Police launch moral crusade against old people

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, October 27th, 2016 - 65 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, death with dignity, police, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

From the “you have to be joking” file, the police set up a breath testing station outside a public meeting where assisted suicide was being discussed so it could collect personal details of people attending the meeting.

It is not the first time that possible supporters of assisted dying have been targeted by police.  There was this earlier report of harassment including how one elderly woman was arrested and held overnight in custody for importing a class C drug. The background is described in Stuff:

Two elderly Wellington women with suicide drugs have been pounced on by police, who are conducting a national operation thought to be targeting a euthanasia group.

Police have confirmed a Lower Hutt woman was arrested and faces two charges of importing a class C drug as part of an “ongoing investigation”.

It is understood a second elderly woman was also involved in the October 7 raid, part of what police are calling Operation Painter, and that one of the women spent the night in a police cell.

Exit International director Philip Nitschke said police raided several elderly members of his group as part of a world-first clampdown on his organisation.

“It is ludicrous to try to argue that these raids are in the best interest of the Exit members raided,” he said.

“They are clearly designed to intimidate and frighten, and send a message that the elderly are not to have control over their own death.”

Police have repeatedly refused to say what the drug was, the age of the arrested woman, or when she would appear in court. They have also refused to comment on claims they had got hold of Exit’s membership list and were working their way through it.

The article infers that the drug was Pentobarbital which cannot be obtained in New Zealand but can be imported.

Then there was the report of the mass data collection via breath screening test.  Again from Stuff:

Police have admitted they used a breath-testing checkpoint to target people who had attended an Exit International euthanasia meeting.

The move has been criticised as an “unlawful checkpoint to interrogate pensioners” by one lawyer, while another said it was probably a breach of police powers.

A complaint has already been laid with the Independent Police Conduct Authority about the officers’ actions in Lower Hutt earlier this month, and at least one other is likely to be laid in coming days.

Longtime Voluntary Euthanasia Society member Wilhelmina Irving got a visit from police after attending the Exit International meeting in Lower Hutt early in October.

Police said on Wednesday evening that they had also notified the IPCA themselves.

The police targets, mostly elderly women, had been attending the meeting on a Sunday afternoon early this month in Maungaraki.

Inspector Chris Bensemann has confirmed the checkpoint ploy, saying police had a duty of care and a “responsibility to the community to investigate any situation where we have reasonable grounds to suspect that persons are being assisted in the commission of suicide”.

As they left, about 4pm, all were pulled over at the checkpoint and – before being asked to blow into the machine – were made to give their names and addresses, and show their driver’s licences.

In the days that followed, at least 10 of them received visits from police officers, asking questions about their association with Exit, a pro-euthanasia group.

Questions put to police late last week and over Labour Weekend went unanswered. But on Wednesday, Inspector Chris Bensemann supplied a written statement confirming the checkpoint was to “identify people attending an Exit International meeting in Lower Hutt”, and was carried out “in good faith and for good reasons”.

Using transport law powers to stop people and hand over their details under the pretext of checking for drunk driving is as big an abuse of police power as you can imagine.

Barrister Michael Bott thinks the police have misused their powers.  From Radio New Zealand:

 

Human rights lawyer Michael Bott said officers misused used their power under the Land Transport Act, which allowed them to stop people, ask for licences and carry out breath tests for road safety.

“What you’ve got is New Zealand police undertaking what appears to be some kind of moral crusade on spurious grounds to such a degree that they’re prepared to use ‘stop and questioning’ powers under the Land Transport Act for ulterior motives, which seems completely improper,” he said.

In their defence, police said they had a responsibility to investigate any situation where they had reasonable grounds to “suspect that people are being assisted in the commission of suicide”.

But Mr Bott said police had no right to intervene in the way they did.

“The mere fact that you attend a meeting with a group who believe in the right to commit suicide in certain circumstances – if you’re unwell or terminally ill – doesn’t mean you actually endorse those aims, or that in fact you’re contemplating assisting someone with bringing about their own demise.

“So you really haven’t got good cause to do that.”

And Law Professor Mark Henigan thinks the same.  From the same article:

Otago University law professor Mark Henaghan agreed the officers had acted unlawfully.

