Poverty Watch 24

Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, March 23rd, 2013 - 28 comments
Categories: national, poverty - Tags:

Over the next few posts in this series I’ll be looking at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCCC) 2012 report “Child Poverty in New Zealand evidence for action“. It’s a substantial document, prepared by an Expert Advisory Group after an extensive process of consultation, and culminating in 78 specific recommendations. Before we start in on the facts and figures, I like the way that the report sets its tone in the foreword:

At one consultation seminar participants were asked:‘what is the one thing you think the Prime Minister should do to address child poverty?’ A woman stood up and responded vigorously: ‘come and live my life for a while’. For this woman and her children and for tens of thousands of others across the country, child poverty is both real and debilitating. It means missing out on many of the things which the majority of children take for granted: adequate and nutritious food, good shoes and clothing, a separate bed, a warm, dry house, participation in school trips and occasional holidays away from home. Material deprivation of this kind should not be tolerated, least of all in a land of relative abundance.

There is it in a nutshell really. In a land of relative abundance we have far too many people, including 270,000 children (and rising) who are living in poverty. They are poorly served by a government that has no understanding of or empathy for the poor and disadvantaged. It’s a disgrace, and it’s a ticking time-bomb that the next government will have to deal with.

The first chapter, Child Poverty in New Zealand, sets out background issues and definitions. On the first page we meet a paragraph which (in my opinion) happens to characterise exactly the facts that conservative / right-wing politicians and their supporters don’t (or won’t) understand about poverty:

Child poverty imposes costs. It harms the children directly affected and our wider society. It reduces the opportunity for children to develop their gifts and talents. It undermines their rights. It stifles educational achievement, reduces labour productivity and earnings ability, and increases the costs of health care and crime. Considerable sums of public money are spent dealing with these negative consequences of child poverty. Moreover, a failure to address child poverty now will damage the nation’s long-term prosperity.

Right from the start this makes a nonsense of National’s beneficiary-bashing penny-pinching attitude to poverty in NZ. It isn’t a level playing field out there. Spend the money to reduce poverty, and it will pay for itself many times over! (See links in the footnote to this post.)

1.1 Defining child poverty

This section notes the lack of an agreed definition of poverty in NZ. Missing the tools to describe and measure the problem, we have real difficulty (“convenient” to some) in setting and achieving goals (1984 in more ways than one). The following definition is proposed:

Children living in poverty are those who experience deprivation of the material resources and income that is required for them to develop and thrive, leaving such children unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential and participate as equal members of New Zealand society.

It’s been carefully thought out, and several aspects of the definition are then explored. For example:

Our definition of child poverty also highlights the socioeconomic rights of children as citizens. These rights are enunciated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC), to which New Zealand is a signatory. Articles 26 and 27 of UNCROC refer to children’s rights to social security, and to a standard of living adequate for a child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.

1.2 How many and which children are living in poverty?

This section considers two international definitions / measures of poverty, the first based on whether a household’s disposable income falls below a certain threshold (often 50% or 60% of the median for the country), the second based on the proportion of the population that cannot afford specific “essentials”. Overall trends for poverty in NZ will be familiar to those who have been reading the recent Poverty Watch posts on the CSHM report – for example:

OCC2012-poverty-rates

As usual we can see the massive rise following the neoliberal disaster of the 80s/90s, the gradual decline under that last Labour government, and the recent spike upwards again. The section goes on to break the data down by age, ethnicity, housing type and more. As usual:

Child poverty rates differ significantly by ethnicity in New Zealand. Poverty rates (after housing costs) for Mäori and Pasifika children are around double those of Päkehä/ European children. Further, Mäori and Pasifika children are approximately twice as likely as Päkehä/European children to be living in severe poverty and are also at a higher risk of persistent poverty (Imlach Gunasekara & Carter, 2012).

1.3 How New Zealand compares with other countries

In brief summary:

Table 1.3 highlights that child deprivation rates in New Zealand are higher than in most Western European countries, but lower than in the poorer countries of Eastern Europe. Such results are not entirely surprising. They reflect the fact that living standards in New Zealand are somewhat lower than in many Western European countries while income inequality is greater.

That’s probably enough for today – there’s plenty more in Chapter 1 that we’ll get back to next week…

Here’s the standard footnote. Poverty (and inequality) were falling (albeit too slowly) under the last Labour government.   Now they are on the rise again, in fact a Waikato University professor says that poverty is our biggest growth industry.

Before the last election Labour called for a cross party working group on poverty. Key turned the offer down.  Report after report after report has condemned the rate of poverty in this country, and called on the government to act. Meanwhile 40,000 kids are fed by charities and up to 80,000 are going to school hungry. National has responded with complete denial of the issues, saying that the government is already doing enough to help families feed their kids. Organisations working with the poor say that Key is in poverty ‘la la land’.

The Nats refuse to even measure the problem (though they certainly believe in measurement and goals when it suits them to bash beneficiaries). In a 2012 summary of the government’s targets and goals John Armstrong wrote: “Glaringly absent is a target for reducing child poverty”…

The costs of child poverty are in the range of $6-8 Billion per year, but the Nats refuse to spend the $2 Billion that would be needed to really make a difference. Even in purely economic terms National’s attitude makes no sense.

