Prison conditions

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, January 4th, 2021 - 27 comments
Categories: Andrew Little, crime, Judith Collins, Kelvin Davis, national/act government, politicans, Politics, prisons, Social issues - Tags: , , ,

Statements by the Minister for Corrections and Corrections themselves asserting that there had been no complaints about prison conditions at Waikeria, in the face of the Ombudsman’s report, just look to me to be pure sophistry and bullshit. The report on conditions in the high security make grim reading. Even ignoring the inmates protest – I want to protest about the waste of my taxes in providing such a unproductive, inhumane and outright evil environment.

What is evident to anyone with half a brain, is that overcrowded and penitential conditions provide the ground conditions for rioting – and also do nothing to diminish re-offending on release. A lack of reported complaints about conditions followed by a riot about purportedly about conditions makes this following set of statements suspect.

The prisoners allegedly never raised any concerns about their living conditions before starting the riot on Tuesday last week.

Lightfoot says no complaints had been lodged and Davis does not believe the 16 men rioted for the reasons they stated they were, he told media today.

Davis did not speak out in fear of encouraging other prisoners for taking similar action, saying the inmates wanted political attention from the rioting.

Asked about his apparent lack of communication amid the rioting, Davis says his role was to leave the response to the experts.

NZ Herald: “Waikeria Prison rioters surrender after six-day stand-off; jail conditions not reason for unrest, says Kelvin Davis

My immediate response was to ask myself about the existence of any complaints process, and the likely response of the prison authorities to complaints. My second is that is the riot wasn’t about conditions – then what in the hell was it about? And why aren’t we being told what the suspicion is? In the meantime, I’ll happily view that as just being the political equivalent of simple vapour ware or bullshit.

I completely agree with Kelvin Davis that the minister should not interfere in operational matters for political reasons. However raising public and political attention to a problem is a completely legitimate – even if unlawful acts are required to make the point of the protest apparent.

I have been known to do that myself – it is called protesting and freedom of expression. Generally those doing such actions are well aware of potential consequences and choose to do them to make a point knowing that there will be consequences.

The actions are a matter for the courts to judge on, as I am sure that they will. In the meantime the rest of us can have a look at what prompted the riot and look to see if the concerns raised need to be dealt with.

Of course, I take the point about copycat rioting. It would be be counter-productive in the court of public opinion. This riot to me seems to have already made the point about conditions in at least one part of the prison system. It is up to Corrections and their Minister to refute with evidence. Something that they currently appear to not being interested in.

But now that the riot is over, I want to know if the claims made by inmates about the conditions were correct. So far everything that I have seen tends to indicate that the rioting inmates in the high security section at Waikeria have a point.

Just reading the sections about external investigations into the current prison system and this particular prison are grim and point to systematic problem with conditions and over population in our prisons.

While Corrections make claims about the lack of complaints, that doesn’t appear to constrained the small and underfunded Ombudsman’s office from finding them. I can see why the Human Rights Commission has called for an inquiry.

I suspect that the real problem is somewhere with the complaints process inside Corrections. A lack of complaints when the conditions are known to be bad even to Corrections and given to the Ombudsman over successive reports should have been an obvious sign that the complaints system in this prison simply wasn’t functional.

The Human Rights Commission has called for an inquiry to be launched into the incident.

Chief Commissioner Paul Hunt says it’s a mistake to see it as an isolated one-off.

“Whatever triggered this protest, poor prison conditions are a vital part of the context.

“Last August, the Ombudsman published a report on Waikeria and concluded that the high-security complex is no longer fit for purpose.

An Ombudsman’s report released in August 2020 found conditions at Waikeria in some cases failed to meet minimum UN standards.

The Ombudsman found meal times across the prison did not reflect usual meal times, and many inmates voiced concern about water quality.

Some cells were run down, with chunks of vinyl missing from floors, some windows did not have curtains and toilets did not have lids.

Lightfoot says work has been underway to improve the conditions of the prison since the report.

The closure of the top jail was imminent, with Corrections building a new facility to replace it which is due to be finished next year.

NZ Herald: “Waikeria Prison rioters surrender after six-day stand-off; jail conditions not reason for unrest, says Kelvin Davis

It is probable that some of the damage was due to prisoners themselves. However just looking at the photos and details in the Ombudsman’s report about the high security section of the prison indicates a environment that largely supports the rioting prisoners claims.

