Rage and the Woke

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, June 14th, 2022 - 69 comments
Categories: Deep stuff, racism, treaty settlements, water - Tags:

In a little-publicised piece on the Otago Daily Times, we get just a little reveal of the scale of rage against Prime Minister Ardern and against policies favouring the Treaty of Waitangi.

Two nights ago there was a public meeting in the South Otago Town and Country Club, attended by over 150 people on a full-deep-snow night.

“As the meeting was about to begin, Groundswell New Zealand co-founder Bryce McKenzie delivered a 300-signature petition against the reforms to Mr Cadogan, saying Groundswell believed the council had not acted in ratepayers’ best interests during the legislative process. He called on the council to arrange a public meeting to discuss what he said were widespread concerns regarding the reforms and the role of Local Government NZ in the process.

“That appeared to signal a stream of interruptions, including occasional foul-mouthed abuse, directed at speakers by audience members. (…)

During his presentation, DIA acting Three Waters policy stewardship director Michael Mills said the reforms were not about transferring ownership of assets to Maori interests. In response to loud heckling, Mr Mills explained the Government would meet its Treaty of Waitangi obligations in the incoming reforms.”

This time last year, Groundswell dropped Ross Townshend as a spokesman after a direct and racist tirade on Facebook against Minister Mahuta. He was also fired as Director on Tatua Dairy Company. I’m not going to repeat it here. Instead what they did a year ago was organise a protest of thousands of tractors to intentionally bring all New Zealand’s cities to a standstill – a clear show of force far greater than anything our marches against climate change have ever done.

In May last year in a large Tauranga public meeting, a woman was jeered at by the crowd for starting off her speech in Te Reo.

Racist mail was also delivered in Tauranga suburbs in April this year.

Hate is growing in New Zealand. It is not only directed against Maori. It is also directed against Asians. Last year in a large survey more than 41% of New Zealanders believed that racism had increased in the last year.

This aligned with the 2021 survey by the Human Rights Commission which found that 4 in 10 of the 1,904 respondents had experienced discrimination since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In April 29th this year, the Department of Internal Affairs released a report into online extremism within New Zealand for 2021. It concluded that online white supremacy accounted for the largest amount of content that they had investigated.

The anti-vaccination protests at Wellington four months ago have also seen a rise in threats by extremists against the media and against our politicians.

The SIS threat assessment about terror in New Zealand growing from hate-fuelled groups was not alarming in itself:

While some individuals are groups have lawfully advocated for significant change to current political and social systems, there continues to be little indication of any serious intent to engage in violence to achieve that change.”

But then there’s the big caveat:

The situation in New Zealand over the next 12 months is likely to remain dynamic. There is a realistic possibility further restrictions or potential vaccination programmes […] could be triggers for New Zealand-based violent extremists to conduct an act of terrorist violence.”

Prior to the Christchurch massacre the SIS hadn’t mentioned the hard right for a decade.

In 2021 the UK’s Institute for Strategic Dialogue did a study for our DIA. It looked at 300 extremist accounts and 600,000 posts. It’s blunt and confronting reading.

When it came to NZ-origin far-right Facebook pages, there were 750 followers per 100,000 internet users, compared with 399 in Australia, 252 in Canada and 233 in the USA. We were worse in our racism per 100,000 users than Australia, Canada, or the United States.

That shows we have a far, far deeper problem than we might admit.

To just one consequence: threats to life. It is the Prime Minister herself that is the direct target of significantly increasing threat. New data released to Newshub shows that police recorded 18 threats in 2919, 32 the next year, and 50 in 2021.

Researcher Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa said that this year the team had captured “the most significant increase in violent, vulgar, vicious, venomous commentary against the PM since the start of our study in mid-August 2021”.

“The vocabulary … has migrated from implicit and elusive references to her murder, assassination and rape now to explicit calls for it.”

The most significant increase had been in 2021-2022, he said, suggesting that the upward trend captured by police data would continue.”