“Under the Bill of Rights Act, there is a provision that people should not be unlawfully detained. They [the elderly people] weren’t detained in the sense of being put in a cell but they were detained, and they were stopped and questioned, and were asked to hand over their licence,” he said.

“The police have no more power than I have to stop someone and say ‘I want to see your licence’, unless they’re using (their power) for the purpose it was designed for, which is the blood alcohol purpose.

“They’re really not using power that they have, so they’re effectively detaining people. If you haven’t got the power to do it then it’s illegal detention.”
The matter is now before the Independent Police Complaints Authority.

65 comments on “Police launch moral crusade against old people ”

  1. Richard Rawshark 1

    I don’t even know how it can be an abuse of powers.

    FFS these people are planning to break the law!!! If they were P Dealers that traffic stop would be ok, if used to collect info on drug dealing, but since they are oldies well.

    NO.

    Some jerk organizing suicide kits get’s stopped. end of. The police should not have their hands tied in collecting information when a serious crime is suspected, that’s their fkn job. Saving lives. Jeez Wayne..

    Really upsets me attacking the police on this, they do so much shit things like tasering mental health people yet we slap them for trying to gently probe a suicide squad.

    • Draco T Bastard 1.1

      FFS these people are planning to break the law!!!

      Do you have proof of that?
      They could have just been planning the ongoing campaign to legalise assisted suicide for those that are terminally ill.

      If they were P Dealers that traffic stop would be ok,

      False equivalence. If the police knew that a group of people were in a building with large amounts of P they wouldn’t have set up a drink driving checkpoint but would have raided the place.

      Really upsets me attacking the police on this, they do so much shit things like tasering mental health people yet we slap them for trying to gently probe a suicide squad.

      We’re getting pissed off with them doing something that they shouldn’t be doing.

      • Richard Rawshark 1.1.1

        Well DTB, I read a very good article about it yesterday, there’s this guy in the UK who helps people make suicide kits and shows them how to do it, this NZ group is partaking, so yeah the police know what they were up to that’s not the question.

        I got pulled last week random stop name address age, drivers licence first and asked while he held it. then he checked details in his car after he’d asked me to say that into the breathalyser.

        They point the breathalyser at you and tell you to say your name and address.
        they have already gotten your drivers license.

        Normal.

        • Psycho Milt 1.1.1.1

          Well, normal if they’re wanting to see if you’re a drunk driver or not. Not normal at all though if they don’t like this meeting you were just attending and want to find out who you are so they can keep tabs on you. Very not normal – unlawful, in fact.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.2

          Well DTB, I read a very good article about it yesterday, there’s this guy in the UK who helps people make suicide kits and shows them how to do it, this NZ group is partaking, so yeah the police know what they were up to that’s not the question.

          No they don’t. If they did then there would have been arrests and charges laid.

          This was a fishing expedition and bullying. Nothing more.

          They point the breathalyser at you and tell you to say your name and address.
          they have already gotten your drivers license.

          That may be what happens at a breath testing stop. What shouldn’t happen is that the breath testing stop is set up specifically to get the details of people at a meeting that’s none of the police’s business. That that information is then used, by the police, to intimidate those people.

          So, no, not normal and it’s not something that we want to become normal.

    • Siobhan 1.2

      There are some laws that are based on complex social and moral standards and over time these may change.
      A good example being Homosexuality.
      There comes a point where a percentage of the population wish to have a change in the law.
      They should be able to meet publicly, or indeed privately, to discuss the issues, especially as to how the law relates to them.
      The police often show discretion on these issues.
      An example being Marijuana Law reform.
      No one turned up at Paul Holmes or Helen Kellys house to check if they were smoking the Pot. (well, not as far as I know)
      The Marijuana group engage in public protests.
      During the Homosexual debate gay people and their supporters wore badges etc. They may well have been targeted by the Police, but I am sure in retrospect we would consider that to be a waste of Police resources.
      It is called Democracy, and, some would say, moral evolution.
      And personally, I would rather have a cop show up next time the house gets robbed, rather than worrying about a terminally unwell individual who wishes to leave the planet in their own time.