28 comments on “Poverty Watch 24 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. just saying 1
    23 March 2013 at 8:41 am

    At what age do children develop their innate immunity to poverty? Eighteen?

    • McFlock 1.1
      23 March 2013 at 5:43 pm

      People don’t develop an immunity to poverty.

      But the earlier an intervention occurs, the more effective it is and the easier it is to give them the tools to keep out of poverty. E.g. learning to read at 5 rather than at 25. The most practical interventions are often the earliest.

      Helping our kids today is helping our pensioners in 60 or 70 years.

      • just saying 1.1.1
        24 March 2013 at 8:33 am

        People don’t develop an immunity to poverty.

        No shit, Watson?

        That is the point I was making.
        Adults, and not just parents of “innocent children”, also suffer the violence of poverty.
        And they matter too.

  2. Harriet 2
    23 March 2013 at 9:37 am

    Child poverty is just a re-definition of unmarried parent poverty.

    Those who are Married are healthier and wealthier. It’s just the way it is. It’s just the facts!

    No one would seriously believe that a free health system, free education system, near free public housing, plus tax funded welfare could ever produce ‘poverty stricken children’ – but if it does – it is then good enough reason to privatise them!

    “….definitions / measures of poverty, the first based on whether a household’s disposable income falls below a certain threshold (often 50% or 60% of the median for the country), the second based on the proportion of the population that cannot afford specific “essentials”….”

    Parents are responsable for their own children – not responsable for the children of others. But if you want to help so-called ‘children in poverty’ then you would first look at BOTH parents and see what they are lacking in behaviour – as any change in their behaviour would be an immediate improvement!

    Or in other words – if single mums are good mums, and are doing the right thing, but the ex isn’t – then the responsable thing to do is get a partner/husband if they are that CONCERNED about ‘child poverty’.

    Otherwise I call bullshit with regards to ‘measurements’ ! 😎

    • AsleepWhileWalking 2.1
      23 March 2013 at 10:42 am

      Ahhh, the fundies and their “facts” have arrived.

    • Colonial Viper 2.2
      23 March 2013 at 10:54 am

      No one would seriously believe that a free health system, free education system, near free public housing, plus tax funded welfare could ever produce ‘poverty stricken children’ – but if it does – it is then good enough reason to privatise them!

      Privatisation? The medicine which is making more and more people sick as individuals fall behind and are left behind, so you want to prescribe a double dose?

      Good one.

    • RedBaronCV 2.3
      23 March 2013 at 12:00 pm

      “if single mums are good mums, and are doing the right thing, but the ex isn’t – then the responsable thing to do is get a partner/husband if they are that CONCERNED about ‘child poverty’.”

      Women have throughout the centuries used their bodies to gain food for their children. Look at the aftermath of any war.

      So you are suggesting that the answers are:
      – the pack of deadweight males who dump their responsibilities on the general community should be encouraged by the rest of us ignoring their lack of contribution. At the very least sholdn’t they pay money for their kids?
      – she should provide um “sex” to some nice bloke so he supports the kids. Prostitution and exploitation 101 perhaps?
      – As societies have tend to have roughly equal numbers of both sexes until the older years, if there are a % of dead beat males then there will also be an overhang of unpartnered women. How do you propose to solve this small problem.

      • Draco T Bastard 2.3.1
        23 March 2013 at 9:15 pm

        As societies have tend to have roughly equal numbers of both sexes until the older years, if there are a % of dead beat males then there will also be an overhang of unpartnered women.

        And the faster that the women get away from those deadbeat males the better for society.

    • Murray Olsen 2.4
      23 March 2013 at 7:05 pm

      Good to know that the solution to poverty is marriage. Does this apply to all marriages, or just good Christian hetero ones? Will straying outside the missionary position result in a loss of income?
      Bishop Tamaki is certainly wealthy and probably happy. Can gay couples find the same happiness and wealth enhancement opportunities at the altar as well?

    • karol 2.5
      23 March 2013 at 7:34 pm

      Parents are responsable for their own children – not responsable for the children of others.

      Really? As someone with no children, and an ex-teacher, I’m staggered. “It takes a village to raise a child”.

      I’m sorry neither your parent/s nor teachers taught you to spell. Education is a fine thing.

    • Draco T Bastard 2.6
      23 March 2013 at 9:08 pm

      No one would seriously believe that a free health system, free education system, near free public housing, plus tax funded welfare could ever produce ‘poverty stricken children’ – but if it does

      Good job they don’t then. What causes poverty is the privatisation of the commons in line with capitalist ideology. That’s why poverty has been increasing in NZ over the last 30 years – after the 4th Labour government brought in neo-liberalism (turbo-charged capitalism) and privatised a large chunk of the state. Telecom alone has pulled $17b dollars out of our economy resulting in us having to pay even more tax payer money to properly upgrade the network and that’s on top of being overcharged for telecommunications already.