Threats against our politicians from extremists had been tracked for some time.

It is cold comfort to realise that your policies are directly attacking the deepest sources of power in New Zealand so much that the hard right must threaten ones’ life.

Of course I am probably just being silly identifying rapidly increasing racism.

Too supportive of Maori.

Too much worrying about side issues like women.

Too Woke.

69 comments on “Rage and the Woke ”

  1. Psycho Milt 1

    I know that calling people racists doesn't persuade them of anything, but it's not like rational argument persuades them either and the fact is they are racists. There is no such thing as "I'm not a racist, I just feel the urge to shout abuse every time someone mentions Māori or speaks their language."

    • Just Saying 1.1

      This is not an original observation.

      The idea first struck me during the actions leading to gay (legal) emancipation years ago. It was a brilliant, exuberant march in Wellington. There was goodwill, friendliness and confidence. I saw the cause as important in itself but also as a stepping-stone in the broader cause of freedom.

      What dispirited me that day is something that must have struck so many of us over the years. I don't know why but I thought 'what if this is instead of?' (broad socialist justice).

      In that joyful atmosphere I tried to talk myself out of the idea. Why should it be instead of? etc.

      But the situation we've landed in feels very relevant to this post.

      It is a little like if instead of ending slavery certain enslaved groups were granted freedom because their causes were deemed just. Yet slavery itself never ended. And those fighting for that end were diverted into bickering factions over their own factional allegiances to win their golden tickets.

      And Hey Presto the anti-slavery cause bought in and we ended up with a left-wing hunger games situation.

      I know this will be very unpopular, but the opportunity to split us started with white working class males all those years ago who were unable to extend their thinking beyond their own very worthy cause. The failure of imagination goes beyond this narrowed-down vision of reshuffling the deck in their own favour, to not having a vision outside of 'slavery' altogether, let alone steps to getting there.

      My grandfather was a socialist and part of that labour revolution, and was himself a slaveholder. His wife was his slave. It was just reality to him that he was her master. I doubt he could see it because after all, she was a woman. Yet to the 'owners' he was working to 'overthrow' he was a lesser being, not like their noble selves.

      The point is we seem to be stuck here and a big part of it seems to be the need for a picture of 'there'. A lot of the hatred feels like a logical outcome of getting stuck in fighting over the justice of causes of competing groups, to changing hierarchies rather than the whole idea of equality and freedom within difference on the beautiful planet we have also caused so much harm to, and what could it be.

      I've said this really badly. There has always been an idea that we were moving towards the outcome of freedom whatever that turned out to be, rather than building a template of how it could all work, not as utopia but as a working model of a possible future.

  2. RedLogix 2

    As I stated earlier, my core objection to woke is that takes what are fundamentally good causes and turns them into sources of division and suspicion.

    As your post describes so well.

    • Robert Guyton 2.1

      Groundswell is a "fundamentally good cause"?

      Not feeling' it.

      • RedLogix 2.1.1

        Stick of end wrong.

        • Robert Guyton 2.1.1.1

          Yes, RedLogix, I do see what you mean. Couldn't help providing an example of others who have firmly grasped the wrong end of the stick.

          Sensitivity to emerging concepts/views/interpretations of what the general populace have regarded as fate accompli, settled-debates such as gender labels (male/female covers it, boy!) is increasingly testing society; it's inevitable and unstoppable, imo. Managing the process of seeing the world through higher definition "glasses", rather than rose-coloured spectacles or blinkers, is the challenge; saying no to the experience (Woke! Woke!) won't do it, nor will, as I think you're indicating, an unrestrained acceptance of "anything goes", that creates "division and suspicion".

          Just Saying just said:

          "But there does need to be a lot more clarity, a lot more explanation and dot-joining. We need open mindedness and the ability to talk." and I support that position.

      • Blade 2.1.2

        Robert, your Freudian slips not only clog threads up – they are embarrassing.

