsidy is not required to prevent the mass transfer of Remuera’s richest and most insistent into the state system, rather it means that their parents have to pay less for the privilege they think their families most richly deserve,

  6. Pixie dust was all so available to support ‘iconic brands’ , meaning the shareholder but not the workers.
    Pixie dust is available to have a ‘review’ of the addition of Folic acid in bread( but not the iodine added at the same time) but not a review of the interest rates charged by banks

  7. Has anyone considered the fact that one (the cycleway) is Government policy, for which money has been budgeted, and the other is a kite-flying exercise by the leader of the Opposition, which, according to the Herald, he is now backing down on?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10585783

    Thought not 😉

    • Tim Ellis 7.1

      Very salient point, Inventory.

      It really does show that it is Mr Goff who is Mr Flip Flop this week.

      • Inventory2 7.1.1

        Cheers Tim – I didn’t expect the author or any of the faithful followers to be able to make the distinction!

      • Draco T Bastard 7.1.2

        Mr Goff reiterated what he said in the first place. You really should try reading more than the first paragraph.

        • Maynard J 7.1.2.1

          Actually, you only realise it is not a flip-flop if you read more than the headline, so I can see where they have slipped up.

          But yes, Inventory2, I for one am more than aware that there is money budgeted for the cycleway (well, about 100km of it, but that is by the by) and not for an idea from the opposition. I imagine darn near everyone is.

          Have you got a point to make? Is it possibly that if the opposition ever suggests something then it is a silly idea that could only be funded by pixies, but if the government wants to do something then there will be money for it? Wow. Insightful – a Very Salient Point indeed.

  8. Craig Glen Eden 8

    The post is a good one and raises the point that the best lines are always your enemies own turned back on them. Cheap shots while may seem funny at the time can linger for along time around ones own Neck. Pixie dust now becomes the answer/ retort for most things.

  9. Sting 9

    My friend snorted some pixie dust and ended up a solid roger garden nome that dogs use to piss on.

    • Tim Ellis 9.1

      Good point, Dad. I wondered where you had gone.

      • Pascal's bookie 9.1.1

        Tim, can you show your work for that ‘rough estimate’ upthread?

        • Tim Ellis 9.1.1.1

          Sure, PB.

          It was a VERY rough estimate on my part, I agree. I couldn’t find any specific data identifying the savings to the taxpayer for students attending independent schools, so I used the following process:

          First, the number of students in private schools. I used a reference in a speech from Heather Roy earlier this year, that identified 4.1% of New Zealand school students attending independent schools.

          Second, the total number of students in schools in New Zealand. A quick google approximated around 750,000 students in primary and secondary schools in New Zealand.

          From this I extrapolated around 30,000 students in independent schools in New Zealand.

          Next, the costs per student. I couldn’t find easy references for this, and I don’t know if the costs I do have include capital and operational costs. I used OECD data in figure B 1.3, which identifies the costs per student being just under $6,000 USD. This data is from 2004, and is calculated using equivalent USD converted using PPP. I assessed this as being the equivalent of $10,000 NZD in 2009.

          This was a five minute analysis, and very rough on my part, but the estimate was based on 30,000 students at an average of $10,000 per student, arriving at an annual saving of $300 million per year.

          There might be some much more in-depth analysis available, but I didn’t find it in my quick search. You’re welcome to critique it and suggest a more accurate number.

          • Marty G 9.1.1.1.1

            The problem is your premise that without this $35 million all those kids would be coming into the public system.

            Might it be the difference for a few kids? Maybe but the 30,000 kids you’re estimating were in the private system before this $35 mil, why wouldn’t nearly all of them keep going without that money?

            Effectively,every private school kid has received an additional subsidy (of over 10% by your estimate) so that a few kids can stay private.

            Using your numbers,even if 10% of private school kids went public without this money, it would still be cheaper for the govt… and there’s zero evidence that anything like that many kids would make the move.

          • Pascal's bookie 9.1.1.1.2

            There certainly does seem to be a lot of pixie dust in there.

            I think it’s pretty silly to assume that the marginal cost of each extra student will be the same as the average cost for each existing one for starters.

            Beyond that I reject the premiss about ‘paying twice’ in any case. It’s a fundamental misundersatnding of how our taxation and public education systems work. Handy rhetoric though.

  10. Tim Ellis 10

    Agreed, PB, I don’t have a figure on marginal costs per student. I suspect that data isn’t available, and it’s based on a whole lot of factors, including the capacity of the current school system. If, for example, the current school system is running at full capacity, then the transfer of students to the state school system would require the building of new schools, and consequently much higher capital costs (i.e., the marginal cost would be significantly larger than the average cost). I don’t have that data available, and I suspect it doesn’t actually exist.

  11. Irascible 11

    The pixie dust for the private schools and other subsidies for the affluent in response to their specious argument that they’re being taxed twice – once to support themselves and again to support the undeserving poor is typical of the argument positions that individuals like Timmy campaign on.
    The supporters of private schools are being taxed once as their contribution to the greater good of the community they really don’t want to be members of but are because they choose to live in it and to take advantage of most of the services it supplies.
    Their election to use a private provider is theirs and theirs alone and therefore they should be totally responsible for the costs involved in supplying the services that provider offers.
    Because the private schools are essentially businesses the reality of the market should operate – they should sink or swim depending on the support of the market -an argument that the Timmys of this world would use to denigrate those who would support the idea of a socialist state that offers support to all members of the community.

    • Tim Ellis 11.1

      Interesting points, Irascible.

      Are you equally concerned that primary health practitioners, including GPs, got increased subsidies to treat patients, including wealthy ones? Aren’t primary health providers treating wealthy patients primarily businesses? How about physiotherapists? Aren’t they businesses, too?

      How about legal aid to lawyers? Aren’t law firms businesses as well?

      How about when the government gives money to the New Zealand rugby union to assist in hosting the world cup? Isn’t international rugby a profitable business? Or how about subsidies to Team New Zealand?

      How about the money spent on trade promotion overseas? Isn’t this a subsidy to private businesses trading internationally?

      The government subsidises private businesses all the time, where there are direct positive returns to the taxpayer or the economy as a whole. A small subsidy to private schools (just 2% of the cost of the education, rising to 4% next year) makes it easier for parents to send their children to private schools, and reduces the burden on the taxpayer.

  12. Irascible 12

    The Rugby Union does not deserve any subsidies. i agree. The idea that professional sport is a national income earner because of its pageants and spectacles is a definite no brainer. The idea of a Govt encouraging the Rugby Union by giving $84 mill to build John Key’s Party Central sticks in my craw too. The same goes for the yachting fraternity in my books.
    Personally I’d love to see a fully socialised health system providing health care to all thus removing the creeping privatisation of a necessary public service.
    The private school lobby is often calling for aid to prop up a system that is not as efficient as its PR presents but those people opt into it should, like those who opt into private health services should pay for the cost of operating it.

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  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    4 days ago
  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    5 days ago
  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    5 days ago
  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    5 days ago
  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    5 days ago
  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    6 days ago
  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago
  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    6 days ago
  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    1 week ago
  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago
  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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