      Parents are responsable for their own children – not responsable for the children of others.

      Wrong, the community is responsible for ensuring that no one within the community is in poverty.

      Otherwise I call bullshit with regards to ‘measurements’ !

      That would be because it contradicts your ideology. You quite literally cannot accept reality because it refutes everything you believe.

    • rosy 2.7
      24 March 2013 at 9:01 am

      “Child poverty is just a re-definition of unmarried parent poverty.”
      No, it isn’t

      If we were serious about lifting children out of poverty we would address at least three fundamental issues. The most serious cause of poverty in today’s New Zealand is the high rate of unemployment
      … The second essential step to reduce child poverty is to improve the living standards of those in work. The working poor are a drag on our economy as well as a continuing reproach to our society.
      …The third priority should be to recognise that poverty is a particular feature of families with small children because bringing up children is an expensive business.
      …
      We have, sadly, abandoned such efforts, often on the ground that it is up to parents to provide for their own children – a sanctimoniously rigorous thesis which ensures that it is the children who must bear the burden if it proves to miss the point in practice.

      When a parent becomes unemployed the WFF tax credit is lost – a double financial blow. When companies tender contracts at the lowest possible price the wages of parents fall. Where parents may have been able to afford kids the race to the bottom, in terms of wages and the casualisation of the workforce, means they can no longer cope financially with the kids they had in more financially stable times. These are families in poverty, whether the parents are married or not.

  3. Jenny 3
    23 March 2013 at 10:50 am

    One of the main causes of poverty and hardship in New Zealand families is recurrent or pervasive unemployment by the main breadwinners.

    In a terrible failure of New Zealand political and economic policy direction reminiscent of the 1930s depression – The shameful phenomenon of hundreds, even sometimes, thousands of working people applying for and failing to get, even low paid menial work is being reported.

    As a cover for failed neo-liberal economic policy direction, Narelle Henson a journalist linked to the well funded lobby group, the Maxim Institute, has penned a propaganda piece based on negative and unsubstantiated employer anecdotes attacking the unemployed, to explain away this phenomenon.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8463033/Dole-queues-long-but-bosses-can-t-get-workers

    “Dole queues long but bosses can’t get workers”

    Narelle Henson

    New Zealand’s most famous beneficiary, turned Minister, Paula Bennet has contributed to this attack propaganda piece, that tries to put the blame for mass unemployment onto the unemployed.

    Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said the latest round of welfare changes were aimed at addressing some of the problems employers were seeing.

    Paula Bennet

    After shamelessly laying off tens of thousands of working people. New Zealand’s stellar performing employers have joined the Maxim Institute in scapegoating the unemployed, for mass unemployment.

    The problem of course is not with the unemployed but with the shortage of jobs.

    This is self evident.

    There can be little doubt that Paula Bennet’s welfare cuts will make poverty worse. By taking part in the Maxim Institute’s scapegoating of the unemployed is the Minister hoping to wipe her hands clean of any personal responsibility for increasing poverty?

    The Minister should be questioned in the house as to her links to this shadowy extreme right wing political group.

    Did she not know, that Narelle Henson was a paid hack of the Maxim Institute?

    Did Henson make this clear to her when she was being interviewed for this piece?

    Even if she gave her support to this attack unknowingly……

    The Minister should be asked before the house to apologise to the families of the tens of thousands of unemployed working people laid off from their jobs during this government’s term, for causing them extra unnecessary distress.

    • ghostrider888 3.1
      23 March 2013 at 1:25 pm

      Excellent Jenny
      From Todays Herald-Amelia Wade
      “1 in 3 NZers believe they are worse of than two years ago and have less disposable income; 43% , the same as two years ago, and an entire 18.1% better off.

      Food costs up, power costs up, housing costs up, car costs up, Unemployment up.

      Low and middle-income FAMILIES feeling the increases more than those at the top; (“average wage ” skewed by high earners).”

  4. AsleepWhileWalking 4
    23 March 2013 at 10:51 am

    I’m about to go on a benefit rights advocacy course. This is because unlike our fundie friend above I believe children are a joint community responsibility.

    Once I am trained my aim will be to help alleviate child poverty by ensuring as many parents as possible are getting the support they are legally entitled to, but nobody has helped them access or made them aware of. It’s a small start and will be somewhat dependent on the financial viability of the Wellington Benefit Rights Service who don’t receive much (if any) in the way of government funding.

    In my opinion NZ child poverty is best tackled through access to:

    1) affordable and stable housing
    2) affordable medical care
    3) access to full and correct entitlements under the Social Securities Act which also supports low income earners
    4) understanding our tax system and knowing when you are better off a benefit, and when it is better to remain on one (refers to working for families entitlement)

    • AsleepWhileWalking 4.1
      23 March 2013 at 12:02 pm

      Further to my comment above, here is an excerpt from the training advertisement:

      The welfare training provided by the Benefit Rights Service focuses on the legislation that governs
      the administration of social welfare in Aotearoa, the Social Security Act 1964, as well as associated
      Ministerial Programmes and Directives. The training also examines the practices and methods that
      enable people to deal more successfully with the department of Work and Income.