        • Robert Guyton 2.1.2.1

          "Freudian"?

          Interested to know what Freudian material you see in my comment, Blade.

          Not seeing' it.

          • Nic the NZer 2.1.2.1.1

            Don't make Blade go all Freudian Critical Theory on your comment.

          • Blade 2.1.2.1.2

            If you can't see it, I'm not mentioning it. Besides, it's of no importance now. You have actually posted a comment consisting of more than two lines. My job here is done.

    • Phil 2.2

      my core objection to woke is that takes what are fundamentally good causes and turns them into sources of division and suspicion.

      This is way too Chicken-and-egg, RL. For instance, whatever wokeness exists within the Trans-rights movement has developed because of the pre-existing conditions and political positions of parties that literally want to deny Trans peoples very existence and pigeon hole them as targets of fear and violence.

      • RedLogix 2.2.1

        Well to expand on the example you have used, it was one thing to ask that trans people should be treated with normal human dignity and to not be discriminated against.

        It was quite another to tell us that biological sex is imaginary. An idea both laughable and distressingly offensive at the same time.

      • Visubversa 2.2.2

        Really? Who denied Laurel Hubbard's existence? Laurel got everything that Laurel wanted. How come Ashley Winter was called a woman and showered with female pronouns in nearly every story in the New Zealand press all through his trial, conviction and sentencing for the torture and murder of a young woman? The New Zealand public was denied the truth that this was not a woman's crime. Nothing marginalised and oppressed there.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 2.3

      …my core objection to woke is that takes what are fundamentally good causes and turns them into sources of division and suspicion.

      That logic seems a bit ‘cart before horse.’

      For example, some label selected anti-racism causes 'woke', but racism is a primary source of division (and oppression). King's "I have a dream", BLM and similar causes are responses to division and suspicion kindled by evidence of race-based inequality. Might sound a bit woke, but best to examine root causes before deploying 'woke' putdowns.

      This Republican senator thinks 'wokeness' is the cause of mass shootings

      • RedLogix 2.3.1

        Consider my response at 2.2.1 above.

        Woke is a lot like marxism in that it takes a reasonable causes – in that case inequality – and applies stupid, vengeful solutions. Then whines that people hate them.

        ‘Oh but we had such good intentions’. pffft

        • Drowsy M. Kram 2.3.1.1

          Imho 'woke' is a recent and over-used pejorative employed to 'counter' the perceived threats of social justice causes – seems as reasonable an explanation as any of the good Senator's theory to explain school shootings.

          Integrating Antiracism, Social Justice, and Equity Themes in a Biochemistry Class [13 July 2021]

          • RedLogix 2.3.1.1.1

            Oh now you want to quibble the meaning of the word.

            Writer and activist Chloé Valdary has stated that the concept of being woke is a "double-edged sword" that can "alert people to systemic injustice" while also being "an aggressive, performative take on progressive politics that only makes things worse".[4]

            As for mass shootings – if there was one singular obvious cause smarter people than us might have spotted it by now. For what it is worth I see it as a complex mix of a society where an otherwise relatively benign gun culture has intersected fatally with gross overuse of dangerous antidepressants, social media toxicity, family breakdown and fatherlessness – and at least some component of the Senator's case which cannot be dismissed entirely.

            Telling an entire generation of young white men they are not only useless, dangerous buffoons who oppress all women, but are also to held guilty for all the racist sins of generations prior – is going to prompt at least some tiny fraction of them to bitterly conclude they might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 2.3.1.1.1.1

              Oh now you want to quibble the meaning of the word.

              Nope; why would you think that? Imho 'woke' is a recent and over-used pejorative employed to 'counter' the perceived threats of social justice causes.

              As I said, it's only my opinion – some representative recent examples of 'woke' being used as something other than a (lazy) pejorative might shift my opinion.

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke#Woke_as_a_pejorative_term

              Your last paragraph is an intriguing, but the critique may be misdirected.