Most of it looks like the kind of wear and tear that should be dealt with with a routine maintenance and upgrade process. But the high security section just looks totally rundown, poorly maintained and completely over crowded. While this may please the uncivilised moralistic and judgemental philosophy of the Penitentiary movement or the advocates of simple revenge punishment, our prison system is not meant to be either. Nor would I personally want to pay taxes to support anything like that kind of prison or jail system.

Similarly the reports about the kinds of things that would induce any kind of change in life outside of prison are simply not there. Having two people crammed in a tiny cell with limited ventilation and an open toilet doesn’t look like an environment where anyone can find the space to change themselves. That coupled with the limited facilities for exercise just looks like a place to induce ill-health and social tension. It also looks like a waste hole for my taxes.

Prison in New Zealand is meant to separate offenders from society and with a few exceptions to provide a basis for eventual release back into society. Ideally with a reduced probability of re-offence. I can’t see that in the conditions described at the high security section at Waikeria. Instead what I see is a environment that warehouses people in the equivalent of factory farming crates with little to no facilities to change themselves or make themselves capable of reentering society safely.

If you look at it with an eye to the long history of modern prison systems – this kind of system is just pointless. Confinement itself is enough of a punishment. There is simply little or no point of adding additional punishments on top. You cannot coerce people to change their behaviour, you can only provide opportunities for them to change themselves.

Read for yourself. “Final report on an unannounced inspection of Waikeria Prison under the Crimes of Torture Act 1989” presented to Parliament on 25th of August.

Final-report-on-an-unannounced-inspection-of-Waikeria-Prison-under-the-Crimes-of-Torture-Act-1989_1

I realise that changing the prison system is going to be slow. We have had decades of ill-considered dog-whistle extensions to the criminal code from Act, National and even Labour that have caused increased imprisonment without the required funding increases to appropriately fund the Corrections system.

Between 2000 and 2018 our prison population almost doubled – but the rate in the population rose from 148 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 214 per 100,000 in 2018 (see World Prison Brief on NZ).

That is a population independent increase in incarceration rate of almost a quarter. It was occurring at a time when rates of complaints about serious offending and the number of charges for offending in the courts have actually been reducing. See Justice data.

A large part of the direct blame for the burgeoning expansion of the prison system can be laid directly at the foot of Judith Collins in the last National/Act government. She both presided as Justice Minister over the changes to criminal legislation and tougher sentencing guidelines. Then was in charge of Corrections when the belated response of the same government to the increase in prison population caused massive budget blowouts. It was a rather classic case of National’s habitual short sighted simple-minded populist decision making without forethought by one of its prime exponents of the (lack of) strategy.

Many of those corrections to Justice and Corrections are underway. Andrew Little in particular has been well underway with his path set up on 2017 “Andrew Little says he will reduce the prison population“. Thankfully it was down to 188/100,000 in June 2020 (see World Prison Brief on NZ).

But the problem is that merely trying to reduce the rate of increase in prison populations isn’t enough. The effect of the rise in prison populations over the last decades without the required investment in rehabilitation has just caused a revolving door. This was expressed clearly by Kelvin Davis when he pointed out in 2016.

Labour Party corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis said the growing muster and its related costs appeared to show that rehabilitation measures were not working. “We are simply locking up more and more people. We have got this big washing machine where people are going in dirty and coming out extremely dirty.”

Blaming the rising costs on violence or drug-related offending was avoiding the problem, he said.

“[Most prisoners] need help because they’ve got mental health issues, they’ve had traumatic head injuries, they are damaged through being sexually violated, through family violence, drug and alcohol abuse. What we are doing is punishing people for being unwell.”

NZ Herald: “Soaring cost of our prisons – $900m per year

I’d add that gang-bashing is in the same order of issue avoidance. Just look at the substantive issues. Our prisons suffered a traumatic increase in over crowding, effectively diminished capability in rehab services and their maintenance looks appalling. Politicians and Corrections need to concentrate on fixing those to make prison less of a revolving door that damages inmates each time that they get pumped through it.

The problem now is that because of short-sighted idiots like Judith Collins, we now have a real problem still of over crowded prisons that only do part of the intended job by doing little to nothing to diminish re-offending. This government needs to do more to diminish the spiral before repeated imprisonment causes more damage to our society.

27 comments on “Prison conditions ”

  1. Sacha 1

    Corrections is being very slippery with the words it is using and feeding to the Minister – that these particular prisoners did not make complaints does not mean none were made.

    As I posted on the other thread, from p38 of that Ombudsman's report:

    In my survey, 77 percent of respondents said they did not have faith in the complaints process. Seventy-eight percent of survey respondents reported they did not feel complaints were dealt with promptly, and 75 percent did not feel they were dealt with fairly.