      The training is aimed at equipping advocates so that they can empower people to access their
      rightful entitlements from Work and Income – a department that historically has paid scant attention
      to people’s rights. This history was illustrated in the Wellington People’s Centre’s Special Benefit
      Report: 1995-2000, that showed that at least 159,000 of New Zealand’s poorest families were not
      receiving all the welfare assistance to which they were legally entitled.

      The training course is a comprehensive introduction to welfare law and covers most aspects of the
      current benefit system including:

      • An overview of the benefit system
      • Familiarisation with the Social Security Act
      • Making an application (which is not as simple as it sounds)
      • How to commence a benefit
      • How to calculate accommodation supplements, stand-downs and the effect of income on
      benefit entitlement
      • Applying for a review of decision; the review and appeal process
      • Special Benefit/Temporary Additional Support
      • Debt recovery and information matching
      • Assistance for children
      • Tax credits

      The training requires a lot of teamwork and participation. Contact (04) 210 2012 for the April course

      • AsleepWhileWalking 4.1.1
        23 March 2013 at 12:08 pm

        That’s right, 159,000 families not receiving their full and correct entitlement under the law. An outrageous number but also a precursor to so many other social issues. Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, surely this is of interest?

        The situation may have worsened since then as staff cuts have occurred and lower income families particularly in the last decade have suffered from a lack of stable rental accommodation resulting in some children moving schools 10-15 times before they reach college, and very likely different Work and Income service centers.

  5. Lindsay 5
    23 March 2013 at 10:55 am

    What is your graph based on – fixed line or moving line median?

    If you look at the graph here – http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/child_poverty.php – you will see that depending on which definition you use, the picture changes significantly.

    In Brian Perry’s most recent report he makes the point that child poverty rates were flat between 2009 and 2011,“…a good result in the circumstances (Global Financial Crisis, economic downturn)”. That is never reported.

    And regarding how NZ compares to OECD/EU countries, “On the latest available figures (2008-09) New Zealand’s population and child poverty rates are close to the overall medians for both measures.”

    Finally you have used the child poverty definition that produces the largest possible number. The OECD uses 50% and UNICEF’s last report card put the number of NZ children in poverty at 118,000.

    (Harriet is largely correct. Two thirds of the children – as measured at below 60 percent fixed line median AHC costs – are on benefits and most of those are on the DPB.)

    • karol 5.1
      23 March 2013 at 7:37 pm

      (Harriet is largely correct. Two thirds of the children – as measured at below 60 percent fixed line median AHC costs – are on benefits and most of those are on the DPB.)

      And the percentage is so high because a lot of employers are not paying a living wage. Taxpayers are subsidising employers.

  6. Psycho Milt 6
    23 March 2013 at 2:11 pm

    At one consultation seminar participants were asked:‘what is the one thing you think the Prime Minister should do to address child poverty?’ A woman stood up and responded vigorously: ‘come and live my life for a while’

    So, seminar participants were asked for the one most important thing the PM should do to address child poverty, and the response was some meaningless rhetoric? I have to agree with you that that does pretty much set the tone for ‘expert’ reports on child poverty.

    … I believe children are a joint community responsibility.

    Believe what you like about your own kids. Mine are the responsibility of their parents – what the community might believe about them counts for a fraction of fuck-all.

    …Narelle Henson, a journalist linked to the well funded lobby group, the Maxim Institute, has penned a propaganda piece based on negative and unsubstantiated employer anecdotes attacking the unemployed…

    It’s called journalism – you may have heard of it? This may come as an astounding shock, but the fact that crap governmentt policies have increased the number of unemployed doesn’t rule out the possibility that a significant proportion of the unemployed are unemployable wasters. If you try and pretend the wasters don’t exist or are only a tiny fraction of beneficiaries, “propaganda” stories like the one mentioned are going to continue putting a fly in your ointment.

    • Murray Olsen 6.1
      23 March 2013 at 7:18 pm

      Funny how the proportion of society that are “unemployable wasters” always goes up when a conservative government applies austerity policies. Can you stop frothing at the mouth long enough to explain why this is so? I’m assuming it must either be something in our genes, or to do with sunspot activity, because it happens all over the world wherever these policies are applied.
      If your kids are your responsibility and that’s the end of the story, please keep them away from any public schools, parks or beaches. These are cared for by the community. Keep them in your back yard, maybe on leashes, so that no one else can have any influence on them. Or maybe find a piece of bare rock somewhere and raise them on that. You could carve out a statue of John Galt with the edge of your hand.

      • Psycho Milt 6.1.1
        23 March 2013 at 8:20 pm

        Funny how the proportion of society that are “unemployable wasters” always goes up when a conservative government applies austerity policies.

        It does? Got a link? I’m fairly confident it goes up as long as wasters are having more than one child apiece, but that’s an assumption based on the well-known principle that people tend to raise children to be much like themselves. I’ve never seen anything to suggest it has something to do with who’s in government.

        If your kids are your responsibility and that’s the end of the story, please keep them away from any public schools, parks or beaches.