              As for your contention that "Woke is a lot like marxism", it speaks for itself.

              • RedLogix

                Speaks what? Both are cultish mobs who believed their cause so important all things were justified in it's pursuit.

                some representative recent examples of 'woke' being used as something other than a (lazy) pejorative might shift my opinion.

                What I am seeing is lazy reading – insufficient to shift you on anything interesting.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  So, not even one recent example?

                  Both [Woke, and marxism] are cultish mobs…

                  I see where you’re coming from – this cause is clearly important to you.

                  insufficient to shift you on anything interesting

                  Seems a tad personal, but right back at ya.

                  Mediation: Embedded Assumptions of Whiteness?
                  We don't propose answers, but rather accept the common adage that the first step is recognizing the issue.

            • AB 2.3.1.1.1.2

              Telling an entire generation of young white men they are not only useless, dangerous buffoons … is going to prompt at least some tiny fraction of them to bitterly conclude they might as well be hung for a sheep

              Indeed it would. Fortunately, nobody who deserves to be taken seriously has really done that. It just feels that way to lots of conservative guys.

              • Ad

                I work in a very large firm of 70% men with conservative bent, and I don't get any of that vibe out of them. On the contrary.

                • AB

                  Good to hear. I have experienced mild forms of it in some workplaces. "Lots" is my unfortunate rhetorical exaggeration.

                • RedLogix

                  Not the demographic with a track record of mass shootings.

                  • Muttonbird

                    That's not what AB was alluding to. AB was saying if feels to a lot of conservative guys that 'woke' people are, "telling an entire generation of young white men they are not only useless, dangerous buffoons".

                    Your every comment on this forum confirms you are one of those conservative guys.

                    • RedLogix

                      Quite the contrary. I am a lot more radical than you. I just don't feel the need to show off about it.

                    • Muttonbird

                      Claims he is radical. Uses the dated, conservative phrase, "quite the contrary".

              • RedLogix

                Well if they "feel" that way it must still be all their fault then.

        • AB 2.3.1.2

          “… a lot like marxism in that it takes a reasonable causes … and applies stupid, vengeful solutions.”

          Ok let's concede that your point is half-right:

          • the Marx & Engels of the Communist Manifesto produced inflammatory utopian nonsense
          • The Marx of Kapital was a great classical political economist in the western intellectual tradition. His description of how industrial capitalism actually works is far more accurate and astute than the idealised romanticism of Adam Smith etc.
  3. Just Saying 3

    I agree with the problem that the concept of 'woke' is often being used as a means of silencing human rights abuses, and to pretend that we have solved problems that remain unsolved.

    I also get that there is a problem with both shutting down of free speech and of some members of affected groups attempting to leverage their status for unfair advantage, to make dubious demands, or to silence others who have not violated their civil rights. It's worth remembering that everything will be gamed by some, and I do mean everything.

    But that doesn't mean that attempts to correct human rights abuses constitute gaming, or that progress towards legitimate power-sharing constitutes oppression of members of the groups holding power. We still have major problems with oppressing 'outgroups' and with oppressive hegemony. Splitting into all or nothing categories shuts down needed communication.

    This legislation as I understand it, is a positive development, and it is horrible to see knee-jerk denigration of it as 'wokism'. In and of itself 'wokism' is not an argument. If those using the term feel that claims of racism, for example, are empty in and of themselves, without a clear description of how and why, surely it is hypocrisy to not apply the same standard to claims of wokism.

    But there does need to be a lot more clarity, a lot more explanation and dot-joining. We need open mindedness and the ability to talk.

    The protest in Wellington was not ''anti-vaccination'' it was anti-mandate. I'd like clarity about how protesting mandates is supposed to be responsible for ''a rise in threats by extremists against the media and against our politicians”. I'd also like an explanation of why this whole issue was lumped into an argument about bigotry.

    • RedLogix 3.1

      Nicely put. I can acknowledge this argument as a good starting point for reaching a consensus.