    • lprent 1.1

      That was my impression as well. It just reeks of a PR cover-up and flips me from merely irritated to deeply suspicious.

      I think that a deep external enquiry not only into this particular event but also into the institutional processes that mean that inmates (and their lawyers) aren't complaining is in order.

      The conditions described for that wing of the prison look appalling.

      • Sacha 1.1.1

        Because the replacement prison is being built, I imagine the usual bureaucratic inertia about fixing the old one applies.

        However it would be good change management to fund tangible improvements there in the meantime, including building better trust and communication before the muster is shifted. Budget needs to be added accordingly. Guess journalists and MPs can ask the right questions about that.

        What does this say more broadly about how seriously Corrections takes the Ombudsman's statutory role in the system if they believe they can thumb their nose at repeated findings of fault?

        • lprent 1.1.1.1

          However it would be good change management to fund tangible improvements there in the meantime, ….

          Guess journalists and MPs can ask the right questions about that.

          More likely they'll do what they did and are still doing with things like the rolling disaster that is children in care from the 1950s onwards. Write a few stories about it, do some minor grandstanding, and eventually wind up with a royal commission – without ever really getting to grip with the issue.

          That appears to have been another systematic case of complaints being ignored and 'lost'. FFS the royal commission into abuse in care has problems even finding out how many kids were in care at any point in time or where they were. Not only for stuff in the past but even quite recently.

          What does this say more broadly about how seriously Corrections takes the Ombudsman's statutory role in the system if they believe they can thumb their nose at repeated findings of fault?

          What it says is that the Ombudsman roles in NZ including the IPA need more teeth. More resources and a clearer ability to lay charges against individuals inside the states structures for a lack of responsibility for their sustained dereliction of duty – including up to the heads and former heads of the public service.

  2. Sacha 2

    "We have got this big washing machine where people are going in dirty and coming out extremely dirty.”

    How apt.

  3. Forget now 3

    Back when I was in prison, before 2000, there was already a fair bit of crowding and not a lot of rehabilitation. Especially in the older places like the Victorian bricks of the old (now closed) Dunedin prison.

    Slang term for the place was; "the monster factory", which may no longer be current, but none the less accurate for that.

    • lprent 3.1

      While the old Victorian prisons did look like a structural hellholes the whole intent of replacing them was to relieve over crowding so more rehab could take place. That was why they were funded.

      Somehow idiots like Judith Collins seemed to think that it was just a excuse to allow them to warehouse more people.

      This is the chart of prisoners per 100k population two decades of continuous growth due to stupid populist legislation driven by knee-jerk voters. You can't see anything similar going on with increasing resources to deal with the incarceration rate. Only with building more prisons to (at best) maintain the over crowded state.

      Prison rate per 100k population in NZ 2000-2018

      Labour is just as complicit. Those sharp rises in the mid-2000s were a direct result of the legislative changes being done then in response to the lazy calls for lock-em up and throw away the key morons.

      • Forget now 3.1.1

        It'd be interesting to see the prison population rate against the criminal offences for the same time period. The crime rate was trending down last I heard, certainly no explosion of lawlessnesss that might explain those prisoning rate!

        Also it's not just prisoners who get institutionalized, guards too; get unhealthy in an unhealthy environment. Surely that's an issue that a Labour party can get behind, even if they don't care (to be seen to care) for prisoners themselves.

        Prisoners told investigators that if they didn't take part in the fight clubs, they would be pack-attacked by gang members later… allegations of savage attacks by gangs, beatings of prisoners by staff, and the deliberate outing of child sex offenders by prison staff to the general prison population.

        Prison staff also told the investigators the fight clubs were taking place when there weren't enough staff on the wings.

        "It was basically a jungle," said Labour Party corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis.

        He said Corrections did nothing about it.

        "The report focused on the making sure that the staff weren't doing anything illegal, but they totally ignore the fact that prisoners were getting their heads punched in. I just think it's institutional neglect."

        https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/317637/prison-fight-clubs-'it-was-basically-a-jungle'

        So the concept of institutional neglect is not new to the current Minister for Corrections. Why is anyone taking anything Corrections says at face value?

  4. gsays 4

    Michael Moore looked at Norwegian prisons in his film Where to Invade Next?