        Why? Schools, parks and beaches, unlike my children, are the responsibility of the community, of which I am a member. Also: there’s nothing even vaguely Randian about the idea that parents are responsible for their children – it’s a historical and legal commonplace.

        • locus 6.1.1.1
          24 March 2013 at 8:52 pm

          Psycho, if you can step back a moment from self satisfied prejudice about how people with no work or with large families should be responsible for the poverty they may find themselves in, you’d recognise that thread is not arguing that the state should take over the responsibility of parents. Rather it’s about recognising that child poverty is a serious and unacceptable problem which is growing in our country with consequences for all of us.

          you may personally be doing a wonderful job of providing for your children and have the privilege of a secure and well paid job, but just suppose for a moment you lost your job and/or became to ill to care for them. What now? Or does your ideological standpoint reject any kind of social security for the children who haven’t enough to eat, insufficient clothing, no way of getting to school, are orphans, or who have none of the extra curricular support most other children get from their parents because theirs have fallen on hard times etc.

        • rosy 6.1.1.2
          24 March 2013 at 11:15 pm

          ” Schools, parks and beaches, unlike my children, are the responsibility of the community, of which I am a member. “

          So, when your child is on a beach, on the way home from school, in a park and s/he falls, chokes, is chased by a dog, is hit by another child, pokes a tongue out at an old person, the public can just turn away, do nothing, because you as a parent have responsibility for your child. Good to know… it only takes a parent to raise a child, the rest can butt out.

  7. Psycho Milt 7
    25 March 2013 at 10:57 am

    So, when your child is on a beach, on the way home from school, in a park and s/he falls, chokes, is chased by a dog, is hit by another child, pokes a tongue out at an old person, the public can just turn away, do nothing…

    They could choose to do that, yes – no-one will hold them accountable. That’s because they’re not responsible for the child, unlike its parents. Fortunately, most people will help a child regardless of whether or not they get to claim the credit for raising it.

    … if you can step back a moment from self satisfied prejudice about how people with no work or with large families should be responsible for the poverty they may find themselves in…

    And likewise, if you could step back a moment from mawkish sentiment about the poor, what to do about them could be considered a bit more rationally. We have to provide a social welfare system that keeps people out of poverty, but we also have to make sure it doesn’t provide a career path.

    Rather it’s about recognising that child poverty is a serious and unacceptable problem which is growing in our country with consequences for all of us.

    Well, yes. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s ever commented on this series of posts who doubts that it’s a serious and growing problem. The difficult part is how to deal with it. It’s like we have someone bleeding to death, and all the right-wingers are shouting “Stop the bleeding” while all the left-wingers are shouting “Start a blood transfusion.” Doing the one without the other isn’t a good idea.

    • rosy 7.1
      26 March 2013 at 11:23 pm

      “no-one will hold them accountable. That’s because they’re not responsible for the child, unlike its parents”

      Sharing space = sharing responsibility in my book. Yes, parents are primarily responsible, but if they are unable to respond it’s up to someone else to step up. Expanding that a little further extends to all children of parents who are unable to respond, for whatever reason, to their children’s needs.

      I’m guessing we’ll never agree on that point.

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    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

    Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 day ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been soaring high with his hubris of getting on and building motorways but some uncomfortable realities are starting to creep in. Back in July he announced that the government was pushing on with a Northland Expressway using an “accelerated delivery strategy” The Coalition Government is ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 day ago
  • Never Enough

    However much I'm falling downNever enoughHowever much I'm falling outNever, never enough!Whatever smile I smile the mostNever enoughHowever I smile I smile the mostSongwriters: Robert James Smith / Simon Gallup / Boris Williams / Porl ThompsonToday in Nick’s Kōrero:A death in the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital.A sad homecoming and ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

    Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

    Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Inside the public service

    In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

    This is a re-post from This is Not Cool Here’s an example of some of the best kind of climate reporting, especially in that it relates to impacts that will directly affect the audience. WFLA in Tampa conducted a study in collaboration with the Department of Energy, analyzing trends in ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Motorway madness

    How mad is National's obsession with roads? One of their pet projects - a truck highway to Whangārei - is going to eat 10% of our total infrastructure budget for the next 25 years: Official advice from the Infrastructure Commission shows the government could be set to spend 10 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Our transport planning system is fundamentally broken

    Ever since Wayne Brown became mayor (nearly two years ago now) he’s been wanting to progress an “integrated transport plan” with the government – which sounded a lot like the previous Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) with just a different name. It seems like a fair bit of work progressed ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    2 days ago
  • Thou Shalt Not Steal

    And they taught usWhoa-oh, black woman, thou shalt not stealI said, hey, yeah, black man, thou shalt not stealWe're gonna civilise your black barbaric livesAnd we teach you how to kneelBut your history couldn't hide the genocideThe hypocrisy to us was realFor your Jesus said you're supposed to giveThe oppressed ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In February 2021, several severe storms swept across the United States, culminating with one that the Weather Channel unofficially named Winter Storm Uri. In Texas, Uri knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes and 10 million people. Hundreds of Texans died as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • The ‘Infra Boys’ Highway to Budget Hell

    Chris Bishop has enthusiastically dubbed himself and Simeon Brown “the Infra Boys”, but they need to take note of the sums around their roading dreams. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Media Link: “AVFA” on the politics of desperation.