    • Ross 3.2

      The protest in Wellington was not ''anti-vaccination'' it was anti-mandate. I'd like clarity about how protesting mandates is supposed to be responsible for ''a rise in threats by extremists against the media and against our politicians”. I'd also like an explanation of why this whole issue was lumped into an argument about bigotry.

      Quite right. I wouldn’t expect that women wanting an abortion would be described as hate mongers and a danger to society, notwithstanding that they wish to terminate the life of their unborn child. But someone making the perfectly rational decision not to be vaccinated is somehow a problem. Or those protesting their right to choose are a danger to society? I hope women in the US who want an abortion will continue to protest their right to choose.

  4. Stuart Munro 4

    Well of course hate is growing in NZ. We have rampant and growing inequality, and have had a per capita immigration rate of roughly five times the levels that triggered Brexit in England.

    We MPI have grown our population rapidly without a ghost of a mandate, without ensuring that infrastructure including housing kept pace, and without any consideration of cultural basics. We have, from the tiny proportion of cases that make it to court, a significant newcomer population that believe wage theft/permanent residency rorts are perfectly fine.

    Throw wokeness into the mix – aggressive Trans persons with penises insisting on and being granted access to womens' spaces, once again without any suggestion of a public mandate, and it is a significant provocation.

    Then stir in the foreign sourced Trumpist movements, the NRA funding to destroy our positive legislative example of of gun control, and self-aggrandizing scoundrels on talkback who know the shortest route to notoriety is negative criticism, and is is a testament to the goodwill and sanity of New Zealanders that things are not much, much, worse.

  5. aj 5

    Too woke? Hell no.

    It's not woke to care for your family, your neighbour's, your workmates, to support women's equality, to support people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

    Woke is a word I refuse to accept other than describing what happens after the state of sleep.

    • Anker 5.1

      AJ last night I watched Bomber Bradbury's podcast, The Working Group. Before you scroll past one of the guests was Matt McCarten.

      At the end of the programme each panelest gets to do a 90 seond rave about anything. McCarten did it on how the woke is dividing left wing politics and said it needs to stop. The other three panelists agreed with this.

  6. 39 percent of Auckland's population were born overseas

    Immigrants make up 106 percent of net new housing demand

    It is well known, but not popular to say out loud, that high immigration depresses the wages of locals, especially younger workers.

    Not to mention our shameful track record of sex trafficking, made easier by laissez faire careless regulations and a dysfunctional immigration system,

    Not racism. Resistance to a wave of secondary colonisation at unsustainable levels that has exacerbated all of Auckland's problems and spread them to the rest of the country.

    Sustainable immigration of essential, skilled workers is great. Opening a back door for student visa holders to get a dodgy qualification then "invest" in property and import their extended family – no.

    The Covid shutdown has thankfully put a stop to much of this shit, I pray we never go back to BAU, it was morally reprehensible, of benefit only to the wealthy.

    • kejo 6.1

      Thanks Rob

    • Patricia Bremner 6.2

      So true Rob.
      Kris did his job.yes

    • RedLogix 6.3

      Good find with that Croaking Cassandra link. It aligns with my suggestion a while back that the root cause of rising housing prices in countries like Aus and NZ is that we are essentially victims of our own success – properous, well governed and reliable places to own an asset.

      There being just 30 odd nations on earth that are actually desirable places to live for the moment – and the list isn't getting longer.

      • In Vino 6.3.1

        Or rather countries that have embarked upon a silly, unsustainable, and unproductive Ponzi scheme?

      • roblogic 6.3.2

        I recall John Key saying something similar (a sign of success). But it's wrong. Crazy house price growth is an abdication of government responsibility to ensure shelter for its citizens, instead allowing banks to indulge in irresponsible lending practices — basically printing money — degrading the currency and turning housing into an investment vehicle

        • Patricia Bremner 6.3.2.1

          Yes and that began with BNZ in 1990. They offered loans against properties, and so folk bought flats as investments. Developers moved in . It snowballed.