      • Richard Rawshark 1.2.1

        As a Bi-polar person, at times I have had a suicide kit. I did it myself, I didn’t get help and It was my choice.

        The issue I have pertains to the organizer not so much the act. If you wish to terminate your life by your choice I have no issue with that, what I do have real concerns about is when a third party is involved.

        Hence I fully support the police checking this out to ensure the UK bloke assisting these people was not some mass murderer getting his jollies.

        How they went about it, I don’t have any issue with.

        My morals, my opinion Siobhan you hit it on the head, it’s a real conversation topic this one due to the intense morality questions. Could almost be a thread in itself.

        • Bill 1.2.1.1

          If I was putting together a pack of pills or whatever because I wanted to kill myself, wouldn’t it be better to do it in a knowledgeable way, rather than in a hit and miss fashion?

          If I was taking a drug for recreational purposes, wouldn’t it be better to be in possession of solid knowledge about its effects rather than ‘blind’ experimenting?

          If I attended a political meeting and there was unlawful stuff discussed,(say a meeting about picket line actions for example), would it be reasonable for me to leave that meeting and be confronted by police gathering personal information under false or unconvincing pretexts?

          Just some of the questions that immediately jump to mind.

          • Richard Rawshark 1.2.1.1.1

            Police came out tonight with their reasoning, wasn’t a pre planned anything, thinking on their feet, and they had been informed by the coroner, from what I read, they seem to be between a rock and a hard place on this one.

            I myself will give them the benefit of the doubt for swearing to preserve life. Assisting a suicide is illegal and should be for many reasons i’m sure everyone can work out. So that’s why on this I think it’s acceptable.

        • Siobhan 1.2.1.2

          I absolutely respect your opinion Rawshark, especially given your story.
          I guess the point I would make is that these are elderly women who are interested in having 3rd party involvement. Women who, for starters, amy have no idea on how to access a suicide kit. Even if they have access to the ‘interweb’ they could out of their depth and may well end up hurting not just themselves, but others.

          They are probably also very much the proverbial ‘law abiding citizens’, they may be scared, wanting one thing, but knowing it’s against the law.
          Some of them are probably still of the generation who are so ‘socially conditioned’ that they have gone their entire lives not even telling their husbands who they vote for. They may never have even filled the car at the petrol station before. Crazy I know, but I meet women like this surprisingly often.

          So again, these are people who are vulnerable to making bad calls if left to their own devices. Who knows, maybe even attending a meeting and having a kit may actually extend their lives, and certainly free them from unnecessary stress.

          • RedBaronCV 1.2.1.2.1

            “vulnerable to making bad calls” in my book equals big daddy paternalism .

            The bad call was the cops.

    • mickysavage 1.3

      It is clearly an abuse of power. The ability to stop is contained in the Land Transport Act not the Land Transport and Harassment of possible supporters of Assisted Dying Act.

      They are meant to be trying to catch drunk drivers not harass old people.

      • Bill 1.3.1

        Why didn’t they just infiltrate the meeting and/or the org as they normally do, or at least attempt to do, if they had ‘worries’?

        Could it just maybe be they’re reckoning that such covert shit doesn’t send a message? I’m picking they reckoned they were thinking. And this bullshit is what their thinking led to.

    • North 1.4

      Overarching juvenile judgment precipitating invasive unlawfulness and abuse of power. Pretty thick really. DTB has it right in one Rawshark. You’ve shot from the lip without thinking. Which given the contradictions you frequently display indicates an unfortunate penchant for the same.

      Hounding old people is what it is. More of the arsehole New Zealand where “Real men ride women!” One ray of hope – Richie McCaw says “Nah” to the Aussies.

      Edit: In, I guess, shooting from the lip myself I responded to your first comment without reading your subsequent comments Repectfully, you have your stuff, those people have theirs. it’s not yours to rationalise unlawful ‘enforcement’. Further, I’m not sure that the police oath measures up to what I imagine forms the Hippocratic Oath.

  2. Draco T Bastard 2

    As they left, about 4pm, all were pulled over at the checkpoint and – before being asked to blow into the machine – were made to give their names and addresses, and show their driver’s licences.

    Now where was such process used before?

    Oh, that’s right, Nazi Germany against the Jews and modern Israel against the Palestinians.