    In this podcast Selwyn Manning and I talk about what appears to be a particular type of end-game in the long transition to systemic realignment in international affairs, in which the move to a new multipolar order with different characteristics … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    3 days ago
  • The cost of flying blind

    Just over two years ago, when worries about immediate mass-death from covid had waned, and people started to talk about covid becoming "endemic", I asked various government agencies what work they'd done on the costs of that - and particularly, on the cost of Long Covid. The answer was that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • Seymour vs The Clergy

    For paid subscribers“Aotearoa is not as malleable as they think,” Lynette wrote last week on Homage to Simeon Brown:In my heart/mind, that phrase ricocheted over the next days, translating out to “We are not so malleable.”It gave me comfort. I always felt that we were given an advantage in New ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Unstoppable Minister McKee

    All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this townI'll do it 'til the sun goes downAnd all through the nighttimeOh, yeahOh, yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hearLeave my sunglasses on while I shed a tearIt's never the right timeYeah, yeahSong by SiaLast night there was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Could outdoor dining revitalise Queen Street?

    This is a guest post by Ben van Bruggen of The Urban Room,.An earlier version of this post appeared on LinkedIn. All images are by Ben. Have you noticed that there’s almost nowhere on Queen Street that invites you to stop, sit outside and enjoy a coffee, let alone ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago
  • Hipkins challenges long-held Labour view Government must stay below 30% of GDP

    Hipkins says when considering tax settings and the size of government, the big question mark is over what happens with the balance between the size of the working-age population and the growing number of Kiwis over the age of 65. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Your invite to Webworm Chat (a bit like Reddit)

    Hi,One of the things I love the most about Webworm is, well, you. The community that’s gathered around this lil’ newsletter isn’t something I ever expected when I started writing it four years ago — now the comments section is one of my favourite places on the internet. The comments ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Seymour’s Treaty bill making Nats nervous

    A delay in reappointing a top civil servant may indicate a growing nervousness within the National Party about the potential consequences of David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill. Dave Samuels is waiting for reappointment as the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, but POLITIK understands that what should have been a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36

    A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 1, 2024 thru Sat, September 7, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is about how peopele are not born stupid but can be fooled ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • Time for a Change

    You act as thoughYou are a blind manWho's crying, crying 'boutAll the virgins that are dyingIn your habitual dreams, you knowSeems you need more sleepBut like a parrot in a flaming treeI know it's pretty hard to seeI'm beginning to wonderIf it's time for a changeSong: Phil JuddThe next line ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Six.

    The “double shocks” in post Cold War international affairs. The end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the global geostrategic context. In particular, the end of the nuclear “balance of terror” between the USA and USSR, coupled with the relaxation … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Buried deep

    Here's a bike on Manchester St, Feilding. I took this photo on Friday night after a very nice dinner at the very nice Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, on Manchester Street.I thought to myself, Manchester Street? Bicycle? This could be the very spot.To recap from an earlier edition: on a February night ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.

    Military politics as a distinct “partial regime.” Notwithstanding their peripheral status, national defense offers the raison d’être of the combat function, which their relative vulnerability makes apparent, so military forces in small peripheral democracies must be very conscious of events … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago
  • Leadership for Dummies

    If you’re going somewhere, do you maybe take a bit of an interest in the place? Read up a bit on the history, current events, places to see - that sort of thing? Presumably, if you’re taking a trip somewhere, it’s for a reason. But what if you’re going somewhere ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Home again

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Dead even tie for hottest August ever

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 7

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the debate about how to responde to climate disinformation; and special guest ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Have We an Infrastructure Deficit?

    An Infrastructure New Zealand report says we are keeping up with infrastructure better than we might have thought from the grumbling. But the challenge of providing for the future remains.I was astonished to learn that the quantity of our infrastructure has been keeping up with economic growth. Your paper almost ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago
  • Councils reject racism

    Last month, National passed a racist law requiring local councils to remove their Māori wards, or hold a referendum on them at the 2025 local body election. The final councils voted today, and the verdict is in: an overwhelming rejection. Only two councils out of 45 supported National's racist agenda ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Homage to Simeon Brown

    Open to all - happy weekend ahead, friends.Today I just want to be petty. It’s the way I imagine this chap is -Not only as a political persona. But his real-deal inner personality, in all its glory - appears to be pure pettiness & populist driven.Sometimes I wonder if Simeon ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Government of deceit

    When National cut health spending and imposed a commissioner on Te Whatu Ora, they claimed that it was necessary because the organisation was bloated and inefficient, with "14 layers of management between the CEO and the patient". But it turns out they were simply lying: Health Minister Shane Reti’s ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • The professionals actually think and act like our Government has no fiscal crisis at all

    Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024

    Welcome to another Friday and another roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. As always, this and every post is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew. If you like our work and you’d like to see more of it, we invite you to join our regular ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    6 days ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies; Excerpt Four.