  7. Anker 7

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/06/04/ummmm-isnt-professor-joanne-kidman-the-worst-person-to-appoint-to-an-extremism-taskforce/

    We can relax Professor Joanne Kidman is in charge of the new centre of excellence for extremism.

    Her credentials include attacks on Auckalnd University for calling a cat Governor Grey, Trying to have Trelise Cooper cancelled because she called a Dress Trail of Tiers (not Trail of Tears), attacking the Listener 7 calling them zombies. So all the important (woke) stuff.

    • Grafton Gully 7.1

      A cat's name a dress design and Listener7 and hate speech and wokedom and inequality and left right left right left and human rights and extremism and hate speech and the treaty and sovereignty and the GPs are overloaded and GDP fell but does it count gardening and housekeeping and spending time with oldies and playing with kids and what happened to Marilyn and houses prices are falling and is this good or bad and everything is more expensive and who the fuck is going to fix it all ? In other words who to vote for next year ? TPM, ACT or TOP ?.

    • weka 7.2

      I've not seen any evidence that Kidman tried to have Cooper cancelled. That's Bomber making shit up because he hates solidarity politics. Dig into it and it looks like Kidman called Cooper out, but did not call for her sacking or for to stfu. This matters because if we give up differentiating between calling out and cancel culture, we just reinforce the divides.

      • Anker 7.2.1

        I think there is a quote where Joanna called the Listener 7 walking zombies. But didn't try and cancel them, although I wouldn't be surprized if she signed the petition against them, but I could be wrong.

  8. Muttonbird 8

    Good post, Ad.

    It's clear the rise in political violence is nothing to do with the left. It is the self-declared disenfranchised right which is causing all the trouble.

    As has always been the case.

  9. Muttonbird 9

    I see old, white, best-selling author of crappy books with an estimated worth of 700 million dollars is complaining old white men are the victims of racism.

    He has since apologised and tried to walk back from this brainfart via his PR helpers.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/06/13/james-patterson-white-men-face-racism-against-woody-allen-memoir-drop/7610061001/

  10. It seems to me that much of the stuff on here is the productg of would be policy wonks trying to exhibit their stuff.

    Anybody who lives in the provinces is continually being fed a diet of nationals party nastiness in the daily rags that purport to be fair and balanced and they are getting away with it. Nobody is holding them to account and some of the blatherers on here would be better off getting their hands dirty and sticking it to these tory rags. Is there asnybody listening?

    • pat 10.1

      What is NZs biggest problem currently?

      • Robert Guyton 10.1.1

        Looming despair.

      • Patricia Bremner 10.1.2

        "What is NZs' biggest problem?

        Climate change. It is affecting everyone, add in the shortages and disruptions of covid and war. We have a stew of anxiety.

        People have lost their certainty, and all problems and changes loom large. Some do not cope and look for what they think is annoying them. So what they see as woke, or preachy causes a reaction. Add to that inflation costs it is a powder keg for some.

        Some are angry, and look to provoke stir and upset. That has its place to begin pulling ideas apart, but the best work is done in collaboration and co-operation.imo

        We have been separated by covid and that has strained all areas of life, and it is not over yet.
        In the background is effects of climate change, wild weather, crop loss, homes and assets destroyed, beaches washing away……. uncertainty.

  11. adam 11

    Well worth the try RedLogix.

    Censorship, cancel culture and totalitarian smugness are all parts of the 'woke' culture.

    To get back on topic, we have, and have had a far right problem in this country for a long time. Which has been quietly ignored.

    Now we have them supporting one far right nut bag or another in the war in Ukraine. Long may the far right nut jobs fight each other.

    But me think those days are numbered. And problems with this growing totalitarianism, is so many on the 'left' support it.

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    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 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
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    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
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    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
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    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
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    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
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • 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
    2 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
    7 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
    9 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
    10 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
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
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  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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