    They [the elderly people] weren’t detained in the sense of being put in a cell but they were detained, and they were stopped and questioned, and were asked to hand over their licence

    And under false pretences.

    The matter is now before the Independent Police Complaints Authority.

    Which means that it will get rubber stamped and nothing will happen.

    • Richard Rawshark 2.1

      SO now we are comparing it to Nazi Germany!

      How many coffee’s this morning DTB, be honest?

      • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1

        SO now we are comparing it to Nazi Germany!

        Yes because that’s what it’s like.

        • Richard Rawshark 2.1.1.1

          Well i’m the odd one out on this, strange for me that. I’ll have to take it onboard and rethink my idea’s as to why.

  3. I can see how this comes about. Catching burglars is difficult and time-consuming, and stopping gangs from carrying out their wide range of crimes is difficult, time-consuming and extremely dangerous. Hassling old people for attending a euthanasia meeting, on the other hand, is a doddle. If you’ve got some key performance indicators to tick off, you pick easy ways to do it, not hard ones. Just another consequence of running public services as though they were a business.

  4. joe90 4

    Outrageous!. How dare police rouse at gun point stop young people old white people at a check point because of their suspected involvement in a scheme to import a class C substance.
    /

  5. Richard Rawshark 5

    Meanwhile, they taser a mental health guy, once running away, tasers only to be used if threatened.

    Then tasered him whilst on the ground handcuffed.

    that does not bother you more than this, or bashing kids for having loud sirens on their push bikes. Or the many assaults they do under the safety of the law that shields them from consequences. I’m no cop lover, had my fair share of bashing from them as a youth, but as I got older I realized there’s always wankers in every job.

    But to chastise them for taking information whatever way they could is petty.

    • I know that cop who bashed one of those shits who steal PA systems and use them to annoy everyone within a kilometer radius committed a crime and ought to be punished, but also can’t help thinking “Onya mate.”

      • Richard Rawshark 5.1.1

        Maybe onya, but the police go through extensive training and evaluation to weed out this sort of thing.

        They are well trained on the laws of use surrounding tazers. Boudaries…

        So when they tazer people running away and plead , we all know they got caught one time having deliberately done it many times ignoring the training and deployment guidelines.

        AKA it’s all a fucking load of shit spread like butter for the masses to consume.

        Whilst they carry on doing what they please. Your mate’s done that many times trust me.

        • North 5.1.1.1

          Rawshark…….the young men and women at police college are NOT well trained in law nor are they or can they be imparted the maturity needed to protect it evenly. As my dear old grandfather who suffered beatings and humiliation for being a unionist in ’51 always said……”the police mind!”

          Happens that 60 plus years later I’m in a position where I see manifestations of it only a daily basis. Bullying by the ignorant and not infrequently ill-motivated is what it is. Glib PR assurances from the upper echelons of the police don’t alter that.

          • Richard Rawshark 5.1.1.1.1

            Perhaps rephrasing it, the police assure us they train cadets to the highest degree , and in pepper spray, Tazers dog bites and baton lumps and how to turn any camera off, ensure your not being taped before stunning your victim until he spills the beans. Or dies, whichever comes first.

            would that be closer.

      • McFlock 5.1.2

        lol yeah it’s part of the duality of man I guess.

        But we must seek to rise above our baser instincts 🙂

    • Draco T Bastard 5.2

      But to chastise them for taking information whatever way they could is petty.

      It was not information that they were entitled to.

  6. weka 6

    So if I get stopped at an alcohol check point am I legally obliged to provide my name, address and driver’s licence? What if it wasn’t an alcohol check point, just a random stop to check for rego?

    And if the police come to my house later and want to talk to me, am I obligated to talk to them?

    • TheExtremist 6.1

      As far as I am aware you must provide name, address and DOB when asked by the police for any reason.
      You cannot be compelled to provide any more information that nor talk any further without a lawyer presence.
      If the police come to your house you do not need to talk to them at all.

      • dukeofurl 6.1.1

        “..you must provide name, address and DOB when asked by the police for any reason…”

        Not so. Only if you are driving a motor vehicle or are suspected of an offence relating to sale of alcohol

        • RJL 6.1.1.1

          Yes. It is an offense to not provide (or provide false) name, address and age information to the police when requested.

          But the police are only legally entitled to request this information if you are driving a motor vehicle (and they are stopping you under the Land Transport Act), or you are suspected of alcohol offences, or they have arrested you.

          The police have previous form for doing this sort of thing. For example, biker gang meetings just happen to occur near drink driving checkpoints (or vice versa):
          http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/67549505/biker-gang-members-greeted-by-police-roadblock

          • TheExtremist 6.1.1.1.1

            Ah right, hence saying “as far as I am aware”.

            But I like Joe90’s below approach the best

          • Richard Rawshark 6.1.1.1.2

            Practicality of refusing to answer your name whenever stopped by the police, even if not driving and stone cold sober walking down the street, will quickly lead to your arrest. You maybe right at the time, but by the time you get to a judge you will be so wrong.. so so wrong.

            obstruction, resisting oh you’ll be grandly fucked.

            just comply.

            • RJL 6.1.1.1.2.1

              Sure, if you fear reprisal and violence from the police it might be sane to comply with illegal requests like this from the police — which suggests that something is monstrously wrong with our police force, of course.

              Although it is also completely sane to ask for police id., etc and it is completely appropriate to complain to the IPCA (joke that it is) if the police made the request in circumstances other than those they are legally entitled to do so. Which is what is happening in this case.

              • Richard Rawshark

                Just reality RjL, now I suppose if your wearing a business suit and are 40 it may not be always that way, but if your under 30 out at night and they want to know where your heading and what your name is, I think you’d be wise to tell them the minimum without getting yourself locked up for getting cocky. They really do like wiping the smile off cheeky faces when people tell them “you can’t do that”

      • joe90 6.1.2

        Rules for dealing with the plods – identify yourself, be courteous, cooperate and comply but tell them nothing, take them nowhere and never ever make a formal statement, unless you’re lawyered up.

  7. Richard Rawshark 7

    Your legally required to give your name address and date of birth if I remember rightly, up to you to say anything else.

    If any police officer asks you anytime they damn well please.

    drivers license if your driving.

  8. The Real Matthew 8

    This is outrageous behaviour from a Police force whose focus is on stopping drivers going 4kmph over the speed limit and old grannies rather than stopping hard crime.

    It’s beyond time the Police Minister took a more active role in Policing.

  9. saveNZ 9

    Big Brother, anyone?

  10. Gangnam Style 10

    “The police are given the power to set up checkpoints to combat drink-driving. We do not give them powers for one purpose so they can abuse them for another.” David Seymour.

  11. McFlock 11

    It would actually have been smarter of the cops to go old school, taking number plates and photographing attendees, rather than being dickish about it.

    But I suspect that the referral from the coroner has gotten into someone senior’s bonnet, so the cops “exercised their initiative”. Sigh – any power given to the police will be a bused sooner or later.

    • Richard Rawshark 11.1

      Arrogance and laziness or they would have McFlock, they could easily have gotten the information the old fashioned way, but due to the examples of our Nats, the arrogance of do as you like and dismiss negativity has taken over the country. IMHO

      and Judith will back their wrong doing all the way, just like she supported Whaleoil and the raids on Hagar.

      • McFlock 11.1.1

        I also wonder if turnover and workload means that regular frontline cops have lost those old skills and needed to reinvent the wheel.

      • Chuck 11.1.2

        “Arrogance and laziness or they would have McFlock”

        Nope your on the wrong track RR.

        If it was a covert operation then the “old fashioned way” would have been used.

        But it was not a covert operation, in fact since the police visited a number of these old ladies a day or 2 after, it was clearly designed to send a message to them that euthanasia is currently unlawful.

        • Richard Rawshark 11.1.2.1

          Oh no doubt chuck. We had drifted off course a little I think me n Mc Flock..

          I see it that way too, nothing like a we know what your up to and are watching you to scare the pants off them. I bet that’s exactly what they intended too.

          Then perhaps a culture of the ends justify the means, mentality from government. Passing down to the lower teirs of government?

          I mean we have had a lot of gutsy feely ignore scientific fact do what we fucking like from them.

        • Groundhog 11.1.2.2

          Which it is, and hopefully will remain so.

        • McFlock 11.1.2.3

          So they used unlawful detention to send a message? That can’t go wrong. /sarc

          The message was the visit later. My point is that they could have had the same coverage and gained the same information more cheaply with two in a car rather than trying to stop and check everyone who left a meeting.

  12. In Vino 12

    If one wants to be more sinister, how about Bomber Bradbury’s take that this is just a training exercise preparing the Police for more serious ops in the future? I remember back in the 70s some of the hippies would say, “The fuzz is everywhere, man..” I later learned that they often were, man. (Or ‘it often was’…)

    • Chuck 12.1

      The critical part of your paragraph In Vino is “Bomber Bradbury’s take”.

      • George Hendry 12.1.1

        Thanks, IV, and hi again Chuck 🙂

        @ “Bomber Bradbury’s take” :

        A polarising figure, Mr Bradbury is greatly admired by some and decisively dismissed by others. Here, I don’t think his take should be dismissed out of hand.

        As this case was decidedly non-urgent, the police had time to think it through carefully.

        As noted elsewhere, there were more efficient/legal and less public/expensive ways to get the info/issue the warning. So why did they do it this way?

        These ladies were reasonably high social status and highly articulate – they were certainly going to speak out. And they did, so ‘tellingly’ that the police quickly ‘admitted’ to their legally questionable modus operandi, which is to be ‘investigated’ by the IPCA.

        When something happens as a consequence of police action, it’s not impossible that the police foresaw and intended it.

        “Yes. We did that. We crap on the law, we bullshit about concern for life and you see straight through it. You discuss it, which helps to normalise it, so we can use it again next time, maybe with something else added on.”

        Given their form, Chuck, is it really so improbable?

        • Chuck 12.1.1.1

          Hi George,

          Over night the police have released more information, and it seems it was part of an ongoing investigation of one and possible several recent deaths referred to them by the coroner (suspected assisted suicide). The first death the person did not even have a terminal illness.

          It was not simply stopping old ladies on the whim from some senior police officer.

          I do agree the police need to tread very carefully here, hence why they have asked the IPCA to run the ruler over this.

  13. Whateva next? 13

    Checking for jihadi brides I spect

  14. Ross 14

    I really don’t get it. Police keep telling us that they’re short staffed, that they have had to close down police stations or man them only occasionally. Yet they have enough time and manpower to hassle little old ladies. 🙂

  15. RedBaronCV 15

    I personally really really can’t wait for a checkpoint outside the lawyers and others meeting with an MP to discuss the rules around tax havens. That facilitates the crime of money laundering don’t you know?

    Some tosser ought to be fired for this one !

  16. RedBaronCV 16

    And while I’m on the subject I’ve been stopped at checkpoints where the “police” are wearing Hi Vis vests that cover any number they may have. However, I have seriously wondered if they are actually “police” or some outsourced contractor maybe because the ones on the checkpoints are on the far far side of about 45++ and about 5 foot three inches tall. I didn’t think there are many front line cops that are elderly women.

    I’ll get the camera out next time.

  17. infused 17

    The police are the biggest gang/bullies in the country.

  18. Thinkerr 18

    All we need now is for the government to bring in a mandatory death sentence for people convicted of attempting euthenasia, and NZ will truly be the laughing stock of the rest of the world.

    Seriously, when the police can target and detain people for having freedom of thought, things have become far more serious, even, than things like GCSB collecting everyone’s data for possible later use.

    Our parents, uncles, etc fought and died to stop us having to live in a country like we have now.

  19. Rob Gilchrist 19

    Police have used the ‘FAKE EBA’check point for years. If fact it’s was a’ tactical tool’ that was used frequently when I worked for them. It’s a legal way for police to get details of all occupants in a vehicle. The law states that everyone in a vehicle pulled over by police must supply their details. I don’t know how many times e used it but it was many. If you have a group of activists driving to a demo and want to know who they are, how well they are prepared, their intentions etc then a 3T (traffic. Stop) was a quick and Edgefield roll to gain intelligence. K
    I can’t recall an exact number of times it was used but it would be 40-50 over the time I worked for police

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    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
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    4 days ago
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