    Internal versus external security. Regardless of who rules, large countries can afford to separate external and internal security functions (even if internal control functions predominate under authoritarian regimes). In fact, given the logic of power concentration and institutional centralization of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • A Hole In The River

    There's a hole in the river where her memory liesFrom the land of the living to the air and skyShe was coming to see him, but something changed her mindDrove her down to the riverThere is no returnSongwriters: Neil Finn/Eddie RaynerThe king is dead; long live the queen!Yesterday was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Bright Blue His Jacket Ain’t But I Love This Fellow: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power E...

    My conclusion last week was that The Rings of Power season two represented a major improvement in the series. The writing’s just so much better, and honestly, its major problems are less the result of the current episodes and more creatures arising from season one plot-holes. I found episode three ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago
  • Who should we thank for the defeat of the Nazis

    As a child in the 1950s, I thought the British had won the Second World War because that’s what all our comics said. Later on, the films and comics told me that the Americans won the war. In my late teens, I found out that the Soviet Union ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    7 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #36 2024

    Open access notables Diurnal Temperature Range Trends Differ Below and Above the Melting Point, Pithan & Schatt, Geophysical Research Letters: The globally averaged diurnal temperature range (DTR) has shrunk since the mid-20th century, and climate models project further shrinking. Observations indicate a slowdown or reversal of this trend in recent decades. ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live at 5pm

    Photo by Jenny Bess on UnsplashCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with special guests:5.00 pm - 5.10 pm - Bernard and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Media Link: Discussing the NZSIS Security Threat Report.

    I was interviewed by Mike Hosking at NewstalkZB and a few other media outlets about the NZSIS Security Threat Report released recently. I have long advocated for more transparency, accountability and oversight of the NZ Intelligence Community, and although the … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • How do I make this better for people who drive Ford Rangers?

    Home, home again to a long warm embrace. Plenty of reasons to be glad to be back.But also, reasons for dejection.You, yes you, Simeon Brown, you odious little oik, you bible thumping petrol-pandering ratfucker weasel. You would be Reason Number One. Well, maybe first among equals with Seymour and Of-Seymour ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • A missed opportunity

    The government introduced a pretty big piece of constitutional legislation today: the Parliament Bill. But rather than the contentious constitutional change (four year terms) pushed by Labour, this merely consolidates the existing legislation covering Parliament - currently scattered across four different Acts - into one piece of legislation. While I ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Nicola Willis Seeks New Sidekick To Help Fix NZ’s Economy

    Synopsis:Nicola Willis is seeking a new Treasury Boss after Dr Caralee McLiesh’s tenure ends this month. She didn’t listen to McLiesh. Will she listen to the new one?And why is Atlas Network’s Taxpayers Union chiming in?Please consider subscribing or supporting my work. Thanks, Tui.About CaraleeAt the beginning of July, Newsroom ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Inflation alive and kicking in our land of the long white monopolies

    The golden days of profit continue for the the Foodstuffs (Pak’n’Save and New World) and Woolworths supermarket duopoly. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 5:The Groceries Commissioner has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The thermodynamics of electric vs. internal combustion cars

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler I love thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is like your mom: it may not tell you what you can do, but it damn well tells you what you can’t do. I’ve written a few previous posts that include thermodynamics, like one on air capture of ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.

    The notion of geopolitical  “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Venus Hum

    Fill me up with soundThe world sings with me a million smiles an hourI can see me dancing on my radioI can hear you singing in the blades of grassYellow dandelions on my way to schoolBig Beautiful Sky!Song: Venus Hum.Good morning, all you lovely people, and welcome to the 700th ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • I Went to a Creed Concert

    Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago
  • Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses

    The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago
  • A Time For Unity.

    Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: Failed again

    National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.

    A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Nicola Willis’s Very Unserious Bungling of the Kiwirail Interislander Cancellation

    Open to all with kind thanks to all subscribers and supporters.Today, RNZ revealed that despite MFAT advice to Nicola Willis to be very “careful and deliberate” in her communications with the South Korean government, prior to any public announcement on cancelling Kiwirail’s i-Rex, Willis instead told South Korea 26 minutes ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Satisfying the Minister’s Speed Obsession

    The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 week ago
  • What if we freed up our streets, again?

    This guest post is by Tommy de Silva, a local rangatahi and freelance writer who is passionate about making the urban fabric of Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland more people-focused and sustainable. New Zealand’s March-April 2020 Level 4 Covid response (aka “lockdown”) was somehow both the best and worst six weeks of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    1 week ago
  • No Alarms And No Surprises

    A heart that's full up like a landfillA job that slowly kills youBruises that won't healYou look so tired, unhappyBring down the governmentThey don't, they don't speak for usI'll take a quiet lifeA handshake of carbon monoxideAnd no alarms and no surprisesThe fabulous English comedian Stewart Lee once wrote a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Five ingenious ways people could beat the heat without cranking the AC

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Every summer brings a new spate of headlines about record-breaking heat – for good reason: 2023 was the hottest year on record, in keeping with the upward trend scientists have been clocking for decades. With climate forecasts suggesting that heat waves ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • New Bill to crack down on youth vaping

    The coalition Government has introduced legislation to tackle youth vaping, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping.  “While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rise in youth vaping ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago
  • Interest in agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review welcomed

    Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard have welcomed interest in the agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review. The review by the Ministry for Regulation is looking at how to speed up the process to get farmers and growers access to the safe, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Bill to allow online charity lotteries passes first reading

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is moving at pace to ensure lotteries for charitable purposes are allowed to operate online permanently. Charities fundraising online, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and local hospices will continue to do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Tax exempt threshold changes to benefit startups

    Technology companies are among the startups which will benefit from increases to current thresholds of exempt employee share schemes, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Revenue Minister Simon Watts say. Tax exempt thresholds for the schemes are increasing as part of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024-25, Emergency ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Getting the healthcare you need, when you need it

    The path to faster cancer treatment, an increase in immunisation rates, shorter stays in emergency departments and quick assessment and treatments when you are sick has been laid out today. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has revealed details of how the ambitious health targets the Government has set will be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Targeted supports to accelerate reading

    The coalition Government is delivering targeted and structured literacy supports to accelerate learning for struggling readers. From Term 1 2025, $33 million of funding for Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support will be reprioritised to interventions which align with structured approaches to teaching. “Structured literacy will change the way children ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Survivors invited to Abuse in Care national apology

    With two months until the national apology to survivors of abuse in care, expressions of interest have opened for survivors wanting to attend. “The Prime Minister will deliver a national apology on Tuesday 12 November in Parliament. It will be a very significant day for survivors, their families, whānau and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Rangatahi inspire at Ngā Manu Kōrero final

    Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini kē - My success is not mine alone but is the from the strength of the many. Aotearoa New Zealand’s top young speakers are an inspiration for all New Zealanders to learn more about the depth and beauty conveyed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Driving structured literacy in schools

    The coalition Government is driving confidence in reading and writing in the first years of schooling. “From the first time children step into the classroom, we’re equipping them and teachers with the tools they need to be brilliant in literacy. “From 1 October, schools and kura with Years 0-3 will receive ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Labour’s misleading information is disappointing

    Labour’s misinformation about firearms law is dangerous and disappointing, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says.   “Labour and Ginny Andersen have repeatedly said over the past few days that the previous Labour Government completely banned semi-automatic firearms in 2019 and that the Coalition Government is planning to ‘reintroduce’ them.   ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Govt takes action on mpox response, widens access to vaccine

    The Government is taking immediate action on a number of steps around New Zealand’s response to mpox, including improving access to vaccine availability so people who need it can do so more easily, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. “Mpox is obviously a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Next steps agreed for Treaty Principles Bill

    Associate Justice Minister David Seymour says Cabinet has agreed to the next steps for the Treaty Principles Bill. “The Treaty Principles Bill provides an opportunity for Parliament, rather than the courts, to define the principles of the Treaty, including establishing that every person is equal before the law,” says Mr Seymour. “Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government unlocking potential of AI

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced a programme to drive Artificial Intelligence (AI) uptake among New Zealand businesses. “The AI Activator will unlock the potential of AI for New Zealand businesses through a range of support, including access to AI research experts, technical assistance, AI tools and resources, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Promoting faster payment times for government

    The Government is sending a clear message to central government agencies that they must prioritise paying invoices in a timely manner, Small Business and Manufacturing Minister Andrew Bayly says. Data released today promotes transparency by publishing the payment times of each central government agency. This data will be published quarterly ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government releases Wairoa flood review findings

    The independent rapid review into the Wairoa flooding event on 26 June 2024 has been released, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced today. “We welcome the review’s findings and recommendations to strengthen Wairoa's resilience against future events,” Ms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Acknowledgement to Kīngi Tuheitia speech

    E te māngai o te Whare Pāremata, kua riro māku te whakaputa i te waka ki waho moana. E te Pirimia tēnā koe.Mr Speaker, it is my privilege to take this adjournment kōrero forward.  Prime Minister – thank you for your leadership. Taupiri te maunga Waikato te awa Te Wherowhero ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Interim fix to GST adjustment rules to support businesses

    Inland Revenue can begin processing GST returns for businesses affected by a historic legislative drafting error, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says. “Inland Revenue has become aware of a legislative drafting error in the GST adjustment rules after changes were made in 2023 which were meant to simplify the process. This ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Strong uptake for cervical screening self-test

    More than 80 per cent of New Zealand women being tested have opted for a world-leading self-test for cervical screening since it became available a year ago. Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti and Associate Minister Casey Costello, in her responsibility for Women’s Health, say it’s fantastic to have such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document sets ambitious direction

    Regulation Minister David Seymour welcomes the Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document, which sets out how the Ministry will carry out its work and deliver on its purpose. “I have set up the Ministry for Regulation with three tasks. One, to cut existing red tape with sector reviews. Two, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Māori Education Advisory Group established

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