    A stark contrast to our attitudes and systems.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IepJqxRCZY

    For those that prefer reading, this is from a review of the film in The Intercept:

    "The Norwegian philosophy is to create a normal environment with as few external controls as possible so that when prisoners get out, they know how to control themselves. It works so well that Norway has one of the world’s lowest murder rates, and its recidivism rate is about 20 percent, two to three times lower than in the U.S. (Moore also visits a standard Norwegian maximum security prison that’s less spa-like but totally free of the brutality and spiritual darkness of U.S. prisons.)”

    https://theintercept.com/2016/02/10/where-to-invade-next-is-the-most-subversive-movie-michael-moore-has-ever-made/

    Decriminalising cannabis would have a desirable impact on the numbers incarcerated.

    I recall reading somewhere, the term 'muster' is part of the 'unconscious bias' we tend to take about others in prison. All part of de-humanising them.

    • Sacha 4.1

      Thank you for that last point. Oops.

    • Morrissey 4.2

      ….the term 'muster' is part of the 'unconscious bias' we tend to take about others in prison.

      There's nothing unconscious or unwitting in the brutal and derogatory language used about prisoners by the likes of Ruth Money, the National Party, the ACT cult, and their megaphones in the media.

      Th 4 o'clock "news" bulletin on RNZ National today began: "The National Party says…."

    • mac1 4.3

      The word muster has meanings to do with the military, with livestock and zoology. The bias shown might be by the listener rather than the user. I've always read it with its meaning of an assembly of a unit of men from whence we get the phrase 'to pass muster'. Not to argue that prisoners don't get a bias. I've done nine 'lags' in 3 separate prisons, each of three days, running AVP courses, meeting well over 100 men. That is what they were- men.

  5. Stuart Munro 5

    Although the punitive approach of some ministers has doubtless made things worse, it must be said that a massive increase in prison populations is pretty much what you would expect from a country with the fastest growing inequality in the OECD.

  6. RedLogix 6

    Lynn

    If you want to talk prison reform, then I'm totally with you. You know that.

    But I have one simple question; do you think prisoners should riot in order to get what they want?

    • McFlock 6.1

      Basic humane living conditions were not being supplied.

      This was pointed out by prisoners and third parties. Nothing was done.

      That leaves legal action as next item in the reasonable escalation of response, but not every prisoner is Arthur Taylor. Frankly, escalating to property damage shows some restraint.

      • RedLogix 6.1.1

        So your answer is yes? Is that correct?

        If you were a staff member working in a prison how would you feel about this messaging.

        • McFlock 6.1.1.1

          I like to think I'd already be on strike rather than be party to human rights abuses. But I understand that inhuman places dehumanise anyone who comes into contact with them.

          • iwantapony 6.1.1.1.1

            Hear hear, McFlock.

            The conditions stated would also have a significant impact on the mental health of prison staff, long before prisoners took action.

          • WeTheBleeple 6.1.1.1.2

            Well said McFlock. The acceptance of ill treatment of our fellows is not acceptable in any society claiming to be free and fair.

            I've been to Waikeria. I was stuck in a remand yard with 18 mobsters at the age of 15. It was a run down shithole then – in 1982. I was double bunked with a punch drunk idiot, had no access to books, canteen or due process.

            • WeTheBleeple 6.1.1.1.2.1

              How did I get there? Well, age 14 I was wagging school (to go to the library and read as school had zero challenge for me). So they locked me up. In the boys home I met many state wards who were already completely screwed over and jaded via state care.

              One of the lads escaped after my release and came to live in our dog kennel. Yes, that's right, he preferred to live in the dog kennel than go back there.

              Unknown to me he was a one man crime wave, and already a hard drug user. So he was knocking off chemists and houses while he stayed. I got pulled in as an 'accomplice' when I was actually a naive kid fresh to the city from a small village, and trying to make friends. ASD, PTSD – desperately trying to make friends. He pinched stuff with me present, I objected, he persisted, I was thus an accomplice in three acts of petty theft. He had 57 charges most of them serious.

              In his family three kids sent to state care. Results – two boys became recidivist criminal junkies, one girl a prostitute junkie. State 'care'.

              I turned 15, and got sent to Waikeria. Guess how well that 'helped'.

        • lprent 6.1.1.2

          Perhaps Corrections should look at the complaints process from staff. Because it looks like a fucking dangerous place to be with unhappy prisoners.

          I suspect that when a public enquiry goes down that we will find repeated historic ignored warnings and complaints from staff.

          Reading the reports from the ombudsman I am pretty sure that some of the very specific information in the reports came from them.

          Have you read the last ombudsman report yet? It is the last of a series.

    • lprent 6.2

      If you have approx 80% of prisoners in that prison (including low security) saying that they don't think that the complaints process does anything – would you consider that it is a viable working process? Now have a look at the photos of the high security section and tell me that even the guards couldn't have realized that was a sustainable situation..

      Now imagine that problem with the complaints has been going on for as long is apparent when looking at the various public reports on that prison.

      Blaming the inmates for not following a ineffective and viewed as useless process is just stupid. To try to divert attention from that failure in the system amounts to being criminal.

      By the look of the comments from corrections it seems like corrections have given up on the complaints process long ago. Instead they were expecting that the ombudsman system was covering their arses.

      Any rational organisation doesn't ignore complaints. They either deal with them or expect to lose clients. In the case of Corrections they will eventually lose lives when the inevitable explosion happens.

      This isn't exactly rocket science. Even an engineer knows to measure stress.

  7. Lachlan 7

    Why does the left always present themselves as nasty people with a chip on their shoulder to get their message out?

    Let's actually look at the facts now, should we?

    1. National had a far less prison population increase rate compared to the Clark government before it (even shown by one of the graphs a labourite here posted).
    2. National foresaw this issues and planned a new prison to be built with 1500 more beds which would be open now but who canceled it and further funding for prisons? Labour. Hmm. Labour has done nothing since..
    3. National had the lowest re-offending rates in the 10 years prior.

    [lprent: I have answered this comment as it did actually raise some points. The remainder of your astroturf has been swept to spam as it

    1. doesn’t offer any information of items of debate
    2. is simply snarky
    3. makes assertions of fact without backing them with links or soure
    4. looks like astroturfing.

    This site as the policy explains is for robust debate. It isn’t there for idiots to spam. Learn to debate with actual figures rather than myths, clear opinions rather than unsubstantiated (and probably false) assertions of fact.

    We run a policy that new commenters have their first comments going to probation. A moderator has to allow at least one comment to be published and the probation released. This allows bots, trolls, and idiots to be culled. In your case I haven’t released the probation so your comments will keep going to moderation. You have to convince by the content of your comment that you’re worth having around. The criteria is robust debate. So far you haven’t displayed any ability in that direction.

    ]

    • lprent 7.1

      National had a far less prison population increase rate compared to the Clark government before it (even shown by one of the graphs a labourite here posted).

      Perhaps you should read the actual post – where I point that out as well. National, being a pack of lazy fools just blindly followed a good vote catcher to the levels of stupidity (one of their characteristic hallmarks).

      Obviously you can sort of read a graph. However you examined the actual numbers, you’d see it is on 2 yearly basis. So your number manages to either miss the last year of the Key government 2017 or include the work of the Ardern government after National lost the government benches.

      2000 148/100k
      2008 182/100k = additional ~34/100k under Clark govt
      2018 214/100k = additional ~32/100k under Key govt (but includes Arden govt reduction at end of 2017 and first half of 2018)
      2020 188/100k = reduction ~26/100k under Ardern government

      If you dug deeper you’d find that the level was higher than 214 in 2017 in the last year of the Key government. The Ardern government had reduced it pretty fast.

      Basically if you want to prove your contention, then I suggest you stop trying to lie with statistics (you’re pretty bad at it) and bring your own evidence to the table.

      Try the table and sources at https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/new-zealand

      National foresaw this issues and planned a new prison to be built with 1500 more beds which would be open now

      Basically you don’t need a prison to be built when the policy is to reduce prison population by removing unnecessary and expensive incarceration. Warehousing people just because Phil Goff or Judith Collins can look tough on crime isn’t smart – it is just stupid and expensive.

      National had the lowest re-offending rates in the 10 years prior.

      So did every country in western world. It is called demographic movement. It is what happens when a population ages. You also get a lot less first time offenders even when you measure it on 100k bounds.

      However despite significantly levels of demographic re-offending and less first time offenders, National managed to grow the total population and the % incarcerated.

      How did they do that – by stupid sentencing and bail policies for that idiot of politics Judith Collins that caused longer prison time. Remand prisoners spent up to a year getting to trial. Sentenced prisoners got longer sentences.

      Your proud claim about a reduction in is largely because offenders spent more time in jail – therefore increasing the rotation time between offences. I’d have to dig out the analysis of a paper I read on it. But if you account for the extra jail time, all that happened was the reoffending rate remained similar. That in effect is an white collar accounting fraud.

      But of course people like you like being lied to and are obviously too lazy to think things through.

      Why does the left always present themselves as nasty people with a chip on their shoulder to get their message out?

      Why do the lazy myth believing people on the right always whine about how they are hard done by when less lazy people point out the hard facts to them?

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    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    21 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
    1 day 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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 ...
    2 days 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours 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
    15 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
    17 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
    17 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
    1 day 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
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    6 days